Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 397: Determined to Find Mistakes

Mrs. Xing finished speaking, but Jia Lian didn't care. But what is a few hundred taels of silver every year worth? Jia Zheng was upright, and he smiled and praised her, "Tan Ya is good, and everyone can do their job and benefit from it. It can be said that three birds are killed in one stone. This is the way to maintain a family for a long time."

After a pause, he continued, "Tan is good at saving money, and Feng is good at increasing income. If the two of us work together, the situation may change in a few years. Besides, this drought has lasted for two years. We can't expect another drought next year, right?"

Madam Xing sneered to herself and said, "Master, you are right when you say that Tan Ya is thrifty, but how can Feng Ya be good at making a living? She only made some money thanks to Jian Ge'er's help. If we really talk about it, I'm afraid she can't compare to Tan Ya."

There are some things that Mrs. Xing didn't say. No matter how good Feng Jieer was at business, she kept all the money she earned for herself. When did she ever use it for public expenses?
Upon hearing this, Jia Zheng didn't know how to respond. He turned to look at Jia Lian, only to find that Jia Lian was yawning continuously, obviously very tired.

At this time, Mrs. Xing said, "Now that the population of the family has increased, the cleaning work alone could be done by two maids in previous years. Now there are more than ten people with their families. Each of them swings the broom a few times, and the rest of the time is spent on drinking and gambling. This has ruined the family's atmosphere. If it were up to me, why not dismiss the redundant servants and maids in the family? The master of the neighboring mansion has more than a dozen people, but only more than a hundred servants. We have hundreds of servants, which is really too many."

Jia Zheng said, "What the eldest lady said makes sense. I have long been worried about the increase in the number of people in my family, but when the old lady was alive, she was sympathetic to the difficulties of the servants, so I never made the decision. Now that the old lady is gone, for the sake of the future, I'd better dismiss those redundant servants."

Mrs. Xing was very pleased with herself, and she looked at Jia Lian and asked, "What did Lian'er say?"

Jia Lian was addicted at the moment and felt uncomfortable all over. He nodded his head and said, "What the eldest lady said makes sense."

Madam Xing took the opportunity to say, "If I say so, not only the servants below, but also the managers in various places should be replaced."

Jia Zheng frowned upon hearing this and asked, "What's the logic behind this?"

Madam Xing said, "Master, have you forgotten about the Lai family? When Lai Da and Lai Sheng were in charge of the Ning and Rong mansions, how much money did the master seize from Lai Ma's house? At that time, the master said that the Lai family was able to get their hands on everything, and he was afraid that the other managers were not clean either. If the old lady hadn't stopped him, the master would have continued to confiscate money."

"This..." Jia Zheng was doubtful and felt that this move was not generous enough.

Mrs. Xing said, "When the old lady was alive, our family was always kind to the servants. We gave them a lot of money every month and extra rewards during festivals. But even so, we still raised the ungrateful Lai family. With the Lai family, I'm afraid there will be many more servants who don't know their place in society."

Jia Lian was now in high spirits after hearing this. He knew that the master had confiscated a lot of things from Lai's family. Apart from other things, the house of Lai's family alone was worth a lot of money. Now that the public treasury was in deficit, confiscating those corrupt servants would just make up for it.

Yin quickly agreed, "Second Uncle, the first wife is right! Now that we can't make ends meet, how can we ask the servants below to consult us?"

Jia Zheng thought about the increasingly unruly servants in his family recently, and finally said with relief: "It's time to give them a good lesson. I think it would be a good idea to let Sister Feng investigate."

Mrs. Xing was not willing to let Sister Feng interfere, so she quickly said, "Feng girl, you should take a good rest after taking care of the funeral. Lian'er and I will check it out and make sure it's done properly."

Jia Zheng thought about it and agreed.

With Jia Zheng's approval, Mrs. Xing and Jia Lian set to work the next day, checking the accounts and counting the number of people in the family. For a while, maids, old women, and servants packed up and left the Rongguo Mansion every day, complaining.

Li Weijian frowned when he heard about the Rongguo Mansion's actions. After the two sisters Li Wen and Li Qi returned home, the widowed aunt Liu no longer wanted to stay in the Bo Mansion and kept clamoring to return to Jinling.

The capital is located in the north, and the winter is dry and cold, which Liu cannot bear. Li Weijian and Daiyu tried to persuade her several times, but seeing that persuasion was in vain, they had to agree.

The departure date was set, and Li Wan and Feng Jieer, who had received the letter, came to see them off.

A group of people gathered in the east courtyard and talked non-stop. When they dispersed, Li Weijian finally got a chance to approach Sister Feng and whispered, "How come the eldest lady is now the head of the family? I've seen the eldest lady busy chasing people away and checking accounts these days. I'm afraid she has bad intentions."

Feng Jieer said nonchalantly, "She has wanted to be the head of the household for a long time. After the death of the Madam, she feels that she is the most important woman in the household, so she wants to take the lead. As the saying goes, one does not know how expensive firewood and rice are until he manages the household. Let her toss around for a few days. With her temper, once she manages the accounts, she will be like a mouse in a rice warehouse. If the accounts don't match tomorrow, I will have something to say."

Li Weijian thought about it and said with some concern: "It's better to be careful. The accounts are fine, but we need to keep a close eye on the people in various places to prevent the eldest lady from being blinded by greed."

Sister Feng rolled her eyes at him and said, "It's hard for you to still think of me..." After a pause, she distanced herself from the maid in front of her and whispered, "I'll go to the farm in a few days."

Li Weijian remained expressionless, only nodded and said, "I understand."

Feng Jieer knew that Li Weijian would be leaving in a few days, and she felt relieved but also a little regretful. It was a pity that Lian Er, who was plagued by the plague, had an internal disease and would not get close to women from then on... If it were not so, maybe the next child would definitely be a boy.

A few days passed in the blink of an eye. One day, Mrs. Xing was sitting in the meeting room, investigating the servants' past corruption and malpractice. She also invited Jia Zheng, who was in mourning, to join in the trial. Lin Zhixiao, Wang Shanbao and other housekeepers followed the instructions. The servants were ordered to stand inside and outside the room. All idle servants were not allowed to enter without permission and could only wait outside the hall.

Suddenly someone came to announce that Yu Lu, Zhang Cai, and Zhao Mama, along with their two sons, had come in. Jia Zheng and Mrs. Xing said, "Let them in." The five of them came in and bowed.

Jia Zheng said: "This matter can be big or small, but it concerns the needs and livelihoods of the master and servants. If everyone seeks personal gain and convenience, you will be comfortable, but everyone else deserves to starve to death?
Besides, the master's daily food expenses are tight, and you are living a good life, just a few of you. I don't know why you are so rare and noble, and your life is better than others. What benefit does your wealth or not have to the master?
There is no reason for me to protect you, so I will investigate you mercilessly today. Yu Lu and Zhang Cai's property was confiscated, and when building the Grand View Garden, the brothers Zhao Tianliang and Zhao Tiandong used the excuse of seeking work to embezzle money and embezzle private funds. This time they will all be punished. The twelve of you will go to their homes and investigate thoroughly!"

Madam Zhao said in a trembling voice, "The master only knows how to check the family property. He didn't even ask about the crimes committed in the garden. The master and the first mistress just want money, and I won't accept it!"

Jia Zheng paused for a while, and considering that Madam Zhao was an old lady in the family, he felt a little sorry for her, so he said, "What Madam Zhao said makes sense. The gambling, drinking, stealing, kidnapping, and prostitution in the mansion are shocking. Madam Zhao doesn't know the truth. His two sons are fine in my opinion. There are too many accounts, so it is inevitable that there will be extra money left. Therefore, I will only give them a light punishment and not confiscate the family property. They just need to pay back the extra money they took in the beginning."

Nanny Zhao led her two sons to express their gratitude and leave. Yu Lu and Zhang Cai struggled to step forward to seek justice, but Madam Xing gave them a look and they were pulled away by the servants.

Several people in the meeting room breathed a sigh of relief. Jia Zheng lowered his head to sip his tea. Jia Lian rubbed his hands and said, "Not counting the Zhao brothers, Yu Lu and Zhang Cai alone can find 5,000 taels. Adding the money mentioned above, the public treasury is now well-stocked."

Mrs. Xing was secretly very proud of herself. The people who seized the items were all hers, so she had to give her share of the tribute. It was not easy to keep the valuables, but Mrs. Xing had collected a lot of antiques these days. She sent Wang Shanbao to the pawnshop to ask, and after a rough count, the items were worth at least 2,000 silver dollars!

It was a pity that the news had leaked out earlier, and many servants had already moved their property to their relatives' homes, and some even took their belongings and fled the Jia family without returning. If she hadn't been so anxious to let the news out, it's possible that Mrs. Xing could have made five thousand taels of gold this time!

Feeling proud, Mrs. Xing picked up the teacup and glanced at Sister Feng. Seeing her rosy face, she smiled and asked, "What did Sister Feng say?"

Feng Jieer smiled and said, "It's a pity that the eldest wife is in charge of the family. What can I, as a junior, say? If I had known that the eldest wife was so capable, she would have been the one in charge of the family."

Mrs. Xing didn't hear the teasing intent, so she smiled and said modestly, "That's true... After all, I am the second wife who came in later, so it's only right for the Madam to be the head of the household."

Feng Jieer sneered in her heart. This time, Madam Xing killed all the servants in the mansion. There was nothing wrong in investigating corruption, but the mistake was to chase people away! The servants in this family were connected to each other, and they were relatives for several generations. If they were to be chased away, they should have been chased away. They chased away the Zhang family but kept the Zhang family's relatives. Who knows if they won't do bad things to retaliate in the future?
Well, since Mrs. Xing was the villain anyway, why should she worry? The revenge in the future will not reach her.

He glanced at Jia Lian again and thought to himself, I don't know what this person is thinking. Nanny Zhao is his wet nurse, and she doesn't even protect her at this time. Wouldn't that make her lose the support of the people?
Just as I was thinking about it, someone suddenly announced, "Aunt Zhao is here."

Jia Zheng frowned and snorted coldly, saying, "It's definitely not a good thing."

As they were talking, Aunt Zhao walked in with her head held high. Jia Zheng was old and in mourning, so he had no intention of remarrying. Aunt Zhao had murdered Lady Wang, and she was worried for a while until Lady Wang sent the wedding invitation. She thought to herself that the master was old and might not have the intention of remarrying. In this case, wouldn't she be in charge of the second room?
Because Aunt Zhao had become increasingly trembling these days, she even spoke to Jia Zheng in a bossy manner.

In the past few days, Mrs. Xing has been searching and chasing people everywhere, and the family is in a panic. Some of them are panicking and have to offer gold and silver gifts to ask Aunt Zhao to blow more on Jia Zheng's pillow. Aunt Zhao was born as a maid and has never seen such dazzling things in her life. She immediately agreed and turned around to find Jia Zheng to persuade her. But Jia Zheng just called her a stupid woman and refused to agree.

Aunt Zhao thought, if the master doesn't want to listen, then so be it, anyway, the benefit has been obtained. But no one was willing to come to the door after that, Aunt Zhao was very puzzled, and the maid Xiao Que said, "It's useless to spend money to help people get rid of disasters. Aunt, this temple is not effective. Don't we have to find another temple to worship the Buddha?"

Aunt Zhao thought about it and immediately became worried. Just that day, Jia Huan came back in a sullen mood. Aunt Zhao cursed him a few times, but Jia Huan hesitated and didn't say where he had been hanging out that day.

Actually, Jia Huan had gone with Xing Dequan to Third Sister You's place today. Third Sister You was charming and charming, and her every frown and smile was enchanting. As Jia Huan grew older, he also learned about her affairs at Mantou Temple, and he could not take his eyes off her.

During the banquet, Third Sister You brought up the past incident again, to which Xing Dequan readily agreed, but he did not know how to avenge Second Sister You.

Jia Huan drank too much, but he kept the matter in mind. When he heard Aunt Zhao's complaints and curses, he suddenly had an idea. He thought to himself that if he exposed the matter of You Erjie at this time, he might help both his mother and You Sanjie... If he succeeded, maybe he could get close to her.
Since it was Jia Huan, he said, "The eldest lady is just a bully who only bullies the weak and fears the strong. She only dares to take down the subordinate servants. But it's not just the servants who are guilty. Do you think she has ever taken down the master?"

Aunt Zhao asked hurriedly, "What do you mean by that?"

Jia Huan shook his head and said, "Mother, have you forgotten about You Erjie?"

Aunt Zhao's eyes suddenly lit up - come on! If she exposed this matter, even if she couldn't succeed, she could at least muddy the waters. If the servants in the family knew how powerful Aunt Zhao was, wouldn't they send all the yellow and white things to her?
Aunt Zhao immediately stood up and walked towards the meeting room.

At this moment, Aunt Zhao stood in the hall without bowing, and just shouted: "Master is too biased. He only investigated a few servants, why not the master?"

Mrs. Xing was annoyed by Aunt Zhao's meddling, thinking that Aunt Zhao had ordered Wang Shanbao to do something wrong, so she angrily said, "We are doing business now, why are you making such a fuss! You came in so carelessly without even saying hello, do you know how to behave? Get out now!"

Aunt Zhao was not afraid of the unemployed widow, Mrs. Xing, and shouted, "We will not obey until the master is investigated!"

Jia Zheng scolded, "Haven't you heard that officials are not subject to punishment? You stupid old woman, get out now!"

Aunt Zhao still refused to leave and said, "Other things are fine, but will you forgive the master for killing someone?"

Mrs. Xing and Jia Zheng were both stunned for a moment. The latter asked, "That's another matter. Which master killed the man? Find him out for me. If you can't find him, don't leave. I'll beat him with forty sticks!"

When Aunt Zhao heard that she was going to be beaten with a stick, she immediately lost some of her courage. She glanced at Sister Feng who was watching coldly from the sidelines and said, "I, I also heard it, I can't be sure. People outside say that Lian'er's wife killed You Erjie... Well, Master, you can decide whether to believe it or not."

After saying that, he turned and left.

Feng Jieer was stunned for a moment, then she got angry and stood up and shouted, "Stop right there! You want to leave after saying something incoherent? Tell me clearly, who told you that?"

Aunt Zhao had lost her courage, so how could she dare to stay? She left without looking back.

Sister Feng was so angry that her face turned blue and her eyes were wide open. Mrs. Xing and Jia Lian were both looking at him.

Jia Zheng coughed and said calmly, "Don't pay any attention to this woman. She is spreading rumors and causing trouble, hoping that the world will not be in chaos. It really makes people angry. If she comes in again in the future, don't say anything and kick her out immediately."

Fengjie made the excuse that she felt dizzy and wanted to go back to rest.

Jia Zheng said, "You have been worrying a lot these days. If you are tired, go back and rest."

Sister Feng was supported by Feng'er and accompanied by Ping'er as they went out.

Jia Zheng continued, "Mrs. Zhao kept shouting about investigating this and that, but she herself has gathered a group of thieves at home and has forgotten to clean up the mess."

Mrs. Xing laughed and said, "What is she afraid of? She assured me that no one has the word thief written on their face, so how can they say that all of their people are thieves?"

Jia Zheng sneered, "But it is extremely unreasonable. I heard earlier that she has a nephew named Zhao Xin who was caught and released, released and caught again, and often stayed with Huan'er. Why keep such a petty thief like him?"

Lin Zhixiao hurried forward to report: "Zhao Xin was expelled the day before yesterday, and the stolen items have been returned to their original owners."

On the other side, Sister Feng came out of the meeting room but did not return to the garden, but went straight to Zhao Yi Niang's courtyard. After a few quick steps, she caught up with Zhao Yi Niang and Xiao Que.

Feng Jieer had lost her composure just now, but now she calmed down. But how could she bear to let Aunt Zhao spit bloody words at her in front of everyone? She immediately cursed coldly: "You evil woman, don't leave! Come here and tell me clearly who I killed!"

Aunt Zhao knew that she had no way to avoid it, and thought to herself that she was the elder after all, so how could Sister Feng dare to be so presumptuous? So she stopped and turned her head and said, "I won't leave, let's see if you can eat me up!"

Sister Feng came forward with a half-smile, slapped him twice, and cursed: "You stupid woman who no one cares about, you gossip nonsense every day, others don't care about you, but I won't fall for it!"

Aunt Zhao was slapped twice and immediately refused to take it anymore! She banged her head into Fengjie's arms and cried, "Hit me twice more. It's fine if you show off your power in front of me, but you actually bully me."

Ping'er, Feng'er and Xiaoque hurried to persuade them.

Feng Jieer wanted to hit her again, but Ping Erh stopped her. She cursed, "Don't stop me. I'm going to tear this thief's mouth off today!"

At this moment, two maids came to the meeting room to reply. Ping'er hurriedly called them back and managed to separate them. Let's not talk about this side, but the meeting room.

Jia Zheng called the servant who had made the mistake to come for trial, but Mrs. Xing had no time to think about it. She could not help thinking that she was now the head of the family, but it was not right or proper, and she could not rely on her seniority to suppress him. She might be found guilty by Feng Jie one day and be driven away.

How can one live a good life without power or wealth? Why not use this incident to give Sister Feng a good son, so that from now on, he can legitimately manage the family.

After making up her mind, Mrs. Xing saw the servant who made the mistake being taken away. She took a sip of tea and said, "What Aunt Zhao said just now is probably groundless. There must be a reason for it. No matter if it is a false accusation or a frame-up, we must get to the bottom of it. This way, Sister Feng can be cleared of all charges."

Jia Zheng said nonchalantly, "It's just nonsense. Why should the eldest lady care about it?"

Mrs. Xing said, "It's not easy to tell such nonsense, it's better to find out the truth."

Jia Zheng was too lazy to get involved, so he simply said, "Since the eldest lady has this intention, then let's investigate it privately. Now is a time of trouble in the family, so we must not make it too public."

(End of this chapter)