Lie down and eat melon in the protagonist group

Chapter 25 Account Books
Ling Jing lowered her eyelashes, kowtowed to the ground respectfully, and said, "Your Majesty, I am the daughter of the people, Ling Jing. Ling Qiong is the eldest sister of the people."

Xia Yun asked: "What's going on?"

The leader hurriedly handed over his hands to reply. Geng Geng said that he had searched the Ling family to no avail, so he had to bring back someone who could speak for questioning.

"I found an account book at Ling's house."

"Send it up."

The leader took out the account book from his arms, stopped in front of the vertical axis, raised his hands above his head, and bent down to present it.

A calloused hand reached out from between the scrolls and took away the account book.

After a while, the account book fell to the ground with a "snap" sound and slowly slid out from under the vertical axis.

Xia Yun said angrily: "What I want is the Chamber of Commerce's current account book, not the Ling family's running account."

The leader was so frightened that he knelt down on one knee and said in panic: "Please forgive me for neglecting my duty. Please ask me to take someone to Ling's house to go through it again."

There was silence for a while before Xia Yun said: "No need."

He turned to the point and asked Ling Jing: "I want to ask you, where are the Lingyun Chamber of Commerce's account books hidden? If you tell any lies, I will kill you immediately."

"A civilian girl doesn't dare." Ling Jing put her forehead against the back of her hand, "The eldest sister has always taken care of the affairs of the Chamber of Commerce herself. A civilian girl lives in the boudoir and never asks about outside affairs. Please investigate."

Sure enough, he checked the account books.

Ling Jing's lips curled up slightly, no matter how hard they checked, they would never be able to get the real account books of the Chamber of Commerce's accounts.

When Ling Qiong was making the account books, she made four copies of the accounts in advance just for today's review of the account books.

A false account from beginning to end, a real account that is half true and false, a real account, and a detailed account that separates medicinal materials and grains.

If he guessed correctly, the obviously false accounts should now be in the hands of Prince Lin Yiheng.

There was another long silence.

Xia Yun asked again: "Where is Ling Qiong now?"

"Young women don't know." Ling Jing burst into tears. "The eldest sister went out to do business as usual. In the past, it was common for her not to come home for ten and a half days. But this time, there has been no news for a month. On New Year's Eve, No letter has been sent back in ten days. The girl was frightened and asked people to ask around, but there was no trace. Please forgive me for asking boldly. Your Majesty is asking me today, but what happened to the eldest sister when she went out? "

Xia Yun scolded her, "If I ask you anything, just answer it honestly and don't play tricks."

He wanted to continue the interrogation, but a government official ran in from outside the hall, stopped beside Ling Jing, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I would like to see you, Mr. Yun, the governor of Yuzhou."

Ling Jing raised her eyebrows when she heard this. The governor of Yuzhou was really well-informed. He knew so quickly that the people investigating the case undercover had come to Shangfucheng. He probably came here to find out the details.

Yuzhou is extremely rich. Which official doesn't have three layers of fat on his body? Every step was bumpy, and golden waves rolled over each layer. All of them are holding hands while eating and carrying, how can they have a breath of fresh air?

Corruption and bribery can be investigated and stopped, but they cannot be uprooted. Losing one's official title is a small matter, but losing one's head is a big deal.

It was as quiet as a haze inside, and the open hall was particularly depressing.

"Give me a seat." Xia Yun had to see the governor of Yuzhou. No matter whether it was good or bad, he had to deal with it. He turned to the leader and told the leader, "take her away and try her again another day."

On the 30th day of the year, when midnight comes, firecrackers roar from every household in the alley.

The Ling family picked out a firecracker and responded to the scene.

As soon as Ling Jing left and never returned, she knew she had been detained and imprisoned. At this stage, she didn't know when she would be released.

On the first day of the first lunar month, Ling Huai ordered the chief steward of the family to gather all the servants in the flower hall, reward them with the new year's money one by one, take out the deed of betrayal and return them all, collect most of the various gold and silver furnishings in the house, and distribute them to the servants With one piece in hand, they were immediately sent out of the house.

They left behind Mrs. Chuuai and Kui Qing, as well as Mrs. Zhang Dong who served Ling An, and Li Guanqi who was not good at business.

Early in the morning on the second day of the lunar new year, Kui Qing opened the suitcase. Ling Dang put the steaming meals and snacks into the compartment, packed them carefully, and Ling Huai reached out to pick them up and walked out.

"Fifth Young Master, let me do it." Mrs. Chuuai quickly took it.

"Have you brought enough money?" Ling Dang followed Ling Huai to the gate step by step, and took out a handful of gold hairpins and jade hairpins, "I still have a lot of jewelry here."

Ling Huai pushed her fingers and clasped them in his palm, took her hand and smiled gently, "Don't worry about the money. You only have so much jewelry left in total. Wear it for a while, and we'll take a closer look later." Pick what you like.”

"I don't like these." Ling Dang insisted on stuffing it into his arms.

The last time the yamen broke in and ransacked the house, most of the gold and silver jewelry was lost out of thin air. Ling Dang's gold beads, which he had worked hard to save for a year, disappeared without a trace.

He is an official on the outside, but a bandit on the outside.

There are few valuable things in the house now.

Ling Huai is going to visit Ling Jing in prison today. At such a critical moment, he doesn't know if he can meet him. At the moment, I can only hope that money can make the world go round, and I can spend money on favors from people I bump into along the way.

"Keep the rest for now, maybe we can be used in emergencies." Ling Huai knew he couldn't defeat her, so he took a jade hairpin, "I'm leaving first, you go back quickly. Kui Qing, take Ah Dang back to the house." "

Ling Dang stood on the steps at the door and watched, while Ling Huai turned around to urge her back. The cold wind blew the lanterns under the eaves, and little bits of snow swirled down on her head.

Kui Qing took her shoulders and led her inside, "Fourth girl, she has disappeared. Go back."

The plot in the book doesn't match up.

This is not in the original book.

Ling Dang turned around with uneasiness. She was not only afraid that the plot in the book was unshakable, but also afraid that it would become unrecognizable and full of dangers.

The Fu Yamen Women's Prison is cleaner and brighter than the general prison and Humen Prison for death row prisoners, with eight out of ten rooms empty.

Ling Jing sat cross-legged on the pile of straw, looking at the female prisoner opposite who was curled up and lying on the ground, not knowing whether to live or die.

As soon as she came in, the female prisoner was interrogated six times in succession. I don’t know what kind of torture the government officials inflicted on her. She had turned into a piece of flesh. In addition to the screams, the female prisoner muttered that she was wronged, and she was a mess of blood and flesh. Unyielding and unyielding.

She lowered her eyelashes, with coldness hidden in her eyes, silently calculating the time, and then taking the opportunity to estimate when Ling Huai would show up.

After all, if he doesn't come, it would be pointless for her to be a one-woman show in this big drama.

The sound of footsteps came, Ling Jing listened to the footsteps and secretly estimated how many people came this time.

Is it to interrogate the female prisoner opposite, interrogate her, or...

Ling Jing raised her eyes, and Ling Huai appeared in front of the prison door led by the Yamen servant.

The yamen servant held the chain in one hand and the key in the other hand, looking at Ling Huai tacitly.

"Thank you." Ling Huai took out a banknote from his arms and handed it to the yamen servant.

"A stick of incense. If you have anything to say, tell me quickly." The yamen servant stuffed the banknote into his lapel and opened the lock neatly, "Don't waste the time."

Ling Huai carried the suitcase in. The yamen officer locked the door several times, sat back at the square table at the entrance of the prison, lit a stick of incense, and blew it with his mouth from time to time.

Ling Jing asked: "How is your family?"

Ling Huai opened the lid and said, "It's not very good. Xiaoqi was frightened and lost her appetite. She can't eat anything these days. The whole family is worried."

"..." Ling Jing forcefully suppressed the corners of her mouth that were about to twitch. Xiao Qi was born with a gluttonous stomach, and when she couldn't eat, she was just talking nonsense.

Don't worry about lying, that means everything is fine at home.

Ling Jing quickly squeezed out a few drops of cat urine and cried sadly. Ling Huai stepped forward and patted her on the back, "Third sister, the whole family is worried. What's going on?"

Ling Jing wiped her tears, "You are still young, and you don't understand many things. Is there any news about eldest sister?"

"No." Ling Huai gave her a look and said, "If you don't tell me, how do you know I don't understand?"

Ling Jing raised her head and choked, and her crying gradually became quieter. She slowly calmed down, as if she was struggling. After a long while, she raised her face, pursed her lips, and stopped talking.

"Third sister." Ling Huai begged her to tell him frankly.

"The officials from Kyoto came to investigate the case and found the eldest sister. They want the Chamber of Commerce's account books." Ling Jing lowered her voice.

"The account books are not in the Chamber of Commerce?" Ling Huai pretended to be dumbfounded.

"The account book of the Chamber of Commerce is a false account." Ling Jing clasped her fingers tightly, "As for the truth,"

"where?"

Ling Jing stopped talking.

"Third sister! Do you want the whole family to go to jail with you and suffer the consequences? Now the eldest sister is missing, and you... In this way, there is no one in the family who can do anything, and the servants in the family bully us because we are young, Volume All the valuable things in the house were stolen. Isn’t it just this account book? If they want it, give it to them. If the people do not fight with the officials and hand over the account book peacefully, won’t it be good for our family to live peacefully?"

Ling Jing burst into tears and hesitated, "But,"

"Stop being stubborn, you can make more money if you don't have it, but if you lose your life..." Ling Huai couldn't say any more, so he regained his composure by bringing out the food in the suitcase, "Third sister, let's eat first."

Just at this moment, the yamen servant slowly came over to unlock the door and said, "Are you done talking? The time has come, young master, come back."

Ling Huai reluctantly walked out of the cell, turned his back to Ling Jing and said, "Third sister, think about it carefully."

Dead silence returned to the women's prison.

The female prisoner opposite suddenly made a whooshing sound. She looked directly at the food in front of Ling Jing with her hazy eyes. She squirmed her head and opened and closed her dead skinned lips without making a sound.

Ling Jing stood up, grabbed the railing, and shouted to the prison door: "Master, the daughter of the people has something to say."

The yamen officer rushed up with a quick stride, his eyes shining brightly, "Say!"

Ling Jing took out a bowl of steaming bone soup from the suitcase and said sincerely: "Before that, please feed her this bowl of soup."

The yamen officer frowned fiercely.

Ling Jing smiled and said, "No? Then beat me to death like she did."

"threaten me?"

"No way, it's just a matter of effort. I know the whereabouts of the account books, and I want to say that if things are delayed because of you, you will not only not get any good money, but you may also lose your life. If you follow me, you will know the whereabouts of the account books for nothing. Earn merit and get promoted and make a fortune soon. I'm tired." Ling Jing held the soup bowl with both hands.

The officer cursed and took the bowl, grabbed a handful of the female prisoner's hair and threw it at her, drinking her wine vigorously.

"You can't even protect yourself, so you don't have time to worry about the life and death of others." The yamen servant threw the bowl.

It was smashed to pieces with a bang.

"Found it!" The yamen servant smashed open a hollow gold statue of the God of Wealth in the small accounting room in the boudoir on the second floor of the Ling family, revealing the chamber of commerce's account books.

The account books were taken away, the Lingyun Chamber of Commerce was immediately sealed, and the Ling family was ransacked.

In the women's prison, the officer jingled the bell and opened the cell door chain, calling Ling Jing in a long voice, "Let's go."

The yamen servant had put on a brand new outfit and wore the badge of the Inspection Department on his waist. His ruffian look made the official clothes look nondescript.

Ling Jing walked out of the cell door and said with a smile, "Congratulations."

The officer turned his nostrils to the sky, turned his face away and turned to her, cupping his hands and saying, "Thanks to you."

Passing by the door of the female prisoner's cell, Ling Jing glanced out of the corner of her eye. The female prisoner opened her eyes without blinking and stared at her moving her eyes.

Arriving outside the prison door, Ling Jing turned her face and asked the officer: "What did she commit?"

The yamen servant caressed the badge and couldn't put it down, and replied casually: "It's a serious matter. He had an affair with a foreigner to gain property, and poisoned his parents-in-law and husband. The bad guy complained first, and even if the evidence of the crime was proven, he refused to admit it."

Ling Jing said: "She has been tried like that, and she screamed that she was wronged in one breath. Is there any hidden secret?"

"Unjustly accused?" The officer sneered, "Who wouldn't cry out unjustly after entering the prison? Can you see the snow falling in June?"

Ling Jing was noncommittal and asked, "I wonder what your surname is?"

"My surname is Yang, and my single name is Gan. What's the official business of my official name?" Yang Gan glanced at her up and down, but he saw that her skin was like gelatin, and her waist was slender and graceful.

His eyes rolled with joy, and he added, "I am twenty-one years old, my family has a small field, and I have not yet married a wife."

"I dare to trouble you, Yang Inspector, to do something for you." Ling Jing took off the jade bracelet on her wrist, held Yang Gan's rough callus hand in her slender jade hand, and placed the jade bracelet on his palm, "Leave her alone." .”

Yang Gan's Adam's apple slid for a while, and he stared at the bracelet. The warm jade was in his hand, but it was not as soft as the soft pancreas that slipped away like silk, which made people dream about it.

Ling Jing took out a few more banknotes from her sleeves and added them, bowed and said, "Goodbye, daughter of the common people."

The soft and fine snow covered the deep alley, and the road was white. The last door of the Ling family was sealed, and the footprints in front of the door were messy.

Ling Dang squatted down and adjusted Ling An's cloak and hat, while also covering his neck with a fur scarf, "Is it cold?"

They were kicked out of their home by the government officials who came to ransack their home. Fortunately, they were prepared in advance, otherwise they would not even have the necessary clothing to keep themselves warm from the cold.

Ling Cen stood on the stone steps and looked at the entrance of the alley. There was a layer of snow on his shoulders. "Is it true that Third Sister can return safely?"

"Yeah." Ling Huai held an umbrella.

Mrs. Chuhua went to Fuyahou to pick up Ling Jing early in the morning, but she hasn't come back yet.

Ling Huai was not worried about what would happen to Ling Jing. The real account book found by the yamen servants was quite convincing with its true and false contents. Moreover, prices in various places have remained high, which is obvious to all. The Lingyun Chamber of Commerce stocked up on goods beforehand, but most of them took advantage of the disaster and got rid of it. The Chamber of Commerce only made money, and did not pay bribes to intercept the government's disaster relief and engage in shady business. It cannot be a serious crime.

Even ransacking your home is considered excessive.

After all, the prince is now the new official's most important weapon. If he doesn't use some thunderous means, how can he deter the intricate clan forces in Yuzhou.

What's more, Lingyun Chamber of Commerce has such a large snack, who doesn't want to share a piece. Those with evil intentions secretly took the opportunity to pull Ling Qiong out of power, and colluded with officials and businessmen to help Zhou Wei confiscate the Ling family's house. They were afraid that Ling Qiong would come back and exact revenge.

"Fourth sister, I'm hungry." Ling An stretched out his little hand and grabbed a corner of Ling Dang's cloak.

"Little greedy cat." Ling Dang scratched the tip of his nose.

Mrs. Zhang Dong hurriedly opened the suitcase, took out a few pieces of pastry and quickly covered it. Ling An ate the cake happily, and he kindly handed a piece to Li Guanqi.

Sitting in a wheelchair, Li Guanqi timidly thanked him, took a small bite, and smiled at Ling An.

Kui Qing said with a smile: "Don't flatter the young master, otherwise he will think about you when he eats. The young master has a good appetite, and you may not be able to hold on."

A carriage turned in at the entrance of the deep alley. There was no eye-catching sign on the carriage. It gradually approached and the driver stopped in front of Ling's house.

Ling Huai and Ling Cen blocked the steps on the left and right, protecting the old, weak, women and children behind them.

The snow continued to fall, and the slender hand with bony fingers moved away from the car curtain, revealing a cuff of a green shirt. The sickly boy poked his face out, his skin whiter than the snow.

(End of this chapter)