Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 243: Evil Has Nowhere to Hide

Just when Jia Cong went to the inner courtyard to settle the female relatives, Prince Beijing arranged for the Jinyiwei to check and seal up the property in all places except the residence of the female relatives in the inner courtyard.

All the servants in Ningguo Mansion were also brought together for care to prevent chaos during the search.

Several eunuchs who were responsible for counting the treasures had taken the keys from Youshi and, along with five or six Jinyiwei, headed straight for the Ningguo silver vault.

After a while, the eunuch in charge of checking the silver in the treasury came back and reported to the chief eunuch who had been standing behind Prince Beijing without saying a word.

"Reporting to Eunuch Chen, I have checked the silver in the Ningguo Mansion's treasury and found that it has 83,412 taels, which is 1,000 taels less than the secret report.

We have checked the Ningguo Mansion's silver flow accounts. Ningguo Mansion closed the silver vault three days ago and withdrew 1,000 taels as daily consumption. The total accounts of the two are consistent. "

Prince Beijing, Guo Youchang and others present looked at him sideways after hearing this.

The palace even knew the amount of silver hidden in Ningguo so clearly that they could find out the reason for the shortage of a thousand taels. What else might they not know?

It was rumored in the court and the public that the Emperor's subordinate, the Imperial Chariot Officer, was all-powerful and omniscient, and this chief eunuch was most likely a member of the Imperial Chariot Officer.

When Jia Zheng heard these words, he felt a chill run down his spine, thinking of how Jia Cong's suggestion in Rongguo Mansion was so foresighted.

The holy heart is like an abyss, it cannot tolerate even a grain of sand!
……

Just as Jia Zheng was still in shock, Yang Hongbin, who had been silent all this time, said to him:

"Master Jia, the Dali Temple received a complaint from a victim, and it is not only the Ning Mansion Jia Zhen and his son who committed evil deeds.

Lai Er, the steward of Ning Mansion, relied on the power of his master to seize people's land and ordered his servants to beat several people to death and injure them. He was imprisoned by the Dali Temple the day before yesterday. At first, he was quite unruly and refused to plead guilty.

However, under Sanmu's command, not only did he confess his crime, but he was also implicated in other evil deeds, involving Lai Da, the chief steward of Rongguo Mansion, and other criminals.

This time I came to your house, firstly, on the orders of the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple to verify the search and seizure in Ning Mansion, and secondly, to arrest Lai Da and other criminals in your house.

But Rongguo Mansion is a noble family, a noble family, and I don't want to enter the mansion and offend anyone.

I also ask Lord Jia to arrest the criminal according to family law and hand him over to me to return to the Dali Temple for prosecution. I will be grateful to you."

Yang Hongbin's words were very polite. Although the Ningguo Mansion was ransacked this time, the Rongguo Mansion was still a noble and famous family, so they had to retain some dignity.

Also, Yang Hongbin and Jia Cong had shared hardships in Jinling and had a close friendship, so this face naturally had to be given to Jia Cong.

Jia Zheng took a deep breath when he heard this. How could something happen in the East Palace and involve people from the West Palace?
He had just witnessed the tragic scene of the East Palace being ransacked. Fortunately, the West Palace was safe and sound. He felt somewhat lucky and relieved, but he didn't expect that he would be involved in the end.

He immediately asked Yang Hongbin for details, only to find out that not only the Rongguo Mansion's chief steward Lai Da and his son Lai Shangrong were involved.

Wu Xindeng, Dai Liang, Qian Hua and others in Rongguo Mansion, and even Wang Fu-ren's companions Zhou Rui and his wife were implicated.

In addition, some old slaves of Rong State were also involved, a total of more than ten people.

Relying on the power of the master of the Jia family, these people not only committed illegal acts outside, such as forced purchases and seizures, and amassed wealth, but also colluded with each other inside to embezzle the assets of the Jia family.

In fact, it was accidental that the Dali Temple was able to uncover these secrets. After Lai Er was imprisoned, he had a tough attitude and was unwilling to confess his crime.

Because many of Jia Zhen's ugly deeds were done by Lai Er's lackey, he knew that Jia Zhen would not sit idly by and watch him in order to cover up his evil deeds, so he was hoping for a lucky break.

However, this case involved a major case involving a nobleman from the Ning Kingdom, and the three judicial departments were conducting a joint trial in public. No one dared to be negligent, and how could a family servant who refused to plead guilty be allowed to get away with it?

There are many veterans in torture among the three judicial officials. How could someone like Lai Er be able to handle them?

He was tortured and was deliberately let know that Jia Zhen had also been imprisoned and would be in danger of losing himself.

Lai Er could not bear the torture, and knowing that Jia Zhen had been captured, he had no chance of survival. His defenses were completely broken, and he confessed his guilt without hesitation.

In his depressed state of mind, he accidentally let out some secrets and revealed some unknown things in the Dali Temple.

As a result, the veterans of the Three Judicial Departments found out the flaw and spread the case, thus implicating Lai Da of Xifu, Wu Xindeng and other old servants in the family.

In fact, these people have been slaves in the Jia family for generations, and they not only rely on the power of the Jia family to do evil outside.

They also each took over important duties in the Jia family, such as housekeeping, warehouse management, purchasing, farms, and land rent. Seeing their masters enjoying wealth and luxury every day, how could they not be jealous?

In addition, Lady Jia, Mrs. Wang and others always treat their servants well in their words and deeds to win their hearts and rely on these servants to control the family business.

Although Wang Xifeng was harsh and harsh to the servants, she could not escape the criticism and denigration of the servants in front of and behind the scenes, as Lady Jia's mother and Lady Wang were kind. Under this kind of relaxed and unrestrained atmosphere in the harem, these old servants who occupied important positions took advantage of the opportunity and became more and more unscrupulous.

They colluded secretly and eroded the Jia family's wealth. When the master ate the meat, he dared to clean up the pot.

On the surface, he was a slave in the Jia family, but secretly he had accumulated wealth far exceeding that of the middle-class wealthy families.

Just look at the homes of Lai Da and Lai Er, which are a glimpse of this from the "broken flower courtyard" that is half the size of the Grand View Garden.

Moreover, most of the old servants in the Jia family knew each other's background and deceived the housewives, such as Lady Jia and Lady Wang, who thought they were smart, and lived in the dream of wealth and pleasure.

……

After hearing what Yang Hongbin said, Jia Zheng became so angry that his face turned red. For a moment, he couldn't believe that these seemingly loyal servants could be so treacherous.

Suddenly, a voice came from behind: "Master, the Ningguo incident this time will be tried by the three judges, and the investigation will definitely not be wrong!
For example, in the case of Xiuniang Incense Shop, Lai Er and Lai Shangrong were accomplices in the crime.

Brother Zhen and his son committed serious crimes, and the misfortune of being stripped of their titles was closely related to the instigation and assistance of these wicked slaves.

The disaster of Ningguo is a lesson for Rongguo!
Now that the three judicial officials have verified the evidence, Master must not be merciful. Take this opportunity to capture these cunning slaves in one fell swoop, eliminate the hidden dangers that have plagued Rongguo for many years, and protect the family from danger!"

After Jia Cong settled down Youshi Keqing and other female relatives, he came back and happened to hear some of Yang Hongbin's words.

He has been in the Jia Mansion for many years and has been an observer from the sidelines. He is not as blinded as Lady Jia and Lady Wang. He can see the tricks of these old servants from the daily details.

He felt deeply the cruelty of the old servant. Back then, Wang Shan, the housekeeper, not only treated him harshly in the East Courtyard, but also forced Zhishao to commit suicide.

There was also Mrs. Wang's companion, Zhou Rui. Wasn't it she who spread rumors and made it difficult for herself and Zhishao to enter the mansion? She was also severely punished by herself.

Therefore, Jia Cong had no good feelings towards these cunning old servants.

Not to mention him, even people as sharp-minded as Tanchun and Daiyu would probably be aware of the secretive behavior of these old servants.

For example, Tanchun once slapped Wang Shanbao's wife; Daiyu's words were revealing about Zhou Rui's wife's snobbish behavior of sending palace flowers.

There is no evidence to prove the other corruption cases involving money and silver. Besides, it is not appropriate for girls to interfere in household affairs.

Jia Zheng has always respected Jia Cong in his heart, not to mention that every word Jia Cong said made sense.

A thousand-mile long dike is destroyed by an ant hole; a family’s disaster starts from within the family!
Jia Zheng said angrily: "Cong'er is right. I will go back and tell the old lady to arrest these cunning servants and bring them to justice!"

After hearing this, Jia Cong thought to himself that these unruly servants were just indulged by the old lady. If he reported this to Lady Jia, the matter would probably lead to complications.

But he could not say the same thing to Jia Zheng, so he advised: "Master, these people are the masters of the servants in the family, and most of the servants in the mansion are assigned by them.

They have many eyes and ears in the mansion. If we report this to the old lady first, I'm afraid they will get the news.

If someone tries to escape and avoid punishment, and word gets out, it will damage the family's reputation..."

When Jia Zheng heard Jia Cong's last sentence, which damaged the family's reputation, his heart skipped a beat.

After all, he and Jia Cong had been together for many years, so he naturally heard that there was something else behind his words. However, Prince Beijing, Yang Hongbin and others were present, so Jia Cong did not dare to say it out loud.

Others don't say it, but Lai Da is Nanny Lai's eldest son, and Nanny Lai is the old lady's companion. The old lady has always regarded her as a family member.

If you want to get away with it, I'm afraid you won't be able to get past the old lady.

But now the Three Judicial Departments have implicated Lai Da and others from Lai Er of Ningguo, and these people are vaguely related to the disaster of Ningguo.

If the Rongguo Mansion does not decisively interrogate and take a stand, how can it shut up the three judicial officials? I am afraid that rumors will spread that Rongguo is shielding its servants and secretly protecting Ningguo's crimes.

Three people make a tiger, and gossip can melt gold. By then, it will bring disaster to the Rongguo Mansion.

Although Jia Zheng was a bit blunt, he still had some thoughts. After all, he had been the ruler of Rong State for many years and had seen a lot of the ways of the officialdom.

After Jia Cong's reminder, how could he not associate the hidden dangers with it?

Asked: "Cong'er, do you have any proper solution?"

(End of this chapter)