Mistress

Chapter 23

Xu Cheng opened the two letters written by Mrs. Tai again, every word and every line, which made him feel chills.

Zhang Yuliu has already been taken out by the people of Chengtian Mansion, but she still didn't give up, and said all the way: "Even if I went to Chengtian Mansion, the truth is the same, Mrs. Tai ordered me to do all of this!"

Zhang Yuliu was full of energy, crying out in grief and anger all the way, it seemed that she was more wronged than Dou E, until she was brought to the gate of the mansion, her shrill voice was still echoing in the prime minister's mansion.

Li Yan knew very well in her heart that it was hard to say whether Zhang Yuliu's sending to Chengtian Mansion would be a capital crime. She failed to frame her, so it was not considered a serious crime.As for her conspiring with her father to loot the prime minister's mansion and kill people, she can say that her father is the principal offender and she is only an accessory, because her father is already a capital crime, and she is not afraid of adding another crime.

What's more, she also pushed the matter to Mrs. Tai. Whether Mrs. Tai really dictated these things is impossible to obtain evidence. Of course, Xu Cheng would never hand over those two letters to Cheng Tianfu.And Mrs. Tai is the prime minister's mother, and she is very old, Cheng Tianfu dare not arrest Mrs. Tai for questioning, the case can't be decided clearly at all.

However, even if Zhang Yuliu was able to escape the capital crime, she would still have to suffer the life crime. She would have to spend at least a few years in prison. After a few years, she would become a lowly slave and be sent to a barren land to live her life. .

Seeing Xu Cheng's lonely expression, Li Yan knew that the letter was indeed written by Mrs. Tai.She really wanted to know what was written in the letter, how was Mrs. Tai's plan to deal with her and Xiao'er?Who is it written for?But at this juncture, in front of so many people, she couldn't ask too many questions.

Xu Cheng put the letter in his arms, Zhang Yuliu had been taken away, and he planned to deal with the servants of Fuliu Pavilion.Suddenly, he looked sideways at Li Yan, "You are the head of the house, so let you deal with these people."

Li Yan was a little hesitant. She was not yet proficient in this kind of business. Although she was the head of the house or something, she hadn't done anything serious yet.

Xu Cheng stood up, "I still have some things to do, I'll leave it to you here." He obviously trusted Li Yan very much and didn't want to ask about these things anymore, and then walked into the study with a heavy heart.

His attendants Zhang Chun and Wu Qingfeng stood outside the door of the study, ready to go in and wait on him at any time.The two guards, Su Bai and Zhu Yan, stood outside the gate of Zhihui Hall, motionless.

Li Yan knew that Xu Cheng was shocked by the contents of the letter, so she was in a bad state.But Mrs. Tai is his mother, and he can't question and blame, so he can only hold it in his heart.He was usually high-spirited and majestic, but sometimes he was worried about gains and losses. Li Yan felt a little distressed when he saw it, and wanted to comfort him a few words.

Suddenly she was secretly startled, she felt sorry for him a little bit, couldn't she be in love with him?No...impossible, this is not like her style, how could she fall in love with a man so easily?
Li Yan didn't think about it anymore, she looked down and found that everyone in the room was looking at her eagerly.She saw that Nanny Cui, Qi'er, and Ma Xing hadn't slept all night, their faces were pale, and they were already showing signs of fatigue, but they were finally elated after seeing their wife, and Zhang Yuliu was also punished, so although they were tired, they were a little excited.

Although Li Yan was happy in her heart, she couldn't show it on her face. She said gently: "Nurse, you must be tired, so hurry up and take your family home. Qi'er, Ma Xing, you too, go back and have a good rest."

"Yes." Cui Momo smiled and brought her children and Ma Xing together to salute Li Yanfu, and then went out.When Qier came over to salute, she winked mischievously at Qinger beside her, conveying her joy, and then walked out the door with brisk steps.

Now the rest are people who should be dealt with, Li Qing's family, Mei'er, Ju'er, and the four maids and servants involved in these cases.These people knew that Madam was usually kind-hearted, but at this moment they were even more pitiful, looking at Li Yan beggingly, hoping that the punishment would not be too severe.

Qing'er winked at the side, Li Yan understood her thoughts, she hoped that Madam would severely punish these people.

Li Yan thinks that these people should be dealt with from Xu Cheng's perspective. She can't let her own temperament make her own decisions, and she doesn't dare to kill anyone at will, although she hates Li Qing's family because the face of Li Qing's family last night is really too ugly.

Li Yan coughed lightly, and said with a serious look and every word: "Li Qing, Li Qing's family, although you were instructed by Zhang Yuliu, you should not distinguish between black and white, and frame up things randomly. Chengtian Mansion did not You took them away, but left you to be dealt with by the mansion, they spared you for the sake of the master, not because you did nothing wrong."

Li Qing's family hurriedly knelt down and tugged at the hem of her man's clothes. Li Qing also quickly knelt down, and both of them kowtowed to Li Yan.

Li Qing's family can speak well, and she is born to act. She only heard a "slap", and she stretched out her hand and slapped herself hard. The sound was clear and loud, and even her man Li Qing was startled.He didn't expect that his mother-in-law could beat him so hard.

There was a red handprint on the face of Li Qing's family, with tears streaming down his face, "Ma'am, you are the high-ranking wife of the prime minister, but you treat your servants with peace and generosity, and you are reasonable in dealing with things. The old slave respects his wife wholeheartedly, but doesn’t the lady always say that slaves should serve their masters well? Aunt Zhang, she... Zhang Yuliu used to be the master of the old slave, and the old slave had to follow her as her leader. If she disobeyed and disrespected, Didn’t he lose his role as a slave? I also hope that Madam will forgive the mistakes made by Lao Nu and Li Qing, it is indeed a helpless mistake rather than the original intention.”

Li Yan couldn't hear it more clearly, what she meant was that she cooperated with Zhang Yuliu to frame his wife, and she was doing her own duty, which was her duty as a slave.After all, she is a rare and loyal servant!

Li Yan smiled gracefully, "Since you are so loyal to your master, why did you confess and reveal all about your master last night? If you want to be loyal, you have to persevere to the end, right?"

The body of Li Qing's family froze, "Master... The master is majestic, and this slave dare not refuse to recruit him. The master is the biggest master in the house, so the slave must be more loyal to him."

"Oh, you mean that as long as the master is not around, you dare to cooperate with Zhang Yuliu to do whatever you want? Am I not your master? Not only am I your master, I was also Zhang Yuliu's master before this. When you entered the mansion, didn't you Did someone teach you what it means to commit an offense above!" Li Yan raised her voice, and Li Qing's family and Li Qing couldn't help shrinking their necks.

Li Yan said sharply again: "A mistake is a mistake. Didn't you repay your kindness just because I didn't agree to let your son be a small steward? If it weren't for relying on my natal family, you wouldn't even be able to enter this mansion back then." ! The servant made a mistake not only did not have the courage to admit it, but also dared to argue in front of the masters, trying to escape punishment, this is a mistake!"

Li Qing and Li Qing's family were a little panicked, knowing that showing off their tongues now would only lead to a heavier punishment, so they kept their mouths tightly shut and did not dare to speak out again.

Their sons and daughters were so frightened that they ran over and kowtowed and begged for mercy.

Li Yan thought for a while, and then said: "Punish Li Qing and Li Qing's family with [-] boards. The reason why the fine is less is not because of your begging for mercy, but because Chengtian Mansion is still investigating the case, and may even take you to record confessions. .Besides, after this case is over, you can take your children out of the mansion. Life and death are up to you, and you will never be able to step into the Xu mansion again in this lifetime."

Li Qing's family looked stunned, and kowtowed again, "Ma'am, you have a kind heart, so please pity the old slave. The old slave's family doesn't even have a place to live outside. The whole family will starve to death after leaving the house." .”

Li Yan knew that she just wanted some money to send, but Li Yan was not a bodhisattva, so she said coldly: "I didn't punish you and Li Qing severely, it's considered a lenient. If you ask more, don't blame my heart." Cruel."

Li Qing's family was speechless, the wife in front of her had indeed changed a lot.She and Li Qing stood up with mournful faces, and took their children to prepare to go out. At this time, Li Yan added: "Until this case is concluded, you can only stay in the side courtyard and cannot move around at will. After the case is concluded, you will be out of the house." At that time, you can only leave with your own clothes and the money you have saved in the past few years, if you dare to steal things from the mansion, don't ask me why you have lost your limbs!"

Li Qing's family's mouth shrunk, and this time they really cried sadly, crying for themselves.Just now she was still thinking, although the money saved by her family is not enough to buy a yard outside, and her livelihood is also worrying, when the time comes to leave the mansion, let's take some valuable things, just a porcelain vase or a hairpin will do. It's worth dozens of taels.

Unexpectedly, Li Yan shattered her last hope.

She burst into tears, and her whole family followed suit, crying and walking out.The servants have pulled up a stool, no matter how much they cry, the thirty boards of the two of them are still indispensable.The two of them are not young, they are both in their 40s, and these [-] big boards can kill half of their lives.

In fact, Li Yan felt that such a punishment was still light, but there was nothing she could do about it, because the former Li Nianyun had always been merciful.If her performance today is too different from the past, it is not in line with common sense.Li Yan sighed in her heart, it's better to walk steadily step by step.

Hearing the sound of boards and screams outside, Li Yan looked at Meier and Juer down the hall. She felt that these two maids were not bad-hearted, but they were still loyal to Zhang Yuliu.It may be because of this that Zhang Yuliu dared not entrust them with major tasks, and only asked them to do small things.

"Mei'er and Ju'er, since you are young and haven't committed any serious crimes, I won't punish you. I will ask Manager Lin to sell you to other people's houses. There is no benefit for you to stay here." , I will definitely lose my head because of Zhang Yuliu's matter, so it's better to go to another mansion and be a good person."

Meier and Juer kowtowed to thank each other.

Li Yan looked at the remaining four third-class maids and servants again, and sighed, "You are just passing on a message and wrapping notes in steamed buns. You don't know that Zhang Yuliu has hidden evil intentions, so I won't punish you. You follow Mei Let’s go to Steward Lin’s place together with Ju’er. Qing’er, take them to the steward’s room to find Steward Lin, pass on my words, and ask Steward Lin to sell them to a better house.”

These people kowtowed to thank them, and then followed Qing'er to the management room.

After dealing with these, Li Yan saw that the sound of boards outside also stopped, and she waved to Su Bai.Su Bai really hadn't heard her order before, he was stunned for a moment, but still came over.

He cupped his fists and bowed, "What's your order, madam?"

"On the day when Li Qing's family leaves the mansion, you take someone to watch over them, in case they feel resentful, and it's not good to cause trouble before they leave."

"Yes, ma'am." Su Bai accepted the order.

Li Yan knew that Li Qing's family was afraid of Su Bai, and with Su Bo following him, they would not dare to make trouble.

Li Yan got up and was about to go back to her Jinxiu Courtyard to rest, but she didn't expect to meet the furious Mrs. Tai just as she went out.

(End of this chapter)