The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 570

"Master, master, it's not good..."

"Why are you panicking?"

In the small study of Meng Pozhai, Jia Zheng was talking about the classics with two or three Qing guests, when he suddenly saw a servant rushing in, he was very displeased.

"Master, Second Master Lian, Second Master Lian is interrogating Da Lai in the compound!"

"Is there such a thing?"

Jia Zheng looked slightly moved.

Lai is greater than Jia Zheng, just like Zhao'er is to Jia Lian. If it is not Jia Lian who is on trial, but the government yamen, Jia Zheng might be trembling.

"What is he being tried for?"

"Say yes, say it's Lai Da and Lai Aunt who are greedy for ink...by nature..."

Jia Zheng frowned slightly when he heard the word Tanmo, and then he felt relieved. He got up from his chair and waved his hands to Zhan Guang and the others: "Sit down here for a while, gentlemen. I'll go and have a look."

Said, walked out quickly.

When we arrived at the compound, we saw people gathering here. Jia Lian stood upright in the hallway of the counting room. Seven or eight steps down in front of him, Mr. and Mrs. Lai bowed their bodies with fear on their faces.

"These are the written documents written by the shopkeepers and bosses in Beijing. They record the year, month, time, and place of your Lai Da. Relying on the power of the Jia family to suppress the market price.

A total of seven copies, including more than [-] things you have handled or others have handled, involving more than [-] taels of corruption. "

As soon as Jia Lian said this, all the servants in the courtyard were in an uproar.

Three... More than 3 taels of silver?How much does it cost? How dare Lai Da?

There are also those who have known about Lai Da's background for a long time, but now they sneer and mention to the people around them what they have seen and suspected the fact that Lai Da is greedy for ink.In the past, because of the prestige of the Lai family, he dared not offend them, but now that Second Master Lian has personally dealt with them, his Lai family will have to shed their skin even if they don't die, so there is no need to be afraid of him!
Lai Da looked at the "papers" thrown by Jia Lian under the steps, resisting the urge to wipe his sweat, knelt and walked over to pick them up and watch them.

But he already knew it in his heart, and he was just shocked that Jia Lian even collected all these criminal evidences for him, and collected so many, so he just glanced at one or two copies, then raised his head and began to kowtow, complaining that he was wronged.

He kowtowed to the west again, because he had already seen one of his backers rushing over.

Jia Lian also saw Jia Zheng, but since he didn't come to the stage, Jia Lian pretended not to see him, and continued to question Lai Da in a cold voice: "Wrong? It's written clearly in black and white. Could it be that you still want to I will find all the people to confront you face to face?
Don't bother, Lin Zhixiao. "

Lin Zhixiao, who didn't know when to return to the throne, immediately waved to the back when he heard the sound, and immediately a dozen servants of the Rongguo Mansion escorted five Rongguo Mansion stewards with dusty gray faces, and threw them into the compound.

When Lai Da saw it, his heart continued to sink into the abyss.Gein and these people are all the people he has trusted the most when he has been promoted over the years as the manager. Each of them knows some inside stories about him more or less.

Second Master Lian even arrested them, which shows his determination to deal with him.

He couldn't help it anymore, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.But he hasn't given up yet, and he doesn't want to plead guilty, because his two backers haven't spoken yet.

As long as those two don't give up on him, he'll be fine.

For Hou Men's government, the so-called criminal evidence is sometimes not worth anything.As long as Jia's mother and Jia Zheng insisted on protecting him, even if Second Master Lian wanted to deal with him, he might not be able to do so. In the end, he could only compromise and punish him with minor punishments.

So Lai Da didn't speak anymore, but looked at Jia Zheng beside him pleadingly.

Jia Zheng sighed secretly and walked towards Jia Lian.

"Why is the master here?"

"I heard that you are interrogating Lai Da, so come and have a look."

Jia Zheng sighed, and asked puzzledly: "I don't know, what crime did he commit to make you so angry?

You are nothing more than a slave, you have an unusual status now, why should you be as knowledgeable as him, you should take care of yourself. "

Jia Zheng's words seemed to care about Jia Lian, but they undoubtedly revealed his desire to protect Lai Da.

The facts were exactly as Lai Da expected. For people like Jia Zheng, the subordinates were greedy for ink, and it was absolutely impossible to say that they didn't know anything about it.

Don't talk about anything else, just look at how prosperous the Lai family's life is, and the family is more grand than ordinary wealthy businessmen. Could it be that Jia Zheng is a fool who can't see the root cause of it?
He can understand it naturally, just like the emperor does not send hungry soldiers.Lai Da can do so many things for him, how can he not let him benefit from it?
Now that Jia Lian wants to seize the fact that Lai Da is greedy for ink, and make a big move, Jia Zheng naturally wants to make the big thing small and calm Jia Lian's anger.

"As for Lai Da, after all, he has been with me for so many years. Even if he made a mistake, you should punish him a little for my sake. How about teaching him next time?"

Sure enough, Jia Zheng directly interceded for Lai Da with one sentence too much.

Many people were very jealous. Jia Zheng, as the master of the Rongguo Mansion for more than ten years, cared so much about his own dignity, and now he was willing to plead in public for a servant.In the entire Jia family, probably only Lai Dayi has this honor.

As expected, Lai Da's confidence increased greatly. He who knew the situation best kowtowed his head and said loudly: "I also ask the second master to forgive me. I know I was wrong. The slave is willing to accept the punishment of the second master, and promises to change his mind from now on, and never dare to do anything. Greedy, if you violate this oath, you will be beaten to death by the second master in public, and this servant is willing!"

When Lai Da said this, he gave Jia Lian a step down.

But can Jia Lian go?
This time he was so well prepared, if he couldn't get rid of the Lai family, even his prestige would be greatly damaged if he didn't say anything.

He also understood why Jia Zheng would protect Lai Da.After all, if someone wants to touch Zhao'er at this time, he will do his best to protect it.

A boss who can't even keep the person he trusts the most is doomed to fail.

Jia Zheng may not be good at political tactics, but as the head of the Duke's Mansion, he naturally sensed that he couldn't easily let others deal with Lai Da.

So Jia Lian cupped his hands to Jia Zheng and said, "Lai is bigger than my Jia family and has made contributions to the master. I know that. If it is not necessary, my nephew will not go to war like this.

Let me tell you the truth, my nephew has been staying home for two or three years.I have always given them opportunities, thinking that as long as Lai Da can remember a little bit of Nanny Lai's loyalty to the old lady, remember a little bit of her duty as a slave, and rein in the precipice in time, for the sake of the old lady and the master, I may not be able to open my eyes. One eye, one eye closed.

but!

This dog slave obviously regarded his nephew's patience as a concession and weakness.In the past two years, my nephew hinted and warned this servant several times to keep things in order, but he didn't take it seriously, and continued to go his own way, wantonly greedy for money.

The master should have heard it just now, just because my nephew was found out, this Lai Dayi corrupted the silver in my Rongguo government official's inventory, a total of more than [-] taels!
What a shocking number this is, master, you know, the sum of all the silver in our government treasury in Rongguo now is less than this number.

The master also knows that this is only what I found out, and it is almost all the amount that Lai Da corrupted during the year when he built the Grand View Garden in my Jia mansion.

If you go after him for more than ten years as the manager, how much greedy this dog slave should be, can the master understand?
If these dog slaves are not eliminated in time to serve as an example to others, I am afraid that my huge Rongguo Mansion will be emptied of all our wealth by these slaves, but it will be just around the corner! "

Jia Lian's words were full of anger and resounding, which shocked Jia Zheng, and he couldn't help but wonder: "What Lian'er said is true, is he really so bold?"

Jia Lian snorted coldly, and asked someone to pick up the "paper" that had been thrown to the bottom of the steps, and handed it to Jia Zheng to watch.

Jia Zheng just didn't like mundane affairs. In fact, he was quite smart. After seeing these well-founded testimonies, he knew that they were probably true. Therefore, he couldn't help but feel a little angry at Lai Da, and asked loudly: "How are you?" Be bold!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, Lai Da quickly defended: "Master calm down, this slave is really wronged. As mentioned above, slaves lower the market price, there are indeed some, but this is also for the sake of the government, and I also know that in recent years Some are in short supply, and the cost of building a relative garden for the empress is too high, so I try to use the lowest possible price to purchase enough materials for the house. But the master can rest assured that all the things purchased by the servants are the slaves. I have personally tested it, and there is absolutely no case of shoddy.

As for those shopkeepers who said that the servant insisted on rebates, it is pure slander, they probably hate the servant for buying their materials at a low price, so they maliciously bite the servant, and please learn from the master..."

"Hehehe, so you have embezzled so much money from the master's family, are you thinking of the master's family?"

Jia Lian couldn't help laughing, it was too embarrassing for Lai Da, and under such circumstances, he could still find an excuse.

Hearing Jia Lian's ridicule, Lai Da didn't dare to speak anymore. Jia Zheng was also shocked by the criminal evidence Jia Lian collected. He didn't know what to say for a while, and Jia Lian didn't say anything.

……

Lai everyone, already messed up a pot of porridge.

When Jia Lian's personal soldiers cleared the way and Lin Zhixiao's family led a large number of servants and rushed into Lai's family, there were more than [-] people in Lai's family, all panicked.

Regarding house raids, Jia Lian's soldiers had experience in Jiangnan and his party, and they had long been familiar with the road, and all the key figures and all irrelevant personnel were pushed aside for custody.

As for Lin Zhixiao's family, they have been oppressed by the Lai family for so many years, and they have always hated the Lai family in their hearts. Now that they have the opportunity, they will naturally not be polite.Those women who got her orders and promised benefits, ran amok in Lai's house one by one, checking all the places they could find.

Soon the Lai family was turned upside down.

"Ms. Lin, all the houses have been searched, and only the main house of Lai Nanny is left. Look..."

A servant woman walked up to Lin Zhixiao's house and said.Nanny Lai, as the maid brought over by Jia's mother from the historian's family, has the highest status in the entire Jia family's servant circle. Who wouldn't give her a little bit of shame?
If they didn't know that Lin Zhixiao's family was backed by Jia Lian, how would they dare to copy Lai's family.

Lin Zhixiao's family also hesitated for a moment, but then their faces became ruthless, and they said coldly: "The Lai family is greedy, and the second master must be severely punished. The second master has explained that this time, every plant and tree in Lai's family , Brick by brick, all of them can't be let go, copy!"

"Okay, I've seen his Lai family dislike him for a long time."

As soon as the old ladies rolled up their sleeves, they were about to rush into Nanny Lai's courtyard.

"slow."

A clear and pleasant voice sounded from behind, everyone looked back, and immediately surrounded them, fawning and laughing: "Why did Miss Ping come in, you just need to direct outside, you don't need to come in, these dirty jobs of rummaging through boxes and cabinets are tiring. , how can I trouble you to do it yourself."

Lin Zhixiao's family thought that Jia Lian specially asked Ping'er to come with her to search the house to supervise her, fearing that she would enrich herself.But she had been repeatedly told by her man that she also wanted to be the first wife in charge of the inner house, so even though she saw the huge amount of property found from Lai's house, she didn't dare to move her mind, so she was not afraid How about Ping'er, just maintain the respect on the surface.

Ping'er saw the thoughts of Lin Zhixiao's family completely, shook his head and smiled: "It's been hard work for Mrs. Lin, the second master trusts Mrs. Lin's loyalty and ability.

However, Nanny Lai belongs to the old lady after all, and she is also old. If you collide like this, if something happens to her, even the second master will not be able to explain it to the old lady. "

"That's what Miss Yiping means."

Ping'er smiled, did not explain, but walked forward.

There was such a noise outside, it was impossible for Mammy Lai not to know that the people in her yard had already panicked, even Mammy Lai huddled at the door to watch the situation.

I also saw the fierceness of Lin Zhixiao's family and others just now, and now I saw the upright and peaceful Ping'er, and suddenly I saw a savior.

"Miss Ping, my Miss Ping, what the hell is going on, why is it so good, it has become like this..."

With the support of two maidservants, Nanny Lai ran out of the courtyard door and yelled at Ping'er.

The shadow of a famous tree, even as Nanny Lai, has never paid much attention to Ping'er, the "deputy manager" of the Rongguo Mansion, but he has heard a lot of praise from others, and he knows that Ping'er is a good person.

When people are in trouble, they always hope that there are good people to help.

Ping'er helped Nanny Lai up, and said: "Mother Lai, don't panic, nothing serious happened, but someone reported to Mr. Lai that he was greedy for money from officials, and the second master didn't believe it, so let me wait to verify it. Mother Lai Don't worry, we're only here to check and won't hurt anyone..."

Madam Lai is old, but she is not stupid.What kind of verification confirmed that this is clearly a copy of the house!
She also saw that those who rushed into her house holding fire, armed with knives and armor were obviously soldiers around Jia Lian, and she knew very well in her heart that this was Jia Lian's intention, otherwise she would lend Lin Zhixiao's 120 guts, He didn't dare to mess around with her family.

I knew it in my heart, but I didn't dare not to climb down the ladder given by Ping'er.

"Miss Ping, my good girl, but something happened to Lai Da?" Nanny Lai knew that since the mansion took action against her Lai family, it must be because of Lai Da.

Ping'er sighed a long time, looking at Nanny Lai's dignified yet old-fashioned appearance, she was a bit pitiful, and explained: "Mother Lai, don't worry, Manager Lai is fine, he... the second master is now interrogating him."

Nanny Lai let out a sad voice, and a great feeling of regret welled up in her heart.

For his son's sake, even if he is good, he won't stand the interrogation. What's more, she doesn't know what her son has done all these years.

"Old lady, does the elderly know about her?"

Facing Nanny Lai's hopeful look, Ping'er was silent for a while, "I probably know that the second master didn't avoid people, and the trial was held in the courtyard."

Nanny Lai slumped on the ground.

(End of this chapter)