Chapter 243

Just when Jia Cong went to the inner courtyard to settle the female family members, the Prince of Beijing arranged for the Embroidered Uniform Guard to count and seal the property in other places except for the female family members' residence in the inner courtyard.

He also gathered all the servants of the Ningguo Prefecture for care, to prevent chaos during the raid.

Several eunuchs specially in charge of counting property took the keys from Zhang Zhang Youshi and, with five or six Embroidered Uniform Guards, went straight to the Ningguo silver treasury.

After a while, the eunuch in charge of counting the silver returned to report to the head eunuch who had been standing behind the Prince of Beijing without saying a word.

"Report to Chen Eunuch, the silver currently counted in the Ningguo Prefecture silver treasury is 83,412 taels, which is 1,000 taels different from the secret account."

"We have already checked the silver flow account of the Ningguo Prefecture; the Ningguo Prefecture sealed the silver treasury three days ago and withdrew 1,000 taels for daily consumption, and the two accounts match."

The Prince of Beijing, Guo Youchang, and others present were all a little surprised when they heard this.

The palace actually knew the amount of silver in the Ningguo treasury so clearly, and could even find out the reason for the shortage of 1,000 taels; what else was there that they didn't know.

It was rumored in the court and public that the Zhongche Office under the Emperor's hand had eyes and ears everywhere and knew everything; this head eunuch was mostly a figure from the Zhongche Office.

There was also Yang Hongbin and Jia Cong, who had shared hardships in Jinling, and their friendship was not shallow; naturally, this face had to be given to Jia Cong.

These people relied on the power of the Jia family's masters to not only act tyrannically and illegally outside, forcibly buying and seizing, gathering wealth, but also colluding with each other inside to parasitize and encroach on the Jia family's assets.

Yang Hongbin's words were already very polite; this time, although Ningguo was raided, the Rongguo Prefecture was still a noble and famous family, so they had to leave some face.

Wu Xindeng, Dai Liang, Qian Hua, and others in the Rongguo Prefecture, and even Lady Wang's attendant Zhou Rui and his wife, could not escape the relationship.

It was just that this involved a major case of Ningguo nobles, and the Three Judicial Offices were trying it; under the eyes of everyone, no one dared to be negligent; a family slave refused to plead guilty, so how could he be allowed to muddle through.

"I came to the mansion this time, first to verify the raid of the Ning Prefecture on the order of the Junior Vice Minister of the Grand Court of Justice, and second, I need to go to your mansion to arrest Lai Da and other criminals."

Jia Zheng gasped when he heard this; the East Prefecture had an incident, how could it involve people from the West Prefecture?

He had just seen the miserable scene of the East Prefecture being raided, and fortunately, the West Prefecture was safe and sound; he felt some luck and celebration in his heart, but didn't expect it to involve the relationship in the end.

"Lord Jia, the Grand Court of Justice received accusations from victims, not only about the evil deeds of Jia Zhen and his son of the Ning Prefecture."

"The Ning Prefecture steward Dong Laier relied on the power of the master's family to enclose people's fields and instigated family slaves to beat several people to death or injury; he was detained by the Grand Court of Justice the day before yesterday; at first, this person was quite arrogant and refused to plead guilty."

"After a round of torture, and intentionally letting him know that Jia Zhen had also been arrested and imprisoned, and couldn't even protect himself."

"But the Rongguo Prefecture is a noble mansion, a clean and noble family, so I don't want to enter the mansion and be negligent and offensive."

"Please Lord Jia use family law to lock up the criminals and hand them over to me to return to the Grand Court of Justice for trial; I will be deeply grateful."

And Jia Zheng felt a chill all over his body when he heard these words, thinking of the hints Jia Cong gave in the Rongguo Prefecture just now, which were so prescient.

He hurriedly asked Yang Hongbin for details, only to know that it not only involved the Rongguo Prefecture's head steward Lai Da and his son Lai Shangrong.

The Three Judicial Offices had many old hands at torture, so how could a person like Dong Laier deal with them.

Because Jia Zhen did many ugly things, and Dong Laier was the dog-leg who did the dirty work; he knew that Jia Zhen would definitely not stand by and watch in order to cover up the evil, which was why he had a fluke mentality.

The Emperor's heart is like an abyss, really unable to tolerate a grain of sand!

……

Just when Jia Zheng was terrified, Yang Hongbin, who had been silent, said to him:

However, under the torture, he not only pleaded guilty but also involved other evil deeds, involving the Rongguo Prefecture's head steward Lai Da and other criminals.

It also involved some old family slaves of the Rongguo Prefecture, totaling more than ten people.

In fact, the Grand Court of Justice could try these private matters, which was also due to chance; after Dong Laier was imprisoned, his original attitude was tough and he was unwilling to plead guilty.

Dong Laier couldn't bear the torture, and knowing that Jia Zhen had been arrested, he had no more luck, his psychological defense was completely broken, and he not only pleaded guilty.

In a state of mental depression, he accidentally leaked the news and said a few things that the Grand Court of Justice didn't know.

As a result, he was caught by the old hands of the Three Judicial Offices, who found the flaws, and like a vine, involved the old family slaves of the West Prefecture, Lai Da, Wu Xindeng, and others.

In fact, these people had been slaves in the Jia family for generations, not only acting tyrannically outside by relying on the power of the Jia family.

They also occupied important affairs such as stewards, treasury management, purchasing, farmland, and land rent in the Jia family, and saw their masters enjoying wealth and extravagance every day; how could they not be jealous.

In addition, Jia Mu and Lady Wang had always liked to say that they treated the old family slaves well, in order to win people's hearts and rely on these old servants to control the inner house and family business.

Although there were people like Wang Xifeng who were sharp-tongued and harsh to servants, under the contrast of the kind faces of Jia Mu and Lady Wang, they couldn't escape the criticism and belittlement of the servants in front of and behind their backs.

Under this kind of loose and tight inner house atmosphere, these old family slaves who occupied important positions had the opportunity to become increasingly unscrupulous.

They colluded in private, parasitized and shared the Jia clan's assets; the masters ate meat, and they dared to scrape the pot clean.

On the surface, they were slaves in the Jia family, but behind the scenes, the wealth they accumulated far exceeded that of middle-class families.

Just looking at the "broken flower courtyard" that Lai Da and Dong Laier's families could build, which was half the size of the Grand View Garden, was enough to see a glimpse.

And the old servants of the Jia family mostly knew each other's details, just deceiving the mistress of the house, Jia Mu and Lady Wang, who thought they were clever, and lived in a dream of wealth and pleasure.

……

Jia Zheng was so angry that his face turned red when he heard what Yang Hongbin said; for a moment, he couldn't believe that these old family slaves who looked loyal on the surface could be so treacherous and evil.

Suddenly he heard a voice coming from behind: "Master, the trial of the Ningguo matter by the lords of the Three Judicial Offices will definitely not be wrong!

Like the Xiuniang incense shop case, Dong Laier and Lai Shangrong were accomplices in evil.

Zhen Big Brother and his son have serious crimes and have suffered this disaster of stripping the title, which is inseparable from the instigation and assistance of these treacherous slaves.

The disaster of Ningguo is a warning for Rongguo!

Now that the Three Judicial Offices have verified the evidence, Master must not be soft-hearted; take this opportunity to capture these treacherous slaves in one fell swoop, remove the hidden dangers of Rongguo, and ensure the family is safe!"

Jia Cong settled Zhang Zhang Youshi, Keqing, and other female family members, and just happened to hear part of Yang Hongbin's words when he returned.

He had been in the Jia mansion for many years, and from a cold perspective, he was not like Jia Mu and Lady Wang, who were blinded; in daily details, he could see the tricks of these old servants.

He had a deep feeling about the treachery of the old servants; back then, Wang Shanbao's wife not only mistreated him in the East Road Courtyard but also forced Zhi Shao to commit suicide.

And Lady Wang's attendant Zhou Rui's wife, wasn't it she who stirred up trouble back then, making it difficult for him and Zhi Shao to enter the mansion, and was severely punished by him.

So Jia Cong didn't have any good feelings for these treacherous old servants.

Not to mention him, even people with keen minds like Seeing Tan Chun and Daiyu, I'm afraid they had some awareness of the private actions of these old servants.

For example, Seeing Tan Chun once slapped Wang Shanbao's wife; Daiyu's words about Zhou Rui's wife's snobbish act of sending palace flowers were clear.

Other acts of greed and corruption were just not evidenced, and besides, as young ladies in the boudoir, it was not appropriate to intervene in family affairs.

Jia Zheng had always esteemed Jia Cong, not to mention that Jia Cong's words were all reasonable.

A thousand-mile embankment is destroyed by an ant's nest; the disaster of the family starts from within the wall!

Jia Zheng said indignantly: "Cong'er's words are reasonable; I will go back and report to the old matriarch, and take these treacherous slaves to justice!"

Hearing this, Jia Cong secretly thought, these treacherous slaves were just indulged and tolerated by the old matriarch; if he reported to Jia Mu, this matter would mostly cause complications.

But he couldn't say this to Jia Zheng, so he advised: "Master, these people are the ones in charge of the servants in the house, and most of the servants in the prefecture are assigned by them.

They have many eyes and ears in the mansion; if you report to the old matriarch first, I'm afraid they will get the news.

By then, if someone escapes to avoid punishment and spreads it out, I'm afraid it will damage the family's reputation…."

Hearing Jia Cong's last sentence about damaging the family's reputation, Jia Zheng couldn't help but jump in his heart.

After all, he and Jia Cong had been together for many years, so he naturally heard that he was speaking with hidden meaning, but with the Prince of Beijing, Yang Hongbin, and others present, Jia Cong couldn't speak clearly.

Not to mention others, this Lai Da is the eldest son of Lai Mama, and Lai Mama is the attendant of the old matriarch, whom the old matriarch has always regarded as family.

If you want to take Lai Da, I'm afraid the old matriarch's hurdle will not be easy to pass.

But now the Three Judicial Offices have involved Lai Da and others from Ningguo's Dong Laier, and these people are vaguely associated with the disaster of Ningguo.

If the Rongguo Prefecture doesn't decisively arrest them and show a posture, how can it block the mouths of the Three Judicial Offices? I'm afraid that later, words will spread that Rongguo is shielding family slaves and secretly shielding Ningguo's crimes.

Three people make a tiger, and public opinion can melt gold; by then, it will be a disaster for the Rongguo Prefecture.

Although Jia Zheng was a bit straightforward, he still had some considerations; after all, he had been the head of the Rongguo family for many years and had seen a lot of officialdom sophistication.

After Jia Cong's hint, how could he not think of the hidden dangers.

He asked: "Does Cong'er have any proper method?"

(End of chapter)