The head of the Red Mansion

Lu Caishen loaded several carts of goods onto the Ningguo Mansion as an apology.

He is not afraid of being seen, but he is afraid of being unseen.

Silver is his source of confidence; he's already spent quite a bit of it, and he's determined to keep being generous.

As long as Jia Zhen doesn't keep pressing him, and the Shuntian Prefecture and the Five Cities Garrison lose their aggrieved party, and he manages to smooth things over by making some connections and being summoned less often, then everything will be under control.

Therefore, even though Lu Kun had some doubts about Xie Zhenghu's coincidental entry into the tunnel several times, he still showed his utmost apology.

"I'm just a businessman, as you know. Businessmen always make money by being friendly, so how could I dare to get involved with such a powerful figure in the underworld!"

Lu Kun felt like crying his heart out in front of Jia Zhen.

He certainly investigated the Ningguo Mansion.

Unfortunately, the Ningguo Mansion only has one legitimate son, who is only twelve years old and far from being able to get married. Even if he wanted to send a daughter over to be someone's concubine, it would be impossible.

He did want to send one to Jia Zhen, but the lady Shen inside seemed a bit difficult to deal with. If he sent a concubine to her grandson, she might turn a blind eye because of the doting affection between grandparents and grandchildren, but if he sent one to his son... what if she got angry? The Lu family might end up offending her after giving away a dowry and a daughter for nothing.

Lu Kun dared not send Jia Zhen a concubine.

In fact, ever since the Jia family returned the treasury silver, everyone in the capital knew that Jia Zhen was useless. He was afraid of his mother like a cat avoiding a mouse. If his mother told him to go east, he wouldn't even dare to glance west.

After all, in front of many members of the Jia family, they stripped Jia Jing of everything and made him pick manure at a Taoist temple, and no one dared to say a word of 'no'.

She's definitely a shrew!

"It's all because of that butler..."

Thinking of his very capable butler, Lu Kun was truly moved to tears. "Who would have thought that when he was young, he would owe Xie Zhenghu a favor?"

At this point, he hastily wiped away a tear, "I know that no matter what, my family has an inescapable responsibility, so I came here sincerely, only hoping that Lord Jia can quell his wrath."

Before he finished speaking, Lu Kun took out a flat jade box from his sleeve and pushed it towards Jia Zhen on the table, saying, "Please accept this, Lord Jia, to ease my anxiety."

He thought he had lowered his stance considerably, but to his surprise, Jia Zhen took a sip of tea and didn't even glance at him.

"grown ups……"

Helpless, Lu Kun could only open the jade box himself, "Here are 100,000 taels of silver notes, you..."

Bang~
Jia Zhen slammed the teacup and all on the table, a half-smile on his face, and said, "Lu Kun, you spent 100,000 taels of silver to buy three months of freedom in Shuntian Prefecture, didn't you?"

Were the salt merchants in Jiangnan wealthy?

But they dare not call themselves the God of Wealth.

And this one is called the Western God of Wealth.

Lian's second brother went to the Li family to cause trouble. After taking more than 100,000 taels of silver from them, he forced all the family members, young and old, in front of the people of Yangzhou and beat them severely.

But this Lu Kun...

"grown ups……"

Lu Kun's heart skipped a beat.

Upon entering the capital, he knew that these powerful and influential people were ruthless and unscrupulous, but he never expected that a declining Ningguo Mansion would dare to be so greedy.

"This is your personal private money."

How can a man not have a little stash of money?

Jia Jing's private savings had been completely stripped away by that Madam Shen, and he didn't believe that Jia Zhen wasn't secretly saving some money.

Lu Kun then pushed the jade box containing ten silver notes toward him, saying, "I naturally have other gifts to offer."

He had to suppress this matter.

Otherwise, as the Prince of Jin said, the emperor could really smear him and Xie Zhenghu together and take the opportunity to confiscate his property.

Lu Kun's back was sweating. He quickly pulled out a bulging money bag from another large sleeve. "This is my apology to you."

Jia Zhen glanced at it.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't tempted at all.

The whole family, including Xiaoyue'er, had their own savings, but he was pitiful. He had painstakingly saved a few thousand taels of silver, but his father took it all away.

Now, if he wants to eat more dishes, he has to share a table with Madam You or his son. If he had this 100,000 taels of private savings...

No no no!
Thinking of his mother's meaningful look before he left, Jia Zhen couldn't help but break out in a sweat.

If his mother found out, he would dare to embezzle 100,000 taels of silver...

Before I get so angry I die, I'll definitely beat him to death first.

Even if they couldn't bear to kill him, they would definitely have Jiao Da break his legs.

That's not the worst part; the worst part is that he lost his mother.

His father would come back from the Taoist temple and strangle him with a rope himself.

His family...

Jia Zhen swallowed hard and slammed his hand on the table.

"grown ups……"

Lu Kun was startled.

"How much is this?"

Jia Zhen's eyes were filled with malice.

"Ten...twelve thousand taels of silver notes."

Inside the jade box, there was a silver note worth ten thousand taels.

The same applies to the silver pouch, except there are two more.

This is just in case.

That adds up to 220,000 taels of silver. Why is Jia Zhen still not satisfied?

Lu Kun was very rich, but the richer a person is, the stingier they tend to be.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to run both a money exchange and a gambling den at the same time.

"grown ups!"

Lu Kun was heartbroken. "Inside the carriage outside, there are gifts for your esteemed matriarch. Besides two century-old ginseng roots, there's also a box of top-quality pearls from beyond the Great Wall..."

As he spoke, he winked at his attendant, signaling him to quickly present the gift list. "Take a look and see if there's anything lacking. I'll have someone prepare it for you right away."

Jia Zhen accepted it.

The first line says tiger skin, followed by mink skin, fox skin, and other furs.

Then came two century-old ginseng roots, top-quality deer antler, and nourishing foods like bird's nest and donkey-hide gelatin.

Finally, there were pearls, gold and jade jewelry, etc., which looked like they had been carefully made.

Jia Zhen quickly estimated the amount in his mind, put the gift list on the table, and said, "Boss Lu, do you know how many times Xie Zhenghu stabbed me that day?" His eyes were filled with great pressure. "If it weren't for the blessings of our ancestors, my grave would be overgrown with weeds by now."

This?
"grown ups!"

Lu Kun swallowed hard. "Please wait a moment, sir. I'll go back to the manor now and make the preparations..."

"That's not necessary!"

Jia Zhen wasn't stupid. Everyone knew that this man surnamed Lu was rich. His grand arrival to deliver gifts had probably caught the attention of certain censors who liked to spread rumors. If he were to return, he could expect to be impeached!

"I heard that your butler has a courtyard on White Horse Street?"

Jia Zhen said calmly, "Since you've made friends with that Xie fellow, you should be prepared to go bankrupt."

what?
"Yes!"

Although it felt a bit unfair to make Steward Liu's family move out immediately, he could make it up to them later.

Lu Kun just wanted to appease the Jia family as soon as possible, so he hurriedly said, "Please wait a moment, sir. When I get home, I will have someone send over the Liu family's property deeds and all that."

"It's too much trouble to send it over."

Jia Zhen called out, "Xing'er, go, follow Boss Lu, we're going to collect the rooms now."

"Yes!"

Xing'er looked at Lu Kun, "Boss Lu, please!"

Jia Zhen watched them leave before putting away his money bag and jade box and heading to the backyard.

Before long, Shen Ning saw the 220,000 taels of silver notes.

"Mother!"

Jia Zhen was very pleased with himself, saying, "That man surnamed Lu probably only wanted to give me 100,000 taels of silver at first, but luckily my son managed to keep me calm."

"It's just a piece of paper, what's there to be proud of?"

Shen Ning looked at the banknotes and said, "Moreover, this kind of paper was produced by the Lu family themselves."

Jia Zhen: "..."

He looked at the banknotes and felt a little uneasy.

"You don't think the Lu family's money shop will be completely unaffected by the incident at the God of Wealth Gambling House, do you?"

The silver remained in the Prince of Jin's purse.

Shen Ning threw the silver notes back. "If you don't want them to end up as blank pieces of paper, go and exchange some back." As she said this, she thought of something else. "Exchange them one by one, and have someone exchange one every hour."

"...Yes, son, I'll have someone take care of it right away."

Jia Zhen thought his mother was afraid he would redeem too much at once, attracting unwanted attention. Little did she know, Shen Ning wanted to see the Western God of Wealth's ability to pay out.

After all, many people had witnessed what happened at the gambling den. With the gambling den temporarily shut down, Lu Kun now only had a money exchange.

He used to have a good reputation, and many people deposited their money in his bank, but today he has offended the government.

There will always be some people who follow the trend and exchange their money.

Even if he manages to pull through in the end, he'll still be somewhat weakened, right?

"There's no need to rush, but it's about the money..."

Even after generations of accumulation, the Ningguo family's public coffers amounted to only a little over 200,000 taels of silver.

However, since Lu Kun was giving away 220,000 taels of silver, Shen Ning felt uneasy. "Do you feel at ease taking it?"

Jia Zhen: "..."

He wanted to say that he felt very grounded.

But the mother was clearly uneasy.

Sigh, women are just so timid!

“Mother, Lu Kun is called the Western God of Wealth.”

Jia Zhen wanted to say that this was nothing to him, "Don't worry, as long as he still wants to make a living in the capital..."

"What if he can't make it in the industry?"

Their goal is to make sure he can't stay in the business world anymore!
Shen Ning looked at her eldest son, who was blinded by money, and said, "Zhen'er, you should know that Lu Kun is the Prince of Jin's man. As long as he is alive, the Prince of Jin will never lack money."

"Even if it weren't for Lu Kun, there would have been Liu Kun or Zhang Kun."

Jia Zhen was quite helpless. "Which of those big merchants, if they want to make a name for themselves, doesn't rely on powerful and influential people?"

Even their family.

The Xue family of Jinling, who are now related by marriage, used to send money to them.

"...But finding someone like Lu Kun right away will take time, won't it?"

Shen Ning still insisted on her judgment, "Zhen'er, if it's only 20,000 taels, you can take it, but 220,000 taels... that's really too much."

Jia Zhen: "..."

He regretted it; he should have kept the 100,000 as his own private savings.

"Didn't the Emperor Emeritus say that day that if you have any problems, you can go directly to the Emperor?"

"..."

Jia Zhen wanted to cry.

If the Emperor sees this, will he still have a share of the silver?

"His Majesty wants to strike at Prince Jin even more than we do."

Shen Ning pushed the silver notes outwards, "Good boy, take these silver notes and tell the Emperor that Lu Kun gave you so much all at once, and you're feeling anxious."

"...Then...we're not going to exchange it?"

"...If His Majesty has the leisure to chat with you, you can say that you originally planned to exchange the silver and put it in a silver shop, so that the silver would still belong to them."

"Yes!"

Jia Zhen left dejectedly.

Shen Ning was not at ease either.

It's 220,000 taels of silver.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't tempted at all.

However, even if they take this money, it might not be a crime for the Jia family in the future.

Or rather, taking this silver would be a thorn in the emperor's side.

Shen Ning had a terrible headache.

The emperor was also having a major headache at this time.

When General Jiang Yu of Ningxia returned to Beijing to report on his duties, he brought very bad news. The day before he returned to Beijing, Ningxia and the Tatars had been hit by hail for several days. It was feared that it would not be long before they would start looting again.

He receives disaster relief, but when the Tatars send troops... if he wants to calmly and safely drive them back, the money will have to be spent like water.

The national treasury has finally recovered a little!
Even if he empties his coffers now, he probably won't be able to stop the war that is about to break out in Ningxia!
"emperor!"

Knowing that the Emperor had a headache, Eunuch Liu approached cautiously, saying, "Jia Zhen from the Ningguo Mansion has arrived. He has something to report."

emperor:"……"

He didn't want to see him.

Nothing serious will happen to Jia Zhen.

"Ask him, if it's nothing serious, let him cancel the payment!"

"Your Majesty, I think Lord Jia looks very unwell."

Eunuch Liu felt he couldn't handle it.

Besides, they just gave him two hundred taels of silver.

The intention is very clear: he wants to see the emperor.

"...Then declare it quickly!"

The emperor rubbed his forehead.

Soon, Jia Zhen entered.

"Your subject Jia Zhen pays respects to Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!"

"What's the matter?"

The emperor didn't utter a single unnecessary word.

He sat high up and looked down at him.

"emperor……"

Jia Zhen hesitated for a moment, then finally took out the jade box and money bag, saying, "This is the apology money that Lu Kun, the God of Wealth of the West, just sent to me."

emperor:"……"

My head hurts even more.

"A total of 220,000 taels."

emperor:"……"

He couldn't help but lean forward and look down.

Knowing the emperor's intentions, Eunuch Liu quickly brought over the jade box and money bag and presented them to him.

Why would he apologize to you so much?

The emperor couldn't help but ask Jia Zhen.

"Xie Zhenghu, who assassinated me, is hiding in one of his three hideouts..."

Jia Zhen hurriedly recounted what had happened that morning: "He first gave me 100,000 taels of silver. I was so angry that I wanted to give him a hard time, but then he took out another 120,000 taels."

If I had known, I wouldn't have given them the cold shoulder.

With 100,000 taels of silver, his mother might not be afraid anymore.

"Your Majesty, I... Your Majesty, I was frightened. He took out so much silver all at once. After I saw him off, I went to see my mother. She also said that this silver was too hot to handle. So I... Your Majesty, I came to see you."

emperor:"……"

He was heartbroken.

I'm so happy.

He has no money.

The national treasury is empty.

The war is about to begin.

He had no money to give to the soldiers.

OK, OK!

"Well done!"

The emperor smiled broadly. "The Western God of Wealth, is it? I remember Xie Zhenghu is connected to the remnants of the previous dynasty. I will definitely help you investigate this matter thoroughly."

what?
Looking at the emperor's smiling face, Jia Zhen understood somewhat.

"emperor!"

He kowtowed again, “Lu Kun also sent a lot of gifts to my family. I…I was still angry at the time and asked his steward for a courtyard.”

"Well, you can keep those for yourself!"

The emperor was unusually generous. "Go back and give my regards to Madam Shen. I'm quite busy right now, but I'll talk to you again when I have some free time."

He needed to hurry and find out about the Western God of Wealth.

Haha, finally I don't have to worry anymore! (End of Chapter)