The head of the Red Mansion

Chapter 19 Accumulating Blessings
Jia Zheng, accompanied by two servants, ran madly towards the Lai family.

However, after rushing into the yard, panting heavily, he froze.

The servants from the two mansions did not fight; instead, they were happily and excitedly carrying the chests together. Not far away, the guards from the East Mansion were forcing Lai Da's family to kneel on the ground.

"Waaaaah~, waaaaah~~~~"

Lai Da, whose mouth was stuffed with a rag, struggled violently when he saw Jia Zheng. The guards holding him simply pressed his head and face to the ground and rubbed them together, saying, "Behave yourself."

"Woooooo~~~"

Lai Da's tears flowed freely.

"Stop! What are you doing?"

Jia Zheng was panting heavily. "Stop it, all of you! Eldest brother, Zhen'er, the old lady is here! Stop it now! Are you trying to anger her to death?"

Although he was relieved that his elder brother hadn't fought with Jia Zhen, their actions... almost instinctively, he brought out his elderly mother.

“Zhen’er, it’s one thing for you to cause trouble in your own household, but how can you cause trouble in our household?”

The Rong Mansion belongs to him.

"You're trying to force me to file a lawsuit..."

"Second!"

Jia She shouted, pointing to the small box in front of him, "Come and see for yourself what this is?"

Jia Zheng: "..."

He slowly endured it.

A Tang tri-colored camel stood quietly inside the box.

This this……

In an instant, Jia Zheng's flushed face, which had just appeared, turned pale.

This was a piece of Tang tri-color pottery that his father liked very much. He remembered that he had personally placed it in his father's coffin. How could it be here?
Jia Zheng turned his head blankly to look at Lai Da.

"Waaaaah~, waaaaah~~"

The way Lai Da struggled seemed to be saying, "This thing is not that thing."

Jia Zheng took a deep breath. "Things can be similar. Let's hear what Lai Da has to say!"

If the eldest brother and Jia Zhen were to take down Lai Da, the world in the family... would probably change by half.

"Big brother, Lai Da grew up with us, can't you just listen to what he has to say?"

"Ho~"

Jia She was amused by his words, "Fine, this camel is similar to another object, but what about this one? A doucai seahorse jar with the character 'Tian' on it. Don't tell me he happens to have one of those at home too."

In the box on the other side, there was not only a Ming Chenghua doucai seahorse jar with the character "天" (tian), but also several other bottles and jars. They looked... although they were not very big, they looked really familiar!
Jia Zheng suddenly noticed a small Ge ware plate with crab claw patterns. It used to be his favorite item. Originally, it was a pair, but Zhu'er accidentally broke one when she was little, so he kept the other one.

Shouldn't it be in his little storeroom?

Jia Zheng couldn't help but pick it up; it really was... the more he looked at it, the more it resembled something.

"Come on, take another look at these two boxes."

Jia She personally opened a box, which glittered in the sunlight.

hiss~
Despite his wealthy background, the dazzling golden light before him left Jia Zheng so astonished that he didn't know where to stand.

Although the box doesn't look very big and isn't completely full, a rough estimate would put it at more than a thousand taels.

This this?

Jia Zheng looked at Lai Da again.

Lai Da's face was ashen, but he still tried to speak through sobs.

“I also found a small box of this money at Lai Sheng’s house.” Jia Zhen’s initial displeasure dissipated after seeing the similar amount of valuables here. “If Uncle Zheng wants to hear Lai the Great’s bluff, I can let him explain himself.”

Jia Zheng: "..."

He stared blankly at Jia Zhen, and finally saw Lai Sheng kneeling in the corridor behind him.

Good heavens, they're going to wipe out the entire Lai family!
"The old lady is here, the old lady is here, my son!"

Granny Lai rushed in, wailing and crying, but when she saw the courtyard full of boxes, she seemed unable to bear it, rolled her eyes, and collapsed to the ground.

"Jia Zhen, stop it, you old woman."

Before even getting out of the carriage, Grandmother Jia was already busy supporting her. However, as soon as Lady Wang helped her into the courtyard with an imposing air, she suddenly stopped.

So many boxes?
How fast would it take to copy that?

Neither of them noticed the small Ge kiln plate in Jia Zheng's hand; their eyes involuntarily glanced at the two gold ingots that Jia She casually held in his hand.

"Jia Zhen greets the old lady and his second aunt."

Jia Zhen bowed politely, "It's not that I don't want to stop, it's just that the Lai family has gone too far." He straightened up, "The Lai family eats the food of the Jia family, drinks the food of the Jia family, uses the food of the Jia family, and they've even started stealing. Old Madam, come and see! They can even steal Uncle's burial goods."

what?
Grandmother Jia was unsteady on her feet, and Madam Xing and Wang Xifeng, who had rushed over from behind, quickly helped her up and supported her.

Next came Lady You, who had been ordered to come and see what was going on.

"Take a look!"

Jia Zhen glanced at You Shi and said, "Look how audacious these servants are. After you've seen it all... report it to the authorities!"

He originally wanted to kill them all, but then he thought about how big the scene was today and how many people outside knew about it.

If the Lai family, consisting of twenty or thirty people, were all killed at once, the Jia family would definitely be impeached by the Censorate.

Jia Zhen waved his hand, and the guards holding Lai Sheng and Lai Da dragged them to a side room. "You brothers talk it out. Once you've settled things, we'll talk some more."

"..."

"..."

The group of people were stunned.

What else is there to talk about with the Lai brothers?

“Uncles,” Jia Zhen seemed oblivious to everyone’s confusion, “we were able to uncover Lai Da’s secret treasure so quickly thanks to Lai Sheng. I have promised him three hundred taels of silver as a settlement allowance for his two younger sons.”

"..."

"..."

Grandmother Jia, Jia Zheng, Lady Wang, and the others were all stunned by his actions. But while they were stunned, Jia She acted quite quickly, swiftly moving a small box, emptying out all sorts of rings, filling it with ten gold ingots, and then, after thinking for a moment, grabbing a handful of gold and jade rings and stuffing them in, saying, "I can't let you work for nothing."

He handed the small box to Xing'er, saying, "Zhen'er, thank you for what you did today."

It is the right thing to let Lai Sheng and Lai Da talk.

We can't let the government know about all this wealth.

The Jia family cannot afford to lose face like this.

After all, if outsiders knew that the Jia family had been robbed by servants in such a way, they would probably laugh their heads off.

"This way..."

Jia She glanced at his mother and said, "For the sake of the old lady, let's keep Granny Lai and the youngest child!"

Jia Mu: "..."

She looked at Granny Lai, who was slowly waking up, and her face twitched.

……

At Ningguo Mansion, Shen Ning, who had eaten, taken a nap, and then came out to bask in the sun, saw several carriages parked in front of the courtyard. Then, one by one, boxes were unloaded, and she couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Grandmother, this is the list I copied. Please take a look."

Jia Rong's eyes were full of excitement. "I sent the less important things to the main kitchen and the main storeroom."

"Yes, my Rong-ge'er is capable."

Shen Ning looked at the list with a smile, but it would have been better if she hadn't looked at it...

The first line reads, "One thousand three hundred and twenty taels of gold."

The second line contains 7,860 taels of silver.

The third row consists of three rented shops: a grain shop on Changsheng Street, a general store on Dongda Street, and a shop on Ningrong Back Street.

The fourth row of houses is located a hundred miles outside the city, on a small hill, plus sixty-eight acres of farmland of varying quality.

Fifth line...

Shen Ning skimmed through the first three pages and was immediately shocked by what she saw.

A rough estimate suggests that the Lai family embezzled more than 100,000 taels from the Jia family.

This doesn't even include their three-courtyard house where they live.

No wonder some of the Jia family's side sons call Lai Sheng and Lai Da "Grandpa Lai" when they see them.

Really...

Shen Ning slowly put down the order in her hand. "Quite a few people have heard about what happened today, haven't they?"

"……Um!"

Jia Rong hesitated for a moment, then said, "I saw an official in the Censorate robes."

"..."

Shen Ning frowned. "When your great-grandfather was in Ningguo Mansion, he borrowed 120,000 taels of silver from the national treasury." She thought for a moment. "Before the yamen is closed, Rong-ge'er, take the IOU and have Jiao Da take you to hand over the 120,000 taels of silver that are sealed in the treasury, as well as this gold, to the national treasury."

what?
Jia Rong was stunned.

His great-grandfather was so powerful, and his family was so rich, how come they still owed money to the national treasury?
"Good boy, hurry up and go before your father comes back!"

At this point, she raised her voice to Jiao Dadao, who was guarding outside the courtyard: "Jiao Da, take your young master and return the money that the old master owes to the national treasury."

"……Yes!"

Jiao Da hurriedly bowed and left.

Back then, everyone borrowed money; not borrowing was considered an outsider.

Jiao Da knew that the man was still thinking about that sum of money even on his deathbed.

Now I can finally fulfill this wish.

"Grandmother, this gold..."

Jia Rong hesitated for a moment.

“Last year, the Kaifeng area suffered a once-in-a-century snow disaster,” Shen Ning touched her belly. “Grandma is getting old and wants to accumulate some good fortune for your uncle or aunt. Could you help me donate to the national treasury so that the higher-ups can distribute it for disaster relief? Isn’t that better than us doing it ourselves?”

"Grandmother... I'll go right away."

"Not urgent!"

Shen Ning thought of something and said, "Do one more thing for Grandmother. I'll add some of the confiscated silver to make it a round number and donate it to the national treasury. I'll ask the higher-ups to distribute it to the orphanages around the capital."

It's not wrong for individuals to do good deeds, but the Jia family is already a target of criticism due to their high profile, and further attempts to win people's hearts...

Shen Ning felt it would be better to hand everything over to the Emperor.

The retired emperor is still alive, but the current emperor has little money and can't do anything he wants.

Giving money at this time, while not exactly a lifeline, is at least a sign of loyalty.

Although it may offend those who haven't paid back their money, in the long run, it will only bring benefits and no harm.

Shen Ning beckoned to Qingzhu, "Go to the room and get two thousand one hundred and forty taels of silver."

"Yes!"

Qingzhu hurriedly went inside.

"If the adults above ask you why you are donating money at this time, just say that your grandmother has been cursed and is feeling uneasy. You want to accumulate good fortune for your uncle and aunt and pray for their safety!"

If you owe someone money and they haven't paid it back, then hate them!

It's understandable that a woman like her, after hearing such a curse, might do something abnormal for the sake of her unborn child.

As for the neighboring Xifu...

If Jia She weren't stupid, he should have followed suit.

Anyway, if he doesn't return the money, he can't keep it.

Jia She was always eager to do anything that would upset Jia Zheng and Lady Wang.

(End of this chapter)