You expect me to serve your mistress? The mistress is driving this scumbag and his entire family cra

Chapter 91 Arson
"What do you mean?"

Master Liang said angrily, "Are you perhaps doubting me?"

"What if I said yes?"

Master Liang choked: "I am your second uncle! Your elder! How much have I worried about for the entire Duke's Mansion over the years? I'm the one who built up most of the Duke's Mansion's wealth. What gives you the right to question me?"

Liang Jiang's voice was calm and unhurried: "The Duke's land, shops, and this mansion were all bestowed by His Majesty, as everyone knows."

The shop's profits may have been due to my second uncle's hard work, but that doesn't mean they belong to you. Therefore, I have the right to question these ledgers.

If Second Uncle feels wronged, he can go to the yamen to file a complaint. Let's talk things out face-to-face. I don't mind.

Master Liang stomped his feet in anger: "This is outrageous! How could my Liang family produce such a disrespectful and disobedient daughter?"

You may not mind, but I still have my pride! It's shameful for family members to fight each other in court, isn't it?

"The yamen is a place for reasoning. It's not shameful to go to court; what's shameful is doing something wrong. Since you have a clear conscience, why are you afraid of me checking the accounts?"

Liang Jiang spoke without holding back, her words laced with barbs and veiled barbs.

Liang Wenshi also rushed over upon hearing the news and started cursing loudly.

Liang Jiang kept to herself and did not pay any attention to the matter.

Liang Wenshi and Liang Erye were furious and ordered everyone in the manor to take action, but Yu Shu and Yu Hua didn't take these good-for-nothings seriously at all.

With just a few moves, he deterred everyone from advancing.

Neither Liang Wenshi nor Liang Erye could do anything about it.

This woman was prickly and unyielding, refusing to listen to either soft or hard tactics. In the Duke's mansion, she showed no respect to anyone.

Other women cherish their reputation and are wary of gossip and criticism. But Liang Jiang has long since given up and is immune to all poisons.

Qin Gui was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat and cautiously approached Master Liang.

"Second Master, if all else fails, let's just go all the way and burn this accounting office down."

Master Liang turned around and slapped him hard across the face.

"In this dry weather, are you planning to burn down the entire Duke's mansion? Isn't that just like trying to hide something obvious?"
"Tell me honestly, how much silver have you embezzled from the household in the past two years?"

Qin Gui was so slapped that he saw stars, but he dared not utter a word of anger.

"Second Master, it's obvious that Liang Jiang is after you. Do you think she'd care about my measly little gain? Is it really worth all this fuss?"

Master Liang clenched his teeth: "Let her investigate. Anyway, I have a clear conscience. I'm going back to rest."

You stay here and confront her later. Anyway, I can't interfere in this matter anymore.

After speaking, he called Liang Wenshi and the others back to the backyard to discuss countermeasures.

Qin Gui immediately understood that Master Liang was intentionally avoiding the issue, and that he could do whatever he wanted, since it had nothing to do with him anyway.

Qin Gui gritted his teeth and ordered the tent staff behind him, "Light a fire!"

The accountant was immediately alarmed: "This won't do! The accountant's office is connected to the storeroom and other things. If the fire gets out of control, it might burn down the whole area."

Qin Gui sneered: "Couldn't you have prepared water in advance so that if a fire broke out, you could immediately break in through the window and put it out?"

The accountant was momentarily stunned: "Then why did we set the fire?"

Qin Gui slapped the accountant across the neck: "Water and fire are merciless. Whether it's water or fire, just destroy those account books for me!"

The accountant then understood Qin Gui's meaning: arson was just a pretext; the real purpose was to soak all the account books with water.

In the past two years, Qin Gui has frequently tampered with the household accounts, and he's always rewarded Liang Jiang with a few measly coins. The two of them are in cahoots. Therefore, if Liang Jiang finds any solid evidence, his job as accountant won't last long.

Anyway, Qin Gui will hold the sky up if it falls.

The accountant immediately summoned two of Qin Gui's trusted men, who, taking advantage of Yu Shu and Yu Hua's inattention, secretly poured oil onto the back window and then used a tinderbox to set the window ablaze.

Flames swept across the area and immediately reached the roof.

The accountant shouted, "Fire! Come quick, put out the fire!"

They carried basins and buckets, along with pre-prepared water, ready to splash it towards the window.

The table in the room was placed close to the back window, and Liang Jiang and the others gathered around it, with account books piled up on the table.

No one could have imagined that Qin Gui would go to such lengths to destroy the evidence.

Seeing that the situation was dire, the servants in the mansion also rushed forward to put out the fire.

If those buckets of water were poured down, the account books would either be burned or completely soaked.

Liang Jiang sneered, "They're really desperate!"

With a flick of his toe, the entire octagonal table flew directly to a corner of the room. Then, he concentrated his inner strength in his palm and slapped it towards the back window.

With a loud bang, the burning window was blown off by a tremendous force, flying through the flames and hurtling directly towards the people who came to put out the fire.

The accountants panicked and scattered, spilling water from basins and buckets all over the ground.

The flying sparks landed on the clothes and hair, and immediately burst into flames.

Enraged, Qin Gui grabbed a bucket of water, but before he could rush forward, a pebble flew out of the window and hit his knee, causing him to fall flat on his face.

The water from the bucket splashed all over him.

Yu Shu and Yu Hua leaped into the air and extinguished the remaining flames.

Liang Jiang coldly ordered, "Arrest the person who set the fire and send them to the yamen to be punished according to the law."

The two servants were so frightened that they knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly to Liang Jiang, saying, "It was Steward Qin and the accountant who instructed us to do it."

"Alright, then you guys tie Qin Gui up. If he gets away, you'll take the blame."

The group knew that Princess Heya always kept her word and could be ruthless when she went berserk. They could only say "Excuse me" and, with a sense of righteousness, tied Qin Gui up tightly.

Qin Gui grumbled and cursed, full of resentment.

The experts Liang Jiang invited were all highly skilled. In less than half a day, they had completed the review of all the account books, obtained evidence of Qin Gui's embezzlement of the manor's silver, and thoroughly investigated the annual income of the Duke's manor.

Liang Jiang glanced at the result and was quite surprised.

According to the account books, the Duke's Mansion's profits over the past two years have not been ideal.

Apart from the pharmacy and the rice shop, which were doing reasonably well, other shops were struggling and incurring huge expenses.

Fortunately, the mansion has a lot of land, and the harvests in the past two years have been good, which has barely covered the daily expenses of the Duke's mansion.

Qin Gui alone, according to verifiable records, embezzled more than 10,000 taels of silver, nearly 20,000 taels, which is truly shocking.

How could Second Uncle not know about such a greedy person? How could he possibly turn a blind eye and allow Qin Gui to so recklessly leech off others for money?
Unless, of course, the two are in cahoots.

After a moment's thought, Liang Jiang ordered her men to bring Qin Gui into the tent and slap the evidence in front of him.

"You embezzled public funds, falsified accounts, deducted wages from your servants, and lined your own pockets. The evidence is all here. Qin Gui, what else do you have to say?"

(End of this chapter)