The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 133 The Bottom Line Is Lower

Upon hearing that Jiang Dairong was coming, Master Xue II hurriedly invited him in.

After meeting, Jiang Dairong bowed and said:

"Master Xue, I have accomplished your mission. I have received a message from the City Fox and the Rat, saying that someone used gold sand to pay off his gambling debts in a gambling house, and even got a lot of silver back."

"According to the report from the investigators, that person was actually a servant from Rongguo Mansion."

"Because this is a private matter and does not involve government affairs, it is not convenient for me to arrest him."

"Besides, you also know that, after all, that is the Rongguo Mansion, and I dare not provoke it. I hope Master Xue will forgive me."

It had only been two days, but things were already looking promising. Master Xue couldn't help but feel lucky that the money was well spent. He quickly helped Jiang Dairong up, ushered him in, and politely said,
"Captain Jiang, what are you talking about? You helped me find the clues, and I am grateful to you. How could I blame you?"

"But I don't know who that boy is, and which gambling house did he use to pay off his gambling debts?"

Jiang Dairong then mentioned the names of Li Shier and the gambling house, then bowed and said:
"Master Xue, I didn't know that this matter would eventually be traced back to the Jia family. Otherwise, I would never have dared to take on this matter rashly."

"Fortunately, the investigation is not deep enough at this time, and there is still time to get out. I am sorry for this. I will return the money to your house later. Master Xue, please find another way."

Master Xue Er finally got a clue, so he was not willing to give up. He immediately grabbed Jiang Dairong who was about to leave and said to him with a smile:
"Chief Inspector Jiang, rest assured. Even if they find out something, it will naturally be the business of my Xue family and the Jia family. With my Xue family at the forefront, they will not interfere with you, Chief Inspector Jiang."

"And this gold sand may not be stolen by that person. Maybe that servant was rewarded for his meritorious service. A few grains of gold sand cannot prove anything."

"I would like to ask Chief Inspector Jiang to continue investigating. If you have any news, please let me know."

Jiang Dairong just refused, and finally Master Xue had to take out the silver again to throw it at him, and finally persuaded Jiang Dairong to agree.

After Jiang Dairong left, Master Xue called Xue Ke and asked him to verify the authenticity of Jiang Dairong's information.

Originally, the news was true, so Xue Ke soon received accurate report.

After learning about this, Master Xue's eyes became gloomy and he became more suspicious.

After receiving the second round of funding, Jiang Dairong certainly could not just take the money without doing any work, so he quickly provided the second and third people who spent the gold sand, and the information was true and accurate.

This isolated case doesn't prove anything, but with so many people in the Jia family spending gold sand, Master Xue became more and more suspicious.

At the same time, Master Zhan also had people start spreading rumors in the Jia Mansion, saying that Master Xue II still suspected that the gold sand was swapped by someone in the Jia Mansion and was secretly investigating the matter of the gold sand.

Ordinary people just regarded this as a joke, but those who had previously stolen the gold sand and had been hiding it and not handing it over began to feel uneasy, fearing that something was wrong with them, so they began to make trouble secretly, wanting to drive the Xue family out of the mansion.

It just so happened that during this period, Mr. Bao and Miss Baoqin had a close relationship and often went out to play together. Mrs. Wang had also long since made it clear that she liked Baoqin.

Moreover, Miss Lin is now relying on Mr. Zhan and has withdrawn from the competition for Baoyu. It can almost be said that Miss Baoqin is the future young lady of the mansion.

After much thought, they couldn't find a good way to slander the Xue family.

But it doesn’t matter, Master Zhan will help them.

After paying attention to the dynamics in the mansion, Master Zhan had someone spread a rumor, saying that the Xue family had suffered too heavy a loss this time and was unwilling to suffer the loss in vain, so they planned to steal the gold sand from the Jia Mansion to make up for the shortfall.

This is just a ridiculous rumor and any normal person would laugh when hearing it.

This is the Jia Mansion, not the Xue Mansion. The Xue family has neither the right time, place, nor people here. How could they break into the Jia Mansion's warehouse and steal things?
But under the secret promotion of those who had guilty motives, the rumor quickly spread throughout the two governments.

Moreover, these people expanded on this basis, saying that the Xue family suffered too much loss this time and intended to sell Miss Baoqin to Mr. Zhan in exchange for gold, in order to sow discord between Baoyu and Baoqin.

But they didn't know that Baoyu had already made up his mind to give Baoqin to Mr. Zhan for his own enjoyment, and he didn't need gold at all.

Of course, Baoqin herself doesn’t know this yet.

That day, Baoyu and Baoqin came to Lin Daiyu's place and learned sketching with Mr. Zhan.

Because Baoyu and Baoqin have "explained it all", Baoqin now finally understands why the three of them can get along in harmony. She no longer feels the alienation she had before and can chat and laugh with the three of them as if nothing has happened.

Baoqin "saw through" it, but Daiyu became puzzled.

She and Baoqin had clearly hinted that Baoyu had a "peculiar quirk", but Baoqin seemed to be unaware of it, and it seemed that their relationship had become even closer.

So when Mr. Zhan went to instruct Baoyu, Sister Lin quietly came to Baoqin, winked at Baoyu, and whispered in his ear:
"Didn't I tell you before, why are you..."

Feeling the surprise in Daiyu's eyes, Baoqin turned her head to look at Master Zhan who was carefully instructing Baoyu in painting. She saw two handsome faces not far apart, both of them were pretty boys. It didn't seem that hard to accept, so she smiled and said calmly:
"Brother Bao has told me everything. I think this kind of thing...is actually nothing."

When Daiyu heard this, she was shocked. She opened her cherry lips wide and looked at Baoqin in amazement. She rubbed her ears with her hands and could not believe what she heard.

"You...do you know what you are talking about?"

"Did Baoyu really tell you everything?"

"Is he lying to you?"

"He...he and Brother Zhan...they..."

Daiyu gestured and pointed here and there with her hands, but she was worried that Baoqin was trying to trick her, so she didn't dare to tell the truth.

Baoqin saw it, smiled slightly, and said casually:
"Will Brother Bao lie to me? Doesn't Sister Lin know?"

"Don't worry, Sister Lin. Brother Bao did tell me everything."

"I found it hard to accept at first, but then I thought about it and felt it was no big deal."

Seeing that Daiyu couldn't close her mouth, Baoqin sighed:

"Sister Lin has lived in the mansion since she was young and has never seen a man from the outside world. She doesn't know how precious a man like Brother Bao is in this world."

"I have seen many marriage proposals over the years. If you look closely, each of them has many quirks, far more than Brother Bao."

"As long as you meet more people, you will naturally know that there is no perfect person in this world. Those men more or less have some unspeakable quirks, so when it comes to the requirements for my husband, I am not as demanding as Sister Lin."

"Brother Bao is kind and considerate, smart and wise, he won't beat or scold women, and he doesn't drink or gamble. Just these few qualities make him a rare good husband in the world."

"As for Brother Bao's 'quirks', although they are not tolerated by etiquette and laws, they are purely his own private affairs. At most, we can say that he has 'lack of personal morality'. It will not harm others or ruin our family, so it is not a big deal."

"Besides..."

Baoqin nudged Daiyu lightly with her elbow, glanced quickly towards Master Zhan, and said in a low and teasing voice:
"Look at Mr. Zhan's handsome appearance, isn't it pleasing to the eye?"

"As long as we lower our moral standards, what is there to be unacceptable?"

These words were like a thunderclap, hitting Daiyu on the head and shattering her previous three views.

Originally, she thought that she had witnessed so many despicable behaviors of Master Zhan in her dreams. In reality, she first helped her elder sister-in-law Li Wan to have an affair with Master Zhan, and then blatantly lied, tampered with the content of the predictive dream, and attempted to seize the position of the legitimate wife of the Zhan family. Her own moral bottom line was already very low.

Who would have thought that when Baoqin told her husband, she would be criticized for being "too demanding of her husband". This is really... too unbelievable!

After thinking about it, she could only say that she was just sitting in a well and had never seen the world. She didn't know how lucky she was and didn't know how much treasure she had.

But as soon as she thought about being given away by her husband to someone else, she could not help but feel shy. She shook her head and praised Baoqin:

"Sister Qin is really free and easy, I am not as good as her!"

"As expected, I am just an ordinary person bound by etiquette and laws. I am really not worthy of a person as extraordinary as Brother Bao."

"From this point of view, Sister Qin and Brother Bao are indeed a perfect match. They are both so... extraordinary!"

Seeing Daiyu bow her head and admit defeat, Baoqin was very proud, so she smiled proudly and said modestly:
"It's not as good as Sister Lin praised it to be. I just took it easier."

Suddenly, Sister Lin suddenly thought that if Baoqin was so obedient, Baoyu would definitely give her to Brother Zhan in the future. But she would become the legitimate wife of the Zhan family in the future. Doesn't that mean that Baoqin in front of her would climb into her master's bed in the future?
For no reason, Lin Daiyu became jealous. Her face immediately darkened, she threw up her sleeves, and returned to her seat in a depressed mood, burying her head and getting angry.

Although Baoqin had known that Daiyu had a bad temper, this was the first time she saw her angry, and for no reason at all. She was talking finely just now, with a look of admiration on her face, but how come she suddenly became like this?
After much thought, Baoqin could only conclude that Daiyu despised her character and looked down on her choice, but her goal was clear, which was to marry Brother Bao. As for Daiyu's thoughts, they were not important anyway, so she ignored her and just focused on painting her own home.

Baoyu certainly couldn't hear what the two of them were whispering, but Mr. Zhan had sharp ears and eyes, so he heard everything clearly. He couldn't help but feel very happy. He didn't expect that Baoqin was so open-minded. It really shows that you can't judge a person by his appearance!

Since Baoqin was mentally prepared, why was he still hesitating? He began to think about asking Baoyu to hurry up and send Baoqin over so that he could have the best of her.

However, Master Xue II might have to speed up the process. Otherwise, given the Xue family's current situation, he would definitely not be willing to give his own daughter away for free.

So Mr. Zhan turned around and added fuel to the fire, and then Mrs. Wang finally received the rumor.

When she heard the news, Mrs. Wang didn't believe it. After all, the news sounded too unreliable. But out of caution, she still went to the warehouse to take a look, and found out... the gold sand had really been swapped!
This time Mrs. Wang was furious!

These gold sands are borrowed and will have to be returned in the future!

Although the Grand View Garden is almost completed, there are still many things that need money to be spent on, such as the imperial concubine's visit home, various interior decorations, banquets and social events, and rewards for the entourage...

Without this gold sand, the Jia family would have to use up their own savings!

However, Mrs. Wang was not stupid enough to believe the rumors directly. She thought that it was stolen by the Xue family. She first asked Lady Jia for instructions, and then sent out another invitation to invite Jia Yucun.

The last time Jia Yucun investigated a case, he came to the conclusion that there was a traitor in the Xue family. At that time, both Jia Mu and Mrs. Wang were very satisfied, and they were quite confident in Jia Yucun's criminal investigation ability.

This time, a case of substitution occurred again, so naturally, she thought of Jia Yucun first.

If Jia Yucun could combine the two cases into one and catch the thief from the Xue family who swapped the gold, wouldn't the Jia family have both face and reputation saved?
As for whether it will be found out that both cases were committed by people from the Jia family...well, let's find the gold first!

In fact, both Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang already had a bad premonition about this possibility, but they were so concerned about their reputation that they would rather let Jia Yucun come and try their luck.

What if the thief is from the Xue family, wouldn’t that make everyone happy?
They had nice ideas, but Jia Yucun was in trouble.

The last case happened in the Xue family’s warehouse, so it could be said that it was done by a thief within the Xue family, which made sense logically.

But this time the case happened in the storehouse of the Jia Mansion. I’m afraid the people from the Xue family didn’t even know which direction the door of the storehouse of the Jia Mansion faced, so how could they steal?

Jia Yucun already had a preconceived idea in his mind that this case was a collusion between the servants of the Jia family, but when he was asked to investigate the case and catch the thief, he did not have the ability to do so.

He first chatted with Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang for a few words, trying to test their attitudes towards the case, and then he found that there were some differences between Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang in their attitudes towards the case.

Grandmother Jia cares more about her family's reputation and face, and the gold comes second, while Mrs. Wang cares more about the whereabouts of the gold, and then the reputation of the mansion.

But the same thing is that deep down in their hearts, they both hoped that the thief who committed the crime was not one of their own servants, but a spy within the Xue family.

Then Jia Yucun knew how to try the case.

The best outcome of this case at the moment, of course, is that the gold sand is recovered and the reputation of the Jia family is preserved.

The worst result was that the Jia family lost face and the gold sand could not be recovered.

If he judged the case truthfully and said that both cases were committed by the servants of the Jia family, not to mention overturning his previous judgment, the Jia family would lose all their face. And he couldn't torture the people of the Jia family to extract a confession, nor did he have the ability to find the lost gold sand, so in the end he would only face the worst result. However, Jia Yucun was best at being an official, and he knew that the key to solving the problem was to satisfy the nobles.

Therefore, he did not need to know the truth of the case, he just needed to satisfy Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang.

He really couldn't get the gold back, but he was very good at torture and extortion.

Anyway, the relationship between the Jia and Xue families is not that close; they are not even distant relatives.

The Xue family is wealthy, so it would not be difficult for them to extort tens of thousands of taels of gold to fill the hole in the Jia family's pocket.

The difficulty lies in how to make this happen naturally and avoid being criticized.

He first investigated the scene in a pretentious manner, but of course he still saw nothing. He then called in everyone who could enter and exit the warehouse for questioning, and then called in some managers in the mansion for questioning.

After going through this process, Jia Yucun had a general understanding of the dynamics in the mansion and secretly decided to put the rumor into practice.

So after thinking it over in his mind, Jia Yucun went to see Lady Jia and bowed, saying:

"May I ask, old lady, in the last theft at the Xue family, have you heard about how the second master Xue dealt with the thief?"

After hearing this, Jia's mother frowned and thought for a moment, then turned to look at Mrs. Wang and asked hesitantly:
"I only heard that Xue Ke seemed to have been investigating, but I don't think I've ever heard of the Xue family dealing with anyone."

"Have you ever heard of it over there?"

Mrs. Wang thought about it for a moment and shook her head.

Jia Yucun stroked his beard and thought carefully:

"According to common sense, it is not difficult to catch this kind of thief, but the difficult part is how to deal with him."

"According to my judgment, the Xue family has probably already found the thief and taken the gold sand back, which is why there has been no movement."

"If no one has ever been dealt with, then I'm afraid..."

Jia Yucun pretended to hesitate, his eyes flickered, and he stopped talking. Jia's mother immediately frowned and said:

"Whatever you think, just tell me. Don't worry."

After receiving the order from Lady Jia, Jia Yucun sighed:

"I'm afraid the Xue family's theft case has been settled privately."

"That thief is a spy in the Xue family. He has worked for the Xue family for many years. He probably has leverage over the Xue family. That's why Master Xue didn't dare to touch him, so he let him go so easily."

"As for the so-called internal investigation, I'm afraid it's just a show, just for outsiders to see."

"I now suspect that the thieves involved in this gold swap are the same group as those from the Xue family. The reason they targeted the Jia family's gold is because the previous gold had already been recovered by the Xue family."

After hearing this, Jia's mother also felt that there was some truth in it, so she slammed her cane and shouted with a gloomy face:
"Someone, please ask Master Xue Er to come over and talk!"

Those who spread the rumors before had deliberately concealed the news from the Xue family, so Master Xue and his family were unaware of the news.

The news of the theft at the Jia family had not yet reached the Xue family's ears, so when the second master Xue was called over, he was still confused and had no idea of ​​Grandmother Jia's purpose.

When they met, Grandmother Jia asked:
"In the previous gold sand case, has the traitor in the mansion been caught?"

Seeing the solemn atmosphere and the presence of Jia Yucun, Master Xue knew something was wrong, so he answered cautiously:

"Xue Ke has been conducting internal investigations these days, but has not yet found any trace of the thief."

Grandmother Jia snorted coldly and looked at Jia Yucun, who had no choice but to stand up and pretend to be a bad guy, and asked:

"Either you didn't find it, or you found it but won't tell me!"

"What does Magistrate Jia mean by this?"

"There are only a dozen suspects in your Xue family. Even if we interrogate them one by one, it won't take a long time. But now so much time has passed, and you say that you have found nothing. Is this possible?"

Seeing Jia Yucun being so aggressive, Master Xue was also very dissatisfied, so he said indifferently:
"My Xue family is not a government office. We can't just pin these people down and beat them with a stick."

"Besides, these dozen people are my family's trusted confidants. If we convict them without any evidence, it will surely make everyone feel disappointed. We must be careful."

Hearing that Master Xue himself admitted that these people were important, Jia Yucun smiled sinisterly and said:
"Since these people are your confidants, they must know a lot of your family secrets, right?"

"Even if you really get the evidence, can you easily break up with them?"

Sure enough, after Master Xue Er heard this, his face changed, and he raised his eyebrows and said angrily:

"This is my family's business and has nothing to do with Magistrate Jia."

Seeing that he had fallen into the trap, Jia Yucun stroked his beard with a smile and volunteered:

"Since Master Xue is kind-hearted and soft-hearted, why not just hand them over to me? In a few days, I will make them confess the truth."

After hearing this, Master Xue II was immediately furious. "I already have a clue about this investigation, so I won't bother Magistrate Jia with his presence!"

He flicked his sleeves and was about to leave, but unexpectedly, Grandmother Jia suddenly spoke:

"Master Xue, Yucun has good intentions. Since your family can't find out the result in a short time, why not let him try? It's better than you trying blindly."

Now that things have come to this, how could Master Xue still not understand who was the mastermind behind today's drama? He immediately raised his head and looked at Lady Jia sitting in the upper seat in disbelief, with a group of divine beasts galloping through his heart.

During these days, Jiang Dairong has found out many people, all of whom are servants in the Jia family. In fact, Master Xue has already determined in his heart that this case is a conspiracy of certain people in the Jia family, but considering that the Jia family is more concerned about their reputation, he wants to suppress the matter and later find Lady Jia in private to do him a favor.

Who would have thought that looking at the situation today, it was obvious that they wanted to put the blame on the Xue family.

Since you are unkind, you can't blame me for being unjust.

Mr. Xue Er had been in the business world for many years and was not someone he would easily deal with. He immediately sneered and bowed to Lady Jia, saying:
"Let the old lady know that we have made some progress in this case and have even caught a few people who used gold sand. However, since they are all servants of the mansion, it is not convenient to arrest them."

"Since the old lady has appointed Magistrate Jia to be in charge of this case, that's perfect. I'll give the list to Magistrate Jia and ask him to examine it carefully to see where the gold sand of these people came from!"

Now it was Jia Mu and the others' turn to be dumbfounded. How could such a good thing suddenly happen to them?
Jia Yucun was the most nervous one. After all, he wanted to curry favor with the people in the Jia family, and he couldn't let the Jia family lose face. He hurried forward and shouted:
"This matter is extremely important. Master Xue, please don't make random accusations. This is not something you can get away with by just throwing out a few people!"

Master Xue was filled with hatred for Magistrate Jia, whose butt was so crooked that it was unbearable to look at.

When he was in Jinling, his Xue family helped Jia Yucun a lot. Jia Yucun could sit firmly in the position of Yingtian Prefecture, which was inseparable from the contributions of his Xue family. However, after this guy was promoted to the capital, he immediately turned his face and was ruthless. In order to curry favor with the Jia family, he clearly intended to frame him.

Master Xue II now understands everything. No wonder Jia Yucun insisted that it was a thief within the Xue family who did the work when he investigated the case!

This was clearly a case of deciding the result first and then finding evidence, and he used the same method he used in the gourd case in Jinling on his own head.

I will settle accounts with you sooner or later!
Master Xue II took a grudge against Jia Yucun in his heart, but he knew that the key person in charge here was still Lady Jia, so he ignored Jia Yucun's words, only sneered and threw out the names of Li Shier and others, and bowed to Lady Jia and said:

"If the old lady doesn't believe it, she can just call these people over to confront them face to face."

Seeing that Master Xue was so confident, Lady Jia and Lady Wang became nervous. They dared not confront him directly, so they could only smile and say:

"Now that we have a clue, let Lai Da investigate, clean up all those evil maggots, and get the gold sand back."

Seeing that Lady Jia wanted to settle the matter peacefully again, Master Xue refused this time and just sneered:
"I'm afraid that after investigating, they will say that the gold sand was not lost from my family, and they will also say that there is a traitor in my family!"

"Since we have already invited Magistrate Jia to come and investigate the case, we might as well invite a few more people."

"I heard that Magistrate Jia has a chief constable under his command, named Jiang Dairong, who is particularly good at criminal law. Why don't we ask Magistrate Jia to send a letter and ask Chief Constable Jiang to come over and investigate thoroughly?"

Compared with the black-hearted Jia Yucun, he trusted Jiang Dairong more, who had taken a lot of money from his family.

However, he acted cautiously and did not mention the relationship between Jiang Dairong and his family, so as not to arouse Jia Yucun's suspicion.

This chief constable, a petty official of little importance, was not at all worthy of Grandmother Jia's ears. After listening to the advice of Master Xue II, Grandmother Jia turned around to look at Jia Yucun.

Jia Yucun secretly groaned in his heart, but it was difficult to refuse, so he had to agree and asked someone to take the invitation to invite Jiang Dairong over.

Soon, Jiang Dairong arrived at the Rongguo Mansion and kowtowed to the nobles in a proper manner.

Jia Yucun didn't know that he had been involved in the case for a long time, so he told Jiang Dairong about the situation and asked him to investigate the case. He thought that the case would not be resolved in a few days, so he would find a chance to hint to him later. He thought that Jiang Dairong must be a capable person to be the chief constable and would definitely agree with himself.

But Jiang Dairong had already received orders from Master Zhan and had taken money from Master Xue Er, so his position was already determined.

His eyes glanced at the face of Master Xue Er, who lowered his head and refused to look him in the eye, and he knew that the relationship between the two had not been leaked, so he began to investigate the case openly.

His way of investigating cases was exactly the same as Jia Yucun's. He would first determine the result and then work back to find evidence, and soon he would identify a group of suspects.

Such efficiency was so fast that neither Jia Yucun, nor Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang believed his judgment.

"Chief Inspector Jiang, you must think it over carefully. This case is of great importance. If you speak nonsense, you may lose your job!"

Faced with Jia Yucun's threatening words, Jiang Dairong was not afraid at all.

As the saying goes, the yamen runners are permanent, but the prefects are transient. Over the years, Jiang Dairong has sent away dozens of prefects, so he naturally knows how to keep his position.

He bowed to Lady Jia and Jia Yucun with a righteous look and said:
"Since you are here, I dare not make up rumors. I am just trying to be energetic and investigate the case with all my strength in the hope of making a contribution."

Grandmother Jia was half-believing and half-doubting, so she called the suspects for confrontation. Of course, these people refused to admit it. They cried and cried, and no one was willing to admit it.

Seeing this, Jia Yucun sneered and said:
"Chief Detective Jiang, do you have any other evidence at this point?"

"Let me make it clear in advance that this is not the Shuntian government office, and we won't torture you into confessing anything."

After hearing Jia Yucun's obvious hint, the suspects became more confident and insisted that they were innocent.

Jiang Dairong first pretended to be embarrassed, and then resolutely requested to search the suspects' residences and daily workplaces.

Jia Yucun thought he was just a trapped beast fighting hard, so he did not try to stop him. Instead, he persuaded Lady Jia to agree.

After hesitating for a while, Grandmother Jia finally wanted to get rid of the suspicion, so she nodded and agreed.

Jiang Dairong had already learned the location of the gold sand from Master Zhan. He didn't care whether these people had really stolen the gold sand or Master Zhan had framed them. Anyway, he only needed to go to the designated location and take out the stolen goods, and his mission would be accomplished!
So, in full view of everyone, he searched the homes and workplaces of this group of people and found a lot of hidden gold sand. He packed them up and brought them back, and placed them in front of Lady Jia and the others.

Seeing that they had caught the criminals red-handed, the suspects were suddenly speechless.

Compared with the complacent Master Xue, Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang's faces were extremely ugly.

(End of this chapter)