The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 137 The Decisive Lai Da

In the Rongguo Mansion, in the Rongxi Hall, Mrs. Wang sat at the first seat in the hall with a gloomy face, and was questioning Jiang Dairong, who was bowing in the lower hall.

"Chief Detective Jiang, it's been so many days now, and every day I see you repeatedly questioning people, but why don't you get any results?"

"I've told you before that you can interrogate these people as much as you want without worrying about the consequences. You always try to evade me with words."

"I know you don't want to offend those villains, but you need to know who is in charge of this family and who you should be responsible to for this case."

Jiang Dairong saw that Madam Wang was full of anger and knew that the situation was almost over, so he pretended to be bitter and bowed, saying:

"Madam, I actually have some clues a long time ago, but this matter may involve the existence of the noble, so I dare not speak nonsense in the absence of sufficient evidence."

"Your Excellency?" After hearing this, Madam Wang was shocked and leaned forward involuntarily. She asked hurriedly, "You mean, this case was secretly masterminded by someone in your family?"

Jiang Dairong then analyzed:
"According to my investigation, the lost gold may seem small, just a small box, but it weighs tens of thousands of taels. It is definitely not something that one person could have carried away in one go. It must have been done multiple times or by multiple people."

"But no matter how many times or with many people, it is not something that ordinary slaves can do."

"Besides, how can an ordinary person afford ten thousand taels of gold?"

"Therefore, there must be a noble person behind this matter."

"I already have a suspicion in my mind, but I don't dare to speak nonsense without solid evidence."

Mrs. Wang's mind was full of gold at the moment. She didn't care about evidence or not. She slammed the table and shouted:

"We are doing things at home, not in the government office, what evidence do we need?"

"Just tell me how to deal with it. I have a good idea of ​​what to do."

Jiang Dairong whispered:
"I'm afraid the housekeeper Lai Da is not immune from the blame."

"Lai Da?" After hearing this name, Mrs. Wang's heart skipped a beat.

This Lai Da is Lady Jia's man. Lady Jia relies on Lai Da and his wife to control the affairs of the mansion. He has great power. Even the young masters and young ladies like Baoyu have to call Lai Da "Grandpa Lai" when they see him.

After hearing that this person was involved, Mrs. Wang felt a little hesitant and did not dare to touch him rashly.

But after careful consideration, Mrs. Wang did not think that the mastermind behind this might be Lady Jia. After all, this family belonged to Lady Jia. If she wanted money, she could just ask for it directly. There was no need to use so many tricks. Most likely, it was the likes of Master She who colluded with Lai Da in secret to do such a thing.

Thinking of the transfer of title that had been secretly planned at home, Mrs. Wang couldn't help but become anxious and wanted to take the opportunity to create some trouble.

"I already know about this. Please continue investigating and try to find more evidence. If anyone is secretly obstructing your investigation, please report it to me immediately."

Jiang Dairong bowed and responded, then took his leave and left.

After thinking for a long time, Mrs. Wang got up and went to Rongqing Hall to meet Lady Jia.

After they met, Mrs. Wang first asked about my health and then said:
"I didn't want to disturb my mother's peace, but this matter is too serious and I dare not take the initiative. I have no choice but to come here to ask for your advice."

Jia's mother knew it must be about the Jinsha case, so she sighed and asked:

"But we caught the thief who was causing the trouble. Who is this useless guy?"

Mrs. Wang whispered:
"At present, Chief Inspector Jiang has only investigated Lai Da, but has not found any real evidence. The people behind him dare not investigate further. However, there are not many people in the mansion who can make Lai Da move."

After hearing Mrs. Wang's suggestive words, Grandmother Jia immediately suspected Jia She, her eldest son whom she disliked, and immediately became so angry that she slammed her cane on the ground and cursed:

"What a disgrace!"

"For the sake of a little gold, he has thrown away his dignity and actually done such a thing!"

Seeing Grandmother Jia beating her chest and stamping her feet, Mrs. Wang bowed her head and said nothing. After Grandmother Jia had vented for a while, she whispered:

"Chief Inspector Jiang doesn't have any real evidence either, so it's possible that this is just a misunderstanding."

"This Lai Manager is really something. He is such an accomplice to the evil for no reason. If he is not willing to help, how can others accomplish such a big thing?"

Her words seemed to add fuel to the fire, and Grandmother Jia became even angrier.

Lai Da is her man, but he works for his eldest son behind her back and keeps her in the dark. What does he want to do?
"Humph, I'm not dead yet, it's not his turn to be the head of this family!"

Grandmother Jia snorted angrily and asked Yuanyang to tell Lai Dajie to come over.

Not long after, Lai Dajie hurried over, knelt down and kowtowed, "Greetings, old lady, what can I do for you?"

Grandmother Jia didn't let him get up either. She snorted coldly and asked:

"Where is the gold sand now?"

Lai Dajie was stunned for a moment, then realized something was wrong, and quickly raised his head and waved his hands to deny it:
"Old lady, we didn't swap the gold sand. Don't believe other people's instigation!"

Jia's mother had originally thought of asking her family to hand over the gold sand, and then giving her a light punishment or a severe warning, but now that she refused to admit it, she was very unhappy and stamped her cane and said:
"You two have been with me for many years, and I have always considered you loyal. Even if you have made mistakes, I have tolerated them. Are you getting cocky by saying this?"

"Why, do you think that the old lady is going to die and someone else will be the head of the house?"

Lai Dajia was so frightened that he kowtowed repeatedly and begged for mercy:
"Old lady, please don't talk like that. It's really annoying us!"

"Our whole family has been greatly blessed by the old lady. Even before eating every day, we would thank her for her kindness. How could we dare to do such a betrayal?"

"It's just that this matter of gold sand being swapped has nothing to do with my family!"

Grandmother Jia stared at him for a while and saw that Lai Dajia looked very terrified, with a face full of grievance and fear. It didn't seem like he was lying. She immediately became suspicious and turned to Mrs. Wang and said,
"Please invite Chief Constable Jiang to come and confront her face to face."

Mrs. Wang went out and asked someone to call Jiang Dairong over.

Soon, Jiang Dairong arrived and greeted Lady Jia. Lady Jia pointed at Lai Dajia and said:
"This is everyone's fault. You can confront her right here."

Jiang Dairong took out a large stack of testimonies and held them up with both hands. "Old lady, these are the testimonies of relevant personnel. Please check them."

During these days, Jiang Dairong had prepared all the "evidence" through various means, hints and guidance during the interrogation of those involved in the case.

There was no torture or threat during the entire process. Even those who provided confessions would admit that what they said was true when they were called in for confirmation.

There is nothing wrong with these pieces of evidence individually, but when you put them all together, it is inevitable that suspicion will be cast on Lai Da.

Jiang Dairong is an old man in the government and is used to doing this kind of things. Even if the evidence is flawless, it is definitely not something that someone like Lady Jia can detect the flaws in.

After glancing over it a few times, Grandmother Jia also believed it. She immediately threw the confessions in front of Lai Dajia angrily and said angrily:

"look by youself!"

Lai Dajie picked up the confession and said in fear:
"Old lady, I can't read. I can't bear to see this."

Grandmother Jia pointed at Yuanyang and said, "Go and read it to her!"

Yuanyang stepped forward to take the confessions and read them one by one. After only a few pages, the person who blamed everyone turned pale and cried out that he was innocent.

"It's unfair, old lady, someone must have wronged us!"

Jiang Dairong then bowed and said:
"All the confessions were made by the suspects themselves. There was no torture or anything like that. Please understand clearly, old lady."

"All these confessions have witnesses. You can call them in for face-to-face questioning."

Lai Dajie became more and more frightened, not knowing how to respond, and hurriedly shouted:

"The old lady called my head of the family over to ask, I really don't know anything!"

Grandmother Jia then sent someone to call Lai Da.

Lai Da is now old and has long been off duty. Relying on the fact that he has his wife watching over him at home, he is not at home most of the time and just lives like a carefree old man in his own mansion.

Nothing had happened in the past, but today he was caught in the crossfire. Grandmother Jia sent someone to call the express horse to go to Lai's house to report the news, and Lai Da hurriedly took a carriage to the Jia's house. The round trip took more than half an hour, which made Grandmother Jia anxious and increasingly dissatisfied.

On the way, Lai Da already knew the details of the incident. He was secretly angry but also afraid.

Having been a servant all his life, he knew what was the most dangerous thing for a servant: that was when the master no longer trusted him.

As long as your master trusts you, any mistakes you make can be forgiven, but if your master no longer trusts you, then it will be a sin for you to take your left foot first when you go out.

Now that damn Jiang Dairong has pointed all the blame at him, which is obviously abnormal. It would be strange if there is no mastermind behind this.

But no matter who the mastermind behind him is, as long as Lady Jia trusts him, he will be safe.

Lai Da was also a decisive person. After he came to Lady Jia's side, he knocked his head to the ground without waiting for Lady Jia to ask any questions, and said with tears in his eyes:
"I am guilty of a crime. I should not have swapped the gold sand in the treasury because of my greed. I am willing to return all the gold sand. I only ask the old lady to spare my life for the hard work of my family over the years."

Even Jiang Dairong was shocked by what he did.

Is this guy so cooperative?
It was clearly a frame-up on my part, and he just admitted it?

But then I heard Lai Da continue to cry:

"Old lady, you can see clearly that I did such a stupid thing because I became greedy after seeing the Xue family's gold sand being swapped."

"Since I made such a foolish move that day, I have regretted it and thought about returning it another day, but before I could do that, something unexpected happened."

"Only I know about this, and no one in the family knows about it. But I didn't mean to deceive the old lady."

Sure enough, after hearing what Lai Da said, Jia Mu's face became much better, but she still paused for a moment and asked:

"Did you really do this, rather than taking the blame for someone else?"

"This matter is of great importance. You should think it over before you speak."

Lai Da knew that what Grandmother Jia was most worried about was that he, a servant, had another master and would not listen to her. How could he fall into such an easy trap? He just kept shaking his head and said:

"This is an old and confused servant, who was blinded by greed and made a mistake. I dare not blame others."

Sure enough, seeing that Lai Da had taken all the responsibility himself and that the case had not involved Jia She or anyone else, Jia's mother became more relieved. She felt that everything was under her control and that there was no big problem. She pretended to be angry and scolded:
"You old fool, you are such a good butler, but you actually stole the property. It's really shameful!"

"If it weren't for your hard work and great contributions, I would have sent you out of the house and left you to fend for yourself!"

"Return the gold sand immediately. I will forgive you this time, but I will never forgive you if you do it again."

When Lai Da heard Lady Jia scolding him like that, he knew that he had passed this hurdle. Thinking of the "gold sand" that he had to compensate, he couldn't help but feel grief in his heart and fell to the ground crying loudly.

"I will never forget your kindness, old lady. I will return all the gold sand to the treasury in a few days at most."

"But please understand, old lady. The gold sand in this mansion was dropped by me, but the gold sand of the Xue family was clearly made by his family members, and has nothing to do with me!"

"Oh?" After hearing this, Jia's mother raised her eyebrows. After thinking carefully for a while, she nodded and agreed: "The gold sand in my family was made by the thief in my family. The gold sand in Xue's family must have been made by the thief in Xue's family."

"Chief Inspector Jiang, my family's case has been closed. I will give you a thank you gift later. But as for whether we should continue investigating the Xue family's case, you can go and discuss it with Mr. Xue."

The implication of this statement is quite clear.

Because of Lai Da's response, the original plan was useless. After listening to it, Jiang Dairong didn't know what to do next, so he had to bow and agree, thinking of asking Master Zhan for instructions before making a decision.

However, after Mr. and Mrs. Lai returned home, they flew into a rage and found excuses to beat the servant more than a dozen times before they calmed down a little.

Lai DaZhi came over and complained:

"How could the master be accused of such a crime for no reason? Isn't he being wrongly accused and dying?" Lai Da shook his head and sighed:

"She is the master, and we are the slaves. Have you ever seen a slave reasoning with his master?"

"I have to take the blame for this!"

"She only needs to suspect that we are guilty, and we have to find a way to prove our innocence. But that bastard named Jiang, under whose instructions, clearly wanted to frame my family. We didn't realize it beforehand, and now that it has come to this, it is impossible to escape."

"Instead of trying to get away with it and failing to find a way, which only makes the old lady unhappy, it is better to simply admit the crime. This will actually help keep the old lady's trust."

Lai DaZhi asked again:

"If that's the case, since you've already admitted the crime, why only admit half of it and not admit the Xue family's half?"

Lai Da was furious and cursed:
"Are you stupid?"

"The gold sand in the storehouse of the mansion is only two or three thousand taels, but the gold sand lost by the Xue family is as much as ten thousand taels. Can't you tell which is more and which is less?"

"I confessed my crime to please the old lady, but I didn't really use my own money to fill the hole in the Jia family."

"The old lady doesn't care who gets the gold or whether she can get it back. She only cares about her family's reputation and doesn't like anyone to lie to her or hide things from her!"

"In fact, the most economical way is to frame the crime on Master She and just say that all the gold was given to Master She. Naturally, we don't have to pay a penny."

"But if the old lady knew that I was working for Master She, I'm afraid she would be very unhappy, so I had no choice but to spend money to avoid disaster."

"Anyway, we made a lot of money from the construction of the Grand View Garden, so it's convenient for us to just give it away."

"And even if we return the money to the Jia family, we still have a way to get it out again."

Lai Dajie finally understood why his master had been accused of such an irrelevant crime, and he could not help but lament:

"Alas, this is all caused by my status as a slave!"

"Shang Rong is about to take the imperial examination, so he might as well take this opportunity to get rid of his slavery and avoid being punished in the future."

After hearing this, Lai Da began to hesitate.

"The reason why I never wanted to help Shang Rong get rid of his status is because I was worried that he might not pass the imperial examination in the future. So at least he would have a way out."

"Why was Shang Rong able to work on Master Zhan's construction site before? Wasn't it because of his relationship with the Jia family?"

"Master Zhan is a generous man. We have made a lot of money before. Now Master Lian and Master Bao are working for Master Zhan. I am thinking that if Shang Rong fails to pass the imperial examination, he can also work for Master Zhan. Who knows, he may be able to get a small official position."

"Anyway, Lord Zhan is the most lustful. We just need to use the relationship with the second brother to send a few more beautiful girls over. We won't have to worry about not being able to establish this relationship."

"As for the issue of slavery, as long as Shangrong passes the imperial examination, there is no need to worry that the Jia family will detain him."

After listening to what Lai said, he also felt that it made sense, so he stopped talking and turned around to discuss how to sell the property and exchange it for gold sand to "return" to the Jia family.

But Jiang Dairong turned around and reported to Master Zhan.

After listening to this, Mr. Zhan couldn't help but look at Lai Da with new eyes.

This old guy is really willing to give it up!

However, after doing this, it would be a bit difficult to wipe out Lai's family all at once.

Well, just consider it as some interest for now!

The days are long!
The Lai family's money will belong to the Jia family sooner or later, and the Jia family's money will belong to the Zhan family, right?
After Mr. Zhan considered it for a while, he instructed Jiang Dairong:

"Tell Master Xue about this and ask him to ask the Jia family for money. The Xue family's baby swap must have been done by Lai Da!"

After hearing this, Jiang Dairong immediately knew what to do, so he took the order and left, going to find Master Xue Er to sow discord.

Originally, Master Xue Er had suspected that the case was committed by someone from the Jia family. Now that even Lai Da had been arrested, he was even more certain.

As for what Lai Da said, he didn't believe a single word!
You don't believe what Captain Jiang says, but why do you believe a thief butler?
He now suspects that both cases were committed by Lai Da.

"Chief Inspector Jiang, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to continue investigating this matter. If you can find solid evidence, I will definitely give you a large reward."

Master Xue is now very convinced of Jiang Dairong and is willing to entrust him with full authority to conduct follow-up investigations.

But after hearing this, Jiang Dairong smiled bitterly and said:

"Mr. Xue is too polite. I have done my best to investigate to this point."

"In fact, I didn't even have any real evidence for Lai Da. It was only after he took the initiative to admit it that my confession was confirmed."

"Although I know very well that he only confessed half of what he said, and that he was probably the one who swapped the Xue family's gold, I really can't find any evidence."

"And..." After hesitating for a moment, he said honestly, "The Jia family's attitude has been very clear. They want to cover up this matter and don't want me to continue investigating."

After hearing this, Master Xue gritted his teeth and took out a handful of banknotes, handing them over with both hands, "I would like to ask Chief Constable Jiang to help me think of more solutions."

However, Jiang Dairong had already received instructions from Master Zhan and could retire, so he had to look at the silver with heartache and pushed it back.

"It's not that I don't want to help, it's just that I can't do anything."

Seeing that Jiang Dairong refused to even accept the silver, Master Xue knew that he really couldn't investigate the matter any further, so he had no choice but to give up.

After sending Jiang Dairong away, Master Xue felt more and more suffocated the more he thought about it, and he wanted to use Jia Baoyu to "pay off the debt", so he turned around and looked for his daughter again and asked:

"Baoqin, how are things going between you and Baoyu lately?"

Baoqin couldn't tell the truth to her master, and she thought she had already made arrangements with Daiyu, so she smiled and coaxed him:
"I have been going out and coming in together with Brother Bao recently, so it's not an exaggeration to say that we are as close as honey and oil. I'm afraid it won't be long before Master Zheng will ask someone to propose marriage, so Master must prepare the dowry."

When he heard the word "dowry", Master Xue's face became even gloomier. After losing ten thousand taels of gold, his family was already in an extremely difficult situation. How could he get such a large sum of gold and silver for a dowry?

This damn Rongguo Mansion!
Baoqin didn't know why he was unhappy, so she just continued with her smile and said,
"Instead of looking for a fortune teller, it's better to ask Sister Lin about your birth date and fortune. Isn't it more accurate than a fortune teller?"

Hearing Sister Lin's name, Master Xue's heart was indeed moved. He stroked his beard and pondered:
"That's right. We should ask Miss Lin to help us."

After coming out from Baoqin's place, Master Xue Er went to the next door, wanting to let Sister Lin take a look. However, as soon as he went out, he saw Lian Er coming out of Sister Lin's yard with a sullen face.

It turned out that Jia Lian was concerned about Wang Xifeng's mood changes that day, and since he happened to be free today, he ran over to ask Daiyu about the situation.

Daiyu couldn't hide it from him, so she told him the truth, except that she concealed the fact that Wang Xifeng later became Mr. Zhan's concubine.

After hearing what Daiyu said, Jia Lian finally understood why Wang Xifeng had changed so much. She no longer urged him to practice martial arts and wanted to send Ping'er away. It turned out that this was the reason.

Whenever Jia Lian thought about the fact that the son he was destined to have disappeared without a trace, he became furious and wanted to have a big fight with Wang Xifeng.

Master Xue didn't know what was going on and didn't dare to ask, so he just said hello casually, walked past her and entered Lin Daiyu's courtyard.

He first presented a gift and exchanged a few polite words. Just as he was about to ask about business, footsteps were heard outside and Baoyu rushed in.

When Master Xue Er saw this, he decided to ask directly, so he smiled and said:

"Master Bao, you've come at the right time. I was planning to ask Miss Lin about the relationship between Master Bao and my Baoqin."

After hearing this, Baoyu immediately became concerned and stared at Daiyu with burning eyes.

Bitter...

Daiyu secretly cried out in her heart, and it was not easy to tell the lies she had planned in front of Baoyu, so she could only mumble:

"What the future dream will be like is not under my control. I have never seen them become a couple in my dreams."

When Baoyu heard this, he immediately screamed in surprise.

"How is this possible!"

"I told my wife a few days ago and asked her to come over to propose marriage. How come my sister didn't see me in her dream?"

Daiyu said awkwardly:
"Maybe something unexpected happened in the middle, who knows!"

Baoyu became anxious and immediately pulled Master Xue to go see his wife.

Master Xue also wanted to use this son-in-law to make up for his losses, so he reluctantly followed him out of the yard and went straight to see Mrs. Wang.

Before he even entered the courtyard, Baoyu started shouting, "Madam, what happened to the marriage proposal I mentioned last time?"

When Mrs. Wang saw Mr. Xue coming in with Baoyu, she was displeased and said with a sullen face,

"You little beast, what's yours can't run away anyway, why are you so impatient?"

Then he turned to Master Xue and said with a smile:

"You are a rude boy who doesn't know etiquette. For such an important matter as marriage, my master and old lady must give their approval. It's not his turn to rush things."

Master Xue Er had been in the business world for many years and was used to reading people's faces. When he heard her tone, which was very different from her previous attitude, he knew that the situation had changed, so he changed the subject and said with a bow:
"I heard that the thief who switched the bags was caught, so I came over to ask, but I was pulled over by Master Bao."

"My Xue family has no objection to this marriage. You and your son can discuss it among yourselves. I am here only for the gold sand that was swapped."

After hearing this, Mrs. Wang frowned and said:

"The gold sand in my house was lost by an internal thief. The person who switched the gold sand has already turned himself in. He is the housekeeper of the house. The old lady has always been kind. After recovering the gold sand, she let him go because of his hard work over the years."

"As for the gold sand in the mansion, I'm afraid Mr. Xue should put more effort into dealing with the thief within his own family."

Master Xue shook his head and said:

"These two cases are exactly the same. They must have been done by the same group of people. Even if Butler Lai didn't do it himself, he must be related to them. Madam, please be kind and let my family ask Butler Lai about this."

Lai Da was Lady Jia's man, so how could Lady Wang make decisions for Lady Jia? Moreover, it was too inappropriate for her own housekeeper to be interrogated by an outsider, so Lady Wang could not agree to it.

So although Mrs. Wang also suspected that Lai Da was responsible for the Xue family's affairs, since Grandmother Jia had already made up her mind and wanted to protect him, she could only obey and shook her head and refused:
"Mr. Xue, what you said is not right. This kind of case is clearly the work of an internal thief. What happened in my family proves this point even more. You should go back and investigate the internal thief in your family!"

The two of them were arguing with each other, and Baoyu, who was standing beside them, had already grown fed up, so he beat his chest and stamped his feet, shouting:

"Madam, is it the old lady or the master who disagrees with this marriage? Please tell me clearly and I will go to them to plead!"

Mrs. Wang was secretly angry, so she glared and said:
"If you're not afraid of being beaten by your father, then go and ask!"

Baoyu was originally very afraid of his own master. When he was frightened, he immediately became weak. His face flushed and he turned around a few times, shouting in a timid tone:

"I, I'll go find the old lady and make the decision!"

After saying that, he turned around and ran out.

Master Xue, who was standing nearby, sighed inwardly when he saw this. He knew that he had been played around by the people in the Jia family and had spent a lot of money, but in the end the marriage would probably not take place. He sighed, said goodbye and left, wondering how he could make up for this loss.

After much thought, he concluded that the only time the two families were certain of a marriage was when the Jia family owed the Xue family a lot of debts and so they used Baoyu to pay off the debts.

If you want to make this marriage happen, you will probably have to use this method.

But why is the Jia family no longer short of money?
However, Mr. Zhan was generous and lent a box of gold sand to the Jia family at a low interest rate. If the Jia family is short of money, it will probably have to fall on Mr. Zhan's shoulders.

(End of this chapter)