The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

"Have you left any written evidence for all the things you said before?"

Jia Huan waved his hand and asked directly, "Do you know everything that has happened since Zhou Rui took over the estate?"

"Don't worry, boss, everything has been taken care of!"

The manager sneered, "Since we dare to arrest people, we naturally won't let you, boss, be implicated!"

"That's nice to say!"

Jia Huan laughed and scolded, "Give me the evidence, and at the same time, keep the news under wraps!"

“Zhou Rui isn’t very capable, but he’s a master at whistleblowing. I don’t want to suffer at his hands!”

"Don't worry, boss. I've brought the evidence and even the ledgers. Would you like to take a look?"

The steward nodded in understanding and said in a deep voice, "If this fellow hadn't made it clear beforehand that he would definitely take over all the other estates of the Rong family outside the city, I wouldn't have taken such drastic measures!"

"Boss, you've managed the estate so well, and the brothers are living such comfortable lives there. How can you let a guy like Zhou Rui ruin everything?"

“If it weren’t for his special status, and if we didn’t want to make things difficult for you, boss, he definitely wouldn’t be able to leave that manor this time. He simply doesn’t treat the people in the manor like human beings!”

"Let me see it, so I'll be aware of what's going on!"

Jia Huan didn't say much, but directly ordered the steward to bring all the evidence.

After carefully reading through it, the contents were indeed quite fascinating; one can only say that Zhou Rui truly lived up to his reputation.

They had only been in control of the estate for about half a year, but the accounts clearly showed that not only had all the public property in the estate been seized, but the exploitation of the tenants and villagers was simply outrageous.

Just as the steward said, they didn't treat the tenants and farmers on the estate as human beings at all!

Originally, almost all the tools and facilities that Jia Huan had carefully arranged to improve productivity were destroyed and sold for money by this fellow.

The management of other farms was a complete mess, with absolutely no planning or direction.

Even so, Zhou Rui ultimately managed to plunder less than ten thousand taels of silver from the estate!

You should know that last year, the total output of this estate brought in nearly 13,000 taels of silver!

This is even considering that Jia Huan gave a considerable amount of profit to the tenants and farmers, which shows that the estate's output was substantial.

Now they've even managed to drive someone to their death and are trying to pin the blame on Madam Wang. Well then, don't blame them for being impolite. Do they really think Madam Wang is some kind of clay idol that's easy to manipulate?

After reviewing the detailed account books and written evidence, Jia Huan made a special trip to the estate to take a look, and then immediately returned to the capital to visit the Rong Mansion.

When they passed through the second gate, he specifically asked whether Zhou Rui's wife was with Madam Wang.

To everyone's surprise, Zhou Rui's wife wasn't at home at the time; she was quite lucky.

"Does Huan-ge want to see me? He has something important to report?"

When Lady Wang received the maid's report, she was filled with doubt, but she still let the person in.

She knew perfectly well that although she was Jia Huan's legal mother, it was only a superficial relationship.

Privately, unless there's a specific reason, Jia Huan almost never visits without the necessary courtesy.

Although Madam Wang was not very happy about this, she did not take it too seriously.

That's how it is in large families; the relationship between the legal wife and the illegitimate son is often distant.

There's no mutual animosity, which is already quite an achievement for her. What more could she ask for?

Anyway, Madam Wang felt that she had done a very good job and had even helped Jia Huan grow up smoothly, which would have been impossible in other families.

At this moment, she was not in a good mood!

The main problem is that Zhou Rui has not yet paid the promised 10,000 taels of silver for renting the estate!

This was absolutely unacceptable to Madam Wang, who was quite fond of money.

In particular, Wang Xifeng had already taken the portion of the silver that the eldest son's family was entitled to based on the rental fee of 80,000 taels of silver, and Madam Wang felt that she had been greatly cheated.

She would absolutely not agree if Zhou Rui did not hand over the ten thousand taels of silver.

With these random thoughts swirling in your mind, your expression naturally won't be very pleasant.

Jia Huan followed the maid into the room, bowing and greeting her respectfully, not giving Lady Wang a chance to criticize him, which was considered giving his stepmother enough face.

"Brother Huan, what brings you here so suddenly?"

Madam Wang spoke directly: "If there's nothing important, then you may leave!"

Jia Huan continued, "Mother, I do have important business to discuss with you, but it involves Steward Zhou Rui..."

At this point, he subconsciously glanced at the head maidservant beside Madam Wang, his meaning clear.

"You all get out. Don't come in without my permission!"

Madam Wang's eyelids twitched slightly. She dismissed all the maids from the room and then said slowly, "What exactly do you want? Now you can explain it clearly, right?"

"Mother, Zhou Rui killed someone on the estate and is now trying to pin the blame on you!"

Jia Huan didn't stand on ceremony and spoke directly.

Chapter 318 Everyone Has Their Own Thoughts (Please Subscribe)

"Huan-ge'er, are you telling the truth?"

Madam Wang's face was ashen, and her voice carried a hint of coldness.

"How could I possibly lie to my mother?"

Jia Huan said with a wry smile, "It just happened this morning!"

"Zhou Rui has gone mad in his greed for money. He even tried to steal the New Year's food rations from the tenant farmers on the estate. The old man died of anger when he realized he had no way to survive!"

"The old man's son confronted Zhou Rui, but Zhou Rui ordered his men to beat him severely!"

"But he insisted that he was acting on his mother's orders, and anyone who disobeyed would die!"

"As a result, this angered the tenants and villagers, who joined forces to surround the man!"

"Zhou Rui hurriedly sent people to a nearby manor for help. My steward led his men there and brought the situation under control. In the process, he also detained Zhou Rui and his group. I came to report as soon as I received the news!"

"Is Zhou Rui really that audacious?"

Madam Wang scoffed, "You're going to pin the blame for driving someone to their death on me?"

"This is real!"

Jia Huan took out a large sheet of paper from his pocket, spread it out and said, "Mother, look, this is a detailed account collected by my men, along with the handprints of many tenants and farmers!"

"Of course, Mother can send someone over to check immediately, but it's best not to send someone who is close to Zhou Rui!"

"I will naturally send someone over to check the situation!"

Madam Wang examined the large piece of paper carefully, and her expression turned quite unpleasant.

The fact that Zhou Rui drove someone to their death was naturally nothing to Madam Wang.

Even if the government wanted to investigate, they could just throw out a servant born into a family; that's how everyone does it.

But Zhou Ruiqian should never have done that, he should never have put the blame on Madam Wang!

Madam Wang didn't ask him to scavenge the tenants' last winter food on the estate; she's not stupid!

When you were managing the estate, how much grain was exempted due to various unforeseen circumstances?

Madam Wang prided herself on having a compassionate heart and would never allow her reputation to be so tarnished by her subordinates; it was simply outrageous.

Jia Huan remained calm, showing no sign of abnormality, which was exactly what he had expected.

"It's already the 20th of the twelfth lunar month, why is Zhou Rui going to the tenant farmers' houses to steal their winter grain?"

Lady Wang was not so easily fooled; after all, she had managed the household for twenty years before Wang Xifeng.

They're not unaware of the ins and outs of those in charge; there's no reason for them to go so far.

"Mother, I actually know about this!"

Jia Huan said directly, "After Steward Zhou Rui took over the management of the estate, he didn't care much about its operation and was only focused on making money off the land!"

"As a result, when the autumn harvest came, the harvest on the estate was less than eight thousand taels of silver!"

"We're still more than 2,000 taels short of the 10,000 taels to be handed over to the public funds. We can't possibly pay for it out of our own pockets, can we?"

The rest of the words were left unsaid, but Madam Wang naturally understood what was going on.

"Is this true?"

Madam Wang's expression was beyond just being described as unpleasant.

At this moment, her eyes turned cold, and she could no longer maintain her Bodhisattva-like demeanor. She was clearly a ruthless and vicious person, and even her voice carried an unpleasant connotation.

"Of course it's true!"

Jia Huan didn't hide anything and said slowly, "After all, I managed that estate for several years, so I have some connections and informants there. There are many things that can't be hidden!"

Facing Madam Wang's disapproving gaze, Jia Huan remained calm and continued, "Mother is free to send someone to investigate thoroughly. I did not resort to any underhanded tricks!"

"Last year, the total income of that estate was around 13,000 taels of silver. Detailed accounts can be found, so there's no need to hide anything!"

"Thirteen thousand taels? How come there's so much?"

Madam Wang was taken aback upon hearing this and asked doubtfully, "Is this true?"