save the bachelors

Chapter 4721 [Smoothing things over]

Sichun and Daiyu were talking to Xiang Nan when Jin Chuan came to invite Xiang Nan on Mrs. Wang's orders.

"It must be about those servants." Xiang Nan knew it as soon as he heard it.

"Master Bao is really smart." Jin Chuan laughed when she heard this. "When Madam knew about this, she was furious and called Madam Lian to give her a lecture. Now she wants me to invite Master Bao."

Xiang Nan nodded and looked at Sichun and Daiyu, "You guys take a seat first, I'll go first."

After saying that, he followed Jin Chuan to Lady Wang's place.

As expected, Mrs. Wang invited Xiang Nan to come just to deal with the household servants.

"Madam, since the family rules have been drawn up, we should naturally follow them. Otherwise, what is the point of drawing up the family rules?" Xiang Nan said immediately after hearing this.

He hates people who try to smooth things over the issue the most, because such people can only mediate conflicts but cannot truly resolve them, so the conflicts will continue to exist and will have to be resolved sooner or later.

The problem of Jia's servants must be solved sooner or later, and a short pain is worse than a long one, so he firmly disagrees with showing leniency, but hopes to solve the problem once and for all and make an example of them.

"But Lai Da, Wu Xindeng, and Wu Xindeng's family are all elderly people in the family." Mrs. Wang explained, "Lai Da's mother, Lai Ma, was the old lady's maid. Now you want to send him to the government for investigation according to family rules. Isn't that a bit inhumane?"

Lai Da is the chief steward of the Jia family. He was tricked because he accepted gifts from the comprador Dai Liang.

Dai Liang was responsible for purchasing the daily necessities of the Jia family, including daily necessities, cloth and jewelry, medicine and supplements, pens, ink, paper, etc.

When he hosted a grand banquet at Jia's mansion, he was in charge of purchasing the delicacies from land and sea for the banquet, and he passed inferior goods off as good ones, making a fortune from it. He gave part of it to Lai Da, who was fooled.

Wu Xindeng was in charge of the silver vault. He secretly took away 3,000 taels of silver from the vault by falsifying the accounts. It can be said that he was extremely bold.

"It is precisely because they are the elders of the family that the family trusts them and gives them the important task of housekeeping." Xiang Nan waved his hand and said, "But not only do they not think of giving back, but they also use their power to wantonly embezzle our family's property.

If we don't teach this black-hearted servant a lesson, he might just come and rob our house openly one day."

"Madam, what Brother Bao said makes sense." Wang Xifeng agreed.

She hopes that Lai Da, Wu Xindeng and other senior executives will retire.

Because Lai Da was the chief steward, he relied on the influence of Lady Jia. His mother, Lai Ma, was Lady Jia's maidservant during her marriage. Wu Xindeng was in a similar situation.

One of them is the chief steward and the other is the steward of the treasury. It can be said that they hold great power and even Wang Xifeng may not take them seriously.

If Lai Da and Wu Xindeng were to step down, her power would be even greater.

……

"What does the old lady think?" Mrs. Wang asked worriedly, afraid that Lady Jia would not be able to pass the test.

"Don't worry, ma'am. Grandmother will only be happy. How could she object?" Xiang Nan waved his hand and said.

Grandmother Jia is the most politically wise person in the Ning and Rong mansions, far more powerful than Lady Wang and Wang Xifeng.

Don't be fooled by the fact that she usually acts like a Maitreya Buddha, playing around with her grandchildren. In fact, she can easily resolve many issues while chatting and laughing.

For example, when it comes to Jia Baoyu’s marriage, the phrase “It is not the fate of a child to marry early” has silenced countless mouths; when it comes to exposing the lies of storytellers on the Lantern Festival, it has also really given a warning to those with ulterior motives…

She also knew that the Jia family was declining, and wanted to save the family from collapse, so she worked hard to cultivate the next generation, arranging for Jia Zheng and Jia Zhu to take the imperial examinations, arranging for her daughter Jia Min to marry Lin Ruhai, the top scholar in the imperial examination, and arranging for her eldest granddaughter Yuanchun (born on the first day of the first lunar month), who was very blessed, to enter the palace… But unfortunately, Jia Zhu died young, Jia Min also died early, and there was no news about Yuanchun for several years after she entered the palace, so the old lady's heart had no choice but to slow down.

But the old man is not confused and knows what is a big deal and what is a small deal.

In the book, when she heard that some old women were gambling at night, she immediately got angry and immediately asked Tanchun to investigate thoroughly.

Because gambling leads to theft, and adultery leads to murder, playing with money means drinking, and drinking means making mistakes. Moreover, when people get together to play with money and drink, the door is naturally not guarded strictly, which easily leaves room for thieves.

Not to mention that because of losing money, they had the urge to steal and secretly took things out of the mansion to sell, etc. Therefore, she immediately ordered the arrest of people, not only burning the gambling equipment, but also beating the leader with 40 boards, expelling him from the mansion, and never hiring him again.

Even Yingchun's wet nurse was caught in the middle. She was not exempted from the situation and was severely reprimanded by her. "These wet nurses probably took advantage of their experience of nursing brothers and sisters and were more respectable than others. They started to cause trouble and were more hateful than others. They were responsible for instigating their masters to protect their shortcomings and be biased. I have experienced it all."

Therefore, Xiang Nan was certain that the old lady would not only not object, but would strongly support it.

……

"Happy?!" Mrs. Wang was a little confused.

Just then, Yuchuan came in and said that Jia Zheng wanted Xiang Nan to come over.

Xiang Nan immediately went to the study.

Then, housekeepers including Lai Da, Lin Zhixiao, Wu Xindeng, Shan Daliang, Zhou Rui, and Dai Liang were all kneeling on the ground.

Among them, Lai Da, Wu Xindeng and Dai Liang had words carved on their foreheads, Lai Da and Dai Liang were "embezzled money" and Wu Xindeng was "embezzled from the company".

"Master, it's really unfair. We have never done anything to enrich ourselves." Lai Da and Dai Liang both knelt down and pleaded, crying and sobbing, looking extremely aggrieved.

Wu Xindeng also protested his innocence, "Master, I have never committed embezzlement. Please investigate, Master, please investigate."

"Baoyu, tell me, what's going on?" Jia Zheng looked at Xiang Nan and asked.

"Master, what I put on the parchment is the magic of the gods. Anyone who violates the family rules will be punished. This is called 'the net of heaven is vast and long, and nothing can escape it.' There will be no mistakes." Xiang Nan nodded, "As for why they don't admit their mistakes, it's nothing more than a fluke mentality."

"Master Bao, I have never lied. I am innocent."

"Master Bao, I am truly wronged. Please let Master Bao see clearly!"

"Master Bao, if this servant really wants to embezzle money, I am willing to die here."

Lai Da, Wu Xindeng and Dai Liang all cried.

Seeing this, Xiang Nan didn't waste any words. He took out a sword and put it to Lai Da's throat. Then he asked with a smile, "Butler Lai, how much benefit have you taken from the Jia Mansion over the years?"

Lai Da was so frightened when he saw the tip of the sword against his throat. He was even more shocked when he heard Xiang Nan's question and quickly denied it, "I didn't count the exact amount of benefits, but it was at least 40,000 to 50,000 taels of silver."

"Four or five hundred thousand taels?!" Jia Zheng was shocked when he heard it.

Jia Lian's eyes widened.

Forty to fifty thousand taels of silver was not a small sum at the time. The Jia family's annual income was only about 10,000 to 20,000 taels of silver. He actually embezzled forty to fifty thousand taels, which was equivalent to the Jia family's income for three or four years. He was really cruel!