I go to the ancient imperial examinations

Chapter 571 Pleading
Qiu Jingyuan was no longer as domineering as she used to be. She was dressed in filial piety, with only two plain silver hairpins on her head, and her sunken eyes were particularly large against her pale complexion.

In particular, the fundus of the eyes is still blood-colored, and the eyes are blue-gray after not sleeping well. The little girl in her teens is old and tired like an old woman.

"Third cousin." The voice was hoarse and inaudible, Qiu Jingyuan looked at Qiu Huaixin pleadingly, and tears rolled in her eyes after she yelled, coupled with her thin figure, anyone who saw her would be a little bit embarrassed. Sympathy and pity.

Qiu Huaixin didn't like Qiu Jingyuan's domineering and ruthless behavior, but seeing the little girl who was not as tall as her chest, her father in prison, and her mother dying, Qiu Huaixin said, "If you can find someone, these things can be returned to you."

These 120 items are very valuable, but there are some problems with their origin. They are basically filial piety from people who are begging for the third house. Even if Qiu Jingyuan goes to find them, those people will not be able to come forward to testify. yamen.

Lowering her head to hide the reluctance in her eyes, Qiu Jingyuan said in a low voice: "These are all my mother's things. Although they are not registered, they are all negligent. My father's private collections are all in his warehouse. , they were all taken away when the house was ransacked.”

Qiu Jingyuan's words are half-truth and half-false. In the early years, Mrs. Hu was the big maid who served Mrs. Dou. She was released after she got married, but Mrs. Hu's fate was not good. The man died unexpectedly. However, Mrs. Hu's life at her in-law's house was very unsatisfactory, and she had no children. Later, she dragged someone to seek help from Mrs. Dou, and finally returned to the third room as an errand.

Mrs. Hu won the trust of Mrs. Dou, so she let her take over her own warehouse. All the things put into the warehouse are recorded by Mrs. Hu. When and who sent them are clearly recorded.

It's just that there are some things that can't be seen, and Dou's collected them in private.

Just like the coral tree that Zhan Feiyu saw before, it was given to Mrs. Dou by a business woman. Her son committed a crime in Qianzhong Road, not to mention robbing a civilian girl, and accidentally forced the girl Jumped into the river and died.

After Mrs. Dou accepted the valuable coral tree, she asked the second housekeeper to take Qiu Tai's post to the Fengchang County Government Office.

Afterwards, the sufferer withdrew the case, and the merchant's son also paid 100 taels of silver. The girl committed suicide by throwing herself into the river.

Naturally, this coral tree cannot be clearly registered and recorded in the warehouse. A simple record was made in the warehouse, and Mrs. Hu put the things in the warehouse. Mrs. Dou had a private account, but after the accident in Sanfang, Mrs. Dou immediately So they set up a charcoal basin and burned the private accounts.

"Back to the third son, it's all the servant's fault. Madam has a lot of things in the warehouse, and Madam is generous and never checks. Sometimes the servant is lazy and forgets to register." The blame is all on himself.

"Third cousin, these are my mother's relics, I want to take them back." Qiu Jingyuan looked at the objects put into the box one by one by the yamen servant, the corners of her eyes were red again, as if she wanted to rush over to snatch the things back, but Reason restrains her from acting recklessly, and can only watch helplessly.

Although Zhan Feiyu didn't only read the books of sages and sages, he didn't know the price of these items, so he asked He Nuan next to him in a low voice, "How much are these things worth?"

Dou's dowry is also a lot, with four boxes full of bits and pieces, but it is still not as good as these 120 items in real terms.

"The servant made a rough estimate. Dou's dowry may be around 8000 taels, but these things are at least tens of thousands of taels, and many of them are rare treasures." He Nuan looked at the coral tree and the white jade lotus, Including several jade ornaments next to it.

Not only are the carvings exquisite, but more importantly, these jades are of excellent quality, and it is difficult to buy them in the market. If you meet someone who likes antique jades, you might be able to buy a piece of jade for thousands of taels of silver.

What Qiu Jingyuan said was pitiful, but Qiu Huaixin didn't know about the other items, but this white jade lotus definitely did not belong to the third room. It was a gift from her father to Mr. Mei, and maybe Mr. Mei died because of it.

Qiu Huaixin's face turned cold, and he rejected Qiu Jingyuan's pleading in a deep voice, "The state owns the state law, and the family has family rules. If you can't explain the origin of these objects, then they can only be confiscated and returned to the court according to the law."

Qiu Jingyuan lowered her head and said nothing, her shoulders trembled slightly, as if she was crying silently.

Xu opened her mouth, but she didn't say anything in the end. Even though she was reluctant to part with these things, as He Nuan said, these things are not just silver, but treasures that can't be bought with money. In the future, her children will study for the imperial examination. These things If it is taken out, it can also support the field.

But Qiu Huaixin didn't want to get in, no matter how much Qiu Jingyuan begged, Xu's aunt was in the next room, and she was adopted. Even if it was for the children in the family who were still studying, Xu didn't dare to offend Qiu Huaixin.

"The third son is right. Even if you are a relative of the emperor, if you commit a crime, you will be guilty of the same crime as the common people!" Master Tao said in a dark voice, which sounded like he was praising Qiu Huaixin.

But Master Tao's mocking expression, no matter how you look at it, seems to be mocking Qiu Huaixin, who dare not rely on Master Qiu's power to keep these 120 items.

Master Teng and a group of yamen servants all lowered their heads and remained silent. If the third son of Qiu really bullied others, he would have been fooled by Master Tao. When the news came back to the capital, Yushitai would definitely impeach Lord Qiu for breaking the law.

Several yamen servants acted very quickly. The 120 items were carefully collected and put into the box. The clerks on the side also smeared paste on the seal and pasted it on the box. They just waited for Mr. Tao for a while. After signing and stamping the official seal, together with Master Teng's signature and seal, in the future, unless the two adults are present at the same time, no one can open the box privately.

Raising her head abruptly, Qiu Jingyuan suppressed her hatred for Qiu Huaixin, looked at Zhan Feiyu and said, "I only want half of these 120 items, and I'll let you pick first!"

Qiu Jingyuan was not reconciled to what she said, her hands under her sleeves were tightly clenched into fists, but she had to bow her head under the eaves, she would not give up half of her things, then all the 120 items would go to the Yamen, and she would lose all of them. No more.

Hearing that Mrs. Xu couldn't help but look at Zhan Feiyu. The little girl studied under Master Gu, but I heard that she is greedy for money. The reason why she has close contacts with Jiao Lianping is also because of the money. It seems that Zhenweixuan gave 5000 taels once. For silver, Jiao Lianyu, who was seriously injured, was later treated, and the magistrate Jiao also agreed to give a gift of 5 taels.

As for whether this matter is true or not, Mrs. Xu has no way to inquire about the news now.

But as the saying goes, there are no waves without wind, and it is a fact that the second son Jiao was seriously injured. If Zhan Feiyu took the opportunity to blackmail him, it is also possible. It is impossible for the magistrate Jiao to give up the life of his youngest son for money.

Master Tao didn't open his mouth, he squinted his eyes and looked at Zhan Feiyu, Qiu Huaixin didn't have the courage, he wanted to see if this little girl was bold!
Zhan Feiyu laughed, and looked at Qiu Jingyuan who had a look of reluctance, but had no choice but to be hard-hearted, "This box is probably all ill-gotten gains, Miss Qiu has the right to give money to those who died in vain because of your third wife." Fortunately, these things belong to the imperial court and will be used by the people in the future."

"You really don't want it?" Qiu Jingyuan gritted her teeth, staring at Zhan Feiyu fiercely, "Back then, my aunt once talked about my mother's dowry, and said that a lot of it was packed at the bottom of the box. Let me keep it well in the future.”

As soon as these words came out, Qiu Huaixin's complexion changed, and even Mr. Tao did the same. Could it be that this token is in this box?
There are 120 items, which one is the token?According to common sense, this token should not be too big, otherwise it would be too troublesome to carry. Of course, this is just a guess.

Amused by Qiu Jingyuan's crude provocative method, Zhan Feiyu looked at the thoughtful Master Tao and suddenly said, "My lord, I have a humble opinion. I wonder if my lord would like to hear it?"

Mr. Tao put on airs and remained silent for a while with a sullen face, "Tell me!"

If Zhan Feiyu dared to rely on Bachelor Gu's name to let the Forbidden Dragon Guard snatch it, Master Tao would dare to write a secret letter to Da Sheng, and let Bachelor Gu suffer a lot.

"Your Excellency also knows how dangerous it would be to bring this box back to the capital." Zhan Feiyu pointedly looked at the big box that had been sealed, and continued with a smile: "As the saying goes, it's easy to hide with a bright knife." Hidden arrows are hard to guard against, Qianzhong Road is thousands of miles away from the capital, and bandits appear one after another along the way, and the guards of the adults are tired of coping even though they are highly skilled in martial arts."

"So?" Master Tao was not frightened. He was not only the Minister of the Household Department, but also had a backer behind him. Since he was going back to the capital, Master Tao would naturally arrange a retreat. Of course, Zhan Feiyu's words were not alarmist.

Zhan Feiyu continued: "Your Excellency, why not arrange a sale in Qianzhong Mansion, displaying these 120 items one by one, the one with the highest price will get it, so that the money from the sale will go to the Ministry of Households, which is also a great achievement. It also avoided the danger of adults on the way back to Beijing."

(End of this chapter)