Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Not only Jia Zheng, but also Grandmother Jia and others in Rongqing Palace were paying attention to the affairs of the outer courtyard.

When she heard that Jia Lian had dealt with Shan Daliang's family, but was still unwilling to let go and wanted to deal with other servants, Grandmother Jia felt uneasy.

However, when she heard from Lai Da's wife that Jia Lian had changed to a gentler approach and made them confess the amount of silver they had embezzled, Grandmother Jia felt both angry and amused.

Because Aunt Xue came to talk to her sister, Lady Wang, and also stopped by to pay her respects, she was in the hall at this time. Grandmother Jia said to her, half complaining and half teasing, "I'm sorry to have made you laugh at this, Aunt. Our child always does things on a whim."

This time, I don't know where he heard this method from, it sounds ridiculous, but he himself disregarded his status and used it to discipline his servants.

Fortunately, it was at home. If he had been in charge of the seal in the military headquarters, countless people would have laughed at him.

I have no idea what he was thinking. Once he figured things out, he wanted to become an official and get ahead, so he wanted everyone to be like him, an honest and clean official, a good official.

Unfortunately, most of our good-for-nothing servants will probably not be able to please him.

Aunt Xue sensed the dissatisfaction and mockery in Grandmother Jia's tone towards Jia Lian. Indeed, since ancient times, which of the greedy and cunning servants wasn't shrewd and cunning? Who would be willing to honestly confess their crimes?

This is akin to the emperor issuing an edict ordering all officials to voluntarily confess who is an honest official and who is a corrupt one...

However, Aunt Xue had a different feeling than Grandmother Jia.

Even if Jia Lian's actions weren't necessarily effective, she still envied them, so she smiled and said:

"Grandma is joking. If any family could be like Grandma's, with filial children and grandchildren who are all capable, they would be so happy that they wouldn't be able to stop smiling. So why would they be joking?"

Take my family for example. I only regret that there is no one in the family who can manage things. If we had a man like Lian-ge who is capable of holding an official position outside and managing the household inside, I'm afraid our family wouldn't be in this situation now..."

As Aunt Xue spoke, she couldn't help but show a sad and tired expression.

She was adept at winning people's sympathy, so she didn't hesitate to tell Grandmother Jia about her family's decline.

Besides, what she said wasn't entirely nonsense. She had always hoped that Xue Pan would suddenly become sensible one day, and if he could at least discipline and suppress the servants and employees in the house, she would be at ease.

As a woman, she really had no way to deal with those old servants who had served for generations, those cunning old managers and shop assistants.

Grandmother Jia glanced at Aunt Xue and sighed inwardly for the Xue family.

What good is all that wealth to a family that has no male heirs?

In comparison, the Jia family could be considered a prosperous family.

Any one of her family's capable sons or grandsons is ten times better than Xue Pan!

While Grandmother Jia and others spoke from above, the three sisters of the Spring Festival, Jia Baoyu, Daiyu, and others formed their own circle below.

"Sister Lin, what do you think of Brother Lian's method? Do you think those stewards and stewards will really obediently report the money they embezzled to Brother Lian?"

Tan Chun tugged at Daiyu's sleeve, wanting to find out Daiyu's opinion.

Daiyu pouted slightly, rolled up her sleeves, and ignored her. "You brat, you just stepped on my foot, it hurts! I'm not talking to you anymore."

Tan Chun then turned to ask Bao Chai.

Baochai replied, "Given the lessons of the past, everyone is still wary and would certainly not dare to refuse."

However, it's probably still difficult to describe the truth.

Baochai had helped her mother manage the household business and knew how difficult it was to deal with the people below. Even if you found fault with them, they could always find a thousand and one reasons to shirk responsibility and make excuses.

Therefore, it is extremely difficult to completely subdue them. I just don't know what Lian Ergege is planning.

"No, no, I think Brother Lian just used the wrong move this time."

These servants in the manor are all incredibly cunning; not a single word of truth can be uttered from their mouths. Getting them to confess the truth would be as difficult as climbing to heaven.

Seeing that Baochai's words resonated with everyone, Jia Baoyu quickly offered his own different perspective.

However, he didn't realize that with just one sentence, he had offended all the servants in the household. The servants, including Lady Lai, who were reporting to Grandmother Jia, twitched at the corners of their mouths, but dared not utter a word.

Lin Daiyu also glanced at Jia Baoyu, then snorted and turned her head away.

Jia Baoyu felt a little embarrassed and quickly greeted her in a flattering tone: "Sister Lin~~"

A few days had passed since the incident at Shuiyue Nunnery, and the three sisters of the Spring Festival had basically "forgotten" about it and were willing to talk to him again. Only Daiyu remained indifferent to him.

This little girl is too hard to please; she's not as cute as my third sister.

……

The atmosphere was solemn in front of the steward's office.

Because the stewards and servants were all walking up to Jia Lian one after another, as if they were going to their execution, and even the other servants watching the show dared not make a move.

A steward shakily wrote down a number, glanced at Jia Lian's expression, and seemed about to say something.

"You don't need to explain to me. I've already said, you can decide for yourselves how much to write."

"Are you going to change it or not? If not, get out of here and don't waste time."

The deacon's expression changed drastically. He gritted his teeth and said that his hand was shaking and he had written it wrong. Then he quickly picked up a pen, crossed out the number he had written before on the white paper, and rewrote it.

Jia Lian glanced at it, indifferently made a note in the book in front of him, and then waved for him to leave.

After everyone had finished their turn, they stepped aside and all stared intently at Jia Lian, who was sitting in the center, wondering what the Second Master Lian would do next.

Then Jia Lian seemed to count the items on the register, and then looked up at everyone and said, "That's right, all the servants in charge of our household are here. As for the remaining ten or so who are stationed outside, and those who have been assigned to other duties, they are not counted today."

Let's invite them to participate again next time there's a similar game.

Everyone was embarrassed and didn't know how to respond.

Master Lian didn't seem to intend to let them answer. He then pulled out the booklet from before and, under everyone's watchful eyes, began to meticulously compare the numbers, clearly genuinely verifying which people's numbers were reasonable and which were unreasonable...

Suddenly, the hearts of the twenty or thirty stewards and deacons were in their throats, regardless of whether they were honest or dishonest, good or bad-natured.

"Hehehe..."

Just as many people with bad tempers were trembling uncontrollably, they suddenly heard Jia Lian's laughter.

"It seems that quite a few people in our family still take my words to heart and know how to respect their master. That's good."

As Jia Lian laughed, he picked up a brush and quickly made several strokes on the alarming little booklet.

Everyone guessed that the people whose numbers were crossed out by the Second Master were those whose numbers he deemed appropriate, meaning they had passed the test safely.

I don't even know if I was in it, or if I was even on top of it from the beginning...

Too many uncertainties always make people feel apprehensive.

What's even more frightening is yet to come.

Jia Lian quickly closed the booklet, then his expression turned cold. "You've already given your chances, and you've seized them all. There's nothing more to say."

Next, we'll move on to the second round of the game—continuing the investigation into corruption.

Where is Wang Xin, the steward in charge of all rents and shops in the capital?

As soon as Jia Lian finished speaking, a middle-aged male servant immediately knelt down in front of Jia Lian like a dog, looking panicked.

"Second Master, spare me! Second Master, spare me! I'm innocent! I've been wronged all these years..."

His explanations were unoriginal and delivered in a panicked tone, making it easy to see his worry and fear.

Perhaps, he's truly finished...

As expected, Jia Lian calmly waited for him to finish his nonsense before saying, "Since it's a game, some people will pass the level and advance, while others will fail and be eliminated."

Unfortunately, you belong to the latter category.

Don't rush to speak. I'll give you two choices now, so listen carefully.

First, from now on, you must not speak a word, not even a single syllable, and await my judgment. I promise I won't hit you even once.

Secondly, you can choose to be like Shan Daliang and let me lay out your embezzlement deeds one by one. You can also explain, whether it's arguing logically or stalling and making excuses.

However, regardless of whether you convince me in the end, from the very first word you explain, every single word will be converted into a stroke of cane.

For example, if you can convince me with just ten words, you'll only receive ten strokes of the cane, and no other punishment. But if you need two hundred words or more to convince me, then you're in trouble; you'll have to endure two hundred strokes or more.

The worst-case scenario is that you've said a lot but still haven't convinced me. In that case, not only will you still receive the caning, but you might even suffer worse than the Shan family. Did you understand?"

Jia Lian's words chilled everyone to the bone.

In court trials, it's impossible to clarify a case in just a few words. Moreover, now that Master Lian is convinced that Wang Xin has embezzled, he might not be able to explain it clearly even in a few thousand words, let alone a few dozen or a few hundred.

Unless one is a god, who can withstand thousands of strokes of the cane?

In other words, whether the explanation is clear or not, choosing this path is a dead end.

Wang Xin naturally sensed the danger and Jia Lian's murderous intent towards him, and immediately begged for mercy, saying, "Please forgive me, Second Master! I'm truly innocent. Even if I've had some improper income over the years, I've reported it truthfully just now..."

Jia Lian nodded and asked with a smile, "So, you've chosen the second path and want to argue with me? Very good, quite principled..."

Wang Xin paused, and Jia Lian didn't want to say another word to him, clearly convinced that he had embezzled.

Excuses? Second Master clearly wouldn't listen to a word.

Waiting for the master and mistress to speak up and save us...

Stop dreaming. It's been so long, and we haven't even seen the master and mistresses. Take Steward Shan for example, he's been in the manor for decades. The Second Master beat him half to death, then confiscated his property and sent him to the northern estate to die!

With his life hanging in the balance, Wang Xin seized the last bit of time and dejectedly replied, "This servant...this servant chooses the first path...I will leave it to Second Master's judgment...I only beg Second Master to consider my years of loyal service to the household and show leniency..."

Jia Lian nodded, then, without looking at Wang Xin who had collapsed to the ground, turned to Liu Chun behind him and said, "Steward Liu, I'll give you two quarters of an hour. Is that enough time?"

Liu Chun composed himself and stepped forward, saying, "Second Master, Wang Xin's family lives in Shuijing Lane ahead. Two quarters of an hour should be enough time..."

"Then let's go."

At this moment, Liu Chun had no time to rejoice at his wise choice to join forces early on. Without delay, he quickly gathered a group of people and headed outside.

Upon seeing this, not only did Wang Xin collapse to the ground, but several people in the group of deacons also lost their balance and almost slumped to the ground.

It seems Manager Wang is destined to repeat Shan Daliang's mistakes! There's no time to sympathize with him, because none of them know if Wang Xin will be the last unlucky one tonight.

Judging from the Second Master's current murderous aura, that's clearly not the case...