Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Rongguo Mansion, Fengjie Courtyard, West Wing.

Early in the morning, Qingwen set up a table and stools at the door and helped the accountant, Xiangling, to guard the door!

This was the task Jia Lian had assigned her last night, and she took it very seriously.

People inside and outside the courtyard knew that the housekeepers' wives would be coming to hand over the embezzled funds today, so they all came to watch the spectacle.

Qingwen immediately glared at everyone and told them to leave.

Some people, relying on their thick skin or status, shamelessly tried to pry into our relationship, but Qingwen didn't give them any face: "I advise you all to behave yourselves and not to meddle in things that are not your business."

Second Master specifically instructed that no one unrelated to the matter is allowed to enter this room today!

"To tell you the truth, even Second Madam doesn't dare disobey Second Master's orders. If you think you're more respectable than Second Madam, then come forward and see how you die."

Qingwen's words had an excellent effect.

No one dared to cause any more trouble. They even waited around for half a day, but still no housekeeper's wife came to pay. Only then did their excitement wane, and they slowly dispersed.

When there were hardly any people left in the courtyard, Qingwen couldn't sit still any longer and went inside to find Xiangling.

"Hey, do you think those housekeepers will disobey Second Master's orders and not come today?"

Xiangling shook her head, indicating that she didn't know.

All she knew was that the Second Master told her to write down everything she had received.

"Sigh, at this rate, Second Master will be leaving office soon. We haven't received anything. Won't he be angry?"

Qingwen was a little listless. She had finally gotten a proper job and wanted to do her best.

Having accomplished nothing so far, I'm naturally a bit unhappy.

Xiangling advised, "Sister Qingwen, don't worry. Second Master gave them time until the second watch of the night. There's still plenty of time. Perhaps they'll arrive in a little while."

Qingwen only replied with one sentence: "I hope so."

Just as he was listlessly fiddling with a small scale on Xiangling's desk, which was used to weigh silver, he saw Xiao Hong tiptoeing over from the doorway.

Qingwen immediately reprimanded her sternly, "What are you doing here? Don't you know that no idlers are allowed in here today?"

This Xiao Hong is a sycophantic maid. She's only been in the courtyard for a few months, but she's already won over the Second Mistress, overshadowing the original maids around her. She's acting like a newly appointed VIP in the courtyard.

Qingwen didn't like her.

Xiao Hong gave an embarrassed smile. She was dressed in thick clothes, and only after entering the house did she remove her sleeves to reveal her true identity. She said to Qingwen, "I've come to deliver the silver on my mother's orders..."

It turned out that although most of the stewards had prepared the money, they dared not send it over rashly.

They secretly probed repeatedly, partly to check the situation in Sister Feng's courtyard, such as whether Second Mistress was waiting, and partly to see what the others were doing...

After all, the matter was of great importance, and they were all very cautious.

Lin Zhixiao's wife didn't want to take the plunge either. Fortunately, her daughter worked in Feng Jie's brothel, so she had Xiao Hong bring all the silver over so she could act when the opportunity arose.

Xiao Hong was a very clever and quick-witted person. She waited until no one in the yard was watching before she quietly sneaked over.

When Qingwen heard that Xiaohong had come to pay money, and saw the large, bulging bundle she was carrying, her eyes lit up, and she immediately stood up from her seat.

"Since you're paying money, why don't you hand it over?"

Qingwen nimbly stepped forward to snatch the package.

Xiao Hong subconsciously took a step back, thinking that although Qingwen shouldn't have the right to see it, she lived with Xiangling, so this matter couldn't be avoided by her.

Rather than offending her and having her target me in the future, I might as well be generous to her. Anyway, Second Master doesn't blame my parents anymore, and even gave my father half of the silver, so I'm not afraid of her spreading rumors.

So they had Qingwen take the package away.

"Oh my, so this is all your family has to hand over? Tsk tsk, your family is really something, how much silver must that be..."

Qingwen thought that after following Jia Lian, she had seen a lot of things, such as gold and silver jewelry.

But when she received the package from Xiaohong, its heavy weight almost made her lose her grip and fall.

So he hurriedly placed the package on the table, opened it, and saw that it was indeed full of silver ingots, big and small, regular and irregular.

Hearing Qingwen's somewhat sarcastic words, Xiaohong had no way to argue back. She just glanced towards the door, afraid that someone might come over.

Her father originally wanted to exchange the silver for gold so she could bring it in; it would be lighter and less conspicuous. However, her mother said that gold would be too conspicuous, and it wouldn't be appropriate if the masters thought their family had mountains of gold and silver. So they decided to use silver instead.

Her mother was also cunning; she deliberately took most of the old silver ingots and loose silver, intending to let the masters know that their family had been completely ransacked...

Qingwen ignored Xiaohong and happily took out all the silver, dividing it into piles and weighing it.

Together with Xiangling, the final weight came to over five hundred taels...

Xiangling finished recording the numbers, and Qingwen was about to send Xiaohong out when she saw Xiaohong blushing and taking out a piece of silk wrapped in her bosom. Then, under the questioning gazes of Qingwen and Xiangling, she opened it and said:

"These are the silver notes my mother exchanged at Datong Money Exchange this morning. They total one thousand taels. Xiangling, please count them..."

Lin Zhixiao got carried away last night and spent three thousand taels in one go.

It was only later that I learned that paying the money had also become a problem.

Even if Jia Lian waived half of the fee, the more than one thousand taels was still quite conspicuous and not easily obtained.

Unable to exchange it for gold, the Lin family, after much deliberation, decided to go to a large money exchange shop in the city and secretly exchange the silver for specific banknotes, which would make it easier to bring in.

Xiangling took the silver notes handed to her by Xiaohong and counted them like a robot.

Qingwen watched with curiosity, wondering, "This thing isn't fake, is it?"

Xiao Hong hurriedly said, "No, these are all real. We wouldn't dare to lie to Second Master. These silver notes were all exchanged by my mother at Datong Money Exchange this morning, and they can all be exchanged for cash..."

Silver notes were rare; even those that circulated in the market were small-denomination notes issued by large money shops.

Large denomination notes are rare because they were printed by money changers for specific people, and the exchange process was complicated, requiring redemption only at specific locations, which was very inconvenient.

Xiangling finished counting, and it was indeed one thousand taels. Adding the previous silver, it totaled more than one thousand five hundred taels.

Upon learning this total, both Qingwen and Xiangling were astonished.

How can a servant be so rich?

For a time, both Qingwen and Xiangling labeled the Lin family as extremely corrupt in their hearts.

Xiao Hong could see what they were thinking, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Seeing that Xiangling had finished taking notes, she said timidly, "Sister Qingwen, Sister Xiangling, I'm leaving now..."

Qingwen and Xiangling nodded blankly.