Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Seeing the once high and mighty Lai family suffer misfortune, most members of the Jia family secretly cheered.

Apart from Lai Sheng and his wife from Ningguo Mansion. Lai Sheng was still able to remain calm, but Lai Sheng's wife rushed home as soon as she heard that her brother-in-law's place had been searched.

They also saw the soldiers guarding the gate of their brother-in-law's house and heard the commotion inside the courtyard, but dared not linger.

"Mother, you're finally back..."

As soon as she entered her alley, she found her two sons, along with their wives and others, all huddled together, looking like they wanted to go over and check on the situation but dared not. Their faces betrayed their fear, and as soon as they saw her approaching, they bombarded her with questions.

"Mother, what should we do? I heard that Second Master Lian sent people to search and confiscate Uncle's house. It's been making a scene for a while now. Will it be our turn soon?"

Lai Sheng's two sons were both incompetent, far inferior to Lai Shangrong, who had the potential to become a scholar. This was actually a major reason why the Lai family was much more prosperous than the Lai Sheng family, because Granny Lai was more willing to invest in the eldest son's son's son, who had "potential," and she always lived in the eldest son's house.

"Mother, Uncle's family is doomed. Before they arrive, let's give away some of our valuables. That way, even if something bad happens, we'll still have a chance to turn things around..." Lai Sheng's youngest son whispered anxiously to his wife.

Lai Sheng's wife was also panicked and afraid, but upon hearing this, she instinctively knew that this was a path to disaster.

The two families are brothers and live so close to each other. Since Jia Lian sent people to surround and search their area, who can guarantee that no one is specifically watching their side? If Second Master Lian originally had no intention of taking action against them, wouldn't this escape be an admission of guilt?

But they dared not openly move things out; they couldn't just sit idly by doing nothing. So Lai Sheng's wife ran back into the house and hid some valuables here and there. Although she knew that if they really searched, it would probably be futile, at least it gave her some peace of mind. Seeing her like this, her son and daughter-in-law quickly followed suit...

Meanwhile, at the Lai family mansion, thanks to the efforts of Lin Zhixiao's family and others, Granny Lai's room was quickly emptied.

"Miss Ping, we've searched the courtyard and found everything that can be moved. Second Master is waiting for news. Why don't you go back and report to him?"

Lin Zhixiao's wife was shocked by the extravagance of Granny Lai's room, and now that it had been completely looted, she felt an unusual sense of satisfaction.

Ping'er, however, was not in a hurry to curry favor with Jia Lian. Instead, she ordered her men to open the dozen or so boxes of valuables that had been found, and then had another empty box brought out. She then said to Granny Lai beside her, "This time, the Second Master only sent us to check Lai Da's belongings. Granny Lai, you have served the Old Madam for so many years, there must be many things here that she gave you. Please feel free to pick them out. After the people around the Old Madam have confirmed them, we will definitely return them to you, Granny Lai."

Ping'er's politeness towards Granny Lai didn't bother Lin Zhixiao's wife. After all, Ping'er was someone that both Jia Lian and Feng Jie trusted, so it wasn't good to go against Ping'er on such a trivial matter. Therefore, she waved her hand and led the others to check and fill in the gaps.

Meanwhile, Granny Lai was no longer as panicked as before. She glanced at Ping'er with gratitude, then sighed and shook her head, saying, "Enough. Lai Da has committed such a heinous crime. What face do I have to keep the old lady's rewards? Miss Ping, take them all away and show them to the Second Master. No matter how the Second Master deals with us, our Lai family will accept it willingly..."

Granny Lai had followed Grandmother Jia for fifty or sixty years and had seen her share of ups and downs. But now that things had come to this, she had come to her senses.

Now that things have come to this, she no longer cares about clinging to these material possessions. Her greatest hope is simply to save her family's lives and property. If she can use these things to exchange for leniency from Master Lian, it will be worthwhile.

So, Granny Lai hurriedly knelt down and said, "I am already a sinner and originally dared not make any requests, but everyone says that Miss Ping has a truly compassionate heart. Therefore, I humbly beg Miss Ping to allow me to see the old lady one more time, considering that I am already seventy years old."

After this, I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to kowtow and pay my respects to her again.

Faced with Granny Lai's pleading, Ping'er sighed and quickly helped her up. "Don't worry, Granny Lai. The old lady is a sentimental person, and Master Lian is a magnanimous one. You'll definitely be alright this time. In the future, the old lady will still need your service."

Granny Lai was even more grateful. "Stop telling me to serve. As long as the old lady doesn't despise me and is willing to see me one last time, I will be content and have no regrets even if I die."

After calming down Granny Lai, Ping'er invited her to get into the carriage she had come in. Then, she ordered her men to escort Lai Shangrong and the rest of the Lai family, along with dozens of boxes of valuables, to the Rongguo Mansion.

Inside the Rongguo Mansion, the scene remains the same.

After being humiliated by Jia Lian's words, Grandmother Jia truly remained a bystander, not uttering a single word.

However, she had already devised many ways and words to turn the tables. For example, she would claim that most of the valuables Jia Lian had confiscated from the Lai family were gifts from her, so that even if Jia Lian had doubts, he would have no way to refute them.

Could it be that she, the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Shi, the matriarch of the Rongguo Mansion, and the patriarch of the Jia family, is not capable of fattening up a servant?

But this idea began to waver after seeing the chests and crates that the servants had been carrying in together.

She had a question: Were all these things really confiscated from the Lai family? Could it be that Jia Lian had someone rob a wealthy merchant family?

Those boxes were filled to the brim with gold, silver, pearls, jade, antiques, and calligraphy and paintings. There were probably thirty or forty of them, and they weren't finished yet; they were still moving more in.

Not only was Grandmother Jia alarmed, but even Jia Zheng himself went down to investigate…

As Jia Lian watched the endless stream of goods being brought in, a mixture of amusement and chill appeared in his eyes.

"Master Zhan, Master Shan, we would like to trouble you all to help Steward Lin and the others to appraise these items."

Gold and silver are easy to calculate; you can just weigh them. But for jewels, calligraphy, and paintings, you need someone with some knowledge to quickly estimate their value. At this time, it's perfectly acceptable to use the retainers that Jia Zheng keeps.

Zhan Guang, Shan Pingren, and the others were also shocked by the Lai family's "wealth." They had been worried that as outsiders they shouldn't approach to observe, but now that they had been given the order, they all bowed and smiled, saying they were happy to help, and then eagerly went to help Lin Zhixiao with the statistics.

"Old lady, this old servant has come to beg for forgiveness..."

As soon as Granny Lai entered the courtyard, she saw Grandmother Jia and immediately jumped out of the carriage, rushing towards Grandmother Jia without regard for anything else.

She disregarded her own old age and frailty, as well as the height of the carriage.

Upon seeing this, Grandmother Jia was startled and immediately shouted to those around her, "Quickly, support her, don't let her fall!"

But her resentment towards Jia Lian suddenly lessened a bit. Because she saw that Granny Lai had come in by carriage.

One of the main reasons why Grandmother Jia insisted on protecting the Lai family was to maintain her own dignity.

Her relationship with the Lai family was merely that of Granny Lai. Under these circumstances, Jia Lian's kindness towards Granny Lai was a way of preserving her dignity, which naturally brought some comfort to Grandmother Jia.

Without going into detail about how Granny Lai tearfully begged for forgiveness and pleaded her case before Grandmother Jia, let's talk about how Lin Zhixiao, with the help of many assistants, quickly compiled the general results.

"Reporting to Second Master, so far, a total of eighteen paintings and calligraphies, valued at over 3,700 taels of silver, and ninety-seven rare and precious artifacts, valued at over 25,000 taels of silver, as well as house deeds..."

Lin Zhixiao had just read two sentences from the text when Jia Lian impatiently interrupted, "Just state the general points; there's no need for details."

"Yes……"

Lin Zhixiao flipped directly to the last page of the temporary ledger, his expression becoming even more solemn, and read aloud: "Gold and silver artifacts, totaling 3,624.5 catties, net valued at over 98,300 taels of silver. Other assets, estimated at over 65,480 taels of silver."

The total amount was equivalent to 163,780 taels of silver.

Lin Zhixiao, his hands trembling, closed the booklet and handed it to Jia Lian with both hands, then added, "This does not include the house where the Lai family lives, or other valuables that are not suitable to be moved."

Although I knew the Lai family was wealthy, I never imagined they would be this wealthy—it was unbelievable!

If even the second steward, Lin Zhixiao, was like this, one can only imagine how the other servants were. Many people had reddened eyes, staring intently at the Lai family members in the arena, their jealousy and hatred almost tangible.

163,780 taels...

Forget all that, even just a small portion would be enough for me to live on for a lifetime. We're both servants, so why is my family dirt poor while others are rolling in money?

Fortunately, the Second Master seized the property!

Jia Lian was somewhat surprised by the result, yet it was also within his expectations.

He glanced at the account books briefly, then put them down and turned his gaze back to Lai and his companion: "What else do you have to say?"

Lai Da's face was ashen, and he bowed his head in silence.