Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

"A mere servant has accumulated several times more silver in his household than the official treasury of my Rongguo Mansion. Steward Lai, you truly are the most loyal servant of my Rongguo Mansion!"

No wonder I heard you wanted to buy the houses behind yours and build a garden for Granny Lai, just like the Grand View Garden in the Jia family mansion. I must say, you, Lai Da, are indeed generous and filial.

Jia Lian slowly walked down the steps, coldly looking at the Lai family.

Lai Da and his men grew increasingly guilty and bowed their heads. Jia Lian even knew about their plan to build a garden, clearly indicating he had spies in their home. No wonder they were able to ransack their house so thoroughly in such a short time…

At this point, regret was useless; the only hope was that the affection between his elderly mother and Grandmother Jia would persuade Master Lian to show leniency…

Grandmother Jia, sitting at the head of the table, was at a loss for words. Although she believed she had always been aware of the Lai family's wealth, and although she had made up her mind to protect the Lai family before leaving the second gate, she had not anticipated this situation at all.

She originally thought that even if the Lai family was wealthy, they had used the money to decorate their house and acquire property, so if Jia Lian really wanted to confiscate their assets, he might not be able to find much real gold and silver! In that case, it would be easier for her to plead for the Lai family and cover up their crimes.

Who would have thought the Lai family was in such a state! Not only did they have nearly 200,000 taels of silver in assets, but they also had 100,000 taels of cash?

This amount is comparable to her life savings! But what makes the Lai family comparable to her? In the end, the Lai family are nothing more than servants in the mansion, mere servants who obey orders.

Granny Lai, who was standing hunched over beside Grandmother Jia, had been observing Grandmother Jia's expression. When she saw the results of the house search, Grandmother Jia's face turned somewhat gloomy. Granny Lai's heart skipped a beat, and her last bit of hope was extinguished.

Just as he was about to kneel down and beg for mercy, he suddenly heard the voice of his beloved grandson:

"I... I dare to tell you, Second Master, that apart from the rewards bestowed upon us by the manor over the years, most of this family property is the dowry that my wife brought from her maiden home..."

My wife lives in Hanoi. My father-in-law is a wealthy man in the area and dotes on his daughter, so he gave her a generous dowry.

Therefore, I implore you, Second Master, to see for yourself that my father truly did not embezzle any money from the manor. Over the years, as the steward of the manor, he has always been diligent and conscientious. Even when teaching us at meals, he repeatedly reminded us to be loyal to our master and to the name "Jia" above our heads.

My family is absolutely loyal to the household; I implore you, Second Master, to investigate thoroughly.

From the moment Lai Shangrong was born, his nanny, Lai Mama, pleaded for his release from slavery. Therefore, although he was a descendant of the Lai family, he was not a servant of the Jia family and had the right to marry freely.

His wife was introduced to him by a classmate when he was studying away from home, and she did not come through the masters of the Jia family, so he assumed that Jia Lian and others did not know much about her.

They hadn't intended to use this to deceive anyone; it was merely to find a plausible excuse for their family. This way, they could make it easier for Grandmother Jia, Jia Zheng, and others to intercede on their behalf, and perhaps they could get away with it.

This alone shows that he was quite cunning and resourceful to pass the imperial examination at such a young age.

Granny Lai and Lai Da naturally saw through his thoughts, and for a moment they couldn't help but feel hopeful, but then they secretly shook their heads.

If Master Lian were so easily fooled, how could the Lai family have fallen to such a state? Such arguments might have some effect if spoken privately to Grandmother Jia and Jia Zheng, but now…

Seeing that Lai Da had already confessed his crimes and bowed his head, Jia Lian couldn't help but sneer at Lai Shangrong's continued reliance on luck and his attempt to get away with it.

Then I recalled how, in the original story, Lai Shangrong, with the help of the Jia family, entered officialdom from the status of a "slave" and rose to the rank of prefect, achieving a huge leap in social class. In the end, instead of remembering the good deeds of the Jia family, he took advantage of their misfortune and mocked Jia Zheng.

If Lai Da and his ilk were merely disloyal, then Lai Shangrong was even more utterly wicked.

This kind of person, instead of hiding his head in front of him, dares to jump out and show off his petty cleverness? Because he was forced to kneel next to Lai Da, Jia Lian casually slapped him across the face.

"With your meager cleverness, you dare to try to deceive me. Since you say that all this property is your wife's dowry, then fine, I'll send someone to your father-in-law's house in Hanoi right now to investigate how much dowry he gave his daughter when she got married."

If it turns out that what you said is not true, and there is a difference of even one tael of silver, I will slap you across the face. I want to see if your dog mouth will still be as eloquent as it is now then, how about it?

Jia Lian was already tall and strong, and had practiced martial arts for many years, while Lai Shangrong was just a scholar. How could he withstand Jia Lian's slap?

After the slap, Lai Shangrong felt dizzy and even tasted sweetness in his mouth.

The intense pain and humiliation fueled his resentment, but he dared not let Jia Lian see him, so he covered his face and quickly lowered his head.

Jia Lian's resounding slap was not only meant to punish Lai Shangrong, but also served to clearly convey his meaning to Grandmother Jia and the others.

"Rong'er, don't talk too much!"

Granny Lai shouted to stop Lai Shangrong from speaking again, lest he suffer more. Then she knelt down in front of Grandmother Jia with a thud and cried, "Grandmother, all the blame lies with his father, and it has nothing to do with Rong'er!"

Lai Da was blinded by greed and betrayed his master. Now, however the household punishes him, whether by beating or killing, I dare not utter a single complaint. I only beg the old lady to spare Rong'er's life for the sake of our master-servant relationship. It would be a way to preserve Lai Da's lineage. I thank the old lady in advance for her grace..."

Having served as a servant her entire life, Granny Lai knew exactly what kind of people like Grandmother Jia were susceptible to. At this point, she could only play the emotional card and resort to a self-inflicted injury ploy; making excuses and offering excuses would be useless.

After hearing this, Grandmother Jia remained silent for a long time, then suddenly sighed, "It's no use begging me. Now that I'm in this house, my words have no effect. Instead of begging me, you'd better go and beg him."

As if she hadn't caught the sarcasm in Grandmother Jia's words, Granny Lai actually turned around and began pleading with Jia Lian.

With her acting like this, a woman in her seventies, coupled with Grandmother Jia's words, the whole atmosphere made it seem as if Jia Lian was truly mean-spirited, heartless, unfilial, and disobedient.

If it were someone else, they might not have been able to withstand such pressure, but Jia Lian knew that this was just a charade put on by Grandmother Jia and Granny Lai, so he accepted it calmly. He turned around and walked back to the main corridor, bowing to Grandmother Jia and saying, "Grandmother, the Lai couple are greedy by nature, and have been enriching themselves at the expense of the Jia family for years. If the Lai family is not dealt with, it will not be enough to appease public anger, let alone uphold the family rules."

Grandson, please, Grandmother, make a wise judgment.

Jia Lian's actions surprised Grandmother Jia again, who tilted her head and asked, "Do you really want me to make the decision?"

Jia Lian cupped his hands and said solemnly, "Grandma has always been able to distinguish right from wrong and act fairly, as your grandson knows. Besides, Granny Lai is, after all, a servant that Grandma brought from her maiden home. Now that the Lai family needs to be dealt with, it is Grandma's decision to make it."

Jia Lian's words were merely a gesture of goodwill towards Grandmother Jia. With everything laid bare, Jia Lian refused to believe that Grandmother Jia would sacrifice her prestige, dignity, and credibility among her children and grandchildren for the sake of a mere servant.

In other words, even if Grandmother Jia had truly lost her mind and was still determined to protect the Lai family at this point, it would be simple: just let the Lai family live one more night, and tomorrow, make sure they don't see the sun rise the day after tomorrow.

As a result, what Grandmother Jia paid for was the loss of the family harmony she had painstakingly maintained, and from now on, he would make decisions on all matters, big and small, without consulting her first, and would never give Grandmother Jia any chance to interfere again.

Grandmother Jia didn't see Jia Lian's determination and ruthlessness, but she understood that Jia Lian didn't really mean for her to make the decision.

But at least Jia Lian did a good job of putting on a good show for her, didn't he?

Well, given the current situation, even if the Lai family were allowed to stay, they would find it difficult to move an inch within the manor. In the future, it would be easy for Jia Lian to deal with them, and it would only create unnecessary trouble, affecting the peace of the whole family.

Anyway, they deserved it, so I can't blame them for this.

So Grandmother Jia shook her head and said, "Alright, you are the clan head, so you should decide this matter yourself. I'll just say one thing: no matter how wrong Lai Da is, he has still made some undeniable contributions over the years, and he has been loyal to your master. You shouldn't punish him too harshly, or people will think you are too heartless."

As for Shang Rong, he's not our servant, so he has no chance to embezzle our money. Don't bother with him."

Hearing Grandmother Jia say this, Jia Lian smiled. He didn't want to go against Grandmother Jia unless absolutely necessary.

Putting aside the distinction between grandmother and granddaughter, the title of Duchess of the State was still useful to the Jia family.

Then Jia Lian bowed to Grandmother Jia, Jia Zheng, Lady Wang, and others, and then faced the courtyard and announced: "Lai Da and his wife have betrayed their master and embezzled his property. They shall each receive sixty strokes of the cane and be sent to the north to guard the estate."

Apart from the large amount of her family property that the old lady personally rewarded and returned to Granny Lai for her old age, the rest was confiscated and taken into the government.

As for the five of you…”

Jia Lian glanced at the five people implicated by Lai Da and casually said, "Detain them in the woodshed for now, and deal with them all at once after the crimes they committed are investigated."

Tonight's focus is mainly on the Lai family. We don't have the energy to deal with these small fry, so we probably won't be able to squeeze any money out of them.

The Lai family had initially thought that Jia Lian would be severely punished, if not killed, given his attitude. However, Jia Lian only punished the Lai family members, leaving the rest untouched. They realized that Jia Lian was ultimately showing leniency out of consideration for Grandmother Jia.

So Granny Lai took the lead in kowtowing to Jia Lian and praising his benevolence.

Grandmother Jia still felt that Jia Lian's punishment was too severe, and subconsciously said, "Lao Dajia is ultimately a woman, I'm afraid she can't withstand sixty strokes of the cane."

"The old lady is kind-hearted, so let's take sixty from her and fifty from everyone else."

As far as Jia Lian was concerned, dismissing and punishing the Lai family as a warning to others was enough; he had no intention of taking their lives. They were just a few servants, not worth committing a crime against.

Seeing that Jia Lian didn't even need to consider it, Grandmother Jia reduced his sentence according to her suggestion. Since Jia Lian's punishment was already lenient for a serious crime, she couldn't say anything more. She beckoned to Granny Lai and got up to go to the inner courtyard.

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