The filial son of the Red Mansion

He then said to the stewards of Ning Mansion:

"Let's be frank. I don't care how the master was in charge in previous years, but now that I am in charge, I will follow my rules. If it is registered in the book, then Curry should exist.

No matter whether it is a gift given to someone or a gift received, the treasury, account books, and accounting books should all have records of where the money came from and where it went.

Even if someone accidentally drops or loses it, there must be an explanation.

If you remember that there is something you forgot to record, it is best to ask Caiming to write it down first.

Don’t wait until I go to the storehouse to take inventory and find out that some of the money is missing or that there is a shortage of silver. I will come to you and ask you about it in detail.”

Jia Rong sat upright, picked up the teacup and took a sip.

Seeing that no one came to look for Caiming, he knew that these people were unwilling to let go. He then said, "You are all old people in the mansion, so you can rest assured. As long as you are willing to make up for the lost items recorded in Caiming's book, I will not mind it. Even if it was once a reward from the master, I will not bother to trouble you if you explain it now."

Do not care?

Do you really not care?

Many housekeepers are hesitant. This is a gamble on human nature, and it is also a gamble that the housekeepers are bound to lose.

Seeing this scene, Jia Rong couldn't help but sigh. He smiled and said, "It seems that you have been very thorough in these years. Not only did you not make a mistake, but you also refused the master's reward. You are really a good steward of our Ning Mansion. Tomorrow on the Dragon Boat Festival, I will ask someone to prepare a table of delicious food for you."

When Lai Wang heard this, his hands, which were counting the account books, suddenly trembled.

Uncle Xiaorong wouldn’t bury anyone on the Dragon Boat Festival, right?

This……

It's unlucky!

Lai Sheng's hands also trembled, and then his feet. What he was thinking about was the words "these years" from Uncle Xiao Rong's mouth. Which years were these years?

Over the years, the master has given the Lai family a lot of things as rewards!

Won't……

No way!

Lai Sheng slowly raised his old face and looked to the side, just in time to meet the eyes of Shi Maode who was also terrified.

It's going to happen!

Oh no! Uncle Xiaorong is settling old scores.

Lai Sheng quickly stood up from the stool. His old body was faster than the middle-aged Shi Maode, and he rushed to the front. He panted and said, "I just remembered something. When my son got married, the master gave the Lai family a pair of jade Buddhas."

hiss?

Damn, the prodigal Jia Zhen, the Jade Bodhisattva is the right gift?

But, was it really given by Jia Zhen?

Jia Rong was very suspicious.

No matter it is a gift or not, you must return the item first. If you still don’t return it, you will be compensated in cash.

Things finally made good progress. Since Manager Lai had taken the lead, the others could no longer hold back and slowly gathered around. When they got to Caiming, they all became anxious again, vying to talk about the objects they had "rewarded". The hall suddenly became chaotic, drowning out Caiming's voice.

Just as Jia Rong was frowning, he heard someone shouting, "Be quiet, what are you shouting about? As stewards of the mansion, don't you know the rules?"

Ouch?

Jia Rong looked back and found that it was Feng Er who was speaking. She was indeed big-chested, full of energy, and had a loud voice.

When Feng'er saw the old man looking at her, her eyes flickered a few times and she slowly lowered her head guiltily.

"Why bow your head? You should have this kind of momentum. Without this momentum, how can you manage the maids in your room in the future?"

The girls in the room?

As Feng'er read these words, her scalp was sweating and her eyes were shining. The smile on her red lips was as bright and beautiful as a flower.

Jia Rong really wanted to go up and give her a kiss.

Chapter 72: Lai Sheng is the real sword

Jia Rong winked at Feng'er, then walked over to Caiming and gave her a higher look.

Damn, these bastards thought they could get away with it. They really thought I was young and ignorant, and didn't know that even if the master gave me rewards, it wouldn't be jade or jewelry, at most some silver and old clothes.

Just wait and see how I deal with you.

He said, "Don't worry, stewards. I have recorded everything clearly. If what is recorded here and what is stored in the library does not match the previous records in the account book, I will assume that you have embezzled money."

As he spoke, he pretended to ask Ping'er, "Sister Ping'er, how did we punish the housekeeper who embezzled money in the past?"

Ping Er looked at Jia Rong deeply and said, "The masters of the two mansions have always been kind and generous to their servants. Those who admit their mistakes and can correct them are never punished, and those who refuse to admit their mistakes are first beaten with a stick and then reported to the government to be locked up. The evil servant who bullied his master is an unforgivable crime of treason. He will not have a good end after entering the government. The rest of his wives, daughters and servants can only be sold because of their crimes."

Jia Rong frowned and said, "Wouldn't it be a bargain for them?"

Ping Erh said, "Our two families have always been tolerant, but there have been cases where people were beaten to death, and the government sent people to arrive later. Because the family has evidence of guilt, and the dead are servants, the government is happy not to interfere. When the time comes, just give a few taels of silver and ask them to send people to carry the body away."

Lai Wang's eyelids were twitching. He was clearly here to help with the reconciliation of accounts, but now he felt as if he was also being interrogated.

What Miss Ping said was indeed correct. It was not only legal, but also practiced in many mansions in Shenjing City. However, the Ning and Rong mansions were prominent families that had been around for nearly a hundred years. The housekeepers who were in charge of the two mansions were more or less related to the masters of the mansions, so such heavy punishments were rarely seen.

But... Uncle Xiaorong!

Lai Wang firmly believed that Uncle Xiaorong was very likely to do so.

This guy is such a fool. He is even more unreasonable than Second Mistress Lian.

Lai Wang urged quietly, "Have you finished the inventory? Let's hurry up. Don't let him draw the fire to you and me, otherwise we may not survive."

Lin Zhixiao looked up suspiciously, only to see Lai Wang was sweating profusely. He was stunned for a while, but he didn't dare to be careless.

There was a steward of the Ning Mansion who had just returned from Caiming. He happened to hear Laiwang's words and looked over in surprise. Laiwang's face turned pale. The steward's eyes trembled and he was trembling with fear: Even Laiwang, the steward, was afraid of losing his life? Could it be that this idiot really didn't care about the dignity of the Duke's Mansion?

He quickly turned back to Cai Ming, causing the housekeepers nearby to exclaim in amazement.

These people were all smart, and originally wanted to report a little and keep a little to get away with it, but after considering what Miss Ping'er said and the actions of Lai Sheng and Shi Maode, they dared not hide anything anymore.

Jia Rong naturally had to behave respectably, otherwise, according to his previous temper, he would have directly hung Lai Sheng up and beaten him.

Wang Xifeng was right. We must first protect the reputation and dignity of the Duke's Mansion, and the best strategy is to use both soft and hard tactics to recruit people for our own use.

They were just a bunch of servants. If we really wanted to bury them, it would be very simple. But there had to be someone to do the work in Ningguo Mansion, so we had to use both kindness and severity to stop them from cheating.

However... these people have embezzled a lot of things in previous years.

Jia Rong pursed his lips, feeling a little tired of waiting. Seeing Lai Sheng and Shi Maode also looking frightened, he smiled and said, "Please take a seat." He then asked the Shi brothers to serve tea.

At this time, Lai Wang, Lin Zhixiao and others had also finished counting, and all the account books were available.

Jia Rong walked over to Cai Ming and saw that there were already several pages of paper filled with writing. He asked him to stop for a while and took a look.

Lai Sheng's family was indeed extremely favored. Jia Zhen gave them all good things, including a pair of jade Buddha statues, as well as a lot of gold, silver, and coats. The clothes Lai Sheng wore were more decent than those worn by many wealthy families outside.

He couldn't tell the value of these things, so he called Ping'er to take a look.

Ping Er also knew what he was thinking, and whispered, "This is the respect that Manager Lai should have."

So there is nothing wrong with Lai Sheng.

Disappointment! Damn it, how come the people from the two governments are so generous? The gifts given to Lai Sheng over the years are worth at least several thousand or even tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Jia Rong hesitated for a moment, put down the paper in his hand, and continued to let Cai Ming record. He walked to Lai Sheng, saw Lai Sheng stood up in shock, and hurriedly said: "Grandpa Lai, please sit down. This happened suddenly today. Please don't be surprised. There are some things that will need to be handled by Grandpa Lai later."

Since Lai Sheng couldn't find any major fault here, he had to let Lai Sheng kill the other housekeepers to reduce their prestige. Not only that, he had to pick out two chickens and let Lai Sheng kill them for others to see.

How could he, a respectable uncle, punish someone personally?

Whether it was Ping'er, Laiwang, or Lin Zhixiao, he had borrowed them to set up a show. Besides, the Ningguo Mansion was so big and had so many account books that it was impossible to check everything in a short time.

Lai Sheng, the general manager, is the best person to handle these things.

Seeing that Caiming's story had come to an end, Jia Rong let out a long sigh.

"Grandpa Lai has watched me grow up, so I don't know what happened in the mansion in the past. It's getting late now, and Lai Wang, Lin Zhixiao and the others can't stay here for long. They can only come back tomorrow. Grandpa Lai and Butler Shi will take charge of the next matter."

Lai Sheng no longer dared to be arrogant. He thought to himself that Uncle Xiaorong was much scarier than Uncle Zhen. He was almost scared to death today.

Shi Maode no longer had the intention to fool around and just nodded and agreed.

Seeing this, Jia Rong ordered people to seal up the account books first, and asked the Shi brothers to send Lai Wang, Lin Zhixiao, Cai Ming and others out. He deliberately sighed, "Why did Grandpa Lai also record the rewards given to the Lai family by the mansion? What's the point of recording those things?"

Lai Sheng's mouth felt bitter. How could he not remember it? Did he have a choice?

Jia Rong suddenly handed the paper with the colorful records to Lai Sheng, and said shamelessly: "Grandpa Lai, Rong'er appreciates your kindness. Right now, there is another matter that I need Grandpa Lai's help to review. If I ask Lai Wang and Lin Zhixiao to investigate tomorrow, I am afraid I will not be able to raise my head in the West Mansion. If the matter gets out, our Ning Mansion will also lose face. Grandpa Lai has been the housekeeper for many years, so he must have a comprehensive plan."

Lai Sheng's eyes were trembling, and he nodded with mixed feelings. He smiled bitterly: I didn't expect that in the end I would not only become the monkey that was killed to scare the monkeys, but also the real knife that was used to scare the monkeys.

Ping'er saw all of this and was relieved. She was really afraid that Jia Rong would catch all the housekeepers in one fell swoop, otherwise Ningguo Mansion would become a laughing stock.

Now that it has been handed over to Lai Sheng, Lai Sheng, an old man from the two mansions, will know how to handle the matter properly.

Ping'er figured this out, and the look in her eyes when she looked at Jia Rong became a little different.

It turns out that Uncle Xiaorong is not completely ignorant, nor is he the stupid guy who didn't care about anything as before.

Jia Rong handed the matter over to Lai Sheng and Shi Maode, and asked Feng'er to go back and report to the wives and grandmothers. Then he found an excuse to thank Ping'er for her hard work and wanted to personally send Ping'er back to the West Mansion.

Ping'er had no idea what he was planning.

If I had no choice before, after spending the whole afternoon watching him, my impression of Uncle Xiaorong has improved a lot.

A blush unconsciously appeared on her pretty face.

Seeing that she did not refuse, Jia Rong hurriedly said, "Let's talk about what happened just now on the way. Sister Ping'er, please get on the carriage quickly." As he spoke, he got on first and held out his hand to Ping'er.

The servant leading the horse in front was very polite and didn't look back. Shi Maode's wife, who was in charge of the carriages and horses for Ningguo Mansion, didn't dare to look around either.

When Ping'er saw this, she couldn't help but give a slight nod to Master Xiaorong, then she stepped onto the stool and gently extended her hand for Jia Rong to pull her up.

Chapter 73: Ping'er gets hot in the car

"I've never seen a brother change his expression so quickly."

Ping'er had just sat down in the carriage, her mind still thinking about what had just happened in the hall of the Ning Mansion's outer house, but her hand was already tightly held by Jia Rong, or it could be said that he had never let go of her hand since she got on the carriage.

"How can your expression change so quickly?" Jia Rong said in a stupid manner, and he pulled the bell on the carriage, and the carriage started to drive towards the back street.

Ping'er's eyebrows twitched. She felt Jia Rong getting closer and closer, and her heart beat faster. She snorted, "Master Xiao Rong made such a scene today. I thought he was going to drive all the housekeepers out of the house."