Lou Qian's two mustaches were trembling like the antennae of a grasshopper after autumn. It was not hot in the room, but his head and face were covered with sweat.
Xu Chunjun continued: "The passing geese make a sound, and the passing wind leaves traces. How much masonry, stone and wood were used in the house, we can now count them one by one and one by one.
We can also settle the money in the account book one by one. It is written in black and white, and there is nothing to deny.
You are so bold and arrogant, but you are just relying on your wife to never check these things like a Bodhisattva, and I don't ask. Besides, not many people in this house know how to use an abacus. Most people can't calculate such scattered amounts one by one.
Little did I know that on the night you sent the account books to me, I had already verified them page by page.
If my calculation is good, you will get an extra one hundred and twenty-seven taels in the first year, an extra three hundred and thirty-four taels in the second year, an extra seven hundred and six cents in the third year, and an extra nine hundred in the fourth year.
Eighty-one taels and five cents, this year to August, a total of one thousand, four hundred and seventy-eight taels and three cents more...
These are just the mistakes that can be seen on the surface.
As for the cost of fire, burning and burying money, and exchanging gifts and memorial services, I don’t know how much manipulation was done.
You are becoming bolder and greedier every year.
But it doesn’t matter, I have the patience to check it out step by step. Even if our house doesn’t remember it accurately, the money transactions with other houses have been recorded by them. After all, not everyone’s accountants are as misbehaving as you are.”
When Lou Qian heard what Xu Chunjun said, he knelt down and begged, "Grandma! Please spare the little one! Can't I give back all the money I've been greedy for these years?!"
He couldn't deny it any more, there were too many things against him, any one of them would be enough to convict him.
If he denies it again, he will only suffer more. With his body, he will be half dead if he is hit with a stick of water or fire.
"You should go down and explain clearly first!" Xu Chunjun said, "The only one who can save you at this time is yourself."
Lou Qian's legs were weak and he was dragged down by Zi Ling and others.
By this time, everyone in the room was silent except for Fang who kept chanting Buddha's name.
Many of them felt like there was a knife hanging over their heads, ready to be chopped off at any time.
None of them knew what Xu Chunjun would do next. This grandmother was too deep in the city and seemed not to care about anything, but in fact she had already seen clearly.
Zheng Long's palms were also sweating at this time, but he still held on and refused to show his weakness.
It wasn't until Xu Chunjun turned to him that he said sadly: "Yu Xingzu and Lou Qian have acted so boldly and ruined the master's family. They deserve to die! I failed to discover these two moths early. I was derelict in my duty. Please punish me!"
"Steward Zheng, if I see a mouse in broad daylight, there will definitely be more than one. As the chief steward, if you are a good cat, why are there so many mice in the house?" Xu Chunjun asked Zheng Long with a smile.
.
"Grandma is right! I am indeed incompetent!" Zheng Long simply knelt down and said, "Please remove me from my position!"
"But you are not without merit. You should still be credited with some things." Xu Chunjun is neither sullen nor angry. She is so well-mannered, which is really what makes people fear her from the bottom of their hearts.
"Don't dare, don't dare, grandma said this, I really have no place to live." Zheng Long shook his head, "I don't have any merit, at most it's just a little hard work."
"I said before that you are not a good cat, which was not appropriate. I said that some of the credit should be attributed to you, but it is true." Xu Chunjun did not call him up and continued, "Yu Xingzu and Lou Qian
The two of them are nothing compared to you. You should be regarded as the big rat of the Zheng family. The two of them just picked up the crumbs and meat scraps you dropped to make their bellies full. If you hadn't deliberately indulged, you would have collaborated
They made up their names cleverly, but they didn't dare to act so boldly and without any scruples. But precisely because of this, I was able to easily catch them, so I want to thank you."
"Grandma, Grandma, please check clearly. I don't dare." Zheng Long said quickly.
His wife Feng also hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down to plead: "Grandma, we did not do a good job, but we would never dare to harm the master unintentionally. We did not get involved in their affairs. We are all rough people."
, and I don’t understand the accounts.”
"If I have nothing to do, I can relieve my boredom by explaining everything to you one by one." Xu Chunjun smiled warmly and spoke kindly, "But the people in my aunt's house are still waiting, so I don't want to be too upset."
Being lazy slows people down."
"Grandma, please look at the fact that we have worked hard for the house for several lifetimes, please spare us this time! Can't we just act like cattle and horses for you?" Mrs. Feng lay on the ground and cried sadly.
"If you don't believe me, you can take people to search our residence. If you find anything valuable, I would rather die here and die to apologize!"
Fang was soft-hearted and couldn't help but said: "Mr. Chun, if you have to be merciful, please be merciful and just recover the money they swallowed. As for the housekeeper's incompetence, punish them to do rough work in the future.
They just manage the house. This is also doing good deeds and accumulating blessings for themselves."
"I will not search your residence in the east alley," Xu Chunjun said to Feng. "It is just a fake nest in your three burrows to hide from others."
Then he turned around and smiled and said to Fang: "Madam, Zheng Long and Zheng Dahu and his son are big people. Since the death of my father-in-law, Zheng Long has been interested in the property of our family.
His surname was not Zheng. Back then, his father fled famine and came to the capital, sold himself to our uncle Cheng'en, and later gave him the surname Zheng.
His real name is Qiu. At that time, there were a total of thirteen shops in our house, but now eleven of them have been sold.
I asked someone to inquire, and found out that these eleven shops later expanded to eighteen, and the person in charge behind them was named Qiu Youlin, who was Zheng Long's uncle.
They only recognized each other after they came to the capital to find relatives, but most people don't know this."
As soon as she said this, Feng didn't dare to cry. This matter was hidden very secretly. How could Xu Chunjun find out so quickly?
Zheng Long was also stunned. He originally thought that Xu Chunjun would at least find out the money in the corruption account of him and other officials in the house, but he didn't expect that he would find out all his own background.
"That's not all. He also replaced all the good fields in our family. Now his cousin Qiu Rong is running the farm. The annual output of more than 300 acres of fertile land is more than five times that of our farm.
"Xu Chunjun sighed, "In addition, the butler also used the alias of a customs officer, bought houses in several places in the capital, and raised concubines. In terms of romance and happiness, I am afraid that the uncle is not as good as him."
