Grandma Zeng and the seven people from the kitchen were the first group to be imprisoned. The first meal was delivered personally by Danzhu, the maid next to Jintong.
Naturally, the offending slave had nothing good to eat. Carrying a bamboo basket of thick cakes and a bucket of soup, Danzhu walked up to Grandma Zeng first and told her happily: "Mommy! Although this cake is rough, the soup is useful." The water is the best! The mountain spring water is specially transported from Qifeng Mountain, and the banana leaves have been soaked in it for a whole day! It is refreshing and relieves the heat, moisturizes the intestines and relieves constipation, and tastes great! Enjoy it slowly, don’t waste it! "
Something happened!
No matter how serious the crime of corruption is, it is not as serious as murdering the mistress! Everyone was so scared that their hearts were broken. Grandma Zeng knelt at Danzhu's feet: "Miss Danzhu, please, please help this old slave to speak kindly to the lady." A few words, these are all ordered by Aunt Shen!"
Chef Hai rolled out and lay down in front of Danzhu: "Miss Danzhu, Aunt Shen is a snake-hearted person. Even the death of the first lady has something to do with her. You guys are all forced!" Then he said quietly. He was told how Aunt Shen ordered him to secretly add appetizing herbs to Mrs. Xian's daily meals, so that Mrs. Xian would have a big appetite, causing the fetus to be too large and difficult to give birth. He thought of vomiting everything. The whole responsibility is put on Aunt Shen, maybe he, the errand boy, will be fine!
Grandma Zeng had no time to stop her. She was so anxious and angry that she almost fainted! This idiot! He always confesses only to be punished, so refusing to speak is the best way to save his life!
Mrs. Zhou, who was in charge of the granary, also knelt down to testify: "Young ones can also testify, what Chef Hai said is true! It was Aunt Shen who forced me to do it, and there is nothing you can do about it!"
Upon seeing this, several other people fell to their knees on the ground. Some agreed with Chef Zeng Hai and put the responsibility on Shen Miaolian, some begged, and some cried out for injustice. There was a lot of noise.
A guard in the execution room shouted loudly: "The execution room is an important place, don't make any noise, otherwise you will be punished with an additional penalty."
Suddenly there was silence!
"Aunt Shen put a knife to your necks? She is just a slave, but she controls your life and death?" Danzhu suppressed the shock in her heart, then threw away Nanny Zeng's hand, patted her skirt and left. .
Aunt Zeng pointed at Chef Hai and cursed in a low voice: "You idiot! Those who are slaves are supposed to take the blame for their masters! Since we don't expect Aunt Shen to save us, let's put the responsibility for the discovery of these ladies on her. That’s good! But why did you tell the story about the late Madam? Now our dining room is even more guilty! Idiot! Idiot!”
Everyone was even more panicked. They gathered around Nanny Zeng and asked for countermeasures in a low voice. Nanny Zeng sighed: "Just get back as much money as you can get! At least it can reduce your guilt, so don't expect anything else!"
Mother Zeng was able to collude with Shen Miaolian for so many years under Zheng Qiyan's nose without being discovered, so she was certainly not stupid.
It's just that Zheng Qiyan went to fight in southern Xinjiang, and Wu'an deliberately indulged him. They also felt that Jintong was just an arrogant and arrogant embroidered pillow. He was not favored and could not cause any trouble. They were so lax for a while!
Grandma Zeng wondered if her only son would be implicated? If they took the initiative to hand over part of the stolen money, could their guilt be reduced?
I also thought about how I could not feel distressed if I had to earn more than ten thousand taels of silver from all these years of hard work. If it were all gone in one day, my mind would turn over and over again, and in the end I had to cry and faint in the cell!
——————
On the eighth day of the lunar month, Jintong asked Wu An to prepare forty doses of dumb medicine and hand them over to him at 1 o'clock.
Unlucky, Jintong ordered Wu Ping to ask Li Manniu, a handyman who had a private relationship with Zheng Zhan's maid Xiaoying, to show her the evidence that they secretly stole items and sold them for money.
Ying'er only pulled Zheng Zhan to complain loudly, and Zheng Zhan did not hesitate to protect her behind him: "Aren't you afraid that your father will be angry when he comes to arrest someone like this without asking any questions?"
With a wave of Jintong's hand, Aunt Cai quickly slipped Xiao Ying over, slapped her ten times from left to right, then gagged and tied her up and asked Wu Ping to take her to the torture chamber.
All the maids in Yaxinxuan knelt tremblingly on the ground. Aunt Shi held on to Sister Zhan who was full of anger: "I reminded the young lady several times, but the young lady didn't believe that Xiaoying had misbehaved. Now there is irrefutable proof.
, Miss, you must control your temper and don't stand up for her. It's not a good thing for a maid to have an affair with a handyman."
Jintong gave a sharp lesson: "Sister Zhan, as the eldest daughter of the Hou family, you don't know people well, and you were deceived by servants to do such a scandal! Wouldn't it make people laugh if word spread about it? Now I am dealing with it in private, just for you.
Save some face! You don’t have to show off to my wife! Now you are nine years old, a knitting girl, a middle-feeder, and a woman who teaches women’s virtues. It’s time to learn the virtues of women! This lady is going to send you to the Minister of Etiquette.
Master Zuo’s home, studying with several young ladies from his family. Aunt Shi, prepare the things for Sister Zhan, and I will order someone to take you there on the twelfth day!"
Zheng Zheng glared at Jintong: "My dear mother, how dare you be so lawless?"
Jintong sneered, and the naughty child needed to be cured: "Is it because I am lawless? Don't you know how to see the evidence? Did I lie to you? Are you illiterate? If you can't read, go to a girls' school.
You dare to pretend to be sick again, huh! Your mother-in-law has many tricks, how about I learn to use them on her one by one?"
"It is virtue for a woman to have no talent! I don't want to go to school! I just won't go, I won't go, I won't go!"
"Ouch! Do you still have virtue? The three obediences. Your father is not here. I won't talk about it. Let's talk about the four virtues! Women's virtues, women's words, women's appearance, women's merits. What have you achieved? Women's virtues, yours
Is this your virtue when your personal maid is having an affair with a gardener but you still protect her? You should understand that adultery is the first of all evils, right? A woman’s words, roaring and talking back to her aunt in the hall, do you have the slightest bit of demeanor of a lady? The appearance of the woman, the stone
Mammy, please take her to look in the mirror. She has a pale face, disheveled clothes and gray clothes. You have the nerve to stand in front of me! Fu Gong, if you don’t say anything else, go and embroider a handkerchief for your aunt.
See and see!”
"You..." Zheng Zhan was young and couldn't really defeat Jin Tong. She was so angry that she gasped and finally thought of words: "What about yourself? What do you know? You have made the entire Hou Mansion miserable.
Are these your four virtues?"
"Your father will be the judge of my wife's three obediences and four virtues. You, a concubine, do not respect your legitimate mother. Do you plan to do the following?"
After Jintong scolded Zheng Zheng, he hit Aunt Shi: "Aunt Shi, on the morning of the tenth day of the lunar month, you took Sister Zhan to the Jiqing Hall to accompany me to do housework. If you dare to be half a quarter of an hour late, you masters and servants will also
Go to the family temple to cultivate yourself!"
Aunt Shi gritted her teeth, covered Zheng Zhan's mouth, and forced her to kneel down and thank Jintong.
"Aunt Shi, please serve the young lady well and don't imitate other people's evil thoughts. You will naturally be good to you in the future!" Jintong walked up to Zheng Zhan and said, "Sister Zhan, the personal maid is having an affair with the handyman! Spread it out,
What kind of reputation does your father, who fought abroad and sweated blood for the country, have? What kind of reputation do you, the eldest daughter of the Marquis, have? What kind of reputation does your own mother who brought you up have? You have to think carefully!"
Then without even looking at the group of people kneeling on the ground, he turned around and left.
Zheng Zhan couldn't help crying when he saw Xiaoying being dragged away by a servant.
Aunt Shi quickly helped her up: "Miss, how many powerful families in Beijing want to send their daughters to study at the girls' school in Master Zuo's house?"
"Who cares!" Sister Zhan slammed the tea cup to the ground.
Aunt Shi raised her hand and asked the maids to pack up and leave. She broke the matter apart and analyzed it in detail. She weighed the pros and cons with Sister Zhan and finally convinced Sister Zhan to go to a girls' school to study.
"No matter how dissatisfied you are, Miss, you still have the patience to wait for the Seventh Master to come back and make the decision for you! Mr. Zuo is the father of the Third Madam, and I will definitely not neglect you when you go to school! My Madam is also the Young Lady's aunt, and this move is also for you.
Just think about it! Don’t fight her again and get the reputation of being unfilial!” Sister Zhan agreed with tears in her eyes.
At Haishi, Jintong only took Cai Cai and Wu An to the torture chamber in a hurry.
Most of the fifty or so slaves imprisoned in the execution room shouted that they were wronged. Jintong slowly read the names of seventeen people, and the servants in the execution room led the seventeen people out to the execution hall one by one.
Wu Qiuyun forced her way to Wu An and cried: "Brother Wu, help me! I have been wronged!" Immediately, nearly ten people followed and shouted that they were wronged.
With a look from Jintong, Zhang He and others, holding whips in their hands, dragged the person back and warned: "The torture chamber is an important place, don't make any noise!"
Zhang He's whip had iron wire inside, and when he whipped it down, he was bound to see blood. Zhang He whipped the whip a few times, and the execution room immediately returned to silence, and all the offending slaves knelt down obediently.
Jintong glanced at Wu An: "Master Wu, are you feeling uncomfortable with your injured leg? Why do I, Madam, seem to be shaking a little?"
"Thank you, madam, for your concern. The little one is fine. Madam, just call him by his name." Wu An is a pig and knows what Jintong is going to do. It would be strange if he doesn't shake!
"Master Wu, why don't I break your right leg as well? Both legs are broken and symmetrical. Maybe you won't shake anymore and you can walk normally!" Jintong looked malicious.
He looked at Wu An's intact legs.
"Madam, why are you being naughty again! Butler Wu has done nothing wrong, so punishing him will not convince the public!" Aunt Cai persuaded Jintong with "good intentions".
Jintong said "Oh": "Then I will make up a crime, such as colluding with Nanny Zeng to murder the late wife, causing her death in childbirth." He then asked Wu An's opinion sincerely: "Steward Wu, what do you think? Murdering the mistress.
Is the crime enough to break your legs?"
Wu An shook violently and fell to his knees: "Madam, please stop making small jokes!"
Jintong shook his head and sighed: "Tsk, tsk, tsk! My wife is really bullied by everyone in this prince's mansion, and she is trampled upon by everyone! The director of Wuhan University is so majestic, and I can't even make a joke!"
Poor Wu An was so sweaty that he broke out in a hurry. Aunt Cai quickly continued to persuade Jin Tong with "kindness": "Hey, little miss, business is important, let's not joke around anymore!"
Jintong said "Oh" again, glanced at Wu An with a half-smile, and then looked back at the sin slave who was kneeling on the ground.
"Everyone has a good relationship with Aunt Shen. Aunt Shen is Master Qi's favorite. I am timid and dare not move! But you guys..." Jintong turned his head and looked at Wu An: "Butler Wu, don't lie down.
Come on! Take out the dumb medicine and give it to everyone to taste and appreciate, so as not to shout anything tomorrow and hurt Master Qi's face."
Wu An felt as if he had eaten ten pounds of coptis, and his face was almost turning yellow. He led the execution and force-fed the mute medicine on each of the seventeen people.
"Steward of Wuhan University, you have to ensure that the medicine is effective. If there is any deviation tomorrow, you might accidentally fall and break your right foot!" Jintong happily threatened Wu An, and then took Grandma Cai with her.
Grandma walked away.
Wu An had a dull look on his face. He looked back and gave each of the seventeen people an extra portion of the mute medicine. The remaining six portions were simply given to the leaders of Grandma Zeng's kitchen!
Seeing the 17 people who were dragged back and coughing desperately while strangling their necks, the execution room was filled with gloom and misery, and many people began to cry softly.