flstandardbreds Chapter 154 Gift from the Emperor
Chapter 154 Gift from the Emperor
Jia Daishan was so angry he didn't want to speak. He never expected that this was such an insatiable dog.
Jia Daihua also wanted to kill someone. No one dared to mess with the estates in their manor, but his younger brother, Lai Da, had embezzled so much.
Jia Daihua said:
"Now that we have the evidence, and the village head accomplice can be brought back tomorrow morning, let's go check on my sister-in-law. I wonder how the investigation is going there. We might as well go and see her now."
The guards rushed back after investigating, while the others are still behind and will arrive early tomorrow morning.
Seeing Jia Daishan's extremely ugly face, Jia Daihua said again, "Just deal with these people first thing tomorrow morning, and that will be enough."
If you still feel unsatisfied, after the investigation is completed, tell the authorities to sentence them severely.
Sentence their entire family; don't let a single one get away with it!
Jia Daishan pinched the bridge of his nose and said:
"The Lai family must not be let off the hook."
That Lai Da is so ignorant of his own mortality; his family collects rent twice a year, in spring and autumn.
Besides the goods, there were also tens of thousands of taels of silver. However, the estate's profits have been decreasing year by year. Some say it's due to poor harvests, while others say it's due to rain or something, and the total amount has only reached a few thousand taels.
These small sums of silver were actually swallowed up by Lai Da and the estate manager.
At first, they only took a few hundred taels at a time.
Later, their appetites grew, and they even dared to embezzle a thousand taels of silver.
Lai Er never dared to touch the money on the estate with his elder brother.
The two prefectures had different numbers of estates, and they were not located together, so no one had ever compared the profits between the two prefectures' estates.
So no one noticed that the village was far away, and only the head of the village would bring people to deliver things each year.
Despite the vast distance between them, Lai Da and the village headman actually colluded in their evil deeds.
To be honest, Lai Dayi didn't dare to do it at first. The things he received from the mansion and the gifts he received were enough for him.
But as the Jia family began to prosper and rise in status, he started accepting gifts and became increasingly proud of himself, thanks to the praise he received from outsiders. His appetite gradually grew.
Since Jia She started doing business, the Jia family's income has increased, so no one is keeping an eye on the income from the estate.
This means there are even more options available for Lai Da to operate.
There were plenty of people outside trying to curry favor with the Jia family and climb the social ladder of the Duke's mansion. This only fueled Lai Da's growing greed and audacity.
When the two arrived at Grandmother Jia's place, Grandmother Jia had just finished making her calculations when both Agate and Jadeite turned pale with fright.
Upon seeing Jia Daishan, they quickly came over and bowed.
Grandmother Jia sat in a chair, holding her head, while a young maid behind her was massaging her back.
Grandmother Jia had a terrible headache. When she heard that Jia Daishan and the others had come over, she stood up and bowed to Jia Daihua.
Seeing Grandmother Jia like this, Jia Daishan asked with concern:
"What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell if you don't rest? Why don't you go and rest first?"
Grandmother Jia patted her chest twice.
"Master, I can't sleep, I'm just angry."
You have to admit, she's incredibly audacious. She took a lot of my dowry, but she even dared to touch the imperial gifts!
Fortunately, sir, you told me to check the storeroom, otherwise I really wouldn't have known!
If there's a real need for these imperial gifts, our whole family will be implicated.
Jia Daihua and Jia Daishan were also shocked. Jia Daihua slammed his fist on the table and roared:
"How dare they be so audacious! Let's not wait until tomorrow, let's tie up their whole family now! Using imperial gifts is a capital offense!"
Jia Daishan:
"Something bestowed by the Emperor has been lost."
Grandmother Jia pinched her brow:
"That was when you saved the emperor's life, and the emperor rewarded me. What I lost was a pair of jade bracelets and a gold headdress."
Jia Daishan's eyes were downcast:
“We failed to safeguard this imperial gift properly, which is also a dereliction of duty. After this matter is resolved, I will need to apologize to the Emperor.”
Jia Daihua:
"The important thing now is to find these things."
Gifts bestowed by the Emperor are not to be given away or sold. Losing an imperial gift can be a serious matter.
If the Emperor doesn't pursue the matter, the ministers won't say anything, but the real concern is that someone might have a grudge against their family. In that case, the Emperor will have to make a statement.
Jia Daishan had made up his mind.
"We'll go to the Lai family in a bit, with the guards, surround their house, dig three feet into the ground, and find everything."
What else is missing? Tell me all at once.
Grandmother Jia had Agate read the list aloud.
"Several feet of various colored cloths and silks were cut from them."
A pair of pear blossom white porcelain vases,
A pair of "Blooming Flowers and Wealth" vases,
A set of twelve-colored peach-shaped teacups.
A set of porcelain flower goddess miniature screens...
Sixteen items in total, including gold bracelets, hairpins, and phoenix-head hairpins.
"A total of twenty jade bracelets and jade ornaments..."
Agate took a long time to finish reciting.
Jia Daihua exclaimed in surprise:
"There are so many! Didn't your sister-in-law notice that so many things were missing?"
Grandmother Jia:
"That old bastard swapped the real thing for a fake one!"
There were many things inside that I didn't like and had never used. She must have known that, which is why she took those things.
Take the "Blooming Flowers and Wealth" vase inside, for example. She just thinks it's too tacky, so she's never taken it out to display.
Not to mention those brightly colored jewelry and the like. Some of them had become outdated over time, so she didn't take them out to give to Min'er or her daughters-in-law, and just left them there.
Grandmother Jia was furious.
Jia Daishan ordered his guards to arrange for people to gather and then go to the Lai family's house and surround it.
After Jia Daishan dismissed everyone in the room, he said:
"This time it's all thanks to Hu'er. If it were Hu'er, we would still be in the dark!"
Grandmother Jia also sighed:
"Hu'er is our family's lucky star. If he keeps saying that Lai Da has problems and wants to deal with the Lai family, who would know?"
The Lai family still wants to rely on Granny Lai and our family's connections to try and get their son an official position through bribery."
This matter was revealed by Granny Lai, intentionally or unintentionally, during a casual chat between Grandmother Jia and Granny Lai after the meal.
If Grandmother Jia had asked earlier, she might have agreed.
But she knew yesterday that the Lai family had problems, and that Granny Lai had come to test her, so she didn't respond to Granny Lai's words at all.
Thinking of this, Grandmother Jia said angrily, "She actually wants to use our family connections to find a job for her grandson."
I asked them how they got the money to donate official positions; it turns out it came from our family.
This Granny Lai actually had the nerve to say that it was money accumulated over generations, and that she had such thoughts because her grandson was good at studying.
They talk big about themselves, but they're actually incredibly proud of themselves!
What angered Grandmother Jia was that she had released Granny Lai's grandson from his slave status, yet the whole family was ungrateful.