Mortal Realm: Selling a House to Pay Off Debts (4)
Before Xie Ershu could answer, Xie Guijin asked Lingge, "You serve me all day long, have you ever seen Ershu give me gold or silver?"
"This servant has never seen it."
"How could there not be? I clearly gave you a bag of gold and silver this morning. You wretched servant, how dare you lie like that? I'll sell you off."
Xie Guijin stepped forward, shielding Lingge behind him, and said sarcastically, "Second Uncle, my father is not dead yet. Even if he were gone, the Xie family still has me. It's not your place to beat or kill me, acting like a master. We separated from the family a long time ago."
"Fine, fine, fine." Uncle Xie pointed at Xie Guijin with a trembling finger: "You think you can make me suffer in silence by not admitting it? Dream on! I'm going to report you to the authorities. You and your daughter can go to jail and reunite. You just wait."
Xie Guijin smiled and said, "Second Uncle, please go ahead."
Uncle Xie glared at Xie Guijin, thinking she had the face of a petty person. He really wanted to beat her to death, but with the Imperial Guards and others by his side, Uncle Xie dared not make a move.
After much hesitation, Uncle Xie finally left in anger. Not far away, he sent someone to fetch a lawyer and also sent people to find out how Xie Guijin had gone from being a suspected murderer's daughter to being protected by the court in just two short hours.
The servant, who had returned from inquiring, stammered and only told Xie Ershu, after being impatiently urged by Xie Ershu, that Xie Guijin had openly posted a notice stating that all profits from the sale of the house, after deducting costs, would be donated to the imperial court.
Uncle Xie was stunned.
The servant asked, bewildered, "Why did the young lady do this? What's her motive?"
Upon hearing this, Uncle Xie pondered to himself, "No matter what her motives are, how dare she do this?"
The construction of the outer city is a complex and multifaceted undertaking.
The construction was not limited to the Xie family business, and the project involved almost all businesses in the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty and surrounding towns.
Xie Guijin's actions will naturally earn praise from both the court and the public, but what about other merchants? Should they donate or not? If they do donate, how much should they donate? Even if they donate everything, with Xie Guijin's example, how much benefit will they receive?
At this moment, the other merchants probably hate Xie Guijin, the one who stood out, but for the sake of the imperial court, they still have to give her a respectful attitude.
If these merchants want to vent their anger, since he is from the second branch of the Xie family and Xie Guijin's uncle, he might be implicated. He should quickly sue that brat Xie Guijin to distance himself from her.
With these thoughts in mind, Uncle Xie returned home and waited for the lawyer.
After hearing the whole story, Madam Xie said, "We originally thought our eldest niece was easy to manipulate, and it wouldn't be difficult to swindle some of her property. We could tell others that our eldest uncle was away, and we heard that our eldest niece didn't know the importance of the matter and set a seven-day repayment period. So, we disregarded past grievances and took out our life savings to help her. Our eldest niece accepted the money because she was afraid that her family property would be confiscated in the future due to our eldest uncle's case. So, she begged you to accept some of her property to secure her future."
But if you were to sue her now to distance yourself from the situation, it would inevitably bring up our alleged fraudulent acquisition of assets, which would be counterproductive. Besides, our two families have long since separated and have been at odds for years; everyone knows this. Why would anyone hold our family accountable for my niece's actions?
"Women are always short-sighted and have long hair," Uncle Xie thought to himself after hearing this.
Because the Empress was on the throne, Uncle Xie dared not speak of it aloud. He was pondering how to persuade Madam Xie when a servant came to report that the lawyer had arrived.
Uncle Xie said, "What you say is true, Madam. Since the lawyer has come, we should see him. I will go and send him away."
"Go and keep an eye on Second Master. If anything goes wrong, report back to me immediately," Madam Xie frowned as she watched Second Uncle Xie hurry away and instructed the servant.
The servant rushed to the front hall, where the lawyer had already heard Uncle Xie's appeal and found it quite difficult.
The lawyer carefully considered the matter and said, "Since Second Master has no favorable witnesses or evidence, his chances of winning this case are slim. Furthermore, the imperial court probably doesn't want to see Second Master sue Miss Xie at this time."
"Does the imperial court intend to bend the law for the sake of the few taels of silver she donated?" Uncle Xie said, his face ashen.
"Of course not. Even in Master Xie's case, the court will not turn a blind eye, but it will attach great importance to Master Xie's case and find out the truth as soon as possible."
Uncle Xie was indignant upon hearing this and offered a large sum of money to a lawyer to help him get Xie Guijin imprisoned.
The lawyer refused to accept the offer and took his leave.
When Uncle Xie was furious and had nowhere to vent his anger, a yamen runner from the Jingzhao Prefecture came to his door and summoned him for questioning.
"I haven't even filed a complaint yet, how come they've come knocking on my door? Could it be that someone doesn't like that brat and made a move before me?" Uncle Xie thought to himself.
Upon hearing the news, Madam Xie, who had rushed over, was much more sober. She personally stuffed the silver into the hands of the yamen runner and asked in a soft voice, "I wonder what Lord Xue has summoned my wife for?"
The yamen runners refused to accept the money and, adopting a strictly official manner, took Uncle Xie away.
Madam Xie knew something was wrong, so she quickly followed along.
The group encountered Xie Guijin in front of the Jingzhao Yin's mansion.
Madam Xie was not allowed to enter without being summoned.
After watching Uncle Xie and the yamen runners enter, she turned and walked towards Xie Guijin, asking softly, "Does Jinniang know what happened?"
"How would I know about government affairs?" Xie Guijin said innocently.
Madam Xie Er took Xie Guijin's hand, her face showing the loving kindness of an elder: "Look at you, child, you've lost so much weight in just a few days. Your second uncle is a tough-talking but soft-hearted man, a muddle-headed one. But he still cares about you. If he says anything wrong, please don't hold it against him."
"Auntie's words make it sound like I got Second Uncle in there. You flatter me, Auntie. I don't have that kind of ability." Xie Guijin withdrew her hand, her face indifferent.
Madam Xie had initially thought that her second uncle's previous comments about Xie Guijin's improved behavior were exaggerated. Now she realized that Xie Guijin was indeed different from before, and that perhaps a sudden change in circumstances would cause someone to mature.
"Oh dear, you're overthinking it, child. That's not what I meant. Let's not talk about your second uncle. The sun is strong; you're a young lady, you don't want to get tanned." Madam Xie wasn't embarrassed at all, and turned to instruct the maid beside her, "Go, get an umbrella for the eldest young lady."
"It's alright, it's quite cool today, how could I get a tan? Besides, so many people are in the sun. Why should I be the only one holding an umbrella? It's just that Auntie is getting on in years, she might not be able to stand here for long, she should go home and wait for news. It seems that Second Uncle won't be out for a while." Xie Guijin said with a smile.
Madam Xie's expression changed, but she swallowed her anger and said, "Fine, I'll listen to you. Jinniang is the most filial and sensible. I'll entrust your second uncle to you."
Xie Guijin did not respond, but gave a slight curtsy to see Madam Xie off.
Because of the long queues, as evening approached, the guards stood at the end of each queue and prohibited anyone from queuing.
The Xie family servants posted a notice detailing the queuing time for tomorrow.
Xie Guijin then ordered his men to disperse and loudly tell the people to come back at 3:45 AM the next day.
After everyone had left, Steward Hao, in a straightforward manner, gave each of the two leaders of the Imperial Guards and the yamen runners of the Prefectural Governor's Office a purse of loose silver.
Xie Guijin said loudly, "I am very grateful to you all today. This is just a small token of my appreciation. Please do not refuse my offer to offer you a drink."
The amount of loose silver in the purse was just right, not excessive, and the two men accepted it with a smile after weighing it in their hands.
Xie Guijin added, "I have booked a table at the restaurant, and I would like to invite you all to join me for a simple meal."
The guards from the Imperial Guard and the Prefect of the Capital declined briefly, then went to have dinner with them.
There was no need for further discussion during the meal. By the time Xie Guijin and the others returned to the Xie residence, it was already late.
Xie Guijin said to Butler Hao, "Uncle, you must be tired after a long day. Get some rest. We'll be busy for the next few days."
Butler Hao hadn't slept a wink last night, filled with worry. Now that he could finally relax, he stopped trying to push himself. After telling Xie Guijin to get some rest, he went back to his room.
Xie Guijin yawned as she returned to her courtyard. She saw that several red flowers in the courtyard had been uprooted and some rose bushes had been transplanted to the side. It seemed that because the rose bushes were so lush, the arrangement had been changed to make them more sparse and dense.
This small incident reveals the true extent of the Xie family's loyalty and competence.
Xie Guijin felt more confident about completing her house-selling target.
After washing up, Lingge massaged Xie Guijin's acupoints on her head while quietly asking, "Didn't you say that the Second Madam would keep an eye on the Second Master and prevent him from suing you? Why did you still order the safflower to be destroyed?"
When safflower juice is added to ink, the writing produced by that ink will gradually fade away.
That morning, Xie Guijin used this to plot against Xie Ershu.
This method was discovered accidentally by the original owner and her maids when they used the juice from crushed safflower to dye their nails.
Xie Guijin said with her eyes closed, "Better safe than sorry. Alright, I'm done rubbing. You've had a long day, go back to your room and rest. You don't need to keep watch, and don't call anyone else. I don't need to keep watch here anymore."
"Yes, I understand."
Nothing was said that night.
The following day, Xie Guijin stopped watching the queue and began preparing for the auction.
In the evening, Steward Hao presented the roster to Xie Guijin and reported that a noble son had sent his servant to choose a number for him that day.
Lingge listened from the side, puzzled, and asked, "Why would those nobles get involved?"
"These nobles probably want to take this opportunity to curry favor with the imperial court," said Steward Hao, stroking his beard.
Lingge blinked, even more puzzled: "Why don't they just donate silver directly to the imperial court? Why go through all this trouble?"
Butler Hao stopped what he was doing, tugging at his beard, unable to answer.
"These noble people probably can't enter officialdom through the imperial examinations on their own, and they don't want to buy an official position and be considered inferior. If they can use this opportunity to gain some exposure in front of the court and His Majesty, and then think of other ways at home, they might be able to get a minor official position appointed by His Majesty. This is much more honorable than buying an official position," Xie Guijin said slowly.
Furthermore, these people face the same problem as Xie Guijin: rashly donating silver to the imperial court might make them the target of public criticism.
Xie Guijin understood the situation but did not reveal it to the servants present, lest they overthink it and it negatively impact the future auction.
She presented the auction process and discussed it with everyone, gradually shifting their attention away from the unreal feeling of having a VIP involved in the auction.
The general arrangements were in place, but not yet detailed, when a servant announced that Magistrate Xue of the Capital had come to request an audience.
Xie Guijin looked outside. Dusk was falling. Why would Xue Linchuan come over at this time?
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