Chapter 22: Questioning
Ningguo Mansion, Shen Ning Courtyard.
As she was lying in the sun, she heard hurried footsteps and knew that her eldest son had returned.
However, he came back so soon, most likely because he knew about the great things she had done at home.
Shen Ning sat up and quietly looked at Haodaer who was getting closer and closer.
"Mother~"
Jia Zhen wanted to quarrel with his mother and lose his temper, but when he saw those calm eyes, his heart trembled. After taking a few steps closer, his knees softened and he knelt on the ground. "I know I was wrong," he said pitifully. "If you still have the energy, just beat your son!"
He wanted to say, stop making trouble.
If the trouble continues, the Ning and Rong families, which were as close as one family, will fall apart.
"Why do I hit you?"
A smile flashed in Shen Ning's eyes. "Your body and hair are from your parents. I didn't raise you to this age just to beat you."
Jia Zhen: “…”
His eyes were a little red. His mother really couldn't bear to hit him.
"The ground is cold, sit down!"
Shen Ning signaled Youshi to help Jia Zhen to the footstool at the side, and waved to the maids to let them go out. "I know you are worried about the treasury silver." She watched Qingzhu and others leave the yard and sighed. "Before your grandfather passed away, he was still thinking about this silver. He was worried that this silver would bring disaster to his descendants. These two days, I have the same worry."
What? Jia Zhen's eyes suddenly turned red.
He suspected that his mother took the curse to heart.
If this is the case, how can we give birth safely?
"…I've thought about it. It's hard for you to pay it back, but I can."
Shen Ning touched the baby moving in her belly again, "Take advantage of the rumor. No matter who asks you, you can say that I am old and want to accumulate some blessings for the baby in my belly. Thinking of last year's snow disaster and the money owed by my family, I specially donated some more after paying back the treasury silver, and asked the adults above to help distribute the disaster relief."
What? In addition to paying back the treasury silver, they also donated silver? Jia Zhen wanted to cover his chest.
He felt sorry for his mother and the money at the same time.
"I donated the gold I confiscated from the Lai family, and then added some silver to make it a round number of 10,000 taels. I asked Rong Ge'er to deliver it all on my behalf."
Shen Ning looked at Haodaer, "You look like this... are you worried about the money?"
"without!"
Jia Zhen hurriedly shook his head, "My son is worried about you."
Forget it, even if the money is gone, the person will be happy.
As long as his mother doesn't think about the curse, and as long as it can really bring some blessings to his mother, then donate it! "This is something that the son should have done."
If Rong Ge'er, a child, were to do this, there would be countless people who would laugh at him, saying, "I am ashamed to have caused you, my mother, to worry about this!"
“…”
Shen Ning now had some understanding of why Qin Keqing was attracted to him in the end in the Dream of the Red Chamber.
This guy is really good at talking.
"You are wrong to do it."
Shen Ning lay back on the couch, "Brother Rong is still young and doesn't know much. He can do anything immediately without thinking about anything if his grandmother gives him an order or a request. Even if the emperor knows about it tomorrow, he won't do anything."
This? Jia Zhen suddenly admired his mother very much.
Yu Shi, who was standing aside, looked at her mother-in-law and then at her husband, and a different light could not help but flash in her eyes.
"But your uncle She, is he going to pay back the silver?"
"Uncle She wants to pay it back."
Shen Ning sneered: "The old lady doesn't agree, and your second uncle Zheng doesn't agree either?"
"yes!"
"So what do you do?"
What? Jia Zhen was stunned.
"You were the one who robbed Lai Da's house, and I said you had some strategy."
Shen Ning looked at the unpredictable clouds in the sky, "Why are you stupid again? The Ning and Rong mansions share weal and woe. If something happens to the Rong mansion, the Ning mansion can't escape. If you don't pay back the money today, do you believe that the Rong mansion will never be able to pay it back?"
Jia Zhen: “…”
He believed it, but the old lady over there...
Jia Zhen gave Youshi a look for help.
Youshi hurriedly said, "If we force it, the old lady over there might not agree."
“…”
Shen Ning was speechless, "Zhen'er, you and your uncle She have really been given the reputation of being a scoundrel for nothing."
Jia Zhen: “…”
After being stunned for a moment, Youshi tried to laugh secretly.
"Forget it, today I will teach you a lesson."
Rather than letting the silver be squandered by Lady Jia and Wang, bringing disaster to the Jia family, it would be better to take this opportunity to return it all.
Shen Ning sat up and said, "Go, bring a sedan chair and take the palace guards with you. They have to pay back the silver today even if they don't want to."
Ah? Jia Zhen looked at his mother's big belly and was really worried. "Mom, it's late today. Even if I get the money, I can't pay it back. How about tomorrow?" Looking at the old lady's expression, if you dare to pay back the money, I'm afraid she will beat you up personally.
"Don't worry!" Shen Ning smiled, "Brother Rong has brought the silver. The emperor will wait, and the officials from the Ministry of Revenue will also wait."
…
In the Yangxin Palace, Emperor Xiaomu, who was reviewing memorials with a serious face, was reviewing another memorial complaining about poverty.
The Zhen family is becoming more and more daring.
With a snap, he threw the folded paper aside.
"emperor."
Eunuch Liu outside the door spoke with joy, and hurried in while bowing and congratulating, "Your Majesty, great joy!"
"Why are you so happy?"
Emperor Xiaomu was in a very bad mood at this moment.
He didn't think there would be any happy events. He knew everything about the concubines in the palace.
"The boys are here to report that Jia Rong, the descendant of Duke Ningguo, has come to return the silver to the treasury."
What? Emperor Xiaomu was surprised and delighted. "Is it true?"
"I'll take my life as a guarantee." Eunuch Liu bowed and smiled, "Lord Zhang is so happy that he is taking people to the warehouse right now."
“Okay, okay!”
It was indeed a great event, and Emperor Xiaomu wished he could be there in person. Of course, he wanted to summon Jia Rong to see it, but...
He paused again as he thought about the people who had inherited the title in Ningguo Mansion. "I remember that the person who inherited the title of the Third Class Weilie General in Ningguo Mansion was called Jia Zhen, right?"
"yes!"
Eunuch Liu said hurriedly, "Jia Rong is Jia Zhen's son, but he is a little young. He is twelve years old this year."
twelve?
For such a big matter as returning the silver, Jia Zhen asked a twelve-year-old child to do it?
"What's going on? Where is Jia Zhen?"
"Your Majesty!" Eunuch Liu said, "I have already sent people to investigate. When Lord Zhang saw Jia Rong's condition, he also sent people to investigate. I think there will be news soon."
Emperor Xiaomu raised his eyebrows, "...What happened to Jia Rong?"
"He moves unsteadily, and it looks like he's been caned."
Caning?
Emperor Xiaomu narrowed his eyes slightly, but his body relaxed. "Let the people below check it quickly."
"Your Majesty!" Eunuch Liu smiled, "Not only did Jia Rong bring 120,000 taels of silver to pay back the treasury, he also brought 1,320 taels of gold and 10,000 taels of silver, saying that he was donating them to the national treasury."
"oh?"
Emperor Xiaomu couldn't help laughing when he saw the old man relaxing. "If you have anything to say, please speak quickly. Don't speak halfway to me. The play should be divided into two parts."
Donating so much gold and silver is not something a twelve-year-old child can decide.
"Hehe, according to the kid, the gold and silver were donated by his grandmother. His grandmother is old, but she's pregnant. I heard that there was a snowstorm in Kaifeng last year that happened only once in a hundred years. Thinking of the court's disaster relief, the adults knew where there was an urgent need, so they donated more than 1,300 taels of gold."
"etc!"
The emperor was confused, "His grandmother is pregnant with a child in her old age?"
"That's right. It is said that Lord Zhang was also confused at the time." Eunuch Liu laughed. "Later, I heard that his grandfather was Jia Jing, and I understood."
"Jia Jing?"
The emperor thought of something, "So it was him?"
He resigned from his official position and passed the title to his son.
He remembered everything, "Didn't they say that he became a Taoist priest?"
He once felt a little sorry for this person.
However, those who are destined to be useless to him will just leave.
"I didn't expect that at such an old age, he would let his wife give birth to a child."
Does this mean he doesn't want his wife's life? The emperor suppressed his guess and said, "Go on."
"The same is true for this silver. The old lady wants to accumulate blessings for the child in her belly. I ask the superiors to distribute this ten thousand taels of silver to the charity bureaus around the capital."
So that's it! The emperor turned the tea bowl in his hand and said, "That's thoughtful."
In addition to returning the silver to the national treasury, he also donated more than 20,000 taels of silver at once. This was because he knew that the imperial court had no money for disaster relief!
The orphanages around the capital used to be funded by the imperial court, but in recent years things have become increasingly difficult, and it was the empress who saved money to help him maintain his dignity.
The emperor sighed in his heart, "Give Jia Rong that child more medicine."
"yes!"
Eunuch Liu said, "As soon as I found out, I sent someone to deliver the White Jade Cream."
Someone came running outside the hall. It was the third son whom he asked to inquire for information.
"Your Majesty, news has arrived."
"Call!"
At the signal of Eunuch Liu, the third son rushed into the hall.
At the same time, Jia She, who was suppressed by his mother and brother, was looking at the list quickly written by the servants and thinking about which good things to carry to his room, when he heard the steady and powerful footsteps of the palace guards again.
Sure enough, when he turned around, the guards of the East Palace and a group of maids and servants were escorting his sister-in-law in.
Oh~ Jia She’s eyes suddenly lit up.
He dropped the order and hurried over to greet her, "Sister-in-law!"
Jia's mother, who was holding on and not leaving, was on guard against her eldest son and wanted to get more food for her second son. When she saw Shen Ning's unfriendly look, the veins on her forehead couldn't help but jump.
She had a cold face and waited for Shen Ning to come over and pay her respects.
"We are family, please forgive me and sit down."
Shen Ning got off the sedan chair and bowed to Grandmother Jia first, "Aunt, you already know about Rong'er returning the silver to the treasury, right?"
Grandmother Jia: “…”
She didn't expect that her niece-in-law didn't even say a word of greeting, but went straight to the point as soon as she arrived.
"Do you know you are wrong?" Grandmother Jia's face turned cold.
"I don't know what my niece did wrong."
Shen Ning sat on the chair brought by Haodaer, surrounded by eight sturdy maids. "It was my aunt and my two sisters-in-law who allowed the servants in the mansion to gossip about me and curse my Jia family. I don't know how to apologize."
What? Madam Xing and Madam Wang, who were about to come over to pay their respects, were startled.
"Sister-in-law, please stop spitting blood at me."
Wang was furious, "In our house..."
"Second sister-in-law, are you saying that everyone in the West Mansion is clean?" Shen Ning interrupted with a sneer, "If they are clean, then where did all these gold and silver antiques in the yard come from?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
