Chapter 309 The Mistress of a Wealthy Family Turns Her Own Side After Opening the Book (7)
Jin Shu glanced at her, a rare gentleness appearing in her eyes.
"Let bygones be bygones. Let's live our lives well from now on. Let's go shopping for clothes."
"You should have done this a long time ago!"
"Hmm, did you deliver the letter I asked you to give to my parents this morning?"
Ayu nodded.
"It's delivered. What are you planning to do with it?"
Jin Shu smiled and said, "You'll find out soon enough."
Meanwhile, in the carriage following closely behind, two young women began to berate him, one on each side.
"What does Jin Shu mean? Does she think that just because she's in charge of the household, she can ride roughshod over her aunt? Aunt, look at how she treated you just now! As if the Lu family belongs to her alone!"
"If you ask me, we should have taken back control of the family right then and there! Why should such a large family like the Lu family be managed by an outsider? Aunt, you should either stay as the matriarch yourself, and my sister and I can help you out. Anyway, we don't have much free time."
"Yes, yes, otherwise, if this trend continues, Jin Shu will soon take advantage of your kindness and become rude to you!"
"If Cousin Mingqian were here, let's see if she would still dare to be so arrogant!"
The old lady's head was throbbing from the noise from both sides, and she sternly ordered them to stop.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Do you think the mistress can be changed so easily?"
"Whether it changes or not is just a matter of your word!"
The old lady frowned and waved her hand repeatedly.
“Once it’s been handed over, there’s no reason to ask for it back! I’m too old to handle this now.”
The two cousins naturally couldn't understand why the rightful position of mistress of the house was being given up so easily. They would never have let someone else take such a big advantage!
They could never guess what the old lady was thinking.
So when Ayu asked the same question, Jinshu sipped her tea and replied leisurely.
"Are you worried that the old lady will take back her position as the mistress of the house? Ah Yu, you've been by my side for so many years, can't you see such a simple problem?"
"I do know a little. Back then, the old lady gave you the position of mistress because she couldn't handle the conflicts between powerful families and only wanted to enjoy her own leisure."
But now that the Lu family has settled down and is no longer facing such difficulties, why would she willingly allow you to continue as the matriarch?
"The current situation is not as simple as you think. Although she is no longer the mistress of the house, she is now reaping far more benefits than when she was the mistress."
Jin Shu had already thoroughly investigated the shady dealings within the thirteen shops last night.
They basically manipulated the procurement process, since the original owner would carefully check the profits and other obvious things every month, and this part was difficult to deal with.
As for the five grain and oil shops, three restaurants, two money shops, and three porcelain shops among the thirteen shops, almost half of the people in charge of purchasing were arranged by the old lady when she was in charge of the household.
The interests within the thirteen shops were intertwined and complex, and the original owner could not possibly understand all the intricacies involved. There were countless opportunities to siphon off profits from these shops.
The original owner, already exhausted both physically and mentally from the other trivial matters in the mansion, was no match for the leisurely old lady.
The old man did nothing but think about how to use the shop to enrich himself. So during the most difficult years of the Duke's mansion, the original owner lost more than ten kilograms, but the old lady and her nephews and nieces were all radiant and unaffected.
Thinking of this, Jin Shu drank the tea in her hand in one gulp.
"Let's go check out the shop."
Upon seeing Jin Shu arrive, the shopkeeper of the grain and oil store immediately stepped forward to greet her with great courtesy.
"Madam, why didn't you send someone to inform us before you came today? The shop might be too busy and we might not be able to accommodate you properly."
"Close the shop this afternoon and clear out the backyard. I have something to discuss with you this afternoon."
Seeing that Jin Shu's face was calm and showed no extra expression, the shopkeeper was a little suspicious and immediately arranged for someone to deliver a message to the old lady.
As a result, Jin Shu stared at him and said something lightly.
"No need to make a fuss. I've already blocked off the front and back of the courtyard. Just sit down and have some tea."
The shopkeeper was clearly starting to panic, nervously picking up his teacup with his heart pounding in his chest.
Before long, the shopkeepers and purchasing agents of the other twelve shops were also brought over.
The backyard of the grain and oil shop was packed with people. Everyone had obviously been brought there suddenly, and they all looked bewildered, having no idea what Jin Shu was up to.
Once everyone had arrived, Jin Shu clapped her hands, and a heavy box was brought up. When opened, it was filled with account books.
"These are all the account books I have kept for the past ten years since I took over the shop. They are all here."
I looked through it these past couple of days..."
Jin Shu's gaze swept across the area, and it was clear that some people below were starting to get restless.
"I used to think that you were all hired to help me solve my problems, but after I looked through all the account books, I realized that you shouldn't be managers, you should be spies."
The Duke's mansion is, after all, a member of the imperial family. All their property, inside and out, was bestowed by the Emperor. What difference is there between you stealing from the Duke's mansion and stealing from His Majesty? What difference is there between you and spies?!
Do you know what crime it is to be a spy in our country? It's punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family!
Now, while I'm talking to you all nicely, step forward and confess how much money you've embezzled over the years! Otherwise, once I report this to His Majesty and throw you all into the Dali Temple as spies, it will be too late for you to speak up!
As she spoke, Jin Shu's expression turned stern and her voice turned cold. Her aura as a person in a superior position was extremely oppressive. Her tone was neither fast nor slow, but every word she spoke was like a hammer striking them heavily.
The people below looked at each other, and no one dared to step forward and admit it.
Jin Shu smiled.
That's true. Even when these kinds of people are about to die, they still try to justify themselves. How can simply scaring them work now?
So Jin Shu stood up, holding thirteen notebooks in her hands, and walked over to them one by one.
"Zhou, the manager of the grain and oil shop on East Street, embezzled a total of 17,300 taels of silver over ten years by falsely reporting prices and deducting grain and oil prices."
“Manager Liang of the grain and oil shop on North Street has been concealing profits and falsifying income and expenditure accounts for the past five years, embezzling a total of 9,844 taels.”
"Chengnan Restaurant was the most successful shop under my management. It opened eight years ago, and over the past eight years, it has falsely reported procurement costs and concealed profits, embezzling a total of 69,900 taels of silver."
...
"Finally, Mr. Jiang, the owner of Lu's Money Shop, you've gone even further than the previous two money shops. You've been lending money at exorbitant interest rates, and the news is spreading like wildfire in the city. I've calculated the current lending rates, and it turns out you've embezzled a full 110,000 taels of silver!"
(End of this chapter)
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