Chapter 48 Framed
Jiang Wan Ning glanced at Shao Yao and said, "Bring the person up."
"yes."
Not long after Peony left, several people followed her.
Who are these people?
“Father,” Jiang Wan Ning stood up and bowed to Jiang Zheng, “these gentlemen are all owners of well-known money shops and pawnshops in the capital.”
After Jiang Wan Ning finished speaking, she looked at Aunt Liu.
Aunt Liu's eyes darted around, and her fingers clenched slightly.
Jiang Zheng looked at Jiang Wan Ning with a questioning gaze.
"Let these shopkeepers tell Father themselves."
Jiang Wan Ning turned to the side and sat back down on the chair next to her.
“My lord, I am the manager of Jin Mantang. Your concubine Liu once sent someone with her private seal to borrow money at exorbitant interest rates, which she has yet to repay.”
"I had no other choice but to come and bother you, Lord Marquis."
Jiang Zheng's face darkened. "What? Usury?"
"Father, let them finish speaking first."
Jiang Zheng had no choice but to suppress his doubts and said, "You can continue."
"I am a staff member of Wandinglou Restaurant. Our manager instructed me to come and collect a debt."
The waiter at Wan Ding Lou immediately produced the IOU, which was then taken by Steward Wang and handed to Jiang Zheng.
"And you?" Jiang Zheng slammed the IOU onto the table, then looked at the still silent person. "Are you here to collect a debt too?"
"My lord, you misunderstand. I am not here to collect a debt."
Jiang Zheng's brows relaxed.
"The younger one belongs to Wanbaoxuan; he's here to return items from your residence."
"return?"
“That’s how my father is,” Jiang Wan Ning said. “Yesterday I asked Shao Yao to go to our Marquis’s shop to get the account books.”
"This girl is greedy and stopped by Zhenxiu Pavilion to buy pastries on her way. By sheer coincidence, she saw someone leaving Wanbaoxuan with something in his hand."
"That thing was the coming-of-age gift that Father gave to my second sister."
"Later, I found out that it was Manager Wang of Liangfuzhai who pawned these things."
"My daughter felt something was wrong, so she sent someone to investigate. What she found really shocked her."
Jiang Wanning briefly recounted what Liu and her daughter had instructed Wang Fu to do.
Jiang Zheng's face grew darker and darker as he listened. Before he could even speak, Madam Liu had already knelt on the ground, pleading, "Master, please let me explain."
"Father, thankfully Wang Fu is after money, not really trying to sell grain to the Western Xia Kingdom."
"If we really make this ill-gotten gain, then our entire Marquis's mansion will be doomed."
As Jiang Wan Ning spoke, she placed her hand on her chest, feigning fear.
*Smack!*
Jiang Zheng slammed his hand hard on the table, making the teacup on the table jump.
"Liu Shi! Since you entered the manor, I have never mistreated you and your daughter."
Now they're actually disregarding the safety of the entire Marquis's mansion for money?!
"Master, that's not how it is, that's not how it is. I was also deceived by Wang Fu."
"If you weren't greedy, would you have been deceived by such a despicable person?"
"Father, I suspect that my second sister was also involved in this matter."
Jiang Wanru's favorite thing was jewelry, so she naturally knew that it had been pawned.
“My daughter believes that this matter is of great importance, and the servants of Bihe Courtyard who knew about it but did not report it should be punished.”
"As for Aunt Liu and my second sister, it's entirely up to Father to decide."
Even if Jiang Zheng is easily led by the nose, he cannot easily let the mother and daughter off the hook in such a big matter.
really,
Jiang Zheng said with a dark face, "Liu, the money you owe the bank was borrowed using your private seal."
"You'll have to figure out a way to get back to your superiors yourself."
"Don't even think about letting me pay you back."
Jiang Wan Ning breathed a sigh of relief; her father wasn't completely senile after all.
She was genuinely afraid that her father would help Liu Shi settle the debt.
Madam Liu collapsed to her knees on the ground, saying, "My lord, I know I was wrong."
"I only hope that you will not blame Ru'er, considering that I did not ask for any title and gave birth to a daughter for you."
“She knows nothing. I lied to her and borrowed the jewelry.”
"Liu, do you think I'll listen to you?" Jiang Zheng said coldly, "Didn't you say you'd donate all these things?"
"Is this all the items you've donated to me?"
Jiang Zheng picked up the IOU on the table and slammed it hard into Aunt Liu's face.
"Steward Wang, bring the family discipline!"
“Master.” Butler Wang’s tone was disapproving.
"Hurry up and go!"
Although the Marquis's family has its own rules, they have never been used in all these years; this is the first time.
It seems the Marquis is truly enraged today.
Steward Wang had no choice but to obey and leave.
"You may all go back now," Jiang Zheng said, looking at the people from the money shop. "The person who borrowed money from you is from the Liu family."
“She used a private seal, which has nothing to do with my Marquis’s mansion.”
"But since she belongs to the Marquis's mansion, I will give each of you one thousand taels as compensation. As for whether she can repay it in the future, that is a matter between you and her."
He borrowed money from a moneylender and couldn't repay it.
Few of them met a good end, and Jiang Zheng was naturally aware of this.
Those who can lend money at exorbitant interest rates, and so much at that, must all have powerful figures behind them.
In this capital city teeming with extraordinary people, his title of Marquis was nothing special.
The two money changers had no choice but to bow and return to report.
After all, it was a Marquis's residence, and the Prince of Langya was sitting next to them, so they couldn't say anything.
We can ask Liu for it later.
The money wasn't due for repayment yet; it was a deal made behind the scenes by someone, telling them to come and collect it as soon as possible.
As for you...
“Father, I redeemed these things with my own private treasury.”
Jiang Wan Ning said, "It's just that my daughter has limited funds, so I only redeemed a few things that Father used to like."
"Ningning is so sensible." Jiang Zheng's tone softened considerably when he spoke to Jiang Wanning.
Jiang Wan Ning smiled slightly; this was naturally not something she had redeemed from her own private treasury.
Instead, it was redeemed using Aunt Liu's money.
Seeing that he had nothing to do, the pawnshop manager put down the delivered items and quietly left.
"I'm sorry for making you laugh, Your Highness," Jiang Zheng said.
These past few days, something happened at my residence, and coincidentally, the Prince of Langya was there, making me feel quite ashamed.
This means that Pei Yanchuan should go back to where he came from and stop staying there.
Pei Yanchuan took a small sip of tea and said, "No."
He gave a curt reply, showing no intention of leaving.
Jiang Zheng felt awkward, but he couldn't openly kick them out.
Jiang Wan Ning lowered her head, suppressing a laugh.
Before long, Steward Wang brought out the whip.
"Master...Master..."
Seeing that Jiang Zheng was about to get serious, Liu Shi trembled and begged for mercy, "Master, it was all because I was confused for a moment."
"Please, sir, spare me this time."
"It implicated the Marquis's mansion, but fortunately it was a hoax; we only lost money." Jiang Zheng gripped his whip.
"I am merely using family law, not taking your life. You should already be thanking your God."
"Smack!"
After Jiang Zheng finished speaking, he lashed Liu Shi's back hard with his whip.
"ah--"
With one lash, Liu was in so much pain that she broke out in a cold sweat.
“Father.” Jiang Wan Ning stood up. “I know I shouldn’t plead for this, but Father is a martial artist. It would be too harsh for you to punish us with this family law.”
"After all, Aunt Liu is Second Sister's birth mother."
"Why don't you let your daughter do it? She's not strong enough, so it'll be a punishment without seriously injuring your aunt."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com