Feng Jinyuan favored his wives and concubines one after another, which caused a chain reaction that things were lost in all the courtyards, all of which were valuable. Han and Jin Zhen were shallow-minded and could not understand what was going on. They believed that the servants in the courtyard were not clean, so they tortured and beat them, causing a commotion for a long time.
An's side was quieter. Xiangrong had sent a message saying that she was staying at the county lady's residence, so she was relieved. The Feng family knew that Xiangrong was living there, but they didn't have the courage to look for her. Although she was usually indifferent to Feng Jinyuan, he was her man after all. If he wanted to stay overnight, she would still fulfill her obligations as a concubine. But she was worried about the inexplicably lost 3,000 taels of silver notes. When did Feng Jinyuan practice such a trick?
But he soon figured out what was going on. It was definitely not Feng Jinyuan who did it alone. He always had secret guards around him, one to point out the place and the other to do the tampering. It would be strange if the things weren't lost.
An was very calm about the lost banknotes. She just told her maid Ping'er, "Put on your straw raincoat and bamboo hat, and tell the gatekeeper to go to the county lord's mansion to see the third young lady, and then borrow a carriage from the second young lady. Go to the government office and report that we lost the silver. Ask the Jingzhao Yin to go to the bank to seal up the banknotes and make them invalid. Go quickly!"
When Ping'er left the house, she happened to see the people in the Cheng sisters' courtyard also walking out, getting on the carriage, and rushing towards the government office. It was not until the two sides met in the government office and explained their reasons to the Jingzhao Yin that they realized that they were all here to report to the authorities for their masters.
That afternoon, Feng Jinyuan quietly left the house and went straight to several banks in the capital. When he arrived, he was told that all the banknotes had been reported lost and invalidated. Except for the one from Han, he could not withdraw a single penny.
Feng Jinyuan was so angry that his teeth ached. He knew too well what the four words "report lost and void" meant. The sisters An and Cheng, these three women, were incapable of accomplishing anything, but their ability to sabotage was two times as good as theirs.
He carried Han's 1,000 taels of silver and got on the carriage. The rainstorm was so heavy that the carriage was leaking a little, but Feng Jinyuan still did not return home. Instead, he went to several pawnshops in the streets and alleys of the capital.
Finally he returned home, it was past dinner, he didn't say hello to anyone, went straight to Songyuan and locked himself in the study. Then he opened the bag to count the silver he got today, but it was only 1,300 taels.
The jewelry in Jin Zhen's place was not valuable at all. The secret guard stole the jewelry from a jewelry box that Jin Zhen liked very much according to his instructions, and he picked out a big bracelet. Who knew that the bracelet was a gift from him to Jin Zhen, but it was a cheap item bought on the street for less than ten taels of silver. However, he told Jin Zhen that it was an antique, which led Jin Zhen to treasure it like a treasure.
He did sell the earrings he got from the Cheng sisters for 300 taels, but it was still far from the monthly rent of 8,000 taels. He gave Zhang Yuan a fake title deed, and it would be exposed sooner or later, but he had no other choice. The title deed must not be known to the old lady and others. Now he had to raise money as quickly as possible, and find a way to raise 8,000 taels of silver every month to rent the house where the Feng family lived. That way, he would not have to move, and he could just exchange the fake title deed for it.
What a pity! He never expected that those three bitches, An and Cheng, would report to the authorities and have the silver notes invalidated. What should he do?
He was so anxious in the study that he was about to collapse. The secret guard suddenly appeared in front of him and suggested: "Why not start with the old lady? She should have hidden a lot of her own money. We can use it to help out first, and then return it when we have more money."
Feng Jinyuan had thought of this method, but... "I don't even know where the old lady's money is hidden, how can I do it?"
The secret guard thought for a moment and said, "How about we go in and search at night?"
Feng Jinyuan thought for a while and nodded, "Alright, there is no better way right now, I can only borrow it temporarily. Or..." He felt that there was another way, "Find a way to really steal the one in Ah Heng's hand."
As soon as he said this, the secret guard shook his head and said, "No, no, Master, I am sorry that I can't do anything. In order to prevent anyone from trying to steal the steelmaking technique, the Second Young Lady's house is like a copper wall and iron wall. Not to mention people, even an unreliable bird can't fly in."
Feng Jinyuan naturally understood this and sighed helplessly, "Forget it, let's go to the old lady tonight."
As he was speaking, there was a sudden and anxious knock on the door from outside, while shouting, "Master! Master!"
The secret guard dodged and disappeared. Feng Jinyuan put away the silver on the table and said, "Come in."
The servant hurriedly pushed the door open, wiped the rain off his face, and said hurriedly: "Master, please go to the front yard and take a look! Jingzhao Yin Lord Xu has come with a large group of officers and soldiers, saying that they want to arrest you."
"What?" Feng Jinyuan was shocked, and his hand subconsciously reached for the bag of silver under the table, thinking, could it be that these things caused trouble? But he immediately calmed down again, it's impossible, those three women are trying to sabotage him, just to prevent him from taking their silver, it's impossible for them to sue the officials and arrest people. But it's not this matter, then... His heart trembled suddenly, thinking that it's not good, there must be something wrong with the deed.
Seeing him standing there motionless, the servant could not help but urge him again: "Master, the old lady and the ladies have already arrived at the hall of the Peony Courtyard. Master, go and take a look!"
Feng Jinyuan was full of grievances. It seemed that he couldn't avoid what happened today, so he simply gritted his teeth and walked towards the Peony Courtyard.
The rain was getting heavier. It wasn't very far from the pine garden to the peony courtyard. He was wearing a raincoat and a hat, but he was still soaked. Feng Jinyuan was thinking, if the rain continued like this, would people be unable to move around in the mansion?
While he was thinking, he had already arrived at the hall and saw that the Mudan Courtyard was crowded with officers and soldiers. The leader, Xu Jingyuan, was standing in the hall talking to the old lady - "I didn't want to hurt the harmony. After all, no matter what, this is the maiden home of Ji'an County Master. But Lord Feng should never use a fake deed to deceive Eunuch Zhang. Cheating Eunuch Zhang is equivalent to cheating the emperor, which is a serious crime of deceiving the emperor."
As soon as he mentioned the crime of deceiving the emperor, the Feng family members were frightened. Fen Dai was quick to ask, "How can I be guilty of deceiving the emperor?"
Xu Jingyuan answered as a matter of course: "Of course, the nine clans will be exterminated."
The old lady plopped back into her chair, almost vomiting her heart out of fear. But Xu Jingyuan said again: "You don't have to be so scared. It's impossible to exterminate the nine clans, because the nine clans also include Princess Ji'an. It's impossible to exterminate the nine clans of the Feng family just for this emperor."
The old lady finally came to her senses. She looked as if she had been through the gates of hell. She kept saying, "It's all thanks to Ah Heng, it's all thanks to Ah Heng!"
At this time, An asked again: "The crime of genocide can be forgiven, but what about the others..."
At this time, Feng Jinyuan also walked in. When Xu Jingyuan saw him, he immediately said, "Lord Feng must go with me. Go to the government office to explain the matter clearly, and then wait for the emperor's decision."
When Fendai saw her father like this, two words popped up in her mind: cowardly. She said coldly: "Why did father use a fake deed? Is it a real one?"
Cheng Junman also asked him with a puzzled expression: "I feel that the master has been quite evasive about the land deed these days. Is there something he is hiding from us?"
When they asked this, the old lady also felt something was wrong. She immediately cast a questioning look at Feng Jinyuan, which made Feng Jinyuan's cheeks hot. He could only say something random: "It's really lost." Then he looked at Xu Jingyuan: "I'll go with you."
Xu Jingyuan nodded and gestured to the officers and soldiers around him. Someone immediately stepped forward to arrest Feng Jinyuan. Feng Jinyuan himself felt ashamed to see the former prime minister in such a state. He lowered his head and urged Xu Jingyuan, "Let's go, hurry up."
Han and Jin Zhen still couldn't tell the difference in their expressions. When they saw Feng Jinyuan being taken away like this, they were so scared that they started crying and shouted desperately, "Master! Master!"
The old lady was so angry that she used her scepter to hit Fendai - "How many times have I told you not to bring her out? What if she scares the baby in her belly? Send her back immediately!"
The Feng family was in a mess. At the County Lord's Mansion, Feng Yuheng was trying to comfort Yao in her room: "Xiaozhou is located at a high altitude, and the academy is built on the top of a mountain. The foundation of the mountain is very solid, so nothing will happen."
Yao looked at the heavy rain outside the window, and she couldn't let go of her worries. She kept asking Feng Yuheng, "Can't we leave now? I'm going from the capital to Xiaozhou, can you take me there?"
Feng Yuheng shook her head. "The official roads outside the city have been washed away. It's hard for people to walk, let alone carriages. Mother, please be patient. The Ninth Prince has already sent people to Xiaozhou. Princess Wenxuan must be keeping an eye on the news. I will go to the Wenxuan Palace tomorrow and ask."
Yao was worried about Zirui. With such heavy rain, the mountain torrents caused by it washed away the entire Fengtong County. What if something happened in Xiaozhou? What would happen to her Zirui? She couldn't wait until tomorrow, so she urged Feng Yuheng: "Can you go now? Mother begs you, Zirui is so young, if there is a flood, he won't be able to run away!"
Feng Yuheng had no choice. Not to mention Yao, even she herself was worried. Although Xiaozhou was located at a high altitude, Yunlu Academy was on a mountain. If the mountain collapsed, wouldn't the entire academy collapse?
She stood up, patted the back of Yao's hand, and said, "Okay, I'll go now, mother will wait at home."
After saying that, he put on his raincoat, took Wangchuan Huangquan and walked out.
In the County Lord's Mansion, there were raincoats that Feng Yuheng had taken out from the space. There were originally two spare raincoats and a few umbrellas in the space. She took them out countless times, and finally almost everyone got one. Unfortunately, they were all for girls to wear. Even if she was in her twenties, the men in the mansion still couldn't wear them. So these days, most of the people walking outside the County Lord's Mansion were maids.
Huang Quan walked to the side yard to prepare the imperial carriage. Wang Chuan took Feng Yu Heng to the gatehouse to take shelter from the rain. As soon as they stood down, they heard urgent knocks on the door, accompanied by a woman's shouting: "Open the door! Open the door quickly! Is there anyone there? Open the door quickly!"
She felt the noise was familiar, and after listening for a while she was stunned. She looked at Wangchuan and asked, "Bai Furong?"
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