Su Nuannuan's chest rose and fell sharply, and then she took a few deep breaths, turned to face Old Lady Fang, and regained her usual calmness. She bowed lightly and sighed, "Old lady, Aunt Jiang was indeed wrong today, but considering that she is kind-hearted for Chuan'er, please forgive her this time. If she had insisted on letting Chuan'er lie to the end in order to protect herself, I would not have said such a thing, but since she has softened her heart, I will beg for her this time because she is still a good mother. Old lady, please don't offend your granddaughter-in-law, okay?"
Old Lady Fang looked at Su Nuannuan intently. When she heard her last sentence with some joking, her eyes became wet. She sighed, "My dear, you are obviously feeling the most miserable right now, but you still pretend to be relaxed. Alas! This is too unfair to you."
Su Nuannuan's heart warmed up, and she felt her eyes were a little wet, so she wiped them with a handkerchief and came to Old Lady Fang and said with a smile: "Old lady, you really understand me. My grandson's wife is really upset, but after hearing what you said, I suddenly became more cheerful. Old lady, Chuan'er is still young and can't leave his aunt. You should not give face to the monks, but to the Buddha. What's more, it is known that if the people don't report it, the officials won't investigate it. I am the victim of this lawsuit, and I won't pursue it. Why don't you do me a favor?"
"Listen to what she said." Old Lady Fang pointed at Su Nuannuan and sighed to everyone. Madam Yang laughed and said, "What Nuannuan said makes sense, but Aunt Jiang really doesn't know the rules. My daughter-in-law said that although the death penalty can be exempted, the living crime cannot be forgiven..."
Before she could finish, Su Nuannuan said indignantly, "Yes, Madam is right, so she will be fined half a year's salary as a punishment."
Duan Tingxuan looked at his wife with a squinting eye, thinking that fining salary was a method used by the court to punish officials, why did you use it here? Just let Aunt Jiang escape so easily? Alas! You are still soft-hearted. Thinking of this, he didn't know whether to be relieved or angry at her for not fighting back.
Madam Yang was speechless. She meant to give Aunt Jiang at least 20 strokes of the cane. Although she was her son's concubine, she was too much for what she did today. If she didn't punish her, wouldn't the concubines follow suit in the future? Although she was virtuous, she had worked in the backyard all the way, and she had vaguely realized that today's matter was not that simple.
But Su Nuannuan said, "If we don't pay the monthly salary for six consecutive months, it seems a bit unreasonable. Are we going to let them starve?" At this point, she looked at Aunt Jiang and said, "Forget it, I will punish you for half a year. You can only receive half of the monthly salary every month, but you have to bring out some old clothes and old bedding. In exchange for this half of the silver, I just need these things. By the way, everyone, don't forget what I said just now because of this matter. Sister Yun is going to pay one thousand taels of silver, right?"
Everyone in the hall almost fell down: This greedy guy still hasn't forgotten to plunder.
Xu Ranyun was so angry that she almost spit out blood. Today, she really lost both her wife and her army. Aunt Jiang not only failed to harm the woman, but also got herself involved. That's fine, her life or death has nothing to do with her. But this one thousand taels of silver is no joke. Thinking of this, the woman could no longer sit still, and quickly stood up and said, "How can I have one thousand taels of silver? Grandma, don't joke."
"Don't pretend." Su Nuannuan looked like she had solid evidence: "I know you are a rich man. Others can't come up with one thousand taels of silver, but I can definitely come up with it. It's settled. My second brother and his wife have come up with three thousand taels. We can't let others laugh at us, right?"
"Grandma, I really don't have it." Xu Ranyun's tears burst out. She was really scared and cried. If she was forced to accept the money, she would never be able to speak and live in this mansion again.
"Okay, Nuannuan, don't force her. Isn't it one thousand taels of silver? Grandmother will pay for it." Old Lady Fang helped Xu Ranyun out of the predicament, and Su Nuannuan hesitated and said, "The old lady is an old lord. Isn't it a little too little to pay only one thousand taels?"
"Bah! You are blackmailing me." Old Lady Fang cursed with a smile, but Su Nuannuan said confidently: "How can it be called blackmail? Granddaughter-in-law is also considering the status of the old lady. Otherwise, if people heard that the old lady only gave one thousand taels of silver, they would not only think that the old lady was stingy and reluctant to give, but also think that the granddaughter-in-law and the second brother's wife did not know the rules and dared to go beyond the old lady."
Shi Yurou's eyes lit up, and she stepped forward and said, "Sister-in-law, what you said makes sense. In this case, my sister-in-law must not dare to go past the old lady. Just pay eight hundred taels..." Before she finished speaking, Su Nuannuan took the old lady Fang's arm and pretended to cry, "Old lady, please pity me. You see, nothing has happened yet, and someone wants to take the opportunity to get away."
"Okay, okay, seeing that you are crying so pitifully and you are always filial, I will also give you five thousand taels." The atmosphere was obviously tense, but Su Nuannuan made it warm again with just a few words. Old Lady Fang was very happy and was willing to help her favorite granddaughter-in-law. After she finished speaking, she pointed at Shi Yurou and said with a smile: "Did you hear me? You are not allowed to pay less."
Shi Yurou smiled and said, "Yes, since the old lady said so, I'll have to raise the money for my sister-in-law even if I have to sell everything I have." But in her heart she was so angry that she cried, thinking that it was a shame to bully people like this. Just when she gave her a glimmer of hope, she was slammed back into the abyss.
"As expected, old lady, you love me. It's worth it that your granddaughter-in-law has given you so many delicious foods on weekdays." Su Nuannuan smiled contentedly. Although the incident with Aunt Jiang happened, it was a pleasant surprise to find so much silver today. Naturally, she was unwilling to let Xu Ranyun go. After tricking the old lady Fang's silver, she looked at the other party.
Xu Ranyun's heart skipped a beat, knowing that she couldn't escape today, so she had to bite the bullet and said, "I don't have a private treasury, so I can only take out three hundred taels of silver. I can't take out more even if you kill me." As the words came out of her mouth, she felt as if a knife was cutting her flesh, and her face couldn't help but twitch twice.
Even Old Lady Fang has contributed money, so how can others fall behind? So Madam Yang, Liu Min and others all contributed 500 or 200 taels of silver. In a short while, they had collected more than 10,000 taels of silver. After Su Nuannuan quickly calculated the amount, she heard Duan Tingxuan smiling and saying, "Since this is the case, as a court official, I naturally cannot fall behind. It just so happens that a few days ago, a local official came to Beijing and presented more than 2,000 taels of silver as a tribute. Add the 2,000 taels that my second brother promised to contribute, and we can make up 20,000 taels, which is exactly the round number." This was an activity initiated by his wife, so the young marquis naturally had to support it.
Twenty thousand taels could be used to buy cloth and cotton, which could almost help all the victims. If a little more money was squeezed out, it could also help some poor people, so that they wouldn't have to worry about their winter. Su Nuannuan was overjoyed. When she looked up, she saw Aunt Jiang still kneeling on the ground, Duan Maochuan leaning beside her with his head down.
It was so eye-catching, but everyone in the hall seemed to have forgotten about the mother and daughter. She sighed in her heart and said to Old Lady Fang, "Grandma, my granddaughter-in-law has to go back and make plans, so I won't bother you anymore."
"Bah! It's obvious that you want to be busy, but you still want to flatter me by saying that you won't bother me. I tell you, these five thousand taels of silver are not spent in vain. If there are any good snacks, get some to eat as soon as possible. Even if you can't eat much of that candied food, it's still okay to get a little to try."
"Yes, yes, I will follow the old lady's instructions." Su Nuannuan stood up and saluted. Seeing that she was leaving, the others also said goodbye. Duan Tingxuan then said to Aunt Jiang: "What are you still doing here? Are you afraid that the old lady is not angry enough?"
Aunt Jiang then stood up with a face full of shame, holding Duan Maochuan's hand and staggering away in a daze.
As soon as she returned to Chunfeng Garden, Su Nuannuan took out a pen and paper and started to calculate the accounts. She had long forgotten the abacus she learned when she was a child, so she didn't know how to use an abacus, but mathematical formulas were no more difficult than abacus. Duan Tingxuan stood beside her, watching her fill two sheets of paper with strange formulas, and then designed a table, filling in the prices of some items that had been investigated before, along with the items.
Who is the young marquis? A truly smart genius, he only took a look and realized the benefits of this form. The required items, item prices, total prices, various expenses, etc. are all clear at a glance. So he sat down and said, "Nuannuan's accounting method is very simple and easy to understand. Teach me quickly, so that it will be easier to check the accounts in the future, and no tricks will be hidden."
Su Nuannuan smiled and said, "You're right. Actually, this is just the most basic form. I don't know how to make it more complicated. But it should be more than enough for you to check your accounts." She took accounting courses in college. Because she had no talent, her level was only half-baked. But it was enough to add a skill for Duan Tingxuan.
Duan Tingxuan then asked for some formulas on the paper. He already had a good foundation in mathematics, so after Su Nuannuan explained it briefly, he understood everything. He smiled and nodded, saying, "This is a simple method. It's not slower than using an abacus when you actually use it. And the abacus becomes more difficult the further you go, but this method doesn't have such a disadvantage."
"That's right." Su Nuannuan was proud: Although they are just simple multiplication and division and one-variable and two-variable equations, they are the crystallization of the wisdom of countless ancestors and have withstood the test of history.
The couple chatted for a while, and Duan Tingxuan suddenly fell silent. Then he looked at Su Nuannuan seriously and said softly, "Nuannuan, are you really going to let this go?"
Su Nuannuan froze, knowing what Duan Tingxuan was talking about. She lowered her head in silence for a while, then raised her head and said calmly, "What else can I do if I don't let it go?"
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