With the sound of the cannon, the shopkeepers' pride was shattered. In their pain, they pondered why their master had come. They considered themselves reliable in handling affairs, so it must be that there was a problem on the Mongolian side, and that Kangxi had personally sent the Fourth Prince down to investigate.
After the men were flogged, they and their families were thrown into the main hall of Linglong Pavilion. The people sent by Erlu not only registered the property of the mansion, but also learned some things from the servants.
Before holding a banquet to interrogate someone, there is an unwritten rule that subordinates will inquire about the situation to see if the principal wife is favored in the mansion.
When men dote on their concubines, it is always the legal wives and daughters who are implicated and punished in the end, while those who are truly favored do not have much of a problem.
"My lord, I have inquired and found that in several mansions, the principal wives and daughters are not favored, yet the concubines are allowed to wear bright red." According to Erlu Qingyan's rules, the concubines have fallen out of favor.
"What?!" Qingyan exclaimed in surprise.
During the Qing Dynasty, apart from Longkodo, probably no other man had the courage to do so.
"Hehe, these people are very close to Longkodo." Yin's words directly exposed the true nature of these people.
Longkodo was absolutely immoral and became a typical example of favoring concubines over one's wife. What man in the Qing Dynasty wouldn't despise Longkodo?
Emperor Kangxi took his anger out on Longkodo, abandoning even the Tong Guowei lineage. He further placed Consort Tong under the patronage of Tong Guogang, completely separating her from Longkodo, as the imperial family could not afford to lose face like that.
"Your Majesty, this servant dares not have any connection with the Imperial Uncle Tong." None of the shopkeepers dared to tell the truth. They all knew that the Fourth Prince and his wife were law-abiding citizens, and anyone who went against the rules was usually sent away.
Just after Emperor Kangxi altered Consort Tong's ancestral genealogy, Yinzhi revoked the preferential treatment that Consort Tong's residence received at Linglong Pavilion.
They had heard Longkodo's favorite concubines complain that they had been forced to offer up several exquisite headdresses, which they used to make up for the deficit.
"You wouldn't dare?!" Qingyan looked down at the shopkeepers. "How do you explain using your own money to offer jewelry to Si'er?"
Qingyan didn't want to pursue the matter, as Si'er had caused her a lot of trouble, yet she was still favored by Consort Tong's relatives, so she couldn't go too far.
"We had no choice. Recently, Longkodo has been sending people to Linglong Pavilion in various places to order jewelry. We thought that since he is Consort Tong's brother, we might cause trouble for our master if we didn't treat him well." The managers exchanged glances and quickly reported to Qingyan.
After being punished, their minds became much more analytical. They investigated everything the Qing family did, and they weren't so noble as to hide things from unnecessary people.
"Hmm, how many sets of jewelry did Si'er ask for from here?" Qingyan had long expected that without Linglong Pavilion's tribute of jewelry, Madam Tong would definitely find another way. She never expected that Madam Tong Guowei would set her sights on Si'er.
In the unlikely event that the matter is exposed, it will have nothing to do with Mrs. Tong Guowei or even the Tong family.
"According to what this servant has learned, after Master instructed that Tong Guowei's residence should not receive any preferential treatment, Si'er sent many servants to Linglong Pavilion to ask for things. The fewest were from the capital, about two or three sets of exquisite headdresses. The most were from here and from Jiangnan, with as many as seven sets going out from here," the shopkeeper said directly.
Yin's heart skipped a beat. Today's interrogation might cause big trouble. He couldn't let outsiders watch the royal family's spectacle.
"Eru, you and Tuli close the shop entrance," Yin instructed directly.
"!" Tulichen quickly gathered several guards to help Erluba close the shop door.
"Speak," Yin said, his expression turning cold. They would speak in front of everyone, just to save their own lives.
After all, if the Royal Keys take action, it's tantamount to exposing the royal family's scandals to the public.
These two short words directly reminded everyone what these people wanted to do.
She couldn't help but smile wryly. How could anyone in business be naive?
They behaved with exceptional honesty and loyalty in her presence, probably hoping to gain her approval and thus obtain more benefits.
She flipped through the records of the confiscation of property, which contained hundreds of thousands of taels of silver and a considerable amount of precious jewelry materials. Even the headdresses worn by their favored concubines were more valuable than those worn by a prince's concubine.
"Fourth Prince, do you see? These businessmen are wealthy, and their lives are no worse than your royal family. In fact, your princes and nobles might not even be living as well as them," Qingyan said directly.
Just one sentence made the managers nervous. They had repeatedly instructed that the concubines should wear nice headdresses when they went out, and that they should not be too extravagant in the mansion. They even built a secret room for them.
"Little darling, don't talk nonsense!" Yin glared at Qingyan. This little girl didn't even consider where she was before starting to spout nonsense. "Is it any of your business to talk about the affairs of the imperial princes?"
Yinxian said a few words to Qingyan, so that even if Tulichen complained, Kangxi could no longer reprimand him.
snort!
Qingyan coldly snorted, "I know I was wrong!"
"Many of these jewels were transported from Jiangnan. Did you want them, or were they given to you on your own initiative?" Qingyan asked.
These jewels were transported by boat, so they certainly couldn't have come from the Northwest. The raw materials transported along the Silk Road were not these.
"It was given from the south. They said it was for the family of Lord Longkodo. His Majesty often goes to the south, and it would be too conspicuous for them to do this. We servants meant well, after all, he is Consort Tong's own brother." The shopkeeper said that they were also considering Qingyan's interests.
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