The broker lifted the curtain and saw Zhao Cheng. He immediately smiled and said, "You've come at the right time. Yesterday was just a misunderstanding. You've only been gone a short while, and the Third Mistress of the Wei family has already sent someone to deliver the deposit!"
Zhao Cheng didn't want to argue with him any longer, "Then hurry up and give me that half penny!"
The broker was quite generous and immediately gave Zhao Cheng 250 taels. Just as Zhao Cheng returned to his carriage and prepared to leave, he suddenly saw several constables walking towards the alley entrance and blocking both his and the broker's carriages.
Zhao Cheng felt uneasy, but the broker spoke up and asked, "May I ask what brings you gentlemen here?"
The head constable said with a stern face, "We received information that someone is trading smuggled silver here, so we need to search the place. Please excuse us."
After saying that, he waved to the several constables behind him, and they split up and boarded two carriages to conduct the search.
Both the broker and Zhao Cheng looked bewildered. Soon, the constables found silver notes on their bodies, each containing two hundred and fifty taels.
The constable glanced around the two men and said rudely, "Come with us back to the yamen!"
Having said that, he arrested the two men and took them back to the government office for interrogation.
This scene just unfolded right before Zi Qiao's eyes. At this moment, she was perched on the wall, clinging to the wooden ladder. After everyone had been taken away and the excitement was over, she climbed down the ladder and returned to the courtyard to report what had happened to Wei Shuwan.
Wei Shuwan relaxed as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders: "We don't need to do anything else now, we can just wait for the harvest."
In this dynasty, the sale of residences was a major source of tax revenue and was subject to strict regulations. Therefore, anyone who falsely reported prices or misappropriated even a penny was guilty of a crime. Although not punishable by criminal penalties, a fine several times the amount of silver was required for redemption.
At midday, yamen runners escorted the broker to the Wei family's door. They not only returned the extra five hundred taels but also paid double the fine, and only then was the matter settled.
Zi Qiao held the thousand taels of fine silver and the five hundred taels of returned silver, making "tsk tsk" sounds incessantly.
"The mansion was bought for 1,800 taels of silver, and 1,500 taels were earned back on the same day. That means the mansion only cost 300 taels!" She couldn't help but give a thumbs up, sincerely admiring, "Young lady, you are truly a female Zhuge Liang!"
Wei Shuwan didn't take the matter to heart. In fact, spending an extra thousand taels or a thousand taels less wouldn't have much impact on the Wei family. The reason she was so concerned was because she understood that it would have a huge impact on those bad people.
"However, brokers aren't pushovers either. A thousand taels is no small sum for them, and they probably won't let this go easily." It would be best to shift the blame elsewhere as soon as possible!
After saying that, Wei Shuwan took out the sales contract and handed it to Ziqiao: "Since Aunt is so determined to get this mansion, let's send it to her as soon as possible."
Whether you can live there peacefully after moving in is up to fate.
Zi Qiao glanced at the contract. "Miss, aren't you going to give them the house deed?"
“Mother only agreed to buy a house for my grandmother to settle my eldest uncle and aunt’s family, but she didn’t say that the house would belong to them. With this contract, they can live there legitimately. As for the deed, I’m afraid that if I give it to them today, my eldest uncle will squander it all tomorrow.”
If the Wei family's old mansion and generations of property could be squandered, this house would naturally be no exception.
Meng received the sales contract but not the house deed. Knowing that the second branch of the family was still wary of them, she went to Wei Wenshi to complain again.
However, what Wei Wenshi was most concerned about now was Wei Ping and her daughter. She didn't want to have any more unpleasantness with the second wife over a house deed, so she gave Meng a few words of advice and sent her back.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
