Chapter 397 The Cannon Fodder of the General’s Mansion (19)
Little Pudding smacked his lips.
"Then the original owner didn't even know how he died in the end. Oh, it's so tragic."
"There are so many people who don't know how they died. Now that they know it, let's see what other tricks she has."
Jiang Lai got a lot of benefits from her poem "Feng Yue", because the original version of her poem was bought by the Eighth Prince. Others copied it and sold it in bookstores, earning another sum of money.
The eighth prince also specially invited Jiang Lai to drink tea in the teahouse and gave her money by the way.
"We don't think that literati are noble and regard money as dung. In my opinion, only after you have enough food and drink, and have no worries about food and clothing can you create better works, so you can feel free to take this money and keep working hard in the future."
Of course Jiang Lai felt at ease, she was not just going for this "dung".
After taking the money and chatting with the Eighth Prince for a while, Jiang Lai got up and left. He found a good place to make clothes for himself and bought a lot of jewelry by the way.
Back at the General's Mansion, the house was deserted. The old lady stayed in the ancestral hall all day long. Xu Ruling had been basically invisible since she was relieved of her duties as in charge of internal affairs not long ago.
Handling the internal affairs of the General's Mansion is extremely simple, because there are only two people in the mansion, the old lady and Tie Yi, who need to take care of their affairs. There are not many servants and maids. In addition, Tie Yi is rarely at home, and the old lady is even more worried. Rarely showing his face, the only thing Li Jianglai has to do is to take care of himself.
Moreover, Tie Yi really didn't care about anything. After Jiang Lai started to recheck the previous account books, he discovered that almost every month there were hundreds of taels of silver in the house that were not reconciled.
As Jiang Lai, who had been a boss, she knew the financial situation very well. She could figure out the worms behind so many fake accounts in modern society, let alone a stack of account books in front of her.
In just one day, she discovered many anomalies, and these anomalies were all the money withdrawn by Xu Ruling's maid.
"Looking at it this way, Xu Ruling made a huge sum of money not long after he first came to Beijing. From October last year to March this year, in less than half a year, eight thousand taels were inexplicably missing from his account."
This is not a small amount of money. The Marquis has been a relative of the emperor for a month and his salary is only thirty taels. However, such a general's mansion can actually lose eight thousand taels in half a year. What's more terrible is that there is no one in the mansion. People manage.
Little Pudding has no idea about money in this era.
But he also knew that this should be a considerable amount of money.
"Then what should we do now? If the money is gone, why are you still investigating?"
Jiang Lai took a brush and circled all the problematic areas on the account book, lowered his eyes and said calmly.
"A domestic thief is also a thief. If you encounter a thief, you should report it to the official."
No matter what nonsense, report it directly to the official.
——
In the inner courtyard of the General's Mansion, Jiang Yu came here for the first time.
Jiang Lai had just gotten up when he heard the news. He opened the door to receive guests without washing his face or combing his hair. He was wearing a red undershirt tailored to his own taste.
Jiang Yu looked at the room in front of her.
Not to mention the sandalwood eight-step bed and the silk brocade quilt on the bed, the dressing table inlaid with tortoise shells diagonally opposite the bed is extremely gorgeous and dazzling.
Everywhere in the house is exquisite and luxurious, high-profile and dazzling. Jiang Lai is sitting as the mistress of the house, more like a noble lady nourished by soaking in money. Every move is leisurely and comfortable.
Jiang Yu suppressed the strangeness in her heart and chatted with Jiang Lai for a few words.
"My father also fell ill not long ago. Your Majesty still has old feelings for him, so he did not continue to investigate."
Jiang Lai listened and was unmoved.
"Well, is there anything else?"
Jiang Yu frowned. She didn't expect Jiang Lai to be so ruthless. She took advantage of the reputation of the Hou Mansion and married into the General's Mansion. She enjoyed all the glory and wealth and completely forgot about the Hou Mansion.
She also didn't expect that Tie Yi would be so generous and generous to Jiang Lai. Looking at the decorations in the house, any piece of them was worth a lot of money. If it weren't for Tie Yi's instruction, Jiang Lai would never be able to use these good things in his life. .
I think she was well-dressed and well-fed before the Hou Mansion was defeated, but even then she was not as extravagant as Jiang Lai.
Seeing this scene, Jiang Yu thought of a saying she had heard among the people for no reason.
The pheasant fell into the phoenix's nest and felt like a phoenix by putting on its phoenix feathers.
She thought this sentence was vulgar before, but now after seeing Jiang Lai, she finally understood how reasonable it was.
Isn't Jiang Lai just a pheasant wearing the phoenix feather of the Hou Mansion and pretending to be a real phoenix?
Seeing Jiang Yu's eyes moving around, Jiang Lai knew what she was thinking without having to guess.
"Sister, why don't you stay and have a meal together? I'll let the small kitchen make some simple meals for lunch, and we sisters can have a meal together and chat while we're at it?"
Jiang Yu didn't want to stay here any longer.
What's more, she didn't come here to find Jiang, so she said casually.
"My father and mother are still waiting to go back for a meal. They are in poor health now and cannot do without someone's care. Jiang Lai, just take care of yourself. If you want to help with the affairs of the Hou Mansion, don't force it if you don't want to.
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I still have some time to find Miss Xu about something. ”
Jiang Yu left, her back straight and straight, feeling like the tranquility of the years in the empty valley orchid.
Little Pudding was a little curious.
"Do you want to know why she came to Xu Ruling?"
"I don't want to."
"Hey, has it been changed? You really don't want to know? I can reluctantly eavesdrop a few words for you."
Jiang Lai waved his hands indifferently.
Little Pudding snorted.
"If you don't listen, I will pull you down."
He listens to himself.
——
In Xu Ruling's room, Jiang Yu hesitated for a long time and finally explained her purpose.
"If it wasn't really difficult, I wouldn't have opened my mouth to you."
When Xu Ruling heard that she was here to borrow money, she felt flattered. Not only did she not dare to pretend, she even couldn't wait to agree.
This is Jiang Yu, she is so depressed that she needs to borrow money!
"Three thousand taels...Sister Yu, I do have this money, but why do you need so much?"
I thought it was only a few dozen taels, but it was already a lot. Unexpectedly, when Jiang Yu opened her mouth, it was three thousand taels!
"I knew you did. The general really treats you well."
Xu Ruling couldn't help laughing.
"The general is generous and doesn't care about the internal affairs. You said why you were unwilling to marry in the first place. When the time comes, we can continue to be sisters in the house."
Jiang Yu smiled, but her eyes turned slightly cold.
At the beginning, her understanding of Tie Yi came not only from the outside world, but also from Xu Ruling's mouth.
She described Tie Yi as a murderous, cold-blooded beast, crude, ugly and illiterate.
How could she marry such a man? At that time, she was glad that it was Jiang Lai who married her, thus avoiding the possibility of having a grudge with the General's Mansion. (End of chapter)