By Jia Xiuzhen

The New Year's Eve is approaching, and the capital has been getting colder and colder in recent years. This year, it has snowed even before October, but the harvest of the villages is decreasing every day. Not only are all kinds of fine rice almost dead, but also some good charcoal It's all rare.Jia Amnesty just called those village bosses to scold them, and said that if it is still the same in the next year, they will be replaced.Mrs. Xing, on the grounds of insufficient annual income, told Mrs. Wang that she would reduce a few use cases.The two talked back and forth several times, but they couldn't make sense.

Just as they were fighting in the arena, Jia She was suddenly taken away.At that time Mrs. Xing came to look for Mrs. Wang in a hurry. Mrs. Wang saw that her face was smeared with extremely thick powder, but she felt weird. At first, she didn't really listen to what she said, but after a while, she realized that it was Jia She who asked the yamen to invite her. I was both happy and surprised.On the face, he was calm, and he said in relief: "It's not the first time that Dali Temple has come to ask. Nothing big will happen, so you don't need to worry too much."

Mrs. Xing saw the formation of officers and soldiers entering the mansion to take people. Seeing Mrs. Wang standing and talking without pain in her back, she couldn't help saying angrily: "I used to only ask, but this time I sent officers and soldiers to take people. How can it be the same?!"

Mrs. Wang felt unhappy when she heard her tone, and said: "What's the use of telling me, what the elder master has committed, only he himself knows."

Mrs. Xing took a few breaths and said: "Okay, okay, I figured it out, you all want us to die! You justifiably took over this mansion!"

Mrs. Wang saw Mrs. Xing's disregard for face and decency, and she was stunned for a long time before she said: "What are we going to take? What's mine is mine, not mine. If you want to take it, you're afraid you won't take it." !"

These words struck Mrs. Xing's heart, and she was so angry that her hands shook for a moment. She had long forgotten that she wanted to find Mrs. Wang to see if she could get someone from the Wang family to investigate, so she just cursed: "Damn it!" If you don’t save them, what else can you do!” Angrily, he left.

Mrs. Wang was stunned for a while, then frowned and said: "What's the matter, I didn't say a word of business, why come here to get angry."

Zhou Rui's family came forward and said in a low voice, "Ma'am, did something serious happen?"

Mrs. Wang shook her head: "I was just about to listen to her details, but she came up with a gun and a stick. What are you listening to?"

Zhou Rui's family hesitated and said: "It's just that the eldest lady is weird. But it's not a big deal to go to the yamen to ask about it. Didn't Brother Rong also go to the East Mansion in the past? He came back after answering the question. What! Only this time, the eldest wife is full of life and death, I see, I see..."

Mrs. Wang became impatient: "Speak up if you have something to say, you can't do anything with me."

Zhou Rui's family said: "I'm wondering if the Eldest Master really committed some serious crime... The Eldest Wife should know about it, if that's the case... Also, the people who were just said to be officers and soldiers came in to take them, didn't they always come here in the past? Tsing Yi asks once and that's all, this matter is really..."

When Mrs. Wang thought about it, she also felt a little startled, so she hurriedly said, "Quickly, tell the master about this." Zhou Rui's family hurriedly sent someone to go.

Jia Zheng gathered Lai Dalin's filial piety and his friends to talk about this matter, but he didn't have any ready-made solutions.I had no choice but to send people to the accountant to pay the money to inquire about several yamen, and then to ask Lin Ruhai in Lin's mansion.

After waiting for half a day, the person who went to inquire came back, and only said that the case was jointly tried by the three divisions, and it was still related to Jia Yucun.Jia Zheng frowned secretly when he heard this, regretting that he should not have made friends with this person that day.Those who went to the Lin family came back, but Master Dao Lin asked someone to enter the palace, and he did not come back after waiting for half a day.Jia Zheng had no choice but to let him go again tomorrow.

After two or three days of such panic, Jia Zheng saw that there was no movement from Jia Amnesty, so he had to deal with the affairs of the next year with Mrs. Wang first.There is no need to invite New Year's wine in Xiaonei, which saves a lot of things, but the New Year's ceremony everywhere should not be ignored.Now that the annual income in the mansion is getting less and less, how to arrange this year's ceremony will take a lot of trouble.

Just as we were talking about this, suddenly the officers of the Bingma Division surrounded the Rong Mansion, and another group of Yulin soldiers guarded Dongping and Xining and entered from the gate. Jia Zheng hurried out to meet him after hearing the news. The battle, my heart cools down.When the King of Dongping County saw Jia Zheng, he raised the imperial decree in his hand, and Jia Zheng hurriedly asked people to prepare incense cases to accept the decree.

Kneeling and listening to the words "make friends with foreign officials, the party protects the country's thieves, the officials and thieves are accomplices, use power to amass wealth, and kill people", etc., cold sweat dripped on Jia Zheng's forehead, and he couldn't even kneel. Private, investigate and question the crime", Jia Zheng fell to the ground with a thud.The king of Dongping couldn't bear it, he winked to the side, and a small clerk came out to help Jia Zheng up.

The decree has been announced, and Jia Zheng takes over the decree.King Xining smiled at King Dongping and said, "The Habayashi Army is back, we just sit here and wait."

The commander of the Habayashi Army clasped his fists at the two princes, called an official from the internal household department nearby, and asked, "What is the arrangement of the unknown internal envoy?"

The official bowed and said: "Don't dare. Please command the officers and gentlemen to separate the team, and start to search from the slaves of Jia's mansion. These people have many connections and can get news quickly. They may start to transfer physical evidence when they get the letter."

The commander nodded and smiled and said: "The envoy is good at calculating! I will follow what the envoy said." He pointed out two teams of troops, and a group of clerks and calculators came out from the internal household department. He was ordered to escort several servants of Jia's mansion went outside.

Here again, according to what the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said, because Jia's mansion occupies a very large area, the whole mansion was first divided into several areas according to several passages, and people were assigned to handle the halls and aisles, and then the troops were divided into inspections one by one. Carry it to the courtyard of Rongxi Hall, register and make a book in front of the two princes, all the prisoners in the mansion are moved to the empty courtyard in the garden, and guarded separately according to master and servant men and women.

The commander divided the troops according to the policy, and strictly ordered: "This round of inspection, there may be many things involved in treason. If anyone dares to steal and hide, once found out, he will be punished as the same crime! Don't say I didn't warn you!" Officers and soldiers Everyone trembled in their hearts, and hurriedly obeyed the order in unison, and then dispersed separately, acting according to the order.

The king of Xining listened to what the commander said, a dark light flashed in his eyes, and he cursed in his heart.In such a ghostly cold weather, taking such an unlucky errand, does it mean that there is no benefit at all?The one sitting above is too stingy!He only looked at the old god of Dongping County Wang, as if he didn't care, so he had no choice but to curl his lips helplessly.

King Dongping originally wanted to have a few more words with Jia Zheng, after all, the two families had a deep family relationship, and the emperor may not have no intention of protecting himself when he ordered him to come.Seeing the expression of King Xining on the side, he sighed secretly, so he had to order the commander: "Since we are going to move to the garden, I am afraid that there will be no people there for a long time, and we must be careful not to freeze the criminals. When the time comes, we will ask, if there are any We are also responsible for those who cannot answer due to illness."

The commander promised to ask someone to do it. The king of Xining snorted and said, "My lord is kind, I think it's because of the old love?"

King Dongping smiled slightly and said, "According to the rules, it's all for you to share your worries."

The king of Xining said: "Oh? I don't know, the emperor also wants us to take care of criminals."

Dongping Wang said: "The emperor said that he will be detained for trial, and even if he wants to be tried, there is no reason to freeze to death now."

King Xining had nothing to say, King Dongping was silent for a while, and suddenly said: "It used to be a magnificent family, but the world's geomantic omens take turns, who can say for sure. Let's forgive others, and it can be counted as a legacy for future generations. Some virtue."

King Xining's heart twitched for some reason when he heard this, and he remembered the current war in the north.When Fang entered the autumn, a fleet of gunboats suddenly went north and entered along the river to protect the New Northern Army. They had already cleaned up several Tartar soldiers and horses.Fortunately, winter came early in the north. After the river was closed, the gunboat could no longer exert its strength, so it had to retreat to the sea again. I don't know what will happen after the spring.For a while, his mind was wandering, and he couldn't care less about fighting with King Dongping.

Besides, the first group of people, led by several servants, arrived at Master Lai first.When they saw the courtyard, everyone couldn't help being stunned, this was no different from an ordinary wealthy family, and they couldn't help but smile.Since it is a servant's house, naturally there is no need to be as scrupulous as Cai was in Jia's mansion just now. With a wave of the leader's hand, a group of officers and soldiers broke into the house like hungry wolves and tigers.

Lai Shangrong has been an official outside for several years, and only Lai Shanghua took his wife and daughter to serve his parents at home.Lai Er's family, which was sold off because Ning Mansion was copied, was bought by Lai Da ransomed, but they did not live in Lai Da's house.Seeing a group of officers and soldiers rushing in, the maids and servants inside were startled, and a housekeeper rushed out and said, "Who are you? Do you know where this is? Is it a place where you can run wild?!"

One of the officers and soldiers reached out to take it down, and said with a smile: "It's really a servant who doesn't know how heavy it is, and is so arrogant, it shows that he is not a good family, he deserves to copy it!"

The steward had a look of disbelief when he heard the words of copying the house, and he had already rushed inside to report.The officers and soldiers didn't pay too much attention, they rushed to the big room ahead and locked men and women separately. All the things were carried to the front yard and piled up.

Lai Datong Lai Datong's daughter-in-law is now in the Rong Mansion and cannot come out. Lai Shanghua is so frightened that his legs are weak, and it is easy to think of his brother who is an official. Tell him: "Search your property now, and it is not our responsibility to investigate and question the crime later."

Lai Shangrong's daughter-in-law and Nanny Lai were driven into the Guanren's house by the officers and soldiers, and there was already a lot of crying inside.Nanny Lai was startled, and fainted as soon as she went inside.Lai Shangrong's daughter-in-law knocked on the door to beg for mercy, how could anyone care for her? !It's not the master and prisoner of the Rong Mansion. If he really died or if he was questioned, he would still be responsible. An old slave would die as soon as he died. Who would take care of it? !

Lai's family is the largest and has a large population. Although Lin Zhixiao, Shan Daliang, Wu Xindeng and other families are well-to-do, they are no better than the Lai family.

He also said that in Rong's mansion, Jia Huan was overjoyed when he heard that the house had been ransacked, but suddenly saw officers and soldiers rushing in to take him away, so he struggled and yelled that he had something important to report to the person in charge.

Seeing that he was the young master of Jia's family, the leader didn't dare to be good at it, and asked others to spread the word.When the two princes heard about it, they ordered him to be taken up there.When Jia Huan saw the king of Xining, he was overjoyed, knelt down and said, "I have seen the two princes."

King Dongping raised his brows and asked, "Well, you have something important to report. Just tell me what it is."

Jia Huan quickly said: "The boy knows that there are several private treasuries in the mansion, and he is willing to lead people there to atone for his crime."

King Dongping looked at him and said, "You are... are you the son of Jia Zheng?"

Jia Huan nodded and said, "That's right, the boy's behavior is three, but he is a concubine."

King Dongping turned his head and didn't want to talk to him any more. King Xining glanced at the commander next to him, and said with a smile: "The commander is not in a hurry. The ready-made guides are more expensive than you knocking bricks brick by brick. Much easier."

The commander only cared about the search, and he was eager for someone to show up. After a salute, he asked Jia Huan to be taken out.

Some of the servants of Jia's mansion tried to escape by climbing over the wall and were caught by the officers outside the wall. They broke their legs and threw them in the vestibule.Groups of terrified men and women, young and old, were escorted by soldiers to separate houses in the garden for security. There would be three or four hundred servants in Jia's mansion, and countless houses, so they couldn't finish copying them in a day or two.In order to prevent stealing and stealing, all the living people were first driven to the yard facing the water on three sides of the garden and locked up, and then the officials of the internal household department took the roster to check.

Mrs. Wang almost fainted when she heard the letter. She was busy looking for Baoyu first, but she was in a mess underneath, who cares about who else.Just at this time, Baochai came in a hurry, and when she saw Mrs. Wang, she burst into tears. She only said that Baoyu had been taken away in front, and that the officers and soldiers would come in soon.

There was already a lot of crying outside during the conversation, the daughters in the mansion are so delicate, those soldiers don't know what to cherish and pity the jade, as soon as they grab it, they go to the side, and when they stay enough, they send people out to escort .Mrs. Wang was trembling all over, tears were streaming down her face, she didn't know what to do.

On the contrary, Baochai said anxiously: "Madam, I don't know where to be imprisoned, so I first found thick clothes and put them on. Small and soft clothes, you should take some if you can, or it can be used for packing."

Mrs. Wang nodded her head again and again, but couldn't move. Baochai wiped away her tears, sighed, and hurriedly cleaned up for her.When the officers and soldiers rushed into the house, Baochai helped Mrs. Wang and said, "You don't need to do anything, we can go by ourselves." When the soldiers saw Baochai's expression, they were stunned for a while, and it took a long time to react. Waved them to follow quickly.

When they arrived in the yard, Rui'er was holding Brother Xun and Jin Chuan'er and stood there. The leader knew that these were the masters, so he signaled to the people around him to escort her and the others to the Jin Building in the garden. .

When I got there, I saw Mrs. Xing sitting on a chair on one side, and Second Sister You was weeping with her arms around Brother Su on the other side. Fu Qiufang shouted in front of the door: "What crime did they commit? I know, let me out!" Or said, "My brother is the judge of Fu Shi, please give me a message for my brother!" The guards and soldiers outside stood with their backs to the room, holding spears, and paid no attention to him. she.Hearing that her voice was already a little hoarse, I don't know how long she had been shouting.

Those who had been crying had cried enough, and those who shouted were tired, and everyone slumped on their chairs, at a loss for what to do.

At this moment, Madam Wang was terrified when she heard crying from the other end, and asked, "What happened? Could it be that we have to kill people now!"

The one outside looked like the leader and said: "It's nothing serious, an old woman was scared to death and she was being carried out."

There are many women in this yard, and I can't tell which one it is, but I can only hear some crying.Fu Qiufang watched from a distance through the window. Two soldiers hurried away carrying a roll of mats on the other side. A woman tried to get out of the door but was kicked back by the gatekeeper.I was so scared that I trembled all over, and cried hoarsely.