The Royal Merchant of the Red Chamber

In the Rongguo Mansion, Xue Pan looked at the back of the three of Youshi helping each other to leave, shook his head helplessly, reached out to pick up the teacup on the table and drank it down in one gulp.After talking for a long time, his throat was almost thirsty.

Jia Lian on the side cautiously watched Xue Pan's expression. Seeing this scene, he swallowed nervously and said, "This matter is finally resolved. I was fooled by lard before, and I will definitely see Sister Feng get well in the future." -"

"Solved?" Xue Pan glanced at Jia Lian with a half-smile, nodded and said, "The second sister You's outer room is the one to solve, what has it to do with you?"

Jia Lian was taken aback, looked at Xue Pan in front of him and asked, "Then, what does that big brother mean?"

Xue Pan snorted very dissatisfied, and said, "I heard that Sister Feng often sells the dowry in private in order to support the daily expenses of the family. Is there such a thing?"

Everyone in Jia's residence looked at each other in blank dismay, and finally Mrs. Xing spoke up. "Since it's her private behavior, how can we know?"

Xue Pan glanced at Mrs. Wang, and said indifferently: "Everything has been sold out, and all the money has been spent. Now it doesn't matter if you don't know or not. To live on the dowry money of the granddaughter-in-law, my husband-in-law, father-in-law, and uncle are not only inconsiderate, they even unite to buy outhouses, and send concubines to concubines. It’s also a very good thing.”

Mother Jia's face darkened, and she took the initiative to ask, "According to the young master, how should we deal with this matter?"

"Although I, Xue Pan, don't pay much attention to etiquette, I have never heard that my husband's family has not collapsed, and I have asked my granddaughter-in-law to help support the family. If Feng girl is now the wife of the principal, that's all. After careful calculation, Feng girl's identity is from the generation of granddaughter-in-law, and it is not an exaggeration to say that she is the youngest in Lan'er's generation who has not even talked about marriage. Although she is in charge of some affairs in the mansion now, Zuo is just sending a message In the monthly case, such trivial matters as moving a ruler, after all, it is not serious to be in charge of the warehouse account books."

When Xue Pan said this, he looked at Wang Xifeng with a look of resentment, "My mother has always told her that the most important thing for a woman to live in her husband's house is not to take care of the family and buy money, but she usually doesn't listen to it very much. If it wasn't for being bullied so hard by the men in your family this time, we wouldn't know that she raised such a big family with the dowry."

As Xue Pan said, he glanced at Mrs. Xing with a slightly sarcastic expression. "It's so complicated. There are still rumors in the house that she has moved all the property of the father-in-law to her natal family. I didn't know that my Xue family and Wang family have fallen into such a situation. It depends on your Jia family Come to help?"

When everyone in Jia's mansion heard this, they blushed again with embarrassment.

Mrs. Xing smacked her mouth embarrassingly, and said unclearly: "You said that Feng girl was used as a dowry to subsidize the public, but no one saw it. Who knows if it is true or not?"

Xue Pan glanced at Mrs. Xing, and said to Wang Xifeng: "When you left the pavilion, the Wang family bought you a dowry list. Naturally, there is a dowry list. Since the word is talking about this world, now you have to take out the dowry list. Yes. I heard from Ping'er that you have sold your dowry for so many years, so naturally you have kept a lot of pawn tickets, and she keeps them all! Let's take them all out now! Let's compare them one by one, so we don't worry if we don't understand.”

When Wang Xifeng passed by Jia Lian, his mind went blank at the moment.If she hadn't relied on Mrs. Xue and Xue Pan to support her, she might not even have a place to stand now.Hearing what Xue Pan said now, he immediately nodded obediently, and Heping'er said: "Follow brother Xue's orders."

Seeing this, Ping'er ignored the faces of other people in the hall, bowed his head and walked out.But after a while, came in with a group of rough girls and women, some of them held the land deeds of houses and farms individually, and three or four of them carried boxes into the yard together.Ping'er ordered everyone to put a dozen boxes in the courtyard of Rongqing Hall, and walked in with a small tray.

Xue Pan stood at the door, stepped on the door frame and looked at the dozen or so boxes outside. After a long silence, he said, "Ping'er, I asked you to bring over the list of Feng girl's dowry and the dowry. Why do you take They bought these ten or so boxes to fool me."

Ping'er sighed softly, walked up to Xue Pan with a tray and said: "When grandma entered the mansion, the dowry procession spread out for nearly ten miles. Who would not be envious of the people on both sides of the street to see the excitement. There are so many boxes and cages in the middle. There are more than a hundred pieces. It's a pity that after so many years of pawning, even if I try to stop them in every possible way, there are only these left."

As Ping'er said, he raised his arm and touched his eyes. "Grandma is so strong, so she is naturally stricter and stricter in her daily work. She also cares about face. In the past few years, Zeng Tian's income has not been seen in the mansion, but there are 600 people in total. From the master to the servant, which mouth does not eat. Even if grandma wants to save money, where can the country go to save money?"

"It's so frugal, outsiders make jokes, old ladies are wronged, and family members complain about being mean. But if you are not frugal, it's okay in the early years. Since the concubine Yuan concubine built the Grand View Garden, the palace has become more and more serious. Grandma couldn't make ends meet, so she had to sell all her dowry." Ping'er said, and took out two booklets from the tray and handed them to Xue Pan. "There is a list of dowry that grandma married in back then, and the other is what is left over now. The other is the pawn shop ticket that grandma has pawned over the years."

Ping'er sighed softly, and said in a complicated tone: "It's hard to say!"

Xue Pan first picked up the dowry list and looked through it briefly, then took out the current booklet and compared it carefully, then casually picked up the pawn ticket in the tea tray to look through, and then walked to Jiamu with a stack of things Stepping forward, he said with a soft smile: "I really have to thank the men in your house. If it weren't for them, I really wouldn't know that Feng girl lived such a life in the house."

Mother Jia was silent, picked up the account books on the tea tray and looked through them one by one, and finally said in a deep voice: "I don't know much about this matter. But I swear, I will never let Feng girl suffer such a big wrong."

Xue Pan waved his hand indifferently, threw the booklet aside casually, and said, "You and I are not considered outsiders, so there is no need to say these kind words. I just want to say one thing. Since ancient times, there has been no I've heard of the truth about the grandson's daughter-in-law taking money to support the family. Should the ancestors also give an explanation to the Wang family and the Xue family?"

Jia's mother was silent for a while, then said vaguely: "Actually, Jia Lian is the eldest son of the big house, and sooner or later this Rongguo Mansion will belong to their husband and wife. Seriously speaking, Feng girl's money is not a waste of money."

Xue Pan sneered, stretched out his hand to interrupt Jia Mu's words, shook his head and said, "I don't care about these things, after all, the title has not yet fallen on Jia Lian's head, and it's too early to say anything. I only have one request now, and that is Jia's family. The dowry of Feng girl must be made up."

Jia Mu was silent for a while.He sighed and said, "That's right, it should be. It's just that you know the current situation of our family, and we really can't afford the money—"

Xue Pan waved his hands with a grin, pointed at Jia Lian, Jia Zhen, and Jia Rong and said, "Don't worry, my ancestors, I won't make things difficult for you. Stop wives and remarry, and help Jia Lian set up an outer room. You must be punished. But you and I are related by marriage, and Sister Feng has no intention of reconciling, so I can't sue you in court. I am a businessman. Naturally, I am used to the behavior of businessmen. Jia Zhen will subsidize the dowry for Feng girl!"

When Jia Zhen and the others heard this, their faces changed drastically, and they immediately retorted, "Where do we have money?"

"If you have money to support your wife, why don't you have the money to make up the dowry?" Xue Pan glanced at Jia Lian and the three of them with a half-smile, then nodded and said, "Alright, I thought you were too deceitful, but it's hard to get rid of the dowry." The hatred in my heart. It would be great if you are not willing to wait. Let's confront the court directly!"

"Wait a minute!" Jia Zhen interrupted Xue Pan's words with a face full of heartache, pondered for a while, and then said dejectedly: "I am willing to pay for the dowry."

Jia Rong immediately said, "I will listen to my father."

Only Jia Lian looked at it for a long while with a cloudy expression.

Xue Pan asked aloud: "Why, you are not happy?"

Jia Lian shook his head, and said awkwardly: "That's not true. It's just that all my previous personal money is given to Second Sister You for safekeeping."

And Second Sister You has now been sent out of the house by Xue Pan.

Although he knew that Jia Lian had handed over all the private money to that vixen, Wang Xifeng still felt a sense of resentment when he heard him admit it.She glared at Jia Lian angrily, then turned around and hugged Qiaojie tightly in her arms. "Xue Pan looked at Jia Lian who looked embarrassed and chuckled, and said, "You bought the house in Lianhua Lane for Second Sister You, and now she can't live anymore.If you don't have any to keep, just transfer the debt of this house to Sister Feng! "

Jia Lian was stunned for a while, but finally nodded in agreement.

Xue Pan turned to Jia Zhen and said, "You saw with your own eyes how rich the dowry was when Sister Feng married. Now there are only a dozen or so pitiful boxes left, and all the rest are pawned for supply. You eat and drink, you don’t want to be grateful, and even teamed up to deceive Sister Feng. Those who know it will know that you are fascinated by beauty, and those who don’t know think that you don’t take the Wang family and Xue family seriously. Today I will let you make up Dowry, is it acceptable to you?”

Regardless of whether they were convinced or not, the three of Jia Lian nodded obediently, expressing their agreement.

Xue Pan continued: "My daughter's dowry is mostly gold and silver jewellery, houses and farmland title deeds, etc. Over the years, every time Sister Feng sells more, it is also embarrassing for you to ask you to collect them back. Why don't you convert these things into How about paying the compensation to Feng girl for money?"

Everyone was forced to have no choice but to nod their heads.

Xue Pan made some calculations in his mind, and said: "The dowry that Wang's family bought for Feng girl back then, many of them were handmade and made of materials as family heirlooms. It was converted into silver coins, and the total was 10 taels. Sister Feng married Jia Lian. For more than ten years, these things have fluctuated according to the market price, and they have at least tripled. Therefore, we count it as Sister Feng's dowry for a total of 30 taels."

When Mother Jia heard this, she frowned, and Mrs. Wang immediately said: "Although the things that the Wang family bought for Feng girl back then were all good, most of them were antique utensils, calligraphy and paintings of famous people, and beautiful jade and pearls. People's eyes are hot, in fact—"

Xue Pan sneered, and said to Mrs. Wang: "Auntie, what does the Wang family buy for Feng girl back then, are they not worth the price?"

Mrs. Wang interjected, "I didn't mean that either—"

"Then what does Auntie mean, that I'm deliberately blackmailing people by quoting casually?"

That's what Mrs. Wang means.But seeing that Xue Pan asked the question so bluntly, naturally he couldn't answer that way.Immediately said embarrassingly: "I didn't mean that either—"

"Since it doesn't mean anything, Auntie will listen to it for the time being. If there are any doubts, we might as well take these dowry lists to Jianbaozhai for evaluation to see if they are worth the amount."

When everyone heard it, they immediately fell silent.Mother Jia waved her hand with some headaches, signaling Xue Pan to continue talking.

"I bought more than a hundred boxes of dowry back then, but now there are only a dozen or so boxes left, which means only one-tenth of what was left in those days. Then it is 20 taels in silver. Therefore, the four of you have to repay Feng girl 20 in total. Two denarii."

Everyone was shocked and immediately spoke out against it. "How can there be such an algorithm?"

"That Feng girl has pawned for so many years only some antique calligraphy and paintings, gold and silver jewelry. She is reluctant to put the real valuable house title deeds, fertile land shops, and even beautiful jade and pearls at the bottom of the box. These alone are worth all of her dowry." half……"

Sister Feng came to her senses because of Mrs. Xue's words.Since then, I haven't forgotten much about the subsidies from the government, so the lost family wealth is naturally much less than the original book.What's more, what she pawned at the beginning were all necklaces, jewelry and so on with gold heads.Although it looks expensive, it is actually not worth much.And those things she likes the most, such as pearls and jade, some of them are worth tens of thousands of taels of silver...

Therefore, Xue Pan asked the Jia family man to make up so much money, which is really cheating.

It's a pity that Xue Pan came here today to find fault with Sister Feng and vent her anger. He wished to make troubles for the Jia family, so naturally he wouldn't be hello, hello, hello everyone.He glanced over, and said with a serious face: "Or do you think that if you don't want to pay the silver taels, I will directly report to the Holy Majesty the various activities of your country's filial piety, family filial piety, cessation of wives and remarriage, and even Pingan Prefecture?"

The crowd fell silent.

Xue Pan continued: "So the 20 taels will be shared equally among Jia Amnesty, Jia Lian, Jia Zhen, and Jia Rong, 5 taels each. Do you have any objections?"

Jia Zhen frowned, and said with a smile: "Isn't this a lot of money? Where can I get so much money—"

"So you guys want me to report these filthy things to the Holy Majesty without paying the money?" Xue Pan asked solemnly.

Jia Zhen fell silent.

Xue Pan went on to add: "Every person has 5 taels of silver and should pay it off within one month. If the debt is not paid on time, [-]% interest will be charged from the next month. Rolling profit..."

Xue Pan explained for a long while, and finally asked: "Everyone heard clearly, is there any problem?"

Everyone in the Jia residence shrugged their heads and remained silent.

Xue Pan ordered Ping'er to get a pen and paper, and forced Jia's family and others to write the IOU by hand, and carefully put it in his arms. "I will keep these IOUs. After you hand over all the money to Feng girl, I will destroy the IOUs in front of you. But you don't have to try to renege on the debt, because if you don't act after a while, I will enter the palace." Talk to His Majesty."

As he spoke, a mysterious smile appeared on his lips, and Xue Pan said to everyone: "As for the content of the chat... you guys understand."

Everyone was sweating profusely.But Xue Pan patted his chest and said to Mrs. Xing: "When Jia Amnesty comes back, you ask him to make up an IOU and hand it over to Zhongxinhou's Mansion. Tell him not to act rashly. Since I dared to make trouble in the Palace back then, I wouldn't Take care of his dog. If Jia She is ignorant of current affairs, I don't mind asking him to be demoted and exiled, and I don't mind telling him that life is better than death."

In a word, Mrs. Xing successfully made Mrs. Xing shrink back behind Jia Mu, and secretly tugged on Jia Mu's sleeve in aggrieved manner without saying a word.

Xue Pan put his arms around his chest and carefully scrutinized the expressions of everyone in the mansion. Both male and female relatives lowered their heads and stretched their faces.Xue Pan hooked the corner of his mouth proudly, cleared his throat and said, "Okay, we've finished talking about the dowry. Next, let's talk about Qiutong's disposal."

He was talking happily, but saw Mother Jia sighed softly, and said, "Young Lord, I know that our Jia family made a mistake in today's matter. But we are all relatives, and Young Master can't force you We’re desperate.”

"In my opinion, it would be better for the young master to give me three points of face. I will ask them to make up a total of 10 taels of silver for Feng girl's dowry. At that time, the 10 taels will definitely be handed over to Feng girl in a month. The rest It's a small matter, my lord, the young master, has a lot, so how about we just let it go?"

Xue Pan looked at Jia Mu silently for a while, then chuckled lightly, nodded and said, "Since the old ancestor has spoken, how dare I have other opinions?"