amaotonovel Chapter 470: The Little Cannon Fodder in Ancient House Fighting Novels 26
Chapter 470: The Little Cannon Fodder in Ancient House Fighting Novels 26
But they were, after all, officials appointed by the imperial court, officials serving the emperor in Kyoto. The local prefects and county magistrates conducted a serious investigation for several days.
Anyway, this matter caused quite a big stir in the local area, otherwise how could the Fifth Prince know about it?
But no matter how we investigated, there were no clues, and we didn't know which force was responsible for this.
Several officials also realized that the chances of getting the banknotes back were slim. The four of them discussed it and the minority followed the majority. In the end, they decided to keep it a secret from the fifth prince and pool the money together to fill the hole left by the fifth prince.
The official who voted against the bill refused to do it and kept crying poor. He said he had no money and that even if he was killed, he couldn't raise more than 200,000 taels of silver. He would rather be punished than pay the money himself to fill the hole.
He had calculated that this amount of money was not something that the Fifth Prince could keep in the dark. If he lost this amount of money now, at most he would be targeted by the Fifth House for his poor performance, but the credit for this performance would still be there, after all, the money from the escort of the prisoners and the seizure of the property was not lost.
At most, they would be sent to remote places to serve as officials. At worst, they would lose their jobs! I don't know who among them thought that they had to go separately. And that team was protected by soldiers. Wasn't it safer than a few civilian officials?
After much discussion, the three of them finally offered 300,000 taels, while the official offered 100,000 taels! Lord Le'an was unwilling to pay more, but he was the Marquis's mansion. Although the Marquis's mansion was not as glorious as before, a rotten ship still had 3,000 nails, and his foundation must be deeper than theirs!
So even if he refused, it would be useless. He was also one of the people who received 300,000 taels. The four of them needed to collect a total of 1 million taels in the near future. Lord Le'an was also inconsolable!
After hearing what her son said, the old lady felt as if the sky had fallen. She didn't expect that her son worked so hard on this business trip and not only did he not make any money, but he also came back with a huge foreign debt of 300,000 yuan for the Marquis' Mansion.
Even such trivial matters as Cui Xiaoxiao's marriage being granted by the imperial decree and the Tenth Prince being slapped in the face seemed insignificant in the face of major events concerning the life and death of the Marquis' Mansion.
"Three hundred thousand taels? Son, you know the situation of our family. The last theft almost emptied the Marquis' Mansion. Where can we find three hundred thousand taels now? I don't know what happened to our Marquis' Mansion this year? Why is it so unlucky?" When the old lady of the Marquisate thought about the situation of the Marquis' Mansion, she was overwhelmed with grief and burst into tears!
"Can't we report the truth to the Fifth Prince? We will accept the punishment even if we are punished! It's not that we are stingy, we just can't afford the money!" This is real money. If I had known this would be the result, my son would rather not go!
"Mom, I don't want this to happen, but there's really nothing I can do now. And this is not something I can decide on my own. It was a decision made after several people discussed it together!
If he didn't raise the money, he would not only offend the Fifth Prince, but also offend those officials. After all, this also concerns their future, and his son's future would be over. "He didn't want to pay the money, but wasn't there anything he could do?
The mother and son discussed it over and over again, but they didn't find a good solution. They just started to think of ways to get the money together! And time had to be quick, after all, it was already a few days late. If time went on for a long time, the Fifth Prince would definitely not be able to hide it.
Cui Xiaoxiao raised her eyebrows when she heard this. She knew what the current situation of the Marquis' Mansion was like! Suddenly her eyes lit up, and she immediately thought that it was time to take back her mother's dowry shop, Zhuangzi!
Using their money to buy back her shop is more cost-effective than selling it, and she may even be able to lower the price if she's in a hurry!
Thinking of this, she immediately wrote two notes and sent them to her village head Uncle Chen and the tenth prince respectively, asking them to send someone to secretly monitor the movements of the Marquis, and if the Marquis's mansion wanted to sell the shop or the farm, she hoped that they would help her buy it!
He also asked the Tenth Prince if he knew any merchant families with some assets but also difficult daughters waiting to be married?
After all, she is also a member of the Marquis's Mansion, so she should also contribute, right? Giving advice is also contributing! Especially since she is a junior, she can't eat meat every day while the elders eat steamed buns and pickles! If it gets out, it will be so bad!
Alas, there are still not enough people under my command! Although Uncle Chen and his men are loyal, they are weak and powerless. Even if they have the money to buy those manors and shops, they can't protect them. It's easy for the Marquis' Mansion to suppress them.
But she is the person behind the scenes, and this matter cannot be exposed!
So we had to let the Tenth Prince’s people intervene.
After Cui Xiaoxiao arranged things, she continued to listen to the conversation between the mother and son!
But they didn't expect that they would set their sights on her again. The mother and son had always suspected that Hua Yunrong had left a sum of money for Cui Xiaoxiao, but they had not found anything suspicious about Cui Xiaoxiao over the years!
The last time we searched, we almost turned her yard upside down, but we didn't find any clues.
The mother and son decided to talk to everyone about raising money when they paid their respects the next day. After all, the Marquis' Mansion was everyone's home, and they all prospered and suffered together.
I guess I won’t be able to have peace when I pay my respects the next day!
What the Marquis and the others didn't know was that the Fifth Prince was mentally prepared and had even thought of how to punish them. But after waiting for a long time, he was a little surprised when they didn't even come to ask for forgiveness.
He sent someone to inquire about it, and then he found out that those people wanted to hide it from him and then secretly collect the money and give it to him! The fifth prince was surprised. Are all the officials under him so rich?
That’s a full one million taels of silver!
However, he certainly would not expose this matter. Who would have a problem with money? Since those people wanted to hide it from him, he would just pretend that he didn't know!
The Tenth Prince didn't know what happened to the people sent by the Fifth Prince until the next day after returning from the Marquis's Mansion! It turned out that they were stolen. He also instantly understood the purpose of what Cui Xiaoxiao wanted him to do!
He couldn't help but feel in a good mood! The way she cheated the Marquis' Mansion was exactly the same as the way he cheated the Fifth Prince! Yes, she was indeed the person he liked at first sight, and they thought of the same thing. It turned out that Cui Xiaoxiao and he were a perfect match made in heaven!
The tenth prince immediately arranged the matter. It was not difficult for him. As for finding a merchant girl, she had to be particularly difficult. Didn't he have a gossipy subordinate? It just came in handy!
The next morning, Cui Xiaoxiao had a full meal, wore a few silver hairpins and some ribbons as decoration on her hair, a glass bracelet on her hands, and wore old clothes before going to pay her respects!
The Marquis rarely attended the morning court today. He rested in the study last night and finally thought of what to say today. Now he is waiting for his wives and concubines to arrive at the old lady's place!
When the Marquis's wife arrived with her children, the Marquis and the old lady also agreed. After everyone greeted and took their seats, the mother and son began their performance.
The Marquis said that the Marquis's Mansion had encountered a big hurdle, and he was going out on business this time to escort corrupt officials and confiscated property back to Beijing. In order not to attract attention, they acted separately, one group of people escorted the prisoners and property, and the other group carried the banknotes.
As a result, they met some criminals on the road and they robbed all the banknotes they had!
They had been investigating for many days but had found nothing. They had lost the public funds and had not done enough to protect them, so not only did they not make any contribution, but they had also brought disaster to the mansion. Now losing their official position and title was a minor matter, but they might even be convicted, have their property confiscated and be exiled.
Therefore, in order to protect their official positions, all the officials on this trip discussed contributing money and effort to try to suppress this matter first, but they also needed to make up the silver bills as soon as possible, otherwise no one could guarantee what would happen...
When everyone in the Marquis' Mansion heard this, they were in chaos...
They all started to cry bitterly, as if their homes were going to be raided and they were going to be thrown into prison the next moment!
Some of them cried and asked the master to think of a solution quickly. The child was still young and must not be convicted! The other two concubines were also crying. They didn't want to go to jail or have their property confiscated or be exiled...
Then the old lady got angry. There was still time to remedy the situation. As long as the silver was gathered, this disaster might be avoided! Now the entire mansion needed to come together to contribute money, effort and ideas to overcome this difficulty!
The Marquis also said that he was sorry to everyone, sorry to the old lady, sorry to the ancestors of the Cui family, and the century-old foundation...
The old woman comforted him that it was not his fault alone, and that the thief should be blamed, and he really deserved to be cut into pieces. He also tried his best. If it were not for the future of the Marquis's Mansion, he would not have traveled thousands of miles and brought such a disaster upon himself...
At the end, he actually hugged the old lady and cried bitterly...!
Cui Xiaoxiao, the thief who wanted to be cut into pieces, covered her mouth and nose with an onion water handkerchief, and watched the performance of the mother and son quietly with red eyes. She had been a director and wrote a book, and she was still judging the performance of these two people in her heart. The crying of the Marquis was too fake, which dragged down the old lady, but the ability to make up lies was still good!
The Marquis's wife, who was still sober, finally spoke. She asked the most crucial question: how much silver would the Marquis's Mansion need to avoid this disaster?
Upon hearing this, the Marquis's wife and her son finally breathed a sigh of relief. Someone had finally touched upon the key point. If they were not asked any more questions, they would not be able to continue crying!
"Each mansion needs to contribute 400,000 taels if it is evenly distributed! I have contributed 20,000 taels, and the old lady has contributed 10,000 taels, but..." The Marquis hesitated to speak.
When everyone heard this number, there was another burst of crying. Cui Xiaoxiao couldn't even use onions. This mother and son were really amazing. They still quoted a high price at this time!
Seeing that everyone was busy crying and no one mentioned how to collect the money, the old lady started acting again!
"I'm sure everyone knows that the mansion was robbed before, and now there's no money left in the mansion. I think our mansion can't escape the prison! Forget it, I've had enough of living! It's just a pity for the children in the mansion. They are guilty at such a young age and may even be exiled..."
Fake, so fake, not only fake, but also exaggerated...
But there were people who supported him, and soon, the best supporting actor who had children appeared.
Aunt Zhuang cried and said that in order to avoid being convicted, she would donate money and effort. After that, she quickly took off the hairpin on her head, the earrings on her ears, and the bracelets on her wrists and placed them on the table next to her!
Seeing this, everyone expressed their willingness to help, and took off all the jewelry they were wearing and put them on the table! Cui Xiaoxiao was no exception, and reluctantly took off all the broken jewelry on her body and handed it over!
Glass bracelets are not cheap nowadays, so it is understandable that she is reluctant to part with them!
But compared with the four hundred thousand taels, these things are just a drop in the bucket!
The Marquis's and his wife's faces looked very ugly when they looked at these things. They had worked so hard to perform such a play not for these junks.
The Marquis looked at his wife and told her that he hoped she would use her dowry to deal with the emergency, and that he would consider it as a loan, and that he would return it to her double when this difficult time came.
The Marquis's wife said that she was just a concubine's daughter and her dowry was limited. Even if she handed over all her dowry, it would still be far from 400,000 taels...
However, she also proposed a feasible plan to save her two legitimate children in the Marquis' Mansion. That was to pretend to divorce and take her two children back to the Prime Minister's Mansion.
The Marquis can also marry a new wife who is rich and powerful. She said that she would educate the two children well, and the Marquis's Mansion will be glorious again sooner or later...
Her words made the Marquis and the old lady's faces turn green with anger...
They said she was heartless and didn't want to work together to solve the current predicament of the Marquis' Mansion. She was also selfish and wanted to live a good life away from them. It's true that husband and wife are birds of the same forest. They have to fly away separately before the disaster comes...
Everyone started crying and begging her to hand over the dowry...
But no matter what they said, the Marquis remained unmoved! If this was true, she wanted to protect her two children, and the dowry was the guarantee for her and her children's future...!
The Marquis and the old lady's wishful thinking hit a hard nail at the very beginning...things were once again at a stalemate.
I had no choice but to look at Cui Xiaoxiao again. This couple can never be together, right?
"Xiaoxiao, the Marquis's Mansion is now at a critical moment of life and death. Father will lend you your dowry money first. After this matter is over, father will definitely compensate you double!" It was the first time in all these years that the Marquis spoke to Cui Xiaoxiao with a friendly face.
"Father, are you kidding? At this point, why bother to talk about whether to lend or not? Just use the dowry for emergencies! I don't know that I have already prepared a dowry for you!
The daughter had always thought that her father didn't like her, but it turned out that she was just being self-righteous. She was ignorant before, so please forgive her, father! "Cui Xiaoxiao quickly saluted the Marquis, and then looked at him with a touched face!
The Marquis looked at Cui Xiaoxiao with a constipated look on his face. When did he prepare a dowry for her? Didn't they say that Hua Yunrong kept her money?
"Your father is referring to the dowry your mother left for you. The Marquis's Mansion has fallen to its current state, so how could they have any money to prepare a dowry for you?" The old woman said angrily.
"My mother? Did my mother leave me a large sum of dowry? That's right. I heard that my mother had a very rich wedding. My mother only gave birth to me as a daughter, so her dowry should be inherited by me.
But grandma, father, why have I never seen my mother's dowry? Is this the dowry that father just talked about? Okay, I will take the initiative and agree. I believe that if my mother were still alive, she would agree to her daughter doing this!
My mother is a merchant, and her dowry is very expensive. It is definitely more than enough to solve the crisis of the Marquis' Mansion. If there is any left, my father can leave it to me as a dowry!" Cui Xiaoxiao opened her big eyes, as if she had solved a big problem for the Marquis' Mansion, and said with a smile.
The old lady and the marquis's faces darkened again. Why was it so difficult for them to communicate?