Lai Sheng stood stiffly at the door of the side hall. The slight redness on his cheeks, forehead and the smell of alcohol sprayed all showed that he had just drunk alcohol. As a slave of Ningguo Mansion, drinking during Jia Zhen's funeral was a big mistake.

Jia Huan looked at Lai Sheng with a smile.

The side hall was decorated with round tables, benches, and tea and snacks. It was for the side branches of Ningguo Mansion to rest, and the servants, and the servants gathered in the side hall. Li Hua, Jia Qiong and Jia Chen, the third steward of Ningguo Mansion, were all there.

A cold sweat broke out on Lai Sheng's forehead. His attitude was wrong. He quickly lowered his head and bowed and said, "Lai Sheng had met the Third Master. If you have something to do today, I'm late. Please punish me."

Jia Huan's mouth was raised. Manager Lai was quite sloppy! For the butler of Ningguo Mansion, what is wrong with being late for work? Jia Huan drank tea and said carelessly: "Have you drunk?"

Lai Sheng argued strongly: "No. It's just, it's just..." Lai Sheng's mind was spinning rapidly, thinking of a reason.

Jia Huan was not interested in talking to Lai Sheng and said lightly: "Take him down."

Although there is no alcohol detector in this era, you cannot "blow a sip" to test it. But this is an era of free-spirited evidence: if you say you drink, you will drink it, and if you don't drink it, you will drink it. What's more, Jia Huan did not wrongly accuse him of Lu Xing.

Hu Xiaosi, who had been waiting at the door for a long time, slapped Lai Sheng, who was still thinking of the reason, and kicked Lai Sheng down. Then, Qian Huai and Qian tied Lai Sheng with ropes and pressed him to the ground and kneel down.

Lai Sheng reacted for a while, raised his head and struggled and shouted, "Third Master, you can't take me. I am the steward of Ningguo Mansion. I am the old man from Ningguo Mansion. I want to meet Brother Rong. I want to meet Brother Rong. I have no contributions over the years, and I have worked hard..."

Jia Huan ignored Lai Sheng's call and asked the manager who gathered in the side hall, "Do you go and see if he drinks?"

The seven managers were not in front of the inspection. It was obvious that General Lai was drinking. They all said respectfully: "The General Lai must have drunk." Even if they were willing to argue for General Lai, they could not make sense. The owner of the mansion, Mr. Zhen, had just passed the first seventh day of drinking. He wanted to drink in private. Even if he was drinking openly, he should not be caught.

Jia Huan nodded and asked Li Hua, "How do you usually deal with this in the East Mansion?"

Li Hua has been flattering Jia Huan these days, but seeing the majestic and arrogant butler of Ningguo Mansion, Lai Sheng, who was so arrogant in the past, he was suddenly a little panicked and smiled charmingly: "It is a pity to disrespect your master for such a serious crime. He is considered to be light on his 40 or 50 yards. Tell me, follow the third master's wishes."

Jia Huan said: "Oh, then I'll make twenty boards first and sober up for him."

Li Hua went out to arrange it. Lai Sheng cursed, "My surname is Li, Grandpa Lai has no grudges with you in the past and has no grudges recently, why did you frame me?"

He asked Jia Huan again, "Brother Huan, don't stand up with me here. The mansion is full of good wine and good food for you every day. Do you dare say that you haven't drunk these days?"

Jia Huan sneered and said calmly: "Of course I dare. Manager Lai, I am only ten years old, so it is not normal not to drink."

Lai Sheng was originally scolding him fiercely, but he was speechless when he gave Jia Huan a sentence and cried in his heart: Do you still remember that you are only ten years old? Do you do things like a ten-year-old child do?

Two skeleton servants came in, dragged Lai Sheng to the open space outside the side hall, peeled off his clothes under the sun, and slapped the board hard.

Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!

Listening to Lai Sheng's scream outside, Jia Qiong and Jia Chen looked at each other, unable to hide their surprise. The two of them were watching the fun today. Jia Qiang had an objection to Jia Huan and refused to come.

However, the scene in front of him was really shocking. These side branches, including the legitimate branch Jia Qiang, usually called Lai Da, and Lai Sheng "Grandpa Lai" showed respect, but at this moment, "Grandpa Lai" made people scream at Jia Huan!

This... made them feel a little like pride and family honor. Because their surname is Jia, and the Lai family is a slave of the Jia family for generations. When did the Lai family actually climb onto the head of the surname Jia?

Jia Qiong and Jia Chen stood up together and bowed to Jia Huan, "San Master Huan, our brothers have been negligent these days, please forgive me."

Jia Qiong and Jia Chen are similar to Jia Rong, much older than Jia Huan. So, they seem to be surrendering, but they are actually moving closer to Jia Huan. However, they are speaking beautifully, so that they will not hold a grudge against Lai Sheng in the future.

Jia Huan received a gift from both of them. He understood Jia Qiong and Jia Chen's thoughts a little. But Lai Sheng would not have a chance to turn over again. He smiled and said, "You two brothers are polite. You two are here to take care of you. I will take Manager Lai to see the study room outside.

Brother Zhen appointed General Manager Lai to send someone to Dongzhuang Town to run a brick kiln and a grain shop. But he made a move and fed his personal pockets. Manager He who went to Dongzhuang Town had already recruited him, so he gave General Manager Lai 200 taels of silver.

This is really unreasonable. I have asked my uncle to come forward to check the accounts. He has to vomit out any amount of greed."

In the side hall, everyone was gasping for breath. Jia Huan's uncle was Jia She, the eldest master of the Western Mansion. Jia She checked the accounts in the Western Mansion in the winter of the previous year, but the trouble was overwhelming. Many housekeepers shaved the land for him.

Furthermore, they are not as good as the masters in the mansion and have no idea. The accounts of the brick kiln in Dongzhuang Town are not the final decisions of your Huan San Master? In other words, how much is Mr. Lai greedy for the brick kiln matter, it is Mr. San Master you, you have the final decisions.

So dark!

Before Jia Qiong and Jia Chen had time to speak, Lai Sheng, who had been beaten to the top twenty boards, was dragged in again when he heard Jia Huan's words, he felt his eyes dark and he fainted.

The last thought in my mind was his conversation with his elder brother Lai Da: It’s really a matter of time, there is still a master in both mansions. Now, Jia Huan directly dragged the eldest master Jia She in! How can he not despair?

…

Jia Huan took Li Hua, Qian Huai, Hu Xiaosi and others to take Lai Sheng to the study room and handed him over to Jia She for "conducting".

Jia Qiong and Jia Chen left the side hall and went to the small hall inside the mourning hall. Jia Rong and Jia Qiang were drinking tea and talking.

Jia Qiong and Jia Chen explained the situation. Jia Qiang snorted in his nose and said dissatisfiedly: "Grandpa Lai is so old, he is still trying like this? It shows his thoughts, his temperament is cold and dark. He is obviously not a good person."

Jia Qiong, Jia Chen said to himself: "What kind of lies is this? Are you still surnamed Jia?"

Jia Rong's handsome face as handsome as a creamy young man appeared, and she said, "Good brother, I know this. We don't need so many grandpas on our heads!" The inside story of his father's death involved many secrets and scandals, and he dared not tell Jia Qiang. This is his own family matter. Whenever he hears Jia Qiang ridicule Jia Huan, he feels a little scared.

Jia Qiang was stunned. He was a very smart person. He knew that Jia Rong and Jia Huan and Jia She had joined forces at the moment of hearing. Then, he sighed softly in his heart. If Jia Rong said that Jia Huan would sit in the middle in two days, he would believe it now.

He knew the inside story of his uncle (Jia Zhen)'s death, and he still stubbornly believed that Jia Huan was responsible. Now that he could not punish Jia Huan, stay away from Jia Huan. But Brother Rong actually "cooperated" with Jia Huan. This made him feel a little sad.

Jia Rong patted Jia Qiang on the shoulder and said to the three of them with a little confidence: "When I take control of the power of the mansion, the benefits of several brothers will be indispensable."

Jia Qiong and Jia Chen both laughed. The atmosphere became light and harmonious. Then, they talked about the matter of treating Jia Huan to drink after two days when he left.

…

On the afternoon of the 11th, Jia Huan brought his men to hand over Lai Sheng to Jia She who was waiting in the study. At noon on the 12th, he received an agency fee from Jia She's servant Hong'er: 2,000 taels of silver. The silver bills for the Rishengchang Piao of Shanxi merchants were 100 taels per bill, a total of twenty pieces. The bills were exchanged as soon as they were seen.

In addition, Jia Lian paid him a down payment of 3,000 taels two days ago. Jia Huan's net worth instantly soared.

After receiving the banknote, Jia Huan was about to leave Ningguo Mansion.

Jia She's persistence in collecting silver is true, not fake. He is quick and ruthless. Jia Huan doesn't know how much money Lai Sheng has squeezed by him. He only knows that Lai Sheng was removed from the position of the steward of Ningguo Mansion and was driven to Rongguo Mansion to have a position of steward.

But judging from how happy Jia She paid the agency fee, it must be quite a lot. As for the reputation of treating the servants, Jia She had long wanted this reputation. And Jia Huan didn't know why Jia She and Lai Ma had a verbal battle in front of Jia Mu.

The summer is long and the climate is hot. In the small courtyard of Jia Huan, there are ice cubes sent by Qin Keqing in the small courtyard, which are cool and leisurely.

Jia Huan sat in the room and wrote a reply to his third sister Tanchun. The precious white-filled bowl was filled with iced tea left in the mouth. The little girl Ruyi lies on her side on his bed and takes a nap. She breathes long. Qingwen was sent by him to meet Qin Keqing, explaining that he planned to leave at around 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

Jia Huan held a wolf-teared pen and wrote on the exquisite white paper. Since he offended Jia Mu, Mrs. Wang, and Jia Zheng that day, the news about the inner house of Jia's house was cut off. Only Qingwen came back from Tanchun and quietly brought Tanchun's letter.

He wrote a letter, one was to care about Tanchun's situation. Aunt Zhao was implicated by him and made him a little worried about Tanchun. The other was to ask Tanchun if he had the conditions, he would take care of Aunt Zhao within the scope of his ability.

The relationship between Tanchun and Aunt Zhao was as bad as ever. Qingwen told him some time ago that Aunt Zhao often showed off in front of Tanchun that she had a good son, and then scolded Tanchun a few more words.

Jia Huan wanted to take Aunt Zhao out of the Jia family, but refused to Aunt Zhao: there was no reason to live with her husband and son. Jia Huan had to give up and teach her a way to protect herself: scold him in front of Jia Zheng and grasp the standards yourself. In short, don't praise him in front of Jia Zheng.

To put it bluntly, Aunt Zhao's foundation in the Jia Mansion is Jia Zheng's favor. Although Jia Zheng is a clay bodhisattva, he will not respond to his request. However, as long as Aunt Zhao and Jia Zheng have a good relationship, things will naturally subside. In addition, with him outside, there will not be too many maids and mothers in the mansion who dare to disrespect her.

Jia Huan also left another 100 taels of silver for Xiaoque, which was enough for Aunt Zhao to live and enjoy in the Jia Mansion.

At the end of the letter, Jia Huan hesitated, but did not ask Baochai about his recent situation in the letter. He was forced to blame Xue Pan and Mrs. Wang, and Sister Bao probably knew about it. This matter might cause some estrangement between him and Sister Bao. But he would not regret it. Because he had no more choice that day.

Jia Huan wrote down his signature, put down his pen, and sighed softly. Some thoughts were floating like looking at the beautiful white clouds in the sky.

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Chapter completed!