The speculation that Lin Jingzhi had a slave who deceived his master is not surprising, because there are many stories in this wealthy compound, such as conspiracy, conspiracy, and slaves deceiving the master. These are all very common things.
Of course, it's common. If it happened to Lin Jingzhi's woman, he wouldn't be polite!
"Wan'er, where is the maid in your house?" Lin Jingzhi asked casually.
"Going back to the Second Master, my maids and concubines saw them idle in the yard with nothing to do, so they asked them to help elsewhere." Aunt Wan was despised by Mrs. Lin after she married into the Lin Mansion. At that time, Lin Jingzhi was seriously ill and dying.
People will not
Because she had no scruples, some powerful stewards did not regard her as their master. Not only did the food provided on weekdays be simple and not meaty, but even the maids and women around her were called out to do hard labor.
.
However, Aunt Wan didn't want to talk about this matter. After all, Lin Jingzhi's health had just improved and it was not advisable to work too hard.
Lin Jingzhi was not stupid, so he could have hidden some secrets. However, the matter was not found out clearly, so he couldn't get angry on the spot, so he waved his hand gently, motioning for the accompanying maid to come closer, and said: "Go outside and take care of the waiter."
Aunt Wan's maids and ladies have all been found, and I have something to ask."
The little girl responded and ran out in a hurry to look for someone.
Aunt Wan's eyes flashed with panic. She wanted to persuade her to put this matter aside, but she saw that Lin Jingzhi's face was very ugly, so she had to give up. At the same time, a trace of joy rose in her heart. After all, this man was her.
Her husband is her support.
As long as we have Lin Jingzhi's support in the future, life will be much easier.
The two sat in the house drinking tea and chatting. Lin Jingzhi's mood gradually improved. At first he was very angry that his nominal woman was bullied by his servants, but he saw that Aunt Wan was kind-hearted, generous and caring.
I'm so happy, after all, what man doesn't like such a gentle and considerate woman?
This is his woman!
I learned from Aunt Wan that her surname was Wu and her given name was Peipei. Her father Wu Cheng was originally a businessman and his family had quite a lot of money. At that time, the family conditions were good and his father loved her. He was afraid that she would be wronged if she married too young.
, so I put it off year after year, until I was twenty years old.
When a girl reaches the age of twenty, she is considered a big girl. If she doesn't marry, she is afraid that no one will want her in the future. Seeing that fewer and fewer people come to propose marriage, Aunt Wan's parents become anxious. However, just this summer, Wu
However, something big happened to his family. Wu Cheng was plotted by a competitor and lost the entire family business.
At this point, the Wu family was truly in decline.
The family had no money and lost power, and their daughter was old. The issue of marrying a daughter became a worry for Wu Cheng and his wife. In fact, according to the situation of the Wu family at that time, it was not to the point of letting their daughter be a concubine for others, but Wan Cheng
My aunt's younger brother Wu Jun was still young and unconvinced. He went to seek revenge on the people who were plotting against the Wu family, and broke one of his son's legs. This was considered a stab in the arm.
The family directly filed a complaint and sent Wu Jun to prison, and secretly used money to torture Wu Jun in prison. Wu Cheng felt sorry for his son and wanted to visit him, but the jailer refused to let him see him, so Wu Cheng had to pull his old face.
, go to your enemy’s house to ask for help
Qing. The family was angry that Wu Jun had broken their son's right leg and refused to let go. After more than ten days, when they saw that the jailer had tortured Wu Jun enough, they spoke out and asked Wu Cheng to pay three thousand taels of silver, otherwise he would
Let Wu Jun spend his whole life in jail.
In the past, three thousand taels of silver would have been nothing, but now that the Wu family has sold off all their property, how can they collect three thousand taels of silver? Aunt Wan is also destined to Lin Jingzhi. At this time, Wu Cheng
Suddenly I heard the news that the Lin family wanted to marry Lin Jingzhi as a concubine, but the condition was that she should be good-looking and over twenty years old.
Hearing this news, Wu Cheng was extremely happy. What kind of family background the Lin family has? Even if the Wu family has not been plotted against, it is still incomparable. Moreover, Lin Jingzhi won the imperial examination at the age of fourteen, and his talent is well-known. He is worthy of the title.
I have a daughter, so I discussed it with my old wife and decided to let my daughter give it a try.
Aunt Wan has been sensible since she was a child and loves her younger brother. Seeing that this method can save her younger brother, she has no objection and readily agreed.
The Lin family had already married Lin Jingzhi to two concubines, namely Aunt Shuang and Aunt Rou, but they tried to marry her twice, but it didn't work. Lin Jingzhi's health was still getting worse and worse. At that time, Mrs. Lin was
When he became ill, he went to the doctor. Hearing that marrying a woman three years older than the man would help his husband and his family, rumors spread that he wanted to marry a woman over twenty to be Lin Jingzhi's concubine.
Although Aunt Wan was not stunningly beautiful, she had a dignified appearance and generous manners. As soon as she entered the Lin Mansion, she was attracted by Mrs. Lin. The title of Aunt Wan was given to her by Mrs. Lin, who said she was graceful and charming.
Everyone had a ladylike temperament. Later, the Lin family gave the Wu family a betrothal gift of three thousand taels of silver, and Aunt Wan stayed in the Lin Mansion.
After chatting with Aunt Wan for a while, Lin Jingzhi felt quite unhappy. Even if he had guessed that these concubines were mostly married into the Lin family for the Lin family's money, he still couldn't accept it.
Moreover, he also sympathized with Aunt Wan very much. She would not have married into the Lin family as a concubine if the family had not undergone drastic changes.
Aunt Wan is a kind woman. She is kind and doesn't like lying, so she told the cause and effect. Seeing Lin Jingzhi's complex expression at this moment, she chuckled and said, "Actually, I have taken a huge advantage. Second Master, you
But I don’t know that your name is almost every household in Luo City, and many unmarried girls use you as a role model.”
Although he knew that the person in front of him was not talking about him, Lin Jingzhi still felt a hint of joy in his heart, and then he blurted out a question without thinking about it, "What about you? Before you married into the Lin family, did you also use me?"
Be a role model?"
Even though Aunt Wan was older, her pretty face was flushed with embarrassment at the moment. How could anyone ask such a shameful question and ask it so directly? She lowered her head deeply and was silent for a moment before saying, "
"Hmm" said.
Lin Jingzhi felt very happy when he saw this, and just as he was about to joke a few more words, a servant's voice came from outside the door, "Go back to the Second Master, bring all the servants around Aunt Wan."
Having already developed a good impression of Aunt Wan, Lin Jingzhi naturally wanted to find out more about this matter. With a straight face, he asked them all to come into the room to talk.
As the door of the house opened, a total of three little girls of thirteen or fourteen years old, and an old woman of almost fifty years old walked in. These three little girls were all wearing coarse clothes, which were covered with patches. Although they tried their best to
Their hands were hidden in their sleeves, but Lin Jingzhi still saw that their little hands were covered with bloodshot eyes and calluses.
The old woman was dry and thin, and she was also wearing coarse clothes.
"On weekdays, are you the ones who serve Aunt Wan?" Lin Jingzhi took a sip of tea and asked softly.
These servants had never seen Lin Jingzhi before and had no idea what his temper was. They just knelt on the ground and nodded repeatedly, not daring to speak.
"Among the three of you, who is the second-class maid?" Lin Jingzhi glanced at the three girls and sighed secretly in his heart. The second-class maids are usually only responsible for wiping the edges of tables, chairs and windows and do not have to do rough work, but these three girls
He is thin and dark, and you can tell from a glance that he has suffered a lot.
"Back to...back to the second master, this slave is...a second-class maid."
"Back to the second master, this slave is the same."
After the girl kneeling on the far left timidly finished speaking, the girl in the middle also responded. These two girls were very timid and did not even dare to raise their heads.
"Oh? Since you are a second-class girl, you should dress decently and serve your master properly. How unbecoming are you dressed like this and running out to play!" Lin Jingzhi's expression was serious and he scolded her coldly.
road.
"Back to the second master, I didn't go to play."
"Back to the Second Master, my slaves didn't go to play either. Aunt Wan asked us to go out and help."
The two girls were startled and almost cried. The middle one kowtowed repeatedly and even pulled Aunt Wan out.
"How dare you deceive the master? I just asked Aunt Wan, and she said she didn't know where you went." Lin Jingzhi saw the expression on Aunt Wan's face and couldn't bear it, and felt a burst of admiration in his heart. This woman is really kind, but for the sake of tracing
The mastermind behind the scenes, he could only shake his head at Aunt Wan with a cold face, signaling her not to speak.
Aunt Wan sighed softly when she saw this and tilted her head to one side.
"No, no, this slave did not deceive the Second Master. When we went out, we said hello to Aunt Wan."
"Presumptuous, what does it mean to say hello to Aunt Wan? You are the second-class girls assigned to Aunt Wan, so except for the few masters in the family, you can only listen to Aunt Wan. Who gave you such a big deal?
I have the courage to take the initiative to say hello to Aunt Wan and go out to play." Lin Jingzhi knew that if they were not frightened, the two maids would definitely not dare to reveal who was behind them, so the more he spoke, the more stern his voice became.
When the two little girls saw that their master was angry and frightened, they just knelt on the ground trembling and begged for mercy.
"Hmph, the state has its own laws and every family has its own rules. The Lin Mansion cannot tolerate such daring slaves as you. Come on, pull them out. Give each of them fifty bucks and blast them out of the Lin Mansion!"
As soon as Lin Jingzhi finished speaking, he saw two little girls paralyzed on the ground. Fifty big boards can kill people. In the end, the little girl on the left came to her senses first. Before the rough lady arrived,
He loudly replied: "Second Master, the slaves didn't go out to play. It was Manager Li who asked us to go out to work. You see, my hands are cracked when washing clothes. I really didn't go out to play."
On the way back just now, several people happened to meet Manager Li. When Manager Li saw that they were not going to work but wanted to go back to the courtyard, he became angry on the spot. In the end, the little girl who went to deliver the message explained it to Manager Li.
Only then did I realize that Lin Jingzhi wanted to send these people back for questioning.
Manager Li was an old man in the Lin family. He knew that Lin Jingzhi hated his subordinates for being greedy for money, so he panicked and warned a few people not to tell his name, otherwise they would be sold to a brothel. Because of this, these two
The little girl didn't dare to tell the truth at first.
But now that there is no way to survive, these two little girls dare to hide it. The little girl in the middle saw that her companions had already confessed, and shouted loudly: "Second Master, this servant also went out to work on the order of Manager Li.
Yes, since I was assigned to Aunt Wan, Manager Li asked the slave to go to the woodshed to help. You see, there are a lot of calluses on the slave’s hands and there are a lot of blood blisters."
The old woman was kneeling on the ground. She didn't know what was wrong and kept coughing.
"Oh? Did Manager Li ask you to go out to work?"
"Yes, Second Master, it was Manager Li who asked the slaves to go out to work!"
"But Aunt Wan is the master and Manager Li is the slave. Why do you dare to despise the master and listen to a slave?" Lin Jingzhi tapped the table with his fingers, intending to ask questions as clearly as possible here before calling Manager Li.
The two little girls' faces had turned pale with fright. They exposed all the bad things that Manager Li had done. Finally, the little girl on the left pointed at the person behind her.
The old woman said, "Second Master, this person is actually not the servant who serves Aunt Wan, but the nurse of Manager Li. When she came over, she had just changed into a servant's clothes."
"That's right, Manager Li asked her to come here because he wanted to restrain me from telling the truth." The little girl on the right also added in time.
The girl in the middle also nodded in agreement.
Lin Jingzhi didn't expect that Manager Li would be so bold and dare to show his skill in front of his master. This made him very angry. No matter who he was, he would not let others treat him like a monkey!
In anger, he made up his mind to make this manager Li look good! He glanced at the old woman gently and saw that her face was pale and her whole body was shaking, but she was no longer coughing as before. A flash of inspiration came to her.
In an instant, he figured it out. I bet this old woman was in good health. She coughed on purpose just now to warn the two little girls not to talk nonsense!
"Come here, go get Manager Li!" No matter how angry Lin Jingzhi was, he would not attack an old woman.
Li Zhong is in his thirties but not forty years old this year. He has been running the Lin Mansion for more than ten years before he climbed into the position of manager. He is shrewd and has a good tongue, and he has some tricks to please his master, so Mrs. Lin
Normally, he takes good care of him, and with Mrs. Lin's support behind him, what does Manager Li have to fear in the inner courtyard? Naturally, he will make whatever he can, but he didn't expect that this time, he would be taken away by Lin Jingzhi.
Caught it ready-made.
Kneeling on the cold hard floor, Manager Li's mind was racing, trying to find a way to make this matter as small as possible.
It is not easy to be the manager of the Lin family. Lin Jingzhi knew that if he wanted to touch this person, he must not be impatient, so he sat on the chair and drank tea attentively. On weekdays, Aunt Wan would always accompany Manager Li when she saw him.
He smiled three-quarters, feeling somewhat uncomfortable seeing Manager Li kneeling in front of him this time.
As time went by, Manager Li became more and more uneasy. He had always been greedy for money, and he had a guilty conscience. Lin Jingzhi waited until a layer of cold sweat broke out on Manager Li's forehead before he said, "Li Zhong"
, how many years have you been coming to the Lin family?"
"Back to the Second Master, this slave has been in the Lin family for eighteen years." Although Manager Li didn't understand why Lin Jingzhi asked this, he still replied honestly.
"Oh, it turned out to be so long. Then let me ask you again, how many slaves have you seen beaten to death in the past eighteen years?" Lin Jingzhi took a sip of tea and still spoke calmly.
Aunt Wan glanced at him after hearing this, but Manager Li was so frightened that he trembled and quickly lowered his head deeply, "Go back to the Second Master, there are many, I don't remember them."
Mrs. Lin acted decisively and was very ruthless. Every year she would kill several disobedient slaves for various reasons. So when Manager Li said that he did not remember, Lin Jingzhi did not doubt it, "I don't remember how many people there were."
It doesn't matter, but if you forget why they were killed, you should be careful."
"Back to the Second Master, my servant is loyal to the Lin Mansion. God can tell you!" After Manager Li said this, he kowtowed hard and a bruise suddenly appeared in the middle of his forehead.
"I didn't say you were disloyal, but having said that, among the slaves who were beaten to death, some were loyal to the Lin family. After all, the Lin family is a big family, and they have to use family laws to restrain their subordinates. Loyalty alone is not enough.
!”
If Manager Li couldn't figure out whether Lin Jingzhi would deal with him before, now he was sure that the head of the family would not let it go.
But after all, he was not a timid person. After a few questions and answers, his tense nerves gradually relaxed, and he thought to himself, in fact, the result was not that terrible. He still had a way to survive, because the backyard had always been owned by Mr. Lin.
As long as Mrs. Lin is in charge, Mrs. Lin will stand up and say a few nice words to him. By then, big things will be resolved and small things will be gone.
Thinking of this, he gave the two little girls next to him a fierce look. When he calmed down, he would definitely not let these two cheap maids go!
The two little maids were so frightened that they tensed up and their eyes were in panic.
Lin Jingzhi knew that when interrogating a prisoner, it was not good to wait too long, otherwise he would calm down after the initial shock, and then look for flaws and make up lies, so he changed the subject and finally got to the point, "
Manager Li, these maids said earlier that you appointed them as Aunt Wan's second-class maids, and then ordered them to work elsewhere?"
When it came to business, Manager Li was somewhat flustered. He had just calmed down a little and was relieved again. "Back to the second master, I am in charge of the recruitment and transfer of personnel in several places in the backyard. At the beginning, it was the old lady's responsibility.
I wanted to send a few personal maids to Aunt Wan, but due to the lack of manpower at the time, I couldn't fill them up according to the rules."
"That day, my servant sent a total of three servants, two second-class girls, and one third-class girl. They were the three of them." Manager Li was afraid that there would be mistakes in his words, so when he spoke, he was very cautious and even treated Lin.
The old lady also moved out.
"According to the rules, the maids assigned to Aunt Wan only need to serve Aunt Wan well and do not need to go to other places to do work. However, these little girls told me that on weekdays, you also give them to others.
Are there other tasks like this?"
Steward Li shook his head in denial and said: "The servant is wronged, but it is completely false. I have not seen them since I transferred them to Aunt Wan, so how can I give them another task?"
When the two little girls saw that Manager Li refused to admit it, they were frightened. Just as they were about to explain themselves, Lin Jingzhi jumped in and said, "It's all nonsense? Haha, Li Zhong, look at their hands. They look like the second-class maids in the mansion."
Do you have any hands?"
Manager Li glanced obediently, then quickly withdrew his gaze, gritted his teeth and said, "Their hands are a little rough. It's because the servants were negligent in their duties. They didn't check carefully when they were selected."
What a bold and cunning slave! As expected, he has a quick mind. Although his evasion was a bit reluctant, he still made sense, "Oh? According to you, they are falsely accusing you?"
"Second Master Mingjian!"
As soon as Manager Li's words came out, Lin Jingzhi almost choked. He quickly put the teacup in his hand back on the table. What a fool, he really thought he was a monkey. If before, he just wanted to teach Manager Li a lesson, he would give it to Aunt Wan.
If you say something bad, now he is really angry, and if you say something harsh, there will always be a time when you regret it!
"Li Zhong, you said these two little girls falsely accused you, then I want to ask, why did they falsely accuse you?"
"Back to the Second Master, I am also a steward. It seems that these girls have asked me to do something before, but I didn't agree, so they held a grudge and falsely accused me." Manager Li's answer was perfect.
"Huh!" Lin Jingzhi sneered. You are the manager and they are the maids. There is no special reason why they dare to falsely accuse you? But there seems to be no point in arguing on this issue because neither side can come up with anything effective.
evidence, so he turned his head
Looking at the two little girls, he said: "You said that you were working somewhere else under the orders of Manager Li. You shouldn't be the only two there. You go to the place of work now and find some people who can prove it."
You are indeed the people who work there and have testified.”
The two little girls nodded repeatedly when they heard this, and then led a few servants out of the room.
When Manager Li heard these words, his face only changed slightly, and then he regained his composure. In the Lin Mansion, he still has some influence, and he had already said hello before coming. I don't think anyone would be brave enough to do so.