“Lai Da, what’s going on?”
Jia She asked in a deep voice.
Lai Da, who walked into the Rongxi Hall with trembling legs, saw Jia Mu and breathed a sigh of relief.
With the Old Madam present, even if he had committed the most grievous mistake, he would be fine as long as he begged for forgiveness.
His mother had served the Old Madam for decades.
With that connection, no matter what, his life was saved.
Lai Da knelt on the ground and kowtowed several times.
“Reporting to the Great Master, this lowly one was blinded by greed, seeing that there were dozens of fine horses and some rather peculiar items at the Shang Wu Manor outside the city.
Knowing that the number of horses in our mansion was scarce, and that you and the Old Madam had mentioned finding ways to obtain more horses,”
“this lowly one acted without thinking, intending to purchase those horses. I invited the Master of the Shang Wu Manor over to discuss the matter.
Unexpectedly, it caused such a commotion.”
Lai Da finished, downplaying the incident, and pressed his forehead against the floor.
Jia Mu and Jia She, having lived long lives, were well-versed in such matters. Lai Da was downplaying the situation.
They had witnessed countless such incidents.
It was just unexpected that it would involve their own family.
“Yu Ge’er, this is like the water flooding the Dragon King’s Temple, I’ll have Lai Da send the Master of the Shang Wu Manor back and compensate him with some things.
How about we just let this go?”
Jia She originally wanted to reprimand Lai Da, but the young man in front of him was no longer the son who had just arrived at the Rongguo Mansion.
He had now grown into the Jingying Jiedushi, one of the most powerful figures in the entire Da Zhou Dynasty.
Moreover, they had done something very awkward, which was to strike his name from the family register and then add it back.
This resulted in a serious issue.
That is, Jia Yu had the right to return to the Jia family or directly establish his own household.
Their Jia Yu was no longer the Jia Yu of a decade ago.
Currently, there was no one in the entire family who could shoulder the responsibility of the family.
Jing Da Ge from the Ningguo Mansion could only practice alchemy in a temple outside the city.
And he could only indulge in pleasures at home.
Jia Yu was, arguably, the hope of the Jia family.
He could allow their family to return to the ranks of the top families in Da Zhou.
“Lai Da, after all, you have served our family for decades, you deserve a lot of credit.”
After Jia She finished speaking, Lai Da, kneeling on the ground, felt as if he had been brought back to life.
Jia Mu sat silently, feeling very uncomfortable with Jia Yu’s tone and expression.
She disliked this feeling of being unable to control.
Especially since this person was her junior.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
Jia Yu clicked his tongue, glanced at Lai Da kneeling on the ground, and sneered, “You wouldn’t think that I came to the Rongguo Mansion just to get an explanation, would you?”
“This fellow is a blatant leech.” Jia Yu’s gaze towards Lai Da was filled with disgust: “As for how to resolve this matter, we will wait for the Jinyiwei to bring him in for investigation and then reach a conclusion.”
Jinyiwei.
Lai Da, kneeling on the ground, and Jia She and Jia Mu, sitting in their seats, were all stunned.
“Jinyiwei?” Jia She looked bewildered, “What does this have to do with the Jinyiwei?”
“I reported it to the officials.” Jia Yu said with a smile, “Those horses from the Shang Wu Manor, I was planning to give them to the Emperor.
And the various rare and precious treasures collected there, some were intended as New Year gifts for the Emperor.”
“I never imagined that someone from the Jia family would be so audacious.
I previously gave him a chance, don’t try to pull the “water flooding the Dragon King’s Temple” and “family members not knowing each other” on me.”
“These things are meant for the Emperor, and a mere servant dares to lay his hands on them.
How ridiculous.”
Jia Mu’s expression faltered for a moment. She had thought it was just some ordinary items.
Lai Da, kneeling on the ground, almost collapsed when he heard this news.
He hastily pleaded, “Third Master, this lowly one truly didn’t know that those items were meant to be presented to the Emperor, this lowly one was truly blinded by greed.
Please, for the sake of the Lai family, who have served for four generations, spare this dog’s life.”
Jia Yu looked at Lai Da, who was kneeling before him: “Four generations of service?
How come I heard that you are also a ‘Master’ within the Mansion?
Some of the younger generation of the Jia family call you ‘Master Lai’.
Moreover, your son is no longer a mere servant; even ordinary people call him ‘County Magistrate’.”
At that moment, there was a commotion from outside.
A middle-aged man, dressed in Jinyi, with a white face and no beard, walked into the Rongxi Hall and upon seeing Jia Yu, quickly stepped forward.
“Wang Hui, Qianhu of the Jinyiwei, pays respect to Jiedushi Jia.”
After completing the greeting, he said to Jia Mu, “I pay respect to Old Madam Shi.”
“We have been ordered by Commander Liu Hong of the Jinyiwei to arrest the perpetrator who intended to rob Jiedushi Jia of his offerings.
If we have offended you, please, Old Madam, do not hold it against us.”
Jia Mu, seeing the Jinyiwei at her doorstep, felt her heart turn cold.
She said expressionlessly, “The man is there, take him away.”
The Jinyiwei had arrived.
This meant that there was no turning back.
She looked at Jia Yu and said, “The matter has been resolved, your anger should subside now.”
It was not worth quarrelling with Jia Yu over a servant.
“The Lihua Courtyard has been prepared for you, stay in the Mansion tonight.” Jia Mu continued, “Just so happens, your cousin Dai Yu will be arriving in the capital today, go see her....”