Chapter 22

Shen's dowry was a beautiful story in the capital back then. Not to mention the ten-li Red Makeup, but at least five or six miles away, the Shen family is the richest man in Jiangnan. His ancestors have been in business for generations, and the wealth accumulated is very considerable. However, the Shen family of Shen's generation only had Chen Bo and Shen's brother and sister. The dowry was naturally extremely rich. There were dozens of profitable stores in Beijing alone, and money made money and was constantly coming.

However, even if Shen's dowry was generous, Gu Zhiyuan never thought of touching Shen's dowry. The Gu family was a noble family and never deliberately pursued wealth. Big fish and meat were a day, but a cup of tea and a bowl of porridge was also a day. Gu Zhiyuan claimed to be the latter.

Such a huge dowry had to be counted, and it would not be counted in two or three days. However, what was surprising was that one hour after the accounting office began to count, Aunt Liu and Lao Liu, the housekeeper of the uncle, came to report at the same time.

Gu Zhiyuan was sitting next to the chessboard watching the chess and playing chess. He heard that they had counted it, put down the chess and pieces in his hand, turned around, and told them that they had come in. Chen Bo and Gu Qingzhu also came over.

After Lao Liu entered the hall, his face was not right. He kept glanced at Gu Zhiyuan, but he wanted to speak but stopped. Gu Zhiyuan asked: "Why is it so fast?"

Old Liu was in a dilemma and didn't know what to say. Aunt Liu, who was standing beside him, stepped forward and told the truth about the matter in the warehouse.

"Brother, the warehouse is still counting, but when I encountered a little problem, I asked Butler Liu to come and report it together."

Gu Zhiyuan put his hands into his sleeves and looked at Lao Liu and asked, "What's the question? Lao Liu, you said."

Lao Liu is a capable old servant who came from the old lady. He is loyal to the Gu family and is deeply trusted by the old lady and Gu Zhiyuan.

"Master, the account of the first wife's dowry is wrong." Old Liu said while wiping his sweat, which shows that he was very nervous. How could he not be nervous? This has never happened in the uncle's mansion.

Gu Zhiyuan thought he had heard it wrong: "What did you say? The accounts are wrong? What is wrong, explain it clearly."

Lao Liu tried hard to calm down: "I and this supervisor were ordered to count the dowry of the First Lady, and start with the cash bills. Every expense when the First Lady was in charge of the account was registered. The remaining cash bills on the books were 200,000 taels, but after we counted them, there were only 50,000 taels of cash bills left, and the book was 80,000 taels of silver, which was about 3,000 taels of gold, and 2,300 taels of gold. This was only the part of the cash bills. The other things had not been counted yet. Because the difference was huge, I hurried back and forth with the supervisor."

Gu Zhiyuan looked at Lao Liu and was incredible. If Lao Liu hadn't said it in person, he would definitely not believe what others told him.

Chen Bo, who was beside him, had come over and was not angry. Looking at his appearance, he seemed to have known it for a long time. He held his big belly with one hand. Chen Bo snorted coldly twice without saying anything, but just these two hums were enough to make Gu Zhiyuan feel ashamed to want to get into the hole and hide.

“How much is missing in total?”

Old Liu immediately handed Gu Zhiyuan the bill he had calculated before. The silver bill was 150,000 yuan less, the silver was 3,000 taels less, the gold was 280 taels less, and the gold was worth tens of thousands of taels. How could such a huge amount be less?

"When the first wife was there, was there any account missing?" Gu Zhiyuan thought about it for a while, and there was only this possibility. Only Shen's dowry could move, and the Gu family members would not move. Gu Zhiyuan thought so in his heart.

Lao Liu immediately denied Gu Zhiyuan's speculation: "Brother, this is impossible. Every time the wife of the vanguard takes the dowry, it must be calculated by several accountants. The old slave will also be present, and the accounts are listed one by one. It is impossible to make mistakes."

Gu Zhiyuan was a little anxious, slapped the table, whispered his beard and asked, "It is impossible to make a mistake. Where did the silver go? My Gu family took it? By the way, you guys have the keys on you, have you moved the keys? Have you got the silver?"

Gu Zhiyuan thought of Shen giving the two keys to a pair of children before his death, so that they could hide them closely. If someone took the money privately, it would only be the siblings.

Gu Qingzhu glanced at Gu Qingxue with a slightly wrong expression and stepped forward: "Dad, my junior and I are both hidden close to each other, and I have never moved it. Junior, have you touched the key? Or who have you given the key?"

Gu Qingxue was a little hesitant, and soon looked at Qin behind Gu Zhiyuan. Just as he was about to shake his head, Gu Qingzhu said again: "You think it through and answer. Now the question is about my mother's dowry. The silver and objects inside are all of you and me. Now that the loss is the loss of both of them. Think about it carefully, has anyone ever asked you for a key?"

Afraid that Gu Qing was confused and shook his head and took the responsibility, Gu Qingzhu reminded him first, clearly explaining that this dowry is not just his own, and he has no right to deal with it alone.

Gu Qingxue lowered his head when he wanted to speak, and everyone saw that there was something wrong. Gu Zhiyuan treated him coldly: "Ask who have you given the key?"

Gu Qingxue was still hesitating, and Gu Qingzhu said from the side: "Dad, it seems that the younger brother must have given the key to someone in this way. But although we don't say it, we should be able to find out who took the silver from the warehouse." Turning around to look at Butler Liu, Gu Qingzhu's eyes were clear and clear, and he felt a sense of sensation. Facing such a child, Old Liu actually felt a little nervous.

"Butler Liu, you said that there are three people outside my mother's dowry warehouse taking turns guarding day and night. Have you ever asked them before?" Gu Qingzhu asked.

Old Liu shook his head: "Before I have time to ask." He immediately reacted: "Oh, I'll have someone pass them over now."

When he walked to the door, he called someone to give instructions. The man went down immediately. Everyone in the hall waited for a while. All the three people guarding the warehouse came over. They were three honest old men. When they saw the masters, they knelt down subconsciously.

Lao Liu asked the question, and the three of them looked at me, and I looked at you, and they looked at you, and they looked like they didn't dare to say it. Lao Liu frowned and said harshly: "You three are the priest's wife's companions, and the things are left to you for your care. Now there are fewer things. If you can't tell when it was less, it would be equivalent to admitting that you stole the priest's wife's things. 150,000 taels of silver, 3,000 taels of silver, and 280 taels of gold, one by one, they would spit it out to me."

After hearing this number, the three of them immediately became so scared that their bodies were weak. They knelt on the ground and kept begging for mercy: "No, no, it was not what we took." They could not make any profits even in a cycle of reincarnation for hundreds of lives. If they recognize it, they would die.

An old man on the left, who was a little older, hurriedly confessed: "After the first wife went, the warehouse was opened once, but it was Madam Li who took the second lady's key and said that the lady ordered her to come and get a 100-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-two-

Everyone's eyes fell on Gu Qingzhu. Gu Qingzhu was not frightened at all and calmly spread his hands: "My key has never left, how can Madam Li get my key?"

As he was talking, a few shouts and scolding sounds came from outside. Hongqu took the lead and took two guards to escort a embarrassed woman into the door. The woman passed the fight and her hair fell off, like a madman, and she was holding a bundle tightly on her body. It seemed that she was caught directly when she wanted to run away. It was not Madam Li who was.

Seeing this, Gu Zhiyuan was not as good as the gentleman, so he raised his foot and kicked Mama Li: "Oh, you foolish slave, you actually stole the master's things and wanted to run away?"

Madam Li kicked her and was stunned on the spot. When she heard that her uncle's master came to the mansion in the morning, she knew that the situation was not good. She hurriedly packed up her things and prepared to run away first. As long as she ran away, she could redeem her family wherever she was sold in the future. However, she unexpectedly captured the girl Hongqu and the guards back before she even walked out of the back door.

"My uncle, please spare me, please spare me, I am also obsessed with my heart, so I agree to the new wife's request."

Madam Li said in a word. Gu Zhiyuan just raised his feet and wanted to kick her again, then put them down again, frowned and said coldly: "What did you say?"

Everyone looked at Qin, who was pale-faced. Qin was at a loss and pointed at Madam Li and said, "You are a fool, you dare to wrongly accuse me. You, you are the second lady's escort, and it must be that Madam II asked you to get the money, right?"

Qin spoke to Mama Li sternly, which made Mama Li stunned. She thought that she would never escape today. If she helped Mama Xin and the mansion wanted to send her aside, Mama Xin would definitely not stand by and watch her.

Believing that Qin would save her, Madam Li nodded in confusion: "Yes, yes. It was the lady who asked me to take it, and the lady who asked me to take it. It has nothing to do with me."

Gu Zhiyuan looked at Gu Qingzhu again, and his voice was extremely unfriendly: "Did you ask her to take it?"

Gu Qingzhu was not willing to be outdone: "This old slave is confused, and his father is confused too. The first thing she said was the instructions of the new wife. Why didn't his father question the new wife? Instead, he believed the new wife's bewitching words. His father seemed to be blinded by a leaf, ignorant, and questioned his daughter with the words of a bad slave."

Since Gu Qingzhu came back from the village, she has become taciturn. People in the mansion thought she had changed and became obedient and dared not speak anymore. Gu Zhiyuan also thought so, but she did not expect that under such circumstances, she was not nervous and messy, but also very calm and organized.

Gu Zhiyuan couldn't tell that there was something wrong with Qin's family, but he couldn't say now that Qin's family took Shen's dowry and Gu Qingzhu's dowry were two completely different natures. The former would make Zhongping's Bo Mansion a laughing stock in the capital, while the latter would at most be just a young and ignorant child, and would not damage the reputation of Zhongping's Bo Mansion. So he turned a blind eye and wanted to help Qin's family follow Madam Li's words.

As long as they get rid of the Shen family, they can solve the problem by closing the door after they leave.
Chapter completed!