Chapter 52: I'll Suffocate You!

  The two witnesses in the account room each received 50 taels of silver, all given by Dazhang himself. He asked them to testify falsely and frame Dashao. Moreover, these two people not only gained benefits but also had some handles in Dazhang's hands, so they had no choice but to muster up the courage to become accomplices.

  The testimonies of the two were obtained through separate interrogations, not only can they corroborate each other, but also by the steward and others who personally supervised on the spot, there is no problem with forgery. And in a short while, according to what the two said, the two fifty-tael silver tickets were quickly found, and at that time the evidence was conclusive, so even if the big account wanted to deny it, it would not be possible.

  Zi Yue didn't make a sound, but Wu Guan Jia clearly explained the interrogation method ordered by the eldest miss. It was simply giving them two choices: First, continue to lie and be sent to the authorities for punishment, either die or lose half of their life, and also implicate their family members in suffering. Second, tell the truth and confess their crimes, which can reduce their punishment and not involve their families.

  Two options are clear and simple, and they only have one minute to consider, after the time is up, no more opportunities will be given, and those who fail to act will be severely punished.

  The matter was already unfavorable, and the two were separated for questioning. It was also said that whoever spoke out first would receive a lighter punishment. The accountants were not foolish, and soon they had all come clean about what happened.

  It turned out that the evidence was irrefutable, and he could no longer deny it. He changed his expression and finally confessed to the crime in tears. It turned out that he had embezzled nearly 10,000 taels of silver and couldn't find a way to fill the gap. Afraid that Master would find out, he came up with this desperate plan, begging Master to spare him this time.

  After hearing this, he was so angry that he wanted to let Wu Guan take down the big account and send it to the government office for investigation. However, he was stopped by Han Jiangxue.

  "Father, he has a small account room. Where did nearly ten thousand taels of silver go? Even if it's true that he said the loss was due to the Han family's silver and set up a scheme to find someone to be a scapegoat, which normal person would have the audacity to frame their master and take the blame for him? Doesn't this clearly not make sense?"

  Han Jiang Snow subconsciously understood that sending someone to the government office might have just catered to Liu's heart, otherwise this big account wouldn't have been able to take on the crime name so cleanly and put it all on himself.

  She said without hesitation: "The mastermind behind this is obvious, and the person who instructed them obviously wants to harm my brother. This matter is of great importance and not as simple as it seems on the surface. Please let me ask father to investigate the person behind the scenes first and punish them severely, otherwise, people will think that the Han family is easy to bully!"

  "Yes, there must be someone behind the scenes who is manipulating things. Otherwise, how would a lowly servant like him dare to frame me for no reason?" Han Jing nodded in agreement with his sister's words and at the same time looked towards Liu Shi, not hiding even half of his intentions.

  Seeing this, Liu was once again unable to bear it and said with extreme grievance and indignation to Han Feng: "Sir, look at these siblings, isn't it clear that they want me to take the blame? What have I done to offend them, to be wrongly accused of such a thing?"

  Han Feng looked at the situation and opened his mouth to mediate, but before he could speak, Han Jiangxue took over again.

  "Mother, what are you singing now? Neither I nor my elder brother mentioned that the person behind the scenes was you. You're so anxious to jump out and deny it, aren't you hiding something in your heart?" Han Jiangxue said calmly: "Even if my elder brother questioned you earlier, he only asked why you would promote someone with ulterior motives. He didn't acknowledge the frame-up of that person with ulterior motives. But from the beginning, you forced the blame on my elder brother. In front of Father, you deliberately distorted his words, making Father understand it as if my elder brother was blaming everything on you. Is your heart really this clear and upright?"

  "I'm being wrongly accused, what can't I do openly and honestly? You're all looking at me like this, what's the difference between this and making it clear? Besides, earlier your elder brother, it was clearly that meaning, how did I wrong him?" Liu's face turned even more unsightly, in front of Han Feng she swore to heaven: "If I had half a heart to harm those siblings, I'd rather not die a good death!"

  Caught between his children and wife, he didn't know how to mediate for a while.

  Things are clear now, the son was wronged and framed by someone. The two children have been suspicious of Liu due to various reasons. Although he is also dissatisfied with some of Liu's actions, he does not believe that Liu would do something as despicable as secretly instructing others to frame his son.

  Hesitating for a moment, Han Feng still spoke up to mediate, saying that everyone should not be too anxious and sit down to talk properly. It's because of an outsider's trap that they might hurt their own family members' feelings again. He also agreed to re-examine the accounts with his daughter, to see if there were any other masterminds behind it, and to clarify things rather than being suspicious of each other.

  As a result, neither side continued to argue with each other. The big account was straightforward and had not been instructed by anyone, but because he had lost a large debt due to gambling, he had no choice but to resort to this tactic. Now that he has been exposed by the young lady, he is willing to accept his punishment and atone for his sin.

  In short, this person insisted that he was the one who did it and no one else was involved.

  Han Jiangxue saw this and didn't ask much, directly letting Wu Guanjia take down the big account to beat him with a board until he told the truth.

  After the big account was taken away, everyone in the house couldn't help but look at Han Jiangxue. They had thought that the young lady had some special trick to make the big account speak up, but it turned out to be just a slap on the board.

  Seeing her brother and father looking at her with confusion, Han Jiang Xue explained: "Let him suffer a bit of physical pain first."

  After saying that, he didn't say anything else, but instead made a silent gesture to Ziyue, indicating for her to go outside and take care of things.

  Not long after Ziyue left, the miserable cries from that side became even more frightening. However, that big account was also a hard-boned one, and after being beaten thirty times in a row, he still gritted his teeth and took responsibility for everything, without loosening his mouth.

  Soon, Wu Guan's family came in to report that he had already been beaten with forty large boards and feared that if the beating continued, his life would not be preserved.

  Han Feng saw this and said to his daughter: "It's all come to this and he still won't let go, isn't it true that this matter was done by him alone?"

  Han Jiangxue did not respond to Han Feng's words, but instead raised his voice towards the outside and said: "Continue fighting!"

  On one side, someone gave an order, and on the other side, the board continued to move. The screams were no longer frightening, but the big account was almost out of breath and didn't have the strength to shout in pain.

  Liu initially didn't take it too seriously, but now seeing Han Jiangxue's intention was to beat the person to death, he had no choice but to persuade Han Feng: "Sir, if you continue beating him, someone will end up dead. Let's stop and let the authorities handle it."

  The life of a big account is not important, what's important is that it has other uses, so Liu naturally doesn't want to see a living person become a dead one and affect other major events.

  But apparently, Han Jiangxue did not intend to follow Liu's wishes. Although she didn't know what use the big account still had for Liu, at this time, being able to let Liu jump out and speak for her despite having to avoid suspicion, it showed that the big account still had exploitable value for Liu.

  "Mother is too kind, the evidence of Da Zhang's crime is solid, and he deserves to die. Our Han family has the right to handle this matter, even if it were the officials, they wouldn't be able to find any fault." Han Jiang Xue calmly refuted, the more Liu Shi hoped for the officials to handle this matter, the more it proved that the officials might have been manipulated by someone.

  The Liu family has a big enough background, so the relationship with the government is easy to handle. This is clearly trying to save someone's life through the government first and then secretly replace them later. Change a name, change a surname, as long as it's not discovered, everything will be fine.

  So Han Jiangxue naturally wouldn't let go, anyway the big account is absolutely impossible to bite out Liu's name, and another mind thought of taking the blame without any resentment. For someone like that, even if they were pinched in her hand, she couldn't squeeze out anything useful, so it's better to just beat them to death, either as a show of power or as a warning, anyway, as long as Liu has some loss, it would be beneficial for her.

  "Xue Er, this is a human life after all! Our Han family has always been generous, if we directly kill someone like this, won't it make outsiders doubt our Han family's character?" Liu Shi's tone carried a hint of anxiety that was difficult to detect.

  "Mother, this is woman's benevolence, but being kind and generous also depends on who you are dealing with. If you show pity and sympathy to this kind of servant who dares to harm and scheme against even the master, it will only encourage more ignorant people to follow their example. On the contrary, it makes one feel that our Han family is weak and can be bullied!"

  Han Jiangxue had just finished speaking when Zi Yue entered lightly and reported that the big account was unbearable after being beaten with sixty boards, and now it has lost its breath.

  Liu's voice suddenly stopped, but his face was hard to conceal a gloomy expression.

  Han Jiangxue turned to her father and said, "It's better that he died. He obviously wanted to take the blame for someone else, and even if we sent him to the government office, it wouldn't be possible to investigate anything further. On the contrary, it would only make our Han family have another scandal to become a topic of conversation among the people in the capital after dinner. Fortunately, my brother has already cleared his name, otherwise, I'm afraid our Han family would be talked about again."

  When he heard this, Han Feng immediately understood that his daughter's idea was not wrong. Regardless of whether there were any behind-the-scenes manipulators in the future, it would be difficult to completely clear up the matter for the time being, and they could only wait for a later opportunity to investigate further. If they took it to the authorities, not only would it have no effect, but it would also cause the Han family to lose even more face.

  So Han Feng quickly nodded and ordered Wu Guanjia to drive the other two servants who had made false evidence out of the Han house, never allowing them to set foot in the Han house again. At the same time, he also let Guanjia warn all the people in the mansion that if anyone else had ulterior motives, they would suffer a similar fate.

  Wu Guan understood the old master's intention and quickly led people down to handle the aftermath.

  The surface matter has been settled, but the private family matters have not stopped. Han Feng ordered all unrelated people to leave the hall first, leaving only a few family members who wanted to resolve their differences privately.