Cross the doghouse to save Party A, Your Highness owes me ten mines

Most of the masters of the Zhang family were still in a dream. Only the faint cries could be heard every night. The great talent Zhang Tanzhi, who couldn't sleep well, was still awake all night. The rest were servants and old women who had been busy preparing meals in the kitchen.

It was not time for the gatekeeper to change shifts yet. He was very sleepy after guarding the whole night and was dozing off on the table in the gatehouse.

"Open the door!"

"Open the door, the government is here to arrest the person!"

"Open the door!"

Hearing the knocks on the door, the doorman came to open the door with sleepy eyes. As soon as the door was opened, he was stunned. There were more than a dozen yamen runners outside, followed by two young managers, a man and a woman, and the young master of the Gu family.

"My Lord, what business do you have?"

The servants of the Zhang family were all bought after his family became rich, but they were carefully taught by the guards who came as dowries from the Gu family, and they always behaved well.

"What are you doing? Zhang Sanzhu, Zhang Youliang, Zhang Huaiye and so on, a total of thirteen people, are they from your master's family? Do they live in your house?"

“Yes, yes, yes.”

"Someone has accused them of embezzling a total of 1,352 taels, 3 coins and 16 copper coins from the account of Wucheng Treasure Pavilion. The amount is huge. The county magistrate has ordered us to arrest them."

"what?"

"Ah what? Get out of the way!"

The bailiffs entered quickly, carrying iron chains, machetes, and arrest warrants.

The doorman hurriedly said to the people in the yard: "Quick, go and inform the master and the old lady."

Xiyan, who followed in from behind, said: "Run faster, or you may be too late."

Xia Shi was holding a pile of account books and petition papers, while Gu Qi was holding a horsewhip.

"Madam, madam, something bad has happened!"

"Master, someone is coming from the government office."

Zhang Caizi's heart suddenly skipped a beat. He hadn't slept all night and had been feeling nervous for days, so he felt tense all over. When he heard this voice suddenly, he almost turned pale.

It was not until he heard someone outside shouting about embezzling money from the shop that he actually felt relieved. Fortunately, fortunately, it was just about the dowry.

The yard outside was already in chaos.

After the Gu family had an accident and the eldest daughter of the Gu family and her dowry followers died, Zhang Tanzhi began to clean up the old people in the shops outside.

Those decades-old servants were all related, and their ancestors had worked in the shop for generations, from the grandmother of the Yang family to the wife of the Marquis of Zhenbei, and then to the eldest daughter of the Gu family when she got married. Even those who were not related were old friends and were always loyal, so many people came to inquire about the cause of their daughter's death.

This of course touched Zhang Tanzhi's sore spot and the deepest secret in his heart, so he either sold out or drove away all the people in the shop.

But he was not familiar with household affairs, so his mother had to take over the household management. Although the old lady had been in charge of the business for her entire life, she had never managed such a large jewelry store, so she had to ask her relatives for help. So these people from the Zhang family came to Wucheng, entered the store, entered the Zhang Mansion, lived in the mansion, and started working in the store.

"Sir, who said we embezzled money? We didn't!"

"Are you going to arrest someone just because someone reported it? What if it's a false accusation?"

"Yes, when did the common people steal the silver?"

Xia Shi had a serious face, and he started reading from a ledger: "On August 10, Zhang Sanzhu sold a silk-wrapped agate bracelet worth 80 taels to his acquaintance at a low price of 12 taels; on August 16, Zhang Youliang smashed a blue-colored pomelo pot worth 120 taels, framed his clerk Wangshan, and sold it to the pawnbroker to eliminate dissidents; on August 21, Zhang Huaiye bought a batch of warm jade from the Western Regions at 200 taels higher than the market price, and charged a 100 tael to the peddler. He took the fifty taels of kickback home and bought a two-story courtyard, and paid the broker in the pawnbroker two taels of bonus. On August 22, a cousin of the Zhang family came to the shop for tea, and took away a handful of gold melon seeds that were made for someone else while the counter was busy. Zhang Huaiqian found out and lied about the amount of gold to settle the account. On August 23, Zhang Yougen took away three pieces of scarlet brocade from the silk shop on the pretext of delivering goods, but the owner only accepted two pieces, and one piece of brocade cost thirty-three taels and eight taels..."

"enough!"

"Stop reading it, stop reading it!"

"Old madam, old madam, what's wrong with you?"

Xia Shi recited carefully. She did not recite according to people, but according to dates, reading one day after another, until the hearts of every member of the Zhang family present were pounding.

Zhang Tanzhi's mother, the dry-faced, old lady who was reluctant to eat and wear clothes, fell backwards when she heard that so much silver had been poured out.

A group of people held him up, pinched him, and pressed him. After he fell back to his feet and took a breath, he let out a loud cry.

The Zhang family members surrounded her and cried and shouted, "Old Fifth's wife, you are the one who informed on us. We just took a handful of golden pumpkin seeds from you. Why do you have to do that?"

"Aunt Wu, Auntie, we didn't do it on purpose. We are new here and don't know how to do business. We were deceived."

"Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, you asked us to come here, why didn't we do it well and report it to the government?"

"Sure enough, scholars are ungrateful!"

"I didn't take much silver at all, it was all taken by them!"

"This is our shop. So what if they took it? It's a family matter behind closed doors. Just say you don't mind and let us go..."

"..."

"If a clan member is taken to the government office, it will affect the reputation of my brother."

The last sentence touched upon the old lady's core interests. She stood up and said to the yamen runner:

"Sir, this is our own shop. If the people don't sue us, the officials won't investigate. We won't sue either. Please let them go!"

Xia Shi read out the law expressionlessly: "According to the rules of our dynasty, if a married woman dies suddenly, her dowry must be returned to her mother's family. The seven shops on Wucheng Street have long been the private property of the Gu family."

Xi Yan: "Whether to pursue the matter or not is up to our Gu family to decide!"

Everyone started to beg Gu Qi,

"Seventh Master..."

Gu Qi whipped him and said, "Fuck you! You kicked my sister out of the house. You took over her shop before she died. You hurriedly married her a new wife just after she passed away. The money you used to marry her was my sister's dowry!"

Gu Qi was a very strong boy, and he beat up a group of people who were chained with iron chains. He was still full of anger, and when Zhang Tanzhi opened his mouth to say something, he slapped him in the face.

"My sister knelt in the ancestral hall for seven days, seven days! She went on a hunger strike and banged her head against the pillars, eloped and jumped into the river, causing a sensation in the city, and she was half dead before she married you. What about you? You married someone else before she even made it through the first seven days."

In the letter she wrote to him, she also said that she had found a good husband and would treat him to a drink when she had the chance.

Is this the good husband she is looking for?

After saying that, he swung the whip a few more times. Xiyan led his men to pull the man aside and held him down only after he had beaten him to his heart's content.

"take away!"

The yamen runners escorted more than a dozen members of the Zhang family out of the house, and Zhang's mother was still crying behind them:

"Son, are you okay? This is obviously ours, and that is obviously our shop!"

Xia Shi turned around, holding up the account book and said, "The dowry book was registered at the government office. According to the records in this book, this entire courtyard." He drew a line with his hand to include the entire courtyard, and then said, "Every blade of grass, every brick, every tile, even the fabric of your clothes and the servants in the courtyard, are the private property of the Gu family. There are still people in the Gu family alive, and you are just embezzling the dowry..."

Zhang Tanzhi's bloody face looked extremely ugly, and he hurried outside. At this time, the yamen runners had already dragged more than a dozen members of the Zhang family to the outside of the gate.

After all the trouble just now, more than an hour has passed. It is now the end of the Mao hour and almost the Chen hour. The streets are full of passers-by, who stop and gather at the door to watch the excitement.

There was a lot of chatter in the crowd.

"Humph, when nothing happened to the Gu family, he was so tight with them. But when something happened to the Gu family, he quickly married another woman. What kind of deep affection is that? It's all fake."

"A dowry is a gift for someone to come and get. In my opinion, it is just for the sake of the dowry."

"Officials, please stay!" Zhang Tanzhi rushed out of the mansion and shouted, then said to Gu Qi:

"Seventh Master, it's not that we are greedy. It's just that our uncles are missing and we have to take care of them temporarily. It's just that our clansmen are not good at running a business. Please stop and let me sort it out."

The county magistrate said: "I want to settle the dispute with you. I just happened to pass by and someone is crying out for justice. Let's set up a court on the street!"

The yamen runners immediately restored order, and the people formed a circle on the street. It was just the time to get up, and everyone was in high spirits and gossiping.

Young Master Yang stepped forward and knelt down, saying, "I am suing the Zhang family for murder and the seizure of private property!"

Young Master Yang, whose given name is simply Ji.