Quick Transmigration: The Mad Beauty Refuses to Be the Scapegoat!-Chapter 393 - 15: The General Mansion’s Cast-Off Scapegoat Wife (Part 15)

Chapter 393: Chapter 15: The General Mansion’s Cast-Off Scapegoat Wife (Part 15)

Chun Yue clutched Jiang Lai’s dress and cried.

"I did not lie, you can ask the accounting manager about this. When I withdrew the Silver, the manager was right beside me, and later Miss Xu called me aside, many people saw it!"

She couldn’t take the blame for this; being beaten or scolded was one thing, but being accused of assassination against the nobility was an offense that would lead to execution.

Xu Ruling remained calm and spoke confidently.

"You can call all those people here to confront! Madam, are you still going to shield her despite such a big matter? Or are you afraid of implicating yourself, you and your servant teaming up to bully me!"

Jiang Lai sighed.

She was actually disinclined to play these scheming games with the women in the household, but since the other party insisted on making trouble, she might as well play along.

"Miss Yue, hold your tongue, Miss Xu said that we, master and servant, bullied her. Now that you’ve said everything you wanted to, what else can I say?"

Late at night, deprived of sleep, Jiang Lai was in a bad mood, and Tie Yi’s mood was even worse. It was actually a matter of one word from him, but since Old Madam was behind Xu Ruling, and Jiang Lai was behind Chun Yue, whatever he said would be wrong. All he could do was remain silent on the side, ensuring Jiang Lai wouldn’t suffer any losses.

"Miss Xu, there’s no need to call the people from the accounting room for confrontation. They would just repeat what you’ve taught them to say. I’m curious, Miss Xu, you’re so busy, why meddle in such matters? This suggests..."

"Chun Yue lied! Is there any need to elaborate? Everyone in the mansion knows how busy I have been these past few days, how could I have had time to find a troupe for her!"

Jiang Lai nodded.

"It’s a pity that the troupe leader was killed; otherwise, asking him would clarify everything. How about this, General, let’s go check the accounting room directly. After all, the monthly expenditures are recorded there, investigating who withdrew the money for the troupe would make everything clear."

Upon saying this, Jiang Lai yawned.

"Go, have the accounting manager bring this month’s account book." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Xu Ruling panicked upon hearing this.

Originally, there was only over ten thousand taels of Silver on the account, all of which she had taken out to buy flowers and plants for the longevity banquet, hoping to gain praise from the guests. She intended to cover the deficit with the guests’ gift money, but unexpectedly the General had stipulated not to accept gifts, leading to a mismatch in the accounts.

Indeed, it was she who invited the troupe. The troupe Chun Yue wanted to invite charged eighty taels per performance, which was very expensive. She couldn’t expose this, so she directly sought a street troupe, entertained them with a meal, and paid them ten taels to wrap it up.

At that moment, she didn’t care how well they performed. She just needed to temporarily cover up the missing money.

But she never expected the troupe to be full of assassins, aiming at the guests at the banquet, causing such a big commotion that killing Chun Yue could temporarily cover it up.

Damn Jiang Lai, showing off again!

"General, it’s late. Why not investigate tomorrow? Everyone has been frightened; there’s no need to disturb so many people now."

Jiang Lai smiled.

And now realize it’s late?

"It’s not late; the General and I haven’t slept. Calling an accounting officer over, is it really late?"

Xu Ruling gritted her teeth.

"Fine, I’ll call him over now."

"No need, you two, go. Remember, don’t let the accounting officer delay, understand?"

The two guards were people by Tie Yi’s side, and after seeing him nod, they turned and left, giving Xu Ruling no chance to speak further.

The accounting officer came over, clothes not fully worn, and without waiting for Jiang Lai to ask, he blurted out.

"Madam, two gluttonous girls were cooking sweet potatoes at the furnace behind the accounting room, and the fire caught onto the desk and burned the account book! Only this half is left, really there’s nothing we can do, please take a look."

Jiang Lai looked at the half-burned account book handed over, flipped through it, and found nothing to see.

"General, how would you handle this?"

Tie Yi, being very smart, seeing Xu Ruling’s problem at this point would be blind and deaf not to.

"Matters of the mansion’s accounting room aren’t trivial. According to the military’s punishment methods, the accounting officer should be whipped fifty times."

The accounting officer was so scared upon hearing this that his legs went weak and he knelt down.

That was a military whip; though only five fingers wide, it was half a finger thick, and fifty lashes could leave him dead or half-dying, maybe ruining the rest of his life!

The General never involved himself in the mansion’s matters; the entire mansion, from managers to servants and stable boys, was all managed by Miss Xu. Yesterday, Miss Xu had arranged everything with him, assuring that even if the account book was burned, she would ensure he wouldn’t be implicated.

With Xu Ruling’s position in the mansion, the accounting manager had no doubts about her words and immediately burned the account book.

In another family, if a manager committed such an act of embezzlement, even a beating and being thrown out would be lenient. Stricter families might report to the authorities and send him directly to jail.

Listening to Tie Yi now, the accounting officer was terrified, looking towards Xu Ruling for help as he knelt on the ground.

Xu Ruling stared at Jiang Lai with a pale face, her eyes full of resentment.

"General, the officer was personally selected by the Old Madam, punishing him would disgrace her! And Madam, you really enjoy making a fuss over everything, won’t you be satisfied until someone dies?"

Jiang Lai raised her eyebrows innocently, glancing at the accounting officer before her.

"The country has its laws, and the house has its rules. The only duty he receives a monthly salary for is to safeguard the account book. Miss Xu should know how important the account book is better than anyone else, right? What if someone in the court disliked the General and bought off our mansion’s accounting officer to falsify accounts of embezzlement and bribery?

His abnormal behavior now might indicate he conspired with the troupe to help others entrap our General!

General, don’t you agree? If so, fifty lashes seem too few, better to report this to the Ministry of Justice. Let them investigate. I heard a lot of spaces in the Water Prison at the Ministry of Justice opened up recently, and underneath it is piled full of inmates who died there. The officer wouldn’t feel lonely in there."

Jiang Lai spoke in an entertaining rhythm, calmly uttering chilling words, key being the General beside her didn’t refute, while the guards on either side were eager to seize him.

At this moment, the accounting officer finally saw the situation clearly, realizing that supporting the wrong side might actually cost his life.

"No! Madam, don’t report me, it was Miss Xu! It was Miss Xu who asked me to destroy this month’s account book yesterday! I didn’t know anything, Miss Xu holds my destiny, I didn’t dare not to listen to her! General, give me a chance, the assassination has nothing to do with me!"