readytorunbook Chapter 252: Uncovering the Criminal Record
Chapter 252: Uncovering the Criminal Record
That evening, the shopkeeper of Fourteen States came personally with a consumption record of the women of the Song family in Fourteen States.
These things are not only found in the Fourteen States. Women's perfumed dew jewelry, like other items, can easily expose their identities, such as mistresses and secret prostitutes. Some jewelry shops cannot remember clearly and have been involved in many lawsuits. The lessons of the past are still there. Most of these perfumed dew jewelry shops keep a secret account book.
However, the accounts in the Fourteen States are open rather than secret. On what day of what month, which lady bought what kind of perfume lotion or perfume cream, there are people who specifically record it. When they are almost used up, or when the season changes or a new perfume is released, they will mention it when someone comes.
The Song family was a country gentry, and the girls in the family were well taken care of, with plenty of pocket money.
Zhao Fangyu was flipping through a thin booklet in his palm. There were only a dozen or so items recorded on it, but the amount of silver he had spent was more than one thousand taels.
The girl from the Song family didn't come often, but when she did, she would spend at least a hundred or so taels of silver. She bought the most expensive skin care products in the Fourteen States every day, and she bought perfume every now and then. She could be considered a loyal customer of the Fourteen States. However, after the Yang family's shop opened, the frequency of her purchase of perfume in the Fourteen States was reduced by half.
"I remember that when Fifth Sister got married, she brought a dowry of five thousand taels?"
Chunshao nodded. This was the official share of the family. The marriage fee for a concubine's daughter was 5,000 taels of silver, not including any money added by others.
But according to Aunt Song's personality, it is estimated that all her life savings were put into the dowry. With the help from Zhao Minshan over the years, it is estimated that she could have collected about 6,000 to 7,000 taels of silver.
The Zhao family was already very wealthy, and the dowry of the girls in the family was only six or seven thousand taels of silver. Upon closer inspection, these six or seven thousand taels were not enough for the sister-in-law to spend for a few years.
After just a quick glance, Zhao Fangyu concluded that Zhao Fangyun was probably in bad condition.
No matter how wealthy the Song family was, they would not allow a woman in the family to be so extravagant. Most likely, it was the mother-in-law who found an excuse to withhold Zhao Fangyun's dowry.
"Look, what are the Song family rules?"
Every household in the capital has its own set of rules. Since the old lady, the Zhao family has not been able to ask their daughters-in-law to serve them. It's not like they are too old to move. Besides, there are so many maids and old women around them, so why do they need the mistress to serve them?
Mei Xunyin and she also had a very easy life. It was not like other families, who had to follow the rules for one or two years.
The shopkeeper lowered his head and recalled: "Look, she is not as good as the girl from an official family."
Zhao Fangyu knew that this person from the Song family was not a big customer, so the shopkeeper probably didn't pay any attention to him.
With a wave of her hand, Chunshao took the shopkeeper downstairs to have tea, and then asked someone to send the shopkeeper back.
The shopkeeper refused, but Chunshao held her hand and said, "It's not easy for you to come here in such a cold weather. Princess, I see your shoes are wet. I'm afraid you must have walked all the way here, right?"
"There are new shoes and socks in the carriage. They are all new. We made them ourselves. There is no waste, so there is no need to worry."
"The New Year's Day is followed by the Lantern Festival. There's a lot of work to do in the shop. You can't fall down."
Chunshao took the shopkeeper's hand and helped him to the carriage, and the coachman took him back.
When Chunshao came back, Zhao Fangyu had already moved from the desk to the dining table.
Zhao Fangyu usually had no appetite in the evening, so he picked up a few pieces of food with chopsticks, drank a bowl of wontons, ate some mutton, and ate half a bowl of milk pancake before going to bed.
"Go check for pawnshops near Taohua Town, preferably ones that are not in the capital."
"See if there is anyone to serve as fifth sister's dowry."
Chunshao responded and turned around to see Zhou Qinghe coming in.
Zhou Qinghe washed his hair and sat beside the charcoal basin to dry it. Zhao Fangyu wanted to get up, but Zhou Qinghe pushed him back: "You've already fallen asleep, don't get up and get caught in the wind."
Zhou Qinghe still remembered that Zhao Fangyu asked him about Taohua Town today, so he specially sent someone to retrieve some files about Taohua Town.
"In the past ten years, there have been a total of twelve volumes of records in Taohua Town, two of which involved the Song family."
Zhou Qinghe's words were like thunder from a clear sky, and Zhao Fangyu completely lost his sleepiness.
When she was a child, she had some conflicts with Zhao Fangyun, but they were not so conflicting that she could watch her being tortured and remain indifferent.
It’s not that she is soft-hearted, but when the two of them had friction, Zhao Fangyun was still a real, naughty kid who hated cats and dogs. Later, Zhao Fangyun became much more obedient, and Zhao Fangyu also entered the palace, and they probably had no interactions after that.
One is a spoiled child, and Zhao Fangyu can accept it and even expects her to be educated by society.
But as a woman, she didn't want to see Zhao Fangyun's education being swallowed up quietly by her husband's family like Li Shumin's.
The world is like this, but Zhao Fangyun is not guilty of such a crime.
"Both cases involved the abduction of women. The cases were closed and it turned out that the Song family bought the women."
Zhao Fangyu frowned. The fact that the girl was kidnapped by force meant that the girl was not a servant of the Song family.
How arrogant is it to rob a woman in broad daylight?
Does Aunt Song know that this good relative she found is so despicable in private?
"How can we buy it? How can a good farmer sell himself into slavery?"
Zhou Qinghe directly sent someone to copy a copy of the file.
"This file was found by Jingzhao Yin. The case was closed in a hurry. Most likely, the Song family secretly paid money."
"I sent people to investigate those two farmers, and only found out that they were now slaves of the Song family. Their daughter stayed in the Song family as a slave, and their parents sold her off."
Zhao Fangyu couldn't help but pound the bed board when he heard this: "Where did this bastard come from!"
Most of the time, farmers were forced to sell themselves into slavery.
In this world, it is much more difficult for women to get things done than for men. The fact that the women of the two families who were robbed were willing to go to court with the Song family clearly showed that they were determined to fight to the death.
But suddenly she sold herself to the Song family as a slave. And it wasn't just one person who sold herself, but the whole family was bought by the Song family. Obviously there was another hidden story.
But no matter what, it is enough to prove that the Song family is not a good place.
I don’t know which god blessed this marriage, but it went so smoothly.
Even though Zhao Minshan has become a commoner now, if he were still an official in the court, he would not have let Zhao Fangyun be deceived into going to such a dangerous place.
Zhao Fangyu sent the news back to the Zhao family early the next morning.
When Aunt Song heard this, she fainted from crying.
Her cries echoed throughout Qingping Courtyard:
"Madam, please save Yun'er! It's all my fault that she was harmed by this blind aunt!"
"It was my fault that I was blinded by my own greed. I should never have arranged a marriage for Yun'er without your permission. But all the faults are mine. You can do whatever you want with me. I only ask you to save Yun'er, Madam!"
"She has been calling you mom for more than ten years!"
As soon as Aunt Song woke up, she hugged the eldest lady's legs and cried. She knew that this was very disgraceful of her and she would never show this vulgar side of her on weekdays, but now that things had come to this, she had no choice but to ask the eldest lady for help.
Her face is not important. As long as the eldest lady is willing to save her Yun'er, she would be willing to spend the rest of her life pouring night fragrance!
The eldest lady looked at Concubine Song's swollen eyes and suddenly thought of Zhao Fangwei who had married far away.
"If you were not biased and taught her well, Fang Wei should have married in the capital by now. With Fang Wei's support, how could she be in such a situation today?"