Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

Chapter 1115 6 More 2 Gold

It's a bit chilly at night.

Shen Zheng straightened her clothes and remained silent for a moment before saying, "Minister Xu told me that after Jin Yin's mother passed away, no one in the Cui family taught her any principles. Before he was promoted to Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and began to distinguish himself, Jin Yin had to learn and grow up on her own."

Just thinking about it made Shen Zheng feel heartbroken.

Moreover, this feeling of heartache is not only felt when facing Cui Jinyin.

She felt sorry for every child who didn't have a happy childhood, including herself.

Therefore, she can better see their helplessness, loneliness, and hesitation.

That's why she's so tolerant of these children, just as she was tolerant of her own helpless self from years ago.

Yu Shizhang glanced at her and sighed quietly, "So be it, so be it. Children will always have moments when they don't understand things. Otherwise, His Majesty and Xu Zhijie wouldn't have entrusted her to you."

Ultimately, Xu Zhijie valued her personality, which is why he was willing to entrust his beloved niece to her.

Shen Zheng smiled and said, "Fortunately, it's not a big deal. You happen to be here too, so you can testify for me and Jin Yin."

The sound of hurried footsteps came from not far away.

Seeing Cui Jinyin running over, Yu Shizhang chuckled: "Whether this is a big deal or not depends on how much gold and silver that old scoundrel Cui has put in her name."

Jinyin.

Gold and silver.

This girl's name...

"Teacher, I'm here!" Cui Jinyin said, panting heavily as she carried a large bundle on her back.

Shen Zheng handed her a handkerchief to wipe her sweat. She clutched the handkerchief tightly and followed Shen Zheng step by step out of the county government office and into the carriage.

During this handover trip to the prefectural city, Su Yan and Xiang He each brought five county soldiers who secretly followed them.

Under the cover of night, several carriages and a number of fine horses slowly drove away from the county government office.

Shen Zheng rode with Cui Jinyin and Yu Shizhang, while Yu Zhengqing and Xu Yunyan rode in the car behind.

As soon as they left Tongan County, the carriage began to bump. Inside, Cui Jinyin held her bundle and glanced at Shen Zheng again and again, but dared not say a word.

"Jinyin," Shen Zheng called out to her.

"Teacher!" Cui Jinyin jumped, almost standing up.

Shen Zheng told her to put down her bundle, and then asked directly, "Do you know how much silver is in your Tongda Money Exchange account?"

"Six, six thousand taels of gold..." Cui Jinyin remembered it very clearly.

"How much?" Yu Shizhang, who had been dozing off, looked over. "More than six thousand taels, and in gold?"

Cui Jinyin also realized something was wrong, and nodded with her head down.

"You silly girl..." Yu Shizhang didn't know what to say to her. He asked, "Do you really think that if you get married in the future, Prime Minister Cui will give you several thousand taels of gold as a dowry? And it's in cash, not including shops and land! Is the Cui family going to starve?"

Cui Jinyin lowered her head further and lowered it, then awkwardly began, "He wouldn't..."

"So when we were still in the capital, you kept quiet!" Yu Shizhang angrily pointed his finger at her a few times in the air, then asked, "Have you figured it out now?"

"I understand..." Cui Jinyin nodded, but still didn't dare look at Shen Zheng, and said in a muffled voice, "The source of that money is probably not clean..."

"You've suddenly figured it out again?" Yu Shizhang sighed.

If he weren't inside the car, he would have liked to stand up and walk around a couple of times.

"The dirty money, passed through the hands of dirty people, ended up in your dirty account." Yu Shizhang looked at Cui Jinyin and concluded, "In the end, you're not clean either."

Cui Jinyin was on the verge of tears, and said in a panic, "But...but Tongda Money Shop, he took me there, and he knew about the seal and the secret code..."

Helpless, Yu Shizhang deliberately tried to scare her, saying, "Then tell me, does Tongda Money Shop recognize you or him? Besides, he has never withdrawn silver from Tongda Money Shop, but you personally went there with the seal."

"I...I..." Cui Jinyin hid her trembling hands and forced herself to calm down: "I will go back to the capital right away and give all that money to the court. I absolutely cannot admit to this matter."

If she admits it, her uncle and teacher will both be harmed by her.

This absolutely cannot be done...

Shen Zheng had been silently sorting out her thoughts for a long time before finally speaking, "Jinyin, did you bring the bank's seal?"

"I brought it, I brought it!" Cui Jinyin grabbed the bundle, pulled out a brocade box, and handed it to Shen Zheng.

Shen Zheng opened the brocade box, and sure enough, there was a small seal of a money exchange inside.

She picked it up and looked at it, then frowned and handed it to Cui Jinyin: "Take a close look. Is this the same seal you had before?"

Cui Jinyin took it and glanced at it. Just as she was about to answer "yes," her expression suddenly froze.

"No, not this one!" She was shocked, examining the seal several times before finally confirming, "Mine is a lighter color than this one... Teacher, this..."

"It was switched after all. Jinyin, you must have been watched from the moment you took out the money." Shen Zheng glanced at the seal and asked her, "Think carefully again, after leaving the money shop, did you encounter anyone? Did the seal ever leave your sight?"

With trembling hands, Cui Jinyin put the seal back.

She wanted to recall carefully, but fear left her mind a jumbled mess.

Shen Zheng poured her a cup of tea and comforted her, "Don't worry, think it over slowly. Your teacher won't let anything happen to you."

The teacup felt warm to the touch, and listening to Shen Zheng's gentle voice, Cui Jinyin's heart gradually calmed down.

The candlelight flickered inside the carriage. After an unknown amount of time, she suddenly looked up.

"I remember now!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Teacher, after leaving the money shop, I took a carriage to the Shen residence. When I passed Qianwei Street, I got off the carriage and bought some ice cream, thinking of bringing it back to the residence for everyone to eat... That's when I left the seal and those gold leaves in the carriage!"

Shen Zheng understood immediately and asked Yu Shizhang one last question: "Lord, is it permissible to deposit money into a private bank without an official seal?"

“Of course.” Yu Shizhang immediately understood her meaning. “Depositing and withdrawing money requires an official seal and a secret code, which is the rule of official money shops. However, some private money shops do not follow this system, especially for regular customers. For withdrawals, an official seal and a secret code are required, but for deposits… everyone has their own way of doing things. After all, money shops can collect a ‘custodian fee’ for each sum of money they safeguard. In this world… who in business would complain about having too much money?”

Shen Zheng nodded.

And so, everything made sense.

Cui Jinyin also understood: "Teacher, you mean... that money wasn't deposited by the Cui family's accounting office, but rather some..."

“Someone with dirty hands and an unknown identity,” Shen Zheng said. “Although we may not find any clues along this line, your uncle needs to know about this.”