Accounting

Jiang, perhaps still worried, looked around the courtyard as soon as he entered, and nodded to Lin Xu only after confirming that everything was alright.

Lin Xu felt somewhat helpless, wondering what exactly Dou Yanxun had told him. Although she had been a wealthy lady in a secluded mansion for some time, she was not a weak woman who could not even kill a chicken. How could she have made Guard Jiang so cautious and timid along the way?

It was dusk, and the evening breeze carried a slight chill. Hearing that they had arrived, a woman came out of the house on the north side. She was wearing a worn-out coarse cloth jacket that had been washed until it was somewhat faded. The peasant woman looked very shy. She bowed to Lin Xu and then led her and Zhu Ling into the side room that had already been cleaned.

The walls of the courtyard were all made of rammed earth, but the room was spotless and very well-maintained. There was an elm bed against the wall, with the bedding neatly folded and faintly exuding the fragrance of sun-dried softness.

The peasant woman was very flustered, carefully observing Lin Xu's expression, afraid of displeasing her.

Lin Xu looked around and smiled, "Clean and tidy, you've put your heart into it."

She had just learned from the tall and burly Zhou Laosan that this peasant woman was the wife of the man nicknamed "Tian Erhan," surnamed Ge, and about thirty years old. Knowing that she was coming, Ge had specially prepared her courtyard in advance.

Tonight, she and Zhuling will rest here. Madam Ge has also specially prepared two clean rooms for the guards in the side room on the other side.

The men were praised, but they were also a little embarrassed. Their faces flushed, and they stammered a thank you before leaving.

Only Lin Xu and Zhu Ling remained in the side room.

Through the half-drawn white curtain, Zhu Ling watched Nian Shi's figure gradually disappear into the distance and whispered:

"Tian Erhan and his wife are both not very talkative, but they are a good match."

Zhu Ling was worried that Lin Xu wouldn't be used to sleeping there, so she prepared to take out a cotton quilt she had specially brought from her bag to lay it down, but Lin Xu smiled and said:

"It's alright, then so be it. But you'll be on guard tonight, and this stone slab must be cold. You might as well lay it on the ground."

Zhu Ling felt a little embarrassed; the valuables she had brought for the madam had ended up being used by her. The madam always indulged her like this.

But seeing Lin Xu sitting at the square table, speaking these words calmly, yet looking deeply worried, she knew that Lin Xu was concerned about Dou Yanxun, who was far away in Laining. So she went over, lit the lamp, poured a bowl of tea from the rough porcelain teapot in the room, and placed it in front of Lin Xu.

"Madam, please don't worry too much. Second Master is always very shrewd and surely has a plan in mind. Besides, those guards took a shortcut back, so they won't attract attention. If anything unexpected happens, they can catch us off guard..."

After the two talked for a while, Lin Xu washed her hands and took a sip of tea when she heard a man's voice from the courtyard outside the door, "Madam, dinner is ready. If you are done tidying up, you can send me to serve the dishes."

It's that Zhou Laosan.

This person has excellent judgment and seems to have a flawless approach to handling matters.

Lin Xu glanced at Zhu Ling, who quickly lifted the curtain and went out. A moment later, she returned, and two peasant women carrying dishes entered the courtyard. One of them was Ge Shi from earlier. The two women were wearing coarse cloth aprons and quickly went into the house to present the prepared food.

Looking around, there's stir-fried pumpkin shreds, stewed tofu, cold bitter greens salad, and small bowls of millet rice with red dates. The only dish with meat is a chive and egg pancake... Although they are all light farmhouse stir-fries, the aroma of rice still wafts through the air.

Madam Ge rubbed her hands on her apron, stood in front of the door, seemingly wanting to say something, but only pointed to the food and said, "I'm from the village, this is all I know how to cook, if it's not very good... please don't mind, Madam..."

Lin Xu hadn't eaten much all day, but the aroma of the simple farm food whetted her appetite. She didn't show any disgust; instead, she looked at Ge Shi with bright eyes and said gently, "Your cooking is excellent. These dishes look delicious."

Upon receiving the praise, Ge's slightly wrinkled face broke into a smile, making her even more embarrassed. She stood there for a while before leaving, but returned shortly afterward, this time carrying a large bowl of millet rice and two salted duck eggs.

"Madam, please eat more... You're too thin..."

The two salted duck eggs, cut in half, were golden and glistening with oil. Served with rice and side dishes, they were the perfect treat. For a farming family, this was naturally a top-quality item. Qingyang wasn't exactly a land of plenty, so these duck eggs must have been stored for who knows how long… After receiving the praise, Madam Ge was willing to offer this to treat herself.

Lin Xu hadn't expected Madam Ge to be so simple and honest, and couldn't help but feel moved. She then thought of the errors in the account books. If Steward Qi hadn't tampered with these account books and there were truly problems, then who were these people who had dared to deceive their superiors and subordinates while managing the estate and shops for the past year…?

The steward and his wife looked very honest and wouldn't dare to falsify accounts, but what about Zhou Laosan?

After a quick meal, Lin Xu instructed Zhu Ling to tidy up the table and then summoned Zhou Laosan and Tian Ying to come in and give a report.

By the candlelight on the table, Lin Xu glanced at the accounts again, then looked up to listen to the two men explain why this year's harvest was poor. It was mostly Zhou Laosan who was hunched over, complaining incessantly, while Tian Ying stood to the side with his head down, not daring to breathe loudly.

Lin Xu listened quietly, but his face remained expressionless. Zhou Laosan was eloquent, and since this was the first time in many years that someone from the Liang family had come to inspect the work of their subordinates, he was eager to show off and became even more talkative.

"...You just said that this year, the mountain streams overflowed and pests broke out, which is why the harvests in all four villages were reduced?"

Zhou Laosan was suddenly interrupted by Lin Xu, his thoughts were disrupted, and he nodded without thinking.

Lin Xu then asked, "If that's the case, why did you tell me in your letter earlier that the drought at the beginning of the year caused the reduced harvest for the whole year?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Laosan paused.

He couldn't help but secretly raise his eyes to look at Lin Xulai, who was sitting upright at the wooden table.

.

The evening breeze was chilly, the moon hung high in the sky, and the city of Beijing was ablaze with lights, especially the bustling Zhuwen Hutong. At the outermost point of the hutong where it met North Street, a five-story carved and decorated building stood tall, with golden bells hanging from its eaves, their sounds tingling and intoxicating in the evening breeze.

The stone steps in front of the door have long been worn smooth by countless footsteps. On many nights of extravagance and debauchery, noble young men from aristocratic families lingered here, spending lavishly for the sake of some beautiful woman in the building. But when the sun rises in the morning, those men change their tune and pretend to be aloof and arrogant young masters again.

Yao Niang stood on the second floor, leaning against the railing. She wore a long, ochre-colored gauze dress, the hem of which swayed in the wind as light as morning mist. Her graceful figure stood in the wind, instantly attracting the attention of several men passing by below, who frequently turned to look at her.

Her alluring eyes held no trace of a smile. She glanced at the bustling street, while intermittent banging on doors echoed from the depths of the corridor behind her. A chill gradually settled on Yao Niang's delicate face.

"Tell him to get out."

Before the words were even finished, the thugs standing on either side of the railing stepped forward and strode towards the source of the noise. Immediately afterward, the displeased voice of a drunken man being forcefully shoved rang out:

"...Why are you messing with me? Don't you know who I am? How dare you touch my clothes?"

The two thugs whispered something to each other.

The drunken man muttered a curse as he shouted back:

"...Where's Yao Niang? Tell her to come out and see me! She used to be so willing, why is she acting all high and mighty now?"

The sounds gradually became increasingly offensive.

Yao Niang gazed at the round moon shrouded in a thin mist in the distance, her brows furrowed and her expression calm, as if the person the man was cursing was not her at all.

The shoving sounds from the depths of the corridor gradually subsided, and soon the man was asked to leave. Even though he was practically pushed down the stairs, his foul language could still be heard from a great distance.

As Yao Niang watched Dou Yanzhou, dressed in soft silk with a crooked belt, staggering in the market, blushing and leaning against a stone lion in front of a gate, looking as if he was about to vomit, her deep eyes slowly narrowed into a line.

Dou Yanzhou used to be a regular at Bihualou, and he often came to see her.

However, all along, Dou Yanxun was the only person in the entire Mujing who knew about this matter.

But the memory of Dou Yanxun's seemingly refined and elegant yet ruthless and merciless face, the one that would even smirk after killing, sent chills down her spine. She stood there in the wind, shivering for no apparent reason.

He was such a terrifying and skilled person at disguising himself, and was clearly the most dangerous, cunning, and sinister person she had ever seen in the world!

Yet this ruthless person, upon first meeting, stood behind Dou Yanzhou's tall figure with a smile in his eyes, looking at her gently.

In fact, if she had been more attentive then and hadn't been fooled by those alluring eyes, she would have easily discovered that when he looked at people, he always had a smile on his lips, but no warmth in his eyes.

Those dark eyes looked at you, but their gaze never seemed to linger on you. There was clearly a veil between you, a wisp of wind, layers of coldness and calculation.

At that time, she was completely unaware of this and even felt that he was distant and completely different from his brother, but he had a handsome face that was in no way inferior to Dou Yanzhou.

How could she have been so easily captivated by his eyes back then...?

Dou Yanzhou was excessively lustful and often frequented brothels. However, he was also eager to gain fame and reputation. Fearing that he would be discovered and leave a bad reputation, he would always bring his half-brother with him whenever he came to Bihua Tower. He also forced everyone in Bihua Tower to call him by his brother's name.

At that time, Dou Yanxun simply sat quietly beside Dou Yanzhou, calmly watching Dou Yanzhou embrace women on his left and right, ordering fair-skinned girls to play the pipa, or exchanging glances with Sun Biying, whose dance had made her famous throughout the world.

He always sat there calmly, motionless, completely out of place with the surrounding fragrance of rouge and seductive allure.

He is indeed a remarkable eccentric.

At that time, Yao Niang was just a poor girl who was sold by a slave trader to learn a trade.

The mother in the building said that if she was quick to learn and could master a skill to support herself, she could become a courtesan. If she didn't learn it within two months, she would have to lower herself and use her looks to serve others.

She was so frightened that she trembled all over, so she secretly followed Sun Biying to learn to dance and followed other girls to learn to play the piano, but she couldn't learn anything.

She thought she was just too stupid.

But she wasn't that aloof. Faced with the choice between chastity and life, she gritted her teeth and chose to abandon the past and live on.

Not long after, she saw those peach blossom eyes that were as beautiful as spring mist and water, and then she heard Dou Yanxun's very faint voice mixed with the melodious music in the hall.

"It's not that you're stupid, it's that Sun Biying and those girls deliberately didn't want to teach you."

She looked up in disbelief at him as he lay on his side on the soft couch.

"You're quite talented; who would easily hand over their livelihood?"

That was the first time Yao Niang felt a bone-chilling cold and an inexplicable hatred.

It turned out that Dou Yanxun had been watching all along. He watched her secretly learn the craft for two whole months without ever feeling a pang of pity. He watched helplessly as she was forced to take a different path.

She glanced at Dou Yanzhou, who was being all lovey-dovey with Sun Biying in the hall, completely unaware that Dou Yanxun was talking to her. Still furious, she took out her folding fan and stabbed him—

Those were her specially made fan ribs. The fan surface was embroidered with a red plum blossom, but the fan ribs had a hidden secret. They were made of fine iron and covered with fragrant wood. If she suddenly exerted a little force on someone with ill intentions, she could hit them to defend herself.

She was furious, but Dou Yanxun, with his eyes half-closed and without turning his head, reached behind him and snatched her fan away before she could even react. His arm strength was immense; with just that one pull, she was thrown forward.

As Yao Niang uncontrollably fell forward, her whole body grew cold...

This person was actually faking his usual frailty and illness!