Thousands of thoughts flashed through Lord Qian's mind, and he asked tentatively, "Xian... no, Lord Zhou, are you here today to give me some advice on antiques?"

"Do I look like someone with so much free time?"

This is a look of undisguised contempt.

This face doesn't look much like Zhou Yunshen, but it's still handsome.

This look is exactly the same as Zhou Yunshen's...

All of this made Mr. Qian so angry that his forehead hurt.

But he didn't dare to refute and could only laugh dryly to hide his embarrassment.

"Master Xiao Zhou is right. So this time you are..."

"The amount of supplies sent to the Western Army was a little off. The Ministry of War said it was the silver and supplies that were transferred from the Ministry of Revenue, so I came to you to verify it."

"Father received the list of items reported by the Ministry of Revenue and the list of goods handed over by the Ministry of War from the Emperor yesterday."

"I've checked it, and there are indeed discrepancies, so I came to check with Lord Qian so that my father can report it to His Majesty during court tomorrow."

When Lord Qian withheld military pay, he thought he would be discovered, so he did it very covertly.

The quantity is absolutely fine, it’s just that refined grains are replaced with coarse grains.

Military clothing was replaced with items of ordinary manufacture.

They look similar on the outside, but the materials and labor costs are half the price.

One piece of clothing doesn’t cost much, but hundreds of thousands of sets of clothing is a lot of money.

Lord Qian thought he had done it perfectly and wanted to cover up the problem.

"No, the silver and supplies allocated by our Ministry of Revenue should be consistent with those of the Ministry of War."

"It looks like it, but I'm also curious. The price of refined grains is the same as that of coarse grains, and there are also things like horse feed."

"It's not that the soldiers can't endure hardship, but they could have gotten something better, but they got this."

"It's like buying antiques. You thought you'd found something rare and precious, but it turned out to be a pile of junk."

Lord Qian's face turned pale, but he had to pretend to understand.

"Master Xiao Zhou is right."

"Master Qian, I have to report tomorrow. I hope you will cooperate. Otherwise, if His Majesty asks about it tomorrow and I can't produce anything, I'll inevitably vent my anger on others, and life will be difficult for everyone."

If Zhou Yunshen investigates personally, he will be like a mad dog, biting and not letting go until he has torn the person to pieces.

But Zhou Shiye is different.

Lord Qian thought to himself, no matter how powerful or heroic a young man was, he was still a child after all.

He was also on the march and fighting wars all year round, so he didn't quite understand the intrigues within the court.

It’s easier to fool the small ones.

When Lord Qian was playing dirty tricks, he also thought about the possibility of his crime being exposed, so he also came up with a backup plan.

It is impossible to distance himself from the matter, but it is possible to find a scapegoat and let him get away with it.

Lord Qian immediately stood up and said, "Then Lord Zhou, please follow me to the study. It is best to deal with such an important matter as soon as possible to reassure His Majesty."

Zhou Shiye stood up and politely helped Jiang Shuyue up.

"I heard that Mr. Qian's family has a beautiful rose garden, all of which are Western species. My mother is very interested in flowers and plants. I wonder if we can go and visit it."

"Yes, yes, of course! Xiao Li, bring a few people with you to help Madam stroll around the garden."

"Yes, ma'am, please."

Xiao Li immediately took two maids with him.

Jiang Shuyue: [There are so many people here. Will it be exposed when the juice is pumped later?]

Zhou Shiye: "My mother doesn't like so many people following her. One person serving her is enough."

"Yes, yes, these servants don't know how to serve, and they are afraid of disturbing the lady's elegance. Xiao Li, just follow them."

"Yes, I understand. Madam, please."

Jiang Shuyue happily followed Xiao Li to the backyard.

Jiang Shuyue: [My children are so sweet and caring, each one is more thoughtful than the other. I love them so much!]

Hua Hua: [They say mother and child are connected by heart. They are half your children, so they should also be connected by half your heart.]

Jiang Shuyue felt that what Huahua said made a lot of sense.

She was in a good mood. After praising her family, she also praised Tiandao.

If it weren't for God sending her into this world, she wouldn't have met such a good family.

Jiang Shuyue murmured: [It turns out that people who are not related by blood can be so close. How wonderful.]

Zhou Shiye followed Lord Qian to the study, and the two groups parted ways at a fork in the road.

He also heard this.

Suddenly, a warm feeling surged in my heart, and my eyes became gentler.

Jiang Shuyue walked for a long time and saw a century-old banyan tree here. She excitedly chattered around the banyan tree for a long time.

But the banyan tree was not a spirit and could not speak.

He just secretly secreted a little essence for her. Jiang Shuyue thanked him again and again. Along the way, they saw many rare plants and potted plants.

By the time she got outside the rose garden, she had already harvested a lot.

Huahua: [I didn't realize you were so popular. Everyone gave you so many good things.]

Jiang Shuyue: [Xiao Rong said that when it was still a seedling, it saw an elder spirit. I'm the second one it's seen in all these years. It's harder for us plants to become spirits than animals. They must be very excited to see me.]

Huahua: [Indeed, it seems like you plant-based people all have a pretty good relationship.]

Jiang Shuyue shook her head: "Not really. Most of us are peaceful. Perhaps it's because we are part of a system and complement each other, so at most we just bicker, unlike animals who constantly shout and fight."

[But some of the more sinister ones are also quite annoying. Fortunately, we live in different environments, so we don't interfere with each other.]

What I hate most are those exotic species, especially those that are only grown for the royal family. They just rely on the fact that they grew in the gardens of other nobles and act like they are aristocrats. They are even more arrogant than peonies. I am so annoyed!

Jiang Shuyue smelled the scent of roses.

Huahua also sensed it and praised: "What a strong rose scent! This trip was a great reward!"

Jiang Shuyue sniffed, and suddenly frowned, saying with an unhappy look:

[Wait, why do I feel so irritated? This smell makes me want to slap someone!]

Xiao Li said at this time: "Madam Zhou, we have arrived at the rose garden. This rose garden is a rare species that my wife bought from abroad at a high price. It is the only one of its kind even in the Imperial City."

"The foreign country you're talking about, is it the one in Linhai..."

"Oh, you're worthy of being the wife of the Marquis of Zhennan. You guessed it right! Last year, our wife made friends with a noblewoman from Japan and bought a lot of rose seedlings from her. They've already bloomed twice, and each time they were magnificent. You're sure to love them."

Jiang Shuyue looked disgusted and raised her middle finger in her heart:

[I was wondering why there was such a nasty smell. Turns out it was from that little bastard. What bad luck!]