Chapter 124 Collusion

"Of course." Liang Weiyuan had no objection to this. "When the time comes, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble my husband to prepare some extra handkerchiefs to catch the embroidered bouquets thrown by the girls."

Huo Jin's mouth twitched when he heard this. His own wife asked him to accept the bouquet from another girl?

But looking at the sincere admiration in her eyes, Huo Jin was speechless and raised his hand to rub the top of her head.

"Stop talking nonsense and take a rest."

Liang Weiyuan was still thinking about the tragedy in her previous life. The next day, before the morning mist had dissipated, she was already sitting at the desk in the kitchen, flipping through the account books. The moon-white satin jacket made her skin look even clearer.

Since she took over the family business, she has managed all the account books clearly.

But no matter how many times I checked, there was no clue.

"Miss, please keep an eye on the Second Young Master, if there is any movement."

The news brought by Mei Shu made Liang Weiyuan look up instantly, and a hint of coldness appeared on her tightly pursed lips.

There was nothing suspicious about Huo Hou, so she felt something was wrong and paid special attention to Huo Siyuan.

Hopefully it's not what she thinks.

"Walk."

Several people quickly passed through the corridor and happened to run into Huo Siyuan coming out of the accounting office.

When he glanced at Liang Weiyuan, who was leading the group with a cold aura, his pupils suddenly shrank, and a trace of panic and guilt flashed in his eyes for a moment.

The accountant who was following behind him lowered his head, and seemed to have something hidden in his sleeves. He bumped into Huo Siyuan who had stopped.

The account book in the manager's arms fell to the ground with a "clack", revealing a few white papers sandwiched inside.

"Where is the Second Young Master in such a hurry to go?"

Liang Weiyuan's eyes were sharp, and he glanced at the papers seemingly casually.

The handwriting on it was scribbled, as if it had been written in a hurry. "Could it be that what the accountant is holding in his arms is the account book of the mansion?"

Huo Siyuan hurriedly kicked the paper off the ground and said with rapid breathing, "No, nothing! Just some old accounts that I was about to burn..."

His eyes flickered as he spoke, and he couldn't help but glance at the warehouse behind Liang Weiyuan. His lips were tightly pursed, obviously hiding something.

Liang Weiyuan didn't expect him to tell the truth, so she didn't ask any more questions. She just nodded lightly and turned to walk towards the warehouse.

However, when they passed by each other, she keenly smelled a faint scent of pine smoke and ink on Huo Siyuan.

That is the smell of the ink stick used by the accountant, and ordinary masters will never be contaminated by it.

Liang Weiyuan narrowed her eyes slightly, and the uneasiness in her heart grew stronger.

"Mei Shu, don't alarm anyone at the mansion. Go and bring over all the account books from the past three months, both large and small, old and new, including the in-and-out records for each department's warehouse."

As Liang Weiyuan spoke, she pushed open the door of the warehouse, and the morning sun shone through the high windows, reflecting the dust.

Today she has to personally check all the discrepancies one by one, so that she can feel at ease.

"Especially the part involving the expenditure of money, not a single page can be left out."

For three whole hours, the warehouse desk was piled high with account books.

Liang Weiyuan looked serious and checked the recent days page by page. The sound of her fingertips turning the pages was particularly urgent in the quiet room.

As time went by, Liang Weiyuan's brows became more and more furrowed.

In the second house's account book, new expenditures had been added at some point without her having reviewed them, and it was a record of a large expenditure of 5,000 taels of silver.

The date on which this money was released from the warehouse was exactly the days after Huo Siyuan failed to borrow money from her.

He was actually sent away on the pretext of buying medicinal herbs for the border.

However, there was no corresponding list of medicinal materials in the warehouse's inventory records.

"Something is wrong here."

Liang Weiyuan took out another warehouse ledger and compared the two. He found that the expenditure of 5,000 taels was changed to purchase of silk in the ledger.

Although the ink-colored erasures were faint, they could not escape her eyes as she checked the account books over the years.

What shocked her even more was that in the past seven days, there had been five similar large expenditures, the whereabouts of each of which were vague and showed signs of deliberate alterations.

Recalling the scent of ink on Huo Siyuan's body, there was no doubt that it was him who did it.

But what exactly is he planning by spending this money?

This matter was of great importance. Liang Weiyuan calmed himself down and asked Meishu not to make it public and to restore the account book to its original state before returning to Qingzhuyuan.

After finishing his rehabilitation, Huo Jin was leaning against the corridor and breathing heavily. When he heard footsteps, he looked up and saw Liang Weiyuan hurried in.

Her breathing was a little disordered, and her face showed an unprecedented solemnity.

"Why do you look like that?"

Liang Weiyuan pursed her lips for a moment and thought again and again. She dismissed the people around her and pulled Huo Jinjian back to the house to tell them about this.

Just as he said that night, if there are any problems, let's discuss them together.

Moreover, the Marquis' Mansion prospers and suffers together, so it is right for him to know.

Huo Jin listened to the words and the aura on his body gradually became solid and cold.

Liang Weiyuan lowered his voice and finally said in a somewhat obscure way, "I just ordered Mei Shu to go out and check. The dates of the expenditure of those silvers just happened to be the day when the Ministry of Revenue purchased military pay..."

"Husband, do you think there is a connection between these two?"

She guessed and spoke, but she felt that something was wrong.

Seeing his breathing stagnate, Huo Jin clenched his fists suddenly, veins popping out on his knuckles.

He raised his cold brows and without hesitation told the news he had gathered: "A while ago, Wei San went to the Ministry of Revenue to visit my old subordinates on my behalf and saw the cook under Yu's command."

"I noticed and asked someone to check the area. The cook came out from Mr. Li's house."

Seeing his gaze growing darker, Huo Jin met Liang Weiyuan's eyes, and in an instant, the two of them exchanged glances with each other.

The second wife colluded with the Ministry of Revenue!