At the first quarter of the evening, a copper lamp cast a warm yellow glow on Shen Weiwan's dressing table. The old butler stumbled in, clutching a stack of account books. His goatee was still stained with night dew, and the edges of the books were wrinkled from his fingers. "Miss! Great news!"

Chen Weiwan was fiddling with the incense with a silver hairpin. Upon hearing this, she raised an eyebrow and looked at the account book in his arms: "Did that old hag Liu cheat herself again?" She shook the newly acquired red gold bracelet on her wrist - it was the dowry that Liu was forced to pawn the day before.

"It's more than that!" The old housekeeper spread out the account book on the table and pointed at the densely packed figures with his pipe. "Look! Liu Shi paid 1,100 taels for picking the lock, plus the 800 taels she withheld from the servants' monthly wages the other day that was recovered, plus the hole she made by pawning her furniture..."

Chuntao came over to the table and looked at the total in the account book, her eyes wide as copper bells: "Oh my God! It's a full three thousand two hundred taels!"

"Only three thousand taels?" Shen Weiwan tapped the column of "Liu's compensation" with her hairpin, and the gilded armor flashed a cold light in the candlelight. "The last time she embezzled military pay, it was seventeen thousand taels. How can this be just a drop in the bucket?"

The old butler stroked his beard and laughed. "My dear Miss, your trick of 'killing with a borrowed knife' is really clever! Liu is now terrified of the empty boxes in the warehouse. Yesterday, she even secretly asked me if the rats in the warehouse were spirits."

As she was speaking, she heard suppressed curses from outside the window. Shen Weiwan lifted a corner of the curtain and saw Liu's personal maid Lu'e standing on tiptoe to peek over here. The velvet flowers on her bun were all askew.

"Go call her in." Shen Weiwan lowered the curtains, with a hint of "asking for a beating" at the corner of her mouth.

When Lu'e was carried into the room by Chuntao, her knees were still shaking: "Miss...Miss..."

"Where's your wife?" Shen Weiwan played with the abacus on the table, and the sound of beads colliding was crisp and harsh.

"Madam..." Lu'e glanced at the figures in the account book, "Madam said there's a rat infestation in the warehouse, and asked you to quickly invite a magician to take a look..."

"Master?" Shen Weiwan laughed so hard that her shoulders shook. "I think your wife is scared by the mousetrap." She suddenly slapped her abacus and said, "Go tell her that the mice in the warehouse recognize their masters and only bite greedy people."

Lu'e was so frightened that she turned and ran away, and her skirt swept over the copper basin at the door. Shen Weiwan looked at her back and winked at the old housekeeper: "How is the investigation going?"

The old housekeeper fished out an oil-paper package from his sleeve pocket and unfolded it to reveal a few grains of moldy glutinous rice. "This was swept out from under Liu's bed. There's fresh dirt filling the cracks in the blue bricks underneath."

"Under the bed?" Chen Weiwan picked up the glutinous rice, her fingertips stained with dust, "It turns out that the most dangerous place is the safest place." She remembered that in her previous life, Liu always knocked on the bedpost before going to bed, and it turned out that she was hiding such a secret.

Chun Tao brought a basin of warm water and watched the bracelet on Shen Weiwan's wrist swaying as she washed her hands: "Miss, how much private money do you think Liu can hide?"

"Not more, not less," Shen Weiwan wiped her hands, picked up the account book and circled the column "Liu's Private Household", "enough to pay double the monthly salary to all the servants in the mansion for half a year."

The old housekeeper was so frightened that he dropped his pipe: "Miss, this is unacceptable! If the servants took the money, I'm afraid..."

"What are you afraid of?" Chen Weiwan raised an eyebrow. "Liu has been withholding money from them for years. Now that I've given them the money, they'll be more willing to help me keep an eye on Liu." She walked to the window and looked at the flickering candlelight in Liu's courtyard. "Tomorrow, take a few trustworthy people with you to pry open the bricks under her bed."

The old housekeeper was worried: "What if Liu starts making trouble..."

"She dares?" Shen Weiwan sneered, "The last time the warehouse was pried open, it hasn't been reported to the police yet. If she makes a fuss, she will reveal her correspondence with the Second Prince."

As they were talking, the sound of horse hooves could be heard outside the courtyard. Chun Tao lifted the curtain and looked, and exclaimed in surprise: "Miss, the Seventh Prince is here!"

Shen Weiwan quickly put away the account book. When she turned around, Xiao Yu had already opened the curtain and walked in. The night dew was still on his dark clothes. "I heard someone was counting the silver. I came to ask for a cup of tea."

The old housekeeper tactfully excused himself, and Chuntao followed him out. Only Shen Weiwan and Xiao Yu were left in the room. The candlelight crackled, making the smile lines at the corners of his eyes particularly clear.

"How's the calculation going?" Xiao Yu picked up the abacus on the table and casually moved a few beads. "I heard that Liu even pawned her own step-out bed?"

Shen Weiwan snatched the abacus: "Your Highness is really well-informed." She deliberately pointed to the figure in the "Liu's compensation" column and said to him, "It's only three thousand taels, which is far from what she owes me."

Xiao Yu leaned closer, the scent of pine mixed with the aroma of alcohol hitting him. "I know a place that might be able to help you raise the sum." He tapped the account book with his fingertips. "The west wing of the Second Prince's Mansion received a batch of South China Pearls last month, the amount being exactly 10,000 taels."

Shen Weiwan's heart moved: "Your Highness means... Liu and the Second Prince share the spoils?"

"How else do you think she would have the guts to fight you?" Xiao Yu stood up and walked to the window. "But those beads should be in Liu's dowry box now, hidden in..."

"Under the bed?" Shen Weiwan blurted out. Seeing Xiao Yu raised his eyebrows, she added, "I guessed."

Xiao Yu chuckled softly, "You're quite clever." He pulled a jade pendant from his sleeve pocket and tossed it to her. "Tomorrow, have the old housekeeper take this to the pawnshop and say you're pawning Liu's South Pearl."

The jade pendant felt warm to the touch. It was the relic of Shen Weiwan's biological mother. She pinched the jade pendant, looked at Xiao Yu's back, and suddenly asked: "Your Highness, why are you helping me?"

Xiao Yu turned around, the candlelight flickering in his eyes. "I'm pleased." He walked to the door and turned back to add, "By the way, the third brick under Liu's bed is empty."

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