The Emperor casually remarked, "Then let them have a contest... a contest of settling accounts!"

Only then did a eunuch go to the county magistrate's residence to deliver the imperial decree.

Emperor Shunqing was extremely busy with state affairs, so he couldn't just wait for the Su mother and daughter to enter the palace. He sent Ye Ning away and started discussing other matters with Grand Secretary Zhang.

Ye Ning then hurried back to the Taige Tower to arrange the competition.

As the Minister of Revenue, Jiang Mingli was Ye An's superior, and naturally, he was also on duty in the Taigelou (Imperial Pavilion).

He saw Ye An leading Su Shi, who was dressed in a female official's court dress, in, and his brow twitched violently.

He never imagined that his former sister-in-law, a mere merchant's daughter whom so many looked down upon, could actually gain a place in the court, a place reserved for men, because of her business acumen.

When he saw Xiao Youran following behind Su, his brows furrowed even more.

He strode up to the two of them and shouted, "Nonsense! This is no place for children to play!"

Xiao Youran waved to him and said, "Uncle, I'm not here to play, I'm here to settle accounts."

Jiang Mingli: ...

How dare you talk like that? Who are you trying to settle scores with?

He looked at Ye An, "Lord Ye, the Taige Building is the office of the Six Ministries of the Inner Cabinet. How can children be allowed to make a fuss here?!"

Ye An bowed respectfully, "Lord Jiang, Xiao Youran is right, she really didn't come here to play."

Jiang Mingli felt a lump in his throat, "Then she came here...?"

Ye Andao said, "I'm here by imperial decree to settle accounts!"

Jiang Mingli looked like he'd seen a ghost. "What kind of accounts could a child like her possibly have?"

"A duel to settle accounts!" Ye An bowed towards the Xuanyuan Hall. "By imperial decree, Princess Fengle, Jiang Youran, is invited to have a duel to settle accounts with the Tingmu Division!"

Jiang Mingli: ...

He angrily retorted, "Why was I unaware of this?!"

Ye An stroked his beard. "Previously in the Imperial Study, His Majesty personally issued the decree to Grand Secretary Zhang and me. Besides, has Lord Jiang forgotten that I am in charge of the affairs of the Court of Imperial Recruitment, which go directly to His Majesty's ears? I dare not trouble Lord Jiang with my involvement."

At the moment, Grand Secretary Zhang is still in the Imperial Study, so naturally he hasn't had time to inform Jiang Mingli yet.

Jiang Mingli sneered, "This is ridiculous! You want to compete with officials from the Ministry of Revenue? Can't I even interfere? The clerks and officials in the Ministry of Revenue are all busy with government affairs. How can they have time to compete with a five-year-old girl? Even if you find someone, you can still let whoever you want win."

Ye An was stunned. Indeed, all the officials under the Ministry of Revenue were under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Revenue. If Jiang Mingli didn't budge, he couldn't possibly ask them to put down their work and compete with a five-year-old child in some kind of accounting contest!

The people he just arranged certainly don't represent the true level of the Ministry of Revenue.

Madam Su smoothed things over, saying, "My lords, please don't argue over my daughter. Winning or losing isn't important. Lord Ye, since this is a competition ordered by imperial decree, let's just go through the motions."

A slightly aged voice came from the side, "Wait a minute, it's already been said that this is a competition by imperial decree, so naturally we must show our true skills, otherwise what's the point of this competition? Does Lord Jiang intend to disobey the imperial decree?"

The group looked in the direction of the voice, and Ye An bowed before introducing Su Shi, "Lady Huihe, Princess Fengle, this is our Grand Secretary Li."

Su bowed and greeted, "Greetings, Grand Secretary Li."

Xiao Youran smiled and said cutely, "Greetings, Grandpa Li."

Grand Secretary Li nodded casually and looked at Jiang Mingli, "Lord Jiang, since this little girl was able to obtain the Emperor's decree, she must have extraordinary abilities. I would like to ask Lord Jiang to select six officials from the Ministry of Revenue to participate in the competition. If you are worried about losing, feel free to choose the most skilled in divination."

Jiang Mingli's position in the capital was already precarious. There weren't many officials in the Six Ministries who were on his side, and there were often infighting among them. In particular, he felt that Grand Secretary Li had been looking down on him lately.

This competition sounds utterly absurd. How could Grand Secretary Li actually ask him to seriously select six of the most capable officials to compete?

The other person is just a five-year-old child?

Any random adult could run her over, right?

but!

He straightened his neck and said, "Grand Secretary Li is joking. Princess Fengle is my Jiang family's niece. She is only five years old. What does she know about accounting? How could she compete with officials from the Ministry of Revenue? I suppose His Majesty was just joking. Why did you take it seriously?"

His words sounded as if he were protecting his own niece, and he also offered Li Ge Lao a way out.

Unexpectedly, Grand Secretary Li did not accept this offer of leniency, saying, "A monarch's word is law. Perhaps His Majesty is waiting for the outcome of this contest."

Jiang Mingli, defiantly facing his superior's gaze, said, "The Ministry of Revenue is in charge of the national treasury. The officials are already extremely busy. How could they waste time competing with a five-year-old child? I'm sure His Majesty can understand their hard work."

Grand Secretary Li was somewhat annoyed; was this Jiang Mingli really so stubborn?

At this moment, another aged voice came, "Grand Secretary Li is right. His Majesty just sent me to preside over the competition and convey the truth!"

An old man was following behind.

Grand Secretary Li, Jiang Mingli, and Ye An quickly bowed to them, saying, "Grand Secretary Lin, Grand Secretary Zhang."

Madam Su, accompanied by Xiao Youran, also bowed and said, "Greetings, Chief Minister Lin and Grand Secretary Zhang."

Prime Minister Lin glanced at them, then smiled, "You two, mother and daughter, are the recently sensational Huihe Yiren and Fengle County Princess?"

Su replied modestly, "I dare not accept such praise; it is indeed I, your humble servant."

Chief Minister Lin looked at Xiao Youran, "Little girl, the Emperor was just talking about you! He said someone praised you to the skies in front of him!"

The group of people all looked at Ye An simultaneously.

This kind of thing could only be done by Ye An.

Ye An became anxious, "Your Excellency! I did not make any boasts. The young county princess does indeed possess extraordinary talent in divination and accounting!"

In fact, after he had seen that accounting method at the county magistrate's mansion last time, he really wanted the Su mother and daughter to teach this accounting method, along with Arabic numerals, to the officials of the Ministry of Revenue.

It's important to understand that the Ministry of Revenue employed over sixty officials in charge of the treasury's revenue and expenditure, while the Ministry of Revenue was responsible for the treasury's budget and control. It was arguably the largest and most populous of the six ministries, primarily because the treasury's accounts were notoriously difficult to manage. Even with six hundred people, let alone sixty, it would likely be difficult to truly clarify the treasury's finances.

However, after learning the balanced accounting method taught by Su, he went home and tried it out himself, changing all of the Ye family's accounts for a year into Arabic numerals and the new accounting method. In just a few days, he cleared the accounts!

So these past few days he's been thinking to himself, wouldn't it be both fast and accurate if all the officials in the Ministry of Revenue learned to use this new accounting method?

So, he praised Xiao Youran to the skies in front of the Emperor, which aroused the Emperor Shunqing's strong interest, and that's how the imperial edict for the competition came about.