The Lin family manor in the Northwest is located in the east of Youzhou. It is the largest and most luxurious manor in the Northwest.

The manor covers nearly 100 acres and has five courtyards with more than 150 buildings. It boasts artificial hills, fountains, ponds, and gardens—everything one could need. First-time visitors to the Lin family estate often get lost within its walls.

It was noon when Bai Zhiyi alighted from the carriage. Looking at the imposing, studded gate of the mansion and the menacing stone lions on both sides, she hesitated.

The maid whispered in her ear, "Miss, we haven't paid back the five hundred taels we borrowed last time. Isn't it a bit inappropriate to ask for money again now?"

Bai Zhiyi whispered, "You can't leave without paying back the money."

“Miss, you’re just too thin-skinned,” the maid shook her head. “We’ll go back to the capital with Eunuch Yang. What would the General’s Mansion dare to detain you? In the capital, we can even put our meals on the tab at restaurants. When we get back to the capital, we can just ask the master for a thousand taels and send it to the General’s Mansion.”

Bai Zhiyi said, "No good. If Father finds out I borrowed a thousand taels, he'll lock me up at home for half a year and won't let me go out."

She received a fixed monthly salary in the Duke's mansion. She couldn't spend money as she pleased. She could only get a hundred or eighty taels of silver a year. If her parents found out that she had borrowed money for ten years, she didn't know how her father would punish her.

"Miss, you're only afraid that Master and Madam will find out," the maid pointed to the gate of the Lin residence, "aren't you afraid that your aunt and Madam will talk about this?"

Bai Zhiyi slapped the maid's hand away: "You gossip, your aunt isn't that kind of person."

As the two were whispering to each other, the door opened and a male servant peeked out. Seeing Bai Zhiyi and the other woman standing at the door, he quickly came out and said, "Isn't this Miss Bai? Why didn't you greet me?"

Bai Zhiyi had come to borrow money, and feeling a little embarrassed, she smiled and said, "I just arrived. Go and inform Madam that Bai Zhiyi has come."

The servant glanced back at the gate, then turned around and said, "Miss Bai, you'd better go in yourself. None of us dare to speak to Madam; she's been angry since this morning."

The servant then opened the door and invited Bai Zhiyi inside.

"My aunt has been angry all morning?" Bai Zhiyi asked the servants as she entered the Lin residence. "Who made her angry?"

The servant said, "I don't know either, it seems to be about accounts. Miss Bai, please go in directly, I still need to stay here and guard the gate."

Bai Zhiyi walked through a courtyard and saw that the servants coming and going were all very cautious. The entire Lin mansion was filled with a repressive atmosphere, and something seemed wrong.

The maidservant beside her said, "Miss, something doesn't seem right. That servant just said that Madam got angry because of the accounts."

"What are accounts?" Bai Zhiyi asked.

She grew up in the Duke's mansion and knew nothing about money matters. She only knew that the Lin family made their fortune through trade and became the richest family in Youzhou.

"Miss, you didn't even know this?" the maid explained. "Accounts are how much money was spent and how much money was earned. That way, at the end of the month and the end of the year, you can know how much you've earned and how much you've lost."

Bai Zhiyi stopped and said, "If we had made a profit, Aunt wouldn't be so angry. Could it be that we lost money?"

She stood there stunned for a moment, then thought about it carefully. The Lin family was so wealthy, a thousand taels of silver was a small sum for them.

While I was still in a daze, a group of dogs barked from behind the screen wall, quickly getting closer.

"Miss, there's a dog!"

The maid screamed and grabbed Bai Zhiyi's hand, trying to hide. Before the two could run away, five or six small dogs of different colors darted out from behind the wall, barking as they rushed past their feet.

Bai Zhiyi was so frightened that she dared not move, her eyes closed. Then she heard someone shout from ahead, "Third Young Master, slow down!"

"Miss, be careful!" The maid's exclamation rang in her ears, and then she felt as if something had hit her lower abdomen hard, causing her to squat down on the ground in pain.

Clutching her lower abdomen, she opened her eyes and saw that it was her aunt's youngest son, Lin Fei, sitting on the ground, covering his head and crying loudly with his eyes closed, "Which bastard is blocking my way? Come here quickly and drag her away to beat her!"

Several servants ran over, panting, and helped the little boy up. Some dusted him off, while others picked up the windmill that had fallen to the ground. A maid from the Lin family came to help Bai Zhiyi.

"Third Young Master, please don't cry," the maid said, helping Bai Zhiyi up. "You knocked down your cousin, what are you wailing about!"

Lin Fei recognized the maid's voice, quickly opened her eyes, and saw that it was Bai Zhiyi. She smiled through her tears and said, "Cousin, it's you! I'm sorry."

Bai Zhiyi was both amused and exasperated. She reached out and touched the top of Lin Fei's head, saying, "It's nothing."

Her little cousin, Lin Fei, was only five years old. He was her aunt's youngest son and a notorious troublemaker in the Lin family. Her aunt and uncle doted on him, letting him run wild and do whatever he wanted. No one in the entire Lin family could control this little tyrant.

Bai Zhiyi and her personal maid, however, rarely visited the Lin residence, so Lin Fei was more obedient when he saw them. Especially Bai Zhiyi's maid, Lin Fei was quite afraid of her when she got fierce.

Bai Zhiyi adored her little cousin. Although Lin Fei was mischievous, he would obediently admit his mistakes when he knew they were wrong, which she particularly appreciated.

Lin Fei stood up, ignoring the windmill from the servant, and ran to the backyard, shouting, "Mother, the most beautiful woman in the capital has arrived! Mother..."

Bai Zhiyi and her maid hurried after him. Bai Zhiyi called out, "Xiao Fei, watch where you're going. Don't run with your head down, or you'll fall again."

Like a little bull, Lin Fei ran all the way into a room with three doors. A servant was carrying an account book more than two feet high and was walking out. Lin Fei bumped into the servant, knocking him over and scattering the account book all over the floor.

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