Chapter 14 Water Dragon Chant (Part 4) - Collapse.

Ye Mu accidentally stumbled upon her parents' private affair. For several days in a row, she felt somewhat awkward whenever she saw Ye Sanye. She also secretly glanced at her mother and father. In a tense standoff, she and her father would look away as soon as their eyes met, and their conversations consisted of only necessary everyday exchanges, which were quite distant.

Ye Mu was secretly anxious. When couples quarrel, it is most undesirable for them to remain in a stalemate for so long. If they stay cold and distant, the warmth they once shared will dissipate. It is customary to make up before going to bed, but how can they reconcile when her father has been staying at Baopuzhai for several nights in a row?

The little affection she had for Jiang Si in her previous life probably began to fade away when they started living apart.

At that time, Ye Mu temporarily avoided the hustle and bustle at home and recuperated in Baoxiang Temple for three months. During the day, he copied scriptures in the meditation room. Perhaps because his mind was open, his body also became more refreshed.

In the brocade tent at night, Ye Mu seemed more affectionate than usual. Jiang Si was extremely attentive and willing to put in the effort. Although his enthusiasm often rose and fell quickly, and the actual time spent in the brocade tent was not long, he still did his best to tease her. Compared to before, his teasing was not hasty and could be described as tender.

It was truly a blessing from the Bodhisattva that she became pregnant.

Ye Mu, captivated by the tranquility of the temple, harbored the idea of ​​staying there permanently and plotted to ask the abbot for a favor.

Although Wen Kong had a cold and stern expression, he was not an unapproachable person. Seeing that Ye Mu's pregnancy was just stabilizing and she was tired from the journey, he made an exception and allowed her to continue to recuperate in the temple.

“Since you are pregnant, it is not advisable for you to travel.” Wen Kong’s gaze swept over her still-flat belly. “The east wing faces the sun and is further from the chanting hall, so you will be less of a nuisance. You can stay there for now.”

Having been away from home for a long time, Jiang Si would come to visit whenever he had free time. The Zen monastery was quiet and secluded, but he would often get close to him, wanting to do intimate things.

Ye Mu was pregnant and felt lethargic. She also felt that it was not appropriate for a Buddhist sanctuary to be like this. Moreover, Wen Kong was only a wall away. Perhaps feeling guilty, Ye Mu noticed that whenever Jiang Si closed the door, the sound of the wooden fish in the next room would become louder, striking her heart with a deep, resonant rhythm.

On one occasion, by sheer coincidence, Jiang Si was nuzzling against her, murmuring contentedly, "So soft, how come these two are getting bigger as my belly gets bigger?"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a muffled thud came from next door. The wooden fish fell heavily to the ground, followed by a rapid rolling sound, which sounded particularly startling in the quiet Zen temple.

Ye Mu immediately pushed Jiang Si away with all her might, her cheeks burning hot. She wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into. From then on, she was even more careful to maintain proper boundaries and dared not overstep them in the slightest.

Jiang Si came a few times, but left feeling uninterested each time, so he stopped coming as often as he had come.

This situation continued until she returned home after giving birth. After giving birth, her mother-in-law forced Ye Mu to breastfeed day and night without rest. In just a month or two, she was worn out and looked like a ghost.

Her breasts were swollen and hard, and the nipples were cracked from being sucked by the baby. At first, Jiang Si pretended to care and asked a few questions, but later he noticed that her clothes were always stained with milk, her hair was messy, and her eyes were sunken. He then disliked her for being slovenly and haggard, and simply moved to another courtyard under the pretext of "having to get up early to work." From then on, their intimate relationship was completely cut off.

However, Ye Mu later discovered that Jiang Si had already been having an affair with her close friend while she was still in the temple awaiting childbirth. But that's a story for another time.

Ye Mu leaned against the Wu King's chair, his gaze sweeping over the sparse plum branches in the courtyard. Although his father in this life was not as heartless as Jiang Si, and his relationship with his mother was very close, living in separate courtyards was not a long-term solution. His father did not understand the difficulties his mother faced in managing the household, and his mother also lacked the ability to manage it. If this continued, things were likely to change.

Ye Mu lowered his eyes in thought, his fingertips unconsciously twisting the embroidery on his sash. His mother's difficulty lay in the accounts. Since they were a muddled mess of accounts accumulated over the years, he could not expect to clear them up in one day. He had to find a clever way to achieve his goal with minimal effort.

On this early spring day, the sky was clear and bright.

Ye Mu held the embroidery frame, gazing intently at the unfinished lotus scroll pattern on the silk handkerchief.

She was already seven years old, which, according to the rules of the Marquis's mansion, was the time for her to begin learning arts and crafts. While the arts of playing the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting could be learned later, needlework was the primary subject for young ladies, and it had recently been added to her daily lessons. However, Wen Kong, who was supposed to come and instruct her on brushwork today, had not yet arrived, so she had to deal with the homework assigned by her needlework teacher first.

Ye Mu was unfamiliar with this skill in his previous life. Later, when he first married Jiang Si, the family was struggling financially. To save money, he learned to sew robes and clothes from an aunt in the neighboring alley. After several years, his skills were barely passable.

Back then, even oil lamps had to be used sparingly, and sewing for too long would cause eye strain and irritation. Therefore, Ye Mu had no fondness for needlework in this life.

She finished a few stitches, and then two or three rough-working women came down from the corridor to carry out old felt blankets, chair covers, and other items used during the New Year's festival, preparing to wash and dry them.

The stewardess called out to them, "Be careful, everyone. Although these are old items, they are made of good material. Be careful not to snag any threads. Tie them up properly before loading them onto the cart and sending them to the laundry!"

Ye Mu put down her embroidery frame and looked over. She saw two old women struggling to lift a heavy bundle of woolen blankets onto a flatbed cart covered with a blue cloth. The mule pulling the cart snorted and pawed at the ground with its hooves.

Ye Mu's eyes followed the carriage as it moved. Suddenly, she slipped on her soft-soled embroidered shoes and ran to the old woman who was about to leave with the carriage. She looked up at her and asked, "Grandma, how many copper coins do we have to pay the driver to have this carpet washed?"

When the old woman saw that it was the Fourth Miss, she quickly stopped and smiled dismissively, "This is none of your business. A few coins are enough for the coachman to buy some steamed buns."

Ye Mu, however, tugged at her clothes and wouldn't let go. "How many coins are there? Grandma, tell me, I want to learn to count."

The old woman was driven to desperation by her persistence. "This journey isn't far, it'll cost at most ten coins."

A cartload of old goods, short distance, ten coins.

After noon, Ye Mu made an excuse to go find her older brother, and then pestered Zi Jing to take her to the vicinity of the gatehouse.

Just then, a servant from the purchasing team returned empty-handed, complaining to the gatekeeper, "Manager Qiu is so unpleasant. He wouldn't send a clerk to deliver just two bolts of sample material, making us run back ourselves, which is a waste of our time."

The gatekeeper laughed and scolded, "You lazy bum! Running a errand can tire you out, can't the household afford to shortchange you on wages?"

“It’s not about the wages. How much time does it take to go back and forth like this? Besides, we’ll have to argue about the cost of the sampling trip later when it’s reimbursed.”

Ye Mu immediately perked up her ears and leaned forward, "Big brother, is it far to get the fabric? Did you walk there?"

Upon seeing that it was the Fourth Miss, the servant hurriedly bowed and said, "Fourth Miss, it's not far. It's just a branch of Yun Jin Xuan at the street corner. It's only a short walk away."

"Does the government give you money for a carriage?" Ye Mu asked innocently.

The servant chuckled, "Oh, my dear girl, it's just a few steps, why take a carriage? You can run there. Even if you want to give me some money, it's only a penny or two, who would care about that?"

Ye Mu gave an "Oh," and then mentally calculated that anything that could be reached on foot required almost no effort.

For several days in a row, Ye Mu quietly stayed around various trivial matters such as moving and purchasing.

Sometimes she would watch the carts and horses carrying vegetables from the villagers at the side gate, counting the baskets on her fingers, and asking the old man driving the cart in a soft voice where the vegetables came from and how long it had been traveling; other times she would stand at the warehouse gate, watching people unload newly arrived porcelain and heavy rice, and asking the servants carrying the bundles if they were heavy.

She was young and had a lovely, fair appearance. Her questions were innocent, and the servants thought she was just repeating what she was doing. Most of them answered with a smile and no one suspected anything.

Zijing followed behind Ye Mu and saw that she would often fiddle with that little abacus with it in a serious manner. She found it amusing and wondered, "Is Fourth Sister going to become an accountant?"

Ye Mu puffed out her cheeks, "A-Jing is right, I want to be Mother's accountant."

In this way, Ye Mu secretly figured out the distance, weight, and usual cost of transportation for moving various supplies in the mansion. Although not precise, he had a general idea.

She discovered that these fees were actually limited and mostly fixed, and certainly not as Zhang Niangzi had claimed, that the high costs had to be spread across every piece of fabric.

That day, Ye Mu, carrying a small abacus and a blank tracing book, slipped into the side room of his mother's office.

Mrs. Liu was rubbing her temples in front of a stack of account books, looking deeply weary.

"Mother, Mother," Ye Mu sidled up to her and opened the notebook, "Let's see what I've learned recently."

Liu assumed she was just playing around again, so she put down the accounts and started looking through Ye Mu's notebook:

"A cartload of heavy blankets was sent to be washed. The old woman said to give the driver ten coins."

"Young man, go to the street corner empty-handed to get the cloth; it's free."

"The old man who delivers vegetables comes from the village outside the South Gate. He brings a cart full of fresh, green vegetables. He comes in the morning and returns at noon. The government pays him twenty large coins."

“And another thing, the warehouse uncle was carrying the big vats, all huff and puff, they were so heavy!” She exaggeratedly spread her arms wide. “But he just moved them around in the yard. Ah Jing said it didn’t cost any money, it was just his job.”

She chattered away like a fledgling bird in spring, recounting in detail what she had seen and heard over the past few days.

The child's words dispelled Liu's confusion. She looked at the book and saw that a cart carrying wood and coal cost no more than thirty coins per load; the cost of delivering rice, grain, vegetables and fruits to the village ranged from fifty to one hundred and twenty coins per trip, depending on the distance and the load; if there were urgent documents or delicate items that needed to be delivered by fast horse, the cost would be different, but it rarely exceeded two hundred coins.

When Madam Liu opened the account book, she found that the cost of purchasing silk for the mansion was as high as one tael of silver for each piece of fabric. If a cart could carry thirty pieces, the cost of the cart and horses would be thirty taels!

Thirty taels is enough for an average family of four to eat for a year. Who would believe there's no trickery involved?

She put her arm around Ye Mu and asked, "Fourth Sister, did you find all of this out yourself?"

"Yes!" Ye Mu nodded emphatically. "Mother is worried about the accounts all day long. Fourth Sister wants to help Mother. If Fourth Sister can understand the account books, Mother won't have to work so hard."

Liu choked slightly.

She knew perfectly well that the relationships within this household were complex and deeply entrenched, something a seven-year-old child could not easily comprehend. Yet, her daughter's sincere desire to protect her mother brought her great comfort.

She hugged Ye Mu tightly, "Fourth Sister, be good, do your mother another favor, okay?"

"Mother, please give your orders. Fourth Sister will help those in need to the very end!"

Liu was amused. "Here's what we're saying. When the silk we bought arrives the day after tomorrow, you can go play at the gatehouse corner as you did the other day. If you see the carriages returning, secretly help your mother take a look."

How many bolts of timber were loaded on that trip? How many mules and horses were pulling the cart? Was the driver someone from the manor or someone hired from outside? It would be even better if we could find out the total cost of the trip.

Just like what Fourth Sister did before, she observed everything clearly, asked questions discreetly, and only told her mother upon returning. Could she possibly do that?

"Yes!" Ye Mu clenched her little fist. "Fourth Sister will definitely help Mother see clearly."

Two days later at noon, before the car arrived, Ye Mu did meet Wen Kong.

Upon seeing him, Ye Mu felt a surge of anger.

A note from the author:

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