Chapter 34 Using Public Office for Personal Revenge: Li Yang Ignores Chen Junbo...

The carriage slowly came to a stop in front of the Chen residence. The gatekeeper, having received instructions, carried the account books from the carriage to Lanxin Pavilion.

Seeing this familiar scene, Li Yang couldn't help but chuckle softly.

Chen Junbo glanced at her sideways, "What are you laughing at?"

Li Yang's eyes flickered, and a hint of mockery appeared on his lips: "Young Master Chen, why is it that every time I go out with you, all we bring back are account books? I remember when Miss Ziyan first entered the Chen family, when you two returned home, the carriage was filled with fine silks, satins, and jewelry."

She raised the corner of her eye slightly, "This kind of differential treatment, you could say it's abuse of me."

Chen Junbo stopped in his tracks: "Which ones do you like?"

"Just kidding." Li Yang turned and walked backward, his clothes fluttering lightly. "You are my employer, how could I be so rude?"

"The boss?" Chen Junbo repeated her words.

Li Yang smiled and said, "Yes, we signed a contract, it's all in black and white, the price is clearly stated, and the agreed price is a thousand taels of silver. What else could you be but my employer? You're not only my employer, but also a generous and magnanimous one!"

Chen Junbo's gaze darkened slightly: "So, the tea shop helping you buy that maid, asking your grandfather to register the tea shop under your name today, and even what happened at the flower shop just now... to you, are all just matters between employer and employee?"

“Yes, isn’t that right?” Li Yang said, glancing at him with a puzzled look.

Chen Junbo's lips curled into a slight smile, but he remained silent.

Seeing this, Li Yang turned and left with a charming smile.

The person behind her raised their hand back to their side, and beneath their wide sleeves, their knuckles curled into a fist. They then stepped forward and followed her.

Ta-da!

Li Yang appeared on the second floor, calling out in a sweet voice, "Little Deer, Little Deer, come quick! We've brought back so many account books." Her voice wasn't loud, but it had a clear, youthful quality, like the tinkling of bells in the wind.

Xiao Lu responded and stepped forward. In the past few days, because Lanxin Pavilion had been selling Caiqing and Molian one after another, Chen Junbai had told Xiao Lu to stay by Li Yang's side for the time being. It wouldn't be too late for her to learn skills after he arranged for the maids to be purchased. The two of them, master and servant, were both very happy, and Li Yang, caught in the middle, didn't say anything.

As soon as Xiao Lu stepped out, she saw the young mistress running towards her with a smile, while the young master followed steadily behind her, his face ashen.

She hurriedly went to greet them and curtsied, saying, "Young Master, Young Madam."

"Go and fetch the pen." Chen Junbai waved his hand, signaling her to hurry up.

Upon receiving the order, the little girl vanished in a flash.

As soon as the pen entered the main room, Chen Junbo sat upright at his desk, glancing at the books. "If the young mistress has any questions about the Huaju Bureau's accounts, you must answer them without hesitation."

"Answer everything you know?" Bi Fang pondered the meaning behind these words and tentatively replied, "Yes, young master. However, the preparations for the southern tour and the welcoming of the emperor are quite complicated these days, and we've all reached a critical juncture. I'm afraid there won't be enough time..."

"Of course, we must prioritize important matters," Chen Junbo said calmly.

"What do you mean?" Li Yang suddenly interrupted, "Isn't the flower party a serious matter?"

Don't think she can't see it. Bi Fang is busy every day. Is she really too busy to take care of the accounts of her flower shop? How come she had time to look at the accounts of the tea shop before?

Young Master Chen seemed to take an interest in the jade pendants at his waist, but he lowered his eyes and fiddled with them as if he hadn't heard anything.

Li Yang didn't tolerate him and questioned, "On the carriage, you clearly agreed that Bi Fang would help me review the accounts. There are so many account books since the flower shop opened. How can I review them all by myself?"

Young Master Chen raised his eyebrows leisurely, and as their eyes met, a slight smile appeared on his lips. He said slowly, "Since Bi Fang has important matters to attend to, he should naturally go and attend to his business... You keep calling me 'Master,' and since you have taken on the job of a Master, you should do your best."

"You!" Li Yang knew that he was making things difficult for him, but he was helpless.

Chen Junbo was busy pouring water and making tea, fiddling with his jade pendant and turning his thumb ring, unable to spare a single glance for her.

Li Yang stomped his foot angrily, "Fine, I'll watch it myself!" With that, he snorted and ran out of the house.

Seeing this, Bi Fang and Xiao Lu looked at each other in bewilderment.

Chen Junbo stood up, dusted off his clothes, looked up at the two of them, and frowned, asking, "Is something the matter?"

Within half a day, everyone in Lanxin Pavilion knew two things:

The young mistress has started looking at the accounts again;

The young mistress is ignoring the young master;

Unfortunately, this young master Chen seems to have nothing to do these days, and he always stays at home. The two of them often meet, and whenever they do, the young mistress either ignores him or turns away.

But to say that the young mistress was disliked by the young master doesn't seem like it.

The young mistress occupied the young master's study every day, and the clattering sound of her abacus could be heard all the way to Baomo Hall.

This young master, however, would either carry a book or a cup of tea, insisting on going into the study, deliberately coming right under people's noses to annoy them.

Soon, some people started to scheme against it.

"Miss Lu, you're a favorite of the young mistress, what's going on here?"

Little Deer chuckled and said, "How would I know about the young master and young mistress's affairs? Perhaps they're just joking around, and it'll be fine in a few days."

She was half right. A few days later, things did take a turn for the better, but not because the young mistress was just joking around with the young master. Rather, the young mistress was genuinely in trouble.

Li Yang spoke with such conviction that day, but after looking at the accounts for two days, he lost his composure.

She originally thought that after the tea shop incident, the accounts of this small flower shop would be a piece of cake.

But the reality is:

Unsold flowers are being thrown away? What category does that fall under?

Why does mud cost money? What category does that fall under?

What? Those oddly shaped stones need to be differentiated by color? And they'll be discounted if they're left for a long time?

After observing for three days, Li Yang could only say that this flower shop was a small temple with a lot of evil spirits! No wonder Chen Junbai didn't like to get involved in these things. Every business had its own accounts, and not only were they all kinds of things, but the combined profits were not even as much as a single storefront of a salt shop.

Helpless, she sighed and started calculating again.

"This is nonstop, one day after another, can't a person get any rest! This scheme is a complete disaster, is it to make more money or what?!"

With disheveled hair, Madam Chen got off the bed, flung aside the arm that was wrapped around her waist with its veins showing, kicked off her shoes, and went to the door to call for someone, "Ruqing! Ruqing!"

"Madam!" Granny Sun pushed open the door and bowed as she entered.

Chen Zhangshi looked impatient. "Go and see how long they're going to keep this up!"

As she spoke, she turned and sat down in front of the dressing table, putting on her hair in front of the mirror, saying, "Whether it's day or night, she's the only one in the world who knows how to do accounts, such a pretentious thing!"

Seeing this, Granny Sun hurriedly stepped forward to help, whispering in Madam Chen's ear, "That's right, these past few days, Lanxin Pavilion has been doing accounts day and night, and I don't know how many account books they've read... But, I've heard that the young mistress has offended the young master."

"Oh?" Madam Chen became interested, put down the earring in her hand, and turned to look at the person beside her. "What's going on?"

Granny Sun hurriedly said, "These past few days, I heard from the maids over there that the two of them have fallen to the point where they don't even recognize each other when they meet."

Upon hearing this, Madam Chen immediately became interested, turned around, and exclaimed happily, "Really?! Granny, please tell me quickly."

"I heard it's because the young mistress wanted to trouble Steward Bi to help with the accounts, but the young master refused, and that's why the two of them had a falling out." Granny Sun's eyelids covered her eyelashes, and she even winked at the moment. "You think about it, Steward Bi is so busy every day, this girl really dares to think."

I also heard that this young mistress is quite stubborn. When the young master wouldn't release her, she got angry with him and ran away whenever she saw him. I heard from the people over there that the two haven't spoken for several days.”

"Hahahahahaha..." Chen Zhangshi laughed shrilly, her previous anger completely gone, and now she was as radiant as if she had eaten ginseng.

Suddenly, a pair of arms reached out from her shoulders, and a pair of slender, bony fingers gently stroked her neck.

Madam Chen leaned slightly against the waist of the person behind her, placing her hands on the back of that person's hands, but facing the nanny beside her, she said, "This is called reaping what you sow! Bai'er now knows what that girl is capable of, she deserves it!"

"I told you long ago, that girl can't live up to the Chen family's reputation! Hmph, father and son are cut from the same cloth; they can't stand anything pretentious. Look, now a simple flower arrangement has exposed her true colors!"

Granny Sun shifted her feet, pushing the man aside half a step, and stood side by side with Madam Chen. "That's right. If we had listened to Madam earlier and married a lady from a wealthy family or a daughter of an official, we wouldn't have had to deal with all this trouble."

Upon hearing this, Madam Chen's lips curled up. She tilted her head back and kissed the wrist of the person behind her. The person's hand slipped inside her clothes along her neck.

Seeing this, Granny Sun closed the door and went out. She could hear lewd words and women's panting coming out through the crack in the door.

Sun Ruqing took a deep breath, turned around and went to the kitchen to ask for a bowl of bird's nest soup to cool her down.