If the general's family was not so wealthy and powerful, how could it be feared by the emperor?
The emperor would not personally issue an order to witness the marriage of Shen Ningyuan and Ji Yunchuan after learning about their marriage!
All of this is to tie the Shen and Ji families together.
Let those princes who covet the throne not set their sights on the Shen family.
Thinking of this, Shen Potian looked at Shen Ningyuan with even more heartache.
As if she had noticed something, Shen Ningyuan subconsciously turned her head to look.
When she saw the tenderness in Shen Potian’s eyes, Shen Ningyuan couldn’t help but feel a little sad.
But soon, Shen Ningyuan calmed down again and gave Shen Potian a reassuring look.
After retracting her gaze, Shen Ningyuan looked at Ji Zehai and Chen, who had sinister expressions, and asked coldly, "Lord Ji, Madam Ji, can we settle the account now?"
Ji Zehai's face darkened, and he gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "Alright! Call out the accountant you hired, and have him calculate the dowry in front of us. No matter how much your dowry is, the Marquis' Mansion will return it to you in full!"
Chen was shocked and stared at Ji Zehai with her eyes wide open: "My Lord, you——"
Ji Zehai shook his head and signaled Chen not to say anything more.
He just couldn't believe that Uncle Chen had been making the Yin-Yang account book for so long, but Shen Ningyuan could figure it out in just a few days!
Seeing that Ji Zehai had made up his mind, Chen had no choice but to shut up.
But he still looked worried, afraid that Shen Ningyuan would really figure out something.
No wonder the Shen family father and son would accompany Shen Ningyuan here.
It turned out that they were asking for dowry for Shen Ningyuan!
Thinking of this, Chen became furious again.
This bitch has already married into the Marquis's Mansion.
Why don’t you think more about the Marquis’ Mansion instead of just thinking about that little bit of dowry?
Seeing Ji Zehai's determined eyes, the sneer on Shen Ningyuan's face became even more intense: "Okay, then my daughter-in-law will settle the accounts in front of you today!"
"Lambert, come in."
As Shen Ningyuan finished speaking, Lan Bo walked in.
He walked to Shen Ningyuan respectfully and said, “Young Madam, all the accounts, big and small, in the Marquis’ Mansion have been calculated.”
Looking at the several account books in Lanbo's hand, Ji Zehai and Chen widened their eyes.
Ji Zehai asked sternly, "Chen Ningyuan, is this the accountant you hired? He looks like a charlatan. Are you being cheated?"
Shen Ningyuan smiled faintly: “Whether I have been deceived or not, the Marquis will know after listening to Lan Bo’s words.”
As he spoke, Shen Ningyuan stepped aside to make way: "Lan Bo, give the accounts you have settled in the past few days to the Marquis and Madam Ji and explain them in detail."
"Yes, young lady."
Lambert responded, walked out with the account book, and opened it calmly.
"This one is the account book of the Marquis's estate. The other one is the account book of the young lady's dowry."
"I carefully checked the two account books and found that the Marquis's expenses far exceeded his salary and income. I'm very curious. How can they spend 50,000 taels a month when they only have a few thousand taels a month? Conversely, there's a clear discrepancy between the Young Madam's dowry income and expenditure. She should have received tens of thousands of taels, but it only shows a few thousand."
After hearing this, Shen Haobai was the first to break down and couldn't help but exclaimed: "What? The difference between the income and expenditure is as high as tens of thousands of taels!"
Then, Shen Haobai pointed at Ji Zehai and Chen and angrily demanded, "Tell me the truth, how much of my sister's dowry was ripped off!"
When a junior pointed his nose at him, Ji Zehai's face instantly stiffened and his eyes were fierce.
Chen quickly stepped forward to explain, "My dear nephew, the General's family is vast and powerful, and as a man like you, you don't know the cost of food and clothing, so you naturally don't understand the intricacies of life. When recording in their account books, these aristocratic families tend to record extra expenses just to save face."
After Chen finished speaking, Shen Ningyuan snorted coldly: “Oh, really?”
Then he gave Lambert a look, signaling him to continue.
Lambert took out the third account book and continued, "And here, this account book records the young lady's dowry and its amount. However, after checking the young lady's private vault, I found that many of the expensive dowries were missing."
"My humble guess is that if the money wasn't embezzled from within the Marquis's mansion, then there must be a thief. I suggest that Madam, take this list to the government office and retrieve the lost items!"
While Lan Bo was speaking, Ji Zehai and Chen's expressions became more and more ugly.
When Lambert suggested reporting to the police, the two men's faces changed instantly.
Ji Zehai even stood up, pointed at Lan Bo and angrily shouted, "What are you reporting to the authorities for? You slave, don't you think our mansion is unlucky and shameful enough? The eldest son of the mansion was just buried, and now you report the thief to the authorities. If this gets out, how will those clans in the capital view our mansion?"
Lanber glanced at Ji Zehai indifferently.
Without any response, he turned directly to Shen Ningyuan who was standing beside him.
Ji Zehai never expected that he, the head of a marquisate, would be ignored by a servant.
He pointed at Lan Bo fiercely and shouted, "You, you, you, you dare to ignore me? Believe it or not, I will sell you out and send you to the frontier as a government slave!"
Lambert said nothing, still keeping his head down.
Seeing Ji Zehai's frustrated look, Shen Ningyuan couldn't help laughing.
He said lightly, "Lord Ji, you don't know that Lan Bo is a calligraphy scholar I hired. He is a good citizen and has not signed an indenture. You can't sell him."
"What? No indenture signed?" Hearing this, Ji Zehai's face was shocked: "Chen Ningyuan, you are so confident that you let an outsider manage your account books!"
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