Chapter 116 She is good at winning people’s hearts
Youlan Courtyard.
"Concubine, this is the account book sent from Qiutang Courtyard. Starting from tomorrow, all the managers in the mansion will come to Youlan Courtyard to report." Mother Fan bowed and handed the account book forward, her serious face looking cold and indifferent.
"Thank you, Mama Fan, for bringing the account books so late at night."
Shen Lingshu smiled as she looked at the pile of account books in front of her and said, "Zhu Xin, serve tea."
"No need. I still have to prepare for tomorrow's affairs, so I'll take my leave now." After reporting, Mother Fan was about to leave.
Shen Lingshu winked at Zhu Xin, who handed over the purse she had prepared long ago. Mother Fan sternly refused, "Concubine Shen, there is no need to do this. I am working for the prince, how can I accept bribes?"
After she finished speaking, Mother Fan turned and left. Her agile appearance stunned Zhu Xin. She looked at the purse in her hand and murmured, "Master, what does Mother Fan mean by this? This little bit of silver is considered a bribe?"
“Puff~~”
Shen Lingshu looked at her, picked up the tea, took a sip, and said, "Mother Fan is a concubine's person, so naturally she won't give us a good face."
"But, but now the butler is the master."
Zhu Xin was puzzled.
"For now." Shen Lingshu looked at her confused expression and didn't explain too much. She said, "Yanmo, I'm going to copy the account book."
"ah?"
Zhu Xin was even more puzzled. When she saw Shen Lingshu copying the strange account book, she looked at it even more strangely: "Master, did you copy it wrong?"
"No."
Shen Lingshu answered without raising her head. It was not an easy task for her to sort out the account books for half a year. The first thing was to tabulate these accounts.
By then, the account book will be clear at a glance. She said, "By the way, go get some alum tomorrow."
"good."
Zhu Xin answered while grinding ink. She realized belatedly that what did the master want the alum for?
Zhu Xin lowered her head, watching Shen Lingshu copy seriously, and said nothing.
For three consecutive days, Shen Lingshu finally sorted out all the account books for the past six months. At the same time, she sorted them out. You won’t know until you see them.
In just half a year, the price of grain has fluctuated a lot.
Also, the shop's profits, even in good weather, were meager, and they only sold cloth.
Needless to say, what happened on the farm was that Shen Lingshu only needed to look at the bills for the past six months to know that Concubine Fang had embezzled a lot of money!
It seems that the script is still conservative. Concubine Fang's accounting method is quite clever in the eyes of the ancients, but as long as it is made into a table and compared, it can be clearly and intuitively discovered!
If there were accounts for the previous five years, it would probably be clearer and more intuitive.
Shen Lingshu wrote down what she had found out on bamboo slips, and with a special steel needle, she began to carve deep marks.
"Master, I'm coming."
Zhu Xin volunteered to take over the job and watched Shen Lingshu write on the account book with alum water. It was like water flowing through paper. After a while, everything was gone.
Zhu Xin's lips moved but she didn't say a word.
The study in the front yard of Prince Lin’s Mansion.
"I admit it."
Qing Wu ran over excitedly and said, "Your Highness, those people have confessed. They just listened to others' instigation, took the silver, and deliberately replaced it with a scented flower pot."
"Who instigated you?" Chu Cong asked in a deep voice.
"The guy called Tiger Brother is tall and strong, but it's hard to find someone like him."
Qing Wu added, "I asked him when we would meet again, and he just said that he would send me some scented flower pots every six months."
"Are they related to Concubine Fang?"
Chu Cong asked, in the past few days, all the people in the palace were checked, and some people with unclean hands were caught and sold, but no connection was found between Concubine Fang and these flower pots.
“At the moment, nothing has been found.”
Qing Wu shook his head and whispered, "However, Your Majesty, we can investigate further. We still have to control these people and find the messenger behind the scenes."
"Well, keep an eye on him." Chu Cong reminded.
Qing Wu assured, "Don't worry, Your Majesty."
"By the way, Your Highness, this kind of scented flowerpot has not only been bought by our palace, but many people have bought it. I just don't know if there are any with musk." Qingwu thought of another important thing.
"check."
Chu Cong said, "Ask them to hand over the account books of the porcelain they sold, and check them one by one."
Chu Cong's eyes were cold. This kind of fragrant flowerpot was really hard to guard against. He had to write a memorial.
The next day, the emperor received Chu Cong's memorial and immediately sent people to check the palace. If he hadn't checked, he wouldn't have known that there were many scented flower pots, even in the palace, but few that contained musk.
The emperor was furious and ordered that this kind of scented porcelain be forbidden to be produced.
When Shen Lingshu heard the news, she had just sorted out the account books. Her eyes sank slightly. In the script, the owner of Xu Ji was going to run away. Brother Hu was Concubine Fang's distant cousin. Unfortunately, the script only wrote that he ran away, but did not write how he ran away or where he ran to.
Forget it. When Brother Hu shows up again, we’ll catch him and all the truth will be known. Concubine Fang...will only be able to be so arrogant for a short time.
"Zhu Xin, take this to the accounting office and distribute this month's wages." Shen Lingshu handed the approved account book to Zhu Xin.
"yes."
Zhu Xin responded and immediately took it to the accountant. The accountant looked at the amount, paused, touched his beard, but didn't say anything.
The day to collect monthly wages has arrived, and the maids and servants in the mansion are all very happy.
The new clothes that had been kept undistributed were distributed, and Shen Lingshu approved the full amount of ice basins in each courtyard.
"Humph, you really know how to win people over. Giving her more ice basins and new clothes, it's not her money that's being spent."
In Fengdan Courtyard, Li Susu looked at the extra ice basin and the new clothes, pursed her lips and said, "She's smart. She knows I'm pregnant and afraid of the heat."
Biyu: "..." She silently moved the ice basin to Li Susu's side, and did not dare to say: As long as you are a concubine, you will get the same share.
Qi Qing and Cheng Lanshu from Yihe Courtyard, East Courtyard and West Courtyard didn't know what life was like in the past, but they were very happy when they received their gifts and monthly allowance.
Meixiangyuan.
“There’s no deduction?”
Lin Baozhu asked in surprise, "Have you received your full monthly salary?"
In the past, because she was ill and rarely saw the prince, her monthly allowance and ice basin were deducted from her. Now, she received the full amount.
"Master, Concubine Shen has completely offended Concubine Fang by doing this." Xiu Hua set up the ice basin and fanned it, bringing a cool breeze.
“Even if Concubine Shen pleases her, Concubine Fang will not treat her as a sister.”
Lin Baozhu saw it clearly. She took out a pill for nourishing her body and swallowed it. She said, "Xiuhua, apply the nourishing cream on my body."
Lin Baozhu undressed and lay on the couch. Since she had decided to give birth to a child, she had to keep her body in the best condition and try to get pregnant as soon as possible.
In Youlan Courtyard, Shen Lingshu was unaware of the reactions of the various parties. She was speaking to Chu Cong, "Your Majesty, it's been two months since Concubine Qi and Concubine Cheng came into the mansion. I've noticed that the Qingzhu Courtyard next door is almost ready. Why not let them live in separate courtyards?"
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