Chapter 120: Reckoning
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 family and the Ji family 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: "Okay! Call out the accountant you hired, and calculate the account of your dowry in front of us. No matter how much your dowry is, the Marquis' Mansion will return it to you without a cent less!"
Chen was shocked and stared at Ji Zehai in astonishment: "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 keeping the Yin-Yang account book for so long, but Chen 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's Mansion instead of worrying about that little bit of dowry?
Seeing Ji Zehai's determined eyes, Shen Ningyuan's sneer 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 responded and 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 Lanber's hand, Ji Zehai and Chen's eyes widened.
Ji Zehai asked sternly, "Chen Ningyuan, is this the accountant you hired? He looks like a charlatan, you won't be fooled, right?"
Shen Ningyuan smiled faintly: “Whether I have been deceived or not, the Marquis will know after listening to Lan Bo’s words.”
As he said that, Shen Ningyuan stepped aside to make way: “Lan Bo, give the accounts you have settled these days to the Marquis and Madam Ji and explain them in detail.”
"Yes, Madam."
Lambert responded, walked out with the account book, and opened it calmly.
"This one is the account book of the Marquis's property. The other one is the account book of the young lady's dowry."
"I carefully checked the two account books and found that the expenditure of the Marquis' Mansion was far higher than the salary and property income of the Marquis' Mansion. I was very curious. How could they spend 50,000 taels of silver with a monthly income of several thousand taels? On the contrary, there was an obvious discrepancy between the income and expenditure of the young lady's dowry. There should have been tens of thousands of taels of silver in the income, but it showed only a few thousand taels of silver."
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 asked, "Tell me the truth, how much dowry did you cheat my sister of!"
Being pointed at on the nose by a junior, Ji Zehai's face instantly stiffened and his eyes gleamed with ferocity.
Chen quickly stepped forward to explain, "My dear nephew, the general's family is very wealthy, and as a man, you don't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are, so you naturally don't understand the twists and turns. When recording in the account book, this aristocratic family will record more expenses for the sake of 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. But after I checked the young lady's private vault, I found that many expensive dowries were missing."
"My guess is that if the money wasn't embezzled from within the mansion, then there must be a thief in the mansion. I suggest that Madam take this list to the government office and get the lost items back!"
While Lanber was speaking, Ji Zehai and Chen's expressions became increasingly ugly.
When Lambert suggested reporting to the police, the two men's faces changed instantly.
Ji Zehai even stood up and pointed at Lan Bo, angrily scolding: "Why report to the authorities? You slave, don't you think our mansion is unlucky enough and shameful enough? The eldest son of the mansion has just been buried, and the next foot is reporting to the authorities to arrest the thief. 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 threatened loudly: "You, you, you, you dare to ignore me, believe it or not, I will sell you out and send you to the border to be a government slave!"
Lambert said nothing and kept his head down.
Seeing Ji Zehai's frustrated look, Shen Ningyuan couldn't help but laugh.
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 a contract to sell himself. You can't sell him."
"What? You didn't sign a contract to sell yourself?" Hearing this, Ji Zehai was shocked: "Chen Ningyuan, you are so confident that you let an outsider manage your account books!"
Chen Ningyuan snorted and asked back: "What's there to worry about? Compared to some of my own people who are thinking about cheating me of my money every day, it's better to have outsiders!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Lan Bo also responded in time: "This old servant thanks Madam Young Master for her trust. Although he is not one of our own, he is definitely more reliable than one of our own!"
"You, you guys——"
The two of them sang the same tune, making Ji Zehai even angrier.
Shen Ningyuan ignored his anger and continued to order: “Lambert, continue, the problems in the account book should be more than what you just said.”
"Yes, Madam."
Hearing this, Lambert opened another account book.
He spoke slowly: "This account book is even more interesting."
After hearing this, Ji Zehai and Chen couldn't help but tremble in their hearts.
Two pairs of eyes stared straight at the account book in Lambert's hand.
"Lambert, I wonder what is recorded in this account book?" Shen Ningyuan asked.
"Madam, this is the account book of the daily expenses of the Marquis' Mansion. A quick look shows that the accounts are clear and well-founded. There is indeed no problem."
Hearing this, Ji Zehai and Chen breathed a sigh of relief.
The accountant that Shen Ningyuan found was just like this.
"but!"
Just as the two of them breathed a sigh of relief, Lambert suddenly raised his tone again.
The two people's hearts couldn't help but tremble.
"The prices of the items used here are obviously higher than those in Beijing."
"For example, the thousand-year-old ginseng that Madam Ji takes every month is expensive, but it doesn't cost tens of thousands of taels per stem."
"The inkstone and ink used by the Marquis every day are made by famous artists, but they shouldn't cost 100,000 taels a pair, right? Even if the inkstone is made of gold or gemstones, it wouldn't be that expensive, right?"
Lan Bo pointed to another place and said, "And this is even more strange! The Marquis's Mansion gives 10,000 taels of silver to poor relatives every month?"
“Ten thousand taels?” Before Shen Haobai could speak, Shen Potian said angrily, “What poor relative? You need to spend ten thousand taels every month? I am in the Shen family, and my wife only gives me one hundred taels of pocket money every month!”
As he said that, Shen Potian looked at Ji Zehai and asked unceremoniously: "Ji Zehai, you are really generous! The concubines in the palace only have a monthly allowance of one thousand taels, and you have to spend ten thousand taels to help your poor relatives? When will you help my poor relative?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
