Chapter 542 The Accounts Don't Match
Have you spent all your money?
Upon hearing Song Chunxue's question, the Taoist priest paused noticeably, followed by a helpless silence, unsure of what to say.
Seeing him tilt his head back to drink, Song Chunxue chuckled to herself.
My senior's reaction proved everything.
Is there even a question? Senior brother has always been like this.
Was he embarrassed?
Is it because you feel ashamed of not having money, or is it because you feel embarrassed to ask her for money?
"I thought it was something serious. Why are you being so coy, Senior Brother? It's been two years, and you seem to have aged two years." Song Chunxue said generously, "I did save some money for you, but you're too generous to others. You've spent it all without leaving any for yourself."
As she spoke, she took out the Qiankun bag that she had carried with her for more than two years and handed it to the Taoist priest.
The Taoist priest was a little embarrassed. "I promised to give them to you, so you can keep them. I'll return them myself. Just give me two of your lucky charms."
"..." If she hadn't known that her senior brother would be embarrassed if she laughed now, she definitely wouldn't have been so polite.
“Senior brother, we clearly agreed that I would keep it safe for you first. I won’t use the Zhang family’s money. It’s all the hard-earned money of ordinary people. You should give it to those refugees.” As she spoke, Song Chunxue took the Qiankun bag. “Otherwise, I’ll take it out and you can put it in yourself.”
The senior brother waved his hand, "No need, no need, I can do it myself."
As he spoke, he took the Qiankun bag and took a quarter of it.
“Junior brother, you can use those items yourself. It’s safer to keep the rest with you.” The Taoist priest sniffed and said helplessly, “The Taoist temple on the mountaintop is still short of money. We need to buy a bell, an incense burner, and we also need to hire a craftsman to make a statue.”
Judging from what my senior brother said, that wealthy merchant from before is no longer willing to spend money.
"Yes, I'll follow my senior brother's advice. Those items can be exchanged for more silver, so I'll keep them for now, since I don't need them."
As she spoke, Song Chunxue took out a Hetian jade peace pendant from her own box in her Qiankun bag.
It takes three years for a person to nurture jade, and a lifetime for jade to nurture a person.
Jade can ward off disasters and nourish people. My senior brother's previous one broke, so let's give him another one.
"Please accept this, Senior Brother. I picked it out by chance last year, and I think it suits you very well." She looked at his sleeve and said in a deep voice, "As long as Senior Brother can come back safely, that's more important than anything else."
The Taoist priest took the jade tablet, stroked it a couple of times, and smiled. "What a fine jade! Junior brother has good taste."
He didn't put it away; he wore it directly around his neck.
"By the way, a group of bandits brought over a few Akhal-Teke horses today. Would you like to pick one, Senior Brother?" Song Chunxue raised an eyebrow. "That bandit leader named Lu Chaohu, Senior Brother, have you dealt with him before?"
"Yeah, I've met him twice. He's quite righteous and chivalrous. Keep the horse; I'll borrow it if I need it."
Time flies, and the moon has already begun to set in the west.
It's time for the Taoist priest to leave.
But he didn't forget to ask Song Chunxue for a lucky charm.
Before leaving, the Taoist priest placed a wooden box on the stone table.
"I'll go up the mountain to burn incense and then leave. You should rest early. I'll go back to Jincheng in about ten days, and then we'll meet again." There was something he wanted to discuss with Song Chunxue, but he couldn't say it now.
Song Chunxue nodded, "Take care on the way, senior brother."
She was very pleased that her senior brother could come today.
He is very tight-lipped; unless the timing is perfect, it's difficult to get the truth out of him.
However, she doesn't need to go to Liangzhou anymore; she'll let He Chuan know tomorrow.
...
The house is too messy, and there's still a lot of things to tidy up.
After discussing it, everyone decided to send the second and fourth brothers, along with Steward Xie, back to Jincheng first to prepare for matters such as who to invite.
Sanwa is going to the Xia family with Mulan to see his mother-in-law.
Tian Qi stayed behind mainly to help with housework.
While the second brother and his companions were packing their things, Jiang Hongying quietly came to the main house with a broom in her hand.
Song Chunxue was sorting through the congratulatory gifts that others had sent, which she would eventually have to return. She decided to leave this task to Hongying.
"mother."
Song Chunxue looked up and said, "You've come at the right time. Come with me to the storeroom and see which family all those things belong to. We can return the favor at a different time next time."
Jiang Hongying nodded and temporarily put aside her thoughts before going to the warehouse.
She felt anxious when she heard that Sanwa and the others were getting far away.
“Mother, why don’t we let He Chuan go and help too? More people means more help. We don’t know many people in Jincheng, so He Chuan can run errands,” Jiang Hongying said casually. “Why don’t we let him go with us?”
Song Chunxue knew that Jiang Hongying said this because she wanted Hechuan to help in Jincheng first, so that she could bring up the matter of going to Liangzhou later.
“Okay, you can discuss this and it will be fine.” She lied, “My senior brother wrote to me. He will be returning to Jincheng in a few days. I’m not going to Liangzhou. If He Chuan wants to go, he may have to find another companion.”
Jiang Hongying was taken aback. "Did the Taoist priest send word to Mother that she was safe?"
"Um."
She clasped her hands together and said, "Thank God, there's finally news about the Taoist priest. No wonder Mother is in such a good mood today."
Song Chunxue glanced at her and said, "Stop talking nonsense and get down to business."
Jiang Hongying stuck out her tongue.
She took the box from Song Chunxue and placed it on top of the box next to her.
Song Chunxue put the paper and pen aside, clearly intending to have a serious talk with Jiang Hongying.
"Have you two discussed this?"
Jiang Hongying nodded, then touched her nose guiltily.
“I’m so glad that you two are of one mind. As long as he knows he’s coming back to live with you, let him go see his parents if he wants to. After all, they are his parents, and we can’t be the bad guys.”
Jiang Hongying got anxious and raised her voice, "How can he not come back? He's two sons are here. I didn't make them take my surname. If he doesn't come back, he can't just marry a new wife over there and continue to suffer his mother's temper."
"Hmph!" Realizing it wasn't impossible, Jiang Hongying put her hands on her hips, her eyes fierce. "One month. If he still doesn't return, I'll pay two people to bring him back. Or I'll break his life and let him fend for himself in Liangzhou!"
Song Chunxue was both amused and exasperated. "Don't get agitated or upset. I was just saying it offhand. He Chuan isn't that kind of person."
Jiang Hongying craned her neck to look outside, "They're leaving, I'll go tell He Chuan."
"Go quickly, tell the second brother and the others to wait for He Chuan, don't rush."
"Okay, sure."
Hearing Jiang Hongying running away into the distance, Mulan went to the warehouse.
She also had paper and pen in her hand.
"Mom, let me help you. Should we put up a note so that we don't have to return the favor in the future?"
Song Chunxue looked at her belly and said, "Go and rest, or you can go and look through the account books."
Mulan's expression was gentle and calm.
"Tian Qi is looking at it, but she found something wrong with the account book. Mother needs to take a look herself."
The ledgers don't look right?
Song Chunxue frowned. "Which one is acting strangely?"
"We suspect that the accountant was behind Yao Man's affair."
"How much difference?"
“In total, it’s thirty taels.” Xia Mulan lowered her voice. “It was split over three months, but the total accounts match up. If you don’t look closely, you won’t notice the flaws.”
"Okay, I'll talk to Yao Man later." Song Chunxue looked at Mulan's belly. "By the way, have you decided whether you want to take your mother back to Jincheng?"
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