Chapter 44 Send it to the Governor
When Yan Yunyue started to learn dancing, Qin Mingzhu, for the sake of her health, took a lot of effort to invite a herbal medicine master who could regulate her body. She also learned how to make herbal medicine and cooked it by hand and sent it to her every day.
Yan Yunyue drank it for a whole year, and not only did her body improve, her skin became fair and delicate, and her figure became more slender.
Later, Qin Mingzhu accidentally heard the maid beside Yan Yunyue say that it was her stepmother who forced her to drink things she didn't want to drink every day, and the medicinal food was bitter and astringent. Her stepmother was simply deliberately abusing her.
It's really funny to think that I spent an hour every day to prepare the medicinal food, and then I fed it to her, and she still said that I was abusing her.
Qin Mingzhu just felt that she was really stupid and ignorant in her previous life, doing things that were thankless and difficult.
She put a lot of effort into educating Yan Yunrui, and sometimes even tried every possible way to coax him to read and practice calligraphy.
He even personally taught Yan Yunyue how to play the piano and dance.
She thought that if she devoted herself to their own good and sincerely nurtured them into successful people, she would have someone to rely on in the future.
But that was just what she thought.
Although she was so-called nice to them, they were full of resentment in their hearts. In fact, they didn't care at all and even felt that she was deliberately making things difficult for them.
Qin Mingzhu smiled casually and regained her composure.
At this time, the shopkeeper brought over the account books.
He still had a smile on his face, but his eyes were lowered and staring at the ground.
"Madam Hou, if you have anything to say, please call me. I won't disturb you while you eat."
"Um."
Qin Mingzhu looked through the account book without looking up.
When the shopkeeper saw this scene, a strange look flashed across his eyes, but he snorted in his heart.
He had never seen Qin Mingzhu come here to check the accounts. Moreover, she was already married and became the wife of a marquis. She came to the Qin family's restaurant for no reason. He really didn't know what she was thinking.
Besides, can she understand the account book?
A clerk stood beside the shopkeeper, hunched over with his head slightly lowered, and muttered softly, "Shopkeeper Li, aren't those account books from last year? If they were to be found..."
The shopkeeper chuckled. "The Marquis's wife doesn't come here often, so she probably doesn't even know how much a dish costs. Since she wants to see the account book, let her have a look. If she can figure it out, she'll be in trouble..."
The guy's throat moved, still a little nervous.
Isn't it a bit inappropriate to tease the former lady like this?
Just as he was thinking this, Qin Mingzhu suddenly said, "Come in."
The shopkeeper quickly pushed the door open and entered the room again, with the same smile on his face as always.
But Qin Mingzhu had already slammed the account book on the table, which scared Yan Yunyue who was eating.
"I want to see last year's accounts. Did the shopkeeper bring the wrong one?"
The shopkeeper was obviously stunned.
It's really weird!
Looking at Qin Mingzhu's eyes, the shopkeeper almost broke out in sweat on his forehead.
"Here, let me take a look. Someone under me must have been careless and took the wrong one!"
He began to explain, hurriedly putting away the account books, and said to the people around him, "Look carefully at the date. If you take the wrong one again, you won't be able to come back tomorrow!"
"Yes, shopkeeper!"
The clerk hurried to get the account book again.
Qin Mingzhu was not in a hurry and just sat there waiting.
The reason she came to the restaurant was, firstly, to take Yan Yunyue to eat, and secondly, she wanted to thoroughly clean up all the accounts of her own business.
Her mother is indeed good at business, but her health has declined in recent years, and many of her businesses have been handed over to some of her trusted subordinates.
At the beginning, there were no problems with these industries, but over time, someone would inevitably profit from them.
The most important thing is that it is not easy to do business in the capital. There are a lot of wrong and bad debts. Many dignitaries come, but some of them don’t spend money.
Soon, the new account book fell into Qin Mingzhu's hands.
Although there was no date marked, she could tell whether it was an account from the most recent year by the ink and the condition of the account book.
Seeing Qin Mingzhu looking through the book carefully, the shopkeeper felt more and more uneasy.
Qin Mingzhu suddenly stopped at a page, narrowed her eyes, and asked, "Based on the current business of Yuxianglou, this year's turnover should be at least hundreds of thousands of silver taels, and the net profit should be at least 50,000 taels of silver. Why did they only make less than 10,000 taels last year?"
Shopkeeper Li looked shocked.
The records in the account book were very detailed and did not include any general calculations, but Qin Mingzhu accurately stated the details of Yuxianglou.
Indeed, Yuxianglou is very famous in the capital, and all the visitors are dignitaries, so it is considered a relatively profitable business for the Qin family.
He wiped the sweat off his face and whispered, "Madam Hou, you don't know that doing business in this capital is not easy..."
Qin Mingzhu nodded: "I know it's not easy, but I still want to know where the remaining tens of thousands of taels of silver went."
Shopkeeper Li lowered his eyes and took a long while to take out another account book from his arms.
"These... are all on credit. Some of the accounts are even three to five years old. The debtors are all high-ranking officials in the capital. I simply don't dare offend them..."
Qin Mingzhu opened the other account book and took a look.
There are countless accounts densely recorded on it.
For a moment, I couldn't even turn over.
This book is full of records. When you open it, you will find names behind every entry. They are all relatives and friends of high-ranking officials in the capital.
Officials care about their reputation and dare not sell on credit, but their family relatives and friends don't care about that. Many playboys are even accustomed to eating, drinking and having fun in some shops with no background, and then paying the bill and leaving the matter alone.
At first, they would test the waters once or twice. If the restaurant didn't react, they would push their luck further...
Qin Mingzhu clutched the account book tightly, the emotion in her eyes unclear.
These debts first started more than four years ago.
That is, after her father became disabled.
She said that after her parents passed away, she didn't get much of the Qin family's inheritance. The reason was this...
After the Qin family loses its power, it will soon be devoured by other families, and there will definitely not be a single cent left for her...
If the Marquis' Mansion does not intervene, as soon as her parents die, everything in the Qin family will be divided up!
Qin Mingzhu's eyes flickered and she looked up at the shopkeeper.
"Is this also the case with the Qin family's other shops?"
Shopkeeper Li sighed and said with a worried look on his face, "Yes."
Qin Mingzhu smiled instantly. She lowered her eyes and stared at the money on the credit account.
All the credit accounts in the past five years added up to a total of 500,000 taels!
This is a huge sum of money. It can even be said that the Qin family has not collapsed yet and has not been completely dragged down. It can be said that they have a deep foundation.
"Nephew of the Minister of War, nephew of the Jingzhao Yin, cousin of the Princess of Prince Lian's Mansion..."
There was even Yan Qingming, the second son of Dingyuan Marquis Mansion.
She kept muttering the identities of the people listed in the account book.
The smile on his lips gradually deepened.
Suddenly, Qin Mingzhu put her hand on the account book and turned her head to Chunhua.
"Send this to Governor Yan."
Chunhua was stunned and had no idea what Qin Mingzhu meant by doing this.
"Madam, can the governor help us get the silver back?"
Qin Mingzhu chuckled: "Tell him that if he has the ability to get the silver back, it will all be his..."
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