The sky was getting light, and a few dark stars were faintly twinkling in the blue-gray sky. A dozen craftsmen rubbed their sleepy eyes, carrying various tools on their backs, and followed the steward of the Marquis's Mansion into the backyard. After passing through several corridors, they were divided into two teams, one team was sent to the ancestral hall, and the other team went to the Buddhist temple.

The sandalwood incense was curling, the Bodhisattva was sitting on the altar holding a flower, and the glazed tiles on the top of the temple reflected a dazzling halo under the morning light. The few people stepped into the temple, bowed devoutly in all directions, then took out the tools from their bags and began to work seriously.

For a while, the only sounds that echoed in the hall were the sounds of "ping ping bang bang". After a while, some strange sounds suddenly emerged among the sounds. The sounds seemed far away and near. Upon careful listening, it seemed like someone was chanting Buddhist verses. They were clearly verses that encouraged people to be calm, but they were chanted sharply and angrily, echoing in this empty Buddhist hall, making people feel a chill down their spines.

The leader frowned and looked around inside and outside the temple, but in this quiet temple in the early morning, there was no one to be seen. He shook his head in confusion and muttered, "Who is so boring!" Seeing that everyone else was looking at him, he pretended to be indifferent and said, "Maybe someone is playing a prank. It's nothing, let's continue."

Several people picked up their work and continued to work, but the harsh Buddhist chanting sounded in their ears. These people had been doing this job for a long time and had some respect for the gods. At this moment, they warned themselves not to listen, and they were a little trembling when they started.

At this moment, someone suddenly screamed and fell down from above, his face distorted with fear, his fingers tremblingly pointed upwards, but he could only scream "Ah ...

The others looked upwards in the direction of his finger, and saw a yellow smoke rising in the air. The golden Arhats on the altar looked hideous in the smoke. Looking closely at the faces of the Arhats, they could see bright red blood flowing from their sunken eye sockets!

Everyone was stunned by this scene. After they reacted, they dropped the tools in their hands and ran out desperately. But when they turned around, they found that several huge footprints suddenly appeared on the floor that was just clean. Several people were stunned for a moment, not knowing where these footprints came from and what the consequences would be if they stepped on them.

At this moment, someone smelled a strange odor, and then many snakes suddenly rushed out from all sides of the temple. Their slender bodies were twisted in a ball, and they were spitting blood-red tongues towards them. The craftsmen didn't care about anything else and ran out in a hurry, but it was too late. Several people's feet were entangled by the snakes, and their sharp teeth pierced their calves. Those people were so scared that they desperately stepped on the snakes. For a while, the temple was full of screams and the smell of rotting flesh and blood.

The leader ran out of the door, looked back and saw the situation in the temple, and suddenly his legs went weak and he knelt down and shouted: "This is the hell of endless suffering! The Buddha has punished me, the Buddha has punished me!"

The shouts startled the birds in the tree and woke up the quiet mansion in advance. Yuan Xi had just finished washing up when she heard something happened in the Buddhist hall, so she hurried over there with An He and the others.

At this time, many people had gathered in front of the temple. Several craftsmen were carried out while groaning. The servants did not know the origin of the snake and did not dare to kill it easily in front of the temple. They had to catch it with great effort and put it in a bag to throw it into the wild. Many people saw the tragic scene inside and immediately knelt down and prayed to the Buddha for forgiveness while chanting Buddhist mantras.

Behind the crowd, Aunt Wang was nervously talking to the leader who had escaped. The man was shaking with fear, his face pale. Aunt Wang stuffed a bag of silver into his hand and whispered, "What happened today must not be spread! Do you understand?"

The leader did not dare to accept it, but kept shaking his head, muttering: "No, we have offended the gods, and we will suffer a great disaster in the future. This Buddhist temple cannot be moved!" Aunt Wang's face was gloomy. When she looked up and saw Yuan Xi coming, she hurried over and said anxiously: "I don't know what happened, and such a big thing happened. If the master knew, I don't know how he would blame us."

Yuan Xi reluctantly responded to her, and suddenly saw a servant carrying a bag of snakes and about to throw them out. He quickly walked over and stopped them, saying, "Let me see it?"

The servant was startled. He was a little scared just looking at these snakes, and how dare the young lady look at them? But seeing Yuan Xi's firm attitude, he had to pinch a snake's vital point and bring it in front of her. Yuan Xi suppressed her inner fear, stretched out her hand and gently touched the snake's body. The cold and slippery touch made her hair stand on end, but she soon found that the snake's body was wet. She hesitated for a while and leaned over again. The servant was so frightened that her eyes almost popped out. Seeing that the snake's tongue was only a few inches away from Yuan Xi, she finally stopped and sniffed carefully. Sure enough, she smelled some strange smells. Although Yuan Xi didn't understand why, she always felt that everything was a little strange.

She suddenly remembered that Mrs. Zhao had told her yesterday that if they insisted on repairing the temple and angered the gods, they would be held responsible. And it was too coincidental that something like this happened right after they started work. She didn't dare to think about it any further and decided to go inside the temple to take a look. At this moment, she suddenly heard an angry shout from behind: "Stop!"

I saw the furious Madam Zhao, supported by Nanny Yu, walking slowly over. She looked at the mess in the Buddhist hall, trembling a little, and said, "Are you going to continue? Only a few workers were in trouble this time. Do you want to bring disaster to the whole mansion?"

Yuan Xi suddenly looked up at her. Madam Zhao was frail, with her plain gold-sprinkled silk gown hanging loosely on her body, as if it would be blown down by the wind. Her eyes shone with a fierce light, staring straight at Yuan Xi. Yuan Xi sighed, suppressed the doubts in her heart, bowed to her from a distance, and obediently stepped back. Under the shade of a tree not far away, Aunt Wang had a sneer on her lips, watching the scene in front of her quietly.

At this time, a dark blue figure hurried over, breaking the confrontation. Xiao Yunjing walked in with a dark face, followed by Zhou Jingyuan and several servants. Aunt Wang saw him and rushed over and choked up, "Master, it's all my fault. I didn't do what you asked me to do!" After saying that, she just lowered her head and cried, as if she was very guilty. Yuan Xi also hurried over to pay her respects, but she couldn't say anything to blame herself, because she still didn't understand what went wrong.

Xiao Yunjing looked at the scene in front of him and felt a dull pain in his chest. If the words "digging the ground without permission and offending the gods" were to spread, how much gossip would it cause about the Marquis' Mansion? He sighed and said in a sharp voice, "What on earth is going on!"

Aunt Wang took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears while saying, "It's all my fault for not listening to Madam. She said yesterday that the Buddhist temple couldn't be moved. I just thought she couldn't accept it for the time being, but who knew that such a big thing would happen today." She glanced at Yuan Xi and said, "Young Madam, don't you think so?"

Yuan Xi was immersed in her own thoughts and was suddenly mentioned by her. She didn't react for a moment. She just uttered "Ah" and looked at her blankly. She only heard Aunt Wang continue: "Didn't the madam tell you yesterday that the Buddhist hall cannot be moved, otherwise something bad will happen." Yuan Xi saw Xiao Yunjing staring at her with a puzzled look, and her heart was suddenly flustered, so she had to nod honestly.

At this time, Madam Zhao had already held Nanny Yu's hand and walked slowly towards this side. When she saw this scene, she couldn't help but sneered and said, "Yes, I said that. Looking at the current situation, do you think I was wrong?"

Xiao Yunjing looked at her coldly, turned away without comment, and said to Zhou Jingyuan: "Find out for me what's going on! Also, where is the young master? Bring him back to me!" After that, he turned away with an angry look on his face. Aunt Wang hurriedly followed him, carefully advising and serving him.

Yuan Xi looked up at Madam Zhao and found that she was staring at the direction where Xiao Yunjing left, with a sad expression and trembling lips. At this moment, the coldness and arrogance she had tried so hard to maintain finally dissipated, and she looked like a weak woman who was waiting for her husband to come back. Yuan Xi suddenly felt a little reluctant, and walked over and whispered, "Mother-in-law, it's windy here, go back and rest first." Madam Zhao just glared at her, picked up her cold and arrogant shell again, and turned around and left with Nanny Yu.

Yuan Xi stood there blankly, sighing helplessly, thinking about what had happened in the past few days, and felt a splitting headache. So, she decided to put aside these things she didn't understand for the time being and go back to memorize the account books. After all, she would rather face a hundred account books than put herself in these fights again.

It was past noon when Xiao Du returned to the mansion. As soon as he entered the house, Zhou Jingyuan was already waiting there. He told him everything that happened today in detail. Xiao Du paused as he listened, frowned, and said, "Have you found out what happened?" Zhou Jingyuan looked worried, shook his head and sighed, "Now we have only sealed the Buddhist temple, but we can't find out who did it. But the rumor has spread that our mansion has violated Feng Shui and angered the gods and Buddhas. The carpenters are so scared that they dare not come again. The old man is also at a loss, and Aunt Wang is accompanying him now."

Xiao Du snorted coldly and said, "Ever since the newcomer came to the mansion, these things have been endless." Zhou Jingyuan didn't dare to say anything and just led Xiao Du to the old marquis's house.

When Xiao Du came out of the old marquis's room, it was almost 3:30 pm. He looked at the sky, and suddenly an idea came to his mind. He dismissed the servants and walked quickly to the study in Qingzhiyuan.

He pushed open the paper window and looked out. As expected, he saw Yuan Xi sitting under the gardenia tree, copying the account book seriously. Her face no longer showed helplessness and fatigue, but was full of extreme seriousness. Xiao Du remembered that she should have returned to her room at this time in the past, so he picked up a book and leaned on the couch to read it, to see how long she could hold on.

The bell rang, and the Yin hour had passed in a blink of an eye. An He and Rong Xuan came to persuade her several times, but Yuan Xi insisted on staying here to continue copying. She didn't bother to wipe the sweat off her forehead, but just kept copying and reading. The scent of ink and flowers drifted into the window. Xiao Du couldn't help shaking his head and laughing: Did she think that hiding here would really allow her to ignore everything?

As it was getting dark, he put down the book in his hand, walked out of the room, crossed the corridor, and ordered An He and Rong Xu who were guarding to keep quiet, then he walked in stealthily with his hands behind his back.

Yuan Xi was concentrating on copying the account book in front of her, when suddenly a figure blocked her way, blocking out much of the light. She looked up and was so frightened that her hands trembled and she almost spilled ink on herself.

Xiao Du's face was hidden in the backlight, and he smiled leisurely, "What are you copying, madam?"

Yuan Xi's face turned red, and she suddenly felt a little embarrassed. She hurriedly hugged the pile of paper on the case tightly into her arms, but Xiao Du calmly picked up the account book next to him and said, "It turns out that I was copying the accounts. "Thin."

Yuan Xi knew that she had done something stupid again, and her face flushed with shame, and she wanted to hide herself under the table. Xiao Du threw the account book away and said, "I never thought that you, a young lady who grew up in the prime minister's mansion, would be so useless."

Yuan Xi forgot her fear for a moment and looked up at him, only to hear him continue, "Can't you see that Aunt Wang asked you to memorize these useless account books just to make things difficult for you, and not to give you the opportunity to get in touch with the key accounts. Only someone as stupid as you would memorize them one by one. For this project, she holds the economic power herself, but gives you a false name to let you come out on top." He sighed with disdain, "But these little tricks that are not worthy of being shown on the stage can also make you fool around."

Yuan Xi narrowed her eyes slightly, put down the pile of papers in her hand, stood up, picked up the account book, patted the dust, and said softly: "I don't know how to calculate, but I'm not stupid." Xiao Du raised his eyebrows and looked at her in surprise. She continued: "After what happened yesterday, no matter how stupid I am, I understand that Aunt Wang is using my name to stand up against her mother-in-law. There are many things that I don't know how to deal with in a roundabout way. I only know how to do my duty well." Her eyes gradually became firm, and she handed the account book in her hand to Xiao Du, and seemed to muster up great courage and said: "Pick a page and ask me!"

Xiao Du suspiciously opened the account book and randomly picked a date. Yuan Xi thought for a moment and quickly recited all the in and out items and the reasons for that day. Xiao Du asked a few more questions and saw that Yuan Xi actually answered all of them correctly. He was surprised and asked, "Did you really memorize them all?"

Yuan Xi finally smiled, with a proud glow in her eyes, and nodded, "I can go find Aunt Wang now and tell her that I have done what she asked me to do, and now it's time for her to teach me how to truly run this family!"

It was the first time Xiao Du saw her smile like this. Her face was flushed with excitement, and she looked particularly charming under the brilliant dusk clouds. He leaned over and almost touched her nose before slowly stopping and said with a smile, "It's rare that my wife is so thoughtful. How do you want me to reward you?"