Lord Gu, however, did not agree with his opinion.
"The Empress Dowager's affair back then turned the Imperial Medical Academy upside down. The former head of the Imperial Medical Academy was implicated and sentenced to exile. This matter involved the entire court and the inner palace. Many imperial physicians were purged, some had their families confiscated, and some had their entire families wiped out. As for these people now... those who escaped back then, or those who had other connections, it's hard to say how skilled they really are. Otherwise, why hasn't the Crown Prince's illness improved over the years? Even far away in the north, I've heard many people talking about how the imperial physicians of the Imperial Medical Academy are getting worse than before."
After a long pause, Master Gu said, "I don't know... Well... if Doctor Li's prescription is better than Doctor Pang's, then we'll ask Doctor Li to take a look again."
Lord Gu suppressed his thoughts and simply said, "We'll talk about it later."
I'm afraid even Doctor Li wouldn't be willing to treat me.
Always think of the worst. If my sixth sister-in-law's condition relapses and the Xu family causes trouble, I wonder if we can survive.
Although it was unethical, Lord Gu had to consider that if something really happened, he absolutely could not bear this reputation.
Lord Gu said, "Now that the manor is about to be established, the Xu family will be coming to demand an explanation in the next couple of days. How do you plan to deal with them?"
Sixth Master Gu had no idea what to do. "Let them confront Madam Xu face to face. Now that Tianhua is gone, they should dare to enter the inner courtyard."
"Sixth sister-in-law is so ill, I'm afraid she won't make it through."
"What can we do? Xu Zhen is still missing, and the Xu family is in decline. Only Xu and her niece know the truth. We were kept in the dark. Blame her for causing all this trouble."
Lord Gu said, "There's something I need to tell you first. During the time my sixth sister-in-law was in charge of the household, she amassed quite a bit of money. If we calculate it that way, she probably could have divorced him long ago."
Upon learning the amount, Master Gu was so shocked that he stuck out his tongue.
"Goodness, the Xu family is really audacious."
Lord Gu said, "These things aren't all in her hands. Some will always slip through her fingers and go to others. It's just that she's the one who's responsible for everything."
"Every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt its debtor. It's what they deserve." Master Gu's face was ashen.
"Although your sixth sister-in-law did not observe mourning for your father, she has given birth to several children for you and has put in a lot of effort in managing the household over the years. I am not saying this to make you divorce her, but to give you a basis for action so that you can use it to intimidate the Xu family. Of course, if you can persuade your sixth sister-in-law to tell the truth to the Xu family and clear her name, that would be the best outcome. In that case, just keep this matter to yourself and pretend it never happened, and let her focus on recovering."
After thinking for a moment, Sixth Master Gu said, "Alright, I'll go sit in her courtyard later."
"Sixth sister-in-law's illness stems from her overthinking. You must be careful with your words, lest the children blame you in the future."
Gu Jinghui was still worried and gave him several more instructions.
Wutong Garden.
Qin Yuan changed out of the coat she had worn when she went out. Cui Ming and the maidservant stepped forward to help her remove the hairpins and ornaments from her hair, and then re-combed her hair into a bun. She then changed into a purple gauze dress that she usually wore at home.
The maidservant brought over some fruit tea and said, "Madam has been sitting outside for half a day. Have some fruit tea to cool off in the heat."
Qin Yuan nodded and said, "Alright, that's kind of you. Go and attend to other things first. You can leave Cui Ming here to serve you."
After reviewing the entries transcribed by Hongye for a while, she made up her mind and ordered someone to invite Gu Shiliu over.
Cuiming asked, "Why doesn't Miss give this to the Marquis?"
Qin Yuan took a sip of tea and said, "I just want Sixteen to investigate. This is a serious matter, involving the marriage between our two families. It's not good to let the Marquis have any wild ideas before we get to the bottom of it."
Cui Ming laughed, "If Gu Shiliu knows, it's the same as the Marquis knowing."
Qin Yuan smiled and said, "We can't let the Marquis know nothing about it. After all, husband and wife are one, and that's not something to be taken lightly."
As they were talking, Gu Shiliu arrived and greeted them through the beaded curtain.
Qin Yuan had Cui Ming hand the paper to Gu Shiliu and said, "I've heard that the Xu family is involved in usury, and some of them work as brokers and lenders. Lord Xu is the last generation of the Xu family to inherit the title, so the Xu family members are bound to be less cautious. I've been keeping accounts these days, and I had Hongye compile the accounts. I feel like something is not right, and I'm quite worried that the Marquis's mansion is also involved."
Hearing her serious tone, Gu Shiliu hurriedly asked, "Did Hongye discover something during the accounting? I've been saying for a while that accountant Sun is acting strangely."
Qin Yuan laughed and said, "All things considered, the Marquis's mansion didn't suffer any financial loss, but if they were caught even slightly, the Marquis's reputation would be ruined. If things got any worse, he might even be killed in the process."
Gu Shiliu's heart was in turmoil as she spoke.
He was relieved to learn that the Marquis's mansion had not suffered any financial loss, but his heart was filled with anxiety again when he heard more.
He quickly flipped through the paper in his hand, which listed the dates on which large sums of money had been deposited and credited over the years, with the number of days in between marked.
While I don't quite understand the others, the monthly allowance specifically highlighted is crystal clear.
The time it takes for the funds to be transferred from the external accounts to the internal accounts, and then distributed to the people in each courtyard, varies considerably, ranging from as little as twenty-odd days to as much as two months.
Qin Yuan said, "This is only for the inner courtyard. There are still a few items for the outer courtyard that haven't been sorted out yet. You can take a look."
Gu Shiliu asked, "Madam, are you asking me to investigate?"
Qin Yuan looked somewhat troubled and said, "I have noticed some clues, but even if they were right under someone's nose, they wouldn't recognize them. If you want to know the truth, you'll have to rely on your own abilities."
Gu Shiliu said, "I think it would be better to let Shiba handle this. He has been investigating the Xu family these days. No matter how secretly such a large sum of money is handled, there will always be some evidence left behind."
Qin Yuan nodded in satisfaction and had Cui Ming escort Gu Shiliu out.
Gu Shiliu laughed and said, "Miss Cuiming, there's no need to be so polite. I come here several times a day."
Cuiming sighed, "This is what Madam values. We don't leave the house and don't usually come into contact with these things, so we don't know the intricacies. You'll have to figure it out yourself."
Gu Shiliu smiled and nodded. After leaving Wutong Garden, he went straight to find Gu Shiba to chat.
This time, there was no need to use the small window. Gu Shiliu whistled from inside the wall, and Gu Shiba jumped into the courtyard. The two squatted down at the foot of the wall and talked.
"That Madam could think of something like this?" Gu Shiba was quite shocked after hearing the reason. "How could the young ladies of the house normally know about such things?"
Gu Shiliu said, "Madam is exceptionally intelligent; it's not surprising that she could think of what others can do."
Gu Shiba said, "Listen to what you're saying!"
"What did you say?"
Gu Shiba said, "You're being too protective of the madam."
"Madam works so hard, isn't it all for the Marquis and for the Marquis's mansion?"
"That's true."
"How's your investigation going these days? The government is opening tomorrow, and the Xu family is bound to cause trouble."
Gu Shiba said, "I've investigated his family's affairs pretty thoroughly, but it's hard to find out whether he took money from the Marquis's mansion to lend money. These things need to be documented. Whether he lent money at high interest rates or usury, he has receipts and agreements with those people. But I don't know what the agreement was for his money dealings with the Marquis's mansion."
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