This effectively nipped the Yelü clan's chance to stir up trouble in the bud.
This will at least allow Daxing to enjoy stability for several more decades.
She didn't live a wasted life.
As for the future... the rise and fall of dynasties is a matter of fate, and that's not something she should worry about.
Gu Jinghui put down his chopsticks and asked, "By the way, why is Princess Fuyun here today?"
Qin Yuan sighed, "She wants to see Young Master Nantang."
"?" Gu Jinghui was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.
Qin Yuan put down her chopsticks and bowl.
"I had no choice but to tell her that the young master of Nantang is aloof and doesn't like to see people. Ever since he gave my cousin some pointers on poetry, he said he doesn't want to see anyone this year."
Gu Jinghui chuckled and glanced at her.
Qin Yuan said, "Just say what you have to say."
Gu Jinghui laughed and said, "Could it be that she has feelings for Young Master Nantang? You're really charming."
My wife is so beautiful and talented; she should really stay out of the public eye.
Luckily, she wasn't well-known in her family, otherwise, how could I have ended up picking up such a treasure?
Mr. Matsuyama is right, he is indeed blessed with good fortune.
Qin Yuan was both amused and exasperated.
When it's Lord Gu's turn to look at others, he can see things more clearly.
Why do I get confused when it comes to myself?
"You're really clever."
Qin Yuan mocked him, then sighed, "If I had known, I should have called him Mr. Nantang. People would have assumed I was about the same age as Mr. Songshan and wouldn't have asked so many questions."
Mr. Matsuyama's poetry is far better than hers, yet no one has inquired about it.
It is clearly because of the name.
"Therefore, an old man's writings are worthless, but the world loves a young man."
Lord Gu added a sentence.
"Oh, what's wrong with you...?"
Lord Gu laughed and said, "I've been associating with those civil officials from the Six Ministries all day long, and I've picked up the information from every angle."
Qin Yuan nodded.
As the saying goes, "One who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and one who stays near ink gets stained black." Lord Gu, who associated with many civil officials and Confucian scholars, naturally became more cultured.
"You sit there guarding the house, why don't you move the books over there and read them? Otherwise, what will you say when Father asks about it in a few days?"
Lord Gu quickly changed the subject, his dark, bright eyes looking expectantly at Qin Yuan, and said softly, "Good Yuan'er, I didn't sleep at all last night, and I couldn't get any sleep in the office. It's a good time to rest now, won't you come with me?"
Qin Yuan glanced at the hourglass in the corner of the room and said, "Let's go together, it's time for lunch break."
The two changed their clothes and lay face to face on the bed.
Lord Gu stretched out his long arms and embraced her, inhaling the faint fragrance in her hair, and soon fell asleep.
Qin Yuan, however, could not sleep.
Accompanied by his long, deep breaths, he would think of this one moment and that the next.
She had barely managed to doze off for a short while when she heard Hongye knocking on the door from outside, saying, "Young... Madam, it's time to get up. The accountants are all waiting in the council courtyard."
Qin Yuan jumped up and said, "Come in and help me comb my hair."
After a while, Cuiming came in.
Qin Yuan knew that Hongye was avoiding Lord Gu, so she smiled and asked, "Husband, aren't you going to work this afternoon?"
Lord Gu also got up, quickly put on his outer robe, leaned against the headboard, and lazily looked at her, saying, "I'm too lazy to go. There are people guarding me. I'll go with you."
Qin Yuan hurriedly said, "It's just looking at account books and doing arithmetic. I'm afraid my husband will find it boring. Mr. Songshan is bored right now, why don't you ask him to tell stories?"
Gu Jinghui insisted, "It's alright. Now that we've settled on the head accountant, we also need to settle on the steward for the inner courtyard. Besides... we should talk about Accountant Sun and Steward Zhang. Didn't Mr. Songshan say that the inner courtyard is like the imperial court, and it needs to be cleaned up from time to time, with rewards and punishments applied in parallel?"
Qin Yuan suddenly realized.
He's thinking of making an example of her to warn others.
"Okay, let's go together then."
When the couple appeared together, the previously noisy courtyard fell silent.
Sitting in the corner, Butler Cao couldn't help but nudge Butler Han.
Butler Han did not respond, but his eyes were full of smiles.
By this time, everyone was seated, and writing brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, and an abacus were laid out on the table. After rising to greet each other, they sat down again and began to get down to business.
Hongye read out the examination rules, requiring them to review the issued ledgers within a specified time period.
After the reading was finished, Hongmian took a stack of account books and distributed them one by one.
Lord Gu leaned forward and quietly asked, "Are these account books all old accounts from the Marquis's residence?"
Qin Yuan smiled and shook her head: "They all came from my dowry shops."
These were all shady accounts that the shopkeepers had used to fool her back then. They had many loopholes, making them the most appropriate for the initial test.
After everyone had received their ledgers, Hongye lit incense on the main altar and announced, "Please complete the requirements within three incense sticks."
Suddenly, all that could be heard was the clattering sound of the abacus beads being moved.
By the time the three incense sticks had burned out, two-thirds of the people had completed their review.
Hongye looked at Qin Yuan.
Qin Yuan nodded.
Hongye said, "After reviewing, please point out the problems in the ledger one by one."
As a result, one-third of the accountants were excluded.
Of the remaining people, several were eliminated due to carelessness and mistakes.
Qin Yuan said, "Next, please review the accounts again within three incense sticks' time."
Hongmian distributed another stack of account books.
These are the account books that Manager Wu sent to the Marquis's residence for the second time. He had tried his best to cover them up, but there were still some clues.
The remaining few were on high alert, knowing this was the final test.
Qin Yuan said, "This time, please use your strengths and say whatever you can discover."
The group looked at each other in confusion, seemingly not quite understanding what was going on.
But seeing that Hongye had already lit the incense, he couldn't care less and buried himself in checking the documents.
After the three incense sticks burned out, only one person was still looking at the account book.
Hongye approached and whispered, "It's that Wan Zhang Fang (a type of accounting office)."
He was a fair-skinned, beardless, thin man wearing a bamboo-green long robe with frayed edges at the hem. His hair was sparse and slightly yellow, tied up with a bamboo-green handkerchief.
She looked frail and weak, indeed appearing to be recovering from a serious illness.
Qin Yuan paused for a moment before saying, "...Oh...Let them tell us what they discovered one by one."
Hongye breathed a sigh of relief.
Gu Jinghui then said, "A gust of wind might blow him over. Is that feasible?"
Qin Yuan smiled and said, "He doesn't need to fight on the battlefield, so please don't judge a book by its cover, my lord."
Lord Gu chuckled and said, "Alright, I'd like to see just how capable this Accountant Wan really is."
The accountants took turns giving their opinions on the ledgers in their hands, all pointing out errors and methods of falsification.
Qin Yuan listened attentively, nodding slightly from time to time.
Butler Cao quietly asked Butler Han, "These accountants are all evenly matched. I'm afraid Madam will want to have another competition?"
Butler Han said, "Don't rush, Accountant Wan hasn't said anything yet."
Butler Cao sighed, “We’re all laymen. We just thought Accountant Wan was a man of high moral character and recommended him to Madam. But he was the slowest of them all. He hadn’t even finished reading the account books.”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
