Chapter 16 Auditing the Accounts
Shen Ruzhi asked in her eyes.
Jiang Wan Ning beckoned Hai Tang over and whispered a few words in Hai Tang's ear.
"Yes, Miss." Haitang replied excitedly.
The next day.
Jiang Wan Ning got up early, ate breakfast, and then sent Shen Ru Zhi back home.
Then he took the peony and walked in another direction.
"Miss, where are we going?"
"Check the accounts."
Jiang Wan Ning said casually, "Since Father has entrusted me with the power of managing the household, I should naturally investigate it thoroughly."
Peony scratched her head. "But Madam doesn't want to go out. Do we have to move all those account books back to the mansion?"
The young lady of the house never liked managing the accounts; she only liked spending money.
Previously, the madam managed the accounts, and later it was Concubine Liu's turn. Although the power to manage the accounts was handed over to the young lady, without the madam's help...
Jiang Wan Ning smiled slightly, "No need, let's get familiar with it first."
In her previous life, she married into the royal family and managed the entire Langya Royal Mansion herself in order to take care of Pei Anqing's household affairs.
Looking back now, I realize that while I was working so hard to manage the palace, those two scumbags were having sex.
However, whenever I encounter something I don't understand, someone always points it out the next day.
That notebook belonged to Pei Yanchuan.
In my past life, I thought he was just trying to avoid suspicion.
The carriage stopped at Liangfuzhai, and Shaoyao helped Jiang Wanning down from the carriage.
Where is your manager?
Peony called out to the waiter behind the counter.
"The shopkeeper isn't here, what would you like?"
The waiter glanced at the two impatiently.
"Food is scarce these days. If you don't order in advance, you won't get any."
"Summon Wang Fu to come out and see me."
Jiang Wanning's tone was cold.
The waiter then looked at the two men seriously and asked, "May I ask where you two are from?"
"How ridiculous! What kind of important person is this? They don't even recognize their own employer," Peony scoffed.
The waiter hesitated for a moment.
This shop belongs to the Marquis's mansion, and usually, either Aunt Liu or the second young lady of the Marquis's mansion come here.
She hadn't seen this person much before, but the aura surrounding her...
The waiter dared not be perfunctory any longer. "Please wait a moment, I'll go find our manager right away."
He then turned and ran towards the backyard.
In less than fifteen minutes,
A thin man hurried out, and when he saw Jiang Wan Ning, there was a hint of shock on his face.
However, he quickly concealed his true feelings, stepped forward hastily, and bowed respectfully, saying, "Young Miss."
"Please forgive me, Miss. It's usually Aunt Liu and the Second Miss who come here, so the shop assistants don't recognize you."
Jiang Wan Ning's eyes were cold as she glanced indifferently at the waiter behind Wang Fu.
"Just because you don't know them, does that give you the right to treat other customers like this?"
“Anyone who doesn’t know better would think that my Liangfuzhai is some kind of expensive place where customers have to be subservient to a waiter.”
The waiter trembled and immediately bowed his head. "Please forgive me, Miss, I was just being lazy for a moment..."
Wang Fu glared at the waiter, then turned to Jiang Wan Ning and said politely, "Miss, the shop has been extremely busy these past few days."
"Everyone was a bit tired, so they were a little perfunctory in their work."
"The younger one will definitely be disciplined strictly."
Seeing that Jiang Wan Ning did not intend to speak, Wang Fu continued, "May I ask what brings you here today, Miss?"
Wang Fu's heart pounded.
This is a grain shop, not a cosmetics shop. This young lady has never been here before.
“My father entrusted me with the management of the household. Today I have nothing to do, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to check the accounts.”
"I happened to be passing by here, so I thought I'd check the accounts of this grain shop first."
Jiang Wan Ning said, sitting down on a chair to the side, "Manager Wang, you don't need to worry about me."
"Just bring me the ledgers so I can take a look."
The waiter looked nervously at Steward Wang.
Wang Fu, however, remained as composed as an old dog, and said with a fawning smile, "It is my honor to receive guidance from Miss."
"Hurry up and bring the ledger over."
Wang Fu winked at the waiter, who immediately said, "Miss, please wait a moment. I will bring the account book over right away."
Jiang Wan Ning took the tea from Shao Yao, skimmed off the foam with the lid, and paused before bringing it to her lips.
"Manager Wang, be careful not to take the wrong ledger."
Wang Fu was taken aback, then laughed and said, "What are you saying, Miss? What else could my grain shop have besides the ledgers for grain?"
"Of course I won't take the wrong one."
“That would naturally be the best,” Jiang Wanning said. “I’ve only heard that the feel and color of the paper in the new ledger are different from the old one.”
"And it smells of ink."
"Then Steward Wang should have someone bring over the account books for the past three years."
Wang Fu felt a chill run down his spine, and then said, "No one else knows about the old account books, so I'll go and get them myself."
Jiang Wan Ning put down her teacup, raised her eyes and slightly curved her lips, "I'll trouble Steward Wang over there."
Wang Fu went to the backyard.
The waiter whispered, "Manager, this young lady never cares about these things. What's wrong with her today?"
"Should I go to the Marquis's residence to inform Consort Liu?"
Manager Wang touched the ring on his other hand with his thumb. "No need."
"She doesn't seem to be just passing by today; it's more like she came on a special trip."
"Then what should we do? This ledger contains one false entry from this year, and none from previous years."
"It's alright," said Steward Wang. "When has this young lady ever managed the accounts?"
"Even if we show her the real thing, she won't be able to tell anything."
"Besides, there are so many account books for three years, she might not be able to read them all."
"I reckon this time it was the mistress of the Marquis's mansion who deliberately made things difficult for the concubine. She didn't want to go out herself, so she sent the eldest young lady here just to go through the motions."
The waiter chimed in, "The manager is truly farsighted. Shall I take all these real account books with me?"
Manager Wang nodded.
The waiter had just reached the door when he stopped him again, saying, "Replace the ones from the last three months and put them at the bottom."
The accounts from these three months contain the most falsified records.
Even though someone who doesn't understand has come, if they happen to notice one or two things that are unreasonable, they can go back and tell the mistress of the Marquis's mansion.
The lady is not so easily fooled.
The waiter then returned and replaced the ledger as instructed by Steward Wang.
When they reached the shop in front, Manager Wang smiled and said, "Miss, the account books are all here."
Jiang Wan Ning tilted her head and looked at the thick stack of account books, her finger slowly sliding down one side, then suddenly stopped.
With a gentle tap of her fingertip, Peony took out the book that Jiang Wan Ning had pointed to.
Jiang Wan Ning flipped through the pages one by one, and the further she went, the faster she flipped through them.
Seeing this, Steward Wang felt even more relieved.
According to Jiang Wanning's opinion, let alone the problem with the ledger, she probably wouldn't even be able to spot the typos.
Feeling smug, Jiang Wan Ning slammed the ledger shut.
"Young Miss, is there a problem?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com