By the end of August, the first batch of students from the Ministry of Revenue, taught by Su Shi and Xiao Youran, had basically graduated with satisfactory academic performance.
The newly refurbished accounting books of the Imperial Fundraising Office were completed, and Su was very satisfied.
So, within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he had reviewed the accounts of the Tingmu Division for the past two months and immediately discovered the problem.
Ye An proudly raised his hand, "Wait a minute, let me guess. Su Yiren probably discovered the problem with the accounts, right? I also noticed the imbalance, so I made sure the missing items were accounted for. I suspect that these few missing amounts are related to that Minister Jiang."
Madam Su raised an eyebrow and said, "I am only responsible for auditing the accounts; the investigation of the case is none of my business."
Ye An laughed and said, "I know it has nothing to do with you, but I guessed you might be happy to hear it, so I'm informing you. Your invention of the balancing accounting method is truly useful! It can spot problems at a glance. I have already reported the shortage of these few entries to Grand Secretary Zhang and the Chief Minister. As for whether to investigate and how to investigate, that depends on His Majesty's decision."
Su was also very pleased, saying, "In that case, I can resign from my position as a guest advisor."
Ye An was shocked. "Your Excellency is going to step down? No, no, no, that's not what I meant! The Imperial Recruitment Office still needs your advice!"
Madam Su smiled and said, “Lord Ye, there’s no need for you to be modest. The purpose of teaching you this new accounting method was to ensure that everyone could understand the ledgers. Now that we have achieved this goal, I should retire gracefully.”
Ye An tried to persuade him to stay, "What about the project proposal..."
Su smiled and said, “When the country is rich, the people are strong. Science and technology are the primary productive forces, and transportation is a major national infrastructure project. Lord Ye, if you want to make good use of the funds of the Imperial Funds Bureau, then invest in the major directions I previously suggested. You may not see results in the short term, but in three to five years, or even ten or twenty years, you will surely achieve lasting success.”
Seeing that she was determined to leave, Ye An could only bow and express his gratitude, saying, "If you have any further questions in the future..."
Su readily agreed, saying, "Lord Ye, just inform me or write to me."
"Writing a letter?" Ye An asked in surprise. "Yiren is leaving the capital?"
Ms. Su nodded, "However, it should still be some time."
Ye An sighed, "Yiren is truly a magnanimous person."
Su raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"
"It's all over the capital that Yiren is waiting to see the Yong'an Marquis's family make a fool of themselves. Minister Jiang is still in prison awaiting trial... Hehe." Ye An became embarrassed as he spoke, and touched his nose.
He was actually waiting to see Jiang Mingli make a fool of himself. The newly appointed Minister of Revenue had only been in office for less than half a year when he was imprisoned and became neighbors with the former Minister of Revenue, whose case was still pending.
He got promoted before thanks to Su Shi and Xiao Youran. I wonder if he'll have a chance to get promoted again this time?
Madam Su smiled and said, "There's plenty of time ahead. The Yong'an Marquis's mansion will be the first to make a fool of itself."
Ye An's eyes lit up; there was something deeper in those words!
Over the past few months, he had heard about the various misfortunes that had befallen the Yong'an Marquis's family.
After Jiang Mingli went to prison, several more farcical incidents occurred in the Yong'an Marquis's mansion.
First, the Earl of Yong'an tried to smooth things over by taking several paintings and calligraphies from his study to the Minister of Justice. However, the paintings and calligraphies were thrown out and scattered on the ground. A few scholars happened to pass by, took a second look, and then mockingly pointed out that these paintings and calligraphies were all fakes. They said that the Earl of Yong'an had the audacity to send them to the Minister of Justice's residence, which explained why they were thrown out.
The Earl of Yong'an was furious, his face turning ashen. Upon returning to his residence and investigating, he discovered that all the antiques and paintings in his study had been switched. His roar of "Unfilial descendants!" was deafening and could be heard three streets away.
With no money left in the household, Lady Gao had no choice but to pawn her dowry with tears in her eyes. The entire household was struggling to make ends meet, and they even had to sell several servants.
Originally, he had secretly summoned a human trafficker to the mansion to sell them off secretly, not wanting to be laughed at.
But those servants had been sold off by their master, and naturally none of them wanted to cover for them. Instead, they started making sarcastic remarks in the brokerage, revealing everything about the situation inside the Earl's mansion.
It really made people laugh again.
Gao couldn't raise any more money and didn't want Tian to laugh at him, so he secretly borrowed money from loan sharks, thinking that he could pay it back once his family's assets in Dingzhou were transported to the capital in half a month.
But Jiang Mingwei kept distributing porridge outside the city. Whenever Gao bought some grain, Jiang Mingwei would take it away. Whenever she bought some grain, it would disappear the next day. This made Gao so angry that she would fall over. So she simply bought as much as she could eat each day.
On the fifth day of the ninth month, Jiang Mingwei was unable to get any money or food. Her mother, driven to the brink of madness by her mother's actions, had dark circles under her eyes and looked like a ghost. With no other option, she went to Xiao Youran.
At the county princess's residence, Xiao Youran kept putting snacks on Jiang Mingwei's plate, saying, "Auntie, eat more. You've lost weight in the few days I haven't seen you."
Jiang Mingwei nodded as she ate heartily, "Delicious! Little Youran, you have no idea how poor the Marquis's mansion has been lately, almost starving! I haven't had a full meal in ages! I can't get any food either, and we still don't have any food for tomorrow's porridge distribution!"
Madam Su looked at her younger sister-in-law with affection, "Mingwei, eat slowly. If you are ever hungry in the future, you can come to our house for a meal."
Jiang Mingwei shook his head slightly, "No, no, no, if I can lose some weight while I'm here, that would be a good thing! I'm here today because I need your help, that's why I've swallowed my pride and come to borrow some food. Can you lend me some? I promised to donate porridge to those disaster victims for three months, and there's still a month and a half left... I want to be a person of my word."
Su looked at Xiao Youran.
Xiao Youran agreed without hesitation, "It's just borrowing some grain, what's so difficult about that? Just have someone come to my house tomorrow to take the grain!"
Jiang Mingwei was overjoyed and swallowed the steamed bun in her mouth. "Second sister-in-law, Xiao Youran, I know the Marquis's mansion has wronged you, but I didn't expect you to still be willing to help me. Thank you, Xiao Youran, thank you, second sister-in-law!"
Madam Su shook her head. "Mingwei, you must not call me Second Sister-in-law anymore. Just call me Madam Su."
Jiang Mingwei was taken aback, then her eyes reddened. "Second sister-in-law! No, I don't want to call you Madam Su. In my heart, you will always be my second sister-in-law!"
Su's eyes also reddened, and she turned her face away.
Jiang Mingwei said, "Second Sister-in-law, when you married into the Jiang family, I was only five or six years old. Ever since I was old enough to understand, I have often been close to you. You taught me to read and write, to do needlework and accounting, and you also taught me to be honest and kind, and to distinguish right from wrong. Many daughters of officials in Dingzhou envy me for having you, the most talented woman in Dingzhou, as my second sister-in-law. If my second brother doesn't want you, he's blind. I will only accept you as my one and only second sister-in-law!"
Madam Su sighed, "The relationship between my daughter and I and the Earl's Mansion is over, to the point of no return. I only hope that you will not put us in a difficult position."
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