Chapter 375: Asking the Accountant to Look at the Account Book
Li Yuan shook her head, but tears kept falling.
"Besides this incident, Gu Heng's relatives are also very arrogant. You don't know that Gu Heng has an aunt's grandson who came to him for help. He is just a scholar, but he came to ask Gu Heng to provide money to support his entire family and cover all the expenses for his studies in Kyoto."
"Mother Qiao, do you know? He actually agreed. I said a few words, saying that the man was unreliable. He was in his thirties and was just a scholar. Moreover, he liked to drink and have sex. His family was not rich, and he often indulged in wine and women. Why would you help such a person? Is it just because they are related to each other?"
Li Yuan felt that it didn't matter if those relatives who were capable could help, but for those who were not, would they have to spend money to prop this piece of mud up the wall?
Yun Qiao frowned even more as she listened to Li Yuan's words.
"How come I've never heard you talk about these things?"
Li Yuan had a sad face and shook his head, saying, "They say family disgrace should not be made public. How could I possibly tell you about these awful things? You were busy with business matters and also worried about the gift for Maidong's baby's one-month anniversary, so I never told you."
"I have some free time today, and because Qiqi's marriage is set, I'm happy, so I told you all these upsetting things."
"Mrs. Qiao, just listen to it and don't worry about it."
"I only ask that no matter what happens in the future, you treat my Qiqi better. I know you've always been very kind to her. I'm just afraid that someone will bully Qiqi in the future and I won't be able to do anything about it."
Yun Qiao took Li Yuan's hand and said, "Yuan Niang, you have to believe me. I will naturally protect Qiqi like Nian Nian."
After hearing Yun Qiao's words, Li Yuan felt relieved.
Seeing that it was almost time, Li Yuan knew that Yun Qiao was very busy every day, so he left.
As soon as she returned to Chunhui Garden, she heard her maid Mo Ju come forward and say:
"Second Madam, the Second Master's attendant Chang'an said that he will not be back for lunch today."
Li Yuan held the handkerchief tightly and asked, "Do you know where the Second Master went?"
Mo Ju hesitated, but still said, "It's a small alley."
Hearing this name, Li Yuan's eyes turned cold, and then he said, "Let him be."
"Has the accountant arrived? Ask him to go to the study. I need to ask him about some bills."
This accountant is Gu Heng's man.
Therefore, if Gu Heng wanted money, he would take it directly from the accountant without telling Li Yuan.
But in recent times, a full three thousand taels have been missing from the account book.
Three thousand taels is not a small amount of money, so Li Yuan would naturally not use his family's money to support outsiders.
The accountant's surname is Sun. He is a handsome man and is twenty-five years old this year. He was previously married and had two sons. Later, his wife fell ill and died, so Accountant Sun married again.
The wife he later married was a daughter of an impoverished official family. She had committed a crime and was forced to marry the accountant Sun.
Accountant Sun was also coveting the girl because she was a daughter of an official family, so naturally he fulfilled all her requests.
Therefore, the monthly salary of Mr. Sun, the accountant, could not meet the expenses of this poor young lady from an official family, so the weak accountant always had bruises on his body.
There are many scratches, especially on the face and neck.
When others joked that Accountant Sun was a henpecked husband, he just smiled and said nothing.
Li Yuan called Accountant Sun over, naturally for his own purpose.
When Accountant Sun was called over, he stood in front of the hall. When he saw Li Yuan, he politely called her "Second Madam."
"Don't worry, Accountant Sun. I called you here just to clarify some issues with the account books."
Accountant Sun looked at Li Yuan and said humbly, "Second Madam, please speak."
Li Yuan then asked about what was in the account book.
After Accountant Sun pondered for a moment, Li Yuan mentioned, "I heard Accountant Sun's wife likes rouge and powder. I've had some sent over. I hope your wife likes it."
"Second Madam, if you have anything to ask, just ask directly."
Accountant Sun was a little nervous.
After all, his family is involved. Although his current wife is his second wife, he loves her sincerely.
The woman was the housekeeper's daughter. She was pretty, could read and write, and could compose poetry.
He just has a bad temper, but he can tolerate all that.
Li Yuan suppressed the faint smile on his face and looked at Accountant Sun. "What did the Second Master spend the money he took from you on recently? Even if you don't know, you should know something."
"Accountant Sun, you belong to the Second House. Now that the Second Master is in charge of the outside business, you are in charge of the Second House's accounts, but I am the one who is in charge of you. I think you should know best who you should follow from now on."
"For nearly a year, Second Master, please keep a separate account book of all your expenses and give it to me."
"Also, from now on, if you spend more than one thousand taels of silver, you must tell me."
Of course, Li Yuan doesn't have to worry about business matters, expenses and income.
But she now has to take control of the money in their family account.
In addition to paying for the son's education and future marriage, the money also needs to be saved for the daughter's dowry.
Accountant Sun wiped the sweat from his forehead and said hurriedly: "Yes, I will obey the Second Madam's orders from now on. But if the Second Master asks?"
"Just tell the Second Master that I said these things."
Only then did Accountant Sun nod.
Li Yuan asked the maid to send Accountant Sun out. When Accountant Sun walked out of the door of the second room, the maid Mo Ju gave him a purse.
"Mr. Sun, take this. This is from my wife. You should also remember who you will work for in the future. Speaking of relationships, look at who is closest to the Marquis' Mansion."
Mo Ju's words also reminded Accountant Sun.
Although Gu Heng is the second master of the Marquis' Mansion, his relationship with the Marquis' Mansion is far less close than Li Yuan's.
After Accountant Sun returned home, he saw his wife, who had always been cold to him, smiling brightly.
"You're back! As soon as you left, someone sent over some rouge and powder. They're all top-selling products in Kyoto, especially this lip balm, which is the most popular peach blossom powder right now."
"Is it very valuable?" Accountant Sun asked his wife.
"It must be expensive, otherwise why would I like it so much? I'm not going to buy anything I like. You know, this peach-pink lip balm isn't available in Kyoto just because you have money. You have to queue up, and some people have waited for a month and still can't get it."
"I heard someone say that people are not allowed to speculate on the price. If anyone speculates on the price, I won't sell her rouge and powder anymore."
"Do you think it's precious?"
After Sun's wife finished speaking, she looked at him and asked, "Who sent this? Who have you been working for recently?"
Accountant Sun did not hide the matter about the second branch of the Marquis' Mansion from his wife.
Accountant Sun’s wife didn’t care about all this. She only knew that if Accountant Sun got benefits, she would also get benefits. Naturally, she wanted Accountant Sun to work for the Second Lady. How could he get less benefits in the future?
Sure enough, the woman's pillow talk worked.
It took Sun the accountant ten days to compile all the bills for the second master's private spending in the past year.
Accountant Sun gave the account book to Li Yuan.
"Second Madam, please take a look. I can still remember some things clearly, but some things are unclear because it has been so long. However, based on the accounts in this account book, it is very likely that they were given to the Gu family."
"Second Master supports some of the Gu family's scholars, which requires a considerable amount of expenses every month."
Li Yuan just wanted to understand, and didn't actually want to check every bill carefully.
When she saw the amount involved in the account book, which was as high as ten thousand taels, Li Yuan was also shocked.
"It's really not worth the money."
"Accountant Sun, you don't need to tell the Second Master about this. Just do what you should do from now on. Remember my words: there are some things you must tell me."
"Yes, I'll remember it."
Li Yuan asked the maid to send Accountant Sun away. She sat on the chair and looked at the account books, feeling very uncomfortable.
She knew that Gu Heng valued his Gu family very much, but she didn't expect that he would spend so much money on them.
That day, Gu Heng came back very late again.
Moreover, when he came back this time, he still had the scent of a woman on him.
Li Yuan couldn't hold it in any longer.
"If Second Master likes a woman outside, he can just bring her back. You said, I will take care of it. There is no need to come here in such a sneaky way."
Gu Heng drank some wine and had a slight headache. It might also be because he had been busy with business these days and had not had enough rest, so the headache was severe.
Now that I'm back, I just want to relax and have a good rest.
After hearing what Li Yuan said, he didn't want to pay attention.
"I've been very busy today and I'm a little tired. I'll take a rest first."
"Well, I'll sleep in the side room at night."
Li Yuan had always felt that there was something wrong with Gu Heng and that he had another woman outside. When she heard him say this, her face darkened, but she didn't cry.
"Come here, prepare a wing room for the Second Master."
"Madam..." The maid stepped forward, hesitantly trying to persuade her, but Li Yuan scolded her, "Why, you don't even listen to me?"
"I'm in Chunhui Garden, and no one listens to what I say?"
Gu Heng frowned and looked at Li Yuan, "Yuan Niang, what's wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with me? Second Master, why don't you ask yourself, what's wrong with you? How long has it been since you last had dinner with us?"
That brat Chen Yang went to the front yard to play with his brothers and sisters, and was having so much fun that he didn't even want to leave.
Qiqi is still young, how could she understand adults' emotions?
Therefore, Li Yuan could only express his emotions to Gu Heng, but unfortunately, he could not understand.
"I'm very tired. Let's talk about it tomorrow. I'm going to rest first."
Gu Heng turned around and left. He returned to the room and asked the servant to help him lie down. He did not ask Li Yuan's maid to take care of him.
Gu Heng was sleeping soundly over there, but Li Yuan stayed up all night. According to her personality, she had already thought about the divorce, but she couldn't bear to leave her two children.
The next morning, after having breakfast in the front yard, Chen Yang came to pay his respects to his mother and saw that his mother looked very bad.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
