"Why would Zihong burn the account books for no reason? Did he burn all of them or only part of them?"
Seeing Mother Qin's expression filled with worry, Qin Shuyu's heart was lifted up, and he asked, "Don't you have any other plans to save the situation?"
"Do you still have copies of those tax rolls? If so, we can recalculate them, and perhaps..."
Mother Qin sighed and said, "What was burned was the freshly compiled totals. We don't have a backup. Now we can only recalculate, but it's too late."
"Your father said that the tax payer list should be submitted by each town before the New Year, and the Ministry of Revenue will calculate the tax amount after the New Year. Now the tax payment day is coming soon. If we can't make it in time, I'm afraid there will be a big mess."
"Those account books...ah...Zihong didn't do it on purpose."
Because of the burning account book, Qin's father always said at home that she had spoiled Qin Zihong.
But it has already happened.
Besides, the son knew he was wrong and he didn't want to cause such a big accident. After all, it was also the fault of the people in the Ministry of Revenue for not paying attention. How could Zihong be blamed alone?
Mother Qin got a headache just thinking about this. She rubbed her temples uncomfortably: "Yu'er, what should we do about your brother? I get a headache just thinking about alarming His Majesty."
"I also know that I have spoiled Zihong. After this matter is dealt with, I will definitely give him a lecture, but the most important thing now is how to protect Zihong's future."
"I only have this one son. If anything were to happen to him..."
For the next half hour, Qin's mother continued to mutter and make all kinds of excuses for Qin Zihong, trying to find reasons and excuses for her son's mistakes.
Qin Shuyu listened to what her mother said. At first, she felt empathy and worry, but in the end, she didn't know what she remembered, and her heart suddenly calmed down.
How many times has this happened?
Every time Qin Zihong made a mistake, his mother would say this, but she would still spoil her beloved son the next time.
But what if she made a mistake?
From childhood to adulthood, she has no capital to make mistakes. She has to do everything to the best of her ability. Only in this way can her mother take her out with honor.
As a married daughter, a child who had never been expected or favored, Qin Shuyu didn't know how to respond for a moment.
"Mother, I know about this matter, but we women can't interfere. As you said, only the men in the family can help with government affairs like this."
"My daughter, from what I hear, has no other solution except worrying. You might as well relax and see how daddy handles it." Qin Shuyu interrupted her mother's complaints and worries.
She didn’t want to talk about this topic anymore, so she told Suzhu: “Suzhu.”
"Bring the gifts I prepared in my room."
The gifts were prepared a few days ago. Over the years, she had returned to the Qin Mansion so many times that she could count on her fingers. Without Xie Yuchuan's company, it would be inappropriate for her, a married woman, to return to her parents' home alone and make a fool of herself.
I can only take advantage of today's meeting to express my filial piety.
The gift boxes of various sizes on the table were all given by Qin Shuyu to Qin's mother.
Upon hearing this, Su Zhu directly took all the gift boxes on the table, but... one of the square wooden boxes looked very strange, yet somewhat familiar.
Qin Shuyu didn't think about where this thing came from for a moment, and even ignored the thank-you gift that Chen Wei had sent not long ago.
Without thinking much, she handed them all to Qin's mother.
The mother and daughter talked for a long time, and then Qin's father sent someone to urge them to leave. Only then did Qin's mother send someone to take the gifts back home.
Until evening.
After seeing off the last group of birthday guests, Xie Yuchuan could no longer suppress his inner anger. The first thing he did when he returned to the backyard was to look for Qin Shuyu.
Qin Shuyu was sitting by the window gazing at the wall of the Marquis' Mansion. His eyes were unfocused and it was unknown what he was thinking.
“Qin Shuyu!!!”
Xie Yuchuan's voice brought her back to her senses, and her gaze shifted from the courtyard wall to Xie Yuchuan.
Xie Yuchuan strode in from outside with suppressed anger on his face.
Without getting close, she could feel the invisible anger around Xie Yuchuan, as if she had committed a capital crime and Xie Yuchuan's eyes could kill her.
"Do you know what you are doing?!"
"You'd better give me an explanation for what happened on the stage today!"
"You were the one who ordered the play about a woman marrying two husbands to be performed on stage? You didn't use the original good script, but insisted on using the one with the curtain. Are you deliberately going against me?"
"How did you become like this? You make me feel strange and scary. Today's birthday banquet has completely disgraced our Marquisate!"
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