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253. Check the Account Books and Punish Evil Servants

Gu Huaiyu stuffed some snacks into his mouth while saying with great joy, "Aunt, I dreamed that the river was full of big fish. Huairen and I used a net to fish in the river, and we caught more fish than we caught yesterday. They piled up like a small mountain!"

Gu Huairen also agreed: "Yes, those fish can glow, they are so beautiful, I can't bear to eat them."

Gu Xiaoya laughed and joked, "Second brother, Huaiyu, your dream is too outrageous. How can fish glow?"

Gu Xiaowan blinked her big eyes and asked curiously, "Does the fish glow like a lantern?"

At this time, Gu Huaiyuan coughed lightly and said, "Although fishing is fun, we must not forget our homework. When we are studying, we must concentrate on studying. We must not be distracted during class, otherwise I will not take you with me next time."

When Gu Huaiyu and Gu Huairen heard this, the smiles on their faces froze instantly, and they muttered, "Brother, we will study hard, and you can't go without us in the future."

Gu Huaining also chimed in: "That's right, we had so much fun yesterday, we must go next time. Cousin Xiaomeng even said she would take us to the mountains to pick wild vegetables next time!"

Lin Qingxue looked at the children and said with a smile, "Huaiyuan is right. Playing is one thing, but studies must not be neglected. How about this! If you behave well, I will still take you there in the future."

When the children heard this, they immediately became excited, nodded in agreement, and said in a firm tone that they would study hard.

After breakfast, the children went to the study in the front yard to study. They had to behave well so that they could go to Linjia Village again next time.

After the children went to the study, Lin Qingxue brought Donghe and Chuntao to the study. When they arrived, Wen Nuan was already waiting in the study, with several account books on the desk.

Seeing Lin Qingxue coming over, Wen Nuan said respectfully, "Master, these account books were delivered by the stewards yesterday. You need to finish reading them this morning. The stewards will come to report to you in the afternoon."

Lin Qingxue nodded slightly and said, "Okay, go make a pot of scented tea, then go to my second brother's shop and order three grilled fish. Send one each to Dongyangyuan and the second house. We'll eat one ourselves, and then send some milk tea."

"Yes, master, I'll go right away," Wen Nuan responded, and left to do what Lin Qingxue had asked her to do.

Lin Qingxue sat down and began to look through the account books. There was a stack of blank papers next to her. If she encountered something she didn't understand or something was wrong with the items in the account books, she would write it down on the blank paper next to it and ask the maids in charge in the afternoon.

As she read through the account books one by one, Lin Qingxue's brows gradually furrowed. One of the account books recorded the monthly salary distribution in the mansion. The monthly salary amounts of some servants were inconsistent with the previous regulations, and there was inexplicable deduction.

There was also an account book recording purchases. The price of the purchased fabrics was much higher than before, but there was no special note in the account.

Donghe and Chuntao stood aside, watching their master's increasingly solemn expression, and did not dare to make a sound to disturb him.

Lin Qingxue quickly wrote down her questions on a blank piece of paper, thinking to herself: Someone might have tampered with the internal affairs of this mansion. If it is not checked in time, there will be big problems in the future.

Half an hour later, Wen Nuan hurried into the study with scented tea. Seeing Lin Qingxue's serious expression, she didn't dare to ask more questions.

Wen Nuan placed the scented tea on the table gently and whispered, "Master, the scented tea is ready. I've also ordered the grilled fish and milk tea. They should be delivered before noon."

Lin Qingxue nodded slightly, picked up the scented tea and took a sip. After a short rest, she continued to bury her head in the account book.

When she opened an account book recording the farm's harvest, she found that the actual harvest was far from the estimated harvest, but the report submitted by the farm manager was all very good.

"Donghe, go and get the notebook that the manager of the farm presented to me earlier. I want to compare it carefully," Lin Qingxue said in a deep voice.

Donghe responded and hurried to get the notebook. After Donghe came back, Lin Qingxue compared the account book and the report word by word and found that there were discrepancies in many data. It was obvious that someone was falsifying the data.

"It seems the waters in this mansion are deeper than I imagined," Lin Qingxue muttered to herself, a cold glint in her eyes. "The stewards will come to report on their work this afternoon. I want to see how they explain these issues."

Lin Qingxue calmed herself down and continued looking through the account books. She saw that in another account book that recorded the income and expenditure of the farm, the amount of rent paid by tenants fluctuated abnormally compared with previous years. Many of the originally fertile and productive fields produced a pitifully small amount of grain, but the number of tenants recorded in the accounts had not changed much.

Looking at the shop's account books again, the purchase prices of some goods have risen sharply, but the selling prices have not increased accordingly, and the profit margin has been severely compressed. However, the manager in charge of purchasing did not provide any explanation.

Lin Qingxue quickly wrote down these doubts on a blank piece of paper, thinking to herself that it seemed that there were some big loopholes in the housekeeping management of the mansion, and perhaps someone was interfering.

Chuntao, who was standing by, saw that her master looked so solemn that she didn't dare to breathe. The atmosphere in the study became inexplicably depressing.

Chun Tao asked quietly, "Master, is there something wrong with this account book?"

Lin Qingxue raised her eyes, her gaze sharp. "It's a big problem. It seems I need to ask the stewards about it clearly during my meeting this afternoon."

Chun Tao looked worried: "Will these things be difficult to handle, Master?"

Lin Qingxue's lips curled up slightly, revealing a confident smile: "These are just some little tricks hidden in the dark. I will definitely get to the bottom of this trick and will not let the interests of the mansion be damaged."

Lin Qingxue saw a cup of brewed scented tea next to her. She picked up the cup and took a sip. The fragrance of the tea instantly dispelled some of the boredom in her heart.

After a short rest, she plunged into the account book again, not missing any details, and prepared to expose the true colors of those with ill intentions in the afternoon report.

Near noon, sunlight filtered through the carved window lattices onto the floor of the study, creating patches of mottled light and shadow.

Lin Qingxue finally closed the last account book. At this time, a thick stack of white papers recording doubts had piled up in front of her.

"Chun Tao, sort these papers according to the account book categories. Don't mess up the order when the housekeepers come."

Lin Qingxue rubbed her aching temples while giving instructions. The contents of the account book made her feel a little dizzy.

"Yes, master." Chuntao hurried forward and carefully sorted out the papers full of questions.

Just then, footsteps were heard outside the door, followed by the aroma of grilled fish drifting into the study. Wen Nuan came in with two servants. The servants were holding food boxes in their hands, which contained steaming grilled fish and milk tea.

"Master, grilled fish and milk tea are here," Wen Nuan put the food box on the table beside her, opened the lid, and the aroma immediately filled the air.

Lin Qingxue checked the time and said, "Put it on the table in the side hall and ask the kitchen to make a few side dishes. Have the portions for Dongyang Courtyard and the Second House been delivered?"

"Master, it has been delivered. This is our portion. Master, the young masters will be coming over for dinner soon. You should take a rest!"

Wen Nuan covered the lunch box and asked Dong He to take it to the side hall, then she went to the small kitchen to pass on the message.

Wen Nuan responded and left with the servant. Lin Qingxue stood up and stretched her body after sitting for a while. She decided to take advantage of the time before lunch to sort out her thoughts.

She paced slowly in the study, connecting the doubts in each account book one by one in her mind.

"Dong He, why do these stewards want to deceive people like this?"

Lin Qingxue suddenly asked. She didn't believe that those people were bold enough to embezzle the manor under the name of the eldest princess. Everyone in the imperial city knew that the eldest princess hated evil and was so angry that she would even hit the emperor.

It is impossible that those people are not afraid of death?

However, Lin Qingxue forgot the old saying that goes, "The timid will die of starvation, while the bold will die of gluttony."

Wealth and honor are achieved through risk. If they wanted to live a good life, they would start by greedily taking small amounts of silver. Seeing that the princess didn't take it seriously, they became bolder.

Dong He thought for a moment and said, "My humble opinion is that he's motivated by money. He's withholding the servants' wages and raising purchase prices. He might have taken a lot of kickbacks. He's concealing the problems with the farm's harvest. He might also be colluding with the steward to embezzle the farm's output."

Lin Qingxue nodded slightly: "You have a point. However, it is hard to say whether there is someone else behind this."

"Master, I think the stewards were covering for each other. You don't know that the princess is very generous to her subordinates and rarely checks the account books carefully. She just glances at them and throws them aside if there's anything wrong."

Dong He laughed softly, but her face was full of bitterness. She had experienced something like this before she came to Xuan Xueyuan.

As the two were talking, it was lunch time, so Lin Qingxue went to the side hall. Not long after she sat down, Gu Huaiyuan and the others came over to have lunch.

Seeing the grilled fish on the table, the children were very excited. They had missed the taste of grilled fish for a long time.

Only Lin Qingxue and her son had lunch together. Gu Huaiyu and Gu Huairen were rarely present. Because the second house also had grilled fish, Princess Lin specially asked her maid to go to the study and take Gu Huairen and Gu Huaiyu back to eat.

"Mom, what day is it today?" Gu Huaining asked in disbelief. They had eaten so well these days, all of which were their favorite foods.

"Yes! Yes! Mother, we just had dinner in the front hall, and today we are having grilled fish again," Gu Xiaoya also asked.

Gu Huaiyuan didn't say anything, but washed his hands seriously. The four young masters were accompanied by their maids and servants, helping them wash their hands.

"If you like to eat, you can eat whenever you want. Do you need to choose a day?"

Lin Qingxue said unhappily, "She didn't treat the children harshly, did she? Look at what they said."

"Hehe!" Gu Huaining laughed foolishly, washed his hands, picked up a piece of grilled fish for Lin Qingxue, and started eating.

The children took a bite of the grilled fish, drank a sip of milk tea, and then ate other dishes. They were all very happy eating.

After dinner, the children went back to their own yard for a nap, and Lin Qingxue also went back to her room and lay down to take a nap.

After sleeping for less than an hour, Donghe fetched some water for Lin Qingxue to wash up, and they returned to the study, quietly waiting for the arrival of the housekeepers.

At the end of the afternoon, a voice was heard from the gate of Xuanxueyuan: "All the housekeepers are requesting an audience."

Lin Qingxue's expression froze. She sat upright on the main seat and said in a deep voice, "Let them in."

Dong He responded and went to welcome the housekeeper nanny in. A group of housekeeper nannies followed Dong He in one after another.

The leading nanny smiled broadly and said respectfully, "Greetings, Crown Princess."

Lin Qingxue's eyes swept across everyone's faces, finally landing on Matron Liu. She said coldly, "Matrons and stewards, you are so capable! You dare to accept the money from the Duke of Huguo's Mansion and the Princess. This Crown Prince's Consort admires you all immensely."

As she spoke, she pointed to the stack of account books on the table, then grabbed the stack of papers that recorded the suspicious points in each account book and threw them at the steward and the stewards.

Papers fluttered down like snowflakes, and the maids in charge turned pale instantly when they saw this.

The nanny's legs went limp, and she fell to her knees with a thud. She said in a trembling voice, "Princess, please understand. We old servants don't have the courage to do such a thing. There must be some misunderstanding!"

The other maids and stewards also knelt on the ground, shouting that they were innocent, with panic on their faces and fear in their eyes very obvious.

Lin Qingxue looked at them with a cold sneer in her heart, and said sternly, "Misunderstanding? Monthly salary withheld, purchase prices inflated, farm accounts in disarray, each and every one of these things are clearly written in black and white. Do you think this prince's consort is a fool?"

At this time, Chen, the steward in charge of purchasing, bravely raised his head and explained, "Princess, the price of this fabric has gone up because the production area recently experienced a rare rainstorm, and the supply is in short supply. Therefore, the price has risen accordingly. It is not that I intentionally raised the price."

Lin Qingxue stared at him with a glare as sharp as a knife. She snorted coldly, "Oh? The supply is in short supply? Then why is there no record of this in the accounts? Why didn't you report this to the Crown Prince's Consort when it happened? Do you think all the money in this mansion was blown away by the wind and that you can just mess around like this?"

Manager Chen's scalp tingled under her stare. He lowered his head and dared not say anything. He knew that his and the others' behavior had exposed them, so how could they have the courage to defend themselves?

Li, the steward in charge of the farm, also kowtowed and said, "Princess, the harvest was poor this year because of an insect plague. However, the people below did not report it in time. This was my negligence, which led to the discrepancy between the report and the actual situation. I deserve death."

"There was an insect plague?" Lin Qingxue raised an eyebrow. "Such a major event, and you just ignored it? What are the details of the insect plague? Did you hire anyone to deal with it? How much money did it cost? Why is there no trace of this in your account books?"

Manager Li had cold sweat on his forehead, he stammered and couldn't speak, his eyes rolled around, and he looked very restless.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the nanny quickly said, "Princess, it is my fault that I did not manage the people below me well. I am willing to accept the punishment. I hope that Your Majesty will show mercy and forgive us all this time."

"Lin Qingxue stood up and slowly walked to Madam Liu. "You have committed such a serious mistake, how can you just accept the punishment and let it go? If I don't punish you severely today, won't this mansion be emptied by you in the future?"

She paused, her eyes sweeping over everyone. "Considering you've served the manor for so many years, I don't want to be too harsh. Steward Chen, you will immediately recalculate the purchase accounts and return all the overpaid money. Steward Li, you will be responsible for recalculating the actual income and expenditure of the farm and returning the money that doesn't belong to you. As for Nanny, I will work with you for half a month to recover all the money that belongs to the Princess and the Duke of Huguo's mansion."

After a pause, Lin Qingxue looked at the stewards and maids with an indifferent expression and said coldly, "If you don't agree, this prince's consort will send you directly to the Dali Temple and punish you for corruption, treason and other crimes. You will have to pay with the lives of your entire family!"

"Princess, please spare my life!" Upon hearing Lin Qingxue's words, the stewards and maids all knelt down and begged for mercy.

"Wen Nuan, please show them away. Send two people to each of them to handle this matter," Lin Qingxue ignored the housekeepers kneeling on the ground, turned around and looked at Wen Nuan seriously.