The Empress Arrives: Rebirth of Concubine Hua

Chapter 118 Accounting Tricks
Two days later, the six people that Nian Shilan sent out to the farm to inquire about the news came back, and the accountant had also sorted out the accounts.

Xiao Linzi followed beside Nian Shilan and whispered.

"Master, I haven't seen Li Ke for the past two days. You said that this man of the underworld has been hiding from his enemies in your place for so long, and he didn't even say hello to you when he left. How rude."

Nian Shilan didn't care at all.

"Let him go. He can come and go as he pleases. I won't restrict him."

Xiao Linzi said again.

"Yes, my master is very free and easy. In my opinion, you have some spirit of a man of the world!"

Nian Shilan looked at Songzhi applying hand cream on her hands and said to Xiao Linzi with a smile.

"I think you are itching for trouble. You should be punished. You even dared to make fun of me."

Xiao Linzi chuckled and waited for Nian Shilan's hands to become moist before he took the account book to show Nian Shilan.

"Master, here are the accounts that have been sorted out, please take a look."

Nian Shilan wanted to test Xiao Linzi's ability to recognize words, so she asked him to read to her.

However, Xiao Linzi read half a page haltingly and then started scratching his ears and cheeks in anxiety.

Songzhi quickly took the account book and read it to Nian Shilan. Xiao Linzi then took Songzhi's hand, looked at it and took notes.

Nian Shilan listened for a while and stopped Songzhi from reciting.

"Draw out the accounts of Rongjing Manor and Lanbai Manor for me."

Asked Xiao Linzi again.

"What did those people say?"

Xiao Linzi said quickly.

"My Lord, the Fu Jin has given you the account books for five manors. Except for the largest Rongjing Manor, which was visited by two people, the remaining four manors each had one person. They followed your instructions and disguised themselves to ask the tenants in the fields. Those tenants looked really miserable. It is said that the harvests in recent years have been good, but the family is not well fed and clothed, and some even froze to death last winter. The two accountants said that the accounts submitted by the managers this time did not show anything on the surface. They carefully checked the taxes of last year and found that the harvests of these imperial manors were actually less than last year, which was inconsistent with this year's harvest. As for what to do next, it depends on you, my Lord."

Nian Shilan took the account from Songzhi, flipped through it, thought for a while, and said.

"I can't make the decision. I'm afraid Fu Jin can't make the decision either. Xiao Linzi, go to the front yard and see if the master has come back. I'll go find the master."

Xiao Linzi ran to the front yard quickly and waited for half an hour. As soon as Yinzhen returned home, Xiao Linzi immediately went back to Cheng'en Garden to tell Nian Shilan.

"Okay, okay. I never looked at the accounts of this farm carefully before. Mrs. Jin looked at it every time, but there are so many items that don't match the names."

Yinzhen looked at the account book sent by Nian Shilan, and those items that didn't match had been circled with a red pen.

Nian Shilan was still thinking in her heart, how could someone as smart as Ulanara not have noticed these tricks before? She actually let her look at the accounts of this farm.

Yinzhen saw that Nian Shilan didn't say anything and asked.

"What are you thinking about? Tell me, I'll listen."

Nian Shilan expressed her doubts without hesitation, but she said it tactfully.

"I was thinking that Fu Jin has been in charge of these affairs for many years. I think she trusted the managers too much and didn't notice that they were pretending to obey her but actually disobeying her. How about the master go to the manor in person?"

Yinzhen stared at the pages in his hand for a long time.

"Fujin has a hidden problem. It looks like I have to deal with it."

Nian Shilan saw that Yinzhen's idea coincided with hers, and she felt an indescribable feeling in her heart. When Ulanara heard that Yinzhen would go to the farm to handle things in person tomorrow, she fiddled with a pot of dwarf holly, and the scissors in her hand climbed over the branches little by little, trimming the whole bonsai into a plump and cute shape.

"Qiumei, what do you think of this bonsai?"

Qiu Mei smiled.

"It's naturally very good since it's taken care of by Fu Jin herself."

Ulanara admired the bonsai.

"Yes, it will be great if you take care of it yourself. The manor should be managed by the master himself. Those people left by my sister are really an eyesore. But I can't touch them. I can only get rid of them if it affects the master's interests."

Qiu Mei said, holding the scissors handed to her by Ulanara.

"Master, tell me, when the concubine found the discrepancy in the accounts, why didn't she come to ask you, but went directly to the master. I noticed that the concubine always disagreed with you during the day, and she probably wanted to take this opportunity to make the master think that you are not familiar with the silver and money accounts."

Ulanara chuckled.

"No, Nian is very smart and knows how to choose the right time. She sent people to walk around the fields, and she asked the accountant of the master to sort out the inconsistent accounts for her, but she didn't want to offend those managers, and she also figured out that I didn't want to offend those people. She simply pushed it all to the master to clean up, and even did me a favor. She doesn't act like a lady who never leaves the house, but more like the master who has been in charge of the household for many years."

Qiu Mei was puzzled.

"I still don't understand. Aren't the stewards left behind by the first wife all from your mother's family?"

What Qiu Mei didn't ask was why they wanted to get rid of them.

Ulanara's eyes became gloomy.

"Why should my things still be taken away by the people my sister left behind?"

Nian Shilan had been busy for the past few days and finally had some free time. She half-lying on the chaise longue by the window, watching Lidong embroidering a handkerchief for her.

Songzhi massaged Nian Shilan's legs.

"Master, the master said he would take you to the farm tomorrow, why don't you go? Aren't you bored staying in this house all day long?"

Nian Shilan sat up, changed to a comfortable position, and lay down again.

"The master is going to get rid of the bugs, why should I follow him to join in the fun? Besides, why should I show my face and become a thorn in the eyes of those managers?"

Song Zhi said.

"You said at that time that Fu Jin borrowed your help to do this today, so why did you still help her?"

Nian Shilan lifted up her nails that were painted with kohlrabi, each one was extremely bright. The charcoal fire in the room was burning at just the right temperature, and it looked even warmer.

"I'm doing her a favor today because I haven't figured out her intentions yet, for example, why she wants to save Yuluo. According to Xiao Linzi, Yuluo is currently hiding in Rongjing Manor. I want to give Fu Jin a chance so that she can place her people there. Next time, I can get rid of all her secret agents."

Qi Yuebin has been happily preparing for her wedding recently, and the palace has assigned Nanny Deng to teach her etiquette.

When Nanny Deng arrived at the Qi Mansion, she brought a little palace maid with her. Nanny Deng said that the mother of this little palace maid used to work in the Nian Mansion, and the little palace maid was quite familiar with Nian, the concubine of Prince Yong.

I brought it here specifically to tell Miss Qi some of Nian's preferences so that the two of them could get along well in the mansion in the future.

No one recognized that the little palace maid named Gui Wan was Nian Zhilan who was kidnapped on the way to the Nian Mansion.

　Does anyone still remember Nian Zhilan? She popped up. Qi Yuebin's wedding date is approaching, and he will officially meet Nian Shilan.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)