“Then let me ask you all—how much of your allowance have I actually deducted? And how exactly was the food shortchanged? How can you prove that what I purchased was counterfeit?” Xu Qingyan sat calmly, tossing out these three questions lightly in their direction.
At this moment, Zhou, the steward, who was kneeling off to the side, vaguely sensed that something was amiss. Before the Second Branch could speak, he hurriedly interjected, “Consort of the Heir Apparent, now that they all know the truth, please stop trying to make excuses. This month is clearly different from last month—anyone can tell.”
“Is that so? Then would Steward Zhou dare to bring out all those account books and let everyone have a look?” Xu Qingyan raised an eyebrow at Zhou Yi upon hearing this.
Seeing this, Steward Zhou’s heart tightened, and he gave an awkward smile. “The account books aren’t something just anyone can look at. Besides, you’ve already reviewed them, my lady.”
He thought to himself, “How could I possibly let the Second Branch people see these account books!”
“In that case, why don’t I go through the account books together with all of you, and we’ll see what’s really going on? What do you all think?” Xu Qingyan looked at everyone with a serious expression.
The crowd exchanged uneasy glances, but they felt there was nothing improper about Xu Qingyan’s suggestion. Xu Qingyue, however, sensed a bad premonition rising within her and wanted to stop it, yet could find no suitable reason to do so.
Seeing that no one objected, Xu Qingyan asked, “You say the bird’s nest is fake—do you have any evidence?”
When Xu Qingyan raised this question, the Second Branch grew immediately indignant. The Second Branch’s daughter-in-law, Madam Qin, spoke up: “The bird’s nest we received before was always the finest grade from He’antang. This month’s delivery tasted terrible—who knows where it came from. We could barely swallow it. The bird’s nest is still in our quarters; if you don’t believe me, you can go look at it yourself.”
“No need. I believe what you say.” Xu Qingyan raised a hand to stop her.
Xu Qingyan’s words took Madam Qin by surprise. Xu Qingyan smiled faintly, walked over to the Duchess of Guo, and said respectfully, “Mother, would you allow me to take another look at the account books?”
The Duchess of Guo naturally agreed and had someone hand the books to her.
As Xu Qingyan flipped through the pages, she asked, “How many times a month do you receive bird’s nest? And how much is your monthly allowance?”
Upon hearing this, Madam Qin answered truthfully, “Four times a month, with one extra time during festivals and holidays. As for my monthly allowance, it’s about ten taels.”
“Did you know that your monthly allowance has increased this month? And that you’re entitled to receive bird’s nest eight times a month? You weren’t aware of any of this?” Xu Qingyan said with a look of surprise.
“Ah… what did you say?” Madam Qin was stunned speechless by Xu Qingyan’s words.
Meanwhile, Steward Zhou, still kneeling off to the side, broke out in a cold sweat from Xu Qingyan’s words. Only now did he understand what the Consort of the Heir Apparent had been planning all along. So she had been pretending that day—not only could she read and do arithmetic, but she also understood market prices, and she was clever. It was over… This time, he was truly done for!
“These account books clearly record that you’ve been receiving bird’s nest six times a month, and it’s been that way for the past six months. As for the monthly allowance—it used to be fifteen taels, but now it’s eighteen taels.” Xu Qingyan said in a casual, offhand manner.
When she finished speaking, the crowd was thrown into turmoil, unable to accept what they’d heard. Madam Qin, in particular, immediately retorted, “That’s impossible! My monthly allowance has always been ten taels. Forget eighteen—I’ve never even seen fifteen. And the bird’s nest has been four times a month for the past year—before that, it was only twice!”
Hearing this, a slight smile curled at the corner of Xu Qingyan’s lips as she continued, “I’ve only had bird’s nest four times this month myself. Given my previous circumstances, I’d never eaten bird’s nest before, so I can’t tell the difference between good and bad quality. But Steward Zhou said that since we are the Duke’s Estate, everything we eat and use must be of the finest quality. Yet I found the bird’s nest I ate quite unpalatable—yesterday’s portion is still sitting untouched! Someone, go bring the bird’s nest from my quarters and show it to Sister-in-law Qin. See if it’s from He’antang.”
In no time, a maid brought the bird’s nest from Xu Qingyan’s quarters and presented it before Madam Qin.
Madam Qin took one look and said disdainfully, “How could this possibly be from He’antang? It’s such poor quality!”
“No, you…” Madam Qin suddenly felt something was off after speaking, and stared at Xu Qingyan in shock.
Xu Qingyan let out a light laugh and said, “If I were embezzling while managing the household, why would I also be eating this kind of bird’s nest? What’s more, I’ve only held the household management authority for a little over a month. But the discrepancies in your bird’s nest and monthly allowance go back at least six months. Surely you’re not suggesting that it was also embezzled before?”
The moment these words left Xu Qingyan’s mouth, all those who had been questioning her fell into dead silence.
Who would dare say yes to that! Six months ago, the household management authority had been in the hands of the Duchess of Guo. There was no way the Duchess would ever embezzle—if she wanted to reduce their allowances, she could simply issue an order and no one would dare object.
At this moment, the Duchess of Guo naturally understood the reason behind it all, and even thought of deeper issues. Since she had taken charge of the household, few people had come to her to complain about the food or express dissatisfaction with their monthly allowance. She had looked at the account books and seen only normal expenses, finding nothing amiss, so she had never examined them closely.
She had assumed that the normal expenses meant the second and third branches could receive bird’s nest eight times a month, along with a monthly allowance of around fifteen taels of silver, plus additional benefits on ordinary days—yet they had not enjoyed any of these. Moreover, the people of the second branch even felt that having bird’s nest four times a month was already satisfying, never imagining they could have had more. Had Xu Qingyan not hit the nail on the head, they would likely have remained in the dark forever. This steward Zhou had been a longtime servant of the Duke’s Estate for over a decade, and all the account books for these ten-plus years had passed through his hands.
At this thought, the Duchess of Guo’s face instantly darkened. She ordered the steward Zhou to be seized and berated him: “Well done, you Zhou Yi! I never imagined you’d been falsifying accounts all these years. Guards, seize him! Tell me honestly, just how much silver have you embezzled? If you return everything you’ve stolen over the years, I might spare your life—otherwise… I fear your head won’t be enough to pay for this!”
“Mercy, my lady! This servant was merely confused for a moment—please spare my life!” Steward Zhou knelt on the ground, begging for mercy in terror.
“Don’t bother asking,” Xu Qingyan thought to herself as she watched the kneeling steward Zhou beg for mercy. “He’ll never admit it, and he has no silver to return anyway, since the embezzled money has long since gone into Liu Rumeng’s hands. She has him completely under her thumb. Even if you were to kill him, he wouldn’t say a single word more.”
The reason she had been able to prove her innocence so smoothly was twofold: first, she could read the account books and spot the irregularities within them; second, she had gone to the kitchen, and after making inquiries, discovered something amiss, allowing her to make thorough preparations.
Most importantly, she had read the books and knew that this steward Zhou was Liu Rumeng’s devoted lackey—utterly loyal. For over a decade, he had been skimming plenty of profit for Liu Rumeng within the Duke’s Estate, valuing her even more than his own life.
Liu Rumeng? When the Duchess of Guo heard Xu Qingyan’s inner thoughts, she was astonished. So that concubine Liu, who appeared so aloof from worldly affairs, was actually connected to all of this. She truly had never seen it coming!