Manager Lu appeared startled.
Ye Jiayao picked her teacup up leisurely as he contemplated his situation.
Manager Lu’s thoughts were running a mile a minute. Why did the Second Young Mistress want to meet with the farmers? Did she not trust him? Did she want more information?
Seeing that Manager Lu made no move to get up, Jiang Yue prompted, “Didn’t you hear what the Second Young Mistress said?”
“The farmers stay a little far away and it will take some time for them to get here,” Manager Lu reasoned. “I don’t want to make you wait, Second Young Mistress.”
“Do they all live very far away?” Ye Jiayao asked.
“Not all of them. Two of the families live quite nearby, around four to five lis away. Why don’t I send someone to call them over?” Manager Lu suggested.
Ye Jiayao knew that he was just trying to buy himself some time. He has to choose the right people that he could direct to say whatever he wanted them to say.
“Sure. Call the ones who are staying nearby. I wanted to be able to say something to the Heir-son Lord when he asks about my trip here. I don’t want him to think I just came over for tea,” Ye Jiayao joked.
Manager Lu nodded and quickly left to handle her order.
Ye Jiayao looked over at Qiu Niang who was standing to the side. She smiled and asked her gently, “How old are you, Qiu Niang?”
Qiu Niang answered, “15.”
“Who else is in your family?”
“My mother, an older brother, a younger brother, and two younger sisters.”
“Do they all live in the farmlands?”
“Only my older brother and I stay here. Mother and my younger siblings stay in the city.”
“You have a house in the city as well? Where is it?”
“At the second house of the east side of wine alley.”
Ye Jiayao nodded perfunctorily. “Your father must be so glad to have your brother’s help with the farm.”
“My brother does not know much about the matters on the farmland. It is mostly managed by my cousin.”
“Is that so? Then I guess your cousin is pretty capable. What is his name?” Ye Jiayao asked.
“His name is Huang Yuan,” Qiu Niang answered. She wanted to help him gain recognition so she began to tell the Second Young Mistress all the things he does for the farm.
“So your cousin is also in charge of the accounts? What a smart man,” Ye Jiayao praised. Since Huang Yuan is in charge, manages the accounts, and also oversees the work, it looks like he was the main one pocketing the farmland’s profits.
Qiu Niang beamed at the Second Young Mistress’ words.
“The old man in charge of the accounts in Heavenly Residence is getting old. I am thinking of hiring a new person to manage the accounts there. Qiu Niang, can you bring me the account books that your cousin did? I want to take a look at it and if he’s as good as you say he is, I’m going to hire him at Heavenly Residence,” Ye Jiayao told the young girl.
“Are you talking about the famous restaurant Heavenly Residence?” Qiu Niang clarified, clearly interested.
Ye Jiayao nodded with a smile.
“I will go get it now!” Qiu Niang said excitedly.
Manager Bai’s lips twitched. He didn’t think that the Second Young Mistress was this smart.
A few minutes later, Qiu Niang came back with a thick stack of account books. Ye Jiayao flipped through some for a few seconds and was shocked at how different these account books were to the ones being submitted to Chunyu.
Ye Jiayao cleared her throat and said, “I’m not very knowledgeable in accounting. I’m going to bring this back to the mansion and have someone else review it.”
She passed the book to Manager Bai and suddenly said, “Why isn’t your father back yet?”
Qiu Niang replied, “He’s gonna take quite some time, Second Young Mistress. They went on foot.”
Ye Jiayao sighed and stood up. “Unfortunately, I can’t wait. I thought he would be back quickly and I still have things to do in the mansion! Qiu Niang, just tell your father I would come over in a couple of days.”
Meanwhile, Manager Lu and Huang Yuan were at the farmer’s place, coaching him on what to say to the Second Young Mistress. They had no idea that she’s already on her way home with the real account books.
When Manager Lu returned to the farmland, he saw that the horse carriage by the entrance before was already gone. He rushed in and asked Qui Niang for the Second Young Mistress’ whereabouts.
“Second Young Mistress has already left. She said that she would be back in a couple of days. She was interested in hiring cousin Huang Yan to do her accounts for Heavenly Residence so she asked to take a look at his previous works here on the farm. I gave her the account books that Huang Yuan did.”
Manager Lu’s face paled.
“Which books did you give her?” Huang Yuan asked frantically.
“Those in the cupboard. Didn’t you say that those are the ones that you put extra effort in? I wanted to show Second Young Mistress your best work,” Qui Niang answered.
Huang Yuan looked like he was about to pass out. The ones in the cupboard were all the real account books!
Manager Lu fell into a chair, muttering, “It’s over, it’s over…”
Huang Yuan, still clear-minded, asked, “How long has the Second Young Mistress been gone?”
Qiu Niang finally realized that something was wrong when she saw her father and cousin’s expressions. She responded timidly, “Around half an hour.”
“Quick. We need to go after them. We have to get those books back,” Huang Yuan said through gritted teeth.
Manager Lu came back to his senses and quickly prepared to chase the carriage.
Little did they know that they would never be able able to catch up to Ye Jiayao. Once they left, she ordered Song Qi to advance at full speed. They were already long gone.
In Heavenly Residence…
Ye Jiayao had Manager Bai and the restaurant’s accounting department look over the account books. She also asked Song Qi to have someone guard Manager Lu’s house in the city in case he tries to flee.
Now that she has sufficient evidence in her hands, Manager Lu would never be able to deny all his wrongdoings.
Back at the Jing An Marquis’ Mansion…
Xia Chunyu was resting, sipping on his tea, having just come back from his shift, when he realized that his wife was looking at him weirdly. She was smiling… but not quite.
“What’s wrong with your face?” he asked.
Ye Jiayao’s smile grew bigger. “Chunyu, I realized today that you really are a stupid donkey.”
He threw her an annoyed glare. “Can’t you say something nice to me once in a while?”
She bit her lip to keep from laughing. “Alright, I’ll say something nice then. I found the problem with the farmland.”
Xia Chunyu looked at her in surprise. “You went to the farmland?”
“Yes! I took a trip down this afternoon and I found out a lot.”
“Well, what have you found?”
“Let me ask you first, where did you hire Manager Lu from?”
“He is the manager of the previous owner. He seemed quite quick-witted and capable. He is also close with the farmers so I just hired him since he already has the experience and connections,” Chunyu answered.
Ye Jiayao sneered. “What’s wrong with you? Why would you hire someone like that?”
Xia Chunyu blushed a tiny bit in embarrassment. “I didn’t think much of it. At that time, I just needed someone to handle daily menial work. Besides, there is not much land, and my focus is on my other business.”
“Good for you for having that much money to burn,” Ye Jiayao mocked. Not much land? He has 40 acres! Doesn’t he know that these tenant farmers’ whole family’s livelihood depends on these small plots of land?
Xia Chunyu huffed impatiently. “Just tell me already.”
Ye Jiayao picked up a mandarin orange from the plate and slowly peeled it as she told him about everything that she found out.
“What? Fake account books?” Xia Chunyu’s face darkened in anger. He could forgive Manager Lu for being negligent and incompetent, but he’s not going to stand by while someone makes a fool out of him.
“This is preposterous! I’m going to send someone to arrest him right now!”
Ye Jiayao chewed on her orange, saying casually, “Don’t bother. I already sent someone over to Manager Lu’s house to keep an eye on him in case he tries to flee. Song Qi might even bring him over later on.”
She then handed him some orange segments. “Try this. It’s so sweet. I heard it was harvested from our residence’s farmlands.”
Xia Chunyu’s mood was too foul to even think about eating. “I don’t want it.”
Undeterred, Ye Jiayao forcefully shoved the fruit in his mouth. “Manager Bai is checking the accounts as we speak. I believe there will be more news soon. Luckily, there are still a few more months before the plowing season, so we can take our time in choosing our new workers.”
Just then, Song Qi entered and hurriedly reported, “Second Young Mistress, you were right. Manager Lu did try to run but I caught him.”
“What about Huang Yuan?”
“I have his address and I already sent someone over to nab him.”
Xia Chunyu was beyond furious. For three years, he was deceived by these people. “Where is he?”
“Outside, locked in the woodshed!”
Xia Chunyu told Ye Jiayao, “Don’t wait for me for dinner. I’m going to deal with these… vermin.”
Ye Jiayao didn’t try to stop him. Instead, she said to Song Qi, “Keep a close eye on the Heir-son Lord. Don’t let him get too angry.”
On the other side of the mansion, Liu Li was also going through some crisis.
“What do you mean you cannot find her? How can a person just disappear like that? No one in the residence heard anything?”
Little Ya answered, “After the wedding feast ended, Zhu Wang’s wife, together with Zhu Wang and their son, disappeared. No one in the kitchen has seen or heard anything. It was like nothing happened.”
“Princess, do you think Zhu Wang’s wife will rat on us?” Mother Shu asked worriedly.
Liu Li waved her concern away. “There’s nothing to worry about. Zhu Wang’s wife doesn’t even know the name of the person who approached her. Even if Jinxuan suspected me, without any proof, what can she do?”
“But Little Gui Zi offered the services of the imperial physician…” Little Ya stammered.
“That doesn’t mean anything. I’m not the only one in the palace who hates Jinxuan. Concubine Mei is still smarting from the mooncake incident. His Majesty gave her the cold shoulder for a couple of months just because of that,” Liu Li said. “Just tell Little Gui Zi to stay alert.”
