spoiled brat

Chapter 95, Section 94: Self-Salvation (Part 4)

Zhao Zhao nodded. She had been learning the abacus from the innkeeper for a few days. Although she couldn't be called an expert, she was already quite proficient.

Seeing her thin figure and still childish face, the broker said, "You are generous and certainly not short of money, so why bother trying to get a job in the manor? Even if you get a job as a clerk, you'll have to work for two years to make up for the money you spent on buying a fake household registration from me. Besides, the manor is very chaotic and not a good place to go."

Zhao Zhao took note: "Chaos?"

"It's complete chaos! With the arrival of the Prince Ning's people, the old stewards were all forced out. How could they accept this? Besides, the estate has become royal land. What about the money and grain in the granary?"

Just then, a group of soldiers approached, their imposing manner raising a cloud of dust. The broker whipped his horse to give way, covering his face and cursing, "Where did these scoundrels come from!"

Zhao Zhao lifted the curtain and looked out. She saw a group of people wearing armor and carrying swords. Among them was a young man in white. Who else could that slender figure be but Xiu Yi?

With the river case resolved and the corrupt officials in Yunzhou gone, why is Xiu Yi here instead of consolidating his power in Yunzhou City?
Could he have come because of the tragic death of the men who escorted her home? But even with the deepest bond between master and servant, there's no need for him to come in person; he must have other motives.

As the dust settled, the brokers continued their journey. The carriage left the county and bumped along the country road, passing the inspection at the gate of Fanjiazhuang, winding through farmland and mulberry groves, finally stopping at the main residence of the family.

The courtyard was filled with farmers and laborers in straw sandals and hemp clothing. When they saw the broker arrive, they all surrounded him and asked, "Is the village manager still not here at this hour? Are we still picking people today?"

The sun had already set. The broker told everyone to calm down and hurried off to fetch the village manager. Before long, he returned with a group of men, the leader of whom was a burly man with a fierce face; he was the former village head, Fan Jin.

Among the farmers and laborers who came to hire, there were quite a few people he knew, and they would respectfully call out from afar, "Fan Zhuangtou!"

Fan Jin ignored him, sprawled out on a bench under a tree, and lazily picked his teeth. The broker leaned in and whispered a few words in his ear, but Fan Jin turned and spat in his face: "What good is it for you to rush me? I'm not in charge of this village anymore, and the people I chose don't count!"

The broker bowed and stepped back, waving for everyone to line up and wait. The farmers and laborers lined up lazily, among whom a group of scholars dressed in headscarves and robes stood out, each carrying an abacus; Zhao Zhao stood among them.

Not long after, carriages stopped and horses neighed outside the courtyard. A young woman, supported by her maid, entered, her face pale and sickly. Fan Jin slowly rose, not going to greet her, and forced a dry laugh, "Miss Yue, did your shop inspection go smoothly?"

Yuan Yue gave him a cold look but remained silent. A servant brought over a reclining chair, which she sat down formally. The broker bowed with a forced smile and handed her the roster. After flipping through it, Yuan Yue asked, "Are they all from respectable families?"

"Yes, yes. Don't worry, I've already checked their household registration records."

The dentist was quite skilled at forging documents and thought that Yuan Yue, being young, would be easy to fool. However, Yuan Yue randomly called out names from the roster, and the farmers and laborers who were called out stepped forward to answer questions one by one.

In about the time it takes to drink three cups of tea, Yuan Yue picked out the dozen or so counterfeit goods that had been mixed in, and the ones she selected were taken away and settled.

After selecting the farmers and laborers, Yuan Yue began to select books and arithmetic. The men who had come to hire her stepped forward, and a maidservant pulled out a roll of paper from her sleeve and distributed it to each of them. After she finished, she announced loudly, "Those who have finished the arithmetic after one incense stick has burned out will stay at the manor and receive five taels of silver per month!" She lit a tinderbox, and the incense sticks began to burn softly.

Everyone sat cross-legged on the spot, using abacuses on their laps.

The only sound around her was the clicking of paper, but Zhao Zhao wasn't in a hurry. She calmed down and stared at the paper in her hand. It was a detailed account of a shop's recent income and expenses. Although the shop's name was covered with thick ink, judging from the complicated items and lengthy amounts, the shop must be quite large.

If it's just a test of calculation skills, why would we need such a real ledger?
Just as she was wondering what was going on, she heard a series of weak coughs coming from the front. Yuan Yue looked pale and weak, and even after drinking several cups of cold tea, she couldn't suppress her illness.

"Miss, are you suffering from heatstroke?" Fan Jin asked with a smile. "You've inspected so many shops and seen so many people today. Why push yourself so hard? Don't overwork yourself... Why don't you go back to your room and rest? I'll keep an eye on things here, so you can rest assured."

He rambled on and on, but Yuan Yue remained silent with a cold face.

Seeing that the two were not getting along, Zhao Zhao figured out the general idea and began to calculate slowly.

After a short while, when the incense stick had burned out, the maid came down to check the answers. Those present were all experienced mathematicians, rarely making mistakes, but the maid frowned more and more as she checked, randomly grabbing one of the mathematicians and asking, "Are you sure this is correct?"

Without hesitation, the man replied, "I've made a living with an abacus for half my life; I can calculate it wrong even with my eyes closed."

While the maid checked the documents, she questioned several people, but they all insisted that there was no mistake, so the maid had no choice but to give up.

When it was Zhao Zhao's turn to be examined, the maid looked up in surprise: "You..." The others had written down the details of the accounting on their papers, but Zhao Zhao's paper was blank. She only circled a few places on the original account with a charcoal pencil and wrote "There is an error" below. Zhao Zhao said: "There is an error in the account."

The maid immediately led Zhaozhao to Yuan Yue's seat and asked her to tell the story in detail.

Zhao Zhao glanced at Fan Jin's unfriendly expression and knew she had made the right bet: "I've come to hire someone, so I shouldn't be nosy. But this ledger is so ridiculously wrong, so if I may ask, is this ledger related to your estate?"

Yuan Yue's voice was slightly hoarse. Instead of answering, she asked, "...You said there's an error in this account. Where is the error?"

Zhao Zhao didn't rush to answer. She carefully observed Yuan Yue's appearance and figure, noting a resemblance to the kind person the nun had described, but she was too young. Seeing her hesitation, Yuan Yue assumed she was afraid of Fan Jin: "I'm here. Just say what you need to say." Zhao Zhao, enduring Fan Jin's piercing gaze, pointed out several errors: falsely reporting losses, secretly pocketing price differences, and using pretexts to embezzle money. These errors were glaringly obvious, and given that Yuan Yue had issued the order, how could she not know? Clearly, she didn't want to cause trouble with Fan Jin and wanted to use an outsider to point it out. Unfortunately, those present today were all slick old clerks, locals who didn't want to get involved in trouble; only Zhao Zhao was willing to step forward. “Master Fan, I went to the shop to inspect it, and all I found was this mess of accounts,” Yuan Yue said. “If you had gone, would things have been different?” Fan Jin, taken aback by the barbed words, didn’t seem ashamed at all: “Miss Yue, I’ve scolded the shop manager for his poor accounting practices many times. I don’t have the energy to investigate the minor details. After all, too much clarity leaves no room for fish…” He glanced sideways at Zhao Zhao, “This young lady, you’ve come to hire someone, but instead of focusing on the abacus, you’re nitpicking the accounts?” “If you can’t even be sure whether the accounts are true or false, right or wrong, and you’re just burying your head in the abacus, who would dare hire someone like this to do the math?” Zhao Zhao replied. Fan Jin picked up the register on the wooden table, glanced at it, and sneered, "You were born in the year of Gengchen, so you're seventeen years old. But your figure doesn't look like that of a young lady." He tossed his chin at the boys beside him and ordered, "Strip her clothes off and check carefully for any marks of lowly status or vagrants." "Yes!" The boys responded and were about to move, but Yuan Yue coldly said, "Let's see who dares."

Fan Jin didn't take her seriously, forcing a smile as he said, "Miss Yue, things are chaotic these days. Do you know why those counties in the west were massacred? Wasn't it because the local vagrants and beggars started a riot, opening the door for the bandits from within? How do you know if this girl's background is legitimate, or if she'll cause trouble in the village?" Yuan Yue retorted, "You didn't carefully examine those farmers and laborers before, but now you're fixated on a mere little girl. I'm curious, what are you afraid of her for?" Fan Jin's face tightened, and he couldn't utter a word for a long time before turning and walking away. His men quickly followed, one of them looking worried: "Boss, this woman is starting to be wary of us..." Fan Jin clenched his fists and spat, "Warn my ass! A little brat, acting like she's something special." With that, the fat on his face jiggled, and he forced a cold laugh: "Get all the stuff out of here first, and let's see what she can do to me."

-

Accounting office.

"When it comes to managing affairs and keeping accounts, the most important thing is to employ the right people, and accounting is of utmost importance."

The maidservant, with a bunch of keys dangling from her finger, led Zhaozhao inside.

Entering the small east wing, she took out a stack of old account books and piled them in front of Zhao Zhao with a thud: "Although my young lady has taken a liking to you, she can't just sign a work contract so easily. If you can finish calculating these accounts overnight, you can stay in the manor and receive a monthly wage of five taels."

Zhao Zhao sat down and began working on the abacus. The maid sat beside her, eating snacks, reading a storybook, and keeping watch. She was taking a rare break, but the snacks were too sweet, the storybook was boring, and the clattering of the abacus beads was so soothing that she couldn't help but feel sleepy and gradually drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up again, several hours had passed. The maid opened her eyes groggily, her face wet. She looked up abruptly and realized that she had been sleeping soundly on the table, her drool soaking the towel she had used to cover her face.

"You're awake," Zhao Zhao said softly.

"I'll wash the handkerchief first..." The maid put the things into her sleeve and said embarrassedly, "Never mind, how much did you buy it for?"

"It's worthless, sister, don't worry about it."

The maidservant was still embarrassed: "Did I snore? Did I disturb your accounting?"

"No, my sister sleeps very quietly."

The maid noticed a stack of rough paper next to her, filled with calculated amounts, and asked in surprise, "You calculated so quickly, are they all correct? You can check them again, it's alright."

Zhao Zhao said there was no need, opened the ledger, pointed to a certain place and asked, "Is this the wine stored by the previous prefect, Lord Xu?"

The maid glanced at it and saw that the book recorded the contents of the storeroom and cellar. It clearly pointed to the following: "On the seventh day of the first month of the year Gui Si, your subject held a fasting ceremony and sincerely respectfully paid homage to the Heavenly Lord Haotian."

The emperor revered Taoism, and Haotian Yuanjun was his title.

The maid frowned: "Last year, before that Xu fellow had passed away, he heard that there was a cold spring in the back mountain of Fan Family Village that produced an exceptionally fragrant wine. So he set up an altar and performed a ritual for forty-nine days to produce this batch of wine, saying that he wanted to present it to the Emperor."

"Now that he's dead, what should we do with this batch of wine?"

"There's nothing we can do about it," the maid said. "No matter how awful he is, this batch of wine is considered tribute wine. We can't offer it away, let alone sell or dump it. We'll just leave it in the cellar for now and wait for the master to give us his orders."

Knock knock, the tightly closed door was knocked on, and a young man spoke from outside: "Sister, Miss Yue has woken up and is asking how the accounts are going."

Zhao Zhao glanced out the window. It was the middle of the night. Why was Yuan Yue awake at this hour?

"It's all calculated, I'm coming right now!"

The maid was about to leave with the account books when Zhao Zhao spoke up, "There's a big problem with these accounts. I need to see Miss Yue."

Since it was a matter of great importance, the maid naturally agreed.

Stepping out of the accounting office, not far to the east, there was a small courtyard with four sections. With each door she passed, Zhao Zhao's heart beat faster as she listened carefully for the sound of a baby crying.

She remembered that Ah Heng often cried at night.

Upon reaching the eaves, the maid turned back and said, "Wait outside for a moment, I'll go in and inform them."

Zhao Zhao waited quietly outside, but her eyes did not peek into the room. She saw Yuan Yue sitting at the table, with a maidservant bowing and whispering in her ear. There were only the two of them, and no one else.

...Ah Heng isn't here? Her mind churned with thoughts, Zhao Zhao felt utterly powerless. Just then, a maidservant pushed open the door and said, "Miss, please come in."