On our wedding night, my wife acted strangely.

"What about that old man surnamed Chen? Haven't they found him yet?"

Lin An quickly replied, "Your Highness, Accountant Chen hasn't worked for anyone else since he left our manor. I've had someone keep an eye on him; he's just staying home idly. I know that although the old man is stubborn, he has feelings for our Lin family."

"Since he's just lazing around at home, let him come back and work. If he does a good job, the position of chief accountant will be his. If he puts on airs and refuses to come, he can forget about ever working in the capital again."

Lin An had been waiting for these words.

Old Chen is like a donkey; he won't move if you lead him, and he'll back down if you hit him. Only when the prince gives him a firm order will he have a way out.

"This old servant understands, I will go and invite him back myself."

......

In a small alley outside the Regent's Palace, a gaunt old man in a faded white robe was peeking out of the palace gate.

It was Chen the accountant.

He originally planned to go to the street to buy two ounces of dog meat to go with his wine, but as soon as he stepped out, he heard the whole street saying that the Regent had led his troops to ransack the Prime Minister's mansion and robbed several million taels of silver.

When Chen, the accountant, heard the number, his heart skipped a beat.

Millions of taels! What an enormous sum that is!

For a professional like him who had spent his entire life as an accountant and considered balancing accounts his greatest pursuit, it was an irresistible temptation.

So he stood at the entrance of the alley, watching helplessly as the Shenji Battalion soldiers pulled boxes into the mansion cart by cart.

The box was so heavy that even the horses pulling the cart were panting heavily.

Accountant Chen knew all too well the several accountants that the Prince's mansion had later recruited.

Those young men could manage to buy groceries, but when faced with a huge sum of millions of taels of silver, and the task of transferring the confiscated money into the Prince's public accounts, they simply couldn't do it! If the accounts were handled poorly, they would be a complete mess when investigated later, which would be a desecration of money!

Accountant Chen rubbed his hands together, pacing anxiously in the alley.

Want to go back and help? But can't bring yourself to do it.

You have to understand, he was the one who stormed off in a fit of anger, even threatening never to set foot in the Prince's mansion again. If he were to stubbornly return now, wouldn't that be a slap in his own face?

But... but that's an account worth millions of taels!

Ugh……

Just as Chen, the accountant, was so conflicted that he almost ripped his beard off, he suddenly saw Lin An walk out of the gate, looking around as if searching for someone.

Accountant Chen was secretly delighted, thinking that Lin An must be worried sick about this huge sum of money and had come out to ask him for help. So he quickly straightened his long gown, cleared his throat, and walked out of the alley with a pigeon-toed gait, pretending to be nonchalant, just in time to meet Lin An who was walking towards him.

"Oh? Isn't this the steward? The manor seems quite lively today."

Lin An had actually seen the old man peeking around in the alley a long time ago, and now seeing him pretending to be casual with him, he couldn't help but laugh to himself.

"It's Old Chen... Ah, that's right. The Prince went to the Prime Minister's residence today and brought back some silver. Right now, the residence is busy checking it in the treasury."

"What are you checking?"

"I need to check the quality of the silver so it can be stored separately. But there's too much stuff, and we don't have enough manpower. I was just about to go out and find a few people to help carry the boxes. Old Chen, I see you're free anyway, why don't you go in and lend a hand?"

Upon hearing this, Accountant Chen nearly fainted.

I am a master of the art of leveling, and you want me to do manual labor?

"Butler, what are you saying? I'm too old for this kind of physical work. Besides, I'm in charge of accounts, not manual labor."

"Oh, right, right, look at my memory. Brother Chen is the accountant. But we have enough accountants in our household now, and the young accountants are quite efficient, so we won't trouble Brother Chen."

Accountant Chen was in a hurry.

He thought to himself, "What can those young punks do?"

Can they really settle an account of more than three million taels?

"Steward, I'm not exaggerating. There are many intricacies involved in dealing with such a large sum of money. Just the accounting, balancing, and recording losses are all complex matters. If the accounts aren't balanced, you, as the steward, won't be able to escape responsibility when the Prince investigates later."

Lin An pursed his lips and smiled inwardly.

The government office urgently needs someone, so we should hurry up and call him back.

"You're right, this is indeed a difficult situation. But when you left, you were quite firm in your words. You know the Prince's temper; he never tolerates anything unfair. If I were to invite you back now, I couldn't bear the consequences of the Prince's wrath."

Upon hearing that there was hope, Chen the accountant quickly accepted the offer.

"Old Lin, we've worked together for so many years, don't you know me? I acted impulsively. I'm 100% loyal to the Prince's Mansion and to the Prince! As long as you let me go back and settle this score, I promise I'll never throw a tantrum again!"

Accountant Chen's mind was now completely occupied with the account books containing millions of taels of silver; all notions of face and integrity had been thrown to the winds.

"Alright, alright, let go of my hand." Lin An pulled his sleeve back, put on a stern face, and said, "Since you're so eager to come back, I'll plead with the Prince on your behalf. But let's get this straight: this time you'd better put away your bad temper. The Prince doesn't have many women around him, just a few, especially Mi Mi, whose status is the most special. If you don't know what's good for you and get into a conflict with her, I can't protect you."

"No problem! As long as I can handle the abacus, I'll do whatever Your Highness says! Even if I disagree with Miss Mimi next time, we can discuss it amicably, okay?"

Lin An nodded: "That's about right. Alright, come in with me. The Prince was just talking about you."

Accountant Chen was taken aback.

The prince is talking about me?

Does Your Highness still remember this old man?

Following Lin An through the gate, one sees mountains of treasures piled up in the courtyard.

Accountant Chen was so excited that his whole body trembled.

This is where I belong!

We simply couldn't go on living that mundane life at home any longer!

Lin An led him through the front yard and all the way to the warehouse.

This is a row of independent rooms, which are usually off-limits to unauthorized personnel.

At that moment, the clattering sound of an abacus filled the room.

Pushing open the door, one sees six young accountants hunched over a table, looking at a pile of account books with a headache. Next to them are several large wooden crates that have just been moved in, their lids open, revealing silver ingots that dazzle the eye.

"What are we going to do about this? This was confiscated from the Prime Minister's residence. What should we write it under? We can't just write 'the proceeds of robbery,' can we?" A young accountant was grabbing his hair, almost crying with anxiety.

The other one also looked distressed: "Nonsense! Of course we can't write it like that! But what should we write? A gift? Who would believe that's a gift of over three million taels!"

Accountant Chen stood at the door, listening to the conversation between these two idiots, and snorted coldly.

"Hmph, they can't even come up with a proper title, yet they dare to try and scheme?"

After saying that, he put his hands behind his back and strode in, looking like an old general inspecting his territory.

Upon hearing the sound, the two young accountants looked up, quickly stood up, and respectfully greeted, "Mr. Chen."

They used to work as Chen the accountant's assistant, and they knew how amazing the old man was at accounting.

Accountant Chen ignored them completely, walked directly to the head seat, picked up an account book on the table, flipped through a couple of pages, and immediately frowned.

"This is utter nonsense! Is this how you record income and expenditure? The money confiscated from the Prime Minister's residence is embezzled funds obtained from punishing corrupt officials! It must first be deposited into a public treasury under the guise of anti-corruption measures, and then transferred to the internal treasury under the pretense of military expenses managed by the Prince's residence. There are three layers of deductions in between to even out the difference. Don't you understand such a simple accounting method? I've truly wasted all these years teaching you!"

The two were severely scolded, and the newly recruited accountants lowered their heads, not daring to breathe.

Lin An stood aside and smiled and nodded when he saw that Accountant Chen was efficient and decisive.

"Ahem, Brother Chen, His Highness just said that as long as you keep the accounts straight, you will be the chief accountant of the Regent's Palace. All the accounts in the palace will be under your management, including the personnel. You will be able to directly communicate with the Princess."