Who said the eldest daughter is crazy? She's clearly a woman of high rank and influence in the

Fang clenched her fist inside her sleeve.

"Mother," Xi Yueli closed the account book, pressing her finger on the cover, "this sixty-tael hole, no matter who dug it, will become a mess of unclear accounts in the Xi family."

"My father worked in the Ministry of Revenue, and he was most afraid of these kinds of words. My mother wondered, after my father found out about this, would he first investigate where the sixty taels went, or would he first investigate who delivered this account book to me?"

Madam Fang was silent for three breaths, then her smile returned to her eyes, even more gentle than before: "Li'er has indeed grown up, she can talk to her mother about these things now. Very well, Mother will check the account books when I get back. Perhaps the steward made a mistake, we can correct it later."

She stood up and pushed the celadon bowl towards Xi Yueli: "Drink the lily soup while it's hot, it'll upset your stomach if it gets cold."

After the footsteps faded away, Xi Yueli picked up the lily soup, lifted the lid, and smelled it. The sweet fragrance of lilies was mixed with a very faint bitter taste, like Coptis chinensis.

She poured the entire soup bowl into the flower bed outside the window.

Lily bulb soup is nourishing, but Coptis chinensis is an emetic. Lily bulb soup with Coptis chinensis will cause vomiting and diarrhea within half an hour of drinking it. A person who is already weak cannot withstand such torment.

Xi Yueli sat back down at the table. Her words earlier had been meant to frighten Fang Shi with the sixty-tael hole. But this was only temporary. Fang Shi would definitely investigate when she got back, and she had to get to the bottom of this before Fang Shi found out.

Qingdai returned in the evening, covered in sweat, her face swollen and panting. "Miss, I found it! The money for the garden repairs in August was handled by two shops through Zhang Mama: one was 'Yongchanghao,' which sells timber, and the other was 'Ruifenghang,' which sells lacquer."

"I asked around, and the manager of Yongchang Trading Company said that Zhang Mama issued a receipt for 200 taels, but the timber delivered to the manor was only worth 140 taels. The extra 60 taels—"

"It was eaten by Granny Zhang," Xi Yueli replied. "What about Ruifeng Trading Company?"

"Ruifeng was even more ruthless. Granny Zhang didn't buy any lacquer from them at all. She used old lacquer from other shops to make up the difference. The thirty-odd taels recorded in the account all went into her own pocket."

Xi Yueli nodded. Granny Zhang had handled the procurement for the garden's repairs, pocketing a sixty-tael difference on the timber and a thirty-tael fictitious charge on the lacquer.

She wrote down the account book and Qingdai's inquiries on a short petition, blew the ink dry, folded it, and put it in her sleeve.

"Qingdai, go to the front hall and ask your father to come. Tell him I have something important to report."

When Xi Mingyuan arrived at Jinxian Courtyard, his face looked very unpleasant.

He was quite frightened by Helian Jing's words today. He spent the whole afternoon in his study pondering how the dignified Prince Chen would stand up for that crazy girl.

What made him even more uneasy was that Madam Fang had just come over and subtly mentioned, "Master, Li'er is in good spirits today; she can even read the account books now."

Looking at the account books? Someone with dissociative identity disorder looking at account books? Could it be that someone taught her to read them?

As soon as he sat down, Xi Yueli spread the account book out in front of him and turned the pages one by one for him to see.

"Father, there is a deficit of sixty taels in the accounts for the garden repairs in August. Zhang Mama handled timber with a face value of two hundred taels, but only one hundred and forty taels of the goods were actually delivered to the mansion."

"The paint doesn't even match the accounts. The owner of Ruifeng Trading Company said that Granny Zhang never bought their paint."

As Xi Mingyuan looked at the spread-out account books and the spot Xi Yueli was pointing to, his face gradually darkened.

Xi Yueli turned to the page for July and uncovered the second layer of paper: "The expenses for the July sacrifices were 300 taels on the books, but only 100 taels were actually disbursed. There is a shortfall of 200 taels. The person in charge was the same person."

"The purchase in September was recorded as 200 taels, but only 80 taels were actually spent. There is a difference of 120 taels. The person in charge was the same person."

Three deficits totaling four hundred taels, all handled by the same person.

Xi Mingyuan's expression slowly changed. He pulled the account book closer to examine it, his brows furrowing more and more as he looked. July, August, and September—three consecutive months, the same person's hands and feet had been at work, and he, the head of the household, was completely unaware.

"Where did you find out?" He stared at Xi Yueli.

Xi Yueli did not avoid his gaze: "Father, I can't remember what happened yesterday, but I can see and calculate when I'm awake."

She paused, lowering her voice slightly, "Has Father ever considered why Shen Yanzhi, a man from another family who has broken off their engagement, is allowed into my courtyard and to look through my account books?"

"That's the page he turned that day. The day after he turned it, he broke off the engagement, saying, 'I'd rather marry a prostitute than a madwoman.' Doesn't Father think that's a coincidence?"

Xi Mingyuan's pupils contracted slightly. An outsider entered the inner quarters, flipped through an account book with a deficit, and then called off the engagement the next day.

The whole thing, when pieced together, is like a thread that was pulled in advance: Fang let people in, Shen Yanzhi found the evidence, and the engagement was annulled to shut them up.

If Xi Yueli really can't remember anything, then the scheme will succeed. The deficit in the accounts will be in Shen Yanzhi's hands, becoming a handle to manipulate the Xi family in the future.

"Father," Xi Yueli's voice was unhurried, "If I forget about Fang letting Shen Yanzhi into the inner quarters tomorrow, Shen Yanzhi has the accounts for August in his hands and can use them to knock on your door at any time."

"He broke off the engagement, but he didn't shut his mouth. A family member of a Ministry of Revenue official let a man into the inner quarters to look through the account books. If this gets out, how will Father explain this to the Censorate?"

The fact that Fang let Shen Yanzhi in was far more serious than the 400 taels of silver deficit.

Deficits are a family scandal that can be covered up, but allowing men outside the inner quarters to roam freely is a matter of etiquette and law, and on a larger scale, it could be grounds for accusations of "lax family management and corrupt family reputation".

He, a man who had toiled for over a decade in the Ministry of Revenue to climb the ranks, couldn't afford this.

"What do you want to say?" Xi Mingyuan asked in a deep voice.

Xi Yueli closed the account book and gently pushed it back in front of him.

"I can leave aside the matter of Fang letting Shen Yanzhi into my courtyard, and I can also leave aside the three discrepancies in the accounts. I can save face for Fang and Zhang Mama, but—"

She raised her eyes, which were as clear as a cold spring in the candlelight: "From now on, if anyone tries to send me to the estate again, Father must personally turn them away for me."

"I don't need my father to love me, pamper me, or treat me like a good daughter. I just need my father to remember what Shen Yanzhi holds in his hands, what Fang Shi has done, and what is buried in these account books if I'm gone. Who will cover for you then?"

Xi Mingyuan looked at his daughter across from him, who was so thin that a gust of wind could blow her over. There were still red marks on her wrists from the hemp rope, and her face was as white as paper. But when she spoke, her tone was as steady as if she were reading a book, without a single stumble.

Every word she said was the truth. She couldn't remember what happened yesterday, but if he dared to send her away, the deficit of four hundred taels and the evidence that Fang had allowed outside men into the inner quarters would become a ticking time bomb.

"Are you threatening me?" He narrowed his eyes.

"I am saving my father." Xi Yueli slightly curved the corners of her mouth, her smile extremely faint, like a lamp shadow on a windowpane that flickers and then goes out.

"Your Highness Prince Chen...why are you in the back alley today?" Xi Mingyuan abruptly shifted the topic to Helian Jing.