Chapter 510: Collecting Accounts |
Inside Ginkgo Garden, it was peaceful and quiet.
Chen Ji sat by the stone table, silently pondering. His fingers tapped rhythmically upon the tabletop one by one; no one dared to interrupt his train of thought.
Xiaoman was somewhat puzzled. It was obvious that the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion and the Gufu Pavilion were the most profitable livelihoods. How come the Young Master had developed an interest in that mere Baoxiang Bookstore of all things?
What could a bookstore do?
At this time, Chen Ji opened his mouth to ask: "Where is the Baoxiang Bookstore located?"
The manager of Gufu Pavilion leaned his body forward and answered: "Replying to the Young Master, it is in Liulichang. Eighty percent of the bookstores in our Capital City are in Liulichang."
Chen Ji inquired: "Why can't Baoxiang Bookstore compete against Wenyuan Bookstore?"
The manager answered again: "Replying to the Young Master, the income of these bookstores is mainly divided into two types. The first is commentary on the classics and 'stereotyped essays of successful candidates' related to the Imperial Examination. That Wenyuan Bookstore was opened by Xu Bin, from a collateral branch of the Xu Family. Having connections with the Ministry of Personnel, they can always obtain the Provincial Education Commissioner's latest essays, so naturally it sells the best."
Chen Ji understood; this was the business of guessing exam questions.
Even if the Ultimate Sage and First Teacher were still alive and had a disagreement with the Provincial Education Commissioner, those literati and scholars would still listen to the Provincial Education Commissioner. After all, the Ultimate Sage and First Teacher wasn't in charge of the imperial examinations...
The manager said again: "The second is that story scribebooks are the most profitable. One volume of a scribebook is roughly one tael of silver. In Capital City alone, tens of thousands of volumes can be sold. It can also be considered that Wenyuan Bookstore had dog-shit luck. This line of business was originally done best by Wenchang Bookstore. However, the 'Book Club Mister' of 'Four Dreams of Bianliang'—the Nine-Li Golden Light Free Roaming Practitioner—somehow gave his scripts exclusively to Wenyuan Bookstore to print, snatching away all the scribebook business in the entire capital all at once. That Nine-Li Golden Light Free Roaming Practitioner recently wrote a new script as well, saying it is about Li Changge..."
When the manager spoke up to here, he stealthily raised his eyelids to size up Chen Ji. Only then did he realize: wasn't Li Changge sitting right in front of him?
Xiaoman bent down and muttered beside Chen Ji: "Young Master, go look for that ox-nosed priest and tell him to hand the scribebook over to Baoxiang Bookstore to print. It will definitively make money. If he's unwilling, You can just go become a lay Buddhist disciple and make it so he can't go on writing."
Chen Ji didn't reply, but continued to ask: "Although Baoxiang Bookstore doesn't have these two avenues, it still shouldn't be squeezed by others to the point of being unable to survive, right?"
The Gufu Pavilion manager let out a sigh: "The manager of Baoxiang Bookstore, Chen Dong, is a bookworm. In regular days, he always likes to nag about how the Provincial Education Commissioner's annotations of the classics are incorrect. He single-mindedly buries his head into making his own annotations for the Four Books and Five Classics. But who the hell does he think he is? Who would care about how he annotates the classics? At first there were still some literati and scholars who listened to him blather nonsense, but slowly they kept a respectful distance."
Chen Ji pondered for a moment, getting up and walking outside: "Xiaoman, I am going to make a trip to Liulichang."
Xiaoman called out to stop him from behind: "Young Master..."
Chen Ji turned his head back to look at her: "What is it?"
Xiaoman slightly lowered her head, her fingers pinching the corner of her clothes: "You promised earlier to hand these livelihoods over to my management."
Chen Ji gave a grunt of acknowledgment: "These are all handed over for you to manage. If there is anyone who doesn't listen to your words, issue them fifty taels of silver for travel expenses and dismiss them back to Lu Province."
The managers' expressions changed.
Once Chen Ji exited the gate, Ginkgo Garden's wooden door closed with a clatter.
The coy and bashful expression on Xiaoman's face instantly vanished. Gathering the hem of her skirt, she sat down leisurely on the stone stool: "Kneel."
The managers shared a glance, feeling slight hesitation.
Xiaoman smiled slightly: "The Young Master is the Young Master, and I am I. Now these businesses have all been handed over to me. Who among you can do it and who among you cannot—I have the final say. Back then, it hadn't even been long after Auntie passed away when Madam Liang coaxed the Land Deeds and Property Deeds out of the Young Master's hands. She then inserted you all and drove out Auntie's people. It is also time to settle this account with you all. I recall that back then when you guys drove away Auntie's people, your methods weren't very honorable."
Saying this, her small hand pointed at the manager of Gufu Pavilion: "Chief Manager Chen Xudong. The manager that Auntie originally arranged to be in Gufu Pavilion should be called Zhang Cheng, right? I heard he was framed by you using fabricated accounts, and then reported to the officials by Madam Liang, leading to his Property Confiscation? Do I still need to continue speaking? Including everyone present, counting every single one of you, beating you to death with heavy staffs would absolutely not be wronging you."
The managers gritted their teeth, slowly kneeling down.
Xiaoman looked at the row of managers before her with a faint smile: "The Young Master is kind-hearted and magnanimous, unwilling to entangle himself with you lots over these trivial chicken-feather matters... but that doesn't mean I, Yao Man, will not fuss over it. Just staring blankly for a moment, you dared to say there was no money in the accounts; from how I see it, you feel your lives are too long. If you dare speak falsehoods to me again today, there won't be such a good thing as being dismissed back to Lu Province. You'll just stay in the Reed Marshes beside the Altar of Mountains and Rivers and keep the salt business managers company."
The Gufu Pavilion manager, Chen Xudong, said in a frantic flurry: "The silver in the accounts truly was drawn away by Madam Liang!"
Xiaoman said carelessly: "Oh? Then what about the silver you've embezzled from the accounts over these years?"
Chen Xudong's body shrank back slightly: "This lowly one has never done such a thing."
The Little Monk looked at Chen Xudong's eyes and put his palms together: "Amitabha."
"Still daring to lie. Slap his mouth." Xiaoman said casually: "Chen Eryin, you come fan him. If you don't slap him, I will have someone else come slap you."
Kneeling by the side, the manager of the grain and oil shop, Chen Eryin, gritted his teeth and turned his body. He swung his palm in a wide arc and slapped it toward Chen Xudong's face, slapping Chen Xudong until he saw stars.
He glared angrily at Chen Eryin: "You motherf—..."
Xiaoman said leisurely: "Still not convinced. Slap again."
Chen Eryin swung another slap, slapping Chen Xudong until his mouth was torn.
Xiaoman stared straight at Chen Xudong: "Speak. How much silver have you embezzled from the accounts over these years?"
Chen Xudong cried out in grievance: "Miss Xiaoman, please perceive things clearly! Over these years, this lowly one at most took some food ingredients from the back kitchen to bring home. I really didn't embezzle any silver money!"
The Little Monk once again put his palms together: "Amitabha."
"Not giving up until seeing the Yellow River." Xiaoman gave a cold sneer: "Slap again. No stopping unless I call stop."
The managers looked up in inexplicable horror at the Little Monk, and then looked toward Xiaoman.
Xiaoman said indifferently: "If you don't do it yourselves, when I, this Xiantian Stage Practitioner, make my move, don't regret it."
Gritting his teeth, Chen Eryin once again swung his arm and slapped it toward Chen Xudong's face. After thirty-something slaps, Chen Xudong's face became swollen—so swollen that his eyes couldn't even open, and even Chen Eryin's own hand swelled up from slapping.
But Xiaoman slowly didn't call for a stop.
The steward of the farming estate by the side looked pleadingly at the Little Monk for help: "Little Master, you are a monk. Advise Miss Xiaoman."
Seeing Chen Xudong's miserable state, the Little Monk couldn't bear it in his heart either. He slightly turned his face away, unwilling to look any longer: "Xiaoman, don't hit anymore. Why don't you just kill him directly?"
The farming estate steward's expression changed vastly.
Chen Xudong hurriedly shouted: "I'll speak!"
Xiaoman still didn't call for a stop. It wasn't until Chen Xudong endured another ten slaps that she said methodically: "Stop. Talk about how you embezzled the silver money of Gufu Pavilion over these years."
Chen Xudong said with his mouth slurring: "This lowly one arranged for his brother-in-law to do the vegetable and meat business. Every time we purchased from him, he returned one-tenth of the silver money to this lowly one."
Xiaoman said with a smiling face: "Only returned one-tenth?"
Speaking to this point, she took out a few pages of paper from her sleeve. On the paper, elegant small regular script writing formed a cheat sheet: "Chen Xudong: one two-courtyard mansion in Chongnan Ward of the outer city, one three-courtyard mansion squarely facing east, one three-courtyard mansion in Huanghua Ward of the inner city. Keeps three concubines and two mistresses. Purchased one hundred and twenty mu of agricultural land in the capital suburbs, lent out over three thousand taels of Loan Shark Money... Chief Manager Chen, this is not a family fortune that can be saved up from embezzling one-tenth."
Xiaoman continued reading the notes written on the paper: "Gufu Pavilion these years sold inferior wine brewed in Langfang as Xinghua Village's Fen wine. Received one hundred catties of pork but entered one hundred and fifty catties into the accounts. Received old ewes and old rams at the price of Hexi lamb meat... Chief Manager Chen, do you still need me to continue reading? It's no wonder your business couldn't outdo Bianyi Workshop. Doing things the way you do, where would you get repeat customers?"
Chen Xudong repeatedly knocked his head against the ground: "Miss Xiaoman, spare my life!"
Xiaoman threw this page of paper in front of Chen Xudong: "So you also know that swindling your main patron like this is already enough to be beaten to death? Even if this Miss beats you to death right now, it would be useless for your old woman to go report to the officials."
Chen Xudong said in a panicked flurry: "Miss Xiaoman, spare my life!"
Xiaoman gave a cold sneer: "Before sunset, bring the Property Deeds, Land Deeds, and the silver in your home to buy this dog life of yours. Otherwise, tonight I'll take you to the Altar of Mountains and Rivers' Reed Marshes to sink you into the pond. Scram."
Using both hands and feet, Chen Xudong scrambled up and fled in panic.
Xiaoman cast her gaze toward the manager of the grain and oil shop, Chen Eryin: "Your turn. Do you still need me to read it to you according to the paper?"
Chen Eryin hurriedly shook his head: "No need, no need! This lowly one will go home right now to tally up the Account Books. Before sunset, I will definitely make up for all the silver money owed to the shop."
Xiaoman then turned her gaze to the others: "What about you?"
The remaining managers also hurriedly said: "This lowly one is the same."
Xiaoman swapped to a smiling face: "Remember, this is money giving you to buy your lives. Just how much family property you have, I am very clear on. If you hand it all over, I'll let you remain in one piece. Hand over half, and I'll only leave you with half your life... Scram!"
Once the managers had all left, Xiaoman suddenly slumped her shoulders and patted her chest: "Finally done with work. I was still worried I wouldn't be able to awe and suppress them."
The Little Monk asked curiously: "Why not do these things while Benefactor Chen Ji was here?"
Xiaoman shot him a sideways glance: "The Young Master currently only has his whole mind set entirely on the single matter of saving the Commandery Princess. I just didn't want to let the Young Master be distracted by these trivial chicken-feather matters, that's all."
The Little Monk put his palms together: "Amitabha."
Xiaoman wiggled her eyebrows: "What if I'm greedy for wealth? From now on, the Young Master will fly far and high, and he promised to leave the family property all to me. In the future, this is all my family property and my money! The Young Master will need to use money on the road when flying far and high, right? Even leaving the Ning Dynasty, one still has to live. After getting the silver, I'll convert it into gold. When he flies far and high, I'll give him fifty percent to use for travel expenses..."
The Little Monk once again put his palms together: "Amitabha."
Xiaoman said angrily: "Giving him eighty percent should be fine, right?! No more than that. With so much family property, I still need to keep twenty percent around for turnover!"
The Little Monk said innocently: "This little monk didn't mean anything else. Miss Xiaoman, what are you feeling guilty for?"
Xiaoman got up and pinched his waist: "Going to cook food!"
The Little Monk shouted behind her back: "This little monk wishes to eat Braised Tofu and flash-fried water bamboo shoots today."
"Go eat farts!"
(End of this chapter)