Daming Junior Scholar

Chen Yueying took the paper and read it carefully. Sure enough, after simplifying the cumbersome culture into numbers and symbols, everything was much easier. Thinking of this, and looking at the thick account book, she didn't feel that If there is any difficulty, I can't help but smile: "Then this account book will be checked soon, and then I will see what the shopkeeper has to say."

Thinking of Shopkeeper Fang, He Jiaan also thought of the pawn he had buried when he left, and he said meaningfully: "Let's see, maybe the matter will come to a conclusion before we finish our investigation."

"Eh?" Chen Yueying blinked in confusion, looked at He Jia'an, then at the account book, confused.

For simple things like copying numbers, Chen Yueying naturally didn't need to do it herself. Xiao Zhao brought in two other maids, and the three of them divided the account book into three parts. According to He Jiaan's request, the income was written on a piece of paper. , Write the item on another piece of paper, and soon, copy the number out.

The rest of the work became a matter for He Jiaan and Chen Yueying. In the beginning, He Jiaan would do the calculations first, and then Chen Yueying would do the calculations. If the numbers were the same, she would cheer for joy. If the two people's numbers were not the same, She also wouldn't think it was her own mistake, she had to drag He Jiaan to do the calculation again, and then she was reconciled.

Time slipped away slowly during the process of copying and calculating, and the thick account book was about to come to an end, but at this moment, someone from outside the courtyard suddenly broke in, approached Chen Yueying and said softly: "Miss, someone is asking to see you outside the door."

"Oh?" Chen Yueying was just getting excited, and asked casually, "Who is it?"

"He said his name was Li Silang, and that he was a clerk at Chen Ji Inn. The young miss met him this morning."

Li Silang?

When she heard the name, Chen Yueying's hand couldn't help shaking, and a small ball of ink fell from the tip of the pen, immediately staining the number just calculated.

It's just that she didn't care about these things, she looked at He Jia'an with a look of surprise, and asked in puzzlement: "What's going on?"

He Jiaan knew in his heart that what he did just now must have played a role. If it wasn't for the shopkeeper's ulterior motives, how could his plan succeed? Li Silang will know when he calls over and asks."

This is the reason, Chen Yueying nodded, and ordered: "Go and bring Li Silang over."

The door turned and walked away. Not long after, a person came in behind him, but when she got close to Chen Yueying, Chen Yueying was startled and said in surprise: "Li Silang, you, what's wrong with you?"

However, I haven't seen him for a few hours, and Li Silang in front of him seems to be a different person. His clothes have been torn several times, covered with dust, and the hair on his head is as messy as a chicken coop. , but his face was even more miserable, the corner of his mouth was broken, one eye socket was beaten into iron blue, and there was only a small slit left in the eye. Kneeling down, he said hoarsely: "Miss, I'm sorry, all the things in the inn were done by Shopkeeper Fang alone, and I can't help it."

Without even asking, Li Silang just told all about how the shopkeeper Fang stole the money, and he didn't forget to explain to himself: "At the beginning, few of us didn't want to do it like this, but Fang The shopkeeper said that the Chen family was about to end, and it was nothing to take it at this time. Once the Chen family collapsed, it would be a bad debt, and no one would be able to find out. Miss, don’t worry, I will pay back the money I was greedy for.”

"Wait..." He Jia'an on the side suddenly interrupted: "You just said that shopkeeper Fang said that the Chen family is almost finished, when is this?"

"Uh..." Facing this uncle of the Chen family, Li Silang was even more afraid. If he hadn't called himself upstairs, would he have been beaten like this? But he didn't have the courage to turn his face against He Jiaan, thinking Liao thought about it and replied: "About three months ago, when the Shangyuan Festival just passed, the shopkeeper Fang told us personally."

This time point is very important. Chen Yueying thought about it in her heart, and immediately felt that something was wrong. It seemed that her business had been in a slump since then. The Chen family's business was so good before, but it suddenly failed. Could it be that What is wrong with saying this?

Even if he didn't have to guess with his brain, He Jia'an guessed that someone was secretly attacking the Chen family. After all, the Chen family was rich, and it was very possible for someone to target him, but he didn't know who the attacker would be.

He Jiaan glanced at the pitiful Li Silang, and scolded: "Li Silang, if you had told me these words a few days in advance, or even this morning, you would have done a great job, but But you don't know right from wrong, and you procrastinate until it's too late to tell the truth. The merit is naturally gone, but for the sake of you daring to tell the truth, you can keep the money you were greedy for healing. As for Chen Remember the inn, don’t come back in the future.”

"Thank you, Uncle, thank you, Miss." Although the situation was not as I imagined, I thought that as long as I told about shopkeeper Fang, the other party would catch him furiously and take revenge for me, but when I thought of my greedy Those silver taels are not needed to be returned, Li Silang still feels that he has picked a big deal. In the past, he felt that he was greedy too much, but now he regrets it. He should have known more greedy.

Although this voice was a bit reluctant, it made He Jiaan feel a lot more comfortable. After thinking about it for a while, his eyes fell on the account book again, and he said slowly: "First find out the things about this account book, let's If they die, they must die to understand."

Chapter 38 Punch Out

Li Silang was not let go, but escaped from the inn.

After getting the news, shopkeeper Fang sat on the chair without saying a word for a long time, trying desperately to think of countermeasures, what should he do if Li Silang really goes to Chen's mansion to inform him, the money he swallowed by himself, he can't I don't want to spit it out so easily.

How about...escape?

I just thought of this escape word in my head, but I threw this method out of my mind in an instant. This is the Ming Dynasty, unless I make up my mind to rebel, otherwise there is no place for myself in the world.

It seems that if you want to find a solution, you have to start with that account book.

I wrote down the account books with my own hands, and only I knew about the tricks in it. Those guys got only a small part of the hush money, and the bulk of the inn had already been in my hands. After this catastrophe, with the money I earned, I can spend the rest of my life comfortably.

With such a thick account book, shopkeeper Fang would not think that he could sort it out in a short period of time. He was still thinking about whether to contact other shopkeepers of Chen Ji.

The next day, as soon as the inn opened, shopkeeper Fang made himself a pot of tea, sat comfortably on the master chair, and when he was thinking about which shopkeepers to contact, he felt that the light in the room suddenly dimmed.

"Our store is closed today. If you want to stay here, change to another..." Just when you were thinking about the crucial moment, your train of thought was suddenly interrupted. Shopkeeper Fang waved his hand impatiently, and opened his closed eyes slightly. It's just that when I saw that smirking face, I couldn't help trembling, and quickly stood up and said politely: "It turns out that the eldest lady and uncle arrived, and they were far away to welcome them. It's a sin."

Yesterday, he was busy for a long time, and now He Jiaan still has two big dark circles on his face. After hearing what shopkeeper Fang said, he couldn't help but sarcastically said: "Shopkeeper Fang is really leisurely and at ease, but why doesn't this Chenji inn open today?" Open the door, should you explain to me?"

"This..." Shopkeeper Fang groaned secretly in his heart. Who would have thought that he would be caught by He Jia'an just by saying such a casual thing, with a embarrassed expression on his face, he suddenly stretched out a hand and slapped himself not lightly or hard. Such a slap in the face, and then said with a wry smile: "My lord, you don't know something, didn't you guys want to check our account yesterday? Don't be familiar with small people."

It was as if all the faults were on He Jiaan. He Jiaan curled his lips, turned his head and pointed at shopkeeper Fang and said to Chen Yueying, "See, this is the shopkeeper you hired. You obviously made a mistake, and you still put The responsibility is pushed outward, no wonder the business of this inn is worsening day by day, it turned out to be broken at the root."

Chen Yueying glared at He Jiaan angrily. He Jiaan's words were not only scolding the shopkeeper Fang, but also scolding herself. Just thinking about what he said had some truth, so she just gave him a glare, but didn't speak.

Chen Yueying didn't say a word, and shopkeeper Fang naturally couldn't say anything, just smiled embarrassingly, and stopped talking.

"Why, not convinced?" The more cowardly he was, the more aggressive He Jiaan looked. He stretched out his hand to take over the account book that he took away yesterday, threw it in front of Shopkeeper Fang, and said expressionlessly: " I have read the account books, and I would like to ask Shopkeeper Fang to explain to me some parts."

Have seen it so soon?

The first reaction in Shopkeeper Fang's mind was that it was impossible. After all, such a thick account book, even if he didn't have ten days and a half months, he would never want to check it from beginning to end. It was only one night, and he actually said that this account book The book has been checked, is he cheating himself?

Even if he wanted to lose his head, he didn't think that He Jia'an could finish checking the account books in just one day. Thinking of this, the shopkeeper Fang looked reassured, snorted lightly, and said indifferently: "Please also, my lord." correct me."

He Jiaan was not too polite, and sat down on the grand teacher's chair where shopkeeper Fang had just sat, took out a piece of paper from his sleeve, opened it, and read: "This account book has recorded a total of two years and 240 days. The first handwriting on each page is the same, so I can think that this account book is all written by the shopkeeper Fang, right or wrong?"

"This..." Shopkeeper Fang paused, then nodded, "Yes."

"Okay, then let's read on."

"...In the first year, Chen Ji Inn's annual income was 480 five taels, and the expenditure was 740 three taels. The net profit was almost 700 taels. Is it right?"

"This..." Shopkeeper Fang was suddenly a little confused, this number was not different from the number he had calculated, but how did he know it?

Until now, shopkeeper Fang didn't think that He Jia'an had such ability, but he thought of Li Silang, who must have told the Chen family the secret. He hated Li Silang in his heart, but gritted his teeth and admitted: "right."

"...In the second year, the income was 820, [-], yo, this income has increased a lot. It seems that shopkeeper Fang is also a capable person."

"Don't dare, dare not." Shopkeeper Fang smiled complacently.

He Jiaan raised his eyes and took a look, and then said: "The income has increased, but the expenditure has increased even more. There are more than 100 taels. Can I ask shopkeeper Fang, the extra 400 taels?" Two silver coins, what have you done?"

"Uh..." Before the smile disappeared just now, the expression on Shopkeeper Fang's face suddenly froze. After thinking for a while, he laughed and said, "It should be the reason for rising prices, so the expenditure is a little more than usual."

"Just some?" He Jia'an's expression changed, making shopkeeper Fang feel panicked.

Here, only dead pigs are not afraid of boiling water. As long as they don't recognize anything, they can't do anything about themselves. Thinking of this, the shopkeeper gritted his teeth: "I remember it clearly in the account. If my uncle has something If you are in doubt, check the account and you will be able to make it clear."

"The strangest thing is the account for the third year..." He Jiaan patted the paper lightly, fixed his eyes on the shopkeeper Fang, and said slowly: "This is the last chance I will give you. What did you tell me?"

Chapter 39 Convinced Oral

Say it, it must be a dead end.

If you don't say it, maybe there is another case.

Feeling lucky, shopkeeper Fang still shook his head: "My uncle said, I don't understand, but Fang has been a shopkeeper for so many years since he was a young apprentice, and after decades of ups and downs, no one said Half a word, if my uncle insists on accusing Fang of being corrupt today, then he has no choice but to go to the yamen to argue right and wrong."

Fei Dan didn't frighten him, but he bit him back.