vrcanaries Chapter 78: Knowing but Not Reporting
Chapter 78: Knowing but Not Reporting
Whether it was because Xie Yuan was confined to her home or because Xie Jinbo had been hit where it hurt and hadn't left the house for several days, Jiang Yuyue had a few rare days of peace and quiet.
Every day, besides looking at the account books, Jiang Huanxi would go out under the pretext of shopping and urge Ah Xi several times. Finally, after a few days, Jiang Huanxi was ready to set off.
"Sister, here are three thousand taels of silver notes."
Before leaving, Jiang Huanxi met with Jiang Yuyue and handed her a neat stack of silver notes. "I'm afraid you won't have enough money, so I'll give you some more. In addition, I've hired some guards and settled them in the empty house behind the Xie family's back gate. If you encounter any accidents, just send Xiao Liu to inform them and they will escort you to the capital."
"Also, I asked Pei Jingchuan, and he will stay in Jiangnan for a while longer. Although I know you don't want to get involved with him anymore, I have no one else I can trust besides him. If there is any situation you can't handle, just go to him, and he will do his best to protect you."
Listening to Jiang Huanxi ramble on and on, Jiang Yuyue was touched, but she could only smile helplessly.
"Alright, my staying here isn't as dangerous as you think. Just focus on doing what I've told you to do, and keep in touch with me immediately if anything happens. Got it?"
Jiang Huanxi looked at her with a serious expression, "Sister, can't you really explain this to me clearly?"
These words made Jiang Yuyue waver for a moment.
Although she was confident that Ah Xi would believe her if she told her everything, the idea of being reborn was nothing short of a fantasy, and the whole thing she had planned was far too unconventional. Telling her wouldn't reduce her pressure; it would only make Ah Xi more worried.
"Our parents are counting on you."
Jiang Yuyue didn't say much, but lightly changed the subject. Jiang Huanxi could only give up after hearing her words. He gave her some more instructions before riding away.
I hope everything goes well.
With Ah Xi gone, Jiang Yuyue devoted herself to studying the Xie family's account books.
It took Jiang Yuyue several more days to finally finish reviewing almost all of the Xie family's accounts over the years, and she came to the same conclusion as she had previously guessed.
The reason these shops didn't generate much revenue was that the Xie family's distant relatives who controlled the shops falsified the accounts, with most of the money going into their own pockets, leaving very little for the Xie family.
These past few days she has been focusing all her attention on this. Regarding the errors and omissions in the accounts, Jiang Yuyue has compiled a thick list. With such evidence, those distant relatives will surely have no way to deny it.
However, the account book matters were almost settled, but there was still no news from Ah Xi.
Counting the days, it had been half a month since Ah Xi went to the capital, and there was still no news. Jiang Yuyue frowned, her eyes filled with deep unease.
Just then, Xiao Liu, who had gone out to gather information, strode into the inner courtyard. Although she lowered her voice, her words were filled with joy as she took out a letter from her bosom and handed it to Jiang Yuyue.
"Miss, I have received the young master's reply! Please open it and take a look!"
Jiang Yuyue was overjoyed and quickly opened the envelope. After reading the letter quickly, her heart finally settled down.
"Young Master is far too cautious."
Seeing Jiang Yuyue's expression, Xiaoliu knew everything was going smoothly, and then complained, "We were supposed to get the letter from the old steward of our Jiang family, but when I got there, he said it was at the tailor shop at the west end of the street. When I got there, he said I had to go find your wet nurse from when you were a child..."
Hearing Xiao Liu's words, Jiang Yuyue couldn't help but smile. She hadn't expected A Xi to be so cautious, even having to go through so many channels to get information.
However, although Ah Xi is a bit straightforward, he is always meticulous in his work. What he just said in the letter was that his family had successfully entered the capital using forged identity documents. None of the family members' names were registered. Meanwhile, in the water town, both the business and the house were operating as usual.
Seeing that Ah Xi's side was going so smoothly, Jiang Yuyue's worries of the past few days finally dissipated. Looking at the stack of evidence she had compiled on the table, she immediately perked up.
"Let's go."
Jiang Yuyue said in a light tone, "Go find Old Madam Xie."
-
Inside the old lady's courtyard.
Jiang Yuyue sat to the side, leisurely drinking the milk tea that Granny Sun had served her. She watched as Old Madam Xie's face grew darker and darker as she flipped through the booklet, and she felt quite at ease.
"What are these?"
Madam Xie immediately noticed that the accounts in the book were riddled with errors. "Who made these accounts?!"
"Grandmother, please don't get angry."
Jiang Yuyue slowly put down her teacup and sighed, "Didn't you send all the account books to my room a few days ago? I thought I couldn't let my grandmother down, so I went through all our family's account books from over the years, but I never expected there to be so many shady dealings in them..."
"This booklet contains the discrepancies in the accounts that my granddaughter-in-law has compiled. It seems that the reason why the revenue of our many shops is so dismal is probably because... because those elders are lining their own pockets with our business. It's the same in almost every shop. I really dare not keep quiet about it."
Madam Xie's face turned ashen. Although she had long known the key to this matter, she had not expected that Jiang Yuyue would find so many bad accounts after sorting through them so carefully. The losses over the years had accumulated to a total of tens of thousands of taels of silver!
If she had kept those tens of thousands of taels of silver for herself, how could the Xie family be in such dire straits now?! How could Old Madam Xie not be furious?
"A bunch of bastards!"
Madam Xie trembled with rage. "Our Xie family paid them wages several times higher than the market rate just because they were relatives, and yet they still dared to do something like this! With this evidence, what are we afraid of? We must fire these scoundrels and get back all the money they've embezzled over the years!"
Hearing that Madam Xie had finally gotten to the point, Jiang Yuyue hurriedly stood up, her face full of embarrassment.
"If it were really that easy to fire someone, then so be it."
Jiang Yuyue sighed, "I've investigated all these relatives and granddaughters-in-law. They're not ordinary relatives. Many of them are from the maternal relatives of the First Madam and the Second Madam. How could a granddaughter-in-law like me dare to make decisions for her elders? That's why I came to ask for your opinion, Grandmother."
Upon hearing that it was related to the eldest and second wives, Madam Xie's face darkened. Although both daughters-in-law were useless, their families had provided them with considerable financial support over the years. It would indeed be inappropriate to dismiss them all at once.