Chapter 360: You’re Surely Not That Kind of Scoundrel!

Chapter 360: You’re Surely Not That Kind of Scoundrel!

Ah Wu returned and retrieved the land deeds that Grandfather Liu had given her as part of her dowry.

She reviewed the shops registered under the second household according to the deeds.

Upon reviewing, she discovered, from the account books presented by the manager, that several shops in prime locations owned by the second household had been losing money year after year!

The manager tearfully explained: "Our elder master felt sorry for Third Aunt after she lost her parents, and her shops were losing money year after year. Our elder master personally covered the losses, but in the end, he couldn’t keep covering the losses..."

Ah Wu frowned while listening, flipping through the account books repeatedly.

She only had a basic understanding, and looking at these account books, she couldn’t detect any irregularities.

But she still felt something was off!

Ah Wu recalled that her parents’ shops had been highly profitable, so how could they suddenly start losing money?

Yet, according to the books, they were consistently losing money!

Ah Wu's frown deepened: "Also, bring me the account books for Grandfather’s properties."

The manager promptly fetched more account books: "...Third Aunt, please take a look. I’m not lying; the books clearly reflect it. The market has been tough lately, and without our elder master covering the losses, the shops really have been losing money year after year."

The more Ah Wu reviewed, the more confused she grew.

Unfortunately, Nanny Xia, who oversaw her household, had been suffering from old injuries in her legs and feet in recent years, which had worsened. Nanny Xia had to stay at the Liu family villa with her son and daughter-in-law for recuperation and didn't come to the capital with Ah Wu.

Xingxing approached: "Auntie, may I see the account books?"

Xingxing had learned how to read account books from Bai Ge'er for a while. Bai Ge'er managed her personal assets, but he insisted Xingxing could spot irregularities in any account book at a glance.

Bai Ge'er had quite a talent for business, and even though Xingxing only learned the basics from him, reading an account book was still within her capabilities.

Ah Wu was about to hand the account books to Xingxing when the manager jumped in to stop her: "Third Aunt, how can you let someone else see such important account books?"

Ah Wu didn’t waste time arguing with the manager and directly called Yu Siyang: "Siyang, throw him out! He’s such a nuisance!"

Yu Siyang got up and started pushing the manager.

Although the manager was a strong man, in front of the tall and burly Yu Siyang, he was like a little chick, being pushed out mercilessly.

Humiliated, the manager was shut out. He considered knocking but decided against it. They had specifically had someone tamper with the account books, and even experienced accountants might not be able to tell. Third Aunt was clueless, and the other was just a ten-year-old girl, what could she possibly see?

Thinking this, the manager just pretended to shout a few times and then left the courtyard to attend to other matters, his face no longer showing any concern.

However, what the manager didn't expect was that half an hour later, the door opened, and Xingxing came out with several account books that she had marked as fake.

As for her uncle's actions, Ah Wu was so angry that she didn't know what to say.

"Exposing him is simple," Xingxing said, "My second brother said that when making such double account books, there's a fake one to show people, but there's definitely a real one hidden somewhere."

"So..."

Xingxing smiled and said, "We'll keep the fake account books and then take people to the shops to search for the real ones."

Ah Wu agreed wholeheartedly!

Huya gathered a few more people and joined Xingxing and Ah Wu on their way to the shops under the name of the second household.

Ah Wu had the land deeds in her possession, and Huya knew all the underhanded tricks of shop management. She knew every nook and cranny where the account books could be hidden!

Ah Wu and Xingxing went out and returned with several genuine and fake account books, tying up the shop managers and loudly announcing they were taking them to the authorities to charge them with embezzling the family's assets.

Embezzling the family's assets was a serious crime, with penalties based on the amount embezzled.

For example, embezzling more than ten taels (a unit of silver) would result in full restitution, ten strokes of the cane, and six months of forced labor.

Embezzling more than thirty taels would result in fifty strokes of the cane and exile.

The discrepancies in the double account books revealed amounts over three hundred taels each.

Enough to have these shop managers executed multiple times.

The people Huya called over were all from the Yujia merchant caravan, escorting the managers while beating gongs and shouting to the onlookers: "These are the managers of the Liu family shops! They took advantage of the second household being left with only one orphan girl to falsify accounts and embezzle her property! Now we are taking them to the authorities to charge them with embezzling the family's assets!"

Hearing this, the managers were petrified, kneeling before Ah Wu in full view of the crowd, tearfully spilling everything the first household had ordered them to do!

Ah Wu and Xingxing shared a knowing look.

Sticking to their prearranged plan, Ah Wu pretended to be shocked, exclaiming loudly, "Impossible! Don't try to shift the blame onto my uncle! My uncle isn't that kind of person!"

The managers shouted even louder, "Third Miss, don't be deceived! The elder master ordered the account fraud! We wouldn't have dared otherwise!"

"Yes, Third Miss! The elder master used to collect silver from the shops every six months, then monthly, and we had to comply. Gradually, all the shop profits were funneled to the elder master, who had us cook the books to cover it up—"

"Impossible!" Xingxing cried, "The Liu family elder master is a Ministry of Rites official! How could he stoop so low, grabbing the second household's property and tormenting his orphaned niece? I don't believe it! How could a Ministry of Rites official be such a person?!"

Xingxing's repeated disbelief actually made more people aware of Liu Qingyuan's despicable deeds!

Many onlookers started buzzing with shock.

When Liu Qingyuan later arrived and heard Xingxing's clear voice in the crowd, he nearly fell out of his sedan chair!

He was practically gnashing his teeth, "Quick, quick, chase that brat away!"

The Liu family servants approached, and Xingxing, recognizing their uniforms, guessed Liu Qingyuan was nearby, immediately shouting, "Elder Master Liu, I know you're innocent! You couldn't possibly be the kind of shameless person who would embezzle his niece's property! Elder Master Liu, come out quickly, let's go to the authorities together and send these slanderous managers to jail in front of the magistrate!"

The girl's voice was sweet and gentle, but to Liu Qingyuan, hidden in his roadside sedan chair, it was the voice of the devil!