Chapter 315 Muquan Manor (Part 1)

Chapter 315: Bathspring Estate (Part 1)

The estate steward, surnamed Dong, was called Dong Da by everyone else, as Meng Wan heard.

Bathspring Estate was originally called Dong Family Village, where most of the villagers shared the surname Dong. In the early years, when famine struck Dong Family Village, the entire village's land was bought up by someone.

With no land to farm, the villagers had no choice but to become tenant farmers to avoid becoming vagrants.

Bathspring Estate was actually only a part of Dong Family Village; some villagers who still owned land gathered nearby and continued to call it Dong Family Village.

Dong Da's wife, along with two of his sons' husbands, hurried up the hillside with brooms and basins in hand.

Though called a small mountain, it was more fitting to call it a hillock. It wasn't vast in area, and the terrain was fairly gentle. From below, one could see several fruit trees planted up top.

Meng Wan didn't rush up the mountain. Instead, he strolled leisurely along the estate's paths. Lan Niang and Zheng Shushen rarely left the city either, and now, accompanied by their maids and young attendants, they wandered about with him.

"Are the estate's account books from these years kept with you?" Meng Wan tugged at a withered blade of grass by the roadside and asked the steward following behind.

The steward was momentarily stunned, as if he hadn't expected such a sudden question about the accounts. "To answer you, sir, the account books are indeed in my keeping, but the previous ones were taken by the former owner. When you purchased the estate last year, the crops had already been harvested. After the new year, I bought another batch of rice seeds..."

How could Meng Wan not see through his little game? He adjusted the fluffy hood of his silver-gray mole-fur cloak and asked casually, "So, you're saying that since I took over Bathspring Estate, there's been no income at all, only a series of expenses, correct?"

The steward smiled obsequiously and nodded. "You're truly perceptive, sir. You understand at once."

Meng Wan looked at his thick padded jacket and his glistening, greasy lips, then suddenly smiled. "I've traveled half the day and I'm tired. Come report to me early tomorrow morning."

These farming folk had never seen such a strikingly beautiful young gentleman as Meng Wan. For a moment, they didn't know where to look. Some ragged farmers who had been secretly following them stared openly, their eyes going wide.

Chi Yu came from a community with simple, honest relationships where people were naive, and even he felt uncomfortable with those looks. Gui Qian and Zhi Fan, who had both been sold before, keenly sensed those murky gazes.

They glared at each offender in turn. How dare these people look at their master with such lecherous eyes? They ought to have the master's guards gouge out their eyeballs.

After dismissing Dong Da, Meng Wan called Lan Niang and Zheng Shushen to head up the mountain together. Tao Shiyi and the constables, since they were men, stayed in the houses at the foot of the mountain to keep watch, not accompanying them up.

The path up the mountain was paved with bluestone slabs, now dirty and unsightly after the snow had melted and dust had settled.

"Have a few carts of lime from Lingnan brought to the estate in a while. Renovate the houses completely, and replace the paths and the mountain steps with lime-paved ones," Meng Wan instructed Huang Ye as he climbed.

Huang Ye made a mental note of everything, and fearing he might forget, he also asked Zhi Fan and Gui Qian to help him remember.

Gui Qian pondered for a moment. "Master, when repairing the steps, we could mix in some gravel. It'd be slip-resistant and look nice too."

Meng Wan glanced back at him. "Not bad. I'll leave this matter to you, along with the estate's renovations. When you go home the day after tomorrow, go to Brother Ye to collect the funds. Record every expense in detail. Don't line your pockets with outsiders' money. Do it well, and I'll reward you."

Gui Qian was overjoyed. "Understood, Master. You can rest assured!"

They hadn't walked far before reaching the houses on the hillside. The front yard was enclosed by a waist-high bamboo fence, and the weeds inside had just been cleared.

Chi Yu went in first to lead the way. Facing the door, on the north side, was a row of livable rooms, while the east side had the kitchen and woodshed. On the west side was a square bathhouse, quite spacious, with the hot spring enclosed within.

The master's quarters were a large suite with a bed in the central room, and further inside, a bedroom and an outer room.

The rooms had been wiped down by Dong Da's wife and sons' husbands, but Huang Ye didn't think they'd cleaned thoroughly enough. He had Zhi Fan and Gui Qian do it over, and replaced the old bedding with their own.

After tidying up, Gui Qian was sent by Meng Wan to gather information in the village, while the others prepared to soak in the hot spring.

"Chi Yu, go soak in the small spring outside. Don't come to ours," Meng Wan said disdainfully, looking at Chi Yu who had already stripped off half his clothes.

There were two springs in total. The small one outside was barely bigger than a bath barrel, and only one person could soak at a time. Huang Ye, Lan Niang's attendant Hu Niu, and Zheng Shushen's attendant Shi Shu were all in the outer room, taking turns in the water in case their masters needed anything.

Chi Yu went out looking put out—he wanted to soak in the big pool too!

Zheng Shushen emerged from behind the screen wearing a thin robe. He pressed a hand to his chest. "With Chi Yu here, I'd really be too embarrassed to undress."

Lan Niang agreed. "Same here. If not for his childbearing mark and lack of an Adam's apple like a man, who could tell he's a xiaoge (male wife)?"

"Chi Yu is a Miao clan xiaoge my husband rescued. Everyone in his village is unbelievably naive. Don't let his sturdy build fool you—he's been taken advantage of many times," Meng Wan said as he got into the water, chatting with the two about how he first met Chi Yu.

His and Song Tingzhou's extraordinary experiences in Lingnan couldn't be summed up in just a few sentences. Meng Wan didn't just talk; he also asked Zheng Shushen and Lan Niang questions now and then.

The three chatted pleasantly, all entering the water in thin robes—being fully naked would have been awkward. Meng Wan thought to himself that next time Song Tingzhou had a day off, the two of them could sneak over and soak together. Without outsiders around, wouldn't they be able to soak however they pleased?

Lan Niang was one thing, but Zheng Shushen was a xiaoge raised in seclusion, never leaving the house since childhood.

He had never disrobed in public before. Even entering the water in a thin robe, his posture remained stiff.

It wasn't until he began chatting freely with Meng Wan and Lan Niang that he slowly began to open up, starting to share the pressures his parents placed on him. When he heard something amusing from Meng Wan, he'd cover his mouth and laugh freely.

Huang Ye and the others washed up quickly and began preparing the evening meal. They'd brought their own rice, grains, vegetables, and meat, and Gui Qian had bought a few chickens from the tenant households.

In winter, there were few vegetables—only cabbage, radishes, and potatoes—but even so, Huang Ye managed to prepare six dishes and a soup. There was cabbage stewed with pork belly slices, stir-fried julienned potatoes, chicken stewed with mushrooms and chestnuts, ham and radish soup, crispy fried chicken made at home and re-fried in oil, plus a fermented rice wine steamed mutton bought from a restaurant on the way. Everyone ate and sang its praises.

Coming out here left everyone feeling completely refreshed. That night, the three slept on the heated brick bed in the inner room. Before they'd even exchanged a few words, they all drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Meng Wan sent Tao Shiyi and his men to accompany Lan Niang and Zheng Shushen for a stroll around the estate, while he handled business himself.

Huang Ye looked at the account book in his hands and nearly laughed in disbelief. "Master, the book Dong Da brought early this morning records three debts."

Meng Wan took the book and saw, written in neat standard script: "As winter approaches, Estate Steward Dong Da purchased on credit two hundred catties of cotton from the cloth shop, owing forty-eight taels, to provide clothing for the tenant households to protect against the cold. Also, for purchasing grain seeds, he owes the grain shop eleven taels and three hundred forty wen. Additionally, for renovating farm tools at the blacksmith's, he owes the smithy seventeen taels and eight hundred fifty wen. Total: seventy-seven taels and one hundred ninety wen."

It seemed like a small amount—a drop in the bucket for the wealthy households of the capital, hardly worth noticing.

Huang Ye asked, "Master, should we send someone to verify with the cloth shop and grain store?"

Meng Wan ran his fingers over the account book, which had only one page written on. The ink was still fresh—at the latest, it had been written last night.

"Have Shiyi take Gui Qian on an errand. Check the shops near the city gate and come back quickly," Meng Wan said, sitting on the couch. He took out another blank account book and, cross-referencing Dong Da's submission, began calculating item by item, saying casually, "However Dong Da incurred these debts, he'll cough them back up."

Tao Shiyi left in the morning and returned with Gui Qian by noon. Dong Da had been keeping an eye on Meng Wan's movements; the moment Gui Qian returned, he arrived right on his heels.

"Master, if there's any errand you need me to run, just say the word. Why trouble the constables?" Dong Da's eyes darted around nervously.

Meng Wan clutched two account books in his hands. "Dong Da, who wrote this account book for you? Could someone be stirring up trouble? How is it that when I calculated it myself, the numbers don't add up?"

Dong Da's heart raced. He hadn't expected the master to actually do the math over a few dozen taels. "That can't... that can't be. A relative's kid helped write it. Our families had some old grudges—surely they wouldn't go this far to frame me?"

He'd covered his tracks, shifting the blame for the account book onto someone else.

Standing beside Meng Wan, Huang Ye let out a soft, derisive snicker, which made Dong Da's heart pound even faster.

Meng Wan held up the account book and went through it item by item. "You bought two hundred catties of cotton from the cloth shop before the Lunar New Year?"

Dong Da hastily defended himself. "Master, please hear me out! The previous owner bought quilted jackets for the tenants every winter. I took it upon myself, but if you're unwilling, when autumn harvest comes, I'll use the grain from the fields to cover the cost of the cotton."

His words were flattering on the surface but carried a hidden threat—if Meng Wan pursued it, word would spread that he was so stingy he wouldn't even buy cotton for his tenants, deliberately treating them poorly.

Meng Wan smiled. Good, very good—this man still dared to spin tales in front of him.

"Rural padded clothes are taken apart and reused, patched when they wear out. This is the first I've heard of buying new cotton every year."

Dong Da never expected him to know even this—weren't those husbands of officials supposed to be ignorant of crops and grains, unable to tell wheat from beans?

He racked his brain for an excuse. "My lord, about this cotton..."

"Alright, let's move on to the next item." Meng Wan cut him off. "Your relative's ledger says you bought two hundred catties of cotton on credit at the cloth shop, totaling forty-eight taels. So that's two hundred and forty wen a catty, right? But when my servant went to the cloth shops in the city to ask around, the price of cotton ranged from eighty to one hundred and twenty wen per catty. Even at the highest price of one hundred and twenty wen, two hundred catties would only come to twenty-four taels. So how does that add up to forty-eight taels of silver?"

Meng Wan didn't give him a chance to catch his breath. His fingers drummed on the table as he spoke rapidly. "Now, for the grain seeds, the ledger says eleven taels and three hundred and forty wen. The estate, not counting the higher-elevation land, has four hundred mu of arable fields. Four hundred mu would require roughly seven shi of wheat seeds. The grain shop sells wheat seeds at eight hundred and ten wen per shi, so seven shi would be five taels and six hundred and seventy wen—exactly half of what you wrote down. How do you explain that?"

The room fell silent, broken only by the stream of numbers spilling out of Meng Wan's mouth. Lan Niang and Zheng Shushen, who had returned for a meal, sensed the tense atmosphere and didn't dare enter, listening instead from the doorway.

"Finally, the tool repairs—you owe the blacksmith's shop seventeen taels and eight hundred and fifty wen. A hoe is one hundred and twenty wen, a sickle thirty, and a plowshare two hundred, totaling three hundred and fifty per household. Muquan Estate has fifty-one households in all, so seventeen taels and eight hundred and fifty wen is indeed neither more nor less. But does the ledger say repairs or new purchase? A plowshare is what you use to plow with oxen..."

Meng Wan suddenly caught on. "Could it be that our Muquan Estate actually has fifty-one plow oxen?"

A smile played at the corner of his mouth. Even though the accounts were fraudulent, he showed no sign of anger. But Dong Da found his calm, even tone far more frightening.

How could he have figured out every single item so precisely, as if he'd been present at every purchase?

Where on earth was Dong Da supposed to conjure up fifty-one plow oxen? He quickly denied it. "No, no! The estate doesn't have that many oxen!"

"No?" Meng Wan's eyes narrowed. He slammed his hand on the table and stood up, his words like icicles hanging from the eaves—cold and hard, enough to chill you to the bone.

"Since the estate doesn't have that many oxen, then you've been falsifying the accounts?"

Dong Da was so terrified by his manner that his legs gave way, and he collapsed to his knees with a thud. The chill from the floor shot up his spine, raising goosebumps all over his body.

His mind went blank, as if he'd been kicked in the head by fifty-one oxen in succession. The world spun, he felt nauseous and cold, and even his new cotton coat couldn't shield him from the storm Meng Wan had stirred up in his head.

Seeing how easily he crumbled, Meng Wan suddenly softened his tone. He sat back down with a sigh and coaxed Dong Da, "You look like an honest man who can't handle a scare. Could it be that your 'relative' set you up and tricked you into cooking the books?"

Dong Da's muddled mind suddenly cleared as if Meng Wan's words had lifted the fog. His eyes lit up, and he blurted out, "Yes, yes! It was that relative of mine!"

Afraid of Meng Wan's anger, he prostrated himself on the ground, weeping, "My lord, I swear it's the truth! The money I spent on those purchases was exactly as you said—not a single wen more or less. I don't know how it got recorded as so much in the books."

Meng Wan propped his chin on his hand. "I always thought you were a steady and reliable man, Estate Head Dong. Those fifty-one plowshares must certainly have a purpose. It can't be that you're taking advantage of me because I'm a young husband, thinking I know nothing, and deliberately swindling the Master out of money, can it? According to the amount in the ledger, that would earn you seventy lashes at the magistrate's office plus two years of hard labor."

"Yes!" Dong Da quickly cut in. To pacify Meng Wan, he gritted his teeth and said, "The estate does have... one family, no... three families that keep oxen. Last winter, they had calves, so together they come to exactly fifty-one head."

Meng Wan raised an eyebrow. "So the estate really has that many oxen? Why didn't I see them yesterday?"

Dong Da was stuck between a rock and a hard place. To cover up his lie, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and spin the tale further. "The calves are too small—we were afraid they'd freeze, so we've kept them penned up indoors and haven't dared let them out."

Meng Wan nodded. "Oh, I see. Tomorrow I'd like to go see these oxen. Would that work for you, Estate Head Dong?"

"Convenient, convenient." Dong Da forced a smile that looked worse than a grimace, cursing his luck. Everything else could be managed, but where on earth was he supposed to find fifty-one plow oxen?