Chapter 146: The Secret of the Ledger

Zhu Hao looked at Qin Hui, who remained silent, and felt a surge of anxiety that soon morphed into uncontrollable anger. With a cold snort, he snapped, "Qin Shun, I am asking you a question! Are you deaf or dumb?"

Hearing Zhu Hao's words, Qin Hui realized that if he remained silent any longer, he would truly be cast out of the imperial envoy's quarters. Trembling, he stammered, "Replying to Your Highness, it is not that this student refuses to answer Your Highness's question, but rather that this student truly has no confidence in this matter myself. I am deeply grateful for Your Highness's benevolence in granting me another chance, but I dare not spout nonsense and deceive Your Highness. In my view, this ledger is simply beyond my comprehension. I have disappointed Your Highness, and I beg for Your Highness's punishment!"

Kneeling on the ground, Qin Hui kowtowed to Zhu Hao as a gesture of apology. Seeing this, Zhu Hao let out a soft sigh, knowing in his heart that Qin Hui's words were reasonable. Indeed, when it came to this ledger, there was little difference between ten days and a hundred days. The ledger itself was not particularly thick; if it could not be understood in ten days, more time would likely not help. Such things did not yield to repeated viewings—they required a sudden flash of insight, and once one grasped it, everything would naturally become clear.

Pondering this and hoping for a sudden realization of his own, Zhu Hao instructed Qin Hui, "Bring that ledger over and let me look at it again!"

Hearing this, Qin Hui hurriedly retrieved the ledger from his robe, raised it high above his head, and cautiously crawled forward a few paces to place the ledger into Zhu Hao's hands.

Zhu Hao opened the ledger once more and carefully perused a dozen pages, only to find himself as baffled as before. This roused his anger, and he hurled the ledger forcefully onto the floor, shouting in fury, "What kind of nonsense is this? Qin Shun, only you would consider this thing a ledger!"

With that, Zhu Hao prepared to vent the full measure of his wrath upon Qin Hui. Just at that moment, Ziyan gracefully entered the room carrying a cup of tea with a charming smile, and said, "What on earth has happened to put Your Highness in such a towering rage? Come, Your Highness, have a cup of tea to calm your temper!" Saying this, she placed the cup of tea she was holding right before Zhu Hao.

Ordinarily, given Zhu Hao's past temperament, he would have sternly reprimanded Ziyan for interrupting him. However, having shared a wedding ceremony and the bridal chamber with her, even though she was now his maidservant, Zhu Hao still found himself unable to treat her as an ordinary servant.

Therefore, Zhu Hao merely cast a deep glance at Ziyan, took a long breath, picked up the teacup, and took a small sip, preparing to resume his scolding of Qin Hui and vent his inner frustration.

Right at that moment, Ziyan bent down to pick up the ledger from the floor, muttering under her breath, "Such a fine book, why throw it on the floor?"

As she picked it up, she looked at the ledger with a hint of astonishment and remarked, "This book is quite strange. It doesn't seem like an ordinary book at all!"

Suddenly remembering that Ziyan was, after all, the premier courtesan of the House of Fragrant Blossoms and surely possessed extraordinary literary talent, Zhu Hao temporarily set aside his intention to berate Qin Hui. Deciding to give it a try, he said, "Ziyan, take a look at this volume and see if you can discern anything unusual about it!"

Hearing Zhu Hao's words, Ziyan flashed a charming smile and replied, "This maid obeys!"

With that, Ziyan opened the ledger and examined it carefully. After turning a few pages, her delicate eyebrows knitted together slightly, and she said, "Your Highness, this is not a book! It is a ledger!"

Zhu Hao sprang up from his chair at Ziyan's words and demanded, "Ziyan, can you read and understand this ledger?"

Ziyan nodded in response and explained, "Back when I was at the House of Fragrant Blossoms, I once heard the sisters mention that there was a hidden bookkeeping method used within the official circles of Zhejiang. But I had only ever heard of it and had never actually laid eyes on it. Today is the very first time I have ever seen such a ledger. Your Highness, where did you obtain this?"

Hearing that Ziyan actually understood the ledger, Zhu Hao thought to himself, "Truly, flowers planted intentionally fail to bloom, while willows planted unintentionally grow to shade!" Without explaining the origin of the ledger to Ziyan, he pressed on, "Where this ledger came from is of no importance. Ziyan, tell me quickly what this ledger is all about! If you can explain it clearly, I will certainly reward you handsomely!"

Seeing Zhu Hao's eager expression, Ziyan smiled seductively and said, "Your Highness must keep your word. If Ziyan can understand this ledger, I want no other reward. I only ask that Your Highness take me as your wife and give me a proper title!"

Zhu Hao never expected Ziyan to make such a demand, which instantly made his old face flush. He gave an awkward, dry laugh and said, "Well, as for this, uh, Ziyan, well, look, could you perhaps explain the matter of the ledger first?"

Seeing Zhu Hao in such a state of embarrassment, Ziyan broke into a peal of delightful laughter, a flash of mischievous cunning dancing in the corners of her eyes. "I can see Your Highness has no real sincerity. Since Your Highness is unwilling, Ziyan will not force the matter—only, Your Highness must not regret it later!"

Sensing that Ziyan was merely joking, Zhu Hao took no offense. Instead, he gazed at her with earnest expectation, hoping she would reveal the secret of the ledger. Ziyan took a deep breath and then revealed to him, "This ledger is actually not difficult to understand at all. Every evaluated name listed here is the person who offered a bribe, while the author of this ledger is naturally the recipient of the bribes. As for the amounts, Your Highness need only count the number of characters!"

Perplexed by her words, Zhu Hao asked doubtfully, "Count the characters? What does the bribe amount have to do with the number of characters?"

Seeing that Zhu Hao still did not understand, Ziyan rolled her eyes at him playfully and continued her explanation, "If I am not mistaken, a single character represents ten taels of silver. Take this evaluation of Cheng Sanjin on the first page, for instance—there are fifty-six characters in total, which should mean he accepted five hundred and sixty taels of silver in bribes. Has Your Highness not noticed that the further down you go in the evaluations, the fewer characters there are? That is because this ledger is arranged in descending order according to the size of the bribes!"

Upon hearing Ziyan's explanation, Zhu Hao understood in an instant. He quickly snatched the ledger from Ziyan's hands and examined it closely. Sure enough, just as Ziyan had said, the character counts decreased further down the pages.

Having finally unraveled the mystery of the ledger, Zhu Hao was overwhelmed with joy. In his excitement, he swept Ziyan up in his arms and spun her around in a circle, exclaiming, "Ziyan, you have rendered a monumental service this time!"

Caught off guard by this sudden action, Ziyan blushed furiously and murmured shyly, "Your Highness... someone else is watching!"

Qin Hui, being a man who understood how to navigate every situation, immediately pressed himself flat against the floor and called out, "This student's eyes have suddenly gone blind! This student sees nothing at all!"

Hearing Ziyan and Qin Hui, Zhu Hao suddenly realized his behavior was somewhat inappropriate. He hastily set Ziyan down, gave Qin Hui a kick, and scolded angrily, "You really know how to put on an act! Scram! Get out of my sight! When I wanted you to read the ledger, why didn't you show this kind of capability?"

Assuming that Zhu Hao was about to assert his authority as a husband in broad daylight, Qin Hui babbled repeatedly, "Your Highness, please take care of your health! This student takes his leave! This student takes his leave!"

That parting remark—"Your Highness, please take care of your health!"—so infuriated Zhu Hao that he hurled the teacup in his hand fiercely to the ground. Frightened out of his wits, Qin Hui dared not utter another word and scrambled in a panic out of the room.

Watching Qin Hui's retreating figure vanish from the room, Zhu Hao touched his own nose with a sense of self-doubt and thought to himself, "Am I really viewed as a libertine in their eyes? Wei Xiaobao said so, and now Qin Hui says so too. Do I really lack all principles and bottom lines? While I may not be Liu Xiahui, capable of sitting with a woman on my lap without straying, I am not some insatiable beast either! What kind of people are these? How could they possibly think that of me?"

As a wave of grievance washed over him, Ziyan's next words nearly caused Zhu Hao to completely lose his restraint. After Qin Hui had fled the room, Ziyan took two timid steps backward and whispered, "Your Highness... uh, the hour is still quite early... uh, perhaps Your Highness could wait? After dusk this maid can come to attend your bed, is that all right? For now... Your Highness, please exercise some self-restraint, can you?"

Seeing Ziyan looking as though her lips said no while her eyes brimmed with eager anticipation, Zhu Hao was within a hair's breadth of yielding to impulse and taking her right then and there.

Yet, drawing a deep breath, Zhu Hao forcibly reined in his inner impulses and thought, "This lass is becoming more and more adept at teasing. Who knows if this was a mandatory course at the House of Fragrant Blossoms! It really tests a man's endurance!"

Though he sighed thus inwardly, outwardly Zhu Hao put on a stern and upright expression. "Ziyan, stop fooling around and withdraw as well! I have matters to sort through and no inclination for other distractions!"

Hearing this, Ziyan muttered under her breath, "Grinding the mill and then slaughtering the donkey—you're just a block of wood!"

Though she spoke in a whisper, Zhu Hao's hearing was sharp, and he caught every word. His face instantly darkened, and he glared at her, shouting, "What did you say? Say that again!"

So frightened by Zhu Hao's fierce look that she shrank her neck, Ziyan hastily stammered, "This maid said nothing at all! This maid takes her leave!" With that, she darted out of Zhu Hao's room like a puff of smoke.

Watching Ziyan scurry away in flustered flight, Zhu Hao couldn't help but find it rather amusing. He shook his head slightly and thought, "You really cannot give this girl too much leeway, or she'll instantly climb all over your head!"

Once Ziyan stepped out of Zhu Hao's room, all traces of panic and seductiveness vanished from her face, replaced by an expression of utter coldness. Clenching her fists tightly, she thought to herself, "Zhu Youjian, sooner or later, this young lady will make you willingly fall prostrate before my pomegranate skirt, serving me like a beast of burden! Let's see if you dare to glare at me again then! Humph, just you wait!"