Jiang Yashuang just walked Ou Bicheng out when Qiu Yelan came back. They bumped into each other at the door. She was frowning and upset. Seeing that, Jiang Yashuang was suspicious. He held her hand and asked softly, “How are Shishui and the twenty-first niece?”

“Our niece is so adorable and causes others no trouble,” Qiu Yelan nodded. She took him a few steps towards the yard and then whispered, “Did the eighth sister-in-law come or send anyone here?”

“No wonder you stayed at Shishui’s place until now,” Jiang Yashuang was stunned. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “It turns out that you were afraid that eighth sister-in-law would come to plead with you.”

Qiu Yelan was frustrated, “The eighth sister-in-law is the most ill-treated person in the Tao Family. But considering how the eighth sister-in-law is, do you think she’ll sit by and watch her family suffer in distress? On one hand, I don’t want to plead for her. On the other hand, I’m not in the position to plead. I can’t bear watching her being sad. I just have to hide! I thought even if she knew that I went to Shishui’s place and followed me there, she wouldn’t have a chance to talk about it with Shishui and the twenty-first niece interrupting!”

Jiang Yashuang also knew how Madame Tao Junior was. The Tao Family wanted to kill her before. Now that the Tao Family was going down, let alone gloat, she couldn’t even sit by and watch!

He smiled and said, “Then you should cook for me tomorrow! I deliberately asked grandfather to grant the eighth sister-in-law a reward after everyone left. She’s always smart. I think she could get grandfather’s implication!”

Marquess Qin granted his granddaughter-in-law a reward and asked her not to worry about the misfortune in her maiden family. It was a comfort and also a reminder. It reminded her that she was already a member of the Jiang Family and she didn’t need to worry about the Tao Family!

Even if Madame Tao Junior still didn’t want to give up, she would have to plead with Marquess Qin. Because Marquess Qin said that himself. Who else dared to defy Marquess Qin?

However, speaking of the Tao Family’s misfortune, they asked for it themselves. While those outsiders in the Empress’s party were waiting and seeing, the Tao Family, as the most important in-law to the rise of the Jiang Family, changed their side before others! Now that the Jiang Family freed their hands, who else would they go after in order to set an example other than the Tao Family?

Besides, the Tao Family was really stupid to betray the Jiang Family. Considering their connection with the Empress’s party, if the Empress’s party won, the worst case scenario would be that they wouldn’t be able to benefit from it as long as they didn’t mess up like what they did at that moment. But their safety could be guaranteed. If the Empress Dowager’s party won, would Empress Dowager Gu who hated Empress Jiang’s guts and wanted to eat her alive let the Tao Family off the hook because they changed their side?

It was an important choice which concerned their lives and the survival of their family! The Tao Family actually chose Empress Dowager Gu’s side in a rush of thought when Marquess Qin’s condition wasn’t clear.

The Jiang Family didn’t do anything to them until now, because they wanted to benefit from their lives. Everyone in the Jiang Family was satisfied with taking down Duan Jin as a bonus at that moment including the daughter of the Tao Family, Madame Tao!

If Madame Tao weren’t Empress Jiang’s mother or she weren’t capable, with what happened in the Tao Family, she even didn’t need to isolate herself. How would she face the juniors? Other than their kids, people at her age valued their prestige the most!

So, after Jiang Yashuang told Qiu Yelan that Marquess Qin had comforted Madame Tao Junior himself, they stopped talking about what would happen to the Tao Family. They began to talk about something they cared about more.

Jiang Yashuang surely continued to take credit for his achievements. Hearing that the Empress and Marquess Qin both agreed to let Lian Jianhai investigate the Duan Family’s property in order to get enough money for Wang Qingqian’s dowry, Qiu Yelan was beyond happy. Not only would it save Qiu Jinglan money, but also because she only mentioned it once in front of Jiang Yashuang and he remembered it. Having a husband who cared so much, how could a wife not be happy?

So, after they went into the room, Qiu Yelan kissed him without hesitation. They fooled around for a while and then got up to tidy themselves panting for more.

While they were flirting and cleaning up the next morning, He Shuijin’s maid Xian came.

They were both surprised, “What does Shuijin want from us this early morning?”

They got dressed in a hurry and summoned Xian in to ask her. They found out that the account books which Qingfeng Ji didn’t have time to destroy had been delivered to Marquess’s Mansion stealthily since last night. He Shuijin was the best person who could find out the connection between Qingfeng Ji and Empress Dowager’s party and benefit from it!

But He Shuijin couldn’t look through all the account books herself. And the Jiang Family couldn’t announce that all the account books of Qingfeng Ji were delivered to their mansion. After all, Dalisi was the department investigating Duan Jin for corruption and the culpability of others. So, they couldn’t bring in a lot of people from outside. They only had a few accountants at home. Even they had already hired some help, how could those few people look through all the account books of such a large commercial house which had been open for decades?

So, He Shuijin had been sending people out looking for help since the early morning, “Madame Yelan, please do help. Otherwise, Madame Shuijin will be up to her ears in work!”

It was a matter of victory or defeat in two Empresses’ fight. Qiu Yelan surely wouldn’t reject, “Okay. Shall I go now?” She turned around and asked the servants to bring her some desserts from the kitchen. She planned to eat those on the way to the third branch.

Hearing that, Jiang Yashuang said in a hurry, “No need to be in such a rush! Go after having breakfast!”

Xian smiled and bent her knees, “Young Master Yashuang really adores Madame Yelan… Madame Yelan, you don’t need to be in such a rush. Madame Shuijin is already sorry for sending me to bother you so early in the morning. How could she let you go there without having breakfast? Please have a proper breakfast and then go there. Otherwise, Madame Shuijin will punish me after I go back!”

“You haven’t eaten either, have you?” Qiu Yelan instructed Su He, “Go to the kitchen and pack some fresh desserts for Xian. Don’t starve yourself running around with an empty stomach!”

Xian didn’t refuse. She thanked Qiu Yelan with a smile and then left.

While instructing the servants to serve breakfast, Jiang Yashuang said, “We’ve already hired dozens of accountants in advance and kept them in a quiet corner of the front yard. They are waiting to look through the account books of Qingfeng Ji. But Shuijin is still so busy that she has to look for help in the early morning. It looks like we didn’t hire enough people!”

“We couldn’t hire more. Our family is a big family and we draw a lot of attention. Hiring dozens of accountants could get past Empress Dowager’s informants. But if we hire hundreds of them, not to mention the business of those shops without accountants, how could Empress Dowager’s party not notice?” Qiu Yelan took over a hot cup of tea and took a sip. She said, “If they find out we are going to go after Qingfeng Ji through Duan Jin and get prepared, it’ll be a huge loss for us!”

“It can’t be done in a short time. Don’t get too tired when you are there,” Jiang Yashuang told her to take care of herself and not to worry too much, “Those accountants are hired to do their jobs. You are only there to help. Don’t exhaust yourself. Shuijin knows her stuff well. Leave everything to her. You…”

All his nagging could be summarized into one sentence: You didn’t need to actually do something!

Qiu Yelan felt warm at heart. But she teased him, “I know, I know. Judging by my skill at keeping accounts, I can’t give much help even if I want to! But I think it’s a good opportunity to learn from Shuijin. My properties are managed by the people my brother hired. I don’t know whether those are good or not.”

“Brother adores you so much. The people he hired surely are reliable.” Breakfast was served. Jiang Yashuang peeled a salted duck egg. He put the egg yolk dripping with oil in his wife’s bowl and left the egg white in his porridge. He said with a smile, “Eat your porridge in case it’s getting cold in this cold weather!”

Qiu Yelan finished her breakfast under the care of her husband and arrived at the third branch happily. She felt the atmosphere was weird before she reached the door. When she reached the door, she saw guards everywhere. The patrolmen’s eyes were sharp, and their hands were on the hilts. It looked like they were going to root out the spies whenever and wherever they were!

Qiu Yelan was a little stunned by what she saw. Then she realized that the Empress’s party was going to take down Empress Dowager’s party once and for all via Duan Jin! So, they arranged these doughty bodyguards to guard the third branch in case the words got out or any accident happened!

Not just these people, two of the butlers of the third branch were at the door. Their jobs were to identify people, “This is Madame Yelan of the fourth branch who Madame Shuijin sent Xian to invite this morning.”

Not just Qiu Yelan, her maids also needed to identify themselves. Those who were not henchmen or able to help with account checking were all sent back to their yards. And they were ordered to keep it a secret!

In the end, Qiu Yelan only went in with Chunran and Xiaran. Within a few steps, she could feel the work they were doing inside was in full swing. They were shocked when they went into the first Ming Hall!

The Ming Hall was huge enough for a horseman to show his skills. At that moment, the screen, the bed, the antiques… were all moved away! Only a row of chairs and tables was below the west window. Boxes of account books were piled high in the vacant space. Most of the piles were as high as a person. There was a man-high censer burning incense in each corner of the hall which was tended by servants. Even so, it still couldn’t dilute the musty smell!

A few accountants wearing the clothes of the man of letters sat behind the tables below the west window. They were focussing on checking the accounts. When Qiu Yelan went in, they didn’t even have time to look up, let alone rise to salute!

“So many account books?” Qiu Yelan knew there must be a huge number of account books of Qingfeng Ji. But what she saw was still beyond her imagination. At that moment, she wanted to throw in the towel on the heavy work ahead. The maid who was leading the way answered with a bitter smile, “These are the ones which Madame Shuijin categorized as not so important. So, only a few people are here… The major part is at back!”

Hearing that, Qiu Yelan was about to collapse. Instead, Chunran and Xiaran obviously had seen similar scenes with Qiu Jinglan before. They held her calmly and said, “In this case, Madame Yelan, we’d better hurry and go find Madame Shuijin now!”

The task would be done sooner or later. There was no point in delaying!

Qiu Yelan went to the back and found He Shuijin with a bitter face. In fact, He Shuijin wasn’t destined to have an easy life. It had been over a month since she miscarried. But she miscarried because of fear. So, she was physically damaged. And she knew that someone did it to her. But she couldn’t say anything because that person was from her maiden Family. She suffered both mentally and physically. She had been ill on and off since she miscarried. She almost recovered two days ago.

Now she was about to embark on her busy and trivial duty. Seeing He Shuijin’s pale face and the tight belt on her head which was meant to ease her migraine, Qiu Yelan sighed, “Shuijin, I know you are busy. But you should take…”

He Shuijin shoved a pile of account books into Qiu Yelan’s hand before she could say the word “care”, “Yelan, I’m so busy. So, I’ll make it short. I heard that you were not good at checking accounts. So, these have already been checked. You just need to see if the calculation is right!”

Then she pointed to the seat next to Madame Dou Junior. Four treasures of study, abacus, and tea had been prepared. And a maid from the third branch was serving. Before Qiu Yelan turned around, He Shuijin dragged Chunran and Xiaran, “Since you guys are here, I assume you know how to check accounts? Stop looking at Yelan. There’s someone serving her. I also prepared places for you guys. Go check these account books!”

“…” Qiu Yelan held the brush pen and looked around. She noticed that none of the maids serving Madame Dou Junior and others who arrived before her were their original maids. Their maids were all busy calculating. She couldn’t help laughing at herself, “It’s not my help that she wants. She obviously has her eyes on Chunran and Xiaran!”

He Shuijin really lived up to her reputation. She got help from the masters and the maids. It relieved some of the pressure causing by the lack of accountants.

However, the account books of Qingfeng Ji were way too many. Even if the whole harem of the Jiang Family was mobilized, it was only a drop in the bucket. Worst of all, He Shuijin hadn’t fully recovered. And it’s said that she had been up all night last night and just took a nap in the morning. She continued to be in charge at that moment. She lasted to the afternoon. When she was instructing a few accountants in a hurry, she suddenly closed her eyes and fell back!

Thanks to Juan’s quick response, she held her at once to keep her from hitting the ground! The startled crowd gathered around her. They pinched her at the philtrum, shook her, and called out her name. She slowly woke up after a long time. She continued to instruct the accountants without opening her eyes. Then her head tilted, and she fainted again!