Union

Chapter 62 Helping with Accounts
Sui Yuren left, but his arrogant laughter soon echoed from the main room.

Yunying's face darkened, and she glared angrily at the Second Master.

The second master found her angry expression somewhat amusing, and thinking back on what she had just said, he found it even more hilarious.

He couldn't help but twitch his lips upwards, and a deep smile was about to spill from his eyes.

Yunying wanted to put her hands on her hips and curse.

"Second Master, you're still laughing!"

Second Master tried hard to suppress his laughter, but he couldn't hold it in any longer. He coughed lightly to cover his mouth, "You said something ridiculous, are you saying I can't even laugh?"

Seeing that Yunying was so angry at his words that her hair was almost standing on end, and she turned around to walk out in a huff, Second Master quickly begged for mercy, "Alright, alright, I won't laugh anymore. Come back quickly, I have something to say to you."

Yunying didn't want to go back. She stood there stiffly, determined to show her back to the Second Master.

"Second Master, please speak your mind. I'll leave as soon as I'm done."

The second master almost laughed, but he managed to hold it in. He asked Yunying with feigned seriousness, "Have you had dinner yet?"

Yunying turned around. "Is this the question you wanted to ask?"

Yunying shook her head.

Where does she find the time to have dinner?
She spent the entire afternoon tidying up.

The small bowl of chicken noodle soup she had in the morning had long been digested. She hadn't noticed it until her second uncle mentioned it, and then her stomach started growling loudly.

As the two talked back and forth, the unpleasantness caused by the second wife disappeared.

The Second Master's expression was very peaceful, with a hint of joy mixed in. He called for someone to bring over dinner while asking Yunying to stay and dine with him.

Seeing that the Second Master was no longer angry, Yunying was too lazy to investigate whether his mixed feelings of joy and anger were due to illness.

She said, "Second Master, haven't you had dinner yet?" Then she declined, saying, "I'd better go back and have dinner. I've been busy preparing things all afternoon, and I'm a little dirty. I need to go back and wash up first." She didn't want to face the Second Master anymore. His mood was unpredictable, and who knew if she said something wrong and he would glare at her coldly again.

But when Yunying wanted to leave, the Second Master wouldn't let her.

"Where is it dirty? I can't see it." The Second Master pretended to look Yunying up and down. "You are very clean, you don't need to change your clothes. If you want to wash, wash your hands and have a meal with me first. I have something to trouble you with later."

Is there something I need to trouble her with?
Speaking so politely, you can tell he's up to no good.

Yunying wanted to refuse, but her refusal was completely ineffective.

In the end, Yunying stayed at Second Master's place for dinner.

This wasn't Yunying's first time dining with the Second Master, and she was no longer as uncomfortable as before. Now she sat down quite at ease.

In addition, the Second Master was quite considerate and didn't require her to serve him food; he just let her eat on her own. Yunying felt that dining with the Second Master wasn't such a chore.

After the meal, the two sat down to drink tea, and Yunying asked the Second Master what he wanted her to do.

She admitted that she was not very capable, so she said that if she could not help the Second Master this time, she would ask him not to be angry.

The Second Master looked at Yun Ying with a half-smile, "In your eyes, am I such a demanding master?"

Yunying coughed lightly, trying to cover up her words, "No, that's not it. I'm just saying this upfront so that you won't be unhappy if I can't really help you later."

"You, you..." Second Master laughed at her before getting down to business.

He asked Yunying, "I saw you manage the accounts of the inner and outer courtyards before, and you finished checking the accounts in just one hour. You are good at abacus calculation and have a special talent for accounting, right?"

"Is this all you wanted to ask me?" Yunying suddenly realized. "Could it be that what you want me to do is related to accounting?"

Second Master nodded, and then spoke to Yunying about the taxes paid this year.

The land tax collected this year is not significantly different from previous years, and upon closer inspection, there seems to be no problem. But this is precisely the big problem.

After all, Second Master had checked the prices and weather conditions of previous years. In recent years, Yun Gui County had frequently suffered from floods and typhoons. Grain yields were low, and land taxes could not be collected.

However, this year there have only been small-scale floods and droughts, and the scale is not large enough to cause a significant reduction in crop yields.

But this year's taxes are almost the same as in previous years, isn't that enough to explain the problem?
Speaking of this, we must mention the tax system of the Xia Dynasty.

The Xia Dynasty had a variety of taxes, mainly including land tax, commercial tax, labor service tax, silver tax, grain tax, and labor tax.

Leaving aside the other types of taxes, let's just talk about the land tax, which was the most important tax among all the taxes collected in the Xia Dynasty.

It also has another name, "tax on grain." Its main method of collection is based on the yield of grain crops grown on the land.

In the past few years, there have been various disasters and floods, but this year, Yungui County has been relatively peaceful overall. Why is there no significant difference in the land tax collected?
It's pretty clear now that someone is secretly embezzling a portion of the taxes and putting it into their own pocket.

Perhaps that person couldn't fill the hole anymore, or perhaps he was hoping for the best, thinking that the Second Master wouldn't read those reports in such detail, and wanted to get away with it.

As it turned out, it couldn't escape the Second Master's discerning eyes at all; he saw through it in just one round.

However, "even if someone embezzled funds, that person must be someone in the county government, and that person must be extraordinary."

Second Master also agreed with Yunying's statement.

After all, decades ago, although the county magistrate was in charge of all affairs in Yun Gui County, it was actually County Assistant Magistrate Fan who was in charge. Not to mention how shrewd and experienced County Assistant Magistrate Fan was, the fact that this person could pull off some tricks under County Assistant Magistrate Fan's supervision was truly remarkable.

Thinking of this, Yunying couldn't help but sigh softly, "This tiny Yungui County has a Magistrate Fan in the past, and now... someone whose name is unknown. It's truly a case of a small temple with a big demon..."

At this point, Yunying saw the Second Master looking at her with a smile in his eyes, and quickly shut her mouth.

The second master teased her, saying, "Why aren't you saying anything?"

Yunying pursed her lips. Did the Second Master think she was too afraid to speak up? In fact, she dared to speak up.

Yunying coughed and continued, "Shallow ponds breed many turtles."

The temple is small and the wind is strong, and the pond is shallow and there are many bastards.

This is a true reflection of Yungui County, not a deliberate smear campaign.

She wasn't afraid of the Second Master's dissatisfaction, since she was now the client and the Second Master needed her help.

Yunying's thoughts were written all over her face, and the Second Master, being such a perceptive and shrewd man, immediately understood her confidence and fearlessness.

The second master burst out laughing, "You really are..."

"What is it really?"

"When it's time to be outrageous, you don't hold back at all."

Yunying couldn't help but laugh when she heard this.

Although the Second Master's description was somewhat teasing and sarcastic, upon closer inspection, isn't she just the kind of person who doesn't hold back when it's time to be unrestrained?
That's such a vivid description.

Yunying lowered her eyes and smiled gently, her eyes filled with joy. Considering that the Second Master had made her so happy today, she would help him out.

However, "in order not to alert the enemy, we cannot use the county clerks to check the accounts, but surely you, Second Master, do not have anyone under your command who is good at accounting?"

The second master said, "Yes, I do, but I'm not an expert. Besides, the county government is very busy, and I can't spare any manpower."

"Busy with work?" Yun Ying's eyes were strange. Was she busy having Sui Yu and the others tidy up your clothes?

A hint of mockery appeared in Yunying's eyes, and the Second Master understood, so he couldn't help but laugh as well.

That's settled then.

Yunying felt very gratified because she could actually help Second Master. After all, she still owed Second Master her life! If it weren't for Second Master's timely arrival that night, she would have been a victim of his knife because of Ruizhu's push.

But she is a person who has always been reserved in her emotions. There are some things she doesn't like to talk about or gossip about, but she always keeps them in her heart.

It was because of this life-saving grace that Yunying kept comforting herself on her way back from Qiantang Village.

Why care about what the Second Master says?
He's just all bark and no bite.

Besides, he saved her life, so her life belongs to him. He can say whatever he wants.

Because of this self-comfort, coupled with the so-called master-servant doctrine, Yunying was able to break free from her sullen cage so quickly and become more open-minded.

In other words, even when she was sick, the Second Master didn't apologize to her or say anything nice to coax her, but Yunying had already let it go.

Of course, saying this now would be hindsight, so let's leave it at that.

Yunying happily returned to the backyard, took a bath, changed her clothes, and went to bed for a nap.

The next morning, she got up early, registered the remaining New Year's gifts that had not yet been sorted, had them taken away and placed in their proper places, and then went to the front yard where the Second Master was.

According to the second master, she stayed in his study and worked on the accounts for the past few days.

Yunying naturally had no objection to this, after all, what she was about to do was something "shameful." Moreover, ledgers and such things inherently carried a degree of privacy, and no matter what, they were not suitable to be taken out.

When Yunying arrived at the front yard, the Second Master was not there. Suiyun said that after she left last night, someone came to deliver a message saying that a fight broke out among the laborers while they were performing their labor duties, and someone was killed.

Second Master went out early this morning to deal with this matter.

However, he also prepared the account books and other such things and placed them in the study, so that Yunying could handle them herself when she came over.

Suiyun led Yunying to the Second Master's study and pointed to the newly added table in the study, "The account book is on there, Miss, please go there yourself."

Seeing Yunying enter the house, Suiyun turned and left the courtyard, busying herself with other things.

As soon as Suiyun left, the entire courtyard fell silent.

There were no maids in the Second Master's courtyard; there were only two servants who took turns guarding the courtyard.

At this moment, the servant and He Sui stayed outside the courtyard. The entire front yard was so quiet that Yun Ying could hear her own heartbeat.

She took a few more steps forward to get a clearer view of the newly added desk.

This desk was placed right next to the one that the Second Master usually used. The two desks were placed opposite each other, and each desk was full of things.

On the second master's side were all the official documents, as well as writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, while on Yunying's side were several stacks of detailed accounts of land tax collection from previous years.

(End of this chapter)