A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

In the first month of the new Wu Dynasty, the capital was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, but in Su Qingyun's courtyard, there was only the crisp clatter of abacus beads.

The festive atmosphere of the New Year hadn't even reached her room before it was blocked out by a mountain of account books.

After spring, the new field system in Jingzhou will be fully implemented in the three neighboring prefectures. The applications for subsidies for seeds, farm tools, and oxen submitted by various places are piled up higher than a person.

Once, after finishing his official duties, Wei Zhao passed by her courtyard and could hear the rapid, rain-like sound of abacuses clattering inside, even through the wall.

He stopped and listened for a while, his brows furrowing unconsciously.

This isn't celebrating the New Year; this is working ourselves to the bone.

He knew in his heart that Su Qingyun was working so hard not only to help him, but also to prove herself. None of the women in the Wei family were idle.

"Go to the imperial kitchen and have a bowl of bird's nest soup prepared and sent over."

Wei Zhao instructed the eunuch following behind him, speaking very softly, as if afraid of disturbing the focused figure in the courtyard: "Tell her that people need to eat, and even if the accounts are never finished, she still needs to eat. Let her rest for a while."

The eunuch bowed, accepted the order, and hurried away.

Wei Zhao stood there for a while longer, listening to the abacus whirring without stopping, before shaking his head and turning to leave.

An hour later, a steaming bowl of bird's nest soup was placed on Su Qingyun's desk.

She looked up from the ledger, glanced at the exquisite soup bowl, then at the palace maid standing beside her with a bow, her face expressionless, she simply nodded.

She picked up the soup and drank it all in a few gulps, without even tasting it.

She put down the bowl, picked up a handkerchief to wipe her mouth, and her gaze returned to the reclamation register from Huainan in front of her.

The warmth slid down her throat into her stomach, dispelling some of the chill and making her mind clearer.

She moved the abacus so fast her fingers almost blurred, muttering to herself.

Suddenly, her hand stopped.

wrong.

Su Qingyun's gaze was fixed on the last page of the ledger, on the total acreage figure.

The newly reclaimed land reported by Huainan this year is 30% more than last year. This is a good thing, indicating that local officials are effectively implementing new policies.

But when she compared this figure with the total arable land area in Huainan reported by the Embroidered Uniform Guard at the end of last year, her heart skipped a beat.

It's almost 20% less.

Even if Huainan were to count all the arable wasteland, it wouldn't have more than 20% of land left.

Unless their land grows on its own.

Su Qingyun's eyes suddenly turned cold.

She did not immediately make any annotations on the report, nor did she make a fuss about it.

She simply pulled out this account book from Huainan and set it aside.

Then, she took out a blank piece of paper, wrote a few words on it, folded it, and handed it to an inconspicuous maid outside the door.

"Send it to the Brocade Robe Pavilion and give it to Lady Flower."

The maid took the note and left without saying a word.

Su Qingyun picked up the abacus again and began to check the next account from Mingzhou, as if nothing had happened.

But the sound of the abacus beads turning was even colder than before.

She knew very well that with the new dynasty just established, the people under her command had different thoughts.

Some wanted to make a name for themselves, while others wanted to take advantage of the transition between the old and the new, when accounts were in disarray, to make a quick buck.

We must not be lenient with this kind of person.

Three days later, a secret report sealed with sealing wax was quietly placed on Su Qingyun's desk.

She opened the letter and skimmed through it quickly.

The result was exactly as she had expected.

The secret agents of the Embroidered Uniform Guard found out the whole story in just two days.

In two counties under Huainan's jurisdiction, the county magistrates colluded to falsify the acreage of reclaimed land, including some tidal flats and mountainous areas that were completely uncultivable, all in order to obtain the new land subsidies issued by the imperial court.

That's how these two "extra" plots of land came about.

Su Qingyun held the secret report up to the candlelight, watching it turn into a pinch of ashes, before standing up and organizing the investigation results together with the account books from Huainan. She then personally delivered the report to the Imperial Study.

Wei Zhao was reading a military report sent from the northern border when he saw her arrive and gestured for her to sit down.

"Have you found out?" He didn't even look up, clearly already knowing what she was investigating.

"I've found out." Su Qingyun handed over the folded book in her hand.

Wei Zhao put down the military report, took the folded book, and read it carefully.

He didn't read quickly, but he took every word to heart.

When he saw the acreage that the two county magistrates had falsely reported and the amount of silver they were trying to fraudulently claim, his usually gentle face remained expressionless.

He put down the folding paper, picked up a pen, and wrote four characters on it.

"Investigate and handle immediately."

The handwriting is elegant, yet the force seems to penetrate the paper.

Su Qingyun bowed and accepted the order without saying a word, then turned and left. She knew the weight of those four words.

After leaving the Imperial Study, she went directly to the office of Li Huai, the Minister of Personnel.

Upon hearing that it was about land reclamation in Huainan, Li Huai immediately understood her purpose.

"What did His Majesty say?"

"Investigate and handle immediately."

Li Huai nodded, pulled out two official resumes from a pile of documents, and handed them to Su Qingyun.

"I'll assign you two of my most capable inspectors. They both come from humble backgrounds, have experience working in local areas, and are intolerant of injustice."

Su Qingyun took the file, glanced at it, and nodded, saying, "Thank you, Prime Minister Li. This matter must be handled quickly; the accounts must be settled and the people dealt with before spring. Otherwise, once this precedent is set, it will be impossible to manage it later."

"I understand," Li Huai said with a serious expression.

In mid-January, the case of falsely reporting cultivated land in Huainan was closed.

The two county magistrates were dismissed and investigated, their property was confiscated, and all the subsidies they had attempted to fraudulently claim were recovered without missing a single penny.

The person was then escorted to the capital to await the final verdict from the Ministry of Justice.

Su Qingyun did not give up.

She personally drafted a report detailing the ins and outs of the case and its outcome, and then proclaimed it to the world, sending it to every prefecture and county under the jurisdiction of the Xinwu Dynasty.

At the end of the report, she added only one sentence.

"Anyone who makes false reports or fraudulent claims will face more than just dismissal."

This announcement was like a thunderclap, exploding over the heads of those local officials who still clung to wishful thinking.

In a short time, various state governments began to conduct self-examinations and self-corrections, and the previously submitted data, which had contained some exaggeration, suddenly became much more solid overnight.

Every subsequent subsidy application was clearly documented and verifiable.

Wei Zhao saw this report while reviewing New Year's greetings sent from various places.

After reading it, he smiled and handed the report to the Imperial Advisor Fang Fuyao, who was looking at a star map next to him.

Fang Fuyao took it, glanced at it, and showed no expression.

Wei Zhao picked up the tea that had gone cold from the table, took a sip, looked at the scattered snowflakes falling outside the window, and said softly.

"Su Qingyun manages the money more meticulously than I do."