The most dissolute couple in the capital

She reopened the ledger and examined it more carefully this time.

Large expenditures mainly fall into three categories: first, daily purchases, including food, cloth, utensils, horse feed, etc.; second, the so-called "Your Highness's private use," which refers to the various strange and unusual items that Li Chengjing bought; and third, the maintenance of the mansion and the monthly salaries of the servants.

Both the first and third categories have fixed quotas, which are higher than those for ordinary princely residences, but are still reasonable considering the grandeur of the imperial family.

The second category is truly outrageous.

Under the main category "His Highness's Private Use," numerous subcategories are listed—

"A set of Western Regions carnelian wind chimes, three hundred taels."

"Twelve luminous pearls from the South Seas, worth eight hundred taels."

"A myna bird that can mimic human speech, fifty taels. Also, a special food bowl for the myna bird (made of white jade), two hundred taels."

Cui Qingyi: "..."

The food bowl I bought for the bird cost four times more than the bird itself.

She continued reading.

"A crane-patterned lacquer box, a tribute item from Japan, worth six hundred taels."

"A mechanical doll commissioned by a renowned craftsman from Sichuan, priced at 1,200 taels."

Cui Qingyi was numb.

She quickly flipped through the remaining items and did some calculations on a piece of paper.

The total expenditure for "His Highness's private use" last year was approximately 9,800 taels.

It was indeed astonishing, but far from enough to plunge the entire palace into deficit.

Where did the remaining 28,000 taels go?

Cui Qingyi re-examined the details of the first category, "daily purchases".

The monthly expenditure on food alone is seven hundred taels.

She frowned.

The Liang Prince's Mansion has only one master. Even if he ate a Manchu-Han Imperial Feast every meal, seven hundred taels a month would still be too much. When she was in charge of the Zheng Mansion in her previous life, the combined monthly food expenses of the three branches were only six hundred taels, which was enough to feed nearly two hundred people.

The monthly cost of purchasing cloth is 300 taels.

Even if Li Chengjing made new clothes every month, he wouldn't need this much fabric.

There are also various other daily expenses, but the prices are all a bit high.

Cui Qingyi gently closed the ledger, her fingertips tapping unconsciously on the cover.

She had already made up her mind, but she remained calm and rearranged the ledger.

"Suxin, go and make a pot of tea."

"Yes."

As soon as Su Xin stepped out, Cui Qingyi heard footsteps coming from outside, accompanied by the clinking sound of something colliding.

"Your Highness! Your Highness! Look—"

Li Chengjing strode in, carrying something about half his height...

Cui Qingyi looked closely and saw that it was a... tower? lamp? or some kind of ornament made of glazed tiles and copper wire?

"What is this?" she asked.

Li Chengjing excitedly placed the object on the table, almost knocking over the account book. His eyes shone with astonishing brilliance: "This is a revolving lantern from the Western Regions! Look, put a candle in it, and the little figures on it will spin and project onto the wall!"

He was about to light the candles when he said that.

Cui Qingyi reacted quickly, pulling out the account book to protect it: "Your Highness, how much... did you pay for this?"

"Not expensive at all." Li Chengjing didn't even look up, intently fiddling with the revolving lantern. "Only three hundred taels."

Cui Qingyi: "Only?"

"That's right." Li Chengjing finally lit the candle, watching the little copper wire figures slowly rotate with anticipation.

Looking at his smiling face as the lantern spun around him, Cui Qingyi tentatively asked, "How does Your Highness usually pay for these things?"

"Let Steward Sun pay for it." Li Chengjing said without turning his head. "Whatever I like, I have it sent back to the manor, and Steward Sun will settle the accounts at the end of the month."

"Your Highness, aren't you going to ask about the price?"

"Ask away," Li Chengjing said matter-of-factly. "I ask every time. I pay whatever the seller says, and I never renege on my promise."

Cui Qingyi: "...Your Highness never haggles?"

Li Chengjing finally looked away from the flashing lights and stared at her with a puzzled expression: "Why are you haggling? It's not easy for people to do business. Whatever price you set is what you pay. Besides, I don't need that little bit of money."

Cui Qingyi took a deep breath and nodded with a smile.

Ok.

Therefore, if the merchants outside knew that the buyer was His Highness Prince Liang, they would probably want to call the price of cabbage as the price of gold.

But this only explains part of the premium.

"Where did Your Highness put all those things after you bought them?" Cui Qingyi asked again.

"The storeroom," Li Chengjing replied matter-of-factly. "When we're tired of playing with it, we just have someone put it away. If the storeroom is too small, we just make room for it in another room."

"Does Your Highness remember what you bought?"

Li Chengjing tilted his head and thought for a moment: "I remember some. That myna is still alive, it's kept in the garden, and there are some ingenious mechanisms..."

He suddenly remembered that his queen was in charge of the household, and felt slightly guilty: "You know I also bought some spices...aren't those too expensive?"

Cui Qingyi smiled and shook her head: "Those are fine."

The master has no idea what he bought or where he put it, let alone take inventory. Once something is "bought," he never asks about its whereabouts again.

In this situation, it would be incredibly easy for anyone to tamper with things.

The account book stated "Purchasing a coral ornament from the Western Regions, 800 taels", but only 300 taels were actually spent. The remaining 500 taels mysteriously ended up in someone's pocket.

They could even be bolder—the account book would show that nothing was actually bought, but the money was simply taken. After all, His Highness wouldn't go to the storeroom to count everything.

Every now and then a loss report would be submitted. These things were all exceptionally exquisite, so it was normal for some problems to arise, since King Liang never looked at the accounts anyway.

Cui Qingyi remained expressionless, smiling as she said to Li Chengjing, "Your Highness, this revolving lantern is indeed interesting. However, it's getting late; has Your Highness had dinner yet?"

"No, not yet." Li Chengjing slapped his forehead. "I was so busy showing you the slideshow that I forgot."

"Your Highness, please go and have your meal first. I'll take another look at these account books and then come over to keep you company later."

Li Chengjing didn't suspect anything and nodded, "Then don't stay up too late, or you'll hurt your eyes." He then leaned closer and pointed to the revolving lantern, "Do you like it?"

Cui Qingyi looked at the glass lantern, which was actually quite exquisite in design. The candlelight cast the shadows of the small copper wire figures on the wall, which was indeed quite charming.

"I like it," she answered truthfully.

Lee Seung-kyung immediately smiled broadly, his eyes crinkling with a smug look that said, "I knew it." as he left.

Cui Qingyi watched his figure disappear behind the curtain, then suppressed her smile and reopened the account book.

Su Xin returned with the tea and, seeing her grave expression, asked softly, "Your Highness, have you discovered something?"

"Hmm." Cui Qingyi didn't look up, her voice very low. "Suxin, go see Aunt Xiao tomorrow and ask her to keep quiet and quietly inquire about something for me."

"What is it?"

"The daily purchases of the manor—rice, flour, cooking oil, cloth, charcoal, etc.—are sourced from which shops, how many times a month are delivered, and how much is delivered each time," Cui Qingyi pointed to a number in the ledger with the tip of her pen. "Just have her ask a few of the old women who do manual labor in the manor; there's no need to bother any of the stewards."

Although Su Xin didn't quite understand, she had followed Cui Qingyi for many years and knew that her young lady always did things in a methodical way, so she simply replied, "Yes, this servant understands."

Cui Qingyi added, "Also, have Mama Xiao keep an eye on how much rice, noodles, meat, and vegetables the kitchen uses each day. It doesn't need to be too precise, just a rough estimate will do."

"I've got it."

Cui Qingyi closed the account book, picked up her teacup, and took a sip.

The tea is top-quality pre-rain Longjing, with a refreshing taste and a sweet aftertaste.