After flirting with the aloof prince, the concubine ran away pregnant.

She read very quickly, her fingers moving swiftly across the abacus, producing a series of crisp "clattering" sounds.

In the private room, only the sound of the abacus and Xie Yun occasionally sipping tea could be heard.

Manager Zhou stood aside, initially calm and collected, with a hint of watching the show unfold.

But gradually, he noticed that the girl's brows were furrowing more and more tightly.

Her finger stopped on a page, then she looked up at him with a calm gaze.

"Manager Zhou," her voice was soft yet clear, "this is the account from the autumn of the year before last. I noticed that a batch of Yun brocade was transported from Jiangnan in September, and the price recorded was thirty taels per bolt. But as far as I know, that year Jiangnan had abundant rainfall and a bumper silk harvest, and the highest price for Yun brocade was no more than twenty-five taels. I wonder where the extra five taels went?"

Manager Zhou's heart skipped a beat, but he still smiled and said, "Miss, you don't know this, but long-distance transportation always involves some losses along the way. Paying for the carriages and horses and clearing the checkpoints all cost money."

"I see." Afu nodded, then turned to another page. "So, this expense, in October, the shop repaired the roof and purchased timber and tiles, totaling two hundred and eighty taels. This price seems a bit high. I remember that last year, when the Marquis's mansion repaired the greenhouse in the garden, they used the finest Phoebe zhennan wood, and it only cost two hundred taels."

The sweat on Manager Zhou's forehead began to trickle down.

"The wages and material costs in the capital change daily; perhaps they went up recently..."

"Really?" Afu remained noncommittal, pointing to another spot. "But I just calculated that from the year before last to this year, the reported fabric wastage in the shop has been around 10% each year. Manager Zhou, Jinxiu Pavilion is in a prime location, always packed with customers, so there shouldn't be any issue with stockpiled or worn-out fabric. Don't you find such a large wastage strange?"

With each question she asked, Manager Zhou's face paled a little more.

Xie Yun, who was listening nearby, understood completely. She slammed her teacup down on the table in anger.

"Zhou Fu! What else do you have to say?!"

Manager Zhou knelt down with a "plop," drenched in cold sweat, and unable to speak coherently.

"Please spare me, young lady! Please spare me, young lady! I was just confused for a moment, it was all because I was just confused for a moment!"

As he kowtowed, he secretly glanced at Afu with terrified eyes.

He couldn't understand how this seemingly unremarkable girl could be so powerful. She didn't seem to be there to check the accounts; rather, she seemed to be wielding a knife, precisely slicing out all the fat hidden in his ledgers! This wasn't a maid; she was clearly a vengeful demon!

Afu closed the ledger, stood up, and retreated behind Xie Yun, as if she were not the one who had just spoken so sharply and incisively.

The rest was not her concern.

Xie Yun looked at Manager Zhou, who was kneeling and begging for mercy, and sneered.

"A traitor like you cannot be kept in the Marquis's mansion. Granny Hua, write this down and send him to the authorities immediately. Make him return every penny he has embezzled over the years, with interest!"

After dealing with Manager Zhou, Xie Yun felt refreshed. She held Afu's hand, her eyes full of admiration.

"Afu, you're amazing! Thanks to you today!"

Afu simply shook her head: "It's thanks to the young lady's effective management."

The two of them felt much better after leaving the Brocade Pavilion.

"Come on, I'll take you to eat something delicious!" Xie Yun said excitedly. "I know a restaurant that makes an amazing roasted pigeon!"

Just as the two were about to get into the carriage, a somewhat frivolous male voice suddenly came from a luxurious carriage next to them.

"Oh, isn't this Miss Xie?"

The carriage curtain was lifted, and a young man dressed in a royal blue brocade robe peeked out.

Xie Yun recognized the person who had arrived and frowned almost imperceptibly. It was Li Rui, the second young master of the Anyuan Marquis's mansion, a good-for-nothing playboy.

"Young Master Li," Xie Yun replied indifferently, not wanting to say anything more to him.

Li Rui's gaze, however, bypassed Xie Yun and landed on Afu behind her. He stared at Afu's face for a few seconds, then suddenly revealed a look of sudden realization, and smiled in a very strange way.

"This... must be Miss Afu, the one who made Young Master Xie so enraged at Qixia Manor?" His voice wasn't loud, but it was enough for the passersby to hear. "Tsk tsk, truly a beauty of unparalleled grace, no wonder, no wonder..."

His gaze was slick, like a venomous snake, lingering on Afu's face.

Afu's face instantly darkened.

Xie Yun's pretty face instantly turned bright red. She couldn't stand Li Rui, that kind of idle, gossipy playboy.

"Li Rui, watch your mouth!" Xie Yun stepped forward, shielding Afu behind her, and glared at him. "What Afu? She's a member of this Marquis's household. You're not allowed to spout nonsense!"

Li Rui was not afraid at all; on the contrary, he laughed even more smugly. He waved the folding fan in his hand, putting on the airs of a dashing young master, but his words were full of filth.

"Oh dear, I'm so scared. Miss Xie, this is on Zhuque Street, not in your Marquis's residence. Since this young lady has moved even an iceberg like Young Master Xie, she must have extraordinary abilities. I'm just curious and want to take a look, what's wrong with that?"

His gaze, like a slippery viper, swept unabashedly over Afu's body, finally settling on the faint scar at the corner of her mouth, his smile becoming increasingly ambiguous.

Afu lowered her eyes, her hands hidden in her sleeves, her nails digging deeply into her palms.

The matter at Qixia Manor was originally a secret, but now that Li Rui has publicly proclaimed it, it has become the talk of the town. Xie Xun's reputation and the face of the Marquis's mansion will be damaged because of this, and she will definitely become the target of public criticism among the women of the Marquis's mansion.

"You...you are shameless!" Xie Yun was so angry that she trembled all over. Just as she was about to rush up to argue, Granny Hua quickly pulled her back.

"Young Miss, don't bother with such a person. Let's hurry back to the manor."

In the midst of that brief struggle and argument, no one noticed that in an inconspicuous corner of the crowd, a dark figure, fleeing in panic, leaped out of the window of a shop behind them like a cheetah, a knife in its hand.

Li Rui didn't even have time to shout; he only had time to pull Xie Yun away.

Just as Afu thought Li Rui was being too reckless, she felt a chill on the back of her neck as a tremendous force suddenly gripped her throat, dragging her backward. Her scream was trapped in her throat, escaping only as a short, muffled groan.

A cold dagger was instantly pressed against her neck.

"what!"

The surrounding crowd gasped in surprise, and chaos erupted as people retreated in terror, clearing a large space.

"Afu!" Xie Yun's face turned pale. She wanted to rush forward, but was forced back by the fierce look in the eyes of the man in black.

"Don't come any closer!" The man in black's voice was hoarse, as unpleasant as a broken gong.

He hid completely behind Afu, only revealing a pair of sinister eyes, the dagger in his hand pressed tightly against Afu's artery.

This change happened so fast, in the blink of an eye.

Afu's mind went blank; she could only feel the biting coldness on her neck and the sharp pain from the blade. She could even smell the strange stench of blood and sweat emanating from the man in black.

Just then, a rapid and orderly sound of horses' hooves came from afar, booming like thunder across the long street.

The crowd parted to make way, and a group of knights dressed in the official robes of the Dali Temple escorted a figure in black, rushing towards them like lightning.

The person in the lead was Xie Xun.