The Return of the Seventh Young Lady-Chapter 113 - 112

Chapter 112

Mu Manor

After Mu Cui Ming vented his anger by destroying various items and had calmed down somewhat, he ordered the servants to come in and clean up the debris. He then made his way to the study and sent for Servant Tao.

When Servant Tao arrived at the study, he found Mu Patriarch sitting behind his desk with a tense expression. From his demeanor, Servant Tao immediately understood that the request for help from the young master had been unsuccessful.

"Master..."

Mu Cui Ming slowly glanced up at the newcomer, deep in thought. "It seems we have to help ourselves...Bring me all the account books of our manor, both old and new."

"Yes, sir,"

Servant Tao replied, then left the study to fetch the account books. He returned with records of all the Mu family’s financial transactions from the past.

Mu Cui Ming took one of the account books and began flipping through it, then moved on to the next one. He spent about an hour reviewing all the account books, with Servant Tao silently standing by.

"Bring me a blank book that looks old," Mu Cui Ming ordered in a stern voice as he closed the last account book.

Servant Tao, who had not fully understood his master’s intentions, suddenly grasped what was happening and felt a surge of panic.

"Master, you don’t intend to..."

"I gave you an order, now do it!"

Mu Cui Ming glared sharply at his servant. Originally just a guess, Servant Tao’s suspicion was now a certainty. Though he wanted to protest, he had no choice but to obey due to his status as a servant.

Servant Tao quickly turned to retrieve a blank book from the storeroom. In the past, the Mu family had purchased a large quantity of blank books, but each month only a few were used for record-keeping. As a result, many of the unused books had been stored away.

Over time, with no care or maintenance, these blank books had become discolored and aged, resembling books that had been in use for many years.

When Servant Tao brought the blank books to his master, Mu Cui Ming instructed him to sit opposite and began to explain his plan.

"Right now, the only thing we can do is to cover up the mistakes that have been made. The issue is the unclear origin of the money. Therefore, we need to create a clear source for the money. When it comes time for the inspection, we won’t be targeted for this point."

Servant Tao, alarmed, immediately voiced his disagreement. "Falsifying the accounts like this is no different from deceiving the superior, Master!"

"You think I want to do this?" Mu Cui Ming replied sternly, his face reflecting extreme tension.

"We have no other options left. No one can help us; we have to help ourselves. If we don’t choose this method, we’ll be punished by the authorities anyway!"

"No matter what we do, we can’t avoid punishment from the superior. So why not take this risk first? If we get caught, we’ll deal with it then. But if we don’t get caught, won’t we have escaped this calamity?"

Mu Cui Ming voiced his thoughts. He knew this method was risky, but he saw no other way. Even Shin Wang couldn’t help him. If the authorities examined all the financial records, he would inevitably be punished for accepting bribes.

However, if he successfully falsified the accounts, creating a plausible source for the large sum of money, and bribed the officials overseeing the matter to overlook the falsification.

Perhaps...the issue could be resolved smoothly.

After all, he held the position of Left Side Deputy Chancellor and had a son who was also the Left Side Chancellor. Even if the senior officials overseeing the inspection didn’t respect him, the junior officials would likely give him some consideration!

"But Master, falsifying the accounts isn’t easy. I doubt the inspecting officials won’t notice," Servant Tao expressed his concern. Judging from his master’s expression and tone of voice, he knew that changing his master’s mind was impossible.

But would this method really be effective?

Could it end up making the punishment even worse...

"It must be done as seamlessly as possible! I’ll handle the inspectors myself."

Mu Cui Ming frowned deeply with tension, then grabbed a book and began outlining the details of the falsification.

"We’ve already sold all the shops. The amount of money from the sales can’t be falsified. But we can alter the previous income from those shops. Increase part of the revenue from the shops without arousing suspicion. Additionally, increase the value of personal items and treasures sold to double their original amount."

Mu Cui Ming paused after finishing those sentences, realizing that these changes would account for only one-third of the money received from Shin Wang. The remaining two-thirds still lacked a clear source.

While Servant Tao calculated and divided the money as instructed, Mu Cui Ming pondered the source of the remaining funds. Suddenly, his eyes lit up with an idea.

"The remaining amount, let’s attribute it to the dowry of the late Mu Furen..."

Servant Tao, who was calculating the amounts, suddenly paused. He slowly raised his head to meet his master’s eyes in confusion. "The dowry of Miss Qin? But those dowry documents were all destroyed in the fire, Master."

"Only a few people within our manor know about the fire that destroyed those documents. No one in the capital is aware. We can use this as the source of the money. The details can be recorded as income from her dowry’s shops. Her dowry included numerous shops, which should be sufficient to account for the remaining amount from Shin Wang."

Mu Cui Ming explained at a measured pace. Previously, he had completely forgotten about this, but when he found himself at a dead end, the face of his first wife, whom he despised, suddenly came to mind, and he remembered her dowry.

Even though the property deeds for her dowry’s shops were burned, they could simply create forged documents. Moreover, these shops were located in different cities. If the authorities wanted to conduct a thorough investigation, they would have to send someone to those cities personally.

If that happened, he also had ways to ensure that the investigator would receive false information...

"Just do as I ordered. No more doubts or arguments."

Mu Cui Ming, began to be hopeful with his plan, turned to instruct his confidant. Servant Tao had no choice but to comply silently, stopped arguing.

But before Servant Tao started to forge the accounts, he raised his head again to ask, "Master, should we...inform the Elder Furen about this?"

"No need. I will speak with my mother myself. Just focus on forging the accounts properly. We have only two days left before we must submit these records to the authorities. Do not mess this up!"

Mu Cui Ming said with a stern expression. Seeing Servant Tao bowed his head and began copying the real accounts to forge the information, Mu Cui Ming let out a small sigh of relief. Although he still felt the weight of the situation, knowing there was a way to handle it eased his mind a little.

All that remained was for him to visit the junior inspecting officials in charge of the investigation and make them an offer they couldn’t refuse, ensuring their cooperation!

Zhuiping Residence

Meanwhile, after the three siblings had finished their dinner, Mu Gongzhen returned to his own quarters. Mu Yingying followed her elder sister back to Mu Qingxuan’s quarters as well.

"What is it? Following me like this, what exactly do you want from me?"

Mu Qingxuan asked teasingly as she sat down at her desk, her eyes on the small figure that had trailed closely behind her into the quarters.

"You know me so well, Sister,"

Mu Yingying replied with a broad smile. She walked over and took a seat on a nearby daybed, not far from where Mu Qingxuan was sitting, then continued,

"I just need some herbs or a potion that can make someone fall into a trance without realizing it. But not a sedative, as that would alert the enemy."

Mu Qingxuan pondered for a moment, recalling the potions she had on hand. She then asked with curiosity, "What do you need it for?"

"I need my people to sneak into the tiger’s den and steal a cub!"

Mu Yingying replied brightly, her big, round eyes sparkling with mischief, looking quite adorable. Her lips curled into a sly smile. "I don’t want the tiger to notice. I want my people to be like ghosts, unseen and unnoticed until it’s too late for the big tiger to realize its cub is gone."

"I see," Mu Qingxuan said, shaking her head in a mixture of fondness and exasperation at her younger sister’s cunning smile.

So, her little sister was planning another adventure, sending her people to steal a tiger cub. It seemed that the big tiger Yingying had set her sights on wouldn’t have peace anytime soon...

"In fact, I do have something that might work,"

Mu Qingxuan recalled a potion she had concocted long ago, then said, "However, this potion has some limitations. Once inhaled, it will make the person fall into a trance for only an hour. After that, the effect wears off, and they regain consciousness, but they won’t have any memory and won’t be able to know what has happened."

"An hour is enough," Mu Yingying nodded, thinking about the skills of her people.

Though an hour might be a tight window to steal a tiger cub from its den, she was confident in her well-trained team that had gone through so many tasks.

"If you’re okay with that, I’ll get it for you."

Seeing her sister had no objections to the limitation, Mu Qingxuan got up and went into her bedroom, returning shortly with a small porcelain bottle.

"Scatter this in the air and make sure it diffuses enough for the target to inhale it. It will work as I described. As for the smell and color, you can be rest assured as it has no smell and no color, so unless someone is a skilled doctor, they won’t notice or be able to detect it immediately."

Mu Yingying jumped off the daybed and eagerly took the porcelain bottle, examining it with interest. "Thank you, Sister. I will make the best use of it."

"Whatever you do, be careful. I worry about you," Mu Qingxuan couldn’t help but reach out to pat her little sister’s head, her peach blossom eyes filled with warmth and affection.

“Yes, Sister, don’t worry.” Mu Yingying smiled widely, her cheeks almost splitting with joy. Her endearing demeanor made Mu Qingxuan’s heart soften.

After obtaining what she wanted, Mu Yingying stayed to chat with her sister for a short while before returning to her quarters. As time passed to late night, a figure in black appeared before the young girl in her room.

“Greetings, Miss.”

“What have our people discovered from observing Shin Wang Palace?” Mu Yingying asked about the crucial matter directly, her small face expressionless.

“Our men have examined the outer area of Shin Wang Palace but found no clues. It seems the secret ledger is hidden in Shin Wang’s study.”

“Just as I thought,” Mu Yingying nodded, contemplating.

She wasn’t particularly surprised by this. A secret ledger, which detailed all of Shin Wang’s financial routes, would certainly be kept close. It was likely hidden in a secret compartment in his study.

Stealing this ledger would be more difficult than she had anticipated, as it required evading the shadow guards of Shin Wang Palace, the regular guards, and Shin Wang himself. This was why she had sought out the special potion to aid her people in their mission.

“This is a potion that will cause anyone who inhales it to fall into a trance for an hour. You will have only an hour to search for the secret ledger. If you exceed this time, whether you find it or not, you must retreat immediately.”

Mu Yingying placed the porcelain bottle on the table and instructed the figure in a cold tone. She did not want any fighting to occur, nor did she want the enemy to be alerted.

The plan to go into the tiger’s den was to secretly retrieve Shin Wang’s secret ledger and use it to turn the tables on him. If the enemy became aware of their actions, it would not be in her favor.

“I understand, Miss.” The man in black approached to take the porcelain bottle and tucked it into his robe before stepping back.

“If you obtain the fake ledger, copy part of it and bring it to me. Then have our people swap the real ledger at the Investigation Bureau. Make sure our agents there keep a close eye on the officials in charge of the investigation. If there’s any foul play, ensure the real ledger is delivered to Master Zhao immediately,” Mu Yingying instructed with a serious expression. This mission could not afford any mistakes; otherwise, her entire plan would collapse.

Seeing that the man in black understood her instructions, she nodded, signaling him to leave. He then disappeared from the room using lightness skill, leaving Mu Yingying alone to ponder in silence.

Earlier that day, after receiving news that the Emperor had permitted an investigation into the rumors, Mu Yingying immediately summoned her people to implement the next phase of her plan.

If her guess was correct, in order to prevent the inspector from discovering any financial irregularities, Shin Wang would definitely present a fake ledger for inspection. That’s because the real secret ledger not only contained records of money given to the Mu family but also many other unspeakable dirty deeds.

To outmaneuver Shin Wang, Mu Yingying devised a plan for her people to find an opportunity to steal his real secret ledger and swap it with the fake one he would present to the inspecting officials.

While Shin Wang would be complacent with his fake ledger, the real ledger, once swapped, would be scrutinized and expose his misdeeds. By the time the enemy realized he had been outmaneuvered, the situation would have escalated beyond his control...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Read ‘The Return of the Seventh Young Lady’ before anyone else with more Chapters at http://www.jinovel.com/en