46 - Lord Di's wealth

Chapter 46 – Lord Di’s wealth

Qiu Dan threw Ao Yuanjie a glance then shook his head. “No, just a little tired.”

Ao Yuanjie understood. “Are you feeling stressed because of the earlier case involving Lord Tian? That was such a major case with the Empress and her uncle embroiled in it. Even the Emperor had a headache, so how can we, the small ones, not feel stressed?”

Qiu Dan did not say a word. Ao Yuanjie only treated he had acquiesced and continued happily. “Why don’t you take leave to rest and I’ll help you with your duties in Lord Di’s place?”

Qiu Dan was stunned and then turned to look at Ao Yuanjie. “Take leave?”

“That’s right. The last time when you went on a long journey to investigate a case, didn’t I temporarily take over your position to protect him? This time you can take a few days off and I’ll replace you. I believe Lord Di won’t have any objection.”

Qiu Dan’s eyes brightened up and stared straight at Ao Yuanjie then he nodded in agreement. “This is a good idea. It should work.”

“Alright then, you can let Lord Di know that I’ll replace you tomorrow.” Ao Yuanjie patted his chest and agreed very readily.

Qiu Dan also stretched out his hand and placed it on Ao Yuanjie’s shoulder. “Brother, you are indeed good to me.”

“It’s only a trivial matter, so don’t be polite! Take a good rest for ten days to half a month, it’s guaranteed that when you return, you’ll be full of energy and won’t drown in boredom.”

Faced with Ao Yuanjie’s brotherhood loyalty, Qiu Dan was deeply moved as he looked at him. He did not explain further and just patted Ao Yuanjie on the shoulder while thinking to himself………

Brother, this is your own volition. Don’t blame me if anything happens!

The next day, Ao Yuanjie happily came to report for duty at the Yamen and temporarily took over the duties of Qiu Dan to work for Lord Di. Lord Di looked at him with his lips curled into a smile. Other than giving him some instructions, Lord Di also reminded him to take good care of himself.

Ao Yuanjie was thinking to himself that this Lord Di is indeed quite friendly. It is said that Lord Di’s smiles had increased ever since he married his wife and it seems to be true.

This is not surprising as Lord Di is already twenty-four years of age. Finally, there is someone beside him who showers him with care and consideration, and if he, Yuanjie, is in Lord Di’s position, he would even laugh in his dreams.

However…….just now when Lord Di was looking at him, there seemed to be a deeper meaning in his gaze.

He must be thinking too much, right?

However, facts proved that Yuanjie did not think too much as the intuition of a great constable is indeed sharper than an average constable.

When the Governor’s wife saw him, she asked why Qiu Dan did not come. He just thought that the Madam was showing care to the Lord’s subordinates, therefore, he told her that Qiu Dan had been working hard, so he took leave and he, Ao Yuanjie, would be taking over Qiu Dan’s responsibilities temporarily.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the Madam only said one sentence.

“It’s just this and he’s tired? He can escape for a while but can he escape for life?”

Escape? What escape?

Ao Yuanjie was feeling puzzled and the Madam continued to say. “It should be the same to look for you. My fists are feeling itchy……..come, let’s practice!”

What practice?

Before he could figure it out, Madam’s fist flew over. Fortunately, his reflex was quick and he instantly grabbed hold of Madam’s fist. But when he remembered that men and women should maintain a distance, he hurriedly released her. However, he did not expect Madam to throw another punch at him again and at the same time, shouted at him……..

“Don’t be polite and don’t treat me as Madam! We can have an actual fistfight! It’s alright if I am injured, I won’t say anything!”

Don’t joke! Injure the Governor’s wife? How many lives does he have to make up for it?

Lord Di loves his wife like a precious treasure and had specifically requested the Emperor to bestow him this marriage. If he is to accidentally injure Lord Di’s wife, for sure he would not be able to shoulder the responsibility!

Therefore, he made his escape!

Unexpectedly, it was the beginning of his nightmare.

The following days, he was chased by the Madam requesting to practice martial arts with him. No matter where he went, the Madam would chase after him.

Finally, he realized why Qiu Dan was stressed, and could not help but scream in his heart.

His grandmother! Not informing this old man beforehand is definitely not brotherhood loyalty!

When this matter was spread to Qinzheng Palace, the Emperor, who was approving the memorials, burst into loud laughter again.

After thinking over it, Di Jing felt that this matter could not continue like this. After all, Ao Yuanjie is one of the Four Great Constables and a gold medal awardee, and it is not good to let this matter get out of control. Later, his loss may become huge if no one dares to work for him in the future.

Therefore, he summoned the Chief Steward of the mansion and carefully stated his instructions to the Chief Steward.

In the afternoon of the same day, the Chief Steward brought a thick stack of account books to report to the Madam. As soon as Shangguan Yan saw the account books, she was like a cat seeing a fish. She followed the Chief Steward to discuss matters and no longer looked for Yuanjie to practice martial arts.

The matter finally came to a stop.

After being married for three months, the Governor’s wife, Shangguan Yan led a very fulfilling life. In the mansion, apart from the family head, Lord Di, who does not manage the household affairs, she as the Governor’s wife held the highest position in the mansion.

Before the Chinese New Year, apart from the stewards who came to report, verify account books, close accounts, and discuss the disbursement of bonuses, a list of gifts for every family had to be drawn up.

Just the gift list proved to be a major problem. On one hand, the list must be carefully calculated and planned while on the other hand, face must be maintained and the gifts sent must not be too cheap.

After managing the household for three months, she discovered out that Lord Di in her family is good at everything and his only shortcoming is that both his sleeves flow with the breeze *. For many years, he had traveled to many places to carry out investigations and achieved great merits but he did not save any money. Most of the valuables he possessed could only be admired but were useless items such as porcelain, calligraphy, etc.

(Sleeves flowing with the breeze means a person who is not corrupt and not tarnished by corrupt practices.)

Out of curiosity, she had once asked Di Jing if he knew how much wealth he possesses but he answered very naturally. “Never thought about it.”

When she asked how he sent out the gifts in the previous years, he gave her another jaw-dropping answer…….Qiu Dan handled it.

It turned out that Qiu Dan was also Lord Di’s financial controller besides being his personal bodyguard. So she summoned Qiu Dan to ask him and finally found out what was going on.

Basically, the monthly salary for civil servants was not much and Di Jing just relied on that small amount of silver. After rewarding the servants, and giving some red envelopes, that limited amount would very quickly be used up.

Ever since Di Jing was promoted to Governor, the mansion was bestowed by the imperial court and the monetary gifts, cloth, and silk were given by the imperial court. The imperial court would make up for the insufficient monthly salaries for the guards and servants and even Di Jing’s life was protected by the Emperor.

In other words, her family’s Lord Di is only responsible for performing his work duties and has no idea how much wealth he holds or how much is his income. He completely does not know and does not care!

She felt it was incredible and asked Qiu Dan again. The Emperor would always reward him with some gold ingots, right? Unexpectedly, Qiu Dan sighed. This sigh made Shangguan Yan’s heart tightened and her nerves became taut as she listened attentively.

It turned out that the Emperor did reward Lord Di with some silver taels and jewelry in the beginning. However, Lord Di was too serious in his work and often changed his place of residence. One year, there was a famine and the people were displaced. Incidents of robberies were endless and it happened that Lord Di was handling a case in that area. When he saw the refugees were so pitiful, he bought rice grains with his own money and distributed them to the refugees.

However, the most exaggerating point was that he lost all his money. Probably no one would believe it even if they were told that just by moving house, Lord Di’s money disappeared. When the Emperor investigated, it was learned that Lord Di forgot to instruct the servants to bring the money with them when he moved. When the hungry and cold homeless people saw that the house was empty, they went inside and lived there. As a result, they found the displaced silver and jewelry. To them, it was a great gift from God. In the end, those silver and jewelry were snatched away by the refugees and because there were too many people involved, it was impossible to investigate.

The Emperor was so angry that he gave Lord Di a severe lecture and also said that Lord Di would not be rewarded with anything in the future. Unexpectedly, Lord Di actually agreed and in the end, the Emperor was left with no other choice. Although the Emperor was very angry, he also felt distressed for this courtier and ordered Qiu Dan to take over this matter to help Lord Di save his money in the bank. Whenever there was a need, Qiu Dan would be responsible for disbursing the money.

Take for example the servants in the mansion. If it was done according to Lord Di’s wishes, just a few servants were enough but the Emperor was not satisfied. As the Imperial Commissioner, how could those few servants be enough to serve him? So following the Emperor’s order, Qiu Dan bought a few slaves for the mansion. Later, when Di Jing was promoted to a Second-ranked Governor, the Emperor again ordered Qiu Dan to buy more slaves.

So that is the reason why there are so many servants serving in the mansion presently.

Since it was the Emperor’s intention, therefore, the Emperor is, of course, responsible for the monthly salaries of the servants.