Chapter 63

In just a few hurried days, the end of the month was approaching. Xu Hao had been staying at home, diligently handling external affairs, almost never leaving the house.

In the accounting room, the sound of abacus beads clicking could be heard. Soon, the accountant presented the month's ledger to Xu Hao with both hands. Xu Hao took it and glanced through it. The expenses of the main house amounted to over 3,200 taels of silver, with over 700 taels recorded under Lady Wang's account.

After carefully examining the details, the largest expenses were for wedding gifts, social interactions, and gratuities, which could not be easily overlooked.

The 700 taels Lady Wang spent were considered minor expenses, which she was supposed to cover herself. This included over 200 taels for additional food expenses and nearly 400 taels for purchasing jewelry, cosmetics, and other items.

No wonder everyone said that the main lady was kind and generous to the servants. Her monthly expenses were more than the combined expenses of our family of four. The problem was that this money would never be repaid, and she was using the family's money to win people's hearts.

Xu Hao sighed helplessly, thinking to himself. He then looked at the expenses of the second house. The minor expenses were only over 40 taels for his father and over 30 taels for his mother, while his own and his elder sister's and younger sister's records were all zero, meaning that the money spent this year was all from his own savings, without using a single tael from the family.

The old matriarch's status was clear, and the 300 taels spent this month were all used for entertaining relatives and respectable mothers. The third house, with the third uncle and his son away, had the third aunt spending over 200 taels, and Lüzhu's account recorded 8.6 taels of silver.

As a man, he did not want to fuss over these things, but if this continued, the family's assets would surely be depleted. It was better to take the blame himself rather than let his mother worry.

Xu Hao thought for a moment and instructed, "Starting from the first day of next month, all monthly allowances for those in debt will be suspended until the family's deficit is fully repaid. If anyone needs to buy something, they must pay in cash."

The three accountants were all stunned. Qian Er hurriedly said, "This is not appropriate. Why should Third Young Master take this matter upon himself? You could simply hand the ledger to the old matriarch, and that would be it."

Xu Hao smiled bitterly and said, "Then the main lady would be publicly reprimanded and lose face. She would surely resent us. Let's settle this month's accounts as they are. Starting next month, the old matriarch and the main lady will each have an 80-tael limit, the second lady and the third lady will each have a 50-tael limit. If they exceed the limit, they must pay the difference themselves. Is that acceptable?"

Qian Er nodded with a smile, "Third Young Master has considered everything. We are convinced."

Xu Hao stood up, patted his pants, and suddenly sneered, "You don't need to flatter me. I ordered the accounts to be sealed, and if there are any repercussions, I will bear them alone, not you. The rules I set today will likely be abolished within a month. The main house and the third house will continue to spend extravagantly, and you will continue to benefit from it, while I and my mother will always be the ones to bear the blame. I want to remind you, it's good to enjoy the shade under a big tree, but if this family is squandered, it will be bad for everyone."

"Don't be angry, Third Young Master." Qian Er hurriedly stopped Xu Hao from leaving, smiling, "At least understand our position. Who dares to stop the ladies from spending now? When the old matriarch was in good health, no one in the family dared to spend recklessly. Now it's different. The first master never manages the household, the second master knows but doesn't speak, and the third master is a scholar. As for the temperaments of the three ladies, Third Young Master knows better than we do!"

"If you, Third Young Master, can stand firm in the future, I, Qian Er, can guarantee that not a single tael will be spent recklessly. Unfortunately, we all know that's impossible, hehe!"

At this moment, Li Si also said, "I dare to speak a word that shouldn't be said, but Third Young Master, you shouldn't meddle in this. The main lady is in charge now, and next year the household will be managed by the princess. Why should you and the second lady worry? The second master sees clearly, holding his silk shop, so your family won't worry about food and clothing in the future. You should focus on the future."

Xu Hao looked at the two accountants with great surprise. These words were heartfelt and frank, and if they were leaked, it would not be a small matter.

Qian Er smiled bitterly and said, "Third Young Master, are you surprised? To be honest, we have been accounting for half our lives, and we have seen a lot of money. We have some discernment! Life is about the long term. The actions of the first master and his wife in recent years are clearly unsustainable and may lead to trouble. If anything happens, we will need Third Young Master to take us in."

Xu Hao was startled and asked urgently, "Have you noticed something amiss? Tell me quickly."

Qian Er gave Li Si a nod, and Li Si went to check outside. The other accountant, who had been silent, bowed his head and moved to the side. Qian Er pulled Xu Hao's hand and sat down again.

Qian Er leaned close to Xu Hao's ear and whispered, "Third Young Master, did you know? The first master withdrew 5,000 taels of silver at the end of the year, and he didn't specify where the money went. After that, he was suddenly promoted, and more people came to give New Year's gifts, including several dukes and marquises, with whom we had no previous dealings. Isn't this suspicious?"

Xu Hao frowned and thought for a long time before saying, "Your point is that the promotion wasn't through the King of Qin's connections but through bribery?"

Qian Er slapped his thigh and said excitedly, "Indeed, we didn't misjudge you. Third Young Master, though young, is very astute. This is a blessing for the Xu family. If 5,000 taels were spent to buy a position, it could be a capital offense!"

Xu Hao frowned and asked, "Who has such power? Who can make the first master and the first brother be promoted?"

"Many." Qian Er walked to the inner room and quickly brought out a stack of red gift lists, pointing to them. "Third Young Master, look for yourself. Here are the families of Duke of Song Feng, Duke of Ying Fu, and Duke of Liang Lan. Any one of them can do anything."

It was like a bucket of cold water poured over Xu Hao's head. He was shocked and his hands and feet turned cold. The memory that had been eluding him for days suddenly opened a floodgate. How could he have forgotten the other major case after the Hu Weiyong case, the Lan Yu rebellion, which involved many people?

Finally, Xu Hao said softly, "Besides the three of you, who else knows about the money?"

Thump! Thump! Thump! The three accountants knelt down one after another. Qian Er trembled and said, "Third Young Master, you wouldn't be so heartless as to silence us, would you?"

"Get up. I'm not that heartless. You telling me this shows your loyalty to the Xu family."

Xu Hao laughed, but in fact, he had briefly considered killing them, though he didn't really mean it. Xu Hao had never done anything immoral in his two lives, let alone kill anyone.

Qian Er, still kneeling, looked up and said, "We only know that the money was taken, and the rest is speculation. No one else has mentioned it, and we can swear to the heavens. The person who took the money was the first master's confidant, Wang Ping."

"Oh." Xu Hao was somewhat relieved. Wang Ping was the son of the head steward Wang Fu, who had grown up with the first master. He was supposed to be reliable, and even if he wasn't, he was not at home but serving as a guard in the military with Xu Yaosu.

What should he do? Xu Hao sighed bitterly. He really had no solution. What could he, a small person, do? He couldn't persuade the first master, Xu Yaosu, and he couldn't rely on the Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, or Xu Da, whose words carried little weight. It seemed he could only leave it to fate.

Suddenly, Li Si added, "When the third master left, he took over 20 people, and when the fourth master left, he took another 20 people. They have never asked for a single tael from the family. The expenses for so many people cannot be covered by the third master's meager salary. The servants who returned said that the fourth master was spending lavishly in Beiping. Sigh!"

This made Xu Hao's heart completely cold. He sat there for a long time without saying a word. Finally, he gritted his teeth, stood up, and slowly walked to the door, gently pushing the latch open.

"For now, the only thing I can do is to protect my family of four. If anything happens, I won't forget the three of you. We'll have to wait for my father to return to discuss this further. After all, if the sky is going to rain, the mother will marry, and everyone will take care of themselves. That's it."

After saying this, Xu Hao walked away with heavy steps, leaving Qian Er and the others looking at each other and sighing.

However, as Xu Hao walked, his steps became lighter and lighter, and he eventually entered the inner quarters as if nothing had happened.

After all, besides his parents and sisters, the other Xu family members were not close enough to him. Since he couldn't save them, he might as well give up on them all and take his parents and sisters to the north to join Zhu Di.

As the saying goes, those who commit their own sins cannot live. He was not a naive young man; if he broke the law, he should bear the consequences. There was nothing to say about it.

Xu Hao felt no burden about this. Given the current positions of the first master and the third uncle, if anything happened, it wouldn't implicate anyone else. Of course, it would be best if nothing happened.

In fact, Qian Er and the others shared this view. They had observed that the third young master was a responsible and decisive young man, different from the other brothers. Therefore, they had the courage to express their concerns, which was a way of aligning themselves in advance. If anything unfortunate happened, they could follow the second house in the future.

This was only possible under the reign of Emperor Taizu, who was known for his hatred of evil and his swift and severe punishment. Everyone was genuinely afraid. Otherwise, under any other emperor, the people would have aligned with the promising first and third houses.

When Xu Hao returned to the inner quarters, he found the house more lively than usual. He learned that a few distinguished guests had come, and they were all related to him.

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