Insufficient balance

  Ximen Qing, burning with anger, rushed back with Xiaotianqing, dismounted at the gate and ordered: "Go to the main hall and wait for me." Then he walked towards the main gate with a gloomy face.

  The several small servants at the gate saw their master's face sinking like water, and they were all frightened and didn't know where to put their hands and feet. They all knew that Ximen Qing had a bad temper, and today Pan Jinlian made a scene at the gate for half a day, fearing that their master's mood would not be good.

  Early in the morning, when Pan Jinlian was making a disturbance, the steward ordered the gate to be closed tightly, so these few servants did not know that Ximen Qing had also rescued Wu Dalang.

  "Brother, Master's face is gloomy today, I don't know who will be beaten?" A small servant trembled with fear and couldn't take a step forward.

  "Cut the nonsense and open the door quickly." A slightly older servant scolded, "Hurry up! If you're slow, you'll be the first to get flogged!"

  That little fellow bitterly smiled and said: "Brother, I'm really so scared that my legs can't move..."

  "Get out of the way!" A slightly older boy pushed this boy to one side, and together with other boys opened the door just as Ximen Qing strode in.

  Ximen Qing was just about to enter the door when he suddenly stopped in his tracks, scanning the several young servants present with a gaze that made everyone's hair stand on end. He then casually pointed at one of them: "You! Go and summon the accountant to wait for me in the main hall!" Having said this, he didn't linger any further and went straight inside.

  "Accounting room?" The few young servants finally breathed a sigh of relief, knowing it wasn't them who would be flogged. Those timid ones were so scared that they had goosebumps all over their arms, and one of them wiped his arm: "Oh my god, master is going to look for a while longer, I'm about to pee!"

  "Useless goods! Only knows how to eat!" A slightly older young servant scolded and went in to find Mr. Accountant.

  Mr. Li, the accountant, is almost fifty years old and has been working for the Ximen family since he was a young man from the Western Gate district. Because of his exceptional abacus skills, everyone in the household calls him "Abacus Li".

  "What? The old master called me?" Abacus Li rubbed his beard with his eyes narrowed, looking at the little servant in front of him: "Don't fool me! The old master never calls me normally. Tell me, what did the old master instruct you to call me over for?"

  The young servant rolled his eyes and thought to himself: "Still putting on airs, when the master's whip comes down later, I'm afraid he'll be beaten until he shits and pees."

  This abacus Li Ping often relied on his seniority in the government office, specializing in bullying young servants and maids. He would either ask a servant to massage his back or have a maid make his bed, but he was not too brazen, after all, having a thief's heart without a thief's courage, he didn't dare do anything outrageous, at most just stealing glances and touching them lightly.

  This little fellow had also been touched by him a few times in the past, and now being asked by Abacus Li, he came up with an idea: "Why not tease him and make him lose face in front of Master?"

  "Abacus Li, you still don't know." The young servant made a mysterious face: "The old master has recently been complaining that there are too many older maids in the mansion and wants to find someone to marry out. Maybe he'll call you over, it's probably to discuss your marriage."

  "What? Then I have to hurry up and go!" Abacus Li was originally sitting on a chair with his legs crossed, but upon hearing this "inside information", he hastily put on his shoes and got down from the chair. He didn't expect that his legs would be numb from sitting cross-legged for too long, but when Abacus Li heard the news, he couldn't care about it anymore. With great effort, he struggled out of the door with a limp: "Dongmei! You have to wait for me!"

  "Pah!" The little servant looked at the limping figure of Abacus Li and spat on the ground: "Don't rush to your death, or you'll even have your third leg broken!"

  Li came out of the door with a happy heart, and even the air smelled sweet. As he walked, his numb legs and feet moved around, and after a few steps, his blood circulation improved. He quickly shrunk his neck and ran to the living room in small strides.

  The small servant who usually waited at the door was nowhere to be seen, but instead, there were two servants, one on each side of the study, standing like small gate gods, expressionless. When they saw Abacus Li arrive, they simply made a hand gesture for him to hurry in.

  Although Li felt a little strange, he was thinking of Dongmei and didn't pay attention to it. However, as soon as he stepped into the hall, he felt that the atmosphere was somewhat abnormal. Although it was warm outside on this spring day, the inside of the hall was dark and gloomy. He saw Ximen Qing sitting in a chair with a stern expression, staring straight at him.

  "Old master, I pay my respects." Abacus Li's mind was like fifteen buckets of water, seven up and eight down, wondering what had happened: "I heard that the old master called me over to discuss a marriage..."

  "Marriage?" Ximen Qing flashed a row of white teeth and smiled coldly: "Abacus Li, did you eat something wrong this morning?"

  "Hmm..." Abacus Li finally realized that the little fellow was just joking with him earlier. This time, it seems that Ximen Qing has come to find him, definitely not for a good reason. Could it be that the matter has blown up?

  "Abacus Li." Ximen Qing suddenly said: "It's all said that you're good at abacus, and your accounts are clear. Today I'll settle the account with you."

  "Check accounts?" Abacus Li felt a bit of sweat on his forehead: "I don't know what accounts Master wants to check, I'll go back and get the account book, and slowly check with Master."

  Abacus Li said while his eyes drifted towards the entrance of the hall: "It's better to find an opportunity to go and inform Wu Dama."

  "This rough work can be handed over to the young servant!" Ximen Qing's face suddenly turned from cloudy to sunny: "Come, let the accountant see his seat and have some tea!"

  The children at the door all responded in unison, those who were moving stools moved stools, and those who were serving tea served tea.

  Abacus Li's facial muscles twitched, he tentatively sat down, adjusted his posture for half a day, only dared to use half of his buttocks on the stool, holding the teacup without drinking, his eyes still looking outside the hall.

  "Master, this account book is in the small house's big box." Abacus Li said: "It's not good to show people usually, so it's all locked up. It's better for the young master to go get it himself."

  "It's nothing." Ximen Qing smiled calmly: "Book boy, go find two strong men and have them carry the trunk over!"

  "What?" Abacus Li's whole body shook, almost dropping the teacup on the ground, and his heart was crying out in distress.

  Ximen Qing picked up his teacup, looked at Abacus Li's trembling body, opened the lid of the cup and blew on it, then slowly took a sip: "Abacus Li, have you caught an evil wind? Your body doesn't seem well. Why are you always shaking?"

  Abacus Li stiffened all over, and stopped trembling. His body shrunk into a ball on the stool, lost in thought.

  At this time, Xiaotianqing brought the account book of the medicine shop in, put it on the table and retreated to one side. Ximen Qing didn't open it, but only glanced at the abacus Li with his eyes.

  "Master, the box has arrived." The book boy walked into the hall with big strides, followed by two strong house servants carrying a large wooden box, and reported to Ximen Qing.

  "Just put it there." Ximen Qing raised his chin, casually found a corner next to him, and then heavily placed the teacup on the table with a "ding" sound, making Abacus Li tremble: "Abacus Li, before opening the box, do you have anything to say?"

  A dull thud, the sound of a trunk falling to the ground, followed by a loud crack, was Li's frightened heart skipping a beat, causing him to drop the teacup in his hand and shatter it into pieces.

  "Master!" Abacus Li didn't even bother with the broken porcelain shards all over the floor, and directly knelt down, kowtowing to Ximen Qing "thud thud thud" three times: "I've been serving in Master Ximen's household for thirty years, diligent and hardworking, never daring to be disloyal..."

  "Huh?" Ximen Qing looked at Abacus Li, who raised his head, and a patch of blood had already appeared on his forehead, which was cut by the porcelain piece on the ground: "Dare not... act recklessly?"

  "Now that things have come to this point, you still dare to conceal the truth?" Ximen Qing pointed at Abacus Li: "Even a dog knows how to guard its home, but you're just a traitor who bites the hand that feeds you!"

  "Draw a child!"

  "Old master, I'm here!"

  "Bring the key and open the box! Bring the account books for the past three years to take a look!" With Ximen Qing's sudden shout, Abacus Li had already collapsed to the ground.

  Hua T'ung, who had also been swindled by Abacus Li the previous year, upon hearing Hsi-men Ch'ing's order, stepped forward with a look of disgust on his face and kicked Abacus Li in the ribs twice. The two kicks were extremely heavy, causing Abacus Li to grunt twice, his body shrinking into a shrimp-like posture. Only then did Hua T'ung take down a bunch of copper keys from Abacus Li's waist.

  Inside the box were twenty or thirty account books of various sizes, and several packages. The child knew some characters, so he flipped through them casually and found the accounts for the past three years, presenting them to Ximen Qing.

  Ximen Qing didn't look at the account book first, but saw the package in the box from a distance: "What's inside that package? Open it and take a look!"

  The young servant boy responded and went up to fetch a package, which was extremely heavy. When he opened it, he couldn't help but be stunned - inside was a full bag of copper coins, totaling around 70 or 80 taels: "This Abacus Li is really bold, actually putting the money together with the account book like this, without fear of others finding out."

  "Open it all!" Ximen Qing's anger surged up, looking at the abacus Li lying on the ground like a mangy dog: "My Ximen family treated you well, supporting you with two taels every month, and yet you dared to openly take and secretly deduct!"

  "Old master, there are five packages in total." The book boy opened the packages one by one and counted them: "The total amount is probably no less than 400 taels!"

  "Three hundred strings!" Ximen Qing stood up, looked at the five bundles of copper coins and sneered: "Abacus Li, you're quite capable."

  Abacus Li, with a sudden burst of energy, kowtowed: "Master, this is all the hard-earned money I've saved up over the years, and some of it was even lent out. In thirty years, I've managed to save up only this much. I've done everything honestly and without any ulterior motives."

  "Pffft!" Ximen Qing seemed to have heard a huge joke, and heartlessly ridiculed Li the Abacus's words: "Two taels a month, twenty-four taels a year, thirty years without eating or drinking, a total of seven hundred and twenty taels, and there are four hundred taels in the box?"

  Abacus Li listened to Ximen Qing's incredibly fluent calculation, and was extremely shocked in his heart. To think that he himself, an accountant, would have to pull out the abacus to calculate it, taking several pulls to get the answer, yet Ximen Qing calculated it all in one breath without any pause - was this still the same Ximen Qing who indulged in pleasures every day?

  "Master, there's this too!" The book boy had sharp eyes and flipped out two sheets of paper stacked together from one of the account books, handing them to Ximen Qing.

  Ximen Qing opened it and took a glance before tossing it in front of Abacus Li: "Oh, you still haven't calculated this one."