The First Volume of Qinghe County

  Abacus Li looked at the two pieces of paper floating in front of him, his body trembling uncontrollably. How could he not recognize that these two papers were the deeds to the two farms he had secretly purchased, one for 250 taels and the other for 300 taels?

  These two farms are not far outside Qinghe County, and Suanpan Li plans to buy them for his old age. After all, he is nearly fifty years old, and although he has made a fortune at the Ximen's house, it is still not as good as being a landlord himself.

  Moreover, Abacus Li somehow took a liking to Dongmei, Wu Yue's personal maid, and mentioned it to Wu Yue several times. However, Wu Yue did not give in and instead used this point to control Abacus Li tightly.

  Ximen Qing coldly laughed twice: "Abacus Li, you'd better recognize it. Come on, put all these things to one side and hold the lamp! The master wants to check the accounts."

  Li was so frustrated that he wanted to knock his head against the wall and die. He had spent many years building up his reputation in the Western Gate, but now all his efforts were going down the drain. It wasn't just a matter of whether he could keep half a cent or even one cent; it was uncertain whether he could even save his own life.

  Although it was still daytime, the light in the hall wasn't very good. The young servant boy went to fetch two candles and lit them, placing them in front of Ximen Qing.

  The child also picked up the land deed from the ground and threw those packages of copper coins back into the box.

  Ximen Qing simultaneously spread out the account books of the medicine shop and his own household in front of him, only to see that both were filled with rows of tiny characters, which would have been quite a strain on the eyes if not for the candlelight.

  Luckily Ximen Qing originally had no intention of checking the accounts, he just wanted to put some pressure on Abacus Li, and let him spit out the person behind his back. At this time, looking at both sides' account books, there were also some calculations.

  Originally, the book in Fu's hand had clear and distinct characters line by line, without any signs of revision; while the copy in Li's hand was covered with corrections and revisions from the very beginning, some of which were scribbled so carelessly that they could hardly be deciphered.

  Ximen Qing looked at it with a cold smile, and it seemed that the problem on this account was not small. After looking at it for a while, he raised his head: "Abacus Li, do you have anything to say? This account of yours is really confusing, with scribbles and corrections all over the place, I don't know how many hands and feet are involved."

  Li lowered his head, speechless, but his body kept trembling. The young servants on the side secretly pointed and whispered to each other: "This old lecher also has today's outcome!"

  "I told you not to speak!" Ximen Qing's face changed, and he closed the account book: "Come on! Take this old fellow to the courtyard and tie him up. Bring out both thick and thin whips, and fetch me a bucket of water to soak in!"

  It's probably the first time in a long while that they've heard Master wants to use the whip, and the young servants, led by Shu Tong'er, are all beaming with joy, vying with each other to fetch water or hold the whip.

  As soon as the water bucket was placed at the entrance of the hall, inside it were soaked five or seven whips of varying thicknesses, and Li's abacus shook even more violently.

  Ximen Qing waved his hand, and the two sturdy house servants came up and dragged Abacus Li in like a dead dog, pulling him into the courtyard to be tied to the frame. Suddenly, Abacus Li seemed to come back to himself: "Master! I... have something to say..."

  "Speak!" Ximen Qing sat in a chair at the gate with his eyes narrowed, holding a horse whip in his hand and swinging it back and forth.

  "The little one only helped with the accounts, but the money was all taken away by the big madam!" Abacus Li had his upper garment stripped off and was shivering with cold.

  "Waiting for you is just this sentence..." Ximen Qing smiled and said: "Xiao Tianqing, go and invite Wu Yueniang over to confront her in person!"

  Wu Yue-niang was scolded by Ximen Qing in the courtyard today, and was helped into the house by Dongmei to rest. She took a nap first, and now she is lying on the bed chatting with Dongmei.

  "That little slut! How could she so easily get hooked up with the old master!" Wu Yue-niang was indignant, nursing a bellyful of anger.

  Winter plum's chubby face was full of regret: "Originally, that little cheap woman was abandoned under the stove to be a scullery maid, but unexpectedly last night she was asked to serve dishes and caught the old master's eye!"

  Why didn't you just let things be when Master wanted someone to accompany him for dinner? Why did you have to push that little wretch into Master's arms?

  Dongmei was lost in thought when she heard a commotion outside, it seemed like the young servants were about to get into a fight.

  "These little brats are getting more and more arrogant, it's simply infuriating!" Wu Yue'e's eyebrows shot up: "Dongmei, go out and teach them a lesson, whip them with a lash!"

  Dongmei took down the whip from the wall and went out, only to find a lively atmosphere outside. Two young servants were competing to fetch water, while three others were busy grabbing whips, snatching them back and forth from each other.

  "Oh no, give me that whip!"

  "No way, I got it first!"

  "Winter Plum sister!" One of the young servants' eyes lit up, seeing the whip in Winter Plum's hand: "Are you here to deliver a whip to us? Thank you thank you thank you!"

  "What?" Dongmei was confused: "Usually, when you say you want to go get the whip, you're all timid and shrinking away. Why are you so excited today?"

  That little fellow winked at Dongmei and said: "Sister, you don't know that today the master is going to beat up Li, the accountant's abacus!"

  "Abacus Li!" Dongmei's face suddenly turned pale, and she didn't even notice the whip falling to the ground.

  As Wu Yueniang's personal maid, Dabao Li knew a thing or two about the things that Ximen Qing had done behind her mistress's back. Dongmei wondered if the old woman would betray her own mistress and reveal everything to Ximen Qing now that he was going to punish Dabao Li. No, she definitely would!

  Dongmei saw a little servant who had stolen vegetables to eat, was whipped twice, and even confessed that he had peeked at the maid washing herself.

  Dongmei thought of the scene that day, the young man's figure twisting back and forth on the ground after being beaten, the heart-wrenching cries still echoing in her ears.

  "Thank you, sister!" The little servant didn't notice Dongmei's awkwardness, picked up the whip from the ground, and followed several other servants to the main hall.

  Dongmei shivered in the scorching sun and hurried back home to tell her mistress.

  "What!" Wu Yue'e heard the news and couldn't lie still anymore, she quickly got up, hastily ordered Dongmei to go to the main hall to see what was going on, and herself also put on her clothes again, sitting on the edge of the bed in thought.

  Dongmei hadn't gone out more than a dozen steps when she bumped into Xiaotianqing face to face.

  "It turned out to be Sister Dongmei." Xiaotianqing's face was filled with a smile: "It just so happens that Master ordered me to invite the old lady to the main hall for discussion?"

  "Discuss it!" Dongmei knew that Xiaotianqing's mouth didn't have any real words, and it was definitely Lidian who hadn't waited for the whip to come out before spitting out his own young lady. She secretly gritted her teeth and said: "You go back and tell Master, Miss just got up and hasn't dressed yet."

  "Oh?" Little Tianqing nodded with a confident expression: "Then I'll wait at the door, if I go back now, I'm afraid Master will not be pleased."

  Dongmei didn't even have time to say much to him, hastily turning around and going back inside: "Miss, something's wrong, the master has sent someone to call for you."

  Wu Yue's face was also pale, and her hands unconsciously twisted the hem of her clothes into a dead knot. She stared blankly for half a moment before saying in a slightly hoarse voice: "Dongmei, go get that piece of red silk from the trunk in the back."

  "Miss, what's this?" Dongmei was also frightened and didn't know for a while what her young lady wanted to do with the red silk.

  "Let you go then go! Go quickly!" Wu Yue-niang puckered her mouth, as if she had made up some determination.

  Dongmei responded with a sound, her hands and feet busy rummaging through the trunk, and after much difficulty, she finally found a red silk fabric over 3 meters long.

  "Miss, found it! Found it!" Dongmei turned around and saw Wu Yueniang moving a stool and stepping onto it.

  Long silk, stool, trample on the stool!

  In Dongmei's ear, it was like thunder rumbling: "Miss, you can't do this!" As she spoke, her body pounced forward and she knelt on the ground, holding onto Wu Yue's leg, not letting her get up.

  "Let go!" Wu Yueniang shouted: "Give me the red silk!"

  "I won't let go! I just won't!" Dongmei's nose was running, and she wiped away tears with a red handkerchief: "Miss, what are you doing?"

  "What's wrong?" Wu Yue's face turned stern: "I'm going to hang myself, can't you see that?!"

  Cut the crap, you want me to make a red scarf into a piece of clothing, I'm too lazy to bother with you. Who can't see that you're looking for trouble?

  Dongmei pressed the red silk handkerchief to her body, hugging Wu Yueniang's thigh and refusing to let go for a moment: "Miss, it can't be! If you must die, let me accompany you together!"

  "Nonsense!" Wu Yue'e was instead amused by Dongmei: "You're the one who's going to die!"

  "Huh?" Dongmei was stunned: "What's going on? Are you trying to scare the old man for fun?"

  "Scare him? It's not that easy."

  Wu Yue's wife kicked Dongmei away with one foot, picked up the red cloth and climbed onto the stool. With quick movements, she threw the red cloth over the beam, made a few strokes at her neck, tied a knot, then stuck her head in...

  "Ah, the length is just right." Wu Yue-niang was very satisfied with the knot she had tied. Standing on a stool and shouting at Dongmei, "Quickly get up! Hurry back and call my father and brother over. This time we'll make Ximen Qing take a good look!"

  "This Ximen family will eventually become the Wu family!"

  Dongmei was startled and quickly got up from the ground, hastily rushing out of the door.

  Xiao Tianqing, who was waiting impatiently at the door, saw Dongmei rush out and, without paying attention to herself, head towards the back door. Hurriedly entering the house to take a look, she just happened to see Wu Yuefang holding silk fabric around her neck, trying it on...

  This startled Xiaotianqing's face changed, and she didn't care about anything else, stumbling out the door and rushing to the main hall, shouting as she ran: "Something's wrong, something's happened!"

  "The old lady hanged herself in the house!"

  "What?" Ximen Qing heard the voice and his body shook slightly as he glanced in the direction of Wu Yueniang's room.

  Is this last trump card of hanging oneself being performed directly?

  Don't mention the little servants around, even the abacus Li who was tied to the frame seemed to have forgotten the cold, and struggled to look over there, the shocked expression on his face had reached its peak.

  "Very good." Ximen Qing's mouth curled up in a sneer: "The good show has finally begun."