My Husband Never Oversteps The Bounds Of Propriety - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Detachment

Fine snow fell throughout the night, and by the next morning, the Su Manor was draped in a layer of pure silver.

Crystalline icicles hung from the roof tiles, and the withered branches of the garden plants were traced into plump silhouettes by the accumulated snow. When the sunlight hit, it reflected a glitter like crushed diamonds clear, cold, and dazzling.

Inside Yuanlan Pavilion, the charcoal brazier burned fiercely, dispelling the bitter winter chill. Shen Jiuyuan, however, had no time to appreciate the beauty of the post-snow clearing. She sat at the writing desk by the window, several ledgers spread before her that she had just retrieved from the Meditation Courtyard. These books concerned a portion of the Su family’s external business affairs.

Since the Old Madam had spoken and asked her to learn how to manage things, her mother-in-law, Lady Lin though her heart was filled with a complex mixture of feelings could no longer be perfunctory on the surface. She had assigned Shen Jiuyuan the task of auditing the accounts of several industries that, while not vital, involved a wide range of connections.

Among these were the detailed entry and exit records for the past three months for several of the Su family’s silk shops and tea houses in Jinling City.

Shen Jiuyuan held a fine purple-hair brush, dipped it in vermilion ink, and carefully checked the lines one by one. She read extremely slowly, sometimes knitting her brows in thought, sometimes picking up her pen to write a few figures on the scratch paper beside her. Lily stood quietly to the side grinding ink, not daring to make a sound to disturb her. The only sounds in the air were the occasional crackle of the charcoal fire and the soft rustle of the nib sliding across the paper.

Time flowed quietly, and the sun gradually rose higher, casting mottled light and shadow onto the writing desk through the white-silk-pasted window frames. Bathed in this warmth, Shen Jiuyuan scrutinized the accounts. After several pages, her gaze finally rested on a ledger recording the raw material procurement for the Jinhua Pavilion silk shop, and it did not move for a long time.

“Lily,” Shen Jiuyuan suddenly spoke, her voice grave. “Go and find the old accounts from the same period last year for Jinhua Pavilion, the ones I asked you to put away a few days ago.”

Lily hurriedly complied, retrieving a slightly aged blue-covered ledger from a hidden compartment in the nearby curio shelf.

Shen Jiuyuan spread the new and old ledgers side by side, her slender fingertips slowly sliding across two lines of records. One line was from the twelfth month of last year: Jinhua Pavilion purchased 1,000 units of local silk cocoons for 800 taels of silver. The other line was from the twelfth month of this year: for the same 1,000 units of local silk cocoons, the recorded price was 1,100 taels.

While silk prices fluctuate, for the price to surge so significantly in just one short year was striking. Looking at other expenditures labor, transport, and waste they were nearly identical to last year. Only this primary raw material cost had abruptly increased by over thirty percent.

Shen Jiuyuan pondered for a moment and turned to the page recording transactions of raw silk with the Qin family of the Western Border. The records showed that over the past three months, because local silk cocoons were “high in price and low in quality,” Jinhua Pavilion had turned to purchasing several batches of top-quality Huzhou raw silk from the Qin family. The price was nearly fifty percent higher than the local Southern silk price, and the volume of each transaction was massive.

The Qin family.

Shen Jiuyuan stared at the heavily inked character for “Qin” for a long time. Her mother’s journal had once cryptically mentioned that the Qin family of the Western Border had risen rapidly through ruthless means, and their relationships with local noble families were intricately intertwined. The Su family had long-standing business dealings with the Qins, but such a large-scale, high-priced procurement was contrary to all logic.

Su Jin managed external affairs. With his shrewdness, would he allow such a clearly unprofitable deal? Unless there was more to the story. Either the Qin family held a scarce resource essential to the Su family, or there was something wrong with the accounts themselves.

She remembered that at the plum banquet, Lady Lin had mentioned in passing that Jinhua Pavilion’s profits had fallen and noted the competition from the Qin silk shops. Now it seemed that internal troubles and external threats were perhaps not groundless rumors.

“Lily,” Shen Jiuyuan set down the ledger and rubbed her aching temples. “Go and quietly find out which manager is currently responsible for the silk business with the Qin family. What is his reputation usually like?”

Though Lily did not understand her intention, seeing her mistress’s grave expression, she nodded immediately and withdrew quietly.

The room returned to silence. Shen Jiuyuan walked to the window and pushed open a small gap. The crisp air rushed in, refreshing her spirit. The snow in the courtyard had not yet melted; a few sparrows hopped across the ground searching for food, their chirping highlighting the stillness of the deep manor.

The accounts she touched today showed clear flaws. Whether it was servants deceiving their masters for personal gain or higher-level figures operating in the shadows, either was possible.

Does Su Jin know? If he knew, was he consenting, or was he also being kept in the dark?

Shen Jiuyuan had countless questions and a hidden sense of shock, feeling as though she had touched the tip of a massive iceberg within the Su Manor. Beneath this iceberg was a whirlpool capable of swallowing everything.

In the afternoon, Lily brought back news, her voice kept extremely low: “Young Lady, I’ve found out. The one primarily responsible for the silk dealings with the Qin family is a manager named Hu from the outer court. I heard he is a distant relative of the Third Mistress’s maiden family and is highly regarded by the Third Master. As for his reputation, some say he is shrewd and capable, while others say he is extravagant and has a wide circle of acquaintances.”

The Third Branch? Shen Jiuyuan’s eyes flickered.

Lady Zhao of the Third Branch no wonder her words were so sharp at the plum banquet. If Manager Hu was indeed closely linked to the Third Branch, then the anomalies in these accounts were likely more than just a servant’s embezzlement.

After long deliberation, Shen Jiuyuan finally picked up her pen. On a sheet of plain paper, she listed the key discrepancies in the accounts and her own doubts in neat, small regular script. She did not write a conclusion, only a balanced statement of facts. Then, she carefully sealed the paper and handed it to Lily.

“Find a way to give this letter to the young servant who attends to the writing desk in the Eldest Young Master’s study. Do not state that I sent it; just say it was a few unclear points discovered by the accounting office while organizing old files, for the Eldest Young Master to look over at his leisure.”

Shen Jiuyuan could not go to Su Jin directly; it would be too abrupt and might alert the enemy. Delivering it this way warned the Young Master while retaining room for maneuver, and further allowed her to test his attitude toward the matter.

Lily nervously took the letter, tucked it into her tunic, and nodded heavily.

After the letter was sent, for two consecutive days, the winds were calm and the waves were still. There was no movement from Su Jin’s side, as if the letter had sunk into the vast ocean. Although Shen Jiuyuan felt some trepidation, she remained as calm as water on the surface, going to the Meditation Courtyard as usual to learn the accounts and handle trivial matters.

It was not until early this evening, as she had just left the Meditation Courtyard and was walking back across the melting snow, that she saw an unexpected figure at the Moon Gate leading to Yuanlan Pavilion.

Su Jin wore a black cloak with a dark fox-fur collar, standing with his hands behind his back beneath an old plum tree. His tall silhouette almost merged with the vast twilight. Hearing footsteps, he slowly turned around, his gaze landing on Shen Jiuyuan.

“Lady Shen,” he spoke, his voice exceptionally crisp in the cold air.

Shen Jiuyuan’s heart tightened, and she performed a formal bow: “Husband.”

She noticed that Su Jin seemed to be holding a folded piece of paper, its color identical to the plain paper she had used two days ago. Su Jin did not speak immediately; he merely took two steps closer. At this distance, she could smell the familiar, clear scent of gladiolus on him, mixed with a faint scent of aged ink—a scent very similar to that of the ledgers.

She was incredibly nervous but fought to maintain her composure.

“I have looked over the doubts on that paper,” he said, cutting straight to the point. His gaze was like a deep pool of ancient water, showing no emotion. “You look very closely.”

Shen Jiuyuan lowered her eyes, her tone humble: “I am a beginner; I simply felt some figures were contrary to logic. Not daring to make a rash judgment, I referred them to Husband.”

Su Jin was silent for a moment and suddenly said: “Manager Hu of Jinhua Pavilion was dismissed three days ago for unclear accounts and embezzlement of public funds. He has been handed over to the authorities.”

Hearing this, Shen Jiuyuan jerked her head up, unable to hide the shock in her eyes. So fast? And in such a lightning-fast manner. She had thought there would be at least some secret investigation and political maneuvering.

Su Jin saw the flash of surprise in her eyes, and the corner of his lips seemed to twitch imperceptibly so fast it seemed like a hallucination. “Matters within the manor sometimes require quick and decisive action.”

Su Jin’s tone was flat, as if he were speaking of an ordinary trifle. “As for the price of the Qin family’s raw silk, it is indeed higher than the market price, but there is another reason for that; it is not an error in the accounts.”

Su Jin did not explain what that reason was, but the certainty and nonchalance in his voice made her understand: he was not ignorant of the situation; in fact, it was likely all within his expectation or control. Perhaps Manager Hu was nothing more than a discarded chess piece.

“I understand,” Shen Jiuyuan suppressed the ripples in her heart and lowered her eyes again. She knew she had touched upon some secrets, and Su Jin’s appearance now was both an announcement and a silent warning. The waters of the Su Manor were deep, and some boundaries were not to be crossed.

Su Jin looked deeply at her, his gaze seemingly trying to pierce through her submissive surface to reach her heart. “You are good,” he said suddenly. His tone was still flat, yet it made her heart skip a beat. “The New Year is a busy time. Take care with matters at my mother’s side.”

Finished, Su Jin said no more. He turned and stepped through the snow, vanishing into the deepening twilight.

Shen Jiuyuan stood alone beneath the Moon Gate, watching the two rows of retreating footprints in the snow. A chill suddenly rose from the bottom of her heart. Manager Hu was swiftly dealt with, the Qin silk prices had “other reasons” behind Su Jin’s casual remarks lay a gathering storm of unknown proportions.

She had originally thought that by discovering the account problems, she could gain a little initiative. Now it seemed that what she had glimpsed was merely the tip of the iceberg floating above the water. The true undercurrents remained in the depths she could not reach, surging and powerful.

A cold wind whipped up the snow, blowing against the hem of her skirt. She pulled her collar tight, pressing her heart full of doubts and the cold back into her soul, and quietly returned to Yuanlan Pavilion.

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