As soon as the Lantern Festival passed, the news came from the northwest that Zheng Guogong's eldest son, Zheng Lu, had colluded with the Northern Desert to rebel, and the government and the opposition were shaken. Concubine Shen hadn't come up with any countermeasures yet, and another news had been sent back to the capital, and Xiao Qi had been ordered to go to the northwest to suppress the rebellion and take back the horse market.

There is a lot of turmoil in the capital, but it is a different scene in the Shuying Xuan of the Loyal and Brave Waiting Mansion.

Xiao Xiwei sat in front of the couch, and the Lin steward in the account room next to him was reporting all the expenses of the previous year to Xiao Xiwei one by one. Xiao Xiwei lowered his eyes and looked at the ball playing chasing hydrangea in the room with a smile.

After a winter of careful care, Qiuqiu has grown up, and her round head is cute.

The money manager raised his eyes to look at Xiao Xiwei from time to time while reporting the accounts, and saw that she had been looking at the little tiger playing in the room, and couldn't help but feel a little dissatisfied in her heart, but she didn't dare to say anything, so she only accelerated the speed of the account.

Finally, the account is over.

Xiao Xiwei finally moved his gaze from Qiuqiu to Qian Steward, and his light voice sounded slowly, "Five thousand seven hundred and twenty-one taels." ”

Steward Qian was stunned, and looked at Xiao Xiwei with some confusion.

Xiao Xi slightly sideways picked up the tea on the table next to him, his slender eyelashes drooped, and he gently lifted the lid of the cup and took a sip of sweet tea, "I said, you miscalculated." All the expenses added up to five thousand seven hundred and twenty-one taels. ”

Steward Qian twisted his eyebrows, "No, it won't......"

Xiao Xiwei still lowered his head and sipped the tea, but Biyun on the side couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and said, "Will it be that the money manager won't calculate it again?" ”

The money manager was half suspicious and half dissatisfied, and went through the account book again, adding up all the expenses, but he was shocked to find that all the expenses added up were really five thousand seven hundred and twenty-one taels.

This...... How is this possible.

He had obviously calculated everything before he came, how could it be wrong, and what surprised him even more was that the little tiger who was staring at the room from beginning to end didn't listen to him report the count, how could she calculate the total number so quickly, and without an abacus?

"How's that, money is in charge." Looking at the look of the money manager, Biyun couldn't help but smug his voice.

The money steward lowered his head, "It's careless." ”

Xiao Xi smiled, "The Zhongyong Houfu has to pay no less than 10,000 taels of silver from the money manager every year, I personally think that the money manager should be a strict and subtle person." ”

A layer of fine cold sweat broke out on the back of the "......", and the money steward lowered his head and really didn't know how to answer.

"That's it, if nothing else, go back to your business." Xiao Xi put down the teacup slightly, got up and walked a few steps, and then bent down to pick up Qiuqiu, who was still playing.

"Yes, yes." Steward Qian replied in a low voice, the panic in his heart did not go away, and suddenly a light crossed his mind, and he couldn't help but raise his eyes and look at Xiao Xiwei, "Second Miss, there is one more thing...... The little ones don't know when to say it? ”

I didn't hold the ball for a few days, but I felt that he was much more solid than the previous days.

Xiao Xi turned around slightly, and his eyes swept over the money manager lightly, "What's the matter?" ”

Steward Qian twisted his eyebrows, "Two days ago, when I went to buy things, I accidentally saw the girl Cuizhu next to the third aunt...... I went to the Yongan pawnshop on South Street. After speaking, Steward Qian cautiously raised his head and looked at Xiao Xiwei's expression.

Xiao Xi's slightly slender eyelashes drooped, she reached out and gently stroked the soft hair on Qiuqiu's body, and a faint smile curled up at the corner of her lips, "But if you go to the pawnshop, is it too much of a fuss to manage the money." ”

Qian was stunned and hurriedly lowered his head.

Xiao Xiwei's words really made him unable to guess what she meant, originally wanted to make a confession, but now she doesn't seem to appreciate it.

For a while, the money steward didn't know whether to leave or stay, so he had to stand in place in embarrassment.

"Go ahead." Finally, Xiao Xiwei's voice sounded again.

"Yes, the little one is gone." Steward Qian hurriedly turned around and walked out.

Xiao Xi bent down slightly and put down the ball in his arms.

"Miss, don't say it, just a few days ago, the second girl in the kitchen also told me that he saw the Cuizhu ghost going out of the house with a bag of things in pieces. Do you think the third aunt is in a hurry to use the money? Biyun leaned into Xiao Xiwei's ear and whispered.

Xiao Xi raised his eyebrows slightly, "You are so curious, why don't you go to Luoyuxuan and ask the third aunt in person?" ”

Biyun stuck out his tongue, "Miss, you treat me as a fool!" ”

Xiao Xi smiled and turned his face to look at Hongyu, "Hongyu, you can inquire and see who the people around the third aunt have been connecting with recently." ”

The third aunt is a concubine who lives deep in the back house, and there is a monthly allowance for food and clothing, and it is difficult to have the opportunity to go out on weekdays, even if you really need to buy something, there is a monthly amount of silver, how can you use it to let Cuizhu sneak out and run to the pawnshop to do something? Unless it's because of her brother Qian Xiao. Now that the Lantern Festival has passed, it won't be long before the spring festival once every three years, is it possible that the third aunt wants to make up money to pave the way for Qian Xiao? But now that there is still a period of time before the end of the spring, she doesn't have to be in such a hurry even if she wants to make up money, right?

In the next few days, Xiao Xiwei went through the accounts sent from each room in the house, and all other matters were pushed to Xiao Xichun and Aunt Zhou. She was happy to be idle, and played with the ball in the yard every day.

Maybe Qiuqiu is used to Xiao Xiwei's taste, and treats her as his mother, as soon as he sees Xiao Xiwei, he rolls around and sells all kinds of cuteness and begs for goodness, Xiao Xiwei takes a step and wagged his tail behind him, Xiao Xiwei stops and it stops, and looks at a room of girls laughing happily.

On this day, Xiao Xiweiyi took a flower ball and teased Qiuqiu in the house, she threw the ball out, and Qiuqiu quickly ran over and took it back, so back and forth several times, one person and one tiger had a lot of fun. Suddenly, a girl outside hurriedly walked in and said that Aunt Zhou had invited the second lady to Luoyuxuan.

Xiao Xi smiled, picked up the hydrangea on the ground and threw it in the palm of his hand a few times.

It seems that Aunt Zhou has already moved.

Luoyu Xuan is not far from Shuying Xuan, passing through a garden, then walking through the two-person corridor, and then turning a corner.

In the Falling Rain Pavilion, the third aunt stood aside with a panicked expression, while Aunt Zhou sat on a rosewood chair. Seeing Xiao Xiwei coming in, Aunt Zhou hurriedly held the girl's hand and stood up and saluted her, "The concubine has seen the second lady." ”

"Auntie's body is heavy, so these gifts will be waived." Xiao Xi smiled and reached out to touch Aunt Zhou.

"Look at what the second lady said, how can the concubine be such a person who doesn't know the severity. What's more, it's only been more than four months now, and you can't even give a gift to any delicate person. Aunt Zhou said with a smile.

Xiao Xi smiled slightly at Aunt Zhou, "I don't know why Aunt asked me to come over?" ”

"It's not a big deal. The lord and the young lady trusted the concubine to hand over the treasury to the concubine to take care of, and the concubine took some things in the treasury to change them in order to add some joy to the house. No, after the New Year, the concubine thought that some things were fragile, so she wanted to put them back again, but she didn't think about it, but she found that the third aunt's yard seemed to be missing something. Aunt Zhou said with a smile.

Xiao Xi glanced sideways at the third aunt.

The third aunt's pretty face was snow-white, and she clenched her teeth and didn't snort.

"Aunt Zhou, do you know what's missing?" Xiao Xi said slightly.

"A small ornament of red coral, and a blue and white plum branch vase from the previous dynasty, are actually not valuable things, but the third aunt insisted that this thing was accidentally broken by her. The concubine thought, since it was broken, there must be some fragments or something, but the aunt only said that she threw the thing away, and asked her where she threw it, but she said she didn't know......" Speaking of this, Aunt Zhou sighed, "Actually, it's not that the concubine doesn't believe in the third aunt, it's just that since this thing has entered the account book of the treasury, the concubine has the responsibility to figure things out, otherwise she will live up to the trust of the lord and the young lady." Second Miss, do you think this is the reason? ”

Xiao Xi smiled and turned her face to look at the third aunt, "Third aunt, since Aunt Zhou said so, then you tell her where the pieces were?" ”

The third aunt took a deep breath, gritted her teeth hard, and said hard at Xiao Xiwei's eyes, "I said that the thing was accidentally broken by me, if the second lady wants to blame the blame, blame the blame, in short, I can't take the thing." ”

"The third aunt doesn't know where the things are? Doesn't anyone around you know? Xiao Xiwei's gaze moved slowly, and finally landed on Cuizhu beside the third aunt.

Cuizhu's body trembled, and she hurriedly lowered her head, "The slave doesn't know either." ”

"Isn't there any one of you who knows?" Aunt Zhou stood beside Xiao Xiwei and swept around Luo Yuxuan's girl.

All the girls bowed their heads and were silent.

Aunt Zhou smiled, "This is weird, since it was broken, someone should clean it up!" You don't know one by one, is it difficult or is it impossible for someone from outside to run in and clean up? ”

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

Aunt Zhou smiled, "Actually, those things were not broken by the third aunt, but pawned by someone!" ”

The third aunt's face changed, she gritted her teeth, and her body shook unconsciously.

"The concubine body is also an occasional discussion, saying that there are rumors outside that our loyal and brave Houfu is in urgent need of silver, so people go to the pawnshop to make a lot of jewelry objects. At first, the concubine thought it was a misinformation from others, but after listening to it a few times, she felt that if there was really such a thing, wouldn't it affect the reputation of our Houfu, so I thought of such a way to count whether there was anything missing in the mansion, but it was such a coincidence, there was no shortage in other courtyards, and there was a lack of ...... in the third aunt's house" Aunt Zhou said with a smile.

As soon as Aunt Zhou finished speaking, the third aunt staggered for a while, and she barely stood firm by holding Cuizhu's hand.

"Third aunt, do you really take those things?" Xiao Xi stared at the third aunt with sideways eyes and said coldly.

The third aunt raised her head, she glanced at Xiao Xiwei and then at Aunt Zhou, gritted her teeth, stood up straight, and said to the eyes of the two, "Didn't you already know, since this is the case, what else do you ask!" ”

"My aunt has been married into the Houfu for so many years, and she has always been strict in following the rules, how could she suddenly pawn things for no reason? Is my aunt short of money? Xiao Xi raised his eyebrows slightly.

The third aunt bit her lip and looked at Xiao Xiwei coldly without speaking.

"The second lady doesn't know, the third aunt is not short of money, and it is the third aunt's brother who is short of money." Aunt Zhou answered unhurriedly behind her.

"I deserve it! If you want to find me, don't talk about what you don't have. The third aunt coldly cut off Aunt Zhou's words and said.