Her dad used to do business, and continuously reminded her about the importance of managing the accounts. He also mentioned that to earn money was very difficult, to preserve it was even more difficult. Hence, if one did not manage their household accounts properly, wealth could be easily gained within a short period of time.
Looking at Xie Xuanchen’s way of living, this made him quite a prodigal son.
Mu Mintang could assure that Xie Xuanchen’s belongings had been secretly exchanged and some even stolen. Since all these years, there was no person in charge and Xie Xuanchen was too busy to care. Since the past could not be changed, Mu Mingtang would fully take control of it from now on.
The entire manor needed a thorough cost restructuring. Not only the storeroom, but other places as well. For example, the bed nets in the idle rooms that are changed every season. It could be resold at a cheaper price since it was still brand new.
This is simply a loss proposition. The responsible servant might earn a lot from the manor through selling these used items.
However, Mu Mingtang had no time to deal with these bloodsuckers. Her top priority now was to come out with a book of accounts for the treasury. For all the gold and silverware, the quantity, size, weight, pattern, source, the location and even the details of the dealer should all be recorded in the books. Otherwise, they would not be able to detect if one of the servants had secretly exchanged it with a lower quality item.
After conducting thorough checks, Mu Mingtang was surprised by Xie Xuanchen’s wealth. Not to mention the gold and silver jewelry, there were also many unique items from the palace. Some were rewards from the Emperor and some were spoils of war from killing their Emperors.
As Mu Mingtang crosschecked one by one, she was startled. How many Emperors did Xie Xuanchen kill in total?
Mu Mingtang started from yesterday’s rewards, and roughly categorized the items. Silk that were easily perishable, porcelain and jade that were fragile should be stored separately. The gold and silverwares that were bestowed to him must be recorded in detail. Mu Mingtang was thinking about the allocation of warehouse space. As more and more details appeared, she had to use another piece of paper to keep it as a special memo.
Although Mu Mingtang was looked down upon by officials such as Jiang Mingwei. However, families that do business were rich and were never short of money despite their lower social status. Father Mu got her a teacher to teach Mu Mingtang ever since she was a child. She knew how to read and write, and learnt about the Four Books and the Songs of Chu, but still could not write or compose any poetry.
After all, the sole purpose of Father Mu to hire a teacher was to teach her literacy, and no one in the family expected her to become so talented. Even Mu Mingtang herself had never thought that she would be able to cross several social levels, directly step into the official class, and even become the Empress in the end.
This was the wonders of life, no one could predict what would happen in the future. They could only do their best and not waste any time.
As things were getting more complicated, the books of accounts filled the whole table. Mu Mingtang, not wasting any second, was still wondering how to organize the register books as she ate her meal.
In the afternoon, not only was Mu Mingtang busy, but the maids were too. She kept questioning the maids, and on the other hand, recording the person in charge of the goods. Xie Xuanchen woke up dazedly. When he got up, sunlight poured into the room from the windows facing west. At that moment, the sunlight was not as strong as compared to noon and it was more of an orange shade. Through the window panes, the sunlight brightened the room, as if everything was covered with a layer of gold.
Xie Xuanchen slowly sat up, and through the divider, he saw Mu Mingtang on the arhat bed. She was leaning against the handle and holding a ledger book. Her long dress flowed down the ground, she resembled a white magnolia in a golden vase.