Chapter 658: Chapter 660: Accountant

As the sturdy-looking driver came in, the six guards were already seated, rapidly flipping through the account books.

Everyone sighed inwardly. Casually flipping through the pages like that, without even using an abacus? It didn’t look like they were examining account books at all—more like they were just fooling around.

Liu Xuan stroked his beard and chuckled. "Mr. Gu, you truly have many capable people under your command. I have had tea prepared; we can chat while we wait."

Gu Wenheng motioned for the newly arrived driver to join the others, then walked toward the seat Liu Xuan had indicated. "Excellent. I was also hoping to ask you, Mr. Liu, about the local culture and customs."

"Of course..."

Liu Xuan then noticed that the men auditing the books were all holding pens and had begun making marks in the ledgers.

"Mr. Gu, these inspectorate ledgers cannot be damaged. If they are, neither of us will be able to make a proper report."

Gu Wenheng glanced over and called to Ming Xiang, "What’s going on? Why have you started marking the books so soon?"

Ming Xiang replied, "My Lord, I’ve already found several errors. I’ve marked them to make cross-referencing easier."

"You haven’t even used an abacus. How can you claim there’s a problem with the ledgers?" Liu Xuan said, his face cold. "This is no place for you to be making trouble."

Gu Wenheng ignored him. Instead, he took the ledger from Ming Xiang, glanced at the spots he had marked, and turned to Liu Xuan with a smile. "My guard here isn’t spouting nonsense. While his accounting skills aren’t the most outstanding among my men, he is quite competent.

"Take a look, Mr. Liu. The errors are all marked. If you don’t believe me, have someone re-audit it."

"How is that possible? If you’re just making things up, watch out, or I’ll have you charged with disrupting official business."

Ming Xiang said respectfully, "If you don’t believe me, my lord, please have it checked. If I have truly made a mistake, I am willing to accept the punishment."

Liu Xuan summoned his secretary. "Go and verify this."

The secretary clacked away on an abacus for a good while. "My Lord, this young man made no mistake."

’He wanted to just declare that the other man was wrong, but facts speak louder than words. Besides, several people were watching him calculate, making it impossible to lie.’

Liu Xuan gave a dry laugh. "Perhaps my subordinates muddled the books. It seems I misunderstood this young man."

Gu Wenheng took a sip of his tea and said to Ming Xiang, "All of you, pick up the pace. This speed is unacceptable."

Ming Xiang scratched his head and grinned sheepishly. "My Lord, you know I’m much better with swords and spears. I have the least patience for dealing with all these numbers.

"My speed can’t compare to the accountants back at the manor. You really can’t blame me."

Gu Wenheng chided him with a laugh. "In the time you’ve wasted bantering with me, you could have finished two more ledgers. Now, hurry up. We’ve been traveling for days. Even if you aren’t tired, I am."

Ming Xiang gave everyone a bashful smile before turning to rejoin the accounting team.

Everyone: "..."

Liu Xuan: "...Mr. Gu, you truly do have many capable people."

Even the driver who had just been called in was flipping through pages at a speed no slower than the guards.

In fact, he had already finished auditing one ledger. He folded down the corners of the pages with errors, set the book aside, and said, "Master, this ledger is done. I have marked all the discrepancies. Please have them verified."

Everyone: "..." ’Since when did a driver need to have the skills of an accountant?’

Gu Wenheng had the secretary continue his work and said with a smile, "See if my men are fabricating anything. If they’ve made mistakes in their calculations, I will be sure to punish them."

The secretary’s expression grew increasingly grim. Even though he wasn’t a professional accountant, he could still verify the calculations for the entries they had marked.

Looking at the crowd of onlookers, he simply shoved a ledger with marked errors into each of their hands. "Don’t just stand there idly," he said. "All of you, help check these."

Liu Xuan’s expression turned uglier by the second. When he saw everyone actually starting to verify the accounts, he flicked his sleeves and shot to his feet. "How could there be so many problems with these ledgers? This is just amateurs trying to find fault! Mr. Gu, you’d better control your men and find a professional accountant to do this!"

Gu Wenheng sat up straight. "This should let you know, Mr. Liu, that your average accountant truly can’t compare to my men.

"If you don’t believe me, Mr. Liu, wasn’t there talk of an old accountant here? Have him come out. We can have a little competition."

Liu Xuan’s face was grim. "What a display of authority, Mr. Gu. You’ve only just arrived and you’re already auditing the books. What are your intentions?"

Gu Wenheng looked at him in feigned surprise. "Mr. Liu, I am simply following procedure. During a handover, auditing the accounts and transferring official duties is required.

"And since they’re auditing the accounts right now, I must trouble you to proceed with the official handover."

Liu Xuan: "..."

’He wanted to refuse, but with so many people watching, he had to save face. He had no choice but to order his personal attendant to bring everything out.’

’The subordinates present all exchanged glances. They had thought this Mr. Gu would be the one in trouble for arriving before his official appointment. Now, it looked like the tables were about to turn.’

As the guards tossed the ledgers to them one by one, the faces of the local staff grew increasingly grave.

’The main reason was that these men were just too incredible. Everything was marked with such clarity that even they, who weren’t accountants, could understand the issues perfectly.’

Just as the audit was drawing to a close, the old accountant finally sauntered in. His hands trembled when he saw how many errors had been discovered.

’Although he hadn’t prepared these books himself, he still drew a salary for his role. If this were to be investigated, he wouldn’t be able to escape responsibility.’

"Where is Xiao Accountant?" The old accountant scanned the room. That man was Mr. Liu’s confidant and the chief accountant, the one always responsible for these ledgers.

"Xiao Accountant has already left," the secretary whispered in his ear. The two were on friendly terms, and the secretary knew how serious this matter was.

"The handover isn’t even finished, and Mr. Liu is still here! How could he just leave?"

Seeing that no one was paying them any mind, the secretary warned him again, "It looks like Mr. Liu is in deep trouble this time. Sir, you need to prepare yourself."

The old accountant thought, ’If I had known, I would have resigned two years ago. To think I’d get dragged down into this anyway.’

"Thank you for the warning," he said. "When the two lords have finished their business, I’ll bring up the matter of Xiao Accountant."

’He had been sidelined with unimportant, trivial ledgers for some time. If they thought he was going to be the scapegoat for this, they had another thing coming.’

’With both lords here now, this might be his only chance.’

He waited quietly to one side, watching the speed at which the young men flew through the ledgers. He was inwardly astonished. ’When did auditing become this fast?’

To his amazement, before the two lords had even concluded their discussion, the entire pile of ledgers, spanning several years, had been completely audited.

He then saw the young men gather together, each holding a sheet of paper, scribbling and making calculations. Before the onlookers could figure out what they were doing, the one called Ming Xiang had already stepped forward to report, "My Lord, we have calculated the total of all discrepancies."

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