This was the bracelet she had extorted from him earlier. Shen Qiyuan had casually bought one.

He held it in his hand, still wanting to lecture her a bit about how excessive material desires could corrupt one’s character, about how randomly extorting things from people was truly improper, and how such behavior could happen once but not again.

But before he could speak, Ruyi took the box from him.

A brilliant shade of sky blue, with flowing light like water, naturally perfect.

Her eyes suddenly brightened, joy spilling from her brows and the corners of her mouth: “What a beautiful thing.”

Her slender fingers picked it up to examine it against the light from outside. There wasn’t a single crack or flaw on the bracelet band—it almost seemed to merge with the color of the sky. When she slipped it onto her wrist, her snow-white skin made the color appear even more exquisitely clear.

She looked toward him, her elongated eyes holding a triumphant, mischievous smile: “Thank you, sir.”

Shen Qiyuan swallowed back what he was about to say.

It was just a bracelet. He thought, watching her particularly lively expression. What harm was there if she was a bit greedy?

Seeing her happiness, Shen Qiyuan carefully chose his words: “During the days you were unconscious, I found Jian Deng’s body.”

He paused, lowering his eyelashes: “I’ve already had someone send her back to her hometown.”

The hand playing with the bracelet stopped. Ruyi looked up at him.

This man’s expression was normal, his posture upright: “You needn’t worry anymore. I’ve already taken care of all the burial arrangements…”

“Shen Qiyuan.” She interrupted him. “You’re not good at lying.”

His fingers clenched. Shen Qiyuan choked on his words, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Ruyi sighed and tapped his forehead with her jade-like finger: “A perfectly upright and incorruptible sir, how did you learn to fabricate stories? Fortunately, you encountered me—I don’t like to argue with you.”

His neck flushed red as he frowned and turned his head away: “How do you know I’m lying?”

“Sir is like paper from Xuanzhou—so smooth and clean that any ink spot is obvious at first glance, isn’t it?”

Glimpsing Fuman nearby, suppressing laughter as she retreated, he felt annoyed: “What nonsense are you spouting?”

Ruyi withdrew her hand and spoke seriously: “Sir Shen, I’m not a delicate flower raised in a greenhouse that can’t withstand wind or rain. Tell me directly what happened to Jian Deng.”

Shen Qiyuan lowered his eyes: “First, promise me that no matter what, you won’t force your way into the Grand Preceptor’s mansion again.”

The person before him nodded without hesitation: “Fine.”

With a soft sigh, he finally said hesitantly: “When I sent people to look, Jian Deng’s body had already been put into the crematorium.”

People of Great Qian valued returning fallen leaves to their roots and superstitiously believed that intact corpses could be reborn as humans, so cremation was generally a punishment reserved for the most heinous criminals.

Ruyi couldn’t help but laugh coldly: “Wanting to kill people while maintaining a good reputation—how is it that all the good things in this world end up in his hands?”

He listened in confusion: “What do you mean by that?”

“The wet nurse who drowned in the pond earlier was also a slave like Jian Deng, yet she had an intact corpse. Why was Jian Deng cremated—unless she was covered in wounds when she died, impossible to conceal, leaving cremation as the only way to hide the evidence.”

Servants in the household could die, but it absolutely couldn’t damage his reputation—this was Grand Preceptor Liu’s consistent thinking.

Ruyi crushed the brocade box containing the bracelet in her hand with an expressionless face.

“You promised me you wouldn’t force your way into the Grand Preceptor’s mansion,” Shen Qiyuan said.

“Don’t worry, sir. I keep my word,” she smiled without warmth. “I won’t force my way in.”

Just then, Zhao Yanning entered carrying account books.

“Boss, there are serious problems with these accounts.” He directly handed them to Ruyi. “I’m afraid you’ll lose tens of thousands of taels of silver.”

Hearing such an alarming figure, Ruyi took the account book: “Where are these losses coming from?”

“Setting aside the income for now, these expenditure figures are frighteningly inflated. Besides precious ingredients like white immortal fish, even ordinary fruits and vegetables are priced sky-high. For example, this water bamboo—Lin’an produces it abundantly, and it costs only five wen per jin at the market, yet previous purchases recorded it at five qian of silver. Then there’s rice and flour—calculated at normal prices, the boss has been overpaying by one hundred eighty taels per month.”

“But none of these are the most critical issue. The most critical is the tax money.”

He flipped to the back of the ledger and pointed to a figure.

Ruyi’s face darkened immediately upon seeing it.

He Zeyou’s handiwork—making money without paying taxes. For a large establishment with an annual income exceeding ten thousand, he dared to pay only a few taels in taxes. If the Bureau of Commerce discovered this, she’d probably be fined into bankruptcy.

What was even more infuriating was that now the only solution was to voluntarily make up these back taxes, and a rough calculation showed that for over thirty shops, she’d need to pay at least several tens of thousands of taels.

She had no intention of paying that cursed money for that unlucky wretch.

Snapping the ledger shut, Ruyi leaned against the soft pillow, hand supporting her chin, her elongated eyes narrowing slightly.

Zhao Yanning, seeing her expression, couldn’t help but lean toward Shen Qiyuan: “Why does our boss look like she’s full of scheming?”

For the first time, Shen Qiyuan felt Yanning’s words were apt.

Most women in this world were considered beautiful when proper, following the three obediences and four virtues, being well-behaved and rule-abiding. But Liu Ruyi was different; she looked most beautiful when she was being improper, her eyes full of calculation, dark and gleaming, with always a hint of mockery at the corners of her mouth, her smile carrying deeper meaning.

Who wouldn’t call her vivacious and gorgeous upon seeing her?

Realizing he was somewhat losing composure, Shen Qiyuan stood up with a sweep of his sleeve: “It’s getting late. I should return to the Ministry of Justice.”

Ruyi came back to her senses but didn’t try to keep him, only saying: “Sir has helped me so much. The day after tomorrow, please come to Huixian Tavern to try the head chef’s new dishes. It’s my treat.”

“Good.”

After Shen Qiyuan left and Zhao Yanning returned to continue examining the accounts, Ruyi sat in the room for a moment, then slowly opened her makeup box.

After a brief shower at noon, Lin’an City cleared up, and the streets suddenly became lively. Various shops hurried to show their newest samples to regular customers.

Ningyuan Marquis’ Manor had always been wealthy, and all the established shops in the city knew that, whether it was fabric or jewelry accessories, as long as they were fashionable, high-quality goods, the marquis’ manor would take them all. So that street always had the most carriages and horses.

However, on this day, what blocked the manor’s entrance wasn’t goods, but shopkeepers demanding payment.

“It’s supposed to be a noble family’s reputation, so how can they delay payment for a month and still want to return goods? I’ve already cut up that leather material—how can I return it?”

“Exactly. They used to be so generous, even giving extra reward money. Now they won’t even settle their bills. I can’t balance my books—where am I supposed to get goods?”

“Have your accounting office come out and give us an explanation. What’s this hiding about? Push us too far and we’ll go beat the Zongzheng drum. Your marquis won’t look good either.”

The discussion was loud, carrying over the courtyard walls straight into the main courtyard.

He Zeyou sat at the table, his face extremely ugly: “I told you all to stop buying. There are so many things in the storeroom—how are you lacking anything?”

Old Madam He was rather unconvinced: “We’ve always bought like this, and the manor isn’t short of silver. Why should we let others mock us for being unable to maintain appearances?”

“Exactly, big brother, hurry and have someone settle the accounts. What does it look like having them block our entrance?” Second Master He also grumbled—his newly bought horse equipment was still outside.

When these two started clamoring, the other brothers and sisters-in-law from the various branches of the household all began shouting, creating such a racket that He Zeyou’s temples throbbed.