Chapter 197 Evidence
Manager Lu showed a trace of embarrassment on his face.

Ye Jiayao lowered her eyelids, picked up the teacup, and nonchalantly looked at the tea leaves floating on the water.

Manager Lu's eyes flickered, and many thoughts were running through his mind. What did the Second Young Madam mean by wanting to see the tenant farmer right after she arrived? Did she not trust him? Did she want to find out the truth?
Jiang Yue frowned and said, "Didn't you hear what the Second Young Madam said?"

Manager Lu said tactfully, "The tenant farmers live a little far away. It might take some time for them to come here. I'm afraid the Second Young Madam won't be able to wait."

"Do you all live far away?" Ye Jiayao asked.

"Not all of them. There are two households that are relatively close, only four or five miles away. Why don't we send someone over to call them?" Manager Lu said.

Ye Jiayao knew that Manager Lu was buying time for her. He had to choose the right person and explain some things.

"Okay, just call those who live nearby. I've finally come here, so I have to do something. Otherwise, when the prince asks me when he gets back, I'd be embarrassed to say that I just had a cup of tea here." Ye Jiayao joked with a smile.

Manager Lu bowed and nodded and went out to call for help.

Ye Jiayao glanced at Qiu Niang who was serving beside her and smiled gently: "How old is Qiu Niang this year?"

Qiu Niang replied: "Fifteen."

"Who else is at home?"

"My mother, I have an older brother, a younger brother, and two younger sisters."

"Do you all live on the farm?"

"It's just my brother and I who are here. Mom and my brothers and sisters live in the city."

"There is a house in the city, where is it?"

"It's the second one at the eastern end of Jiufang Lane."

Ye Jiayao said meaningfully, "With your brother helping you, your father won't have to worry too much."

"My brother doesn't know much about the things on the farm, and most of the things are taken care of by my cousin." Speaking of her cousin, Qiu Niang's face revealed the shyness of a child.

"Really? Then your cousin is quite capable. What's his name?" Ye Jiayao asked with interest.

"My cousin's name is Huang Yuan." Qiu Niang wanted to help her cousin gain the appreciation of the second young lady, so she spared no effort in speaking well of her cousin.

"So your cousin is also in charge of the accounts! He is really talented." Ye Jiayao praised meaningfully. Huang Yuan was the head of the group, the accountant, and the supervisor. It seemed that the farm was in his pocket.

Hearing the praise from the Second Young Madam, Qiu Niang's eyes sparkled with a hint of pride.

"The old accountant at my Tianshangju is old, his eyesight and brain are not very good. I am preparing to look for another accountant. Qiu Niang, bring me the account books made by your cousin. If they are good, I will let your cousin come to Tianshangju to help me." Ye Jiayao threw out a big bait.

"Is it the Tianshang Restaurant?" Qiu Niang was a little excited, with a blush on her face.

Ye Jiayao smiled and nodded, and Qiu Niang said happily: "Second Young Madam, please wait a moment, Qiu Niang will go get it right away."

Manager Bai's eyes twitched, and he thought, this Second Young Madam is quite resourceful, she managed to get the account books with just a few words.

After a while, Qiu Niang brought a thick stack of account books. Ye Jiayao flipped through them and was secretly shocked. This account book was different from the one Chunyu handed to her.

Ye Jiayao pretended to take a look and said, "I don't know much about accounts, so I'd better take them back and let the accountant in the mansion take a look." Then she handed all the account books to Manager Bai.

"Qiu Niang, why hasn't your father come back yet?" Ye Jiayao showed an impatient expression.

Qiu Niang replied: "It's only four or five miles, it will take quite some time to walk!"

Ye Jiayao said, "Then I won't wait. I thought you would be here soon. I have something to do in the mansion! Qiu Niang, tell your father that I will come again in two days."

Manager Lu and Huang Yuan were at a tenant farmer's house at the moment, giving all these instructions and what to say to the Second Young Madam when they met her. He never expected that the Second Young Madam had already left with a huge stack of account books.

When Manager Lu led his men back to the farm, they saw that the carriage parked at the door had disappeared, so they hurried in to ask. Qiu Niang said proudly, "The Second Young Madam has left. She said she would come back in two days. She also praised my cousin for his talent and wanted to invite him to manage the accounts at Tianshang Restaurant. I gave the account book made by my cousin to my Second Young Madam."

Manager Lu's face changed drastically, and Huang Yuan asked hurriedly: "Which account books did you give me?"

Qiu Niang said, "They are the ones in the cabinet. Cousin, didn't you say that those were the account books you carefully made? Since you are going to show them to the Second Young Madam, you must take the best ones."

Huang Yuan looked ashen. The accounts in the cabinet were all real. Manager Lu stumbled and fell into a chair, mumbling, "It's over, it's over..."

Huang Yuan was still clear-headed and quick to react, and asked, "How long has the Second Young Madam been gone?"

Seeing that her father and cousin looked strange, Qiu Niang didn't know what she had done wrong, so she said timidly, "It's been almost two quarters of an hour."

Huang Yuan gritted his teeth and said, "Go after them. We must get the account books back."

Manager Lu also came to his senses, stood up quickly, and led his men to chase the carriage.

But there was no way he could catch up with him. As soon as Ye Jiayao left the village, she ordered Song Qi to go at full speed, and he had already disappeared.

After returning to Tianshangju, Ye Jiayao called the accountant of the restaurant and asked him to clear up the accounts together with Manager Bai. She also asked Song Qi to send a few people to keep an eye on Manager Lu's house in Jiufang Lane. If Manager Lu tried to run away, they should arrest him.

Now she had enough evidence, and Manager Lu could not deny it. Xia Chunyu came back from his shift and changed into his regular clothes. Qiao Xi brought him some hot tea at the right time. Xia Chunyu took it and drank two sips. He found that Yaoyao was staring at him without blinking. Her expression was like a smile, but it was indescribably weird, which made him feel uneasy.

"I know I'm handsome, but could your eyes be a little more reserved?" Xia Chunyu said shamelessly.

Ye Jiayao's smile became more intense: "Chun Yu, I found that you are really a stupid ass."

Puff, Xia Chunyu almost spit out a mouthful of tea, pretending to be unhappy and said: "When people are drinking tea, can you say something nice? You will choke to death, don't you know?"

Ye Jiayao suppressed her smile and curled her lips: "Okay, then I'll say something nice, first a good news."

"I have found the problem in Zhuangzi."

Xia Chunyu looked at her in surprise: "Have you been to the farm?"

"Yes! I went there in the afternoon and gained a lot."

Xia Chunyu knew that she had put a lot of effort into the farm recently. Now that things had made some progress, he was curious and asked, "What's the reason?"

Ye Jiayao pointed at the teacup in his hand and said, "Put it down first, so you don't get excited again later."

Xia Chunyu clicked his tongue and put down the teacup as he was told.

"Let me ask you, where did you invite Manager Lu from?"

"It turned out that he was a junior manager under my previous employer. When I bought the farm, I thought he was smart and capable, and he was familiar with the tenant farmers, so I let him manage it. But now it seems that this guy is just a show-off," said Xia Chunyu.

Ye Jiayao sneered: "What are you looking at? You invite this kind of person."

Xia Chunyu said embarrassedly: "I thought it was just to hire someone to take care of daily affairs and collect rent. It's not difficult. Besides, there is not much land. The bulk of the money is on the shipping side, so I don't pay much attention to this side."

"Too much money to burn." Ye Jiayao said disdainfully, saying that there is not much land. Thirty or forty hectares is not a lot? Do you know that the livelihood of those tenant farmers and their families depends on this one acre and three mu of land? How many people can thirty or forty hectares feed?

Xia Chunyu said: "Tell me quickly, what's going on."

Ye Jiayao picked up an orange from the plate and peeled it slowly, while recounting what had happened.

"What? Cooking the books?" Xia Chunyu's face darkened and he was furious. He could forgive Manager Lu for his negligence and incompetence, but he could not tolerate someone treating him like a fool.

"This is outrageous! I will send someone to the farm to capture Manager Lu right now." Xia Chunyu shouted at Song Qi angrily.

Ye Jiayao ate the sweet orange and said vaguely, "Don't shout. I've asked Song Qi to go to Manager Lu's house to guard. Maybe Song Qi will catch the person later."

Then he handed over half a peeled orange and said, "This orange is really sweet. I heard it was grown in our farm. Try it."

Xia Chunyu was in a bad mood: "Eat it yourself."

Ye Jiayao broke off a petal and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Manager Bai is already checking the accounts. I believe there will be news soon. He must be made to vomit out whatever he has eaten. He is useless. Fortunately, there are still several months before spring plowing. Let's take it slow!" Ye Jiayao advised.

As they were talking, Song Qi came over, greeted them, and said, "Second Young Madam, you guessed it right. Manager Lu really was planning to run away, but I caught him back."

"What about Huang Yuan?"

"I have found out where Huang Yuan is. I have sent my men to capture him."

Xia Chunyu had been deceived for three years and couldn't bear it. He asked in a deep voice, "Where is the person?"

"In the outer courtyard, locked in the woodshed!"

Xia Chunyu turned to Ye Jiayao and said, "Don't wait for me for dinner. I have to take care of this traitor first."

Ye Jiayao did not stop him, but told Song Qi: "Watch out, don't let the prince get angry."

Just as Xia Chunyu went to deal with Manager Lu, Liuli was also upset.

"What do you mean we can't find someone? How can a living person just disappear like that? Didn't the servants in the mansion hear any news?" Liuli frowned.

Xiaoya said: "On the night after the wedding banquet, Zhu Wang's family disappeared, and Zhu Wang and his son were also missing. No one in the kitchen said anything, and everyone acted as if nothing had happened."

"Princess, do you think Zhu Wang's wife will betray us?" Madam Shu asked worriedly.

Liuli sneered, "Don't worry about that. I think Zhu Wang's wife herself doesn't know who ordered her. Even if Ye suspects me, without any real evidence, what can she do to me?"

"But Xiao Guizi said she wanted to invite the imperial physician..." Xiaoya hesitated.

"Does it have to be us who are going to invite the imperial physician? Ye has more than one enemy in the palace. Concubine Mei still hates her. When the secret recipe of snowy mooncakes came out last time, the emperor ignored her for several months." Liuli said disapprovingly: "This matter ends here. Let Xiao Guizi be smart and don't reveal the truth."

　I will try to update four chapters today.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)