Chapter 659: Chapter 661: Finished Counting

In the middle of handing over his official duties, Liu Xuan’s hand trembled, and he nearly dropped his private seal.

"So reckless," Ancient Wen Heng turned and barked. "Look, you nearly frightened Mr. Liu.

Since the ledgers have all been audited, there shouldn’t be any problems, right?"

Ancient Wen Heng turned and smiled at Liu Xuan. "What do you think, Mr. Liu?"

Liu Xuan was speechless. ’If there are no problems, then what was the point of flagging all those entries before?’

"Go on," Ancient Wen Heng said. "Do the ledgers and the inventory match?"

"They don’t," Ming Xiang said, handing a sheet of paper to both men. "The discrepancy is quite large. Please, take a look, sirs."

Ancient Wen Heng glanced down at the paper, then turned to Liu Xuan, his expression unchanging. "These scoundrels of mine must have really messed up the math. They’re so inept they can’t even get the figures right. How could there possibly be a discrepancy of several hundred thousand taels of Silver?

This clearly won’t do. I wonder how many accountants there are in the city. I think we should have them all brought here to conduct a full audit."

Liu Xuan’s smile became strained. "There’s no need to mobilize so many people. I’m sure Mr. Gu’s men are capable enough. The problem must lie with my previous accountant. I’ll look into it and be sure to give you an answer, Mr. Gu."

Ancient Wen Heng sighed. "People are so unreliable these days. How can there be such a massive discrepancy? Weren’t they afraid the books wouldn’t balance when they reconciled the inventory?"

As he said this, he slapped his forehead. "Look at how muddled I’ve become. We still haven’t cross-referenced the warehouse inventory.

My men happen to be idle right now. Mr. Liu, why don’t you find a few people to go with them and take a full inventory of the warehouse? That way, we can all go to dinner afterward."

The others in the room didn’t even dare to look at Liu Xuan’s expression. By this point, everyone understood the situation perfectly.

This newly appointed Mr. Gu was still here stirring up trouble, and it was becoming rather awkward for them to remain.

Just as they were thinking of finding an excuse to leave, Ancient Wen Heng turned to them and said with a smile, "Please wait a moment, everyone. I’m treating tonight, and not a single one of you can be absent."

Everyone’s expression froze. ’This guy must have seen right through us. He’s our future superior; we don’t have the courage to leave now.’

Liu Xuan’s back was already soaked with sweat by this point, but he could only brace himself and say, "Of course."

Ancient Wen Heng selected two guards. "You two, go with them. The warehouse is a secure area, after all. It wouldn’t be good to have too many people crowding in there at once."

Before Liu Xuan could pick his own men, Ancient Wen Heng conveniently pointed to a few others in the room. "I’ll trouble you gentlemen to go along as witnesses. My apologies for the extra work."

The men who were singled out were speechless. ’So we’re getting dragged into this anyway?’

They looked to Liu Xuan for help, but he couldn’t spare them a thought, his gaze lowered as he wracked his brain for a way out of this.

"But... we don’t have the key to the warehouse?" The man who said this didn’t dare to look up at Liu Xuan.

Liu Xuan pretended not to hear, and Ancient Wen Heng paid it no mind. "It’s just a lock. Smash it. I’m not short on the Silver for a new one."

At this moment, Liu Xuan was long past caring about the warehouse one way or another. He was trying to figure out how to get through this crisis.

Liu Xuan gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "Mr. Gu, my subordinates have been careless and caused you trouble.

I’ll send someone to bring the accountant back at once."

Ancient Wen Heng sighed. "This matter is simply too significant, and the deficit is too large. Otherwise, I would have just let it go.

Mr. Liu has also been implicated by his subordinates. Why don’t we take these ledgers to the governor’s mansion and have the Governor bear witness? It would be a chance to clear Mr. Liu’s name."

Liu Xuan’s fists tightened. He knew that at this point, it was impossible to just sweep the matter aside.

He took a deep breath. "This is all due to my own lax governance, which has led to this disaster. I should bear all responsibility for this. There is no need to trouble the Governor."

Ancient Wen Heng shook his head. "Mr. Liu, it’s too early to say that. The warehouse hasn’t been inventoried yet. Perhaps the accountant just made a mistake with the ledgers, and the misplaced silver is still sitting right there in the storeroom."

Liu Xuan narrowed his eyes at Ancient Wen Heng. He knew the man before him had already seen through everything. To speak like this, he must have some other, deeper meaning.

Not wanting to be led by the nose, Liu Xuan said directly, "To be frank with you, Mr. Gu, I have seen the contents of the warehouse before. There is indeed no such surplus silver."

Ancient Wen Heng looked astonished. "Well, that won’t do at all! If it were just several taels or a hundred taels, I could cover it myself. But this sum is far too large. I dare not take responsibility for such an offense.

We shouldn’t delay any longer. Let’s go find the Governor at once. Perhaps we can still recover the losses.

That accountant of yours has already left... he hasn’t fled, has he?"

At this moment, Liu Xuan couldn’t figure out what he meant by that.

The problems with these ledgers were obvious, and not something a single accountant could have covered up.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up. ’Is he suggesting that I can pin all the blame on the accountant?’

But that didn’t add up, either. Such a large sum of Silver had to have gone somewhere.

’Knowing how cunning this Gu fellow is, he wouldn’t let the accountant just be intercepted on the road.’

’If only I’d had him killed,’ he thought with regret. ’His replacement wouldn’t have been nearly this troublesome.’

The warehouse was just behind the government office. Before long, the men who had gone to take inventory returned.

Ancient Wen Heng’s expression darkened as he looked at the men who had returned. "You can’t just go through the motions. How could you be finished with such a large warehouse so quickly?"

"R-Reporting to you, sir," said Wu Haicong, who had been part of the group. He had been pushed to the front by the others and could only brace himself and speak. "There wasn’t much in the warehouse, so we finished the inventory quickly."

"How is that possible? When I took over my post in Lu City, a mere border town, it took the better part of a day to inventory its warehouse. And you expect to fob me off with a few flimsy words about the warehouse of the provincial Inspector General?"

A chill went down Wu Haicong’s spine. This Ancient Inspection Commissioner looked young, but his aura of authority was terrifying. "R-Reporting, sir, many items in the inventory do not match the records."

Ancient Wen Heng then turned to Liu Xuan, feigning complete surprise. "Mr. Liu, could there be some sort of misunderstanding?

If something is wrong, you won’t be able to answer for it."

With that, he glanced around. "This matter is far too serious. I cannot make the decision on my own. Ming Si, ride quickly and ask the Governor to come here."

Ming Si acknowledged the order, but Liu Xuan reacted faster, shouting, "Stop him!"

Ancient Wen Heng stood aside silently while Ming Xiang and a few others instantly moved to stand protectively by his side.

As for Ming Si, he didn’t hold back against the men who tried to block him. Using his swift movements, he took advantage of their momentary inaction to kick several of them aside, dash out the door, and gallop away on a horse.

Liu Xuan stared at Ancient Wen Heng, his eyes filled with venom. "Must you really force my hand, Mr. Gu?"

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