Unlimited estates for rural beauty-Chapter 519 The Forgotten Monarch of Bliss (4)

"Now... now? But it’s already very late, and the account books aren’t going anywhere. You should look at them tomorrow!" Feng Xi really didn’t know which nerve his sister was acting on. She suddenly wanted to see the account books.

"I have urgent matters to attend to. Hurry and lead us there!" She dragged her older brother out of the study. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

With a stiff smile, Feng Xi walked ahead, leading his sister and brother-in-law through the darkness to the account room. Looking at the locked door, Feng Xuxu waved her hand lightly, and the lock fell off with a clink. Pushing open the door, the pitch-black room lit up instantly as Feng Xuxu, utilizing the darkness, went invisible into space and brought out a massive Luminous Pearl.

"This thing is brighter than candlelight!" Feng Xi said with a grin, looking at the glowing Luminous Pearl in his sister’s hand.

Feng Xuxu, who was only focused on finding the grain ledger, heard her brother’s comment and casually replied, "I’ll give you this Luminous Pearl to use as candlelight."

Feng Xi was taken aback, then burst into laughter, "No need. Such a fine thing would be wasted here. Besides, I still feel more comfortable using candlelight. It’s less likely to get lost."

Stepping forward, he picked out two from a pile of boxes: "This one is from last year, and this one is from the year before."

Feng Xuxu tore off the seals her brother had put on himself, grabbed the top ledger, glanced at it, and saw the records of how much rice someone had bought on a particular day. With a ’snap’, she closed the book: "This is what I was looking for."

Dugu Chen nodded, "Guards, move all the ledgers from these two boxes to the study."

Xuan Yue flashed into the room, lifted the boxes off the ground, and flew out, returning shortly after to carry away the other box as well.

Feng Xuxu and Dugu Chen followed closely behind, while Feng Xi picked up the lock on the ground, then discarded it. It seemed he would have to ask the butler to buy a new lock tomorrow. After securing the account room’s door, he followed his sister back to the study.

Feng Xuxu called over her maids, and Dugu Chen summoned several guards. The initially not-so-large study quickly became crowded.

"You all see these ledgers, right? Now, take note of every person who has bought more than a hundred thousand jin of rice, including the date and month, understood?"

"Understood."

"Good, begin."

Seated in chairs, Feng Xuxu and Dugu Chen also began diligently flipping through the ledgers, while Feng Xi, seeing he had nothing to do and watching them all engrossed in their tasks, found a spot, took a ledger in one hand and a pen in the other, and slowly started to take notes.

The next day, just as dawn broke, the people in the room finally finished with half a box of ledgers. Feng Xuxu saw that there was still a box and a half left, so they needed a better method. In the end, they redistributed the work, pairing up. One would read aloud, and the other would write. This way, their efficiency was greatly improved. After a hasty lunch, they continued working and finally finished just before the evening.

Feng Xuxu opened her weary eyes, looked at the names that had been lined up, and smiled joyfully.

"My lord, go check which of these are real people and which are ghosts."

"Alright, you go get some sleep." Dugu Chen took the list, then carried Feng Xuxu back to their room. Only after watching his wife fall asleep did he stand up and leave.

Without waking until the next day, Feng Xuxu slept soundly.

Yueyue lay by her mother’s bedside, gazing at her still-sleeping mother, and turned her head to quietly ask Qiqi, "Brother, what’s happened to mother?"

"Tired," Qiqi picked at his nose, whispering back to his sister as their mother seemed about to wake up.

"Oh, I didn’t see Mother all day yesterday." Yueyue pouted sadly.

Qiqi snorted, "When you ran away, didn’t you also go days without seeing Mother?"

"That’s different." Yueyue’s voice got a little louder as she turned and glared at her brother.

"Shh, shh, Mother is still sleeping. Keep your voice down." Qiqi moved forward to cover his sister’s mouth.

Feng Xuxu opened her groggy eyes, furrowed her brow slightly, and looked at the two little heads by her bed, both watching her nervously. Stretching out her hand, she rubbed their heads, "Why are you guys here?"

"Mother, I didn’t see you at all yesterday, and I missed you so much." Yueyue, acting spoiled, took off her shoes and climbed into bed to lie in her mother’s arms.

Watching his sister cling to their mother, Qiqi felt disdain, pursed his lips, and stood firmly by their mother’s bedside.

Dugu Chen entered the bedroom, carrying a bowl of pork porridge that had simmered for a long time, and saw that both his son and daughter were present. Without a word, he raised his eyebrows and looked unfriendly at them, "Did you two wake your mother?" He placed the porridge on the bedside table.

"No, Daddy, it really wasn’t us who woke her up," Yueyue quickly shook her tiny head, afraid of her father’s authority.

"Father, you don’t have to look at me. Even mischievous Yueyue didn’t wake Mother, and I’m well-behaved, so it’s even less likely to be me," Qiqi waved his hands and quickly spoke up as his father’s gaze shifted toward him. He wouldn’t want his father to think he had woken up his mother; that would mean he would be doomed to rigorous martial training, and his leisure time would vanish forever.