Eroge: I can Travel To The Ancient World

32  Corruption In Cai Family

" So, You are saying the budget increased by fifty thousand taels?" Cai Yixue's brows creased as she looked at the people before her.

" Yes. First Lady. I already made the list and you can check if there are any problems."

" Uncle Feng and Uncle Zhu, It's not that I doubt your accounting. However, You already know that we just gave two months salary to our army and guards, right?"

" Fifty thousand taels of gold are like the yearly earnings of our food businesses." Cai Yixue spoke in a light tone.

" Increasing the budget so casually, are you sure our Cai Family can afford it?"

" First lady, shouldn't we use this chance to lay off some of our guards?" Zhu Wuya, the accountant, spoke eagerly. " After all, We can…"

" No, Our family shall not make any reduction in the military." Cai Yixue cut his sentence in the middle.

" I believe there are some other ways. Besides, I feel the spending of the family somehow increased a lot in the last two years. I need to check the account books."

" First Lady, Are you sure?" Financier Feng Zituo looked at Cai Yixue as he spoke. " There is a shelf worth of account books. It might strain you both physically and mentally if you check all of them. Not to mention…Being inexperienced, you might make some mistakes."

" Thank you for your concern, Uncle Feng." Cai Yixue spoke in an expressionless voice.

" However, I would still like to check all the documents. Therefore, please open the accounting room. I want to check all of them."

" As you say, Lady Yixue."

Feng Zituo spoke as he led Cai Yixue to the accounting room.

" Hmm, What's happening here?"

Cai Yixue turned around and saw it was none other than Jia Hao. Wearing a light white robe, Jia Hao gave off a scholarly aura. However, his handsome face and perfect body proportion didn't look less than a martial artist.

" You are back?" Cai Yixue spoke in a mildly surprised tone.

" I heard you were checking the accounts books of the clan?" Jia Hao spoke in a soft voice.

" Indeed, I am checking the account books. I need to ensure that everything is seamless and without any faults."

Jia Hao looked at her and turned around, looking at Feng Zituo and Zhu Wuya.

[Name: Feng Zituo]

[ Age: 55]

[ Remark: A renowned accountant in Yan Kingdom. Currently working in the Cai Family as a finance helper. Upright and honest.

[ Recent Future Points: Five days later, he used his savings and went to the Jade Lake Pavilion to spend a night]

' Eh? Old ginger is still spicy, huh?'

Jia Hao could already guess what sort of place Jade Lake Pavilion is.

Then he looked at Zhu Wuya as he used his Sage's Divine Eyes.

[Name: Zhu Wuya]

[Age: 55] n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

[Remark: Studied arithmetic and accountancy at Yan Royal Academy. Shrewd and greedy with long life expectancy]

[Recent Future Points: Two days later he will take out 50,000 taels of gold from his secret vault to purchase a bottle of Body Strengthening Pill for his son]

' Um, wait! What?' Jia Hao felt his eyes turning wide when he saw the information about Zhu Wuya.

Cai Yixue waved her hands. " Minmin, take the elders out. I and young lord need so privacy."

" Yes, My lady."

Everyone walked out of the room, giving Jia Hao and Cia Yixue some privacy.

" You are afraid someone is embroiled in corruption and stealing money?" Jia Hao asked. After all, he had even seen corruption in the Netherworld, let alone in a mortal plane.

" En, I feel so. However, I casually checked some documents and I didn't find any faults." Cai Yixue sighed as she looked at the shelves full of accounting books.

" Not to mention, if someone among them tries to hide the corruption, do you think it's easy to find?"

" Indeed."

Jia Hao sighed as he also looked at the stacks of accounting books.

In ancient times, education wasn't prominent. Everything was documented in written copies. Therefore, if a scholar wanted to deceive the masses, they could easily do so.

Not to mention, just finding mistakes in this sea of account books would take at least a month. And Jia Hao doubted if Cai Yixue had that much free time.

" I know you are a master scholar. After all, solving those mathematical questions in the marriage examination wasn't easy." Cai Yixue looked at Jia Hao as she spoke.

" Would you help me?"

" Well…"

Jia Hao rubbed under his nose. " Even if I use all my brain, checking them in a short amount of time is not possible."

" Hmm…" Cai Yixue sighed in frustration,

" However, I would like to ask you something." Jia Hao asked. " How much salary do they get?"

" Them? Feng Zituo and Zhu Wuya both get 200 taels of gold every year."

Jia Hao almost spat when he heard that. However, thinking about the majority of the normal public who uses silver in day to day life, two hundred taels of gold per year is a very good salary for an accountant in an aristocratic family.

" So…Do you think it's easy for them to casually whip out fifty thousand taels of gold to buy a Body Strengthening Pill?"

Cai Yixue's eyes narrowed when she heard that. " I won't say it's not impossible. But it's like spending their lifetime worth of savings on the medicinal pill."

" Not to mention, without enough connections, you can't get your hand on such a medicine."

" Interesting." Jia Hao chuckled.

" Does the account book are all double checked by both Feng Zituo and Zhu Wuya?"

" No, Both of them oversee different departments." Cai Yixue explained.

" Feng Zituo was invited by my elder uncle. He is honest and looks after the internal budget of the Cai Family, along with the expenditure of the army."

" Zhu Wuya, on the other hand, is in charge of external expenditure. All the purchasing materials for Fragrant Medicine Store, Two Food Shops, Army materials, and others were handled by him."

" Haha… I guess you guys really gave the key of treasury to the thief."

 Jia Hao smiled wryly.

" What do you mean?" Cai Yixue wasn't dumb as she could catch clues from Jia Hao's words. " You mean… Zhu Wuya is the one behind corruption?"

" I just want to ask another thing." Jia Hao didn't answer instantly. " Do they keep their account book separate?"

" Yes." Cai Yixue nodded.

" Then, Let's start checking the account books signed by Zhu Wuya."

Cai Yixue was stunned. However, looking at Jia Hao's confident demeanor, she felt a glimpse of hope in her heart.

Walking to the shelf, she sat down, sorting out the account books signed by Zhu Wuya.

11:30

Jia Hao also sat beside her as he helped her. For a few moments, the room was only filled with the sound of wind and the flipping of papers.

" Do you want to talk about some-"

" You have something to say-"

Both of them spoke simultaneously, looking at each other with surprise.

" You go…"

" No, you say first."

Jia Hao couldn't help but chortle when he heard that. Cai Yixue took a deep breath as she focused herself on the account books.

" I mean…We have been married. And…You didn't say anything about it after the marriage."

" What should I say?"

 Jia Hao gave a faint smile. " Hmm, does Miss like a romantic person?"

" No-Not that." Cai Yixue stammered. " I… You didn't ask me anything about my duties as a wife."

" Nor did you ask me for my duties as a husband."

Jia Hao spoke. " Miss Cai, we both know that this marriage was just born out of necessity. Therefore, we aren't obliged to each other, right?"

" Is that so?" Cai Yixue looked at Jia Hao. " Would you have said the same thing if you had married Lingzhi?"

Jia Hao became alarmed when he heard that.

 ' Did she notice?' He thought inwardly.

" I wonder." Jia Hao didn't lie either.

" Miss Yixue's personality is a bit colder. Especially towards love interests."

" It's because of my personal reasons. It's nothing to do with you." Cai Yixue spoke.

" Well then, Does Miss give me permission to pursue her love?" Jia Hao's smile brightened.

" I… You are already my husband so…"

 Cai Yixue turned around and threw an account book to the side, picking up a new one."

" Very well, Wife."

Cai Yixue's body shivered when she heard Jia Hao calling her 'Wife'.

" Hummm… You better check those account books properly." Cai Yixue spoke in a humming voice.

" No need. Takes these books. I have marked the area with problems." Jia Hao chuckled as he passed a few account books to Cai Yixue.

[ Account book of Ninth month, Year XX. Written by Zhu Wuya, Calculation error by 1000 Taels]

[ Account book of Seventh mon, Year XX. Written by Zhu Wuya. Calculation error by 4000 Taels]

Of course, Zhu Wuya was very shrewd. He didn't take money every month. However, the month he took money, it would be a large sum.

Not to mention, he spread the extra amount of money in such a way that it's very hard for someone to notice if they aren't looking at it specifically.

However, Sage's Divine Eyes simply pointed out the account books with mistakes, saving 90% of Jia Hao's time. After that, he checked the erroneous account books thoroughly, finding the mistakes instantly.

" Yo-You…How did you find them so fast?"

Cai Yixue was stunned as she also looked at the place Jia Hao pointed at.

" What the…There are over tens of account books with errors." Cai Yixue's expression turned dark. Jia Hao took out a pencil from his Pot of Miracles and started to calculate.

" With this amount…. Huh?" Jia Hao's eyes turned wide when he saw that.

" No way… Are you calculating right?" Cai Yixue leaned forward as she looked at Jia Hao's calculations.

" Haha, I know it's hard to believe. But… It's true." Jia Hao nodded.

" He stole over 200,000 taels of gold."