Mo Qian suddenly opened the ledger in front of him, folded the corners of the pages that matched each other, and then divided them into three stacks in the order they were nested.Mo Qian put these three ledgers on the floor by the wall.Huang Qing watched Mo Qian's movements, doubt in his eyes, and said, "Have you already gone through the ledger?"Mo Qian looked back and laughed. "After checking everything that needed checking, I finally set it aside."Huang Qing looked at Mo Qian's smile, nodded, and felt that what Mo Qian said made sense.Moreover, Mo Qian had checked over thirty ledgers, but Huang Qing had never once seen him take notes or use an abacus to verify the calculations.If he wasn't actually checking them, then reading through more than thirty ledgers and simply closing them again made no sense as "checking accounts."Although Huang Qing was puzzled, he trusted that the higher-ups knew what they were doing. Mo Qian and Xiao Yu were the ones sent to check the accounts of

As Mo Qian walked, he mulled over what Xiao Yu had told him about the two Xu brothers.For such a major event as his eldest son's wedding, Xu Fuxian had deliberately excluded his own brother from the invitations. This clearly showed how deep the rift between them had grown.Was it truly just because Xu Shouxian made money on the side without including his brother that the two had become estranged?Mo Qian didn't think so.Xu Shouxian should have treated his brother well. After all, as general accountant, deeply trusted by Ruan Fengshan, and having held the position for decades, he had still tolerated keeping his estranged brother on as a section head beneath him, entrusting him with a significant number of accounts. This suggested that, deep down, Xu Shouxian still cared about this brother.From his audit, Mo Qian knew the accounts Xu Fuxian managed were not small. If he'd wanted to skim off the top even slightly, he could have made considerable money. Yet his accounts were spotless.

The night before, Mo Qian had asked Xiao Yu to invite Ruan Fengshan here first thing this morning.Piecing this together, Wang De'an said with a strained smile, "There's a spare key to the document library in General Accountant Xu's office. I'll go fetch it, and Master Mo can head inside—no need to sit out here at the door."Mo Qian glanced at him and said firmly, "No need. No one is to enter this document library until the shopkeeper arrives today!"Wang De'an's expression shifted at once. Even someone as slow to catch on as him could sense the danger in those words.He didn't argue further and simply turned to leave.After all, none of them practiced martial arts in the account office—as long as Mo Qian sat there, who among them could possibly force their way past him into the library?Wang De'an hurried straight toward Xu Shouxian's room, only to find the door still locked. Clearly, Xu Shouxian hadn't arrived yet. Growing anxious, Wang De'an rushed out through the east corridor and

"At the end of the day, Mo Qian is nothing more than an escort. Yet here he is, blocking the door with a lock!""Who gave him such authority?" Xu Shouxian demanded, practically spitting with anger, flecks of spittle landing on Luan Bao's face.Luan Bao wiped his face and found himself agreeing with Xu Shouxian's reasoning.He looked toward Mo Qian, seated at the library entrance, and called out, "Mo Qian, did you hear what General Accountant Xu said? Open the door!"Hearing Luan Bao's voice, Mo Qian's heart skipped nervously—he wondered if something had happened to Xiao Yu. Why hadn't she arrived yet?Lost in thought, he barely registered Luan Bao's words at all.Seeing Mo Qian ignore him entirely, Luan Bao grew furious. He stepped forward and shouted, "Mo Qian, what exactly do you think you're doing?"Mo Qian looked up, regarding Luan Bao with obvious impatience.Luan Bao, the son of Luan Jingfu, came from a respectable background and possessed considerable martial talent of his own.

The instant their eyes met, the raw killing intent radiating from Ruan Fengshan seemed to pierce straight through him.Xu Shouxian shuddered violently and nearly stumbled backward.Standing behind him, Wang De'an and Zhu Shicheng both felt their knees buckle, equally shaken.Only Xu Fuxian, standing apart at a distance of some three steps, remained calm and composed. He watched his brother tremble like a leaf caught in frost, complicated emotions surfacing in his eyes."Luan Bao!" Ruan Fengshan suddenly bellowed, the sound shaking the very roof tiles.Luan Bao rushed to the library entrance and clasped his fists. "Shopkeeper!""Have the men you brought surround the backyard account office. No one enters or leaves without my permission!""Understood!" Luan Bao turned and strode away swiftly.Ruan Fengshan turned back to Xu Shouxian. Seeing the man's naked terror, he felt an odd sense of disorientation, as though he barely recognized him anymore.The arrogance that had always defined Xu