Chapter 54: The Shocked Earl! Stop Acting
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The Earl reacted immediately when he saw that Xu Wenzhao was about to hit his head on the wall.
“Please don’t do this.”
The Earl rushed forward and stopped Xu Wenzhao.
Although he knew that Xu Wenzhao was acting, the Earl had to do that, or else he would look like he was uncaring.
Xu Wenzhao took the opportunity to hug the Earl’s legs and said, “Master, I had entered the Palace of the Earl since I was a teenager and grew up under the care of your father. Nobody in the Palace of the Earl is as loyal as me.
“Master, if it is possible, I will dig my heart out to let you see if it is red or white!”
As Xu Wenzhao said that, he punched his chest and stomped his feet.
He was trying to say something obvious. “I, Xu Wenzhao, am so loyal, but I am still treated like this. Master, do you want to drive me to my death?”
“Get up, get up...” the Earl said kindly, “Wenzhao, of course, I believe that you are loyal to the Palace of the Earl of Xuanwu.”
Xu Wenzhao continued to cry while kneeling on the ground and did not have the intention to get up at all.
Of course, the Earl knew what he wanted.
“Come, go to the accountant’s room and ask the young master to get out and stop his work,” said the Earl.
Xu Wenzhao still did not get up and spoke while hugging on the Earl’s legs, “Master, if you suspect that I am not loyal or did something wrong, you can send people to search my house; that will make it clear.”
The Earl frowned.
If he said so, that would make the entire Palace of the Earl feel terrible.
Instantly, he said, “Get the young master here immediately.”
“Roger!”
The second batch of people rushed to the accountant’s room.
Xu Wenzhao was satisfied and finally got up.
The Earl was unhappy but could only comfort him.
Xu Wenzhao looked extremely appreciative but was very proud of himself.
“Shen Lang, I see that you are trying to fight with me, huh?”
Xu Wenzhao knew the Earl too well. He was smart but merciful and forgiving. He would try to make sure everything goes well for anything he does. He was forever caring about his followers’ reputation.
He would not be able to suddenly fall out with others in front of the public.
...
“Bang!”
The door of the accountant’s room was forcefully pushed open.
A middle-aged manager and four servants rushed in. They looked at Shen Lang as though he was an enemy.
“Hmph, although you are the young master of the Palace of the Earl, you are still only a live-in son-in-law. How can you match up to Master Xu? You are embarrassing yourself,” the middle-aged manager thought.
However, he appeared very respectful and bowed to Shen Lang, “Young master, the Earl has instructed you to stop whatever you are doing and leave the accountant’s room.”
Shen Lang opened his eyes and looked out.
It was already morning?
Time passed really quickly. Before he knew it, the sun had risen.
The middle-aged manager looked at Shen Lang in disdain.
Their young master was really over-ambitious. He probably would not be able to even finish looking through one booklet overnight. What a joke that he wanted to audit the accounts.
To audit the accounts, he had to at least look for dozens of professionals and take at least one or two months.
After that, the second batch of people rushed in and roared, “Young master, the Earl instructs you to head to the main hall to apologize to Xu Wenzhao immediately.”
After hearing that, the people in the room became even more arrogant.
They were the managers and staff in the accountant’s room. They were Xu Wenzhao’s followers.
Shen Lang nodded and said, “Alright, I will go now.”
Then, he took the thick stack of white paper he laid out on a table and walked to the main hall.
The middle-aged manager wanted to snatch the white paper away from Shen Lang to take a look. However, he did not dare to do so.
Moreover, what could Shen Lang find out overnight? There was nothing worth worrying about.
...
In the main hall...
The Earl sat on the central spot while Xu Wenzhao sat in the left corner.
He was thinking about the killer move that Tian Heng mentioned. He wondered what it was?
Initially, Xu Wenzhao wanted to wait after Shen Lang apologized to begin badmouthing him. However, he could no longer wait any further.
“Sir, I have something to say, but I am not sure whether I should?” Xu Wenzhao said.
The Earl said, “Speak.”
Xu Wenzhao said, “I heard some rumors in Xuanwu City that Shen Lang is actually brilliant but had been pretending to be foolish. Perhaps, he has something up his sleeves.”
When the Earl heard that, he became unhappy immediately and frowned.
Although he always punished Shen Lang, his son-in-law, he still liked him a lot.
He was a handsome, smart, and mischievous kid who was good with words. The Earl liked him a lot.
Although the Earl was a stubborn and conservative person, he liked Shen Lang’s carefreeness.
Xu Wenzhao thought he had stirred up emotions in the Earl when he frowned. Instantly, he felt motivated and continued, “Initially, Miss Mulan chose Shen Lang as her husband because he looked the most useless and least ambitious. Shen Lang is probably just acting, though.”
The Earl was even more frustrated.
“What?”
“You said Shen Lang is a scheming person?”
“Although I, Jin Zhuo, am very forgiving and easily persuaded, I am not blind.”
“Shen Lang is a scheming individual?”
“His biggest ambition was to take revenge on Tian Heng and Xu Qianqian. If that brat was a scheming individual, then I, the Earl of Xuanwu, would have the ambition of becoming the king.”
“When you are around, that’s still alright; however, when you pass away, with your son’s ability, how can he cope with Shen Lang around?” said Xu Wenzhao, “although Miss Mulan is still around, she is, after all, a female and Shen Lang’s wife. Moreover, Shen Lang is handsome and good at sweet-talking. I am afraid that he will take over the Palace of the Earl of Xuanwu.”
When he said that, Xu Wenzhao genuinely said, “Master, whenever I think about this, I feel like I’m losing my mind. That is the reason why I targeted young master Shen Lang. These are my true feelings.”
Xu Wenzhao was a person who was eager to receive benefits. He could not wait to stir the matter up immediately. However, he forgot that it was impossible to accomplish the mission in one shot.
At this moment, Shen Lang entered.
“Greetings, father-in-law.”
Usually, Shen Lang looked lazy.
However, he looked earnest now.
The Earl did not like how Xu Wenzhao tried to manipulate his thoughts and wanted to end it as soon as possible before slowly taking back his power from him.
Therefore, he said, “Shen Lang, apologize to Xu Wenzhao. After all, you are his student, and your attitude yesterday was not good.”
The Earl’s stand was obvious. He asked Shen Lang to apologize for yesterday’s attitude, not to apologize for the audit.
Therefore, it showed that he knew there was nothing wrong with Shen Lang’s audit.
However, Xu Wenzhao was overwhelmed with emotions that he could not tell. He pointed at Shen Lang and said, “Young Master Shen Lang, how did I offend you? Why are you so cunning? You wanted to audit my accounts, do you think I am a corrupt person? I am extremely upright. Heavens can prove that.”
Shen Lang did not speak and watched him act.
Xu Wenzhao increased his pitch and said, “Young Master Shen, you can’t wait to chase me out; do you have some ulterior motives?”
Then, he turned to the Earl and said, “Master, with the popular new governance, all the old generation aristocrats are afraid. The Palace of the Earl of Xuanwu is the governor’s main target. Shen Lang is taking this opportunity to stir things up and manipulate people’s feelings. We need to be wary of him and punish him!”
“So have you finally finished putting up your show?”
“Now it’s my turn!”
Shen Lang glared at him and spoke emotionlessly, “Xu Wenzhao, I thought that you would engage in corrupt practices, but I did not expect you to take so much money.
“You are merely an accountant in the Palace of the Earl, yet you have embezzled nearly 30,000 gold coins over 20 years. That is extremely shocking and unbelievable!”
Shen Lang increased his pitch and said fiercely, “Xu Wenzhao, where is your conscience? Did a dog eat it?”
30,000 gold coins!
When Xu Wenzhao heard this, he nearly jumped up.
“Lang’er, are you being serious?” The Earl stood up immediately.
His eyes widened in disbelief. He knew that Xu Wenzhao had engaged in some corrupt practices but thought that the amount would add up to less than 3000 gold coins.
However, Shen Lang said 30,000 gold coins. That was ten times more than what he had expected.
The person who was the most shocked was Xu Wenzhao.
That was because he knew the amount the best.
He was aware of every single account.
He had embezzled nearly 30,000 gold coins over the 20 years.
Therefore, his heart almost stopped when Shen Lang said 30,000.
His legs trembled.
Then, his ears began to ring.
However, he forced himself to calm down.
Shen Lang must be making a wild guess. How could he check anything overnight?
It was impossible to finish flipping through one book. It was definitely unlikely that Shen Lang would finish auditing. That would require several dozens of people to do it in a month.
“Shen Lang, you are shameless and embarrassing!” said Xu Wenzhao fiercely, “where’s the proof? Stop framing me without proof!”
Then, Xu Wenzhao knelt in front of the Earl of Xuanwu and roared, “Sir, I, Xu Wenzhao, have been loyal to the Palace of the Earl for 20 years. You should recognize my hard work. Yet Shen Lang is now accusing me of embezzlement of 30,000 gold coins; this is driving me to death. How can a live-in son-in-law be so arrogant? Once you pass away, he will definitely take over the Palace of the Earl and destroy the 100-year legacy!”
“Xu Wenzhao, I thought your fake accounts would be perfectly done. However, I did not expect so many loopholes,” Shen Lang smiled, “stop acting, you are doomed.”
Then, he laid out the papers on the table for the Earl to see clearly.
...
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