Reborn After Widowhood

Chapter 19

The first account recorded in Qi shi‘s account book could be traced back to when she first married into the Chen family, when Chen Tingjian was already an official in the capital.

Over the past twenty years, with Chen Tingjian’s several promotions, Qi shi had received more and more tributes, and the amount of each tribute had become higher and higher.

Qi shi was a careful person, and at the end of each year, she would deliberately calculate the total income for that year.

Hua Yang was curious about how much Qi shi had embezzled at this point. She flipped through the pages very quickly, basically reading ten lines at a time, and only paused slightly when it came to large sums of money.

Chen Jingzong remained silent until Hua Yang turned to last year’s accounts and he held down the page.

Hua Yang knew he wanted to take a closer look.

No matter how ugly the quarrel between the family, he was still the son of the Chen family. This account book held significant importance, and Chen Jingzong couldn’t afford not to take it seriously.

Some of the Qi shi‘s income came from local officials, and some came from gentry merchants, under various pretexts.

Hua Yang frowned: “What these people want to bribe most is Father or your brothers. If they come to you directly, they must have been sternly rejected, so they went a roundabout way to find Qi shi. But Qi shi has no power, and she also won’t dare to speak for others to you. If nothing can be done, why do those people keep sending money to Qi shi?”

Chen Jingzong: “Qi shi is not stupid. If people ask for something immediately and she can’t do anything, she won’t dare to accept it. But some people have a long-term view and just want to establish a good relationship with the Chen family first, and then ask for help in the future. This kind, Qi shi dares to accept. The people who sent the money thought that if the money went into the Chen family, it would be equivalent to having a handle on the Chen family, and the old man would have to help cover it up in the future, so they dared to keep giving it away.

“There is another situation where someone gives money and goes out to show off their might, then others who are afraid of the Chen family will be willing to facilitate them. In this way, the money spent is worth it.”

The couple were reading while talking when suddenly, Hua Yang saw an unusual account.

[10th of Third Month. The capital sent two pieces of old ginseng. Replace the decoction with Phytolacca roots, and they were resold for three thousand taels.]
In her previous life, Hua Yang had only seen the general account of Qi shi‘s account book from Jinyiwei‘s files, and only looked at detailed entries that clearly involved official corruption. She had never heard of these two pieces of old ginseng worth three thousand taels.

Behind her, Chen Jingzong’s breathing became heavy.

Hua Yang tilted her head and saw Chen Jingzong’s gloomy expression, obviously angry.

Hua Yang looked at this line of words again and suddenly understood.

The old lady of the Chen family died of illness in the first month of this year, but she must have been sick before her death, and even lingered in sickbed for many years. Father-in-law was filial but he couldn’t go back to visit his ancestral home, so he bought two pieces of expensive ginseng from the capital and sent them over to take care of the old lady’s health. However, Chen Tingshi was useless, and everything in the ancestral home was manipulated by Qi shi. Qi shi was a black-hearted woman who only wanted money from outside. She actually replaced the old lady’s life-extending ginseng with Phytolacca roots!