“What’s with all the packed pastries and wine on this bill?”

“Over a hundred jars of fine wine taken at once—who in this household drinks that much?”

Fu Zhang held the itemized list and turned to the Old Madam and Yao Suyi. “Check it carefully. Any discrepancies?”

Yao Suyi, Zhao Hu, and Steward Bai went through the list line by line. Every entry matched perfectly.

“Where did all this wine and pastry go?”

Yao Suyi, flustered, stammered, “I—I gave them to the noblewomen to maintain good relations… it’s customary to exchange gifts…”

Fu Zhang saw her clutching her sleeve, tears brimming, and his temple throbbed with anger. “We’re the dignified Prime Minister’s residence. Shouldn’t they be currying favor with you? Why are you groveling to give them gifts?”

“They… they look down on our household…” Yao Suyi trembled. “So all this was spent by us?”

“Yes.”

“But wasn’t it charged to the Princess’s account? Why are we being asked to repay it?”

The Old Madam didn’t hesitate. She jabbed her cane against the floor and said, “Why should she demand repayment? If we hadn’t been able to charge it to her, we wouldn’t have consumed so much!”

The two women began cursing Liang Youyi without restraint. Fu Hechen’s forehead veins were already bulging. With a loud crack, he smashed a bowl, eyes red, shot them a resentful glare, and stormed back to his courtyard.

“Chen’er, what’s wrong?” Yao Suyi chased after him.

Fu Hechen’s mind flashed with Princess Yunshang’s radiant face—and the contempt in her eyes today. The whole world suddenly felt unbearable. He slammed the door shut and shouted, “Leave me alone!”

Fu Zhang’s brows furrowed deeply. His heart was unsettled. How had Liang Youyi changed so much? She used to be so accommodating—whatever he wanted, she gave without hesitation. She even went to the palace to curry favor with the Empress Dowager to help him rise in rank.

Now, she held herself aloof. He couldn’t even get close enough to speak to her. And yet he was the exalted Prime Minister, while Princess Yunshang was merely a woman of the inner court who depended on him. Why was it that without her support, everything in the residence was falling apart?

But the Prime Minister’s residence’s misfortunes seemed unstoppable now.

The next morning, Yao Suyi’s second son, Fu Nankai, took a group of classmates from Donglu Academy to Rongbaozhai to buy brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, just as they always did.

Rongbaozhai was a decades-old shop in the capital. Ten years ago, it changed ownership, and business has only improved since. In addition to selling the Four Treasures of the Study, it also dealt in rare books, calligraphy, paintings, and woodblock prints.

Its clientele was high-end—most of the brushes and ink used by aristocrats and officials came from Rongbaozhai. Even Fu Zhang himself and the four children in his household used their supplies.

Originally, Rongbaozhai had offered Princess Yunshang a half-price discount out of gratitude for a favor. Fu Zhang, as her fiancé, had taken advantage of this and shopped at half price too.

The discount was enormous.

Fu Nankai’s classmates had often followed him there to buy supplies at half the price of other shops, and they could even buy on credit when money was tight.

With the New Year approaching, even more classmates came along this time.

“Shopkeeper, I’ll take thirty packs of Lianshi paper.”

“I want twenty packs of embossed paper.”

“Ten tubes of Xiwen ink.”

“Some sheep-brain stationery…”

The shop assistant’s face darkened. What was this—an entire group coming to stock up?

Did they think Rongbaozhai was a charity?

He asked them to wait and went to the back to find Manager Shen Yu.

“Manager Shen, the Prime Minister’s second son is here again. This time, he brought over twenty people. Each one is ordering more than ten packs of premium paper.”

“What else?”

“Rare editions, deluxe copies of the Four Books and Five Classics, and pens—Xiwen, Luomu, Yehuang, Changxu…”

All top-tier pens and paper, rare books.

Manager Shen sneered. “It’s nearly New Year. They’re using these as gifts, clearly. Officials are the worst—too embarrassed to come fleece us themselves, so they send their kids.”

“What ten-year-old needs such fine stationery?”

He added, “Didn’t we already compile five years of their purchase records? Perfect. Have them sign for it.”

Princess Yunshang had ordered all discounts for the Prime Minister’s residence to be revoked. If they had no shame, then it was time to settle accounts.

The assistant followed orders, brought out the five-year ledger, and asked Fu Nankai and his classmates to sign.

“Gentlemen, we’re closing our books for the year. Please check the totals. If they’re correct, sign. If not, point out the errors.”

The boys, all around ten years old, had servants with them to verify the records. Everything matched, and they signed.

Each receipt had Fu Nankai’s name, since he’d brought the group.

Fu Nankai didn’t think much of it and signed readily.

Once the signing was done, Manager Shen came out and said bluntly, “Those who pay in full may leave. The rest—people and goods stay here until the silver arrives.”

He called in assistants and managers from nearby shops to help surround the group. They demanded repayment of all past credit; no one could leave otherwise.

Fu Nankai hadn’t expected Rongbaozhai to suddenly demand payment. Panicked and furious, he lost his temper. Of Yao Suyi’s four children, he had the worst temper. Without a word, he slapped an assistant across the face.

The assistant clutched his cheek, eyes brimming with tears. “Why did you hit me?”

Manager Shen saw Fu Nankai’s bully-like behavior and said, “Hit him back. Don’t indulge him!”

The assistant slapped back hard. “You’ve been freeloading for years! You think our paper and pens grow on trees? You’ve drained our shop dry!”

Right now, books, pens, and paper are extremely expensive. A deluxe edition of a book, hand-copied over six months, cost dozens of taels in labor alone. The Prime Minister’s residence had three sons studying, all using premium paper and top-tier soft brushes costing ten to dozens of taels each.

All because Princess Yunshang had once brought Fu Zhang here, and Manager Shen had sold at a loss that one time. Since then, Fu Zhang and his nephews had shamelessly taken and eaten without paying. To maintain social ties, they often brought classmates to Rongbaozhai to enjoy the discount.

In five years, the Prime Minister’s residence had racked up over 20,000 taels in debt for books and stationery. Fu Nankai’s classmates alone had accrued over 80,000 taels.

Total debt: 104,400 taels.

Rongbaozhai had been bled dry. They’d had enough!

“Let’s go to the Prime Minister’s residence and collect the debt!” Manager Shen led the assistant who was slapped on demand repayment.

Steward Bai Yan, hearing that Rongbaozhai had come to collect, tried to send them away quickly. He’d often helped the young masters settle accounts, skimming off the top. Unless Fu Zhang personally audited the records at Rongbaozhai, he’d never catch the fraud.

Fu Zhang was at court. Yao Suyi had taken her daughter Fu Sangyu to the Chisu Workshop to choose fabrics and hadn’t returned. Steward Bai took matters into his own hands.

“Drive them out!” he ordered. Servants came out with sticks.

Manager Shen refused to back down and loudly called for public judgment.

A crowd quickly gathered to watch the commotion.

The Old Madam trembled with fear and said to her maid Xi Que, “Go fetch Madam Yao immediately!”

Xi Que responded and rushed out the side gate toward Chisu Workshop.