Ye Lingxue originally had no intention of leaving the General’s Residence, but unfortunately, her mother was incompetent.

Not only was she violated by that disgusting man, but she also contracted a dirty disease.

During this time, she had to stay close to the Battle King while also trying to find a way to cure her mother’s illness. It was exhausting.

She was worried that her mother’s illness might be discovered, so she planned to take her mother away from the General’s Residence for now.

After Gu Tingyi returned, they would figure out how to return.

Ye Lingxue knew that as long as her mother’s illness wasn’t cured, it would be impossible for her to marry Gu Tingyi.

The mother and daughter only took two small bundles with them.

Clearly, there wasn’t much packed inside.

After all, Ye Lingxue had space, so valuable items were naturally not carried with them.

If Shen Qingwan wasn’t mistaken, most of the missing items from the General’s Residence were probably in Ye Lingxue’s space.

“Aunt, where are you going?” Shen Qingwan asked with a half-smile, looking at the two women with bundles on their backs.

Ye Lingxue stepped forward and spoke, “Cousin, my mother and I are preparing to move out. I have another house in Wutong Alley on South Street, and we will stay there for now. If you and Aunt have time, you can come visit us.”

Shen Qingwan smiled and stepped forward, “Don’t rush to leave, the accounts haven’t been settled yet.”

Ye Minghui’s pale face turned even uglier when she saw the accounts being carried by Granny Li and her people.

Ye Lingxue also knew that the General’s Residence’s accounts had been a mess for years, and they couldn’t stand close inspection.

But to her surprise, Shen Qingwan was actually going through the accounts from the past decade, one by one.

“Cousin, haven’t these accounts already been settled? Today my mother and I are leaving, and yet you still insist on holding onto this?” Ye Lingxue’s eyes reddened, looking like she had been wronged.

Shen Qingwan wasn’t fooled.

She took out the account books and began flipping through them.

The accounts only recorded where the items came from and who took them, but didn’t provide specific times or details on the items’ whereabouts.

Such bookkeeping methods couldn’t have been done without someone’s instructions. In this dynasty, inventory books were always very detailed.

Even in small businesses, the clerks and shopkeepers knew how to keep proper accounts.

The young ladies of prominent families were trained from a young age to manage accounts, so they could take charge of the household affairs when married.

But in the General’s Residence, the accounts were so sloppy.

“Cousin, don’t cry just yet. After we settle the accounts, you’ll have plenty of time to cry. Come, bring the accountants here.”

Shen Qingwan gave an order, and someone immediately went to bring them.

These people had been appointed by the old madam to serve her.

Most of the people in the General’s Residence were Ye Minghui’s supporters, so Shen Qingwan naturally wouldn’t trust them.

Today, she intended to purge the General’s Residence and carry out a thorough cleansing.

The old madam had already declared Shen Qingwan as the legitimate young lady of the General’s Residence, so even though these people weren’t familiar with her, they still felt some apprehension.

The three accountants were brought in, still confused. “Didn’t we already check the accounts? Why are we doing this again?”

The rotten accounts from the past decade couldn’t be reconciled easily.

The three of them had spent days trying to make the books balance, but now they were being asked to reconcile the accounts again.

“Miss, haven’t these accounts already been checked? Is there another reason you’ve called us here?”

The man at the front was Zhou Yong, a veteran accountant of the General’s Residence.

He had worked there for over twenty years.

His companions, Wu Laoer and Feng Cai, were promoted by Ye Minghui.

The former accountants had been dismissed by her.

Even some of the old servants and children of the house had been sold off by her under various pretexts. Except for those in the old madam’s courtyard, almost all the old staff had been dismissed, and the people left in the General’s Residence were either Ye Minghui’s supporters or those she had bribed.

Shen Qingwan threw the accounts in front of the three men, coldly saying, “Is this the account book you’ve kept for the General’s Residence? If you can’t produce the real accounts today, then don’t expect to leave the General’s Residence alive. Yunshuang, take one arm from each of them to give them time to think.”

Shen Qingwan spoke and looked toward Rong Yunshuang.

Rong Yunshuang, who had followed Shen Qingwan for a long time, understood her well and immediately stepped forward.

With one swift move, Wu Laoer’s right arm was severed and fell to the ground.

“Ah, my hand!”

Wu Laoer screamed in pain, unable to believe Shen Qingwan would actually act so ruthlessly.

The other two accountants instinctively tried to dodge.

“No! Don’t cut off my hand!” they begged.

As accountants, they relied on their hands to count the beads on the abacus. Losing an arm meant their livelihood was over.

Feng Cai was also terrified and tried to avoid it, but in the end, his right arm was also severed.

Zhou Yong, being older, had never seen such a bloody scene. Watching the two writhing in pain on the ground, he was drenched in cold sweat.

“I’ll talk, I’ll talk! Don’t cut off my arm. I have another account book,” Zhou Yong said, realizing that Ye Minghui had left behind a backup account book in case things went wrong.

This was the real account book of the General’s Residence for the past decade.

Ye Minghui panicked when she realized Zhou Yong had kept a backup. “Zhou Yong!” she cried out.

Just as Ye Minghui was about to threaten him, Ye Lingxue pressed her shoulder down. “Mother, don’t worry.”

Seeing her daughter so calm, Ye Minghui felt a little relieved.

Ye Lingxue looked at Shen Qingwan, her eyes showing no signs of panic.

Shen Qingwan looked at Zhou Yong, just as he was about to speak, but then blood began to spill from his lips.

Not only Zhou Yong, but even Wu Laoer and Feng Cai were clutching their throats, blood pouring from their mouths.

Rong Yunshuang walked over and checked before reporting to Shen Qingwan, “Master, they’re dead. It looks like they were poisoned.”

Shen Qingwan hadn’t expected that Ye Lingxue had already made her move first.

She had poisoned them before they could talk.

It seemed that even if Shen Qingwan hadn’t targeted them, they would have died anyway.

“Cousin, what did you do to them? Even if they were negligent, you shouldn’t have been so cruel as to kill them!” Ye Lingxue gasped, looking at Shen Qingwan with wide eyes, as though she was shocked.

Shen Qingwan smiled faintly, waving her hand to signal Granny Li and the others to leave. “These accounts aren’t something that must be settled. After all, I don’t follow common rules when I do things. Collecting evidence is something for the officials to handle, but as for killing, I never need evidence or a legitimate reason.”