Li Wanming frowned tightly, and the name list and ledger in her hand was almost deformed from her tight grip.
Her gaze swept over the dense handwriting again and again, and her fingertips slid across the paper pages in a hurry, as if she could dig out some flaws from those cold numbers and entries.
However, no matter how hard she searched, those words seemed to be deliberately against her and never revealed a single useful clue.
It wasn't until Nanny Chen left proudly with those housekeeper's wives that Li Wanming still leaned against the window, looking solemn, with a thick cloud of worry between her eyebrows.
Outside the window, the parasol tree flailed its branches wildly in the early summer sun. The light spots filtering through the branches danced randomly on the bluestone bricks, making Li Wanming's vision go white. Those golden light spots seemed to bore into her throbbing temples.
"Sigh..."
Li Wanming put down the ledger powerlessly and let out a long sigh.
"Princess Consort!" Chun Tao bounced in from outside the door, wearing an innocent smile on her face. She asked in confusion, "The matter of the Dragon Boat Festival gifts has been resolved. Why are you still unhappy?"
"Resolved?" Li Wanming lifted her eyelids and gave Chun Tao a listless look. "Do you really think they came to help?"
Chun Tao was stunned for a moment. She tilted her head and thought for a while, then said, "I didn't believe them at first. They've been giving me and Sister Qing Lan a hard time these past two days! But just now, they seemed quite sincere, as if they really wanted to help us handle the festival gifts well..."
"Sincere?" Li Wanming let out a cold snort. "Of course they're sincere. They've probably sincerely set a trap, just waiting for me to jump in."
"Princess Consort, don't worry." Qing Lan said softly from the side. "I asked my brother and sister-in-law to find out. They said that the Second Lady has indeed been busy with the festival gifts these days. Maybe because this matter is of great importance, the Second Lady didn't dare to disgrace the prince's mansion at this time, so she decided to let us off for the time being?"
Li Wanming bit her lower lip and remained silent.
Really?
Is that really the case?
Just two days ago, Kang was still fighting her fiercely, not even caring about her own son's face. Would she suddenly call it quits today just because she considered the reputation of the Ning Prince's Mansion? And even sent her trusted servants to help her out of trouble?
Humph...
If Kang were such a person, she wouldn't be the venomous Second Lady. Instead, she would be the Bodhisattva in the temple or the statue on the shrine, to be enshrined on an incense table!
Li Wanming's eyes grew colder. Her fingertips unconsciously rubbed the black jade bracelet on her wrist. The jade was smooth and warm, but it couldn't calm her restless heart at the moment.
"Qing Lan," she suddenly said softly. "Your brother and sister-in-law work in the stable. Ask them to keep an eye on things. If anyone from the second branch enters or leaves, come and report to me immediately. Also, the housekeeper's wives will be withdrawing items from the warehouse in the next few days. You and Chun Tao should keep a close watch and record every transaction clearly."
"Yes." Qing Lan curtsied in response, but couldn't help but look up at Li Wanming's expression. "Princess Consort is still not at ease? But just now, this servant didn't see any problems with the ledger..."
"It's precisely because there are no problems that it's worrying!"
Li Wanming threw the bamboo fan to one side, picked up the ledger on the table again, and flipped through the pages with a rustling sound. But after looking for a long time, she still couldn't find anything. Finally, she angrily threw the ledger on the table.
"What on earth is she up to? I can't seem to get a single clue..." Li Wanming slumped over the table dejectedly, her voice muffled.
"Princess Consort, don't be in a hurry."
Qing Lan brought over a bowl of warm Sydney pear tea and softly advised, "Since they've agreed to sign and seal for withdrawals from the warehouse, at least they won't be able to manipulate the accounts for now. With me and Chun Tao keeping an eye on things, there won't be any mistakes with the items in the warehouse. As for the other items, we can take our time to check them after the Dragon Boat Festival..."
"I'm not worried about this."
Li Wanming rested her head on her arm and said in a muffled voice, "Since those housekeeper's wives dared to agree today, it means they don't plan to play any tricks on this matter. The signing and sealing was just to test their attitude. But the more it's like this..."
She tugged at her hair irritably, messing up her perfectly styled hair into a chicken's nest.
"The more it bothers me! I clearly know that Kang has a conspiracy, but I can't figure out what it is! This feeling of being led around by the nose is really unbearable!"
Seeing this, Qing Lan quickly walked behind Li Wanming, gently removed the hairpins from her head, and placed her soft fingertips on her scalp, kneading with just the right amount of force.
"Anyway, the Second Lady sending people to help prepare the festival gifts is a good thing. At least it saves us from being completely in the dark." Qing Lan's voice was as gentle as water. "As for the rest, we just need to be more careful. A fox will eventually show its tail."
Her fingertips were soft, and her voice was gentle. Li Wanming finally relaxed slowly and nodded helplessly. "You're right. For now, we can only take things one step at a time."
As she was speaking, Nanny Song lifted the curtain and came in. A young embroiderer carrying a tray followed behind her. "Princess Consort, the dress for Miss Liu has been delivered."
"Okay, let me take a look..." Li Wanming sat up lazily.
In a few days, it would be Fang Zhi and Feng Xiao's wedding. Liu Yiyi had said that she would custom-make a wedding dress for Li Wanming. Counting the days, it should indeed be delivered today.
She had told Liu Yiyi before that she was just a guest this time, not the bride, so the dress should be as low-key as possible. She wondered if Liu Yiyi would choose some old-fashioned colors for her...
The moment Nanny Song unfolded the dress, the entire room seemed to be shrouded in a golden glow.
Li Wanming opened her mouth in surprise -
The bright red brocade pleated skirt was extremely gorgeous, like the most intense evening glow in the sky condensed into a bolt of cloth. The patterns of phoenix flowers were even more magnificent and noble as the light shifted.
The gold-thread embroidered leaves at the collar and cuffs were layered one on top of the other. The veins were clearly visible, as if molten gold had meandered and solidified on the brocade. At the slightly curled tips of the leaves, threads mixed with malachite were used to outline golden wave patterns.
The hem of the skirt was adorned with dense and delicate South Sea pearls. No matter from which angle one looked, there was a delicate and exquisite luster, like a coral snow tree made of pearls and jade. In the fleeting light, one could almost see the Milky Way pouring down.
What was even more astonishing was the belt in the middle.
On the black brocade with gold weaving, longan stones, tiger's eye stones, and red-striped stones were densely stacked to embroider the shape of a dragon fish unique to the Fujian region. The eyes of the fish were made of precious fire opals. With just a slight turn of the head, seven layers of rainbow light would be emitted, as if the entire Milky Way had been cut into a jade belt around the waist.
The most outrageous thing was... it was a full palm-width wide!