Shang Yunruo hadn't yet recovered from the great shock when a man in green clothes leaped down from the treetops.
Chuyao let out a startled cry and pulled her young mistress aside, protecting her with her own body. In the blink of an eye, the door of the accounting room opened!
The man in green clothes flew away silently. Shang Yunruo clutched her wildly beating heart and stammered, "This, this hero of the green forest, is he your servant?"
Chu Yan pushed open the door with a creak, then looked back and said, "Come in first and then we'll talk."
Shang Yunruo left Chuyao outside the door to keep watch. She herself followed Chu Yan into the accounting room and told Chuyao to lock the door from the outside.
After passing through the front hall and entering the inner room, Chu Yan lowered his voice a bit and answered her previous question, "Yin Shan is an orphan saved by my mother. All his kung fu was taught by my mother. After my mother died, he refused to leave no matter what and insisted on obeying me. So I let him disguise as my servant."
So there was such a background. Her voice was a bit envious, "Your mother is so amazing. She knows kung fu and can save people."
Chu Yan was silent for a while and then said, "You don't hate her for being a spy from the State of Chu?"
Shang Yunruo said, "She was also loyal to her own monarch and fulfilled her duties. As the people of the State of Liang, we can't allow them to destroy our peaceful life. If I meet them, I will report to the officials and arrest them, but I won't hate individuals. Our spies from the State of Liang are praised and commended. Your mother will also be praised by her countrymen."
After a pause, she added, "Moreover, she gave you life. For you, she is the best."
She couldn't see Chu Yan's expression at this moment, but judging from his soft and low "um", he seemed a bit touched.
Although she didn't deliberately try to gain his favor, it was still something to be happy about that he had a better impression of her.
Shang Yunruo said, "By the way, you still have an injury on your foot."
Chu Yan replied, "The medicine you sent is very effective. It didn't hurt anymore after I applied it. I was just going to thank sister - in - law, but unexpectedly met you in front of the accounting room."
So it was just a coincidence. She felt a bit ashamed for her previous malicious speculation about Chu Yan.
Since they had sneaked in, they couldn't light a lamp. But the lack of light didn't matter much to Shang Yunruo anyway, as she couldn't see.
Fortunately, when she was at home before, she often liked to look at the accounts of the mansion and helped manage the shops and manors. So she was very familiar with the layout of the accounting room.
She thought the accountant's habit of placing things should be about the same, so she pointed to the position on the left - hand side as soon as they entered the door and said to Chu Yan, "Take a look here. Is there a wooden box?"
The sound of Chu Yan's footsteps and the rustling of things being rummaged came from inside the room. After a while, Chu Yan said, "Yes, it's locked."
Shang Yunruo said firmly, "These should be this year's account books, but we still need to find the previous years' ones. They should also be stored on the row of cabinets on the left - hand side."
Chu Yan had already lit the fire starter he carried with him. He looked at the position she had mentioned and said in a surprised tone, "Have you been here before?"
Hearing his question, Shang Yunruo knew she must have guessed right. She said with a smile, "Maybe it's a talent. When I was one year old and grabbing things, I grabbed an abacus and a gold ingot. So the accounting room at home was the place I was most familiar with. The layout here is about the same."
Chu Yan sincerely sighed, "If sister - in - law didn't become the mistress of the marquis's mansion, she might become a wealthy gentry."
Shang Yunruo liked to hear this, but she didn't indulge in the praise. Instead, she began to worry about how to take so many account books back.
Just when she was in a dilemma, there was suddenly a sound from Chuyao outside the door.
Three cackles of a hen, which was the secret signal that someone was coming.
Shang Yunruo was shocked. Suddenly, Chu Yan pulled her to the innermost position. There were tall wooden shelves all around, and the account books on the shelves could just hide them. However, the space was too narrow, and she and Chu Yan were almost pressed tightly together.
The person outside the door knocked on the door. Then he seemed to find that it was locked and sighed softly, "I'm late."
Shang Yunruo recognized it was Chu Jinli's voice. She calmed her pounding heart and was overjoyed. She was about to go out, but was grabbed by Chu Yan and pulled back.
Shang Yunruo whispered, "It's my husband. He will surely not betray me."
Chu Yan said coolly, "How do you know he will stand on your side? Isn't it strange that he came here so late?"
Remembering Chu Jinli's previous warning to her, she thought Chu Yan was right, so she didn't dare to act rashly for a moment.
Just as Chu Jinli was about to leave, suddenly someone else came. There was a conversation outside.
"I pay my respects to the marquis. I left something on the counter and came back to get it. Why are you here?"
"Sir, do you want to open the door? I just happen to have something to talk to you about."
It seemed that the accountant had come back. Shang Yunruo was so nervous that her fingers were trembling. She subconsciously grabbed something in front of her. It was hard and a bit elastic, so she couldn't help pinching it twice.
"Sis, sister - in - law..."
Hearing Chu Yan's low and gasping voice, she suddenly realized that what she had grabbed was his arm. She quickly let go.
Only then did she feel how close the distance between them was. They were almost body to body, chest to chest, squeezed face to face.
Strangely enough, she should have been afraid of him, but now, with such close contact, she didn't feel the slightest discomfort.
Chu Yan seemed to want to say something. Shang Yunruo heard there was movement outside the door again. She quickly put her finger on his lips to make him keep silent.
Chu Yan's back was tightly pressed against the cabinet. His Adam's apple rolled, and his lips touched by her finger moved.
Shang Yunruo suddenly felt that this touch was a bit familiar, not the kind of familiarity from the dream memory. It seemed that she had touched it somewhere.
She leaned forward a bit, but then suddenly thought she was being absurd and backed away.
Her movements made Chu Yan blush to the ears. His heart was pounding like a drum, and his palms were sweating.
"I'm here to get a silver note worth two hundred taels from you."
Chu Jinli's voice came from outside, which to some extent relieved the ambiguous and embarrassing atmosphere between the two in the room.
The accountant said, "Marquis, it's not that I don't want to get it for you. I dare not redeem it without the seal. How about you trouble someone to come with the seal to get it tomorrow?"
Hearing the accountant use the same reason of "seal" to refuse Chu Jinli, Shang Yunruo inexplicably felt a bit better. This accountant was indeed a good one with principles.
Chu Jinli's voice paused for a moment and then said, "Okay, I won't make things difficult for you, sir. I'll come back tomorrow."
After Chu Jinli left, the accountant unlocked the door. As expected, he just went in to get the thing he had left behind. After getting it, he locked the door again and left.
Shang Yunruo let out a sigh of relief. While feeling relieved, she was also puzzled. What did Chu Jinli need so much money for?
Chu Yan's voice interrupted her thoughts, "We can't finish checking these account books here. We have to take them back and look at them slowly. What do you think, sister - in - law?"
Shang Yunruo nodded, "Then let's take last year's. If we take this year's or take too many, it will be too easy to be discovered."
Chu Yan said, "Okay, then I'll keep them."
Shang Yunruo asked, "Why keep them with you? Are you afraid that if they are placed in my room, aunt will come to ask for them and I won't be able to handle it? I'm the proper mistress in charge. It's reasonable for me to look at the account books. They don't dare to snatch them back by force."
Chu Yan said, "What if they also sneak into your room to steal them in the dark?"
Shang Yunruo was speechless.