CHAPTER 34: CHAPTER 33: ANOTHER LEDGER

Lu Qing lit the lamp, picked up the golden mask from the desk, and put it back on his face. Zhu Yu also sat up, put on his leather mask, and tidied up his clothes.

Footsteps from outside resounded closer. Zhu Yu listened intently and felt it was only one person’s footsteps. As he was wondering, he saw Rune, wearing a bronze mask, carrying a person into the room.

The person he was carrying barely skimmed the ground with his feet, frightened as if soul-deprived by Rune’s sudden rush.

Rune dragged him inside, threw him to the ground with a thud, turned to close the door, and picked up the items that were thrown in from the bed seam to hand over to Lu Qing.

Only then did Zhu Yu realize that what had been sent inside was actually a ledger.

Lu Qing brushed the dust off the ledger and placed it beside him, raising his eyes to glance at the person who had just climbed off the floor.

At this moment, Zhu Yu recognized the person—it was the dark-faced man who had previously shown disdain.

Lu Qing was naturally unfathomable in temperament; wearing a golden mask rendered his emotions even more elusive.

He silently stared at the dark-faced man for a moment, and then spoke in a quiet yet audible voice: "Since you dared to sneak over in the night, you mustn’t be a spineless coward. If you can still walk, come closer to speak."

The dark-faced man, having just struggled to his feet, hesitated briefly before slowly moving forward step by step, stopping at a distance of over one person’s length.

Lu Qing paid no mind, flipping through the ledgers, noticing the orderly and clear records seemingly documenting Qingshui County’s tax revenues.

He examined them roughly, handed the ledger to Zhu Yu beside him, and from the ledgers he reviewed, chose another one to open and passed it over as well.

Holding a book in each hand, Zhu Yu quickly compared and found the records on the page correspond to the same period’s tax revenues in Qingshui County.

She was surprised; Lu Qing could remember so perfectly. Despite flipping through countless documents and ledgers all day, he immediately recognized the matching part in the ledger the dark-faced man secretly handed over.

Holding the two ledgers, even with no expertise in this domain, Zhu Yu could clearly see the differences from the recorded incomes.

This orderly and clear ledger didn’t match at all with the tax ledger handed over by the Chief Clerk earlier.

The discrepancies were not minuscule.

The dark-faced man continuously attempted to gauge Lu Qing’s attitude and intentions through his eyes as he reviewed the ledgers. However, the mask’s design was extraordinarily clever. The protruding brow arch cast a shadow concealing Lu Qing’s already deep, pool-like dark eyes, making it impossible to discern the emotions of the person behind the mask.

Behind Lu Qing, Zhu Yu had a clear view of the dark-faced man’s hemp slippers, which were extremely worn out, suggesting lengthy use.

She remembered earlier in the hall, the Chief Clerk wore a lavish official robe, with boots utterly new, even embroidered with subtle patterns—an impressive attire for lower-level officials in a county government.

The County Magistrate’s attire was similar.

Though the dark-faced man’s identity was still unclear, he stood alongside other government members earlier, indicating he was also a minor official within Qingshui County Government.

The disparity between two minor officials of the government was intriguing.

Lu Qing placed the ledger on the desk, looked again at the dark-faced man, and asked: "Who are you, and what is your position within the county government?"

By now, the dark-faced man had composed himself from earlier fright, answering: "I am Shen Xiang, serving as a tax collector in Qingshui County Government."

The tax collector in the county government was responsible for recording tax collection, holding no rank; no wonder he had to stand among the crowd and had no voice during the day.

"Did you sneak into this backyard at night just to hand over this ledger to me?" Lu Qing inquired, "Do you want me to know about the double ledgers in Qingshui County?

Being the tax collector responsible for taxes, why didn’t you hand it over in public earlier? Why did you secretly deliver at night?"

"How should I know what kind of Imperial Censor you are..." Shen Xiang stiffened his neck, calmed down after the initial panic, and appeared less afraid, "Mr. Li and his group have controlled Qingshui County for so long. It’s so close to the Capital; how could he peacefully act as he pleases without protection?

Although I wish to petition for the people of Qingshui County, I also have family to consider. If I publicly stood out and you sided with them, my end would be dire.

Hence, I planned to sneak in tonight during night duty, discreetly slip the ledger in and quickly leave, unnoticed.

If you notice, it’s heaven’s will. If you ignore, then all authorities are equally corrupt, and I’ll take my family and quickly find a relative to seek refuge for survival!

But now that I’ve been caught red-handed, there’s nothing I can’t admit!"

"Other than you, does anyone else in the office know about this ledger?" Lu Qing asked.

"No." Shen Xiang shook his head, guessing Lu Qing’s intent with this inquiry.

Lu Qing nodded, placing Shen Xiang’s ledger separately on the desk: "Do you know whether farmers around here have abandoned their fields to cultivate flora to the south? Does this relate to the dual accounts?"

Shen Xiang’s eyes brightened, seeing hope in Lu Qing’s inquiry, eagerly nodding: "Indeed!

Farming and grain production were taxed by the court; additionally, Qingshui County added many more unique taxes.

There’s cattle plowing tax, rice farming tax, among others—people suffer gravely.

But once the money enters the government, it’s as if it disappears like a stone into the sea; yearly Qingshui County’s taxes submitted to the court fall short, yet the State Mansion never inquires.

Originally, locals were already suffocated by layers of taxes; coincidentally, two years ago, someone went south to grow flora, others collected to make dyes. No taxes on flora cultivation; now, more people head there to earn a living.

Shen Xiang spoke about the current situation in Qingshui County, lamented deeply, and sighed heavily.