The weather was as beautiful as ever today!
But some people weren't in quite such a good mood.
Well?
In the outer court of the Rongguo Immortal Estate, the main accounts office stood in an independent floating-island compound east of Rongguo Mansion. There were no gardens or pretty scenery here, just a few modest halls.
The furnishings were plain but orderly. Several long black-lacquered desks with cloud patterns stood in a row, buried beneath stacks of account books, jade slips, talisman receipts, and the like.
A dozen or so shrewd-looking clerks in blue robes bent over their desks, writing furiously. Some worked with abacus-like magical devices; others entered data into calculation mirrors that looked like bronze mirrors. The clicking of counting beads and clatter of jade slips never stopped, and the air was thick with a solemn, tense atmosphere.
Ordinarily, this office handled all the money coming in and going out of the Rongguo Immortal Estate, income from its farms, shop rents, profits from its businesses, and the allocation of spirit stones.
But since Jia Lian and his wife also oversaw Ningguo Mansion—and especially after they took charge of building the imperial garden for the visit—the account offices of both estates and the Jia family's treasury had all been consolidated here. So the workload had grown even heavier.
More than ten days had passed since Lady Yuan's grand homecoming, and the construction costs for Grand View Garden had long since been paid. But the extravagant expenses on the day of the visit had become a heavy, tangled mess of accounts that was proving difficult to tally.
And that was the main reason some people weren't in a good mood!
Just think of the spectacle when Her Ladyship's carriage returned home.
The ceremonial procession needed to welcome her, the immortal delicacies