Volume Two, Chapter 24

Just out of the large prison, she was placed under watch once more, though she was merely moved to a luxurious cell.

Soft silk brocade quilts, antique treasures, and even all sorts of ancient books and miscellaneous texts were readily available. Without the emperor's verbal decree, however, she could only sit desolately in this fully stocked room, and she could only learn a bit about what was happening outside from Zhu Xiaojiu. Fortunately, the emperor had only issued a confinement order and had not stripped away her right to see Xiaojiu.

Yet whenever Xiaojiu came to see her, Nian Youyu always followed right behind like a lingering spirit, under orders to monitor and guard her, looking thoroughly grating to the eyes. Often, while Xiaojiu accompanied her in flipping through books, Nian Youyu would lug an abacus and squeeze between the brother and sister, looking over corrupt black-account ledgers while clicking the beads of an abacus stained with the fat and blood of the common people.

"Do not look at me with snobbish eyes. In the eyes of this Bureau, you are nothing more than a useless bookworm." This was how Nian Youyu defined the terrible relationship between them, and Zhu Bafu wished she could raise both hands and feet in agreement!

"Ha. This scholar is indeed a bookworm, otherwise how could I have been bluffed by Lord Zhu—no, by you, Lord Nian—playing the thief crying stop thief? The charge you filed against me earlier was truly a grievance." Zhu Bafu idly flipped through a book, casting a side-eye at him. "A lavish mansion like this—how much silver embezzled from repairing the Dongxu Mansion library did it take to build?"

Nian Youyu did not stop his right hand from clicking the beads; he merely raised his hand for a rough calculation.