In the cool pavilion in the back garden of Dugu Mansion, Fang Liren and Fang Lihui sat opposite each other, each holding an abacus in their hands, with pens, ink, paper and inkstones neatly arranged next to them.
Fang Liren looked at Fang Lihui, took a deep breath, and said calmly, "Let's get started," just like he did in the past when he and Fang Lihui were cleaning up the accounts.
Following his words, there was only the sound of the abacus crackling in the pavilion, and the occasional sound of pieces of paper being turned over.
Fang Zilan and Zhuge Yu were sitting on the corridor, looking at the two meticulous people in the pavilion, and whispered: "They look like they are planning, they have caught up with me on the battlefield, they are really murderous."
Her voice was very soft, as if she was afraid of disturbing the two people who were paying close attention not far away.
Zhuge Yu smiled faintly after hearing this, "Fang Liren's wealth and life and the future of the Fang family are all determined by this small abacus and a few thin pages. This is no small matter."
Fang Zilan came next to him with a look of watching the fun, "A Yu, do you believe that even if the two of them were settling ordinary account books today, it would still be like this?"
Zhuge Yu said oh, and with a half-smile, he was obviously asking her how she knew. She raised the corners of her mouth and smiled clearly, "After all, she is a member of the Fang family, and she will spend 100% of her energy on every account. In In their minds, every copper coin is of great significance.”
"Master Fang understands very well." A Wan's voice suddenly rang in Fang Zilan's ears. She turned back to look at A Wan who was holding the medicine bowl, and her face instantly collapsed, "It hasn't been a few hours, and I have to drink medicine again. ?”
Awan put the medicine bowl into her hand, and scolded her with a straight face: "The medicine you drank at noon is already past midnight. It will be dark later, and you still think it has only been a few hours? Hurry up? Drink the medicine."
Under her gaze, Fang Zilan picked up the medicine bowl and drank it all in one gulp, then looked at her with a bitter face. She nodded with satisfaction and took the medicine bowl from her hand.
"Sister Lan, if you feel bitter, I have some preserved fruit here to give you." Zhuge Yu said and took out a bag from his sleeve. He was about to open it when Awan stopped him, "The preserved fruit will affect the efficacy of the medicine, so let Master Fang Go ahead and suffer. If you suffer, you won’t be able to remember to sacrifice your life. If you weren’t suffering, you would have lost your life long ago.”
"Awan." Fang Zilan deliberately prolonged his voice.
Awan snorted and magically took out a plate of cakes from behind, "I saw that you didn't eat enough for lunch, so I asked for cakes from the kitchen. If you feel bitter, just take two bites and squeeze it."
"I knew that little Awan was the best to me." Fang Zilan took the plate with a smile, handed a piece to Awan, gave another piece to Zhuge Yu, and finally took a piece and put it on herself Mouth, shouting sweetness while eating.
Awan couldn't help her, so she simply sat next to her and looked at the two people in the pavilion, "With the two of them like this, when will it be over? It will be dark in a while, so waste your eyes."
"They won't stop until the liquidation is completed." Zhuge Yu took a bite of the cake, looking helpless, "I wonder why Fang Lihui is so persistent?"
"This is the first time I've seen Fang Lihui look like this." Fang Zilan swallowed the cake in her mouth and spoke a little slurred, "Last time in the north, I thought he was just a dandy who was doing nothing."
"Let's talk after we finish eating. No one will compete with you." A Wan rolled her eyes at Fang Zilan and said faintly: "I know a little bit about these brothers, but it's just hearsay."
After Zhuge Yu finished eating the cake, he took out the handkerchief and wiped his hands, "Miss Awan, I just said it doesn't matter."
"I heard about it when I was studying medicine with my master in the capital." As soon as Awan mentioned the word master, Fang Zilan glanced at her silently.
Ignoring her look, Awan continued speaking, "I heard that although Fang Lihui is the legitimate son of the family, his father doesn't like him very much. Instead, he prefers his brothers who are concubines."
"When Fang Lihui was young, the other young masters of the Fang family all invited their husbands to study, but he had no choice but to follow Fang Liren and go to the school of the Prime Minister's Mansion. Fang Liren had no parents to look after him since he was a child, so he had to take care of his uncle, the Prime Minister. , but it is not easy for Fang Lihui’s parents to study under someone else’s roof.”
"Speaking of which, the relationship between the two of them should be better than that of the other brothers of the Fang family. But maybe there is no room for two tigers in one mountain. Since Fang Liren became the head of the family, Fang Lihui's business has grown bigger and bigger, and there are thousands of flowers in the capital that are not popular. Building, there is also a Jiangnan Silk and Satin Shop that only caters to the wealthy and wealthy."
"Everyone says that Fang Lihui wants to replace him, and there are endless rumors of discord between the two." A Wan said a little sadly, but Fang Zilan looked confused, "It stands to reason that Fang Lihui and Fang Lihui's father are brothers, right?"
Awan's eyes widened in shock, "How could you not know..." She stopped suddenly in the middle of her sentence, and the other half of her sentence, "Aren't you from the Fang family?" was swallowed alive by her.
She changed her words and said: "Everyone in the world knows that the Prime Minister Fang Chongzheng, Fang Liren, Fang Lihui's father, and several other Fang elders are brothers of the same family, but only the Prime Minister is a direct descendant, and the rest are concubines. .”
"Miss Awan seems to know the affairs of Fang's family very well." Zhuge Yu's voice sounded softly, making Awan involuntarily soften his tone, "I only heard what others said. It's just a pastime for ordinary people after dinner."
The sky was getting dark and Fang Zilan couldn't see Zhuge Yu's expression clearly, but she knew very well that he was very likely to be suspicious, so he immediately ordered Awan: "It's getting dark, Awan, go and add lights to the two young masters."
"Okay." Awan agreed, got up and went to the pavilion to add lights to Fang Lihui and Fang Lihui.
Zhuge Yu looked at Fang Zilan, who was expressionless on the side, and said calmly: "It looks like it will take a long time. Sister Lan might as well go back to rest first, I can stay here."
"It's better not to give up halfway when you agree to something." Fang Zilan leaned on the railing and closed her eyes to rest, "I can still hold on, I'll wait for them for a while."
"That's fine." Zhuge Yu looked at Fang Zilan, who had his eyes closed and didn't want to say anything. He said nothing more and focused his gaze on the pavilion.
In the pavilion, Fang Li and Fang Lihui were still fiddling with the abacus. The beads on the abacus made a crisp sound, the pages rustled when they were turned, and the candles burned and crackled, intertwining into a unique piece of music in the dusk. I don’t know whose fate is decided among them. It sounds rigorous and sad.
After an unknown amount of time, as the abacus beads were moved back to their original positions, the two people in the pavilion stopped what they were doing.
Fang Lihui breathed a long sigh of relief, but Fang Liren felt indescribably depressed.
