Su Yunmo dodged his hand, clinging desperately to Xie Zhengping's neck, crying out, "Momo doesn't want to! Momo wants to play with Godfather, Momo wants Godfather~"
Su Qingtian's eyelids twitched. He raised his hand to pull her away, "Little girl, come here!"
Su Yunmo tilted her head back and let out a loud wail.
Su Qingtian was instantly stunned.
Zhou Wanyou, who had been doting on the child and was about to intervene, saw Su Qingtian's flustered expression and raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on her lips. She withdrew her hand, waiting to watch the show.
While she watched, Zhang Lingyin crossed her arms and also watched, casually calling for a maid to bring melon seeds.
"Good child, don't cry, don't cry, Godfather is here~" Xie Zhengping cradled the child in one arm and gently patted her with his other large hand.
Su Yunmo's crying gradually subsided. She clung to Xie Zhengping's neck, refusing to let go, her little head nuzzling against his shoulder.
Xie Zhengping shot a provocative glance at Su Qingtian.
Su Qingtian felt his face drain of color.
She was clearly his daughter, so why was she so affectionate with an outsider!
Unwilling to lose face, he reached out to snatch her back.
Su Yunmo's recently quieted sobs immediately escalated.
This prompted Su Qingtian to quickly retract his hand, leaving him flustered and at a loss.
She never acted like this when she was with him!
"Look at you, how can such a grown man be so childish, picking a fight with a child?" Xie Zhengping glanced at him dismissively and shifted Su Yunmo to his other shoulder.
The man used his sleeve to wipe her tears, coaxing her softly, "Momo wants to go play with Godfather?"
Su Yunmo nodded through her sobs.
"Then tell Momo, do you like Daddy or Godfather?"
Su Qingtian snorted.
No matter what, the little girl was his daughter. How could she possibly like an outsider?
"I like Godfather!" Su Yunmo declared with conviction.
Su Qingtian: "!!"
Xie Zhengping's face lit up with joy. He tossed the child up and caught her again, "Momo is so good! Godfather will take you to play!"
Su Yunmo's tears turned into a smile as she kissed his cheek, "Godfather is the best, Momo likes you the most~"
Xie Zhengping grew even happier. Holding the child in his arms, he strode towards the exit. As he passed Su Qingtian, he deliberately lifted Su Yunmo higher.
Su Qingtian gritted his teeth.
He watched as the pair, one big and one small, left the courtyard. Turning to Zhou Wanyou, he said, "You'er, I'm going out!"
Zhou Wanyou took the melon seeds from Zhang Lingyin and smiled, "Go ahead."
It was time he knew that as long as Momo wanted, she could find a new father at any time.
Competition was the source of a sense of urgency.
Su Qingtian turned and left as soon as he was given permission, but by the time he got outside, the carriage had already departed.
Grinding his teeth, he went to find another carriage and headed for the Ministry of Revenue.
Meanwhile, Xie Zhengping had already brought Su Yunmo and begun discussing with the officials of the Ministry of Revenue to retrieve the past account books for examination.
"Sir, you've only just taken office today. Why the haste? Do you not trust us officials? Are you afraid of falsification in the accounts?"
Li Wan followed behind Xie Zhengping, his tone respectful, but his words were intended to trap him.
Xie Zhengping, of course, was not taken in by this.
"His Majesty trusts me and has appointed me to manage the Ministry of Revenue. Naturally, I must work diligently. All the officials here are capable. If I cannot familiarize myself with the Ministry's affairs early on, how can I lead you all?"
With a few well-chosen words, he deflected the accusation and ordered the storeroom door to be opened.
Su Yunmo followed behind, thinking that Godfather was indeed clever and wouldn't be easily fooled.
The storeroom opened to reveal a space of three hundred square meters, with shelves filled with documents.
The court's expenditures, the emperor's harem, imperial relatives, civilian use and revenue – all were clearly and thoroughly recorded.
For Xie Zhengping to review all of them would take at least a month.
"What is this?"
At the very back of the shelves, there were some separately sectioned-off areas.
"These are all funds personally reviewed and approved by His Majesty." Li Wan casually pulled out a book, which bore the emperor's seal.
Xie Zhengping pondered for a moment, then picked out a book and examined it carefully.
Finding no issues and confirming that these were indeed accounts personally reviewed and passed by His Majesty, he felt reassured.
"We won't look at these. Bring out the rest."
Li Wan immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Su Yunmo observed his expression and then her gaze fell back on these separately sectioned-off documents.
Just then, Su Qingtian entered from outside and saw Su Yunmo standing at the bottom of the tall shelves, lost in thought.
The Ministry of Revenue staff, not recognizing Su Qingtian, moved to stop him.
He waved his hand, "This general is here to learn from Lord Xie!"
Li Wan recognized Su Qingtian and, fearing a conflict, quickly stepped forward to have the guards step aside and let him in.
"Godfather, Momo is so bored. Can Momo look at these books?" Su Yunmo stood on her tiptoes, trying to reach the documents.
Xie Zhengping frowned slightly.
These were very important items. Children were often careless, and it wouldn't be good if she damaged them.
"No, don't bother your Godfather. These are not things a little girl should be casually flipping through!" Su Qingtian strode over, intending to pull her away.
Su Yunmo dodged his hand and looked pleadingly at Xie Zhengping, "Godfather~"
Xie Zhengping: "She can look!"
Su Qingtian: "??"
He immediately gnashed his teeth!
He was doing it on purpose. This scoundrel was definitely deliberately opposing him!
"Thank you, Godfather~" Su Yunmo smiled obediently, fetched a small stool, and took down the documents one by one.
Xie Zhengping had initially worried about her damaging things, but now, seeing her carefully holding the account books and examining them with seriousness, he relaxed and paid her no further mind.
Su Yunmo flipped through page after page.
The accounts, the expenses – everything matched. The seals were also genuine.
Logically, it shouldn't be like this. Since Li Wan was so concerned, these accounts must have problems.
Could it be that the expense recipients were fabricated?
Su Yunmo flipped back and meticulously checked the names, scanning each word.
"This character is pronounced 'sì', meaning rhinoceros. It's an uncommon character, you probably don't know it." Su Qingtian pointed to a character with his finger.
"Mm." Su Yunmo flipped another page.
The expense recipients were also fine. Besides this, where else could there be deception?
Su Qingtian was taken aback.
Hmm? He was teaching her so diligently, and all she could say was 'mm'?
Where was the affectionate charm she had shown Xie Zhengping earlier?
Su Yunmo flipped through a few more pages and suddenly stopped, a glint of light flashing in her eyes.
The items on these two pages were the repair of the ancestral hall and the construction of a temple. She remembered the ancestral hall was two years ago, and the temple was a year ago.
These two items could not possibly be so close together. Pages were missing in between!
She quickly flipped through other accounts and indeed found that after almost every period, several pages were missing in the middle.
The problem lay here!
Su Qingtian, not believing it, patiently pointed to another character, "This character is pronounced 'lí', meaning gourd or shell, and can also be used as a name."
This time, Su Yunmo didn't even say 'mm'. She picked up an account book and went to Xie Zhengping.
She tugged at Xie Zhengping's sleeve, feigning ignorance, "Godfather, Godfather, Momo doesn't recognize this character."
Xie Zhengping looked down, "This character is pronounced 'sì'."
"It means rhinoceros! Didn't I just tell you!" Su Qingtian couldn't help but exclaim, almost losing his temper.
This brat was completely disregarding her own father!
Su Yunmo glanced at him, ignoring his outburst, and flipped to another page, pointing to a character, "What about this one?"
Xie Zhengping lifted her onto his lap, "Lí, gourd, shell, can also be used as a name."
Su Qingtian took a deep breath, turned, and walked away.
He had raised this daughter for nothing!