“And then?”
“It’s done.”
“It’s done?”
“It’s done.”
Pei Ming finally could hold back no longer. “That’s not possible. This can’t be all there is. Even an amateur like me can tell we’re not done yet.”
Mu Qing dropped the heavy bookkeeping report on the table. “This is my work, and it’s done,” he said coolly. “I can calculate all of it again on the spot; please listen closely, General Pei. Take away 8,880,000 merits, then add 6,660,000 merits, plus another 17,200,000 merits, then minus—”
“All right, that’s enough, you don’t need to count anymore,” Feng Xin interrupted. “The numbers are right, but there must’ve been a lot left out; it should’ve worked out otherwise!”
“That’s not my problem,” Mu Qing countered. “Either way, my calculations are right. Maybe you should find someone else to do the accounting? If I had known things were gonna be like this, I would’ve minded my own business.”
After the Heavenly Capital was destroyed, the scattered and scrambled heavenly officials finally assembled and set up a ward to establish a temporary Upper Court at the summit of Mount Taicang, a place no mortals cared about. Currently, the heavenly officials were in the heat of discussion about the construction of the new Heavenly Capital.
The enormous fire had very unfortunately razed the heavenly officials’ glorious golden palaces, forcing them to squeeze together in temporary tents as they conferred and rested. Furthermore, a great number of scrolls and reports were lost. Even as the bickering dragged on for days and days, they still couldn’t straighten out any of their accounts!
One of Pei Ming’s arms was hung in a sling, and the other hand rubbed his chin. “Is it my imagination, or is Xuan Zhen even more sarcastic these days?”
“Hasn’t he always been this bad? He’s just too lazy to hide it now,” Feng Xin responded.
Mu Qing rolled his eyes, and everyone pointed their fingers at him.
“Decorum!” they chided.
Mu Qing pointedly turned and left.
Quan Yizhen was in bandages from head to toe so he resembled a human-shaped zongzi.2 Only the top of his head and his messy curly hair could be seen. His words were muffled and unclear when he said, “What do we do now? Who’s gonna do all the math?”
Everyone exchanged glances, cleared their throats, and quietly backed away. No one wanted to take on such a difficult and thankless task.
Seeing this, Pei Ming sighed. “If only Ling Wen were here. All else aside, no one can complain about the way she managed things. There’d be nothing to be afraid of, even with the Palace of Ling Wen reduced to ash—she knows the ins and outs of this mess of accounts like the back of her hand. I’m sure she would’ve gotten it sorted within a day.”
After struggling on this godforsaken mountain for so long, most of the officials shared the same sentiment deep down—they just didn’t dare say it out loud. However, now that someone had taken the initiative to voice it, they all began loudly agreeing.
“Yeah!”
“I’ll never say the Palace of Ling Wen is inefficient again!”
“I already hadn’t said that in a while…”
Just then, someone from outside came in to announce, “Everyone, Lord Rain Master has arrived!”
The heavenly officials’ faces brightened at this, and they immediately went out to greet her. Pei Ming’s expression was unreadable. He hesitated for a moment and ultimately chose not to go outside with them.
Another voice called out. “Your Highness! You’ve come too!”