Chapter 2 — Hoa Mi Revenge of Vengeance

I pulled her down and closed the door tightly, "You must absolutely keep it a secret." Mother Vuong saw that my face was unusual and immediately sat up straight, rubbing the wrinkles on her apron with both hands.
"Young lady, just tell me, this old slave's life was given to me by you, absolutely don't dare to delay."
She calls me miss, not lady. This way of addressing makes the bridge of my nose sting.
“I want you to help me find someone.”
I lowered my voice and said, "In the suburban area of Bach Ma Quan, there used to be a Taoist priest named Thanh Hu Tu, who specialized in reading feng shui and predicting people's fortunes. Take this check and go scout to see where he is right now. Once you find the person, bring him directly to me. Absolutely don't let anyone else know." A trace of doubt flashed in Vuong's eyes, but she did not ask why. She tucked the check into her chest and nodded solemnly.
"Also," I added another word, "On the way back, pay attention to see if Miss has been running out of town lately, and in which direction."
Mother Vuong's eyes changed, her lips moved, but in the end she still said nothing, turned around and left through the back door. After she left, I stood in front of the window, staring at the birdcage in the corner of the yard. The nightingale was jumping back and forth in the cage, its iridescent feathers sparkling with broken light under the shadow of the setting sun. It opened its beak and sang again, clear and graceful, the sound could still be heard clearly across half the yard. In my previous life, I was seduced and deceived by this song for three years. In this life, we must let those who sing hear their own funeral trumpet. That night, I didn't sleep. The nightingale's cage is placed on a stone table in the middle of the yard, hanging on a low branch of a camphor tree. Originally, Xuan Vu intended to bring it into the house, saying that the aunt had instructed him to place it next to the owner at night for the bird to recognize the owner. I said no need, just leave it outside.
"Birds are living creatures, if they are kept locked up in the house, otherwise they will be difficult to raise."

Xuan Vu did not dare to say more, after hanging the birdcage, he retreated to the atrium to rest. The entire Western Court fell into silence. On the canal, the sound of boat pulling is occasionally heard, mixed with the sound of frogs and the echo of the watch. I leaned my back against the bedpost, closed my eyes, and turned over each page of debt from my previous life in my mind. The nightingale was brought in at the beginning of May, the first disaster struck in June. The silk warehouse caught fire, and all three hundred newly woven Thuc brocades were burned to ashes. At that time, everyone thought that the night duty servants accidentally knocked over the oil lamp. In July, a ceramic merchant ship sank at La Trach wharf. That shipment was prepared for a large merchant in the capital, the deposit had already been received, the boat had just sunk, both capital and profit were returned. In August, the tea hills encountered pests and diseases. In September, skilled dyers were charged high prices to dig into wall corners. In October, the silk shop's biggest customer suddenly switched to buying from another store. The disaster has no single intention, one thing follows another, at first glance each thing seems like a natural disaster, but put together in one place, it is absolutely no longer God's will. By the spring of the second year, the To family had lost more than half of their assets. Patriarch dragged his sick body and wanted to take charge of the overall situation, but was stopped by Tham Thanh Van, saying that the old man could rest assured to recuperate, he would take care of outside matters. Is he worried? What he did outside was to take the To family's money and go to Lieu alley to raise the woman and the son, while watching the Su family's luck being sucked out by that bird day by day, while secretly using some magic outside to transfer all these luck to his own path of advancement. The year I died, the Su family couldn't even get the last seat in the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce. As for Tham Thanh Van, he leisurely transformed himself into the precious son-in-law of the Bach family in Lieu alley, bringing with him his new fortune to run for the position of President of the Chamber of Commerce. Thinking of this, my hand clutched the edge of the bed, squeezing so hard that my knuckles turned white. A night wind blew. In the middle of the yard, the nightingale suddenly let out a scream. Absolutely not the kind of graceful singing that pleases people like during the day. This cry was both sharp and short, like the tip of a knife scraping through the bottom of an iron pot, so shrill that it made one's scalp tingle. I lifted the window curtain and looked out, under the moonlight, the nightingale's eyes flashed, a dark blue light, flashing and then disappearing. It is using that cry to probe. Explore to see if there is anything worth smoking in this hospital. I let go of the curtains and lay back on the bed. Just smoke it. I let you smoke two days in advance. Wait until I find the person I'm looking for and get what I'm looking for, and I'll settle this debt book with you. Early the next morning, as usual, I went to the room to check the books. The Su family has eight shops in Jiangnan, two silk shops, one ceramic shop, two tea shops, one dyeing factory, and two grocery stores. Daily income and expenditure records, monthly warehouse receipts, all must pass through my hands on this table. Before falling ill, Patriarch once said something like this:
"The money of my To family, outsiders cannot count it, but Van Ngam can count it clearly."

This is the truth. At the age of seven, I stood at the cashier's desk, at the age of twelve I independently counted inventory, and at the age of eighteen, I began to replace the Patriarch in evaluating the year-end books. About the clothes and expenses of more than two hundred people from up and down the Su family, how much loss and profit each store has, I can recite it with my eyes closed. But in my previous life, this sharp intelligence could not save the To family, nor could I save myself. As soon as I turned to the silk shop's monthly invoice, Manager Ton coughed loudly outside the door.
“Eldest Miss, there is something I need to tell you about.”
Manager Ton is over fifty years old and has managed foreign affairs for the To family for twenty years. When the Patriarch was still healthy, he was the most effective right-hand man. But since Tham Thanh Van passed away and became involved in management, his back has become more and more bent, but the direction of the bend has gradually changed.
“Say it.”
"Just word came from La Trach wharf about the batch of ceramic glaze we ordered, but the boat owner suddenly increased the shipping fee by three points. They said that lately the patrol is very strict on the river, we need to worry about lining up and down."
"Three parts? Last month, we also went on the same waterway, and it increased once. If we increase the price twice in two months, does he consider my Su family to be a big sinner?"
Sun Quan Su rubbed the rosary hidden in his sleeve, bowed his head, not daring to look at me:
"The aunt's intention is, just agree for now. This batch of yeast is to mix for the Nghi Hung kiln, there can be no delay."
“The aunt's idea.”
I recited these four words again and slowly put down the book in my hand, "Then just do as your aunt wishes." The manager obeyed and turned around to leave. I called him back.
“Respected manager.”
“Eldest Miss, what else do you have to say?”
"I want to see the original invoice for this batch of yeast. The contract with the boat owner also gave me a copy."
His steps stopped, he reached out to touch the brim of his hat, and turned his head to look at me:
"This matter, we have to ask the Co family first. The invoices for the past two months have been censored by the Co family."
"I am the eldest lady of the Su family. Looking at my shop's invoices, do I still have to ask for approval from a son-in-law?"
Manager Ton's face flashed with an awkward look, his lips moved, and in the end he only said one sentence, "Let me go ask again", then quickly walked away. I stared at his back, my hand slowly flat on the table. Three years ago, Manager Ton gave me the bill, he raised both hands and walked slowly to hand it over. Now, even a shipping invoice has to be "asked again and again". This is exactly what Tham Thanh Van has been doing for the past three years. Not a steward, but a usurper of power. Little by little, he silently took all of the To family's people, books, and shops into his hands, then used that nightingale to drain the Su family's fortunes. Waiting until the Su family is empty, he will become the sole owner of this cover. In his previous life, he was successful. In this life, I will make him receive a shocking thunderbolt with empty hands.