Chapter 41: The Wealth-Gathering Grand Array and a Full National Treasury

"Come here, everyone."

All the servants in the courtyard stopped what they were doing and looked over in unison.

The vivid image of that Daoist priest dropping to his knees with a resounding thud a few days ago was still looping vividly in their minds.

"Starting today, the estate is going to undergo a few minor renovations."

Ye Qingyan walked with her hands clasped behind her back, pacing measuredly.

"I am going to set up a massive wealth-gathering formation right here in the estate!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present was astonished.

Yet no one dared to utter a sound.

Whatever the big boss said went. If the big boss declared that a pile of manure was gold, then it was gold!

[A wealth-gathering array?!]

Deep within her mind, that imperial voice suddenly exploded.

[Good! Splendid!]

[How could Our imperial treasury not be overflowing with wealth!]

[Rebellious subject, set up the formation at once! Whatever materials are needed, the imperial treasury shall cover them all!]

The system was so ecstatic its voice even cracked.

Ye Qingyan was utterly speechless.

The imperial treasury indeed; what could that pathetic stash of private money even accomplish?

"Ahem."

She cleared her throat and pulled a book from her sleeve.

Emblazoned on the cover in bold, sweeping calligraphy were three characters: *The Art of Profound Mysteries*.

In reality, the contents inside were simply *An Introduction to Modern Enterprise Management and Process Optimization*.

"Listen to my command!"

Ye Qingyan pointed toward the east.

"That rockery in the east belongs to the metal element. Metal overcomes wood, blocking the auspicious purple energy coming from the east. Move it away at once!"

The head steward looked completely bewildered. " Eldest Miss, that rockery is made of the finest Taihu stone and is worth a thousand gold pieces..."

"Is money more important, or is the fortune of the Ye family more important?"

Ye Qingyan glared at him fiercely.

The steward shivered involuntarily, recalling the knees of that Daoist priest.

"Move it! Move it immediately!"

"Those banana trees in the south—their large leaves catch too much wind and will fan the fortune right away! Transplant them to the rear courtyard!"

"That pond in the west—water is fluid, meaning wealth comes and goes like fleeting clouds. Fill it in and convert it into a 'cornucopia'!"

"And the north..."

Using a feather as an arrow of authority, Ye Qingyan issued her commands with boundless enthusiasm.

The entire Ye estate was sent into an absolute frenzy.

The servants lugged stones, dug up trees, and filled in ponds, working themselves to the bone like dogs. Yet, their faces beamed with a profound sense of sanctity, as though they were participating in some mysterious metaphysical ritual.

"Did you see that? The Eldest Miss is changing our family's destiny!"

"Indeed, indeed! No wonder I've been losing money lately—it was all the fault of that western pond!"

Chen Huai'an stood beneath the moon gate not far away, watching this absurd spectacle.

He understood nothing of metaphysics or formations.

However, he understood engineering.

This was no formation whatsoever.

This was clearly constructing a brand-new "path" through the estate.

A path that every single steward in charge of procurement, warehouses, and accounts would be forced to pass through.

And the destination of this path, without the slightest deviation, led straight to the entrance of Ye Qingyan's courtyard.

Right there, the servants were busily hammering and sawing to construct a compact, brand-new building.

Ye Qingyan had given it a grandiose name: "The Confluence of Wealth."

To put it bluntly, it was a gatehouse—or rather, a toll booth.

"Eldest Miss, what... what is the meaning of this?"

Manager Li, the chief accountant of the estate and a distant relative of Liu Wushuang, wiped away a cold sweat as he asked cautiously.

He felt that his entire career was facing an unprecedented challenge.

"Do you not understand?"

Ye Qingyan picked up *The Art of Profound Mysteries* and flipped a page with a solemn expression.

"The book states that the energy of wealth belongs to the yin element. It must be filtered through the eye of the formation to separate the false from the true before it can flow into the main residence and ensure the prosperity of the household."

She pointed to the newly constructed "toll booth."

"This place is the eye of the formation."

"From this day forward, all procurement lists and expenditure receipts within the estate must first be sent here for my personal review. They will only become valid after being blessed by my 'spiritual energy'."

Manager Wang thought to himself, *Ah...*

*I'll believe your ghost stories!*

*You cunning, wicked woman!*

*Isn't this simply gathering all financial power into your own hands?*

*Spiritual energy blessing, indeed—why don't you claim it needs to be consecrated by the gods?*

Yet, he dared not voice his thoughts.

Meeting Ye Qingyan's clear eyes, he felt as though every single trick he used to line his own pockets had been stripped bare and laid out under the scorching sun.

His legs turned to jelly.

"Eldest Miss... possesses boundless divine powers. This old servant... obeys!"

Seeing that even Manager Wang had cowed, the other stewards dared not raise a single objection.

If Madam Liu, their mistress, couldn't even protect herself, could mere servants like them possibly turn the tables?

"Understood!"

"We will follow all of the Eldest Miss's arrangements!"

The new rules were thus established in a manner that was both deeply metaphysical and utterly absurd.

And the effects were instantaneous.

In less than three days—

"Manager Wang."

Ye Qingyan sat inside "The Confluence of Wealth," holding a ledger in her hands.

"This month, the procurement of brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones cost three hundred taels?"

"Is my father planning to wallpaper the house with high-grade Xuan paper?"

Manager Wang dropped to his knees with a heavy thud, sweat pouring down like rain.

"Eldest Miss, spare my life! It was... it was this lowly servant's momentary greed!"

"Drag him out, break his legs, and throw him back to the Wang family."

"Manager Xu, step forward."

"The estate repaired its roof last month, using eight hundred catties of yellow mud and costing five hundred taels?"

"Did you mix that mud with gold?"

Manager Xu's face turned ashen.

"And you, Chief Zhang of the procurement office, charging fifty wen for a single catty of pork for the back kitchen? Do you take me for some sheltered young miss who has never set foot in a vegetable market?"

"Let me tell you, when I was wrestling elderly women for discounted eggs at the market in my past life, you were still playing in the dirt!"

For a time, wails echoed throughout the Ye estate.

The few stewards who usually embezzled the most grease money were thoroughly rooted out.

Killing the chicken to scare the monkeys.

The household had been disciplined once before, but clearly, the cleanup hadn't been thorough enough.

It was hardly surprising; new emperors brought new courtiers, and ever since Liu Wushuang seized power, she had frantically planted her own people everywhere.

After this purge, no one ever dared to tamper with the accounts again.

The financial lifeline of the Ye family was firmly grasped in Ye Qingyan's hands through a combination of "modern management punches."

Inside the study.

Master Ye listened to the steward's report in prolonged silence.

He gazed out the window at the thoroughly transformed courtyard and his equally transformed daughter.

Her methods were undeniably harsh.

Perhaps even unorthodox.

Yet the steward had just reported that this month's estate expenditures were expected to be reduced by forty percent.

Forty percent!

For the first time, he began to look seriously upon this daughter whom he had never truly cared for.

Perhaps he had truly been mistaken.

Chen Huai'an was watching as well.

The longer he looked, the tighter his brows furrowed.

He had read extensively since childhood, including various imperial secrets.

The so-called "formation" she had set up appeared full of loopholes to him, completely failing to conform to any Daoist or metaphysical tradition.

Yet, the aura that occasionally flashed across Ye Qingyan's body when she issued her commands...

That was not something a sheltered maiden of the inner chambers should possess.

It was an aura of absolute dominance.

An oppressive might deeply engraved in the bones of a supreme ruler.

His mind flashed to the historical descriptions of the founding tyrant in the dynastic annals.

It was said that His Majesty was born with extraordinary features—striding like a tiger with divine light in his gaze, his spoken words acting as law, carrying the "emperor's dragon qi" that compelled all officials to bow and filled the common people with awe.

Chen Huai'an felt he must have lost his mind.

How could he possibly associate Ye Qingyan with that cruel and tyrannical founding ruler?

It had to be an illusion.

Deep in the night.

Having finished processing the final ledger, Ye Qingyan stretched lazily, feeling as though her entire body had been hollowed out.

Being a capitalist was quite exhausting after all.

"System, have those old foxes of the Wang family made any new moves recently?"

Habitually, she activated "Omniscience of Heavenly Secrets," preparing to check her enemies' next retaliatory plot.

[Simulating...]

The scene before her began to shift.

Yet what emerged was a cold, damp prison.

The stone walls were covered in green moss.

A familiar figure knelt upon the icy ground.

It was Chen Huai'an!

He wore tattered prison garments stained with blood, his hair disheveled, yet he still knelt as straight as a spear.

Opposite him, high upon a flight of steps, sat a solitary figure.

That figure was shrouded in shadows, obscuring their features.

The faceless person casually tossed down a token.

The token tumbled across the ground, finally coming to a halt right in front of Chen Huai'an.

Carved upon it in cinnabar was a single character.

A character that struck the soul with shock.

——Kill!

At that exact instant, deep within Ye Qingyan's mind, the system's voice exploded thunderously.

A hatred vast enough to overturn the heavens!

[Kill!]

[Once this rebellious traitor is slain!]

[Only then may the loyal souls rest in peace!]