My husband married a concubine? I turned around and married the cold prince.

"Yi Yi, I heard from mother that you want to reduce the expenses and servants of Changshou Hall by half. Is this true?" Xue Wanxian did not directly talk about his discussion with Zhang, but brought up this matter first.

"Yes, but there is a reason for this." After Xue Wanxian said this, Liu Yiyi immediately knew in her heart that Zhang must have complained to Xue Wanxian last night, otherwise why would he come to see her this morning.

"Tell me." Xue Wanxian looked at Liu Yiyi.

Liu Yiyi's face was still gentle, but she looked a little more serious than before.

She told him everything that happened in Changshou Hall and also described how Xiaoyu was beaten there.

"My Lord, there are indeed too many people at Changshou Hall. If there was money from the shops under our name before, it wouldn't be a problem to have more people and more silver. But now, all the money from the shops has been taken away by An Qingqian, and the managers all have their own thoughts and are unwilling to hand over the silver.

Without a source of money, we can only find ways to reduce expenditures. It's not just the Changshou Hall, people in other places in the palace can only find ways to reduce expenditures. However, there are too many people in the Changshou Hall who don't do anything, so the reduction will be greater."

"But if the number of people in the Marquis' Mansion decreases too much, won't the prosperity of the Marquis' Mansion be guaranteed? If others knew about this, they would think that the Lin'an Marquis' Mansion would fall into ruin."

After hearing Liu Yiyi's explanation, Xue Wanxian did not understand it. Instead, he felt that it was wrong. He frowned and showed disapproval.

"My Lord, I know that all of this represents the prosperity and wealth of the Marquisate, and represents the reputation of the Marquisate, but all of this requires money. Without money, nothing can be done. My Lord, I am not deliberately making things difficult for you, but I have to do this."

Liu Yiyi didn't expect Xue Wanxian to react so strongly to what she was going to do, and she felt a little unhappy.

"This..." Xue Wanxian fell silent after hearing this.

"But, before, when An Qingqian was here, the shops under the name of the Marquis' Mansion didn't hand over much money, and she didn't drive out any of the servants in the mansion."

Xue Wanxian couldn't help but think back to the time when An Qingqian was here. At that time, those shops had never handed over a single tael of silver, and the marquis' mansion was still maintained very well.

Seeing that Xue Wanxian actually mentioned An Qingqian in front of her, Liu Yiyi's face suddenly changed.

"My Lord, what do you mean? Are you saying that I am not as good as An Qingqian?"

Xue Wanxian didn't say anything, just looked at Liu Yiyi.

Liu Yiyi was so angry at Xue Wanxian's appearance that she laughed coldly, "My Lord, yes, when An Qingqian was here, those shops didn't hand in the money, but the mansion was still well maintained. But, what did they use to maintain it?

All that splendor was maintained with An Qingqian's generous dowry. Lord, is it possible that this matter would sound good if it were spread out?"

"Or does the Marquis also want me to take out my dowry to cover all expenses of the Marquis' Mansion?"

Liu Yiyi said this, her eyes fixed on Xue Wanxian.

"That's not what I meant." After a long time, Xue Wanxian managed to utter a word.

Using his wife's dowry to maintain expenses would sound terrible if it got out. People who didn't know would think that the Lin'an Marquis Mansion was really going to fail.

"My Lord, let's not talk about these things. The most recent one is your cousin Zhang Qingsha. She will be coming of age soon. The old lady said that this coming of age banquet will be grand and many people will be invited.

But, doesn't the Marquis know how much money is in the account? Is this money enough to hold a large banquet?

Or should we use all the money to hold the coming-of-age banquet, and after the banquet, everyone in the mansion will use the leftovers to get by?"

Liu Yiyi stood up from Xue Wanxian's arms and walked to the brazier beside her.

She never thought that Xue Wanxian would be such a person. She wanted everything good for the Marquis' Mansion, but not only did he not understand her, he even compared her with An Qingqian.

At this moment, Liu Yiyi felt her heart filled with coldness. There was coldness in her eyes as she stared at the burning brazier in front of her.

"Yiyi, I didn't mean that. I will find a way to deal with the money issue. Don't be angry. There is no need to reduce the number of staff in the mansion. Once others know about this, I don't know how they will look at me."

Hearing Xue Wanxian say this, Liu Yiyi twitched a sneer at the corner of her mouth.

"Well, as long as there is money, you can do whatever you want, my Lord."

"Yiyi, there is one more thing. You grew up in the border area and have never been involved in managing the affairs of the mansion. Therefore, why don't you hand over the power of the housekeeping to Nanny Chen and Lily and let them manage it first. This afternoon, I will find you an old nanny who is good at this so that you can learn how to manage these things.

Once you have learned a little, I will hand the power of the housekeeper back to you."

"What?" Hearing Xue Wanxian's words, Liu Yiyi turned around in shock and looked at Xue Wanxian with wide eyes.

"You want to take back my housekeeper rights?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yi Yi, this is all for your own good. Don't worry, the power of housekeeper will be yours in the end. It's just that for now, let them be in charge." Xue Wanxian explained.

"Haha." Liu Yiyi was really amused by Xue Wanxian's words.

She simply couldn't believe that Xue Wanxian would say this to her. She said that she couldn't manage well and needed to learn. Lily was just a little maid, so how could she manage her?

Liu Yiyi quickly forced herself to calm down. She knew that this must be Zhang's idea.

It turned out that last night, Zhang called Xue Wanxian over not only to report her, but also for another purpose: she wanted to take away her power as housekeeper!

As for letting Lily and Nanny Chen take charge, in her opinion, it was just using Lily's hand, and actually putting the power of housekeeper in Zhang's hands!

After realizing this, Liu Yiyi closed her eyes.

"My Lord, I don't agree with this. I didn't know much about these things before, but I have been studying hard these past few days. Now I can read the account books by myself. It will be easier for me to do the following things. You can't do this."

"But Nanny Chen is an elder in the mansion. She knows more than you and can handle things better than you."

Xue Wanxian had already promised Zhang that he would take back Liu Yiyi's power as housekeeper, so he always spoke in Zhang's and Nanny Chen's favor.

"My Lord, I have no status here to begin with. The only thing I can rely on now is the power of the housekeeper. Because of this, the people in the mansion look up to me and dare not do anything disrespectful to me openly.