Professional Ethics of a Concubine

“Master, for releasing poisonous snakes and insects, the eldest wife must be severely punished and punished according to the family rules.

However, once the matter of Concubine Qin is exposed, it will greatly damage the reputation of the Marquis and will also affect the marriages of other masters in the Marquisate. It is better for the Master to keep it secret and only punish the first wife in private."

Zhang Jingyi spoke softly.

"Don't you feel aggrieved for keeping it a secret for the first wife?" Xie Jin asked her.

"It's not for the first wife, but for the reputation of the Marquis and his mansion." Zhang Jingyi frowned and emphasized.

Xie Jin stopped talking, feeling somewhat disappointed.

As his legitimate wife, she is law-abiding, not jealous, and always puts him first. This is her strength.

However, she was born a concubine's daughter and was bullied by her stepmother for many years. Even though she is now a marquis's wife, she is still cowardly and not dignified and noble enough. She likes to give in and swallow her anger when encountering problems.

In addition, she has limited talent and no capable person to teach her. Although she has been a housekeeper for many years and has worked diligently and attentively, she still has some disorganization and can only barely be qualified as the mistress of the household.

He had never had high expectations of her before. It was enough for her to put himself first and be obedient and sensible.

However, now that he had the intelligent Ye Qingzhi by his side, the comparison made Xie Jinsheng feel a little dissatisfied.

"My lord, is what I said wrong?" Zhang Jingyi asked nervously.

"That's right." Xie Jin skipped over the matter and said to her,

"Last time you mentioned to me that Ye is good at reading account books. Starting tomorrow, let her work as an accountant under you. Help you check the account books of the mansion for the past seven years and sort out the money that the eldest wife has embezzled from the public treasury, and make them pay it back in full."

When Zhang Jingyi heard this, she did not feel the slightest bit of shame for being a concubine involved in the housekeeping business. She was filled with joy and confirmed with Xie Jin,

"Let Madam Ye be the accountant? Are you serious?"

"Of course." Xie Jin nodded.

"Okay, tomorrow morning, I will ask Aunt Ye to start checking the accounts." Zhang Jingyi said with a smile, her eyes shining with excitement.

Although she followed Aunt Ye's advice and found a few accountants, it was far from the surprise Aunt Ye gave her last time.

Every time she looked at the account book with a headache and listened to the accountant talking to her about the account book, she would miss Aunt Ye.

Finally, she was able to force Aunt Ye to help her check the accounts. Before, she always refused in the name of serving the Marquis. This time, the Marquis asked her to check the accounts to see if she had any excuses not to work.

-

The next day.

Ye Qingzhi woke up comfortably from her sleep and found the room a little unfamiliar. She was dazed for a moment and remembered that this was Xie Jin's room. She did not go back after work yesterday.

I don’t know what happened last night.

Ye Qingzhi shouted outside, and Ruyi and Chunyu came in holding toiletries.

"Where is the Marquis? Didn't he come back last night?" Ye Qingzhi asked while putting on her clothes.

"The Marquis stayed in the Madam's room in the second half of the night and went to court early in the morning." Ruyi told Ye Qingzhi the news she had found out without waiting for her to ask.

"Auntie, Auntie Qin is gone."

"...How did he die?" Ye Qingzhi paused while putting on her shoes, looked up at Ruyi and asked.

In fact, she could guess what would happen to Aunt Qin. There was only one ending for her to cuckold the Marquis, and that was death.

"I heard that the poisonous snakes and insects were released by the main house last night. The Marquis caught a witness and woke up the old lady and others in the middle of the night.

Then, the Marquis threw the captured poisonous snakes and insects in front of Lady Wang and the master in the main house, almost scaring them to death.

Also, Aunt Yao went crazy last night, shouting that Aunt Qin and Master had an affair and that she was pregnant with Master's bastard. When Aunt Qin heard about it, she couldn't bear the humiliation and hit her head against a pillar to prove her innocence, and then she died."

There was a sigh and fear in Ruyi's tone.

Ye Qingzhi's hands trembled slightly, she bit her lip, and asked again, "What about Aunt Yao? Is she still alive?"

"I heard that she was nearly beaten to death by the enraged old lady with a cane, but the Marquis stopped her and sent her out of the Marquis's mansion overnight to the family temple."

Ruyi said with a gloating tone,

"Aunt Yao is really courting death. She actually dared to bring discredit to the Marquis and the Marquis's Mansion. I didn't kill her only for the sake of her mother's family."

"It can be seen from this that a strong family is a woman's life-saving talisman." Ye Qingzhi sighed in her heart.

"Send a message to the Ye Mansion later, saying that I will go to Xiangguo Temple to burn incense tomorrow, and ask my mother and others to go with me so that I can see them."

The Ye Mansion cannot be her backing, but it also cannot hold her back.

Ye Qingzhi planned to meet the original owner's relatives tomorrow, and then decide whether to find a way to take Fei to the Ye Mansion, or to keep a close distance with the Ye Mansion, or even cut off all ties.

Ruyi agreed and said excitedly,

"Aunt, just now Madam sent someone to tell you to go to Guixin Courtyard for breakfast. Madam said that the Marquis asked you to help check the accounts. Aunt, you are helping Madam to run the household!!"

"Pfft..."

Upon hearing the bad news, Ye Qingzhi sprayed out the mouthwash in her mouth.

She wiped her mouth and asked in disbelief, "Why is it my business? You want me to check the accounts? What accounts?"

It felt like her good days were over.

"I don't know about this. Auntie, please sit down quickly and let Ruyi dress you up. Don't keep Madam waiting anxiously."

Ruyi pointed out excitedly.

Letting a concubine participate in the housekeeping of checking accounts, what a great honor!

Ruyi was happy for her aunt.

The Marquis really dotes on my aunt too much!

They were afraid that the Madam would be resentful and would bully their aunt, so they had to be even more cautious and respectful to the Madam, and not let the Madam find fault with their aunt in other areas.

After dressing up, Ye Qingzhi went to the lady's courtyard to report in with a look of despair.

She is now facing a big crisis in the workplace, which is secondment!

She was loaned to work in another department, and it was her superior who took the initiative to push her out. She didn't even have a reason to refuse!

Although the Madam and the Marquis are both her superiors, their responsibilities are completely different.

The key is that while I am working for the Madam, I cannot not work for the Marquis either!!

Same salary, double the workload, who would be willing to do this?

It's so hard to be a worker.

Ye Qingzhi arrived at Guixin Courtyard and saw the lady. Seeing that she looked tired, she said kindly,

"Madam, you made a fuss all night last night. Why don't you go back and catch up on some sleep?"

She is also lazy.

"Well, I'll go catch up on my sleep after I finish arranging things for you." Zhang Jingyi smiled and said gently,

"Judging from your complexion, you must have had a good rest last night. It's a good time to check the accounts."

Ye Qingzhi, "..."

It doesn't taste right.

"Madam, what accounts are you checking?" Ye Qingzhi asked.

"The Marquis ordered us to check the purchase accounts of the Marquis' Mansion over the past seven years and find out the money that the eldest wife had embezzled. We will ask them to return the money in full."

Zhang Jingyi smiled with satisfaction, this was exactly what she wanted.

The key is that she doesn't have to worry about checking the accounts, because she has Aunt Ye as her capable assistant!

Just give it to her easily.

Ye Qingzhi made a final struggle and said with a worried look on her face,

"Madam, I am just a concubine. It is against the rules to do this. If I tell others, they will laugh at our mansion for having no rules and etiquette. I am afraid that some people will misunderstand that the Marquis wants to favor his concubine and let her get rid of the trouble. He wants to use this to slowly deprive me of your housekeeper power!"

The smile on Zhang Jingyi's face disappeared.