All the members are good people, only the host is a pervert

Late spring raindrops slanted against the window lattice, making a crackling sound. Xu Jinshu knelt on the footrest beside the bathtub, his fingertips trembling as he untied Lin Ruan's belt.

The hands had distinct joints and looked particularly white under the candlelight.

"Why would the princess put the silver there?" Xu Jinshu's voice was very soft, as if he was afraid of disturbing something.

What he actually wanted to ask was where Lin Ruan got the money from, but he swallowed the words back when they came to his lips.

He didn't dare ask.

Now everyone in the Duke's Mansion knows that this princess hates people asking about her private affairs the most.

Lin Ruan sat lazily in the tub, the warm water flowing over her shoulders. She squinted her eyes, and the moisture condensed into tiny droplets on her eyelashes.

"Do you think I was just messing around during those years?" She chuckled. "I just did some small business through a few middlemen."

The sound of rain outside the window is getting heavier, making the room even quieter.

Xu Jinshu placed his hands on Lin Ruan's shoulders, kneading them with just the right amount of strength.

He could smell the faint fragrance of agarwood in Lin Ruan's hair, mixed with the fragrance of jasmine in the bath water.

"Someone was eyeing our Duke's Mansion a few years ago, so I didn't take it back." Lin Ruan's voice was a bit lazy. "Now the time is right. You can't just pawn things off when the mansion is short of money, right? How much can the warehouse hold that can withstand such consumption?"

"If you bring the silver back, you'll have time to clean up the shop and farm at the Duke's Mansion. It's time to replace the people and punish those who need punishment. Every year the shop suffers losses and the farm suffers disasters. You're treating your master like a fool and fooling him."

"I'll remember that." He responded in a gentle voice, his fingertips wandering around Lin Ruan's shoulders and neck, and his hands kneading Lin Ruan's shoulders lightly.

The flickering candlelight cast a shadow on his drooping eyelashes.

Three days later, Xu Jinshu, along with the accountant and guards, began to check the Duke's Mansion's assets.

He was wearing a plain long gown with only a belt embroidered with silver thread tied around his waist. He looked as neat and tidy as a sword drawn from its sheath.

After hearing Lin Ruan's words, Xu Jinshu's actions were still very fast, fierce and fast. No matter which lady's companion the manager of the manor was, or which father's daughter of Lord Lin was the shopkeeper,

In less than two weeks, Xu Jinshu had punished seven stewards and three shopkeepers. He had irrefutable evidence against each of them, even making three copies of the evidence and sending them to the old lady, the mistress, and Lord Lin.

The old lady looked at the accounts and slammed the table in anger. "These cunning servants! Do they really think our Duke's Mansion is easy to bully? Lord Fu, tell Jinshu to punish him severely and don't care about anyone's face."

He was old and weak, and could not take care of so many things. The servant his daughter had married was weak and useless, allowing the servant to deceive his superiors and his subordinates.

Fortunately, we now have a grandson like Jinshu.

But the difficulty of being a steward still lies with Duke Lin.

Only the outer courtyard's accountant came to Xu Jinshu tremblingly and said, "Madam, the Duke's grandmother bought three more fans and two inkstones this month. The outer courtyard's account has already..."

Even though the Outer Court had no money, it still couldn't control Duke Lin's hobbies.

Buy a fan today and a jade ornament tomorrow.

Ever since he married into the Duke's mansion, the Outer Court's accounts had been a bottomless pit. Duke Lin was fond of collecting antiques and was prone to spending lavishly. He had sold countless boxes of gold, silver, and jade from the Outer Court's large warehouse.

The profits from the shops and farms were all spent by her before she could even enter the inner courtyard.

Xu Jinshu looked at the account book every day and found that the money he earned was getting more and more, but there was only the account book, no money.

The question is, there is no money in the outer courtyard accounting office.

Xu Jinshu rubbed his temples. He didn't dare to bother with his mother-in-law. He could only take advantage of Lin Ruan returning home from her shift to talk to her about his difficulties.

After dinner that day, Xu Jinshu walked into the study, carrying tea. Lin Ruan was reading the court newspaper. Seeing him come in, she raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why, are you still worried about money?"

Xu Jinshu put down the teacup and said softly, "Mother bought another jade mountain today, spending three thousand taels..."

Lin Ruan chuckled, "That's all my mother's hobbies are. It's hard to restrict her."

She reached out and pulled Xu Jinshu to her side. "Tomorrow I'll talk to the housekeeper and tell him that from now on, apart from the court salary, only the income from the two shops will be kept in the outer courtyard, and the rest will be given directly to you."

Xu Jinshu's eyes lit up, but he hesitated and said, "But this isn't the first time Mother has pawned something to buy those things. The key to the big warehouse..."

"I'll take care of it myself starting tomorrow." Lin Ruan pinched his fingers. "Are you satisfied with this?"

Xu Jinshu finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's all up to my wife."

Lin Ruan leaned over Xu Jinshu, who was sitting on the footrest, and whispered softly, "You don't have to worry too much. The antique shops that mother often visited are now all under my name. No matter how much she spends, it's just a matter of transferring money from one hand to the other for me."

Xu Jinshu was both angry and amused, and bravely retorted, "Mother is spending the Duke's Mansion's money, and I don't know where the money earned by the princess comes from."

What if he doesn't know?

In terms of spending in the Duke's Mansion, Duke Lin can only be ranked second. The first one has to be his wife, the sixth-rank editor of the Hanlin Academy and the eldest daughter of the Duke's Mansion, Lin.

The combined income of the Duke's Mansion is not enough for the mother and daughter to spend!

Xu Jinshu brought back 600,000 taels of silver and 40,000 taels of gold from the other courtyard. He only locked up the gold and 100,000 taels of silver in the inner courtyard storehouse for emergency use, and used the rest to buy farms and shops.

If you don’t have the energy to manage a shop, then rent it out and deal with it when you have time. Rent is also a source of income.

This barely breaks even.

Lin Ruan: What’s wrong with me loving to spend money! What’s wrong!

The system that is busy making money in Jinling: ... Never mind, 500 points per month, I'll just bear with it.

Lin Ruan said confidently: "You are right. Then I will keep the income from the two shops in the outer courtyard for my daughter to spend."

Xu Jinshu: . . . .

Xu Jinshu bit his lip and suppressed his anger: "I will follow the arrangements of Miss Lin."

There was obvious grievance in his voice.

But no matter how angry he was, he would just call her "Mrs. Lin".

How could Lin Ruan let him go?

Seeing him like this, Lin Ruan couldn't help but reach out and pat his head, then rubbed the top of his head, and said in a rather doting voice: "You always get angry like this."

Xu Jinshu was so angry that he laughed out loud.

Under the candlelight, Lin Ruan's eyes and eyebrows were particularly lively, with a hint of teasing and doting.

How could there be a woman with such a changeable personality like Lin Ruan in the world? He was frightened and angry, torn between love and hate.

He suddenly felt that he would never be able to escape from this woman's clutches in this lifetime.

Outside the window, the spring rain came quietly again.

Xu Jinshu looked at Lin Ruan's profile and suddenly felt that this woman was like the spring rain, and he was willing to be a drop of water in her palm.

Lin Ruan teased Xu Jinshu like teasing a dog, but in her heart she was thinking that the old emperor had been in a coma for half a year and it was time for him to die.

With the princess taking the throne and cleaning up the court, there should be a lot of things found after the confiscation of property. If she and Duke Lin buy them, it can also save the Duke's Mansion a lot of money.

As the wife, she can do something for Xu Jinshu.