Reborn and married in a swapped marriage, my aloof husband is too ruthless.

Moonlight streamed through the carved window lattice, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

As Su Jinxin stepped into the Yan family compound, an aged voice rang out in the night: "Young Madam Su, the Yan family has its own rules..."

The head steward of the Yan family, holding a thick, thread-bound book, began to recite, swaying his head: "When the bride enters the family, she must first kneel and worship the ancestors in the ancestral hall for an hour, and then..."

Su Jinxin raised an eyebrow. An hour?

She interrupted the steward with a half-smile: "Rules are rigid, but people are flexible. It's late at night, and the ancestral hall is gloomy. What if we offend the ancestors? Wouldn't that be an even greater sin?"

The servants around her whispered among themselves, their eyes filled with scrutiny as if they were looking at an outsider.

The head steward of the Yan family was clearly taken aback by his new bride's boldness. He paused for a moment, stroked his pale beard, and continued, "Furthermore, the Yan family's daughter-in-law must pay her respects to her husband morning and evening every day, and must not..."

Su Jinxin interrupted him again, her tone tinged with a hint of teasing.

"Butler, isn't this custom a bit outdated? I'm busy making money to support the family every day, how can I have so much time to pay my respects? How about I give the old lady a red envelope every month as a token?"

Even the usually expressionless Green Ivy couldn't help but burst out laughing.

The butler was stunned by Su Jinxin's "trendy" remarks, and it took him a long time to find his voice: "This...this is outrageous! How can you change the rules of the Yan family at will!"

Su Jinxin wasn't annoyed and still smiled, "Rules are rigid, but people are flexible. Besides, I married Yan Cheng'an, not the Yan family's rules."

"Besides, my husband is bedridden. If I don't go out and earn some money to supplement the family income, won't I starve to death?"

Just as the butler was about to reprimand Su Jinxin again, an aged yet authoritative voice came from the inner courtyard: "Let her in."

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Old Madam Yan slowly walking over, supported by her maid.

Her gaze fell on Su Jinxin, with a hint of scrutiny and a subtle curiosity.

This new bride is quite interesting.

Madam Yan waved her hand, signaling the butler to leave: "Alright, it's getting late, let's skip the formalities. Take the young mistress to her courtyard to rest."

Although the butler was somewhat unwilling, he dared not disobey the old lady's orders. He could only glare at Su Jinxin fiercely before turning around and instructing the servants to lead the way.

Su Jinxin gave a slight curtsy to Madam Yan, a triumphant smile playing on her lips.

It seems that the Yan family is not a monolithic entity.

After settling in, Su Jinxin thought of Yan Chengan's study.

This man is quite convincing at faking illness.

We need to think of a way to find out more about him.

She quietly slipped out of the courtyard and followed her memory to Yan Cheng'an's study.

It looks deserted and desolate outside, without even a guard. The lives of these "living dead" are too miserable.

Su Jinxin gently pushed the door, and it wasn't locked!

She slipped inside and saw Yan Chengan sitting at his desk, engrossed in a book.

Hearing the noise, he looked up, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, before quickly regaining his composure: "Madam, what brings you here so late at night?"

Su Jinxin originally wanted to discuss with him how to expand and strengthen the business, achieve financial freedom as soon as possible, and reach the pinnacle of life.

But now that the words are on the tip of my tongue, I don't know how to begin.

Should I just say, "I see you have extraordinary potential; you're a business genius. How about we start a big project together?"

In the end, Su Jinxin just coughed and made up an excuse: "Oh, I just came to see if you were asleep. Since you're not asleep yet, I'll head back now." With that, she turned and left, thinking to herself: I'm such a clever little devil, that's a perfect excuse!

Back in her own courtyard, Su Jinxin lay on the bed, but couldn't fall asleep no matter what.

Tomorrow, those servants from the Yan family probably won't let her off so easily... Green Ivy muttered to herself as she massaged her legs, "Miss, what do you think they'll do to make things difficult for you tomorrow?"

Su Jinxin smiled and said, "We'll deal with whatever comes our way. We'll talk about tomorrow's problems tomorrow."

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a series of light footsteps outside the courtyard. Then, a shrill voice rang out: "Young mistress, the hot water is ready. Would you like to take a bath now?" Su Jinxin and Cui'er exchanged a glance, a hint of wariness flashing in their eyes.

"Heh, they're here so quickly..." Su Jinxin raised an eyebrow. "Bringing hot water in the middle of the night, how thoughtful."

"come in."

Two maids carried in a bath tub, their faces bearing fake smiles.

One of the maids approached Su Jinxin solicitously and said, "Young Madam, let me serve you your bath." Su Jinxin looked at her with a half-smile and said, "No need, I can do it myself. You can leave after you've put down the hot water."

The two maids exchanged a glance, a hint of resentment flashing in their eyes, but they still obediently put down the bath tub and turned to leave.

Just then, Su Jinxin suddenly spoke up: "Wait."

The two maids stopped in their tracks, their hearts skipping a beat. Had she discovered something?

Su Jinxin pointed to a pile of clothes next to the bathtub and asked, "Are these all my clothes?"

One of the maids nodded quickly: "Yes, young mistress."

Su Jinxin walked over, picked up a piece of clothing, looked at it carefully, then put it down and picked up another piece.

She checked each item one by one, a faint smile always on her face.

The two maids watched her nervously, their palms sweating.

They hid needles in the clothes, waiting for Su Jinxin to prick herself when she put them on, so they could use that as an excuse to say she didn't know the rules and had offended the ancestors of the Yan family.

However, after checking all the clothes, Su Jinxin found nothing unusual.

She put the clothes back in their place, then looked up at the two maids with a half-smile: "Thank you for your hard work, you can go now."

The two maids, feeling as if they had been granted a pardon, quickly withdrew.

After they left, Green Ivy asked, puzzled, "Young Madam, how did you know they tampered with the clothes?"

Su Jinxin smiled mysteriously: "A woman's intuition." In fact, she had experienced something similar in her previous life, so she saw through the clues at a glance.

The next day, Su Jinxin began to deal with the Yan family's affairs.

She discovered that the Yan family's accounting system had significant loopholes, making it easy for others to exploit them.

She subtly raised this issue with Madam Yan.

At first, Madam Yan did not believe it, but after careful investigation, she found that what Su Jinxin said was true.

She was impressed by Su Jinxin's talent and began to involve her in more affairs.

When the servants saw that Su Jinxin was not only not intimidated by their harassment, but had also gained the old lady's favor, they all quieted down and dared not provoke her again.

Su Jinxin gradually gained a foothold in the Yan family, but she did not forget her ultimate goal.

She knew that Yan Cheng'an was her biggest challenge...

That evening, Su Jinxin was going through the account books in her study when she suddenly discovered a huge expenditure with an unknown purpose.

She checked carefully and found that the expense was related to several servants.

A cold smile curled at the corner of her lips. It seemed the Yan family was a deeper quagmire than she had imagined… Just as she was about to continue her investigation, she suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside the door, followed by a panicked voice: “Young Madam, something terrible has happened…”

Su Jinxin sneered. These troublemakers, do they really think they're easy targets?

She wanted to see what other tricks they had up their sleeves.

No sooner had they sent the servants who had falsified accounts to the authorities than someone delivered a "surprise" to them.

A bowl of strangely colored "pregnancy-preserving medicine" was placed on the table, emitting a nauseating smell.

Green Ivy covered her nose: "Young Madam, this... isn't this going to poison you?"

Su Jinxin picked up the medicine bowl with amusement, brought it close to her nose, and clicked her tongue twice: "This medicine's effects are probably going to kill both mother and child! You've really gone to great lengths." Her eyes darted around, and a plan came to her.

The Yan family's murky waters are much deeper than she imagined.

After dealing with the "pregnancy-stabilizing drug" controversy, Su Jinxin decided to investigate her sickly husband's background.

She remembered that in her past life, Yan Cheng'an had been bedridden for many years, but upon seeing him today, she felt that something was amiss.

Taking advantage of the quiet of the night, Su Jinxin quietly slipped into Yan Chengan's study.

The study was filled with a faint scent of medicine, and the bookshelves were filled with all kinds of books, from military strategy to business management, covering everything.

Su Jinxin picked up a book at random and flipped through it, discovering that there were annotations on the pages. The handwriting was strong and vigorous, clearly not something a person who had been ill for a long time could write.

Even stranger, there was a map on the desk, marked with some unusual locations, as if someone was plotting something.

"Yan Cheng'an, what secret are you hiding?" Su Jinxin murmured to herself, her heart filled with curiosity.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps outside the door, and quickly hid the map behind the screen.

The door was pushed open, and a dark figure walked in… “Who’s there?”