Marrying a concubine and swallowing her dowry? The mistress turns around and marries a high-ranking

Chapter 18

Qin Shaoze had long anticipated that Shen Lingjun wouldn't easily give up on Qin Xuanrui. Just as she said, she had nothing left but this one son; how could she not hold on tightly?

We have to give her something to make her agree to this.

Qin Shaoze had already made plans before he came.

He looked apologetic: "Lingjun, the Marquis's Mansion has indeed wronged you, but I absolutely have no intention of taking Rui Ge'er away from you. I just hope to give him a better living environment."

As he spoke, he gritted his teeth.

"In this way, the three estates and two shops under the Marquis's name will all belong to you. You gave up all your dowry for your mother back then, so this can be considered compensation for you. As the lady of the Marquis's mansion, it is certainly not good to not have some family property to rely on."

When Old Madam Qin raised money to buy the prescription, she kept these three estates and two shops. These were all real income-generating properties. If they were all sold, the Marquis's mansion would have no income at all.

However, Qin Shaoze doesn't feel bad about giving it to Shen Lingjun now.

Firstly, Shen Lingjun is the wife of the Marquis, so her things still belong to the Marquis's family; it's just a matter of moving them from one pocket to another. Secondly, Liu Manman has already married into the family, so the Marquis's family will definitely not lack money in the future.

Shen Lingjun was practically bursting with laughter inside, but on the surface he still hesitated: "This..."

Qin Shaoze continued to persuade, "Everyone says it's better for boys to stay with their fathers. You can rest assured that Rui'er is being raised by me. You should manage those businesses well. When Rui'er grows up, there will be many places where he will need money. You need to have some savings, right? You can't be his mother with nothing to give him when the time comes, can you?"

He felt his words were very persuasive, and sure enough, Shen Lingjun hesitated for a long time before finally reluctantly agreeing.

“Alright, then I must save up the income from these industries and leave it all to Rui’er in the future.”

Qin Shaoze certainly didn't disagree, since Rui'er was his and Liu Manman's child!

Qin Shaoze immediately brought over the land deeds and house deeds of the three estates and two shops, as well as the indentures of all the servants, and handed them over to Shen Lingjun.

Then they had Qin Xuanrui move to his Ganlin Courtyard.

Both parties are happy.

Shen Lingjun immediately instructed Dou Niang to hide the contracts.

Another considerable gain!

Now she has finally shirked all her responsibilities, feeling relieved and no longer needing to waste time and energy on the affairs of the Yongning Marquis's mansion and other people's children.

Let Liu Manman manage this household. She really wants to see how Liu Manman will deal with those shameless parasites in the Marquis's mansion!

......

the other side.

Liu Manman was very satisfied to see that Qin Shaoze had successfully brought Qin Xuanrui over.

She didn't care about the estates and shops that she gave to Shen Lingjun in exchange, after all, her child was more important!

Liu Manman felt she had won a great victory and happily moved to Weixia Courtyard.

Standing on the second floor, Liu Manman could see the entire Yongning Marquis's mansion. She was filled with pride and felt that she had truly become the mistress of this mansion.

She is not one of those mediocre ancient women who only know how to be a good wife and mother and depend on men. She will stand shoulder to shoulder with Qin Shaoze and will definitely make the Yongning Marquis's Mansion even more glorious!

Then Liu Manman continued to look at the account books that Shen Lingjun had sent over.

After spending most of the day, she finally understood it, but the more she looked at it, the more something seemed off.

When she got to the last few pages, she was completely shocked!

The once grand Yongning Marquis's mansion is now just an empty shell!

The public funds account only has a few hundred taels of silver, which is not enough for next month's salary and daily expenses!

Moreover, the Hou family's income was not much. Apart from Qin Shaoze's meager salary, they only owned a few estates and shops, which she had just given to Shen Lingjun!

The current Marquis's mansion can no longer be described as just spending more than it earns; it's a situation where there's only spending and no income!

The crucial point is that the Marquis's mansion actually owes a debt of ten thousand taels of silver!

No wonder her wedding was so shabby! It turns out she even borrowed money to pay for it!

How could this be?!

How is she supposed to manage the household affairs?

Only then did Liu Manman belatedly realize that she seemed to have been tricked!

When Old Madam Qin handed over the power to manage the household to her, it was ostensibly to appease and compensate her, but in reality, it was to stuff a huge hot potato into her hands!

Unable to swallow her anger, Liu Manman went straight to confront Old Mrs. Qin the next morning.

Qin Shaoze was paying his respects to Old Madam Qin at that moment, and Liu Manman had nothing to hide in front of Qin Shaoze, so she spoke up directly.

“Mother, you said before that it was because I had been wronged that you had Shen hand over the power of managing the household to me, but I did not know that the Marquis’s mansion was in such a state! It is so badly in debt. They say that even a clever housewife cannot cook without rice. How am I supposed to manage the mansion?”

Old Mrs. Qin had long been prepared for Liu Manman to come to her door and confront her.

She was incredibly thick-skinned and showed no sign of guilt, immediately retorting even more confidently.

Feigning surprise, she said, "When Lingjun married into the Marquis's mansion, it was quite poor. But she managed it for three years, keeping it in perfect order and making it thrive. If she could do it, why can't you? Are you less capable than her?"

With just one sentence, he accurately hit Liu Manman's Achilles' heel.

How could she possibly admit that she was inferior to Shen Lingjun!

Liu Manman was furious: "But as far as I know, the Marquis's mansion is now prosperous and no longer impoverished! Why has it become like this when I took over? Isn't this deliberately making things difficult for me?"

At this point, Old Madam Qin could tell the truth: "That's because after I took the medicine you prescribed, my condition suddenly worsened, and I was on the verge of death. Fortunately, a legendary healer from the martial arts world came to treat me and cured me, but the Marquis's mansion spent 100,000 taels of silver to buy her prescription! That's why things have turned out this way!"

As she spoke, Old Madam Qin said with regret, "If you had come up with a solution a few days earlier, the Marquis's mansion wouldn't have had to spend so much money!"

He immediately shifted all the blame onto Liu Manman!

That's exactly right. Her condition worsened because of the medicine she took from Liu Manman. Liu Manman couldn't come up with a solution for a long time, which is why the Marquis's family had to empty their entire fortune to buy the prescription!

Isn't it only natural to let Liu Manman take over this mess now?

"..."

Liu Manman felt a mouthful of blood stuck in her throat, rendered speechless.

The deterioration of Old Mrs. Qin's condition was indeed her responsibility.

As for spending 100,000 taels of silver to buy the prescription...

Liu Manman looked at Qin Shaoze, who looked apologetic but did not refute Old Madam Qin's words.

Clearly, what Grandma Qin said was true.

Knowing she was in the wrong, Liu Manman couldn't make a scene any longer, so she apologized to Old Madam Qin and went back dejectedly.

Now that she has the power to manage the government, she can't possibly relinquish it. She has no choice but to bite the bullet and find a way, no matter how difficult it may be.

The key point is that there is also a shining example of Shen Lingjun. Shen Lingjun has been in charge of the mansion for three years, and everyone from Old Madam Qin to the servants has praised her.

Liu Manman gritted her teeth inwardly.

She definitely did a better job than Shen Lingjun!

Upon returning, she began sweeping reforms to the Marquis's residence's management system.