The entire Marquis's mansion regrets it? Too late, their little one has become the darling of t

Cui Ruixin originally wanted to cause trouble for the third branch of the family, but before she could do so, she discovered that her subordinates were no longer obedient.

Those managers who were easy to work with before are now all slow and inefficient.

She sent her trusted confidant to inquire, and only then did she learn that Shen Jinzhu had previously spent a lot of money on these people.

This fostered greed in these people.

Now that there's no reward for doing things for her, naturally the work is done very perfunctorily.

"I've calculated it, and the Third Madam has subsidized at least a thousand taels of silver during these three months of managing the household," Chunying said tremblingly.

"Has she gone mad?!" Cui Ruixin was so angry she almost spat out blood.

The third son's monthly salary was seven shi of grain, which amounted to only forty-five taels of silver per year.

Shen Jinzhu spent over a thousand taels of silver in one go, which must have been her dowry.

Although she also had a dowry, it was nowhere near as good as Shen Jinzhu's.

When Shen Jinzhu married into the Marquis's family, the Shen family gave her a dowry of 200,000 taels of silver.

Cui Ruixin's maids were also surprised by how generous the Third Madam was.

For a moment, they were all a little envious of the third wife's family.

Besides the salary from the manor, the Third Madam will probably give a considerable amount of reward money.

Before Cui Ruixin could come up with a way to deal with these people, Shuangjiang, the head maid of the old lady's courtyard, came again: "Madam, the old lady asked me to ask why the bird's nest hasn't been delivered for two days in a row?"

"What bird's nest?" Cui Ruixin was caught off guard.

She didn't remember that her mother-in-law was supposed to send bird's nest.

"The old lady had been coughing a while ago. The doctor said she should eat more bird's nest to nourish yin and kidneys, moisten the lungs and stop coughing, so she has been eating bird's nest porridge before bed," Shuangjiang reminded her.

Cui Ruixin knew immediately that this must have been arranged by Shen Jinzhu.

"My third sister-in-law didn't tell me about this, so I forgot. I'll arrange for someone to deliver it tonight." She couldn't cut back on her mother-in-law's food, so she could only smile and agree.

As soon as the Frost's Descent passed, the smile on Cui Ruixin's face vanished instantly.

Shen Jinzhu really dug a lot of pits for her.

Bird's nest is not cheap. If my mother-in-law eats it every night, how can the Marquis's mansion afford it?

But if she were to forbid her mother-in-law from eating any more, she would be labeled as unfilial.

She had no choice but to grit her teeth and continue managing the business, using money from her own savings to buy bird's nest.

With the Lunar New Year approaching, we still need to buy New Year's gifts.

Cui Ruixin sent the compiled list of New Year's gifts to her mother-in-law for review, but was instead given a severe scolding.

"Is this what you call running the household?"

"Look at all these things we're sending. People will say that our Jing'an Marquis's mansion has fallen on hard times, and that we can't even give away these things?"

The old lady was very dissatisfied with this.

She carefully compared the gifts and found that this year's gifts were at least 30% younger than in previous years.

"The harvest on the farm wasn't good this year, and my daughter-in-law has already done her best," Cui Ruixin said sheepishly, trying to defend herself.

In previous years, the New Year's gifts were generous because Shen Jinzhu paid for them out of her own pocket.

Every time she bought New Year's gifts for her family, she would buy extra so that the Marquis's mansion could send them as well.

She didn't bring it up this year; as the mistress of the Marquis's mansion, how could she possibly bring it up?

"How could the harvest on the estate be bad? You wouldn't be holding a grudge against the Marquis for finding another woman, so you're not managing the Marquis's mansion properly, would you?" The old lady glanced at her.

"I wouldn't dare," Cui Ruixin quickly denied.

"You dare not? So you have such thoughts?" The old lady's eyes were scrutinizing.

“Your daughter-in-law has absolutely no such thoughts. The Marquis’s family is one with the same blood; we share the same fate. The face of the Marquis’s family is your face, how could I dare to be negligent?” Cui Ruixin hurriedly explained.

Left with no other choice, she could only recount what Shen Jinzhu had done in previous years.

“In previous years, my third sister-in-law would buy more things, but this year there has been no news from her side. My daughter-in-law doesn’t know what’s going on either.”

The old lady knew perfectly well that Shen Jinzhu had been subsidizing the Marquis's mansion in previous years, which was why the mansion had been able to maintain its magnificent appearance.

She agreed to let her third son marry a merchant's daughter because she was attracted by her wealthy family background.

Now that Shen Jinzhu is no longer providing subsidies, it's not appropriate for her, as the mother-in-law, to ask for them back. So, she can only put the pressure on Cui Ruixin and use her to say these words.

"Alright, if that's the case, you and your third son's wife should discuss it properly. This New Year's gift is a matter of the Marquis's family's reputation, so we absolutely cannot let anything go wrong." After saying that, she let Cui Ruixin leave.

Cui Ruixin took a deep breath.

I never expected that before I could ruin Shen Jinzhu's reputation, I would have to bow down to her first.

She couldn't swallow this insult.

"I won't beg Shen Jinzhu." She thought for a moment, then returned to the courtyard, planning to feign illness the next day and have Shen Jinzhu take over the household management.

Once I recover, I'll take back the power to manage the household.

She thought her idea was brilliant, but to her surprise, before she could even call a doctor, Shen Jinzhu sent a maid over.

"The Third Madam has caught a cold these days and asked me to tell the First Madam not to bring the Eldest Miss to visit, lest she pass on her illness to the Eldest Miss."

Cui Ruixin never expected that her tricks would be used by Shen Jinzhu first.

She's faking illness now, but that probably won't work anymore.

Cui Ruixin said sarcastically, "Is that so? It's almost the New Year, and my third sister-in-law is sick. Should I ask a doctor to take a look at her again?"

Emerald smiled and replied, “Madam, there’s no need to worry. My husband has already invited Doctor Zhang from Huichuntang for you. The doctor said that as long as you rest, you should be better by two days before New Year’s Eve and won’t miss the New Year.”

"The main reason is that Madam has been studying etiquette so diligently lately that she forgot to put on extra clothes and fell ill."

"Then please tell your third sister-in-law that she must rest well and take good care of herself." Cui Ruixin forced a fake smile.

"Thank you for your concern, Madam," Emerald said with a smile, and then left.

As soon as she left, Cui Ruixin was so angry that she smashed her pillow.

After all, tea sets are expensive, and breaking them and buying new ones would be another expense.

Upon hearing the sound, everyone knew that the First Madam was angry again, and they hurriedly retreated.

"She's clearly doing this on purpose!" Cui Ruixin stomped her feet in anger.

"She even boasted that she had palace maids teaching her manners. What's with the attitude? Everyone has been to the palace before. She's just naive and doesn't take this seriously."

"Madam, please don't be angry. Getting angry will harm your health," said Granny Li, who came to comfort her.

“There will be a banquet in the palace during the New Year. The Marquis can take you into the palace, but the third branch of the family cannot go.”

Her words made Cui Rui feel much better.

She was able to attend palace banquets with the Marquis every year, while Shen Jinzhu never went even once.

"Fine, I won't bother with her." Cui Ruixin paced back and forth in the room, her mind racing through her previous plan.

She stared at Chunying, the maid who was tidying up, and asked, "Chunying, you have a younger brother and sister-in-law, right?"

Chunying didn't understand why the lady suddenly brought up her younger brother and sister, but she still nodded.

“This servant does indeed have a younger sister named Xiao Que, who just came of age two months ago. I also have a younger brother named Ming’er.”