Demoted from wife to concubine? Reborn, the mistress of a noble family plots another high-status mar

Chapter 11

“Then I’ll go to the ancestral hall to kneel as punishment. I’ll leave the Marquis’s mansion to my sister. Now come with me to get the keys to the accounting office and the account books!” Yun Xiyue said.

Li, who had been sitting silently to the side, hurriedly spoke up, "What punishment for the ancestral hall? You misheard. The old lady said that tomorrow we will offer incense and pay respects to our ancestors to celebrate Yue'er's great victory and bring glory to our ancestors."

The old lady was seething with anger. "You always threaten us with not managing the household. Do you really think the Marquis's mansion can't function without you?"

“From today onwards, Bao’er will be in charge of housekeeping.”

Lin Bao'er's expression changed slightly. "Grandmother, I'm not very suitable for managing the household. My sister is better at managing the inner quarters. Under her management, the Marquis's mansion has been in perfect order for the past five years."

"I usually practice with knives and guns, but I'm not as meticulous and calculating as my sister."

It's not that she doesn't want to manage the household affairs of the Marquis's mansion, but the mansion needs to be wealthy first.

She had touched the hot potato once and barely managed to shake it off; she didn't want to shoot herself in the foot again.

Yun Xiyue smiled and said, "It's alright. No one can be a good accountant or steward from the start. As the princess of Nanqiang, my sister is of noble status and exceptionally intelligent. She will definitely learn it in no time."

"The Marquis values ​​rules and said that my sister is the legal wife, so she should be in charge of managing the household affairs." Lin Bao'er sneered inwardly. She wasn't stupid. Whoever took over the management of the household would have to pay for the entire family.

She's not stupid; why should she use her dowry to support the entire Marquis's family?

With Yun Xiyue supporting them financially, her son and daughter can live a life of luxury. She only needs to be loving with Shen Yue and doesn't need to worry. It's not too late to get rid of her when she's no longer useful. At that time, everything in the Shen family will be hers, including Yun Xiyue's generous dowry.

Yun Xiyue smiled and said, "Well, since that's the case, the Marquis's residence will follow the rules from now on. Do you have any objections, little sister?"

Lin Bao'er looked at her smile with a puzzled expression, "The Marquis's mansion values ​​rules. What's wrong with following the rules?"

"Yes, although you are a secondary wife, there is still a difference between you and the principal wife. After all, the Marquis has said that I am the principal wife. According to the rules, only the principal wife can wear red and purple clothes. Also, the patterns on the clothes are regulated."

“And there are rules for wearing jewelry. It seems that your outfit today is not in accordance with the rules!” Yun Xiyue stood up and looked her up and down.

Lin Bao'er's face instantly turned ugly. Today she was wearing a red dress with peony and cloud patterns, a gold hairpin with a dangling ornament, a jade bracelet, and embroidered pearl shoes, all of which were against the rules.

"Don't wear things that don't conform to the rules, little sister." Yun Xiyue stepped forward and removed the gold hairpin from her hair and the bracelets from her wrist.

Lin Bao'er angrily rebuked, "How dare you..."

"Also, this dress of yours is made of ice silk and snow brocade, something that the Marquis's mansion doesn't have. Could it be part of your dowry that you brought from the Southern Qiang?"

“It doesn’t look like it. The Marquis said that you can’t go back to Nanqiang, and Nanqiang didn’t prepare a dowry for you.”

"Strange, Granny Cao, why does this color and fabric look like something from my storeroom?"

Granny Cao said, "Madam, when I was taking stock of your dowry, I found that several bolts of ice silk brocade were missing. It seems that Madam Lin took them without permission."

Lin Bao'er blushed slightly. "I didn't know... These are my sister's dowry items... The Marquis had the embroidery workshop make new clothes for us."

"So you mean the Marquis took it without asking and went to my storeroom to steal my Snow Brocade?" Yun Xiyue laughed.

Lin Bao'er immediately became so anxious that she almost cried, "Nonsense... Sister has already married the Marquis, so your things belong to the Marquis. What's wrong with the Marquis taking a few bolts of cloth from you?"

Yun Xiyue glanced at Madam Li, "Mother, do you think so too?"

“Moon, it’s just a few bolts of cloth, why bother with such a fuss?” said Madam Li.

"But it's still my stuff. Taking it without asking is stealing. Even a three-year-old knows that. Can't I get justice? It's not safe for my dowry to stay at the Shen family's place. Tomorrow I'm going to call my father and older brother over so they can move all my dowry away and lock it up somewhere."

Upon hearing this, both Madam Li and the Dowager Lady's expressions changed.

The old lady originally wanted to scold Yun Xiyue, but was stopped by Li's eyes.

"Moon, don't be angry."

"Princess, quickly apologize to Yue'er." Madam Li glared at Lin Bao'er.

Lin Bao'er was furious. She was, after all, the princess of Nanqiang. Even if she was down on her luck, she was still a princess. How could she be asked to apologize to Yun Xiyue, a lowly merchant's daughter?

"Mother, my clothes were made by the embroidery workshop at the request of the Marquis," she said, feeling aggrieved.

Yun Xiyue looked down at her slender fingers. "It seems our manor has been robbed. Granny Cao, go and arrest everyone in the embroidery workshop and find out who took the ice silk snow brocade from my storeroom without permission."

Soon, everyone in the embroidery workshop was arrested and interrogated.

"I'm innocent! It was you, Madam, who agreed to it," cried Granny Feng, the head of the embroidery workshop.

"When did I agree to this? Are you asking me directly?"

Granny Feng said, "It was...it was Qinghe who gave it to me."

Yun Xiyue narrowed her eyes slightly, glanced at Madam Shen, and her eyes darted away as she looked away, clearly feeling guilty.

It seems that the old man had already bribed Qinghe and taken a lot of things from her room.

“That wicked servant Qinghe is a traitor! How dare she make decisions on her own? Guards, report this to the authorities and send her to the government office.”

"I need to take stock of the dowry."

Madam Shen looked up and slammed her hand on the table. "What's all the commotion about! It's just a few bolts of cloth! Why are you making such a scene? And you're going to report it to the authorities! You're not allowed to report it to the authorities."

"If something goes missing from your own room, it's because you haven't managed your subordinates properly, and it has nothing to do with the Marquis's mansion. Just deal with it behind closed doors and don't tarnish the Marquis's reputation."

Yun Xiyue clenched her fists, staring coldly at the old woman, "Who sent you to my room to fetch the Ice Silk Snow Brocade, Granny Feng?"

Granny Feng glanced at the Grand Madam subconsciously, "It was...it was the Marquis who sent me to fetch it from your room."

"Please come over, Lord Marquis," Yun Xiyue said with a smile.

Madam Shen's face darkened slightly. "That's enough! This wasn't Yue'er's doing; I had someone do it."

"grandmother......"

Yun Xiyue's eyes immediately reddened, and she looked hurt. "Why did you do this? Do you think my storeroom is the Marquis's mansion's bank? That I'll have to take everything I want from my dowry from now on?"

"You...when did I ever say that?" Madam Shen was furious.

"What's going on?" At this moment, Shen Yue returned from court and was summoned.

Lin Bao'er immediately stood up and walked to his side crying, "My lord, my sister said that this ice silk snow brocade dress was her dowry, and now she wants to report us to the authorities and arrest us for taking it without asking!"

Shen Yue was taken aback, not expecting that this snow brocade was part of Yun Xiyue's dowry. "How did your things end up in the embroidery room...?"

“Grandmother sent someone to retrieve it without asking my opinion. Qinghe has already confessed that the Grand Madam told her to do it,” Yun Xiyue cried, feeling wronged.

"It's just a few bolts of cloth, why are you making such a fuss?" Shen Yue frowned slightly, looking disdainful.

"This is part of my dowry... the only keepsake my mother left me. I can't even bear to wear it, how can you wear it?" Yun Xiyue's eyes were full of sarcasm.

Feeling prickly under her gaze, Shen Yue said, "How much? I'll pay you."