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

Chapter 7

Five thousand taels?

Shen Yue's expression darkened slightly. "Didn't the Marquis's residence send someone to pay the bill when my father ate there earlier?"

"Yes! It's settled every two weeks. Before, it was Mrs. Shen who settled the bill." Manager Qiu smiled and took out the account book to show him. "Every time Mr. Shen ate at Furui Restaurant, he would first pay on credit."

"These are the records of our previous settlement with Mrs. Shen. You can take a look."

Shen Yue was overwhelmed by the account books and sent someone to invite Yun Xiyue, but she didn't come.

"My lord, the lady says she no longer manages the household affairs; the family's finances are now in Madam Lin's hands."

Shen Yue just wanted to get rid of the person, so he sent someone to get the money from Lin Bao'er.

But the people who went didn't return for half a day.

Manager Qiu had already drunk several cups of tea and showed no sign of leaving.

Shen Yue felt strange, but he couldn't leave, so he could only drink tea with him and wait. After a while, a servant came over and whispered, "My lord, Madam Lin said that there are no five thousand taels in the account."

The vast Marquis's mansion can't even come up with five thousand taels?

Shen Yue clenched his fist. "Manager Qiu, my grandmother is not feeling well. I'll be right back."

Shopkeeper Qiu smiled and said, "Please go ahead. I'm not in a hurry, I can wait patiently."

Shen Yue got up, grabbed his father who was still hungover, and stormed off.

Upon arriving at Songhe Garden, he threw the person to the ground.

"Hey! Yue'er, what are you doing? This is your own father." Old Madam Shen immediately felt sorry for her son and hurriedly protected him. "It's just that the meal cost five thousand taels of silver. Just have Yun Shi go and pay the bill. Why are you throwing a tantrum at your father here!"

Old Master Shen was groaning on the ground, still not awake.

"Quickly help the master down to rest, and ask the doctor to take a good look at him."

"Be careful not to bump into him."

Shen Yue said angrily, "Grandmother, you keep spoiling him like this! He's not a three-year-old anymore. If this continues, he'll ruin the Marquis's mansion sooner or later!"

"Okay, I know everything you said."

Madam Shen disagreed. Her son was already like this, so she felt there was no need to change anything. Anyway, the family wasn't short of money. "It's just five thousand taels. Just have Yun send her away quickly."

"She is best at dealing with all sorts of people."

"Otherwise, what's the point of marrying her? It's just to deal with these people."

Shen Yue felt resentful in his heart. Since he couldn't reason with her, he could only go to his mother, Li Shi.

Madam Li had long since lost all hope in Master Shen. "This isn't the first time he's done this. I'm not going to deal with Manager Qiu because I have no money. If you want me to use my dowry to support his extravagant lifestyle, you might as well let him divorce me."

"Mother, there's no money in the public account. Now is not the time to talk nonsense. Let's find a way to pay back the money we owe the restaurant first."

Li said, "I told you long ago to let Yunxi Yue take charge of the household. As long as she takes charge, she can handle this matter. But you won't listen to me and insist on having the Princess of Nanqiang manage the household."

"Now you're in a hurry?"

Li was angry. Her husband was acting like this, and her son only cared about that woman Lin Bao'er. He didn't listen to her like before, so she simply didn't stop Yun Xiyue from giving up her power as the housekeeper.

Given Master Shen's character, he'll inevitably expose all sorts of annoying problems sooner or later.

Only by making Shen Yue understand that this family will still need her in the future will he listen to her.

"Didn't Lin Bao'er say she could manage this household well? Then let her deal with Manager Qiu. She's a princess, so she should have a lot of money. With a little help, she can make up one or two thousand taels, and five thousand taels will be enough."

Shen Yue looked troubled. "Mother, Bao'er can't even go back to the Southern Qiang Kingdom now because of me. Where would she get a dowry?"

"Besides, she gave birth to three children for me. How can I let her use her dowry to pay off her father's messy debts?"

Madam Li sighed and said, "So why don't you listen to me? I told you to appease Yun Xiyue, but you wouldn't listen. Yun Xiyue has a generous dowry and is good at business; she has plenty of money. Five thousand taels is nothing to her. All these years, she's been paying off your father's messy debts."

After Yun Xiyue entered the house, she was relieved of so much worry.

Although she was a lowly merchant and not good enough for his son, she was rich, and all the money she had after marrying him belonged to the Shen family.

“I’m old now. Your father was a scoundrel in the past, and he’s still the same now that he’s old. Do you expect me to clean up his messes now that he’s old? Yue’er, your mother is old too. You’ll have to rely on yourself from now on.”

Since Li had said all that, Shen Yue felt ashamed and remorseful, so he said nothing more.

"Go and coax Yun Xiyue; she likes you. If you make her happy, she'll give us money to spend."

That's how she's done it all these years. A few words of concern for Yunxi Yue and she'll be eternally grateful. She's so easy to fool.

Li's eyes revealed a hint of disdain. "Listen to me, you won't go wrong."

Shen Yue recalled Yun Xiyue's cold attitude towards him and began to doubt whether she really liked him.

But there was no other way but to come to Zizhu Garden.

The weather was hot, and the cicadas were chirping incessantly.

He was drenched in sweat the whole way, but when he arrived at Zizhuyuan Garden, it was instantly cool and comfortable.

"Madam, the Marquis has arrived."

Yun Xiyue had just woken up, wearing a thin gauze dress with a bodice underneath, revealing a patch of snow-white collarbone. Her figure was exquisite and shapely, and her clear, bright eyes looked up at him.

Gulu!

Shen Yue subconsciously felt a tightening in his waist and abdomen, and clenched his fists. In the cool room, he felt a slight heat throughout his body.

"Is there something you need, Lord Marquis?" Yun Xiyue yawned, tightened her collar, got up, sat on the couch, and took a sip of water.

Her voice was a little hoarse, and she looked like she hadn't woken up yet.

Shen Yue walked over, picked up his teacup, took a sip to calm his anger, and said, "Manager Qiu is here. He wants five thousand taels of silver. Take it out first and have someone send it to the front yard."

"Lin Bao'er is now in charge of the household affairs."

“I know, Bao’er isn’t familiar with things yet. Starting tomorrow, you’ll be in charge of managing the household affairs.” With that, he took out the keys to the accounting room and returned the ledgers to her.

“Bao’er is only suitable for fighting on the battlefield, not for managing a household. You are better at that.”

"And you are my legal wife, you are good at managing the household, so it is only right that you take charge of the family affairs."

He didn't give Yun Xiyue a chance to refuse, put down his things and left, his steps quick as if afraid of being entangled by her.

Granny Cao spat in anger, "Madam, what does the Marquis mean by this? Knowing that the accounts department has no money, does he want to dump this mess on you again?"

"Lin Bao'er doesn't have any dowry subsidies. Even if she did, she wouldn't be so foolish as to use it to support the entire Marquis's family. It's even less likely that Li Shi and the Grand Madam would do so."

Li hid herself away and simply refused to show her face.

Having no other choice, Shen Yue resorted to shamelessness, throwing the things down and letting her continue to be a sucker.

"He's shameless," Yun Xiyue snorted. "Let's go! Let's go see Manager Qiu."

Granny Cao immediately became anxious, "Madam, you're not going to take out money to pay for the master again, are you? You can't be so foolish. The Marquis only comes to you when he has something to do; otherwise, he goes to Lin Shi."

"That kind of man isn't worth it."

Yun Xiyue laughed and said, "Does the old lady no longer support me vying for his favor and consummating my marriage with him?"

Granny Cao looked embarrassed. "This old servant didn't know that the Marquis was such a heartless and ungrateful person. Now that I see it clearly, I hope that Madam can see it clearly as well. In the past... this old servant felt that no matter how hard or tiring it was for you, as long as the Marquis could understand you when he came back and live a good life with you, it would all be worth it."

She used to think that way too, but what happened?

Shen Yue is not worth it at all.

Yun Xiyue smiled and said, "Don't worry, Granny! I won't do anything foolish again."