May this scumbag husband, who favored his concubine over his wife, rest in peace.

Seeing that the old lady seemed afraid that she would change her mind, and raised her hand to call someone away, Wen Yuanshu said calmly, "Mother-in-law, please wait. Your daughter-in-law would like to choose another child."

The old lady's joy immediately faded considerably: "Why is that?"

If she orders another one, Wen Yuanshu will have to multitask. In that case, her Cheng-ge'er will have to share half of everything with others, which would be too unfair!

Pei Zeyu also disagreed: "Yuan Shu, this is your first time being a mother. If you take care of two children all at once... it will be too tiring."

His tone was full of genuine concern and heartache.

Xie Qianjiao, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but interject sourly, "Cousin really cares about his wife..."

The old lady's expression changed immediately, and she gave Xie Qianjiao a look.

Wen Yuanshu had no idea about the relationship between Pei Zeyu and Xie Qianjiao. Right now, she still thought of them as just cousins!

If Wen Yuanshu knew that the two of them already had a child this big, she would definitely make a scene. How could she then obediently acknowledge the child and treat him as her own?

Wen Yuanshu refused to acknowledge it, saying that this child had no future and could rightfully inherit the Marquis's mansion!

Xie Qianjiao knew she had done something wrong, so she snorted twice and sat down obediently.

Wen Yuanshu looked directly at the old lady: "Mother-in-law, this child is all alone and inevitably lonely. Let's give him a playmate."

The old lady and Pei Zeyu exchanged a glance and pondered for a moment.

“…Alright,” Pei Zeyu spoke first, “Yuan Shu, you are very thoughtful. However, you should distinguish between what is important and what is not.”

His tone carried a hint of warning.

Wen Yuanshu ignored him, glanced at the children, and casually pointed to one: "Him."

Everyone looked in the direction she was pointing.

Compared to Pei Zhicheng, that child was slightly older, but he was extremely thin and weak, probably not even two ounces of flesh on his body.

The old lady glanced at it casually, nodded, and said, "Then let's go with him! Write a letter later, and I'll have someone send it back to the clan so they can both be added to the family genealogy!"

Anyway, she's just a playmate. It's better if she looks weak. It would be best if she died within two years, so she wouldn't get in the way of her precious grandson in the future.

Just then, Zhang's mother came over with the account book and land deed and gave them directly to Chunhua.

Chunhua didn't even realize what was happening until she received the ledger.

This ledger represents the steward's authority!

When did this old lady become so generous, not only giving away the land deed but also providing an account book?

The old lady smiled and said, "Yuan Shu, this matter has indeed wronged you. I've thought about it, and the land deed alone is not enough, so I'll give you the management rights as well!"

Meeting the old lady's smiling gaze, Wen Yuanshu's eyebrows twitched slightly.

Since the generation of the old Marquis, the Marquis's mansion had actually faded out of the court. Although the ancestral property left behind was quite substantial, it couldn't withstand the family's extravagance.

In her past life, she used almost all of her dowry money to fill that hole.

It seems that getting an advantage from the old lady isn't so easy after all.

However, while she considered this ledger a hot potato, others might not see it that way.

Wen Yuanshu said "Yes" indifferently, and then her gaze fell on the child.

She didn't just pick this child randomly.

In his previous life, this child grew up and entered officialdom through the imperial examinations. Although his path was not as smooth as Pei Zhicheng's, he was no ordinary person. Despite having no powerful backers, he almost brought Pei Zhicheng to ruin.

If she hadn't taken drastic measures and arranged for Pei Zhicheng to marry the legitimate daughter of a duke, Pei Zhicheng would probably have died long ago.

Even though they were on opposing sides, or even enemies, the child was always very polite to her. Later, when she was sent to the back mountain, the child visited her many times, bringing her a lot of food and useful things.

In truth, this child was also pitiful. She suffered long-term abuse and neglect, had poor health, and died even earlier than her.

She will always remember the kindness shown to her in her time of need.

Thinking about his future achievements, she will raise this child well, so that when he grows up, he will also be a guarantee for her.

Wen Yuanshu did not want to stay any longer, so she left with the two children.

Back in the main courtyard, Chunhua summoned someone and led the two young masters to the east wing.

Chunhua followed Wen Yuanshu into the study, her face beaming with undisguised joy: "That's wonderful, Madam! The old lady is finally willing to give you the account books!"

Earlier, when Pei Zeyu stopped coming to the main courtyard, many of the servants outside were gossiping behind his back, saying that Wen Yuanshu couldn't even keep her own man's heart and was a complete waste. Some of the comments were even more offensive, and Chunhua couldn't bear to listen to them.

Now that she has the power to manage the household, she'll see if those servants still dare to talk nonsense!

Looking at Chunhua's innocent face, Wen Yuanshu sighed: "Don't be too happy yet, take a look at this ledger first!"

Chunhua snapped out of her daze and quickly opened the account book.

Wen Yuanshu leisurely brewed a cup of tea.

A short while later, Chunhua threw the ledger in her hand away.

Throw it far away.

"Dirty thing!"

"The shops outside are all operating at a loss, and they haven't even paid the servants' wages for two months! No wonder they were in such a hurry to give us the account books!"

"unacceptable!"

Chunhua's face flushed red with anger.

"Miss, a few stewards have come outside. They said they heard you took over the account books and came to pay their respects!"

"What?!" Chunhua exclaimed in surprise.

It took her a while to recover: "How did the news spread so fast?!"

Even if she didn't avoid people along the way and carried the account book the whole way, they didn't encounter many servants along the way, so it shouldn't have alarmed the manager so quickly!

Wen Yuanshu raised her hand, and the maid who delivered the message handed her the account book: "Is there anything you don't understand? They've already arranged everything."

Otherwise, how could those people have arrived so quickly?

Chunhua blushed: "Then what are we going to do? This is clearly going to use your dowry to fill the gap!"

That old lady's move was really cunning!

Under the guise of compensation, this mess was dumped on Wen Yuanshu. If Wen Yuanshu didn't accept it, she would be accused of being inconsiderate of her mother-in-law's feelings and being heartless. But once she accepted it, she would have no choice but to spend a lot of real money!

"She's already in the yard, she's forcing you!"

Shameless!

Shameless!

“We’re not short of money,” Wen Yuanshu stood up. “If they want it, we’ll just give it to them.”

Chunhua's eyes widened: "Girl, are you out of your mind?"

Even if they weren't short of money, how could their daughter tolerate such blatant manipulation?

Wen Yuanshu glanced at her, a smile playing on her lips: "We might want to give them this money, but they might not even want it."