After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

Lu Huai had seen the silver in the storeroom. Although it wasn't much, the yellow and white silver together amounted to several thousand taels. Adding in the antiques and paintings, it was worth at least ten thousand taels.

Ten thousand taels of silver, gone just like that, without doing anything?

Lu Huai didn't believe it, thinking his mother was joking with him.

The old lady explained that she was ill and needed to take medicine year-round. The Marquis's family was poor, and since the time of the old Marquis, they had not been good at managing money. When the Marquis's family got married, they could only scrape together five hundred taels of silver for the dowry. Most of the boxes were empty; they were borrowed from relatives of the Lu family as a formality.

When the lady entered the household, the old general and her two brothers brought a considerable dowry, including 30,000 taels of gold, 100,000 taels of silver, the Chaoyun Villa, more than a dozen shops, and four or five estates. The lady was a shrewd businesswoman; she not only multiplied her wealth several times over but also opened shops outside the capital.

Ever since the lady entered the household, she has taken care of everything in the Marquis's mansion, including finding doctors and medicine for the old lady. They never asked or inquired about how much the medicine the old lady was taking cost.

When the lady handed over the power to manage the household, she also gave the old lady the prescriptions and the suppliers of the medicines.

At first glance, the prescription didn't seem to cost much, since the madam always dispensed medicine to the old lady very readily. It wasn't until they took the prescription to Deshan Hall that they learned that one dose of medicine cost thirteen thousand taels.

"How much did you say? Thirteen thousand taels?" Lu Huai asked in surprise, "Have you calculated it clearly? Just the medicine in this prescription."

The old woman nodded: "Not just this one, there are others. The old lady usually takes three kinds of pills, each with its own prescription. Only one prescription has been prepared so far, the remaining two haven't been prepared yet. The manager of Deshan Hall said that the remaining two prescriptions, especially the last one, are more expensive."

Lu Huai closed his eyes briefly: "How many doses of medicine does Mother need to take a year?"

The old woman replied, "Two doses a year, both small pills. The first six months' doses were prepared by the madam, and they just ran out this month."

Lu Huai propped his head up and spun around twice: "Half a year? Shouldn't it be June by then? It's already mid-August, the medicine should have been prepared long ago."

The old woman pursed her lips: "After the New Year, the lady fell ill and had to take different medicine, which is why she was two months late."

Lu Huai rubbed his temples: "Where did all the money go in such a large manor? Even without the madam's dowry, what about our own estates and shops? Did the madam eat all the money she earned? Isn't the madam supposed to be extremely good at business? Does she only manage her own dowry and not the manor's? I'm going to settle accounts with her."

"Stop right there!" Old Madam Lu tapped her cane. "How dare you mention those estates and shops? The old Marquis left behind four estates and seven shops. When the Marquis's mansion fell on hard times, one estate and two shops were sold. When you got married, another estate and one shop were sold. You ended up with two estates and four shops, all of which were excellent."

Lu Huai looked at his mother without saying a word.

"Those two estates were managed by Yunniang. The fruits, vegetables, and rice in the manor all came from the estates. Although they didn't make much money, they didn't cost the Marquis's manor much either. As for the four shops, Yunniang didn't want them and let you manage them yourself. Do you remember who you gave them to?"

Lu Huai remembered that he had given those four shops to Ji Wanwan.

Lu Huai's face turned pale, and he hiccuped as he said, "I remember that shop was quite profitable, earning three or four thousand taels of silver a month, about forty thousand taels a year. Now that Wanwan is back, the shop's profits will also go into the household's finances. Tomorrow morning, have the nanny go to the shop and get some money to prepare Mother's medicine."

"My lord, where are the shops left?" the nanny said anxiously. "I've already been to our shops. Except for the rouge shop, which is still open, the other three have all closed down long ago. I asked around and they said the shops went out of business a long time ago."

Lu Huai didn't believe it, thinking that the nanny was helping his mother to lie to him.

Those shops were all in the bustling city center. The managers and employees were all personally selected by my father when he was alive. Even if you didn't manage them carefully, you could still earn thirty or fifty yuan a day.

The old woman told Lu Huai that the shopkeeper and the shop assistants had all been replaced by Young Master Ji, and that the money and goods inside had either been sold or stolen by debt collectors.

Because she couldn't repay her gambling debts, Madam Ji, also known as the cousin, secretly sold all four shops behind the mansion's back. Now, the Marquis's mansion is destitute, and they are worried about what to eat and spend next month.

Lu Huai staggered, leaning on the table for support, and said, "Sold them all? How is that possible? I still have the deed to those shops."

Madam Lu sighed: "I've already had someone ask Ji Yaozu. The deeds to those four shops were all stolen by Ji Wanwan while you two were doing that kind of thing."

Lu Huai felt a buzzing in his head, and when he came to his senses, he was already slumped in the chair.

Madam Lu coughed lightly and said, "We still don't know how to resolve Wanwan's matter. In my opinion, she's not cut out to manage the household. Regardless of whether she can get out or not, the power to manage the household must be returned to Yunniang. You've been back for several days now. Have you spent any time with Yunniang? You are the Marquis and Yunniang's husband. Whether as the mistress or your wife, you should patiently coax her."

Lu Huai originally wanted to say that he had argued with Xie Chaoyun and did not want to go back to the main courtyard to see her attitude, but thinking of the Hou family's predicament of having no money to spend, he reluctantly agreed.

It was still early, and Xie Chaoyun had not yet gone to bed. She was sitting at a small table by the window organizing the account books.

When Lu Huai entered, he saw that shadow, faintly reflected on the window.

Suddenly, I remembered the days before my wedding.

To marry Xie Chaoyun, he climbed the wall of the General's Mansion almost every night. At first, the guards of the General's Mansion would chase him away, but as time went on, seeing that he did not do anything out of line and that he was the young master of the Pingnan Marquis's Mansion, they let him do as he pleased.

He didn't dare to climb over the wall, so he lay on the top of the wall and watched Xie Chaoyun practice swordsmanship under the moon, read books in her room, and pester her brother to teach her how to do accounts.

Most of the time, she is alone, like tonight, sitting alone by the window.

After their marriage, they also had a period like that. If Ji Wanwan hadn't appeared, he probably would have truly stayed with her and Yuan'er for the rest of his life.

No, she is not Ji Wanwan; there is no such pure affection between them.

He married Xie Chaoyun to revitalize the Marquis's mansion and to climb the social ladder by leveraging the Xie family's influence. He never truly loved her, nor could he ever love her.

After gathering my thoughts and straightening my clothes, I stepped inside.

Xie Chaoyun didn't look up, assuming it was Qingzhi who had come in, and asked her to pour her a cup of tea. Lu Huai was about to cough to remind her that he wasn't Qingzhi, but seeing her serious expression, he couldn't help but pick up the teapot.

"My lord, it's you?"

Why is Yunniang so surprised?

Lu Huai felt a pang of unease, especially when he met Xie Chaoyun's eyes. Something was missing from those eyes. What was it? It was shyness, a smile, and the tenderness that unconsciously welled up when facing him.

He belatedly realized that Xie Chaoyun's eyes no longer held him.