Regent, please maintain your aloof image.

Anping Marquis's Mansion

At this time, many people had gathered in the ancestral hall, including the old Marquis and his wife, as well as members of the eldest and third branches of the family.

Before long, Su Jing'an, Lin Rong, and Su Qianrou walked in.

When they saw Su Qianrou, everyone in the Marquis's residence showed surprise. Then, they quickly realized what was happening and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Your Highness."

"We're all family, no need for formalities."

"Why has the princess come?"

“I happen to be at the Su family’s house. I heard that my grandfather wanted my parents to come back. I thought I hadn’t been back for a long time, so I came back to see them. I hope my grandfather won’t be unwelcome.”

“How could that be? My grandfather is overjoyed that the princess has returned.”

"That's good."

"Dad, is there something you want us to do?" Su Jing'an asked.

The old marquis glanced at Su Qianrou, hesitating whether to speak or not.

"Is my grandfather looking at me because he wants me to leave?"

"Now that the princess is married, it is only right that she avoids the situation."

"My uncle means that once I get married, I will no longer be a member of the Marquis's family."

That's not what I meant.

"What does that uncle mean?"

Su Shenglin dared not speak out in anger, after all, Su Qianrou's status was what it was, and even though he was an elder, he had to give her some consideration, so he remained silent.

The others did the same, all remaining silent.

Helpless, the old Marquis had no choice but to say, "Princess, please don't misunderstand. We don't mean for you to avoid us. It's just that as the Regent's Princess, you must be very busy, and we're afraid you'll cause us trouble."

"I see. But I'm not busy, I'm free at the moment. Grandfather, please feel free to tell me what's on your mind."

"That's fine then," the old marquis said awkwardly.

“If there’s anything you need to say, Father, just tell me,” Su Jing’an said.

"Here's the thing, your mother and I are still alive and well, and it's not good for you to live separately, so you should move back."

“Let’s just move back. This mansion will belong to my elder brother in the future, and we will have to move out sooner or later. If we move back now, we will have to go through the trouble again later. Why bother?”

"That's not how you say it. How can you separate your family while your parents are still alive? That's against the rules."

"When our grandfather made us move out, he didn't think it was against etiquette. Now he's talking about etiquette."

"I was so angry at the time that I made you move out."

“We know perfectly well why Grandfather separated us from the manor. Back then, Grandfather was afraid that my father would offend Prince Qing and Prince Min, which would bring trouble to the Marquis’s manor, so he made us move out. Now, Prince Min has been defeated, and Prince Qing is deeply involved in the corruption case in Jiangnan. Grandfather feels that they are no longer a threat. In addition, my father is now the Minister of Revenue, my elder brother is in the cabinet, and Xiao Yu has made great achievements. Grandfather thinks there is something to gain, so he wants my father and the others to move back. I heard Grandfather’s plan all the way to the Regent’s manor.”

Having his thoughts exposed, the old Marquis lost face, feeling both ashamed and angry. He wanted to lash out, but considering her status, he dared not speak out, and his face turned green with rage.

"Even though you are the Regent's wife, you still have to be filial. How can you talk to your grandfather like that? You have no manners at all," the old lady scolded.

“Am I wrong? Grandfather doesn’t think that way,” he continued, “When we moved out, we were already a laughing stock. Do you want people to see us like that again?”

The old marquis remained silent.

The old lady said, "It's fine if we don't move back. We'll just give the household five hundred taels of silver every month as before."

"Ahem," Lin Xiaoran coughed lightly, then held up one finger to the old lady.

The old lady understood and immediately corrected herself, saying, "No, it should be one thousand taels."

“In the past, I gave the Marquis’s mansion five hundred taels of silver every month because we were far away in Yangzhou and could not fulfill our filial duties to our parents. Now that we have returned, we naturally do not need to do so anymore.”

“But you’ve already moved out,” Lin Xiaoran said.

"But we can come back anytime."

"The Marquis's family property is spread throughout the capital. When did it fall to the point where it needs its son to subsidize the family income, and even then, it's a thousand taels a month. Why doesn't the old lady just rob it?"

“You have plenty of money, what’s wrong with giving some out?”

"What a joke! Just because we have money doesn't mean we deserve to be sucked up. The Marquis's mansion is also rich, so why don't we get anything from them? When we divided the mansions, the Marquis's mansion didn't give us anything. Now they have the nerve to ask us for money. If this gets out, what do you think the people will say about the Marquis's mansion?"

“The Marquis’s mansion is short of money these days, otherwise we wouldn’t have the nerve to ask you for it,” Lin Xiaoran said.

"As a century-old family, how could my aunt believe me when she told me we had no money?"

"The Marquis's mansion is indeed broke now."

"Even if we don't have money, what does that have to do with us? Have we eaten or used anything from the Marquis's mansion all these years? Even the few months we lived in the Marquis's mansion, my mother paid for it herself. What has the Marquis's mansion ever given us?"

"Didn't your father spend our Marquis's family's money to get married? Besides, if the Marquis's family hadn't raised him all these years, would he be where he is today?"

Su Qianrou couldn't help but laugh, "If that's how it is, then my eldest uncle and third uncle's Hua Hou Mansion must have even more money. So how much do they plan to contribute each month to supplement their household expenses?"

The old lady was speechless for a moment.

"What, is the old lady planning to take advantage of my father alone and make him support your entire family?" After saying that, Su Qianrou looked at the old Marquis and Su Shenglin and the others.

They all silently looked away, unable to meet her gaze.

"I thought that my grandfather was already shameless enough by asking my father and the others to come back, but I never expected... the Marquis of Anping's family has really refreshed my worldview and overturned my understanding. As the saying goes, people need face and trees need bark. How can you be so shameless?"

“Don’t go too far with your words. No matter what, we are your elders,” Su Songwen said angrily.

“Elders, if I could, I really wouldn’t want elders like you,” she said, then added, “If you ask me, since the Marquis’s mansion is already so strapped for cash, why not just completely separate the family and send my third uncle’s family out as well? This would reduce the Marquis’s expenses and ease my eldest uncle’s burden.”

"Impossible, I'm not dead yet, why would I divide the family?"

Su Qianrou couldn't help but chuckle, "They're both sons, but the difference is like heaven and earth. Grandfather's heart... is really biased."

"you……".

"Alright, Rou'er, stop talking," Su Jing'an said, then looked at the old Marquis and said, "It is only right to be filial to one's parents. Here's what we'll do: from now on, we'll give the Marquis's mansion three hundred taels of silver every month. Father, Mother, and my mother will each receive one hundred taels. What do you think, Father?"

"What can one hundred taels do? It's not even enough to buy bird's nest and shark fin," the old lady said disdainfully.

Su Qianrou couldn't help but say, "If the old lady wants to buy bird's nest and shark fin, she should ask her eldest uncle and aunt."

"Father, what do you think?" Su Jing'an asked.

Three hundred taels is still money, and having it is better than not having it, so the old Marquis said, "Let's do it this way."

Lin Rong then took out three hundred taels of silver. "Here are three hundred taels of silver. Please accept them, Father."

The old marquis accepted it without saying a word.

"Father, there are still matters at the Ministry of Revenue that require my attention. If there's nothing else, we'll be leaving now."

"Ok".

Su Jing'an looked at Lin Rong and Su Qianrou, and then the three of them walked out.

The ancestral hall instantly became lively, filled with discussions.