They were in charge of being beautiful, and she was in charge of taking the hits.

Sima Lingchuan's face flushed red. Wu Ziyan kept saying things that made people's minds wander, and he couldn't do anything about it. He could only respond in a low voice, "Serving Ziyan is my duty."

Ignoring Sima Lingchuan's shy expression, Wu Ziyan devoured the food on the table, put down her chopsticks with satisfaction, gently patted her belly, and thought, "This man is amazing! He cooks so well and his embroidery is so good. He's the perfect husband!"

She rested her chin on her hands and blinked at Sima Lingchuan, making him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"Why is Ziyan staring at me? Is there something on my face?"

Wu Ziyan shook her head: "No, I just wanted to look at you like this. You're so beautiful." Her eyes were bright and sincere.

"Ziyan is teasing me again." Two blushes crept onto his face.

"Why are you men so dishonest? I say you're beautiful, and no matter what others think, you're the most beautiful one in my heart."

Sima Lingchuan remained silent. He could never do anything about Wu Ziyan like this, so he had to find another excuse: "I'll take care of it."

"No, leave it to the servants. As for us, we have important matters to attend to." He hooked his finger under Sima Lingchuan's chin and slowly traced it down his neck.

Sima Lingchuan tugged at his clothes, turning around. He couldn't possibly do those things in broad daylight, could he? Wu Ziyan caught up, took his hand, and they went into the room together.

After entering the room, Wu Ziyan pressed Sima Lingchuan down on a stool, did nothing, closed the door, and left, leaving him alone to continue his wild thoughts.

What does "Zi Yan" mean?

After thinking it over, they felt like they were being tricked. Soon after, Wu Ziyan pulled Mo Baiyun into the room. The three of them looked around, and Mo Baiyun and Sima Lingchuan looked at each other. Their lips moved, but neither of them spoke first.

[I hope this mistress isn't going to go too far! I like it! But with her husband? That's not really appropriate.]

Wu Ziyan pushed Mo Baiyun to sit next to Sima Lingchuan, then sat down herself, sighed comfortably, and mysteriously pulled out a small ledger from her person: "This kind of happy thing must be shared with the two of you!"

This is what she compiled based on the receipts given by the two eldest grandson brothers. She never expected that these things would be so profitable.

Wu Ziyan opened the account book and pointed out the purchases of each household, thus deducing which family was more wealthy and where the money came from, since the government's salary could not support such expenses.

Sima Lingchuan covered his mouth: "Ziyan, this is a matter of great importance to the court, you..."

Wu Ziyan gently touched Sima Lingchuan's lips with her finger and shook her finger to signal him to continue listening. Mo Baiyun found it interesting; in the past, he was only responsible for burning, killing, looting, and erasing evidence.

He rarely paid attention to the connections between the inner quarters and the imperial court, but he never expected Wu Ziyan to be so clever as to deduce so much from just this expenditure. Was this really the same person he knew? Obviously not!

Wu Ziyan pointed to the name of the person who spent the most money and said, "This is the wife of the Minister of Revenue. It seems that the position of Minister of Revenue is a good place to make money."

“Ziyan, the stakes involved are complex and intertwined. In fact, how could the Empress not know this?” Sima Lingchuan also began to frown and ponder, and subconsciously spoke out.

Mo Baiyun was quite impressed with Sima Lingchuan. He hadn't expected that someone who had lived in the inner quarters for so long could speak such profound truths. He was truly worthy of being the Prime Minister's son.

He then chimed in, "Master, what the master says is absolutely right. The waters behind this are murky." Mo Baiyun stared at Wu Ziyan without any attempt to hide his gaze.

She was well aware of the implications, and given that she had only just gotten involved, she would probably need to employ some tactics to win people over.

“You’re right, but our primary goal right now is to make money. Don’t think about anything else. We need to keep our big spenders happy and give them some incentives first.”

"How do I give it to you?" Sima Lingchuan asked.

"That's why I said you can't rest tonight, you have to work through the night." His eyes gave off the feeling of a madam about to exploit the girls in a brothel.

Mo Baiyun and Sima Lingchuan's expressions both changed. It seemed they had been overthinking things. In fact, they had been thinking about other things from the beginning. Even if it wasn't something ambiguous, they weren't there to be laborers.

"Well, Master, you know I've been watching over you day and night, it's exhausting, how about..." Mo Baiyun chuckled awkwardly. His master's head was always full of strange ideas.

"Don't even think about running away. You've eaten Lingchuan's food, so you should know how to repay the kindness." Wu Ziyan reached out and grabbed his ear.

"It was the master who made it, not you, mistress." He avoided Wu Ziyan's gaze, making a face and sticking out his tongue.

"Hey! You little rascal, wasn't it me who told Lingchuan to save it for you? Why don't you appreciate my kindness?" Wu Ziyan pouted, just like a child.

"Xiao Yun'er is tired, why don't you let him go and rest, Ziyan?" Sima Lingchuan believed what Mo Baiyun said.

"None of you will escape!" Wu Ziyan stood behind the two of them, grabbing one of their collars with one hand.

The two couldn't even look at each other, so they had no choice but to let her do as she pleased.

Wu Ziyan called Mo Baiyun and Sima Lingchuan to her study and brought out some miniature bottles and jars. Then she took out several large bottles of perfume hydrosol with different scents and told them, "Please divide these into small bottles. This is only enough for one use, and the effect will only last for a short while."

"Ziyan, you're so clever! This way, they'll increase their orders." Sima Lingchuan had already started working. He was very good at these kinds of meticulous tasks, and he was full of energy right now because he felt that Wu Ziyan had finally opened her heart to him and was doing everything with his heart in mind.

Mo Baiyun looked reluctant but also started working, muttering to himself. Instead of praising Wu Ziyan's cleverness, he exclaimed, "What a shrewd businessman! How much water did he dilute it with? No wonder they say it's easy to make money in the deep mansions."

"Hey! You talk too much. Lingchuan is much more considerate of me." Wu Ziyan said, pressing her body against Sima Lingchuan's back. The soft touch made Sima Lingchuan blush, and his hand trembled so much that he almost spilled the perfume in his hand.

Wu Ziyan no longer had time to argue with Mo Baiyun, and she couldn't stay idle either, so she joined the small black workshop.

This packaging is a considerable amount of work. She wouldn't have bothered the two of them to work with her if she didn't feel she couldn't complete it alone and she wasn't comfortable leaving it to her subordinates.

All the incense was packaged. Wu Ziyan stretched, his knuckles cracking. Mo Baiyun, on the other hand, seemed quite relaxed, perhaps because he often carried out various high-intensity tasks.

Sima Lingchuan's eyes were tired, and he was clearly forcing himself to stay awake. At this time, the roosters outside were crowing. Wu Ziyan blinked her tired and sore eyes, gritted her teeth, and knew that she was a woman who had to support her family and couldn't afford to be tired!