The cousin's family is extremely wealthy; she deserves to be a concubine.

Moreover, those two shops were very popular among high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital. Besides making money, the connections behind them were what made them so appealing.

In the eyes of ordinary people, the Marquis's mansion was a place of power and influence.

But ever since the old Marquis passed away, the Marquis's mansion has been on the verge of decline in the face of real powerful figures, and the whole family's attention has been focused on her son, Zhang Ge'er.

She naturally hoped that her son would be more capable than his father, but she certainly wouldn't let go of any opportunity that presented itself and could help him out.

"I was quite disappointed when I lost my third sister's husband, who was my source of income. I never expected Rong-jie to be so sensible. Wenqin, from now on, you will personally keep an eye on your cousin's courtyard and make sure no one bullies her." It's a matter of returning a favor, and besides, Rong-jie represents her reputation.

"Yes," Wenqin replied. She also needed to give a heads-up to the managers in various places, and to handle matters concerning the young lady more carefully in the future.

As long as the two shops under Madam's control can still generate income, Madam must remember Miss Biao's kindness.

In less than half a day, the news that the young lady had added two thousand taels of silver to the public coffers was spread, simply because the Lady of the Marquis had mentioned it briefly when she went to pay her respects to the old lady.

Of course, she kept the shop and the ten thousand taels of silver a secret in her own yard, and no one else could find out about it.

The most interesting part of this matter is actually the second and third wives.

After leaving the old lady's place, Jin pulled Zhan aside and whispered, "Sister-in-law is really something. She's still her own niece, yet she still charges money for food and lodging."

Madam Zhan pulled her sleeve back from Madam Jin's hand. "Third sister-in-law, just talk. Why are you touching me like that?"

You used to have some tricks up your sleeve, but now that you can't have a son, you've lost all your cunning. Sister-in-law, were you talking about taking money from your niece? She was just saying that for both our families to hear.

When the old Marquis passed away, our third branch had already separated from the main family. It was because the old lady felt that there were too few people in the Marquis's mansion that she didn't kick out the two branches of us who were born out of wedlock, and let us continue to live off the eldest branch.

Think about it yourself, which of our families has ever contributed a single tael of silver to the public coffers for personal expenses? Was it your family or mine?

The younger children in the family were all paid for by the Marquis's household for their education, and even our monthly allowances were received from the public funds as usual. The servants who served us were still paid by my elder sister-in-law.

After listening for a while, Jin realized that her sister-in-law was clearly complaining to the old lady that the two families were freeloading.

Especially Jin, whose family had fallen on hard times, often brought her nephews and nieces to stay at her home, but she never thought of giving anything back to the family.

Every time he came back, he had to take some good things from the Marquis's mansion to supplement his family's income.

As for giving her money? That's out of the question; that would just put her in a difficult position.

Jin pursed her lips and said, "My eldest brother is a marquis, so his eldest son's family naturally gets the most. The meager share we two families received isn't even a fraction of what they get."

"If we don't take as much money as possible from the Marquis's mansion while the old lady is still here, where will we find the means to support ourselves after we leave home?"

She spoke with conviction, saying that the difference between legitimate and illegitimate children was too great, and that she was unlucky to have married an illegitimate son. Even though the Marquis's mansion had a prestigious name, it didn't bring her family much benefit.

"You blockhead, you're always so competitive and eager to outdo me, why don't you know how to keep a low profile now? Is this something that can be brought up in public?"

"Don't let my sister-in-law find out, or she might really kick our two families out. If she doesn't oversee Fifth Sister's marriage then, I bet she'll cry her eyes out."

These words truly hit Jin's Achilles' heel. She could ignore her dead husband and all the concubines and illegitimate children in the house, but she couldn't ignore her only daughter.

Everything she's doing now is for her daughter to marry into a good family in the future. These next two years are crucial for finding a suitable match; in another two years, she'll be ready to get married.

"Yes, yes, it's all my fault for having such a foul mouth."

"We both rely on our sister-in-law. Even honest advice, though unpleasant to hear, is beneficial. We can't always flatter her; we should tell her the truth sometimes. She certainly won't hold it against us."

"Pah!" Madam Zhan was speechless. What kind of nonsense was this? It was all incoherent ramblings. Only her sister-in-law was too lazy to argue with them. Otherwise, they would have been kicked out of the Marquis's mansion eight hundred years ago.

"Second sister-in-law, don't be angry at my nonsense. At least the old lady is still alive. I just hope that she can live to be a hundred years old so that I can benefit from her life and live in the Marquis's mansion for a few more years." Jin clung to Zhan's arm like a rogue.

“The old lady is a living bodhisattva in the manor, and we should remember her kindness.” After saying that, she whispered to Jin Shi, “But don’t forget that the old lady is the Marquis’s biological mother, not the Second Master’s or Third Master’s biological mother.”

Jin then curbed his arrogance and prepared to behave himself for a while.

The words of the two sisters-in-law naturally reached the ears of Lady Shen, the wife of the Marquis. In the past, when she was young, she would have bothered to argue back, but now she truly didn't care.

The Marquis's mansion had long since been divided, but those two branches were, after all, the Marquis's brothers, and her son was the next heir, so he always needed a few capable assistants by his side.

They lived in the mansion, and she only allocated food and clothing according to their rations; for the rest, each household had to subsidize their own expenses.

When outsiders talk about their Marquis's mansion and about her, the Marquis's wife, they all say that the brothers are friendly and respectful, and the sisters-in-law are harmonious. This good reputation can be obtained for a little money, and she is very happy to do so.

--

Qingwuyuan

"I'm really worried that copying scriptures day and night like this will corrupt my temperament. If my parents know this in the afterlife, they must bless my daughter with good health and that she will find a good husband in the future." Madam Wang murmured to herself as she made spring clothes for her daughter in the corridor.

He would glance at the study where the girl was from time to time, and then look at Chunyan sweeping in the yard.

Hua Sirong directly declined the invitations from the two old women in the courtyard, taking advantage of the opportunity she had last met with her aunt.

Qingwu Courtyard is not large, and there are only the three of them, mistress and servants. They don't need to spare anyone to cook or anything like that every day. They only need to clean the courtyard and wash the clothes for the three of them, which they can do themselves. There is no need to take up more of the Marquis's resources.

If anything happens and we need someone else's help, we can just call someone over to assist us.

Moreover, the three of them, master and servants, lived in Qingwu Courtyard without anyone else around, which made them feel more at ease.

Looking at the sun, Wang Mama thought, "It's not good for the girl to sit in the house for half a day."

Every day, Mrs. Wang would deliberately go in several times to remind her daughter to drink some tea, stand up, and not sit for too long, lest she make herself sick.

"Mom, stop looking. I remember every day you remind me." Hua Sirong has copied scriptures thousands of times, and now she can write them with her eyes closed.