To divorce his wife, the top scholar preferred being cuckolded to wearing a red hat.

Su Ziyu looked at the warehouse and almost laughed in anger.

So it turns out that Fu Jingsheng married her and put her in charge of the household just to make her a sucker, to pay for their money and do their work.

There were only a little over five hundred taels of silver in the account, and the family had no assets whatsoever. The Fu family had quite a few servants, and their monthly food and allowances were a considerable expense.

No wonder her mother-in-law was such a mean person, not vying for the power in the household, but instead giving it to her, which made no sense at all.

Waiting for her here.

If she weren't in charge, I'm afraid no one in the household would give them money.

Su Ziyu's maid was also dumbfounded: "Madam, why is there nothing in the Fu family's storeroom? This is too shabby. Didn't Lord Fu say that his mother was a merchant who had earned some money over the years? A merchant wouldn't have a single valuable item, would she?"

Su Ziyu took a deep breath. She was the one who wanted to marry him, and now that she was in this situation, what else could she do but face it?

“His mother’s business has always been in their hometown, and it cost her a lot to marry me. It’s not easy for a woman to do all this. There’s nothing in the storeroom, so there’s no need to count it. Just close the door. Things will get better once I take charge.”

As long as Fu Jingsheng's official position grows higher and higher, he won't have to worry about not getting good things in.

As long as she plays the role of Madam Fu well and helps Fu Jingsheng plan his future, her life in the capital will still be as glamorous as before.

Su Ziyu quickly moved the furniture that Qian had ordered out and bought new ones herself at a high price.

Of course, she only changed the furniture and items in her own yard; she didn't care at all about what Qian Shi's and Fu Jingying's rooms were like.

Madam Qian watched as Su Ziyu spent tens of thousands of taels of silver on furniture, and felt a pang of heartache: "Ziyu, I know you have money, and I can't say what you want to buy. But furniture really doesn't need to be too expensive. No matter how good it is, it will age and look bad in a few years. Isn't that a waste of money?"

Su Ziyu played with her fingernails: "Mother, I used my own dowry money to buy these things. You know how much silver the Fu family has in their accounts. Even if I wanted to use the Fu family's silver to buy things, I'd need to have it first."

As for whether it's wasteful or not, that's my own business, you don't need to concern yourself with it.

Mrs. Qian was so angry that she glared at him.

What does this mean? She can't say it yet.

"This is your own money, and I won't say anything if you want to exchange it. But money is easy to spend but hard to earn. Since you're the new head of the household, I still have a few words to say."

"So, Mother made those old-fashioned furniture in my new house because she was worried about the money? This isn't your countryside. You may not care about your reputation, but I do. When my mother and the others came in that day, they scolded me relentlessly, saying that I would rather marry into your family than marry into a wealthy and powerful family."

For every word Qian said, Su Ziyu would retort with a retort.

If the Qian family doesn't want her to have an easy time, why should she let the Qian family have an easy time?

“Sister-in-law, that’s not what Mother meant. What Mother meant was that we don’t have much money at home right now, and it would make her feel bad if she had to pay for everything herself.”

"Jingsheng said you had business outside. Now that you're here, what about the family business? Are you not going to take care of it anymore?"

Upon hearing this, Madam Qian assumed that Su Ziyu was trying to drive her away, and immediately declared, "After my son passed the exam, I sold the family shop, and the whole family followed him here. The money from selling the shop will not be used to marry you. I will have nothing left in the capital, so you and Jingsheng must treat me well."

Qian had never run a business before. Her family had a business before, but she didn't manage it; Mingyue did.

Sometimes when she and Jingying went to the shop, it was just to pick up things, and they didn't have to pay.

Thinking back, those days were truly comfortable.

Just spend money, don't worry about where the money comes from.

"Does Mother want me to use all my dowry money to support the family?" Su Ziyu asked bluntly. "Jingsheng told me before that Mother and my sister-in-law have money on hand and don't need me to contribute any money to support them."

“Jing Sheng has been studying in Beijing for the past few years, so he doesn’t know the actual situation.”

“Yes, sister-in-law. Mother sold all the shops in the house to give to my brother to buy that estate. That estate is worth more than 100,000 taels of silver. We can’t just leave Mother and me without money and you and my brother don’t care.”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t manage it.” Su Ziyu smiled gently. “However, as you can see from the family’s situation, there isn’t much money in the account. So, the food at home can’t be compared to that of ordinary families. My mother and sister-in-law came from the countryside, so I imagine they ate just average food at home and probably won’t hold it against me.”

"I'd completely forgotten about Zhuangzi if you hadn't mentioned him. Looks like I'll have to find some time to go and take a look."

Su Ziyu was also familiar with that estate. It was quite large, and the scenery inside was also quite beautiful.

If it were truly to be sold, it could fetch hundreds of thousands of taels of silver without any problem.

"Sister-in-law, what do you mean by this? You're not going to deduct my and my mother's food allowance, are you? Mother is getting old and is very particular about her food. You can't do anything like that."

When she and her mother lived in the small county town, they ate quite well.

Su Ziyu really treated them like ordinary country folk.

"Of course I understand, but it also depends on the current situation at home. Do you and Mother really think you can just sit back and eat my dowry without feeling any resentment? You and Mother can't eat that much of my dowry anyway, but it wouldn't be good if word got out, would it?"

People will say that my husband married me only for my dowry. To prevent this from getting out, I'll have to trouble my mother and sister-in-law." Su Ziyu lay on her newly bought chaise lounge, her tone languid.

Fu Jingying's eyes lit up as she looked at the things in her room, and she didn't dare to blink.

Those are all good stuff.

She wondered why this newlywed sister-in-law was targeting her, since she hadn't offended her in any way. If she really wanted to change the furniture, she should have changed all the furniture in her room too.

It's ridiculous that a young woman of marriageable age has so little decent furniture in her room.

"Sister-in-law." Thinking of this, Fu Jingying stepped forward obsequiously: "You're in charge of this household, so you can manage it however you want. This furniture looks nice; it's obviously valuable stuff. It's all Mother's fault; she wanted to make it herself to save money. I don't even want to go to my room anymore. Every time I go back, I have to face those old, worn-out pieces of furniture. It's so annoying."

“If you want to change it, you can, but I’ll have my mother pay for it. I’m spending all of this money from my dowry, you don’t want me to change it for you, do you?” How could Su Ziyu possibly change it for Fu Jingying?

Fu Jingying was dumbfounded when she heard her words.