The Daily Life of a Concubine's Daughter After Transmigrating

The night is already deep.

Li Anqi rested his head in his hands at his desk.

Zhilan brought a bowl of lotus seed soup into the room and gently placed it on the side of the table.

"This is lotus seed soup that the old lady asked me to bring to you, Miss."

Zhilan thought for a moment, then continued.

“Managing the household affairs is important, but Miss, you must also take care of your health. Today is the third day already. If you continue like this, your health will collapse.”

"Ugh."

Li Anqi sighed softly and asked Zhilan.

"Do you remember when you caught Granny Song and Aunt Guizhi selling off the pawnshop in the manor?"

Zhilan nodded.

"To celebrate the old lady's birthday, Madam Zhao had to sell the pawnshops under the Jingguo Mansion. Her elder brother's wedding further drained the family fortune, turning all the accounts on the books into a mess!"

"So, that's why the young mistress handed over the management of the household to Miss?" Zhilan asked.

"I noticed that my elder sister-in-law looked unwell earlier, and then I ran into Fang'er in her room. She secretly carried my elder sister-in-law's dowry out of the mansion. I suppose she couldn't hold on any longer, so she came up with the idea of ​​using the dowry to supplement the family income."

“So, all the things the young mistress did before might have been for the sake of smoothly handing over the power of managing the household to the young lady!” Zhilan said.

Li Anqi nodded.

Madam Zhao is probably also implicated in this.

On the second day after Li Anxiu's wedding, Madam Zhao originally intended to hand over control of the household to him.

Looking back now, it wasn't a test.

Instead, they genuinely wanted to push themselves into a pit.

“But the old lady isn’t feeling well right now and can’t handle any stress.” Zhilan looked at Li Anqi with concern in her eyes.

Li Anqi frowned and said, "Don't tell the old lady about this yet. I guess my elder sister-in-law and the others also thought of this reason, which is why they couldn't wait to throw this hot potato at me."

“The rent from the estates in our manor is decreasing year by year, and we still have a year’s expenses to cover. How can eight thousand taels of silver be enough?” Zhilan seemed a little anxious.

"Don't rush, let me think about it."

Li Anqi rubbed his temples.

The next day.

Li Anqi was looking at the account books inside the room.

Zuo Siyun arrived in a flurry of activity, accompanied by her maid Fang'er.

"Oh, Second Miss, you're still working hard! This is almond shortbread that I specially had someone make for you to try."

Zuo Siyun walked into the room with a smile and asked Fang'er to put a plate of almond cookies on the small coffee table.

Li Anqi stood up and bowed, saying, "Thank you, sister-in-law."

Zuo Siyun smiled and waved her handkerchief, then sat down in the chair.

"Please sit down, please sit down. From now on, Second Miss will have many things to do and heavy responsibilities. The entire inner courtyard will be under your command. You'll be busy!"

Li Anqi asked Zhilan to serve Zuo Siyun a cup of tea.

He then dismissed Zhilan and the maids in the room.

Li Anqi lowered his head, picked up the teacup, and swirled it in his hand.

“My sister-in-law seems to be in a good mood. This is the first time Anqi has seen her so happy since she came to the mansion.”

Li Anqi looked up at Zuo Siyun and then said.

"Could it be that my sister-in-law has some happy news?"

Zuo Siyun's smile faltered for a moment, then she picked up her teacup, slowly took a sip, and said with a smile, "What do you think?"

"Sister-in-law, are you here to laugh at me?" Li Anqi smiled gently.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha……"

Zuo Siyun's laughter was like a silver bell, and she couldn't stop it.

She laughed for a while before covering her mouth with a handkerchief and saying...

"I thought you didn't know, but it turns out you did! To be honest, when the old lady asked me to give you the housekeeping card, I almost burst out laughing!"

"If the Jingguo Mansion is in trouble, neither of us can escape, let alone you, who is the young mistress of the Jingguo Mansion."

Li Anqi remained calm and composed, speaking in a flat tone, before continuing.

“If one day our group really falls apart, do you think you’ll have a good ending? Instead of acting like a petty person who’s gloating here, you should go back and think more about your future.”

Zuo Siyun's smile slowly faded, her face changing color like a lantern, sometimes green and sometimes white.

Her words carried a fierce edge: "Even if things don't go well, I still have the Zuo family behind me! Who do you think you are, daring to speak to me like that?!"

Li Anqi remained extremely calm and spoke slowly.

"Compared to my sister-in-law, Anqi is naturally nothing. But since my sister-in-law decided to rely on the Zuo family, why did she marry my brother in the first place? Besides, every tree has its downfall. Today it's the Jingguo family, tomorrow it could be the Zuo family's turn. Who can say for sure?"

"you!"

Zuo Siyun suddenly stood up and glared at Li Anqi.

Li Anqi, neither humble nor arrogant, continued.

"We are all of the same origin, why are you so eager to harm each other? Although Anqi and his sister-in-law are not related by blood, they are both in the Jingguo Mansion. They should naturally face the problems together, instead of kicking each other when they are down and deliberately coming to mock and humiliate each other."

"..."

Zuo Siyun was taken aback and remained silent for a long time before suddenly speaking.

"Yes, yes, you're so aloof! You're so eloquent, no wonder the old lady was completely fooled by you!"

Li Anqi looked at Zuo Siyun and said, "If you were more reasonable, you wouldn't have offended your aunt and sisters."

"Humph!"

Zuo Siyun snorted disdainfully, then curled one corner of her mouth in a mocking smile.

"They never hate me, they hate whoever is in power in the backyard! They hate whoever is in power, do you believe it?"

Li Anqi looked out the window, his expression somewhat indifferent.

"Managing the inner court is a major matter, and naturally, things cannot always go according to everyone's wishes. Anqi has already made up his mind about this."

Zuo Siyun stood up, gave her a disdainful look as she looked her up and down, and said through gritted teeth.

"Alright, then let me see just how capable you are!"

Two days later.

Li Anqi arrived at Li Miao's study.

Upon entering, one sees that the walls of the study, including the floor, are covered with calligraphy on Xuan paper that Li Miao has recently written.

No one knows how many days he has spent in the study; his beard has grown quite a bit longer, and his face looks haggard and worn.

"Anqi greets his father."

"Oh, it's An Qi." Li Miao flipped through the calligraphy and paintings on the table, seemingly very busy.

"Anqi has something she wants to say to her father."

"Go ahead," Li Miao said, taking a moment from her busy schedule.

Li Anqi looked up at Li Miao.

"The treasury only has a little over eight thousand taels of silver left. At the current rate of expenditure, it will only last for three months at most. Anqi feels it is necessary to discuss this with his father, after all, his father is the head of the Jingguo Mansion."

Li Miao paused, seemingly not very surprised.

"Ugh……"

He let out a long sigh, put down what he was doing, and slumped into a chair.

“Anxiu already told me about this yesterday,” Li Miao said, his expression worried and dazed.

Li Anxiu must have learned this from Zuo Siyun.

Li Anqi paused, then took out a stack of papers from his sleeve and presented them to Li Miao.

“These are some ideas that Anqi came up with to save money. Father, please take a look.”

Li Miao opened the paper, and her previously hazy eyes gradually brightened.

Finally, his lips trembled as he said, "Now that things have come to this, we have no choice but to do as you say."

“In addition to that, Anqi has three other things she wants her father’s approval for.”

Li Miao looked at her intently: "Tell me!"