Song Gege’s joy fell from heaven. Both her daughters hadn’t survived, which had always been a source of regret. Now that Ya Hui was being given to her to raise, she was so delighted she didn’t know what to say. She repeatedly ordered people to clean out rooms and prepare everything properly to welcome her.

Li Gege, on the other hand, felt as if struck by a bolt from the blue sky.

Her daughter had been sent to that wooden person Song Shi?!

Both sons had been detained in the front courtyard, including her youngest son?!

He was only three years old—how could this be called “not small anymore”?

The child was still nursing. Li Gege cried and tried to go find the Fourth Prince, but was desperately held back by those around her. “Gege, Gege! You cannot go out now.”

She was still under confinement. If she went out the door and angered the Fourth Prince, what would happen?

Currently, the three children’s birth registrations hadn’t been changed—they were all still under her name. If she angered the Fourth Prince further…

Li Gege felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured over her head, chilling her to the heart.

She collapsed powerlessly to the ground, covering her face and crying out, “Fourth Prince, what a cruel heart you have…”

Around her, all three children had been sent away. Her support was gone.

Adding insult to injury, she had lost all her trusted people. Those now around her were all new people—not knowing whether they were humans or ghosts behind their backs, she dared not easily use them.

When Fujin learned of the situation, she couldn’t help curving her lips upward and had someone brew her favorite tea.

What a pity.

It would have been best if she and Lin Shi could have mutually destroyed each other.

This was acceptable too. Li Shi probably wouldn’t be able to act arrogantly in the future.

Over so many years, Fujin hadn’t avoided suffering from her behavior. She just had to consider the bigger picture and endured it all.

Now her retribution had come—naturally she was happy. But after being happy for a while, Ulanara Shi became uneasy.

She could understand not giving her the young prince to raise, but why not give her the young gege either? The Fourth Prince didn’t even consult her opinion and directly sent Ya Hui to Song Gege to care for.

Fujin was suddenly alarmed.

Was the timing of her illness too coincidental? Did the Fourth Prince harbor suspicions about her in his heart?

Or was it that because of the succession of incidents, the Fourth Prince had doubts about her capabilities?

Whichever it was, it was not good.

Fujin’s spine straightened at once. She began reflecting—had she been too hasty recently?

Because of Hong Hui’s death and Lin Shi’s pregnancy, she had felt threatened.

Fujin took a deep breath. “Come! I will chant sutras and offer incense for the First Prince.”

She couldn’t be hasty.

When Niuhuru Shi learned of this result, she was stunned for a moment, then slowly smiled.

Li Gege’s arrogant airs had been such that even Fujin and Ce Fujin had suffered from her behavior, let alone a small gege like herself.

Originally, the Fourth Prince was supposed to come to her place, but Li Gege had intercepted him using the excuse that the children missed their father.

This trick had been used twice in total.

The Fourth Prince didn’t come to her place often to begin with.

It would be strange if she didn’t resent Li Gege.

Now was the opportunity.

Fujin was getting old, Ce Fujin was pregnant, and Li Gege had been despised by the Fourth Prince and confined—it was time for them to emerge.

Not only did Niuhuru Shi think this way, the other geges and concubines thought so too, hoping for the Fourth Prince to return to the estate and enter the inner quarters.

Unfortunately, the Fourth Prince’s mood really hadn’t been good lately, and he had no particular interest. When he entered the inner residence, he only went to three places: Fujin’s, Ce Fujin’s, and Song Gege’s.

After the death of his second daughter, the Fourth Prince had rarely gone to Song Shi’s place. Now, because Gege Ya Hui was being raised with her, the Fourth Prince would also go to her place—how could this not make people’s eyes red with envy?

Li Shi couldn’t go out, and her information was delayed, but eventually news would still slowly filter in. Hearing this news, she nearly vomited blood. Her eyes were bloodshot from strain, yet she heard another piece of devastating news: her father had been demoted!

Her father’s capabilities were mediocre. It was the Fourth Prince who had maneuvered to get him the prefect position.

There was already a gap between him and the Lin family. Now the gap was even larger.

If not for still having two sons, she would have been completely defeated!

While maneuvers were taking place in the Fourth Prince’s back courtyard, waves were also rising in the Rongguo Estate.

Wang Xifeng knew that relying on secretly moving things from the storeroom to pawn for money was not a solution.

The items in the storeroom were finite. They could relieve urgent needs temporarily but couldn’t continue indefinitely.

She had to think of a way to increase income and reduce expenses. But these four characters were easy to say yet difficult to do.

The estate’s income mostly came from shops and estates.

The shops were basically managed by servants, but the profits were really unsatisfactory. Some would be better off just renting out directly—the monthly rent received would be even more, saving them from having to subsidize losses.

Their family’s estates—quite a few were connected in plots and in good locations—but every year the income was declining. Wang Xifeng carefully examined the account books from previous years and felt furious inside.

She wanted nothing more than to drive those people out and replace them with capable ones, but she couldn’t make that decision herself.

Those people were all slippery old hands. At the drop of a hat, they’d say they had followed the old Duke through life and death battles, or had served this or that person. Each had little real ability but plenty of arrogance.

If they had real capability, how could the estates’ income keep declining? Wang Xifeng was very dissatisfied.

So she spoke to Jia Lian about it. When Jia Lian first heard about this situation, he didn’t believe it. “How is that possible? Our estate has so many properties—how could we have reached the point where expenses exceed income?”

As a result, Wang Xifeng threw account books at him, hitting him full in the face. He flipped through them and was shocked to discover that their estate’s income truly had major problems.

Jia Lian knew some estates’ income wasn’t too good. He was aware of this.

He did work for the estate and could take a ten percent cut. These estate managers had worked hard for so many years—taking some profit wasn’t surprising. So previously he hadn’t taken it too much to heart. When the water is too clear, there are no fish. If he really managed things too strictly, no one would be willing to work properly. Plus, they truly had deep roots—all were old veterans. There were even people he had to respectfully call “grandfather” when he met them.

Besides, feeling his family estate was large and prosperous, if they took some hardship fees, he would turn a blind eye and let it pass. But now…

There were many account books. Jia Lian didn’t have the patience to read them all completely, but in the most recent account books, he could still understand clearly.

He pointed at the expenditures in the account book. “This isn’t right. Last month the accounts only had two hundred taels left—how could the Master still withdraw three hundred taels?”

Then he was greatly alarmed. “My dear Second Mistress, you didn’t take out your own dowry, did you?”

The dowry was his wife’s private property, to be passed on to their children in the future. Now using it this way for the Master to spend—what did that mean? Even he himself couldn’t spend much of it!

Wang Xifeng rolled her eyes at him. “No matter how wealthy my family is, I’m not such a fool.”

If it all came from her dowry, how long could her dowry last?

Jia Lian immediately fell silent. If it wasn’t her dowry, where did the silver come from?

Wang Xifeng didn’t dare let Jia Lian know what she had done. “Robbing Peter to pay Paul, that’s all. My dear Second Master, I can’t keep doing this. If this continues, I won’t be able to manage this household anymore.”

Jia Lian also understood this principle. Because his wife managed the household, he had gained many conveniences. If she no longer managed the household, his status would definitely change.

He didn’t want his wife to lose the household management authority.

Without this authority, in the future he would only be able to rely on that bit of monthly silver to live on, and that amount wasn’t even enough for one meal.

So Jia Lian actively sought out his cousin-in-law Da Chun to inquire. Upon inquiring, he discovered that the estate in Fengtian with the most severely declining income hadn’t experienced any natural disasters or man-made calamities at all. They were treating them like fools to be deceived!

And he had actually let them deceive him. Comparing with previous years’ income, the other party had swallowed a full third—this couldn’t be explained away as just a bit of hardship fees.

Jia Lian had to admit he was jealous. “Living such a life, even more carefree than me, the heir of the Rongguo Estate.”

He secretly glanced at the tigress in his household. Only when she ordered him to work could he incidentally enrich his purse a bit. Otherwise, he could only bow his head and beg her to obtain some money.

Both of them knew things needed to be rectified, but who would step forward to clean it up?

Jia Lian stood behind Wang Xifeng, diligently massaging her shoulders and pounding her back. “Second Mistress manages the household. This matter will inevitably trouble Second Mistress to go speak with the Old Ancestress.”

If he could arrange his own people to replace them, and keep a bit each time, he would never have to worry about not having enough silver to spend again.

Wang Xifeng wasn’t very willing. “Husband and wife are one body—we’ll go together!”

These people were basically from the Old Ancestress’s generation, or could be said to have been appointed by the Old Ancestress. Now saying they were incompetent and embezzling—how could the Old Ancestress be happy hearing such words?

Seeing Jia Lian about to speak again, Wang Xifeng glared. “We’ll appear together. Otherwise, I don’t want this household management authority anymore. I can’t manage this household well.”

If not for her, they couldn’t have lasted this long. That she could make this public was also after being advised by Daiyu and thinking deeply about it. For this, she had even specially spent money to level out the portions she had previously taken, though the storeroom items couldn’t be leveled—she had specially redone the accounts.

But ultimately, her resentment was great.

She had followed the Old Ancestress’s orders, frequently taking Ying Chun and Xi Chun sisters to the Lin estate. She would also hear some things about the Lin family’s situation. The more she heard and saw, the more unwilling she became.

When the two families could form a marriage alliance, the old Duke was still alive—it was the Lin family who had married up.

Now it was reversed. The life the Lin family lived, compared to the life she lived.

No money, an ineffective husband, many servants in the household who wouldn’t listen, and the outside managers embezzling.

If she had been born a few years earlier and married into a family like the Lin family, that would be enjoying good fortune. But this thought, as soon as it surfaced, was dismissed by herself.

Her cousin didn’t know if she had come to her senses yet. With that cautionary tale before them, she couldn’t do foolish things.

When Wang Xifeng mentioned the Lin family, Jia Lian had nothing more to say, his expression awkward.

“You envy the Lin family? I’m also envious.”

The Lin family’s servants—they truly listened.

The Lin family’s young cousin was also truly blessed.

He was already a father, yet only received that bit of monthly silver. But what about the Lin family’s young cousin? At such a young age, he already possessed his own properties, his income completely autonomous. If he wanted, he could completely spend money like water. Comparing people to people would anger you to death.

The husband and wife bickered back and forth, but in the end still went together to find the Old Ancestress.

Just as they had thought, when Grandmother Jia heard such things, her face fell.

She no longer managed household trifles now. As long as her expenses weren’t lacking, she didn’t interfere. But in the past, she too had managed the household. Looking at the income sent up from the estates each year, after she let her grandson and granddaughter-in-law leave, she alone in her room flipped through the accounts for a long time.

The more she looked, the more her face darkened. Embezzlement would never cease, but this degree was excessive. However, if she was too severe with them, many of these people were part of her dowry. If she dealt with them, where would her dignity be?

Midway through, Baoyu came once. Seeing the Old Ancestress’s expression, he couldn’t hold back. “Old Ancestress, I still have unfinished homework. I’ll go back to do my homework first.”

The Old Ancestress was in a bad mood now. He would come tomorrow to keep the Old Ancestress company and talk.