Chapter 4: The Clown Was Me All Along

The steward picked up the account books and lowered his head, “These are the silver that Madam has embezzled from various places, over the past three years, it totals over six hundred taels.”

“I embezzled it?” Gu Wanning couldn’t believe it, she refused to admit it.

“That’s right.” The steward said calmly, “According to your instructions, you are the mistress of the Marquis’s mansion, and everything is prioritized for your spending.”

Gu Wanning: “…”

“This, did the Marquis know about this?” Gu Wanning suddenly felt guilty.

This was solid evidence, it could knock her down…

“The Marquis has just returned, so he hasn’t had time to listen to this servant’s report.”

What are you reporting?

A snitch won’t have a good ending!

Be good, let’s not talk about it!

“Such a small matter, don’t mention it in front of the Marquis.” Gu Wanning pretended to be casual, “It’s only six hundred taels of silver.”

“This…” The steward hesitated.

“I will explain the matter of the account books to the Marquis myself. I am the head of the Marquis’s mansion, I set the rules, you obey me, even if the sky falls, I will bear it.” Gu Wanning smiled slightly, but there was a hint of threat in her eyes.

“Yes.” The steward agreed through gritted teeth.

Knowing something and not reporting it, the Marquis might not know, and even if he did know, he might not be the “main culprit.”

But if he went to report it, then Madam would not let him off now.

After sending the man away, Gu Wanning lost all her composure and slumped on the table, “Ahhhhhhhh!”

Where was she going to get over six hundred taels to fill the hole!

Xu Weibei wouldn’t kick her out for six hundred taels of silver, but he could punish her legitimately.

No.

She had to find a way to make up for this six hundred taels of silver deficit as soon as possible.

Er’ya said, “Why don’t you go back and talk to your father, ask him to give you some?”

Her family?

Forget it.

The previous owner wasn’t close to her family.

She was only brought back to her family when she was twelve, how deep could her feelings for her family be?

Besides, her twin sister, Gu Wanqing, grew up in her family, while she grew up on a farm; her sister was beautiful and talented, famous in the capital, while she was vulgar and rude, a laughingstock.

Just this gap, how could anyone balance it?

Not fearing poverty but fearing inequality, the previous owner felt wronged, so naturally she had to make a fuss.

The result of the fuss was a strained relationship.

Moreover, Chief Minister Gu’s wealth was a Schrödinger’s wealth—it might exist, it might not.

The outside world said that he was a treacherous minister, who had amassed wealth crazily, and his family was rich.

But in the previous owner’s memories, Chief Minister Gu couldn’t get any money back, except for his meager salary, he had nothing else.

Other officials all received “charcoal tribute” and “ice tribute,” these gray incomes, I don’t know if he didn’t receive them or if he received them and hid them.

In any case, Gu Wanning never enjoyed them.

When she married into the Marquis’s mansion, her entire dowry was two hundred taels of silver, including sixty taels from her bottom drawer.

The previous owner would go crazy every time she thought about this, because her sister, Gu Wanqing, had a grand wedding procession when she married Prince Qin.

Prince Qin was Gu Wanning’s white moonlight.

And Gu Wanqing was Xu Weibei’s white moonlight.

This was also why Xu Weibei, head over heels in love, had angrily beaten Prince Qin.

Tsk tsk, the two of them were eyeing the other couple.

The Emperor bestowed a marriage upon Gu Wanning and Xu Weibei, they were just unlucky male and female supporting characters, forced together to become a pair of resentful lovers…

Her three brothers were all closer to Gu Wanqing, so who would care about her?

In short, she couldn’t rely on her family.

She had to save herself.

“Er’ya, how much silver do we have left?” Gu Wanning had an idea.

“We just received ten taels of monthly allowance yesterday, a total of forty taels and three fen, and a few hundred copper coins.”

“Good, find time to go out with me.”

It was summer now, everything was growing.

Gu Wanning discovered that the previous owner’s memories about various crops were very different from modern times.

And at this time, there were already shops selling goods from the north and south, selling all kinds of rare things from the Western Regions and overseas.

She was going to try, using her expertise, to see if she could find some rare seeds, grow something, and sell it at a high price.

“Then Madam, what are we doing now?” Er’ya asked.

Gu Wanning took a deep breath, “Make money!”

First, she would turn everything that could be turned into cash into cash, starting from the mansion!

But she didn’t know that the Great Princess and her entourage had already arrived at the Marquis’s mansion in a grand procession.

“Where is Madam?” Xu Weibei asked with a bad tone when he returned to the mansion with the Great Princess.

Where had everyone gone in the huge Marquis’s mansion?

The gatekeeper trembled, “In the backyard, Madam is in the backyard…”

“Tell her to come out and greet…”

Xu Weibei felt a pang of guilt.

He said that Gu Wanning was unwell, but what was she doing in the backyard!

“No need.” The Great Princess said, “We are all family, there’s no need for so much ceremony. I heard that she was planting vegetables in the backyard? She is a thrifty and practical woman.”

Xu Weibei didn’t want to speak.

He was thinking, if the impact of this piece of black charcoal, the third concubine, wasn’t enough for you, then go and see the rest!

Everyone walked towards the backyard together, and they could hear the hustle and bustle from afar, the crowing of roosters and the quacking of ducks.

As they got closer, they saw a lively scene.

Almost everyone from the mansion was here, chickens, ducks, and geese were being chased all over the place, feathers were flying everywhere.

One of them fell into the drainage ditch with a cry of “ouch,” and got a mouthful of mud; another one was pecked on the butt by a goose, and was screaming.

Then they saw Gu Wanning, leading by example, using a pole to poke at a chicken that had somehow flown onto the roof…

The lively scene made people’s heads spin.

“Gu! Wan! Ning!” Xu Weibei’s mouth was about to twist in anger.

He had seen thousands of troops and horses, he remained calm in the face of a mountain collapsing, he could still laugh and joke even when the enemy was at the gates.

But!

He couldn’t bear to see this scene.

The Great Princess was also stunned, then she chuckled and said, “What are you shouting for? This child is still lively.”

Lively…

She really couldn’t find any words to praise her insincerely.

“I caught it!” Er’ya was completely focused on chasing a duck, she suddenly pounced and grabbed the duck’s wing.

But the white duck stepped on a black boot.

Perhaps frightened, the white duck’s butt twitched, and a yellow-green lump landed on another boot.

It was Xu Weibei’s foot.

Xu Weibei went crazy.

Gu Wanning went crazy, and she drove him crazy.

Everyone went crazy together.

“Stop it all!”

Gu Wanning looked back, and when she saw the Great Princess, she only had one thought in her mind.

Oh no, oh no, why did this great deity come.

She just wanted to sell some chickens, ducks, and geese, what’s wrong with that?

This even alarmed her great-grandmother?

She threw away the pole, casually tidied her messy hair, and then called the three concubines, “Come, let’s go and pay our respects to the Great Princess.”