Sixth Master Gu said dismissively, "The Xu family's matter was settled in court yesterday. Your third sister-in-law saw through the situation long ago and gave instructions beforehand. Besides, with the help of Steward Han and Steward Cao, they didn't cause any more trouble. They made it clear in court that the matter between the Xu aunt and niece had nothing to do with the Gu family, and they even used pepper to offset the dowry money they received from the Xu family. The lawsuits filed by both families and the evidence in the case were all stamped with the seal of the Prefectural Governor's Office and kept on file. They won't be able to find any trace of trouble in the future."

Of course, the Gu family will no longer pursue the matter of the Xu family using the Gu family's money to lend money at exorbitant interest rates, and causing a scene that angered Xu to death during her illness.

To be on the safe side, Steward Cao instructed him to confess in the government office that the deceased Xu had misappropriated the monthly allowance from the inner quarters of the mansion to lend money to others. The relevant people from the Marquis's mansion had already been sent to the prison of the Prefect of the Capital.

Steward Zhang and Accountant Sun were both servants of the Marquis of Dingbei's household. Even after being released from prison, they could not escape the Gu family's control.

If the Xu family ever goes back on their word, the Gu family will bring up this case and make a scene.

Although the Xu family was unwilling, they dared not stop them, for fear that the Marquis's mansion would turn against them.

In addition, the ghost of Madam Xu has been causing them great suffering these days. Madam Xu has barely slept for many days. Every time she falls asleep, she sees her sister-in-law with disheveled hair cursing her for being greedy and insatiable, showing no regard for the sister-in-law relationship they have maintained over the years.

Lord Xu also disliked that not only did her calculations come to nothing, but she also implicated him.

Master Gu remained unmoved by either soft or hard tactics, and the Xu family did not cause any further trouble. Before parting, Master Xu even said with a smile, "Brother-in-law, these things were all caused by the women in the family. We men should continue to treat each other as we always have."

Sixth Master Gu is no longer the same Sixth Master Gu he once was; he has improved considerably in his interpersonal relationships. He immediately smiled and said, "Of course, you are the maternal relatives of my three children, and that will never change. Besides, these things are meant for them. I did this because I was afraid that as time went on, the accounts would become unclear, and that when the children grow up, they might hear gossip and resent me, and also the Xu family, making their mother feel resentful even in the afterlife. Their mother has always been devoted to her own family; seeing her children grow up and turn against them, she can't imagine how painful that would be."

These words made Lord Xu's face turn red and then white, and he muttered to Madam Xu.

"Do you think he's stupid or smart?"

If someone were stupid, how could they say such a thing?

If one is truly intelligent, why would they say such a thing?

Madam Xu said, "Let's not worry about him. Let's just leave it at that. If we don't provoke them in the future, they naturally won't use this to control us. My brother-in-law has donated his official position and is now famous, so he's naturally different from before. Besides... although the Lady of Dingbei is young, she's not someone to be trifled with. The Prince of Jin's mansion is definitely unhappy with us this time. If you ask me, we're still connected to the Dingbei Marquis's mansion even if we're not related by blood. There's no need for us to get involved... It's just a pity about my Zhen'er."

As she spoke, she couldn't help but shed tears.

While listening to the gossip of the two stewards and the judge at the Jingzhao Yin's residence, Madam Xu learned that Qin Yuan had secretly captured a fake monk who had been hiding for more than ten years at the family temple. Reflecting on Qin Yuan's words and actions, she suddenly realized that this young Madam Xu was a formidable character.

No wonder the younger sister-in-law couldn't win and ultimately met a tragic end.

The Dingbei Marquis's Mansion of today is no longer the Dingbei Marquis's Mansion under the rule of the younger sister-in-law.

What good would it do to fall out with the Marquis of Dingbei's household?

The more Madam Xu thought about it, the more regretful and frightened she became. As the saying goes, when gods fight, little ghosts suffer. Why did the Xu family do this?

Lord Xu sighed, “Who would have thought that my brother-in-law would end up like this… In the end, it’s just that I, his sister, am unlucky. The only thing we can do with Prince Jin is to have Xu Tang mediate. Now that he has the Emperor’s favor, Prince Jin will give him some face. You can’t write two Xu’s name with one pen, so he will have to find a way to help me.”

The Xu family was extremely annoyed, but Gu Baozhu praised her sixth brother highly: "I never expected that my sixth brother could handle things so well. Indeed, one should look at a person with new eyes after three days of separation."

Sixth Master Gu raised his eyebrows smugly, looked up and laughed, "Look at me, Sixth Brother, I've accomplished such a great thing. Am I getting carried away? Am I making a fuss over nothing? You're still too young and impatient. I think you'll have a lot of trials ahead of you."

Mr. Matsuyama picked up his teacup and took a sip of tea before refraining from saying anything that might spoil his mood.

Gu Baozhu secretly rolled her eyes.

Sixth Master Gu turned to Qin Yuan, eagerly pulling out a stack of papers from his pocket and gesturing for Hongye to take them.

"Third Sister-in-law, these are the receipts left by the government, and the deeds handed over by the Xu family, which state that the deficit in Xu's dowry was covered by the pepper they had."

After Qin Yuan finished examining the pepper, she smiled and said, "Sixth Brother, you'd better keep it safe. After the festival, we'll be buying up pepper on the market in large quantities, and that's no small amount."

Sixth Master Gu said, "I'll have to trouble Third Sister-in-law to keep this for me. You can do whatever you want with it in the future."

After saying this, he stood up and bowed.

Hongye found it somewhat amusing; Sixth Master Gu had become fixated on Qin Yuan.

Qin Yuan waved her hand: "Sixth Brother, you can keep it yourself. I will naturally inform you when it is time to deal with it."

Sixth Master Gu said with a shameless smile, "Third Sister-in-law knows that I am not good at household affairs. It is better to keep these things with you than with me. Besides, there is no one in charge of the household right now, so there is no reason for me to let my concubine keep them. Please trouble Third Sister-in-law to keep them safe for my nephew and niece."

Seeing that he was bringing up the children, Qin Yuan had no choice but to say, "In that case, I'll keep them for now."

He then ordered Hongye to bring over a pen, ink, and ledger, wrote a receipt, and entered it into the ledger, thus completing the transaction.

Gu Baozhu leaned closer and said, "Didn't Third Sister-in-law also promise to help me collect pepper? But she's going to Baihe Academy after the festival, which is so far away. How can she still help? Third Sister-in-law helped Sixth Brother, so please help me too. How about you take care of all the accounts for me?"

Sixth Master Gu silently drank his tea.

Qin Yuan had no choice but to say, "Fine, I admit defeat to you two siblings."

Gu Baozhu cheered and was about to hug Qin Yuan affectionately: "Third sister-in-law and I are the best..."

“Ahem,” Mr. Songshan put down his teacup and tried to steer the conversation back on track: “Madam, now that the Marquis is not here, and the Crown Prince and Prince Jin have ill intentions, we must have a good discussion.”

Gu Baozhu then obediently took her seat, afraid of being sent away.

Qin Yuan said solemnly, "I suppose Mr. Songshan already has a plan in mind. Please do not hesitate to give me your advice."

Mr. Songshan cleared his throat and began to speak his prepared remarks: "The method of gathering information that Madam suggested last time is very feasible. Since ancient times, scouts have been the first to lead troops in war. How can we set up camp and deploy troops if we don't understand the geography and culture? Now that we are in the capital, it's like an army without scouts. However, now that there is so much information, how to select and verify it is a big problem. For example, there are many pieces of information about the old lady's birthday banquet at the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion..."