Ayu, standing nearby, was used to it.

The changes in her wife during this period have been earth-shattering. At first, she was worried that her wife might have suffered some kind of mental breakdown, but now that everything is developing in a positive direction, she is relieved.

Watching Jin Shu throw money around everywhere, I felt strangely relieved, to say the least.

"Ayu, this is yours."

Jin Shu then tossed the last gold ingot in the drawer to A Yu.

"Miss, aren't we being a bit too extravagant? We can't spend money like this, no matter how much we have."

That handful of gold leaves was enough for an ordinary family to eat for a year. Jin Shu gave it to them without batting an eye, her generosity was astonishing.

"Money is like water; let it flow so that it can last a long time, you know? Stop talking nonsense and quickly tell the chef I just hired to cook me a bowl of noodles."

"Okay."

Jin Shu is now completely free; she no longer needs to manage household affairs. The old lady openly withholds her share of monthly allowance, claiming that as the mistress of the house, she should have a spirit of dedication.

Jin Shu didn't care about those meager sums, since she still had shops, most of which were part of her dowry.

Jin Shu plans to help the original owner spend all the money she had saved up over the years.

The procession for prayers has returned.

As soon as Lu Huai and Lu Xu arrived at Jin Shu's courtyard, they saw a table full of delicious food.

"Sit down and eat."

Upon seeing this, the gluttonous and restless Lu Xu immediately sat down without hesitation.

Both children ate attentively and seriously during the meal, especially Lu Xu, whose cheeks were so bulging that he could hardly speak clearly. In the end, Lu Huai described the situation of the past two days to Jin Shu.

"The vegetarian meal only contained bean sprouts and cabbage, served with cornbread, and had no oil or salt at all."

Lu Xu muttered.

"That's nothing. Bean sprouts, cabbage, and cornbread aren't enough for me. There's only a little bit for each meal, and once it's gone, that's it!"

Jin Shu nodded.

"Then eat more and make up for what you didn't eat the past two days."

Lu Xu asked indistinctly while biting into a chicken leg.

"Where's Lu Gu? Aren't you going to invite him to dinner?"

"No need, he wouldn't be able to eat even if I offered."

The old lady loved her son dearly; no matter how frugal she was, she couldn't bear to let her own grandson go hungry or suffer.

After dinner, Jin Shu arranged for a tailor to make a custom-made outfit for each of the three children, using only the finest materials, reflecting the idea that money was no object.

While Jin Shu was living comfortably and carefree, the entire mansion was in complete chaos.

A perfectly good New Year was ruined because of the old lady's stinginess. At first, everyone could tolerate it, but after the ancestral worship ceremony, when everyone saw that most of their monthly allowance had been withheld, they couldn't sit still any longer.

The old lady's two nieces and two nephews couldn't sit still any longer and blocked her in the room, each saying something to her.

“Aunt, we’ve been living in this household for so many years, and our monthly allowance has always been five taels of silver. We have to be very careful with this money. We thought that after you took over the household, we younger generation would have a little more money to spare, but we never expected that we wouldn’t even have enough money to make clothes.”

"Auntie, we're going to the Xianghu Banquet soon, but we have no money and no clothes. Do you want us to be old maids for the rest of our lives?!"

"Which celebrity in the capital doesn't gather at the Jianghu Tea House every day? These days, a pot of Biluochun tea costs three taels of silver. My nephew can only afford one pot by saving up for a month. Now, even if he doesn't eat or drink, he still can't buy a pot of tea!"

"We're not from the Duke's mansion after all, so we might as well pack our things and go home!"

The old lady's face turned pale and then black as she was being lectured.

It's not just the four of them; now everyone in the mansion is openly or secretly complaining.

Only the four of them, relying on being the old lady's maternal relatives, dared to directly confront her and complain.

At first, the old lady tried to shift the blame onto Jin Shu, but Jin Shu directly opened the year-end internal affairs ledger in front of everyone.

"All the internal affairs ledgers are here. I have given you everything that was due. It totals eight thousand taels, which is one thousand taels more than last year."

"If you have any further questions, please ask the old lady directly. I am no longer in charge of internal affairs, so I don't know the answer to your questions."

The old lady was completely speechless.

It was the beginning of the year, and everyone was looking forward to receiving money and having a good New Year, but the old lady's actions directly aroused public anger.

After all, the news of the Lu family's ancestral worship had spread throughout the city, and everyone was discussing whether the Lu family was really going to be finished, since such a big event as the ancestral worship only cost less than three thousand taels of silver.

The only remaining patriarch of the Lu family was alarmed, and the patriarch, who had been living in seclusion, rushed to the Lu residence overnight.

The old lady, who originally thought she could get away with this, couldn't sit still in front of the matriarch any longer.

Jin Shu stood outside the door with a group of women and children from the mansion, waiting. Inside, the sound of a cup breaking and the old matriarch shouting loudly could be heard.

Half an hour later, the door was opened.

The old ancestor, leaning on his cane, approached Jin Shu with a fierce air and solemnly said...

"From now on, you'll be in charge of the household affairs! You're getting old and senile! You dare to skimp on any money! Do you think the Lu family has no one left to cause trouble here!"

Jin Shu lowered her head and obediently said "okay".

Not bad, not bad. It's best when the ancestor takes action. It wasn't for nothing that she went to so much trouble to get this information to him.

And so, less than half a month after taking charge of the household, the power of management returned to Jin Shu's hands.

The old lady, who had been worn down by the past two weeks and had lost all her energy, barely maintained her last bit of dignity and handed the palm print back to Jin Shu in front of all the younger generation in the house.

Jin Shu flipped through the ledger and immediately noticed the problem.

"Mother, I also want to hand over the power to manage the family to you, but now I have no choice."

Since I will still be in charge of the seal of office from now on, I have no choice but to act impartially.

Mother, there's a shortfall of about three thousand taels in this ledger. I won't dwell on the other odds and ends, but three thousand taels is no small sum. You have to give everyone an explanation in front of the entire Lu family.

Otherwise, I wouldn't know how to make up for this shortfall. It's a full three thousand taels of silver; that's money everyone was saving for a good New Year."

Once this topic was brought up, the other people in the room couldn't sit still any longer.

If three thousand taels were divided among them, each person would receive at least ten taels more!

First, he was scolded by his ancestors until he lost all face, and then he was criticized behind his back by all the younger generations in the house.

The old lady felt dizzy and her vision blurred; her whole body went limp, but she managed to utter a single sentence.

"I kept that money just in case, and it's still there, untouched!"

"Since you want them, then take them all!" (End of Chapter)