Upon hearing Yuan Zhao's words, Old Madam Zhou's eyes flashed, and her gaze toward Yuan Zhao became even more profound.

She nodded and said:

“Zhao Zhao is right. Someone, bring the steward over here so he can take inventory of the public funds in person.”

Soon, the steward arrived and brought the account books to begin checking the storeroom. Yuan Zhao asked Linglong and Wenfeng to keep an eye on things while he sat in Old Madam Zhou's room and waited.

During this time, Madam Zhou glanced at her several times, but the other woman remained calm and unhurried. Madam Zhou lowered her eyelids slightly and did not say anything.

By evening, the housekeeper had finished taking inventory. He glanced at Old Madam Zhou, unsure whether he should say anything.

"explain!"

Old Madam Zhou raised her eyes and said:

"Madam, many of the items listed in this ledger are not in the storeroom."

"There are only two hundred taels of silver in cash."

The butler quickly lowered his head and dared not say another word.

The expressions of the second and third wives changed, and they were secretly relieved that Old Madam Zhou had not given them the keys to the public treasury. Who would have thought that such a large mansion only had two hundred taels of silver?

Madam Zhou's expression also changed. She knew that Madam Zhou was dishonest, but she did not expect her to be so bold as to leave only two hundred taels of silver for the entire Marquis's mansion.

Just then, Yuan Zhao said from the side:

"With only two hundred taels, how are we supposed to live?"

After saying that, she looked at Old Madam Zhou with a troubled expression:

"Grandmother, with only two hundred taels of silver, how is your granddaughter-in-law supposed to manage this household?"

Old Madam Zhou felt a pang of pain in her heart from her words, and after a long while, she spoke.

"Grandmother, there are still ten thousand taels of silver here. Put it into the public fund first to settle everyone in the mansion. You can return it to me when there is more silver in the public fund later."

"Grandmother's righteousness is admirable!"

Yuan Zhao said with a smile.

Old Madam Zhou pursed her lips and remained silent. No one would be happy to receive ten thousand taels of silver for no reason.

She suffered a great loss today, first returning Yuan Zhao's dowry, and then giving her compensation.

She had planned to take the compensation back if Yuan Zhao refused, but to her surprise, Yuan Zhao accepted it without hesitation.

She hadn't even caught her breath when she was suddenly given away another ten thousand taels of silver for no reason. Even she was finding it hard to cope.

She didn't want to talk to them anymore, so I excused myself by saying I was tired and had them all leave.

Yuan Zhao had Wen Feng and Linglong take the keys and then headed towards his courtyard. Along the way, Linglong couldn't help but say:

"Miss, you didn't see what the old lady looked like just now."

Yuan Zhao smiled:

"Let them bleed, and let them know the pain."

Moreover, once the old lady is in pain, she won't let Zhou's mother have an easy time. At this moment, she has probably already sent someone to "greet" Zhou's mother.

The mistress of the inner quarters has many tricks up her sleeve. The same tricks she used on herself before will probably be used on Zhou's mother now, and even more, and even more ruthlessly.

Therefore, sometimes living is much harder than dying.

Yuan Zhao smiled the whole way, and the smile didn't fade even when he saw Bai Mianmian and Zhou Shiyuan.

As soon as Zhou's mother had her accident, Zhou Shiyuan couldn't wait to bring Bai Mianmian to his side as a maid, wishing he could keep her under his watchful eye at all times. Now the two of them are inseparable, and right now they are enjoying the moon in the courtyard, having a wonderful time.

Linglong couldn't stand it anymore and cursed:

"Adulterous couple!"

She couldn't help but glance at Yuan Zhao, only to see that his smile remained unchanged, as if he was completely unaffected by the matter.

"Miss, are we just going to let it go like this?"

These two are showing off their affection in front of them every day, which is a complete slap in the face to Yuan Zhao.

"Let them go."

The more deeply in love the two are now, the more Zhou Shiyuan will regret it in the future.

Yuan Zhao smiled gently.