She suppressed her surging emotions, waved her hand to let the full moon go down first, she needed some peace and quiet.

The ledger showed that her shops didn't make much money; only one gem shop was profitable, and that was only because it had a plaque that read "Royal Number One," presumably purchased by a noblewoman out of courtesy.

But considering that the Lady Hou invited them to admire the flowers, and her maid dared to reply in that way, it was only a matter of time before the shop lost money.

Several of the estates... were profitable, but... she looked at the princess's expenses and her mind went blank.

Her household had a total of four thousand people!

Is this fucking a royal palace?

Soon Gan Qiongying remembered... In the story, the princess's residence really was a palace, a temporary palace.

Her princess residence was converted from a summer palace, demonstrating how much she was once favored by the deceased Emperor Huicheng.

Looking at the monthly allowance and fiefdom that the imperial court should give her, Gan Qiongying discovered that her entire princess's residence was in a state of deficit.

Of course, this is just the figure on paper. She discovered that she was also in cahoots with ministers, so wouldn't the amount she received in private be several times more than that? Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to afford such extravagance.

It's hilarious! The ledgers showing her, a princess, colluding with ministers to accept bribes are just laid out so openly... Did the emperor spare her life for the New Year?

Is it because she's not heavy enough to be scalped?

Forget about that for now. Besides, the bribe money isn't enough, and it won't be credited to my account until the end of the year.

In short, the overall situation is that the princess has set up too big a show and cannot easily reduce her extravagance. She is already a laughing stock. Now that she finally has a palace to serve as her residence, if she cuts back on expenses, she will probably be laughed out of the house.

That's it?!

And they still want to build temples and seduce young monks?!

For Gan Qiongying, the impending huge deficit is more terrifying than the guillotine hanging over her head, which could fall at any moment.

Gan Qiongying, who had experienced all kinds of hardships in life since childhood, had one PTSD that she could never cure in her lifetime: poverty!

Death is indeed terrifying, but Gan Qiongying, who has died once, has a very real feeling: compared to poverty, death is nothing.

If death is merely the pain of opening and closing one's eyes, then poverty is like being slowly cut with a dull knife, or being subjected to the death by a thousand cuts!

The poor man sheds tears.

I'm poor!

poverty!

Damn it, she's transmigrated into a princess, why is she still so poor!

Gan Qiongying really wanted to flip the table; this princess wouldn't stand for it!

She slammed the ledger shut, and a stack of things next to her flew away.

Gan Qiongying quickly grabbed the money and saw that it was a thick stack of brand-new banknotes, all in denominations of one hundred taels each!

She suddenly remembered her original purpose for checking the accounts.

Man Yue said that the prince consort would come to give her money every month.

Man Yue said that the money the prince consort had sent over the past two months could do a lot of things.

Gan Qiongying immediately called Manyue in, took a sip of water, and suppressed her breathing.

Feigning nonchalance, she asked Manyue, "How much silver does the prince consort send each month?"

Full Moon was puzzled, but still respectfully replied, "Your Highness, the Prince Consort sends two hundred thousand taels every month."

Gan Qiongying's fingers trembled violently inside her sleeve.

She waved for Manyue to leave, then flipped through the account book, intending to convert the amount of silver into modern currency and estimate its value. She counted on her fingers.

Ten fingers weren't enough, so she picked up a pen and started writing out equations.

One tael of silver equals...

One hundred taels of silver equals...

Two hundred thousand taels of silver equals...

She checked the numbers in the equation one by one: ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions... thousands... tens of thousands?

Holy crap!

Gan Qiongying trembled as she checked again, counting on her fingers, her mind racing with a torrent of thoughts.

Then raise both hands upwards, inhaling, exhaling, and pressing down in a standard cultivation posture.

Then she reached out and wiped her face, transforming back into the princess who remained unfazed even if Mount Tai collapsed before her.

Tear the crumpled paper off the table and throw it away.

After a long pause, he called out towards the door, "Someone come here!"

Full Moon immediately came in. "Princess, what's wrong?"

Gan Qiongying knew that her voice sounded somewhat chaotic, but it was really hard for her not to be.

The princess's vast mansion, with hundreds of male concubines, her dignified lifestyle, and her extravagant life of eating dozens of dishes at a time, were basically supported by the monthly silver sent by her merchant husband.

Two hundred thousand taels a month, in the context of her world, is basically equivalent to the prince consort giving her tens of millions every month for her to squander at will.

She picked up her teacup, suppressing the trembling in her fingers, and said to Manyue, "The prince consort hasn't gone far, has he? Send someone to bring him back to me!"

"Summon the imperial physician," Gan Qiongying said in a trembling voice. "Have someone carry the imperial physician's decree to come in person!"

What kind of despicable businessman is a man who gives her tens of millions every month, doesn't even ask to share a room with her, and has business associations all over the country behind him?

That was her lifeline, her honey, her dear husband, her lucky charm!

Gan Qiongying originally wanted to find a way to dissolve her engagement with the prince consort. She didn't have much empathy for strange men, after all, she was now surrounded by enemies and in dire straits, barely able to save herself.

Moreover, as the saying goes, a marriage without love is destined to fall apart, and she can't afford to marry the male protagonist's brother.

Besides, she's a modern person and can't accept this kind of arranged marriage. If the plot changes later, they'll go their separate ways.

But... 200,000 taels per month.

Gan Qiongying suddenly realized that she probably knew what love at first sight meant.

Recalling the scene in the main hall just now, the prince consort's pale face, uniquely hunched figure, ashen and extraordinary temperament, plus his unique limping gait... was damnably charming.

She was overwhelmed with emotion and her face turned bright red after just a brief recollection.

Manyue thought the princess was angry again, and was shocked to hear her command. Had the princess finally lost her temper and decided to kill her husband, completely severing ties with the emperor?

Manyue knelt on the ground with a thud, risking her life to plead, "Princess, that man doesn't have much time left. We've already sent word to all the doctors and servants in the city; they will absolutely not cure his injuries. Even if you're angry, Princess, please bear with it. After all, it's a marriage ordained by His Majesty. That man cannot die in the Princess's residence!"

Full Moon kowtowed repeatedly and said, “Even if the princess is angry that His Majesty has granted this marriage, if that person really dies in the princess’s residence, even if the emperor does not pursue the matter, the merchant guild behind that person is all over Nanzhao. Once they seize on the princess’s mistake of tormenting and harming that person, it will surely cause public resentment to boil over.”

"At that time, His Majesty will not let the princess go no matter what."

"Furthermore, the Imperial Physician is quite old. Even the most skilled physician cannot overcome his failing eyesight. If he fails to save the Prince Consort's life in time... Princess, please reconsider!"

After Man Yue finished speaking, she lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to get up.

She knew how much her mistress loathed the marriage, and she also knew that she had become dissolute since the wedding, and that she would sometimes be depressed and weep in the dead of night.

Such a person, so precious and proud, even with her own ideal husband, was forcibly separated from him and betrothed to a merchant. How could she possibly accept it?

Full moon awaits Gan Qiongying's thunderous wrath.

However, Gan Qiongying blinked a few times, and with Manyue's heartfelt words, she became even more certain that the maids around her were indeed loyal to her.

He also knew that his actions had caused her to misunderstand.

They must have thought she wanted to kill the prince consort.

Gan Qiongying suddenly realized that she had been too excited and had lost control of herself, ruining her public image. Fortunately, her maids were good at guessing her intentions.

She utterly despises the prince consort in the story, so how could she suddenly be kind enough to treat his illness?

what to do?

We must find a reasonable reason.

Otherwise, if she suddenly brought the prince consort back and then offered to treat him, it would definitely arouse everyone's suspicion.

Gan Qiongying looked at Manyue kneeling on the ground, and at the trembling appearance of the other personal maids, and her entire back was covered in a layer of cold sweat.

Gan Qiongying put down her teacup, pulled her hands back into her wide sleeves, got up and walked half a circle around the full moon, her mind racing as she considered a solution.

This strategy must be reasonable and convincing to everyone...

Full Moon was so frightened that her back trembled.

Gan Qiongying quickly connected and analyzed what she had learned during her month-long time travel, and analyzed her own character, that is, Princess Duanrong in the story.

Under what circumstances would she change her attitude towards the prince consort she considered a humiliation?

It's definitely not acceptable to love money. The one who loves money is Gan Qiongying herself, who shares the same name as the original owner of this world, not the Duanrong Princess who grew up in luxury.

I've got it!