Chapter 357 The Power of the Rongguo Mansion

"It's easy for you to come to my house, but are you willing to hand over the management of the Rongguo Mansion's household affairs? They've been watching you closely!"

There are plenty of places for the original Hongqu family to live, and she can't stay in Rongyue Courtyard all the time to wait for Jia Lian to return. She's not sure if the Second Madam will go crazy again and take advantage of Wang Xifeng's pregnancy to harm her if she doesn't stay here to keep order.

“I know she’s been watching.” Wang Xifeng knew it perfectly well.

"There are two sets of accounts in this household. If I stop managing this family, I'll withdraw all the subsidies my husband and I receive each month and let them do whatever they want! In less than a month, she'll be begging me to take back this job. In the Rongguo Mansion, whoever runs it throws money into it!"

Wang Xifeng was extremely confident. Although she and her husband had revitalized some of the family businesses, most of them were not yet profitable. Now, if the Rongguo Mansion had any major expenses, they would be accounted for through Wang Xifeng's shops. In other words, her dowry shops were supporting the entire Rongguo Mansion.

Those who don't know the truth assume that the mansion has returned to its former glory and that it has plenty of money, but they have no idea what's really going on inside!

Wang Xifeng's four chief accountants were not just for show; they remembered every single account clearly, and when it came time to divide the family property, all of these could be converted into assets!

"Have someone tidy up for you when it gets light, then you can stay at my house."

Seeing that Wang Xifeng wasn't worried at all, Yuan Hongqu thought it would be easier to let her stay at her own home.

"However, Qin Keqing left right after you died, so we need to find a suitable reason."

“No need to find a reason, there’s one right here!” Wang Xifeng placed her hands on her swollen belly. “This child was hard to conceive, and I’m afraid of being harmed, so I need to go out and hide for a while.”

Yuan Hongqu herself had not experienced these things, so she was not really clear about the taboos in this regard. However, since there was such a folk taboo, this reason couldn't be better!

As dawn approached, Wang Xifeng called to her maid to hurry and fetch the imperial physician, saying she was feeling unwell.

When dawn broke, the imperial physician was summoned. He carefully examined Wang Xifeng's pulse, rattled off a string of erudite words, and finally concluded that the pregnant woman's fatigue was not good for the fetus and that she needed to rest properly.

That was exactly what she wanted to hear. With the imperial physician's order, Wang Xifeng felt as if she had obtained a royal sword. She couldn't wait to spread the word throughout the world. She even claimed that she was unwell and wanted to return the power of managing the household to the second wife.

Madam Wang quickly got wind of the news, and upon hearing it, she nearly ground her teeth to powder!

She had painstakingly planned all this for, but unexpectedly, Wang Xifeng simply handed over the power to manage the household to her.

Lady Wang remained silent for a long time.

Previously, Wang Xifeng only had one daughter, Qiaojie, and her health was poor, making it difficult for her to conceive again.

At that time, Madam Wang wasn't so worried. If Jia Lian and his wife only had this one child, then the vast Rongguo Mansion estate would fall solely on their second branch of the family...

But now Wang Xifeng's belly is swelling up like a balloon every day, and Madam Wang is getting more and more anxious.

Lady Wang thought that once the eldest son of the Rongguo Mansion had a legitimate male heir, the old lady would pay even less attention to Baoyu. How could she not be anxious!

But there was no use in being anxious. Wang Xifeng was surrounded by an impenetrable fortress, and Jia Lian kept a close watch on her, leaving her no opening.

This summer, the manor held its once-every-three-years inspection of the estates. Jia Lian had made preparations before the new year, planning to thoroughly examine the estates and making numerous arrangements.

If we were to change the person now, I'm afraid many things would change.

Although he was very reluctant to leave his pregnant wife, he still went to Changbai Mountain at Wang Xifeng's urging.

Even more coincidentally, Wang Xifeng's ally, the head of the female officials, had also gone to the grasslands and wouldn't be back for a while.

Madam Wang felt as if God was helping her.

Before she could figure out how to proceed, rumors began to circulate from the East Mansion, saying that Second Madam Lian had changed drastically in the past two years, and that she might be possessed by an evil spirit...

Lady Wang sent people to inquire about the source of these words and learned that they came from Jia Zhen. So she did nothing, but allowed the servants of Rongguo Mansion to spread rumors, making it seem as if they had really seen Wang Xifeng turn into a monster.

Wang Xifeng knew about the rumors from the beginning, but she was easygoing and thought that rumors would stop with the wise, so she didn't care.

Little did anyone know that the rumors would spread more and more intensely. In just a few days, everyone in Ningrong Street knew that Wang Xifeng was possessed by a female demon, which was why her behavior had changed so much in recent years.

However, because the changed Wang Xifeng was kind to people and would not beat or scold her servants, she was quite popular, so no one came to make trouble for her for a while.

It wasn't until Jia Zhen brought over a Taoist nun that the nun pointed at Wang Xifeng and said she was a wandering soul from hundreds of years in the future, who had inexplicably possessed Lian Er Nai Nai's body...

When Wang Xifeng heard the old woman call her "Taoist" and ask about her background, she couldn't help but be shocked. Fortunately, she was a professionally trained actress in her previous life, and she was quite good at keeping her emotions in check.

Therefore, he immediately ordered someone to tie up the old woman and send her to Shuntian Prefecture to be punished for fraud, deception, and insulting an imperial decree.

Unexpectedly, Madam Wang came out to protect the old woman and even agreed with her statement.

She said that the current Wang Xifeng is not her niece at all. Ever since she gave birth to Qiao Jie'er, she has become estranged from her aunt and is no longer the same as before.

It was also said that even some of the important dates for the Wang family, which Wang Xifeng used to remember clearly, are now only remembered in bits and pieces.

It is also said that Wang Xifeng dislikes reading and writing the most. She usually boasts that she doesn't know a lot of characters, so how could she possibly seriously learn to read?

Wang Xifeng was a jealous woman; how could she possibly allow Jia Lian to do business with women and chat and laugh with other women without caring about it?

Each and every one of these things seems a bit off.

The more Madam Wang thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed. She had completely believed what the old woman had said.

Moreover, before this old woman arrived, Jia Zhen had already revealed to her the wealth and businesses that Wang Xifeng now controlled, making Lady Wang even more envious.

For the sake of these assets, whether Wang Xifeng is truly possessed by a demon or not, she can only be real today!

Jia Zheng found it suspicious, fearing that the bloodline of the Jia family might be confused by monsters, bringing shame upon the Jia family.

Jia She's thinking was much simpler: how could his son be with a female demon? The plays all say that demons drain a man's life force, and he'll soon die...

He did it for Jia Lian.