"Xiao Nan, based on what you've done to me this past year—helping the West Courtyard control the inner courtyard, bullying and deceiving this princess—I could kill you right now. I'm only sparing your old life because of my father."
"As for whether other elderly people will feel disheartened, sincerity brings peace of mind. Only those with ulterior motives would complain of feeling disheartened and uneasy."
Xiao Nan opened his mouth, his face turning deathly pale, but Xiao Bei quickly covered his mouth and dragged him away.
Xiao Zhixing glanced at everyone who was now silent with fear: "From now on, Steward Luo will be the head steward of the outer courtyard, while the inner courtyard will be personally managed by this princess."
"Next, I will have a new system of rewards and punishments. Those who have made contributions will be rewarded and those who have made mistakes will be punished. My father is not at home, so I need everyone's help to manage the palace well."
She cupped her hands in greeting.
Luo Ercai smiled and led everyone in bowing respectfully, saying, "We will obey the Princess's orders!"
Aunt Meng's body went limp and she collapsed.
Xiao Zhixing turned and went into the house, gesturing for Steward Luo and several head maids to follow.
Without wasting words, she sat down and said:
"Steward Luo, there will be many vacancies after the rewards and punishments. In addition to promotions from within the manor, we can also select from the guards or the families of my father's personal guards."
"As for the West Courtyard, it is the second largest courtyard after Father's main courtyard. It should be where Father's family lives. It is not appropriate for Aunt Meng's family to live there."
“My father is unmarried, and this elder brother’s widowed sister-in-law lives in the mansion, which makes my father often afraid to return home.”
"Go and inquire around, buy them a better courtyard, and then distribute their people there. Keep a close eye on any money or property that they shouldn't have taken. I believe Father has given them a considerable amount of wealth. Get them moved out within three days."
Luo Ercai opened his mouth, then cautiously suggested, "If we do that, outsiders will say that the princess is mean and intolerant..."
Xiao Zhixing smiled, "This princess has a quick temper, cannot tolerate any injustice, is vindictive, and very willful. They can only blame themselves for provoking me."
“Even if my father came, I would still dare to do this. Even if it were mentioned to His Majesty, it is only natural for brothers who have already separated their rooms to live separately since their parents have passed away.”
Of course, this doesn't apply to brothers who have a good relationship and live together.
Isn't this a case of the other party harboring wolfish ambitions? As the host, she naturally has to drive them away.
She glanced at Luo Ercai and said, "You can write a letter to your father about this."
Perfect, let's see what Xiao Yuanshan's attitude is.
Luo Ercai stood up straight, feeling inexplicably nervous under her gaze. "I wouldn't dare. Without the princess's orders, I wouldn't dare disturb Your Highness!"
Xiao Zhixing remained noncommittal, saying, "After you go to the Dali Temple, if the Prefect has any instructions, please let me know promptly."
The other women and stewards beside them, except for Hongmei and Xuemei's mothers, were all somewhat apprehensive, and some of them had already started wiping away cold sweat.
Xiao Zhixing was too lazy to deal with them now, so he collected the account books and the keys to the various warehouses and told them to leave.
If someone tries to take advantage of you, you can always find something to use against them.
Just change it. How can a master be troubled by a servant?
Sure enough, as she and her maids were reviewing the account books, around lunchtime, Luo Ercai came to report:
"Princess, the Dali Temple has received the visiting card. On their way back, the head steward of the Feng family presented a visiting card. Tomorrow they will come to the Prince's Mansion to discuss the matter of dissolving the engagement with the eldest daughter."
Xiao Zhixing hummed in agreement and continued to rapidly calculate the data in his mind, multitasking, "What's the situation at the Li residence?"
Luo Ercai shook his head.
Li Jun's heroic rescue of the damsel in distress in front of everyone requires an explanation to the Prince's Mansion.
Even though she didn't want to get involved, Qi Mengshu was her father's niece, and it concerned the reputation of the Prince's Mansion, so she had no choice but to grit her teeth and get involved.
The Li family is a Duke's mansion, so Li Jun's wife must be of equal social standing. Someone like Qi Mengshu is not qualified to be his principal wife.
Since she's so eager to climb the social ladder, why not give her a helping hand?
Now, the Prince's Mansion in Zhenguo County no longer has the confidence to rely on her, so she is certainly satisfied with this outcome.
After lunch, people from the Dali Temple arrived at the door very quickly.
Luo Ercai received them and led them directly to the west courtyard.
After they left, a crackling sound rang out from the west courtyard.
Xiao Zhixing frowned; her hearing wasn't very sensitive, and the noise was giving her a headache.
The Prince's mansion's accounts were very simple. The main expenditure was the supply of his personal guards, while the income was mostly from land, shops, and estates.
She also discovered that the Prince's Palace had its own horse farm, where hundreds of cavalrymen were kept, all of whom were veterans who had retired from the battlefield.
After finishing the accounts in the afternoon, I asked Xuemei to check the warehouse. At that moment, Hongmei came to report:
"Princess, the Grand Tutor's Mansion has sent gifts to apologize. Here is the list of gifts."
Xiao Zhixing flipped through the gift list, which contained many rare items.
This matter cannot be blamed on the Grand Tutor's Mansion; rather, they were implicated by Qi Mengshu.
"Return the courtesy to those of the same rank."
She got up and personally wrote a sincere reply, expressing that she had received her heartfelt thanks and apologies.
Looking at my sharp and elegant regular script calligraphy, well, I haven't regressed.
It is completely different from the original owner's small regular script with floral patterns.
She wasn't afraid of being exposed; as long as she was confident and justified, no one would dare to doubt that she had had her heart replaced.
Is she not allowed to know multiple fonts?
(Some people say that the female supporting character is so vicious and stupid, but it will be explained later. There is a reason why the female supporting character does what she does. All the female supporting characters in my stories have their value. Even if they are villains, their actions are all traceable.)
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