Cui Xiaoxiao got the key to the pair, and she became even more arrogant and lawless. As soon as Song Wanning left Rongfu Hall, Cui Xiaoxiao followed her and called out to her, "Stop right there."
Song Wanning turned around and looked at Cui Xiaoxiao, smiling slightly, "I wonder what Sister Xiaoxiao has to say?"
Cui Xiaoxiao looked at Song Wanning and saw that she was not upset at all because of losing her power. She felt strange and looked at Song Wanning and said, "I have taken away your power now, aren't you sad?"
"Taking care of this large family was exhausting and stressful, and no one appreciated my efforts. Now that it's gone, there's nothing to be sad about. This power was what Xiao Xiao wanted." Song Wanning looked at Cui Xiaoxiao and said calmly, "Since Miss Xiao Xiao has gotten what she wanted, why bother questioning me?"
"That's because you don't know how to control people's hearts." Cui Xiaoxiao sneered and laughed, "For a big family like this, using money to win over people's hearts is the most important thing. If you let everyone go through life in a hurry every day, how can anyone obey you?"
"It's easy to say it's easy with money." Song Wanning looked at Cui Xiaoxiao, who looked ignorant of the world, smiled and left.
Cui Xiaoxiao looked at Song Wanning as she left and cursed softly, "Now that she has no power at all, she still dares to be so arrogant. I really don't know what gives her the confidence."
Cui Xiaoxiao looked at the key in her hand and immediately said to Tianxiang, the maid beside her, "Tell the people below that the steward has changed. From now on, all the account books should be sent to my yard."
Tianxiang said yes and was about to leave when she heard Cui Xiaoxiao continue, "From now on, everyone below will call me Second Grandma. If you don't change your name, I'll slap you in the face and deduct your monthly salary."
Tianxiang listened and hurriedly said, "Congratulations, Second Madam, for getting the housekeeper position."
"That's better." Cui Xiaoxiao returned to the yard with a smile.
She was dazzled by the monthly cash flow of the Marquisate. The Marquisate had over a dozen farms and dozens of shops, and the harvests of each shop and farm varied, with some making profits and others losing money.
The monthly expenses of the Marquis' Mansion were staggering. Money was spent like water, and now it seemed that the money earned and spent each month could only barely break even. If there was something important to do at this time, the Marquis' Mansion would be short of money.
Cui Xiaoxiao cursed at Song Wanning, "A mistress who manages her family's shop and farm to this extent is not even worth a look."
Cui Xiaoxiao thought that her rouge shop was making money right now, so she steeled herself and said to her mother, "I'm the housekeeper today. I'll ask the kitchen to buy a lamb to add to the dishes so that everyone in the mansion can have a good meal."
The mother beside her also smiled when she heard Cui Xiaoxiao say this, "Grandma still has to find something for us servants. I will find someone to buy sheep right away."
Everyone in the Marquis Zhongping's mansion benefited from Cui Xiaoxiao's kindness and was grateful to her. Even the servants who had originally despised her status changed their minds.
Cui Xiaoxiao was immersed in the feeling of being in power, but the manager of the rouge shop brought bad news.
The manager rushed to Cui Xiaoxiao and said anxiously, "Grandma, the rouge shop is doing very well right now, but we've only made 400 taels of profit, and all of our 1,000 taels of capital has been spent. We've lost 600 taels of money. What should we do with this loss now?"
Cui Xiaoxiao hadn't expected the rouge shop to collapse so quickly, but now that she had just gained power, if she asked Wen Tingbo for help, she was afraid that Wen Tingbo would take away her housekeeper power. If that happened, she would be laughed to death by Song Wanning.
Cui Xiaoxiao gritted her teeth and looked at the account book in her hand. "The rouge shop is doing very well right now. If we can get two thousand taels of silver to turn around the business, the rouge shop will definitely be able to turn a profit."
When the steward heard Cui Xiaoxiao say this, he could only sigh and say, "Grandma, where can we get two thousand taels of silver now? Otherwise, why not ask the Second Master for help?"
"No, you must not tell the Second Master." Cui Xiaoxiao's forehead was covered with cold sweat. She looked at the deeds and account books in her hands and set her sights on one of the profitable farms.
The monthly turnover of the Marquis' Mansion was as high as 10,000 taels. If she took 2,000 taels first and then filled the hole before anyone found out, she could do it without anyone noticing and no one would know that her rouge shop was losing money.
Cui Xiaoxiao thought so and did it. She looked at the manager and said, "It's a small problem. First, go to the warehouse and get two thousand taels of silver notes to use in the Rouge Shop. After a while, when our competitors are defeated by us, our business will become more and more prosperous, and everything will be fine."
The steward looked at the pair of cards in his hand and looked at Cui Xiaoxiao hesitantly, "Grandma, should we tell the Second Master about such a big thing? If he finds out later, he'll probably be angry."
"Don't tell Second Master yet. I have my own plans." Cui Xiaoxiao said, looking at the steward with a threatening look, "If Second Master finds out, I'll at most get scolded, but I can't say what will happen to you, the steward."
Seeing this, the manager had no choice but to bite the bullet and collect the money.
Cui Xiaoxiao finally breathed a sigh of relief after distributing the monthly wages and purchasing money to each courtyard. But before she could take a break, the manager of the rouge shop came again.
The manager was so anxious that his mouth was blistered. He burst into tears when he saw Cui Xiaoxiao, "Grandma, this is terrible. That beeswax seller Liu Da said that you won't pay him for the beeswax. He said that if you don't pay him, he will file a complaint with the government."
Cui Xiaoxiao frowned, remembering that the beeswax seller Liu Da didn't sell it too expensively, so she asked, "What? Then why don't you pay him for the beeswax?"
The manager wiped the sweat from his forehead and said fearfully, "Liu Da originally said one hundred coins per catty, but he said the materials he provided us later were better, so he wanted to raise the price."
"How can he go back on his word if he hasn't signed the contract?"
"That's the problem," the manager explained quickly. "The contract states one tael of silver per catty, and now we owe eight hundred taels of silver."
"Haven't you already looked at the contract? Didn't you say it was fine?" Cui Xiaoxiao slammed her palm on the table and questioned the manager, "How could such a thing happen now?"
"I am old and my eyesight is blurry, so I made a mistake. Please forgive me this time." The steward slapped himself in the face and cried, "Please think of a solution quickly, otherwise Liu Dake will really go to the government office to file a complaint."
Cui Xiaoxiao threw the account book aside and was about to explode when Wen Tingbo appeared at the gate of the yard. He looked at Cui Xiaoxiao and asked, "Xiaoxiao, what's wrong?"
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