However, Lu Jing discovered that the midnight snack was just the beginning.
"Why this dress again? It's spring now, didn't Madam prepare new clothes for me?"
Lu Jing looked at the casual clothes he had been wearing for several days and spoke with dissatisfaction.
But the maidservant was not at all panicked. "My Lord, the Madam said that the weather has been changeable recently. New clothes that are too thin to wear and too thick to wear would be a waste."
As he spoke, he tightened Lu Jing's collar neatly, making Lu Jing even hotter.
"Madam said that you should bear with it for two days. When the weather gets warmer, you can change into light clothes."
Madam said, everything is what Madam said!
Lu Jing untied his collar himself. He saw that it was not the weather that was changing, but Shen Ruoyan's mood!
"This huge mansion doesn't have enough money to make me a few more clothes?"
The maid knelt on the ground in fear, not daring to speak.
When Shen Ruoyan came in from outside, she happened to see this scene, "If the Marquis is angry, just vent it on me. Why is there so much need to be so fierce towards a little girl?"
"I was mean to her?" Lu Jing pointed at himself, then at the little girl, "I think she's almost climbing over my head! And you still want me to be mean to her?!"
"Lord, calm down!"
The little girl knelt on the ground, shaking slightly, and looked extremely frightened.
Shen Ruoyan glanced at her lightly and winked, and the people around him tactfully took the girl out.
"These servants are also doing their jobs according to my orders. If the Marquis feels offended, then it is my fault for not making the arrangements properly."
Seeing that she kept taking all the blame on herself, Lu Jing felt powerless as if he had punched cotton.
Shen Ruoyan clearly knew that she didn't dare to touch her at all, so was she so unscrupulous?
Just because someone from her family came, she doesn't take him seriously?
"Why are you looking at me like that, Lord?" Shen Ruoyan opened his eyes slightly, very puzzled: "Does Lord think that I did it on purpose?"
Shen Ruoyan looked even angrier than Lu Jing, and raised her voice directly: "My Lord, I just made some sachets, and you are calling me out for being extravagant. Now, how dare I make random comments about the expenses of this Marquis' Mansion?"
She sneered and asked someone to get the account book.
"Your Majesty, you don't know that the Marquis's Mansion has huge expenses, but the income is not significant. Since I took charge of the Marquis' Mansion, I have been putting money into it. Even the money for making the sachet last time came from my dowry!"
"What did you say?!" Lu Jing was shocked. No matter how poor the Marquis' Mansion was, it would not use the mistress's dowry for relief.
If this gets out, will he still be able to live as a human being?
But Shen Ruoyan was not exaggerating. The old lady was such a shrewd person. Although she was forced to take up arms in the beginning, why didn't she think of taking back the power to manage the family?
Isn’t it because she knows the twists and turns here better than anyone else?
If Shen Ruoyan used her own dowry to make up for the loss, the Marquis's Mansion would be peaceful.
But now she doesn't want to, so naturally, it's time to come out and talk it out.
For all this, we have to thank the Marquis’ good concubine, Aunt Fang!
"My Lord, all the account books of the mansion are here. You will know whether what I say is true or false at a glance!"
Shen Ruoyan sat down angrily, and Chun Xi quickly brought her some tea. "Madam, please drink some tea to calm down. Madam, you work hard for the Marquis' Mansion, and everyone sees it. Madam, please don't let this make you sick..."
Lu Jing rolled his eyes at Chun Xi. She was indeed a girl raised by the Shen family. She could be so sarcastic even when speaking nicely!
However, having learned from the previous lesson, he did not scold Chun Xi.
This is Shen Ruoyan's personal maid. You have to look at the owner before you beat the dog...
Worried that Lu Jing wouldn't understand, when Shen Ruoyan asked someone to deliver the account book, he also asked the person in charge of the account book to come along.
Lu Jing talked about whatever he saw.
"Look, my Lord! This is the money you spent on drinking with your colleagues last month, a total of 150 taels. And here, when you got drunk, you broke a family heirloom vase in the shop, and you paid 1,000 taels in compensation..."
Lu Jing's personal account alone is a huge expense every month.
Not to mention the old lady’s expensive tonics, the jewelry and rouge of the women in the mansion, and the four treasures of the study of the young masters, which one of them doesn’t cost money?
Even the servants' wages were not a small sum every month.
There are many people serving in the Marquis' Mansion. Although their status may seem low, their total number when added together cannot be underestimated.
The income from the shops and farms of the Marquis' Mansion has been limited over the years.
When the old marquis was around, he would occasionally receive rewards from the palace. But now…if he didn’t pay out of pocket, he was lucky!
The more Lu Jing looked at it, the more surprised he was, especially since there was a separate account book next to it, which recorded all the subsidies that Shen Ruoyan had given to the Marquis' Mansion over the years.
Densely packed, a thick stack!
It is enough to see that what she said is true!
Not only that, but he was also accused of being extravagant and wasteful by the concubine in the mansion. Who could tolerate that?
Lu Jing finally realized how big a mess Fang Rou's words had caused!
No wonder all the servants listened to Shen Ruoyan. Even though the masters had deducted money from their expenses, Shen Ruoyan would never touch the servants' wages and rewards.
It is natural for servants to serve their masters, but if you want them to work hard, you can't just show off your master's power.
Besides, how much are the wages of these servants? Even if we save some, it will only be a drop in the bucket.
Only fools would exploit people from the bottom!
Therefore, Fang Yi Niang's behavior aroused public anger. They said that Madam was extravagant, but what did Fang Yi Niang eat and use? Wasn't it all given by Madam?
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