She felt a little uncomfortable. If they had been closer as a couple in their previous life and she had trusted him more, would she have fewer regrets?

She sighed softly, gently held his broad palm, and said softly, "No need, it's good like this now. The affairs of the mansion are in the hands of the eldest sister-in-law and the third brother's wife. I only need to take care of our Funing Courtyard and Lin'er and his sister."

Wei Junhang turned his big hand over and held hers, his brows still tightly wrinkled: "You don't have to worry about me, I have a way to make mother agree."

Although his mother would be very unhappy at first, he was not without ways to convince her.

Shen Xinyan shook her head: "You don't have to do this. When I say no, I really mean no. Now that the three houses are jointly in charge of all matters in the mansion, it is the most appropriate arrangement. I believe that mother also thinks so. Why bother to make her angry about this matter?"

"Besides..." She smiled slightly and glared at him, "Now I have to take care of everything in our family. Although there are fewer things to do after Lin'er entered the palace, Ying'er has become more and more difficult to manage. And there is also Lingfu. He now has to study with Mr. Lu and learn martial arts with Master Wu. I have to take care of everything."

"Besides, I want to reorganize my wedding dress shop in the near future, so I can't just leave Sister Xu alone."

"I'm already busy with all the things going on here and there. If I have to take more food from the hand, I'm afraid I won't even have time to breathe."

Compared to this time in her last life, she has a lot more things to take care of and responsibilities in this life. But although she is much busier, she feels quite fulfilled.

At least, she would no longer focus all her attention on one person.

Wei Junhang thought about it and felt that it made sense.

If this ends up exhausting my wife, won't I be the one who feels bad?

"However, the one who received the reward is the mistress of a mansion after all..." Thinking of the rumors outside, he still had some doubts.

As soon as Shen Xinyan heard it, she knew what he was worried about. It was a little funny, but also a little touching.

"Why should you take to heart what those gossipers outside say? We know what is good and what is bad. Do we have to show it to outsiders to be considered good?"

"Besides..." She narrowed her eyes slightly and said with a half-smile, "People say that I married a useless and dissolute husband. Is that really the case?"

Wei Junhang didn't expect that she would actually turn the conversation around to him. He laughed dryly a few times, his eyes wandering, not daring to look at her.

Shen Xinyan shook her head helplessly and glared at him unhappily, but said nothing more.

Wei Junhang carefully looked at her face and found no signs of anger, so he breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, he remembered that she had just mentioned that her daughter was becoming more and more difficult to manage, and he could not help but explain: "Ying'er is very well-behaved, especially since Lingfu came. She is not picky about food anymore. She studies hard, learns calligraphy, and does needlework."

Shen Xinyan said sternly, "Why isn't she difficult to manage? Don't you think about how many times she has been in trouble in less than a month? She is a good girl, she has not learned to be chaste and elegant, but she is always quarreling and fighting. If such an impulsive temper is not restrained, what will happen in the future!"

Seeing that she looked unhappy, Wei Junhang didn't dare to say anything more. He touched his nose and shrank back.

"Now at home, everyone indulges her and gives in to her, which makes her more and more selfless. If she gets married in the future, who will still pamper her unconditionally? Then won't she be the one who suffers?"

"She is still young, how can she think about getting married in the future..." Wei Junhang retorted in a low voice.

"Do you want to keep her at home as an old maid for the rest of her life?" Shen Xinyan said unhappily.

"That won't happen. Parents will eventually die of old age, and brothers will always have important people of their own. If we keep her in the mansion for the rest of her life, won't she be the only one who will suffer in the future?" Wei Junhang said seriously.

Shen Xinyan was stunned for a moment, then looked at his serious expression, and somehow she thought of what the Zhou family father and son said in her previous life - "It doesn't matter if my daughter/sister never gets married, I will support her for the rest of her life!"

She lowered her eyelids, frowned slightly, and pretended to be casual and said: "It's just a joke. It doesn't matter if you say you want to keep her forever. Maybe the little girl will like daddy even more after hearing it!"

Wei Junhang frowned: "Why bother talking about it when you know it's impossible? But Ying'er's future husband needs to be chosen carefully. He has to be tolerant and caring, and has a clean family..."

Listening to him earnestly reciting the basic requirements for a future son-in-law, Shen Xinyan finally couldn't help laughing: "You just said, 'She's still young, how can you think about getting married in the future?' Now you are more serious. Could it be that you have been thinking about your future son-in-law in your mind all along?"

Wei Junhang was stunned for a moment, then smiled helplessly, stroking his forehead: "That's right, I'm really confused!"

After signing the contract, the partnership with Xu Sumin was a foregone conclusion. Shen Xinyan put the matter aside for the time being and began to reorganize the store under her own name.

After the incident with the shopkeeper Qian last time, she changed the rules and required the shopkeepers of each store to pay their quarterly revenue instead of paying it on a monthly basis.

She calculated that after this change, the amount of money she collected would be much more than before. Of course, she did not give up the plan to look for a new candidate.

After returning from Xu Sumin's place, she found that Wei Junhang had returned to his previous habit of going out early and coming back late, and it was difficult to see him. When she asked Mingshuang, she learned that the prince would come back every night, but because it was late, it was inconvenient to disturb the lady's rest, so he stayed in the study.

Knowing that he didn't stay outside, she was relieved. But Xiao Yingzhi hadn't seen her father for several days, and she would ask about him from time to time, so Shen Xinyan found an excuse to coax her away.

This day was the day Wei Chenglin entered the palace. Shen Xinyan had already taken care of everything that needed to be done, and she had also given a lot of instructions to the Duke of England and the Grand Princess. So when Wei Chenglin came to bid her farewell early in the morning, she only gave him a few instructions such as being careful with her words and actions.

Wei Chenglin waited for a long time but saw nothing. He pursed his lips, and a hint of imperceptible disappointment flashed in his eyes.

Is that all there is to it?

Thinking back to the first time when Lingfu was going to study with Mr. Lu, his mother held him and gave him many instructions out of concern, and even carefully arranged his clothes for fear that his clothes would be inappropriate and impolite in front of others.

Now that it's my turn, is it just a few simple instructions?

"Go quickly! It's getting late. It will be bad if you are late." Seeing him standing there motionless, Shen Xinyan was a little puzzled and urged him.

"...Okay, the kid is leaving." He concealed his disappointment and bowed to say goodbye.

After walking a distance, he stopped and turned around, staring blankly at the main room not far behind him. He saw Pingfu holding his sister's hand and walking into the house happily. After a while, his mother's laughter came from the room.

For some reason, he suddenly felt a blockage in his heart, and an inexplicable sadness.

What's even stranger is the feeling of loss that arises in my heart.

"Master, it's time to set off!" Seeing him standing there without moving, the servant beside him couldn't help but urge him in a low voice.

"Let's go!" Finally, he shook his head, threw away the feeling, turned around, and strode away.

He is not a child like Linfu and his sister, who cling to their mother all day long. He has grown up...

"Madam, His Highness asks Madam to come over." After Pingfu and Xiao Yingzhi left one after another, a servant from the Grand Princess came to invite them. Shen Xinyan said, "I'll go right away," put down the account book in her hand and told Qiutang to keep it.

"Do you know if there is anything mother wants to tell you?" she asked casually on the way.

"The lady returned the keys and account books to Your Highness yesterday..." the maid who led the way replied with a smile.

Shen Xinyan understood immediately.

so it is……

On that day, Fang promised to return the keys and account books to the Grand Princess after a few days. She waited for several days, and during this time Yang came to see her more than once, intending to join forces with her to put pressure on Fang and force her to hand over the keys and account books as soon as possible.

But every time she found a reason to get rid of it.

She would be crazy to do something like this knowing that it would upset the Grand Princess. As for what kind of account book Fang would hand over, that was not something she should care about. Whether the account book was good or not was not within her consideration.

Fang had been in charge of the imperial edict for many years, and had always regarded the things in the public treasury as belonging to her eldest son's family. Therefore, there was no need to think too much that there must be problems with the public treasury's accounts. The key was whether the eldest princess was willing to make a fuss about it.

But seeing how the Grand Princess cares for the eldest son's wife, I guess even if she knew about it she would just turn a blind eye.

Yang was very upset when she saw that she was pretending to be deaf and dumb, but she couldn't do anything about it.

As a result, the return of the keys and account books was delayed again and again until today.

When Shen Xinyan arrived, Fang and Yang were already there. When they saw her coming, they simply greeted each other and left it at that.

"Sister-in-law is really meticulous and thorough. You've spent so much time organizing things. I'm sure you've arranged everything, right?" Yang said with a hint of smile.

Fang glanced at her but didn't say a word. She looked as if she didn't take her seriously at all, which made Yang want to smear her face.

Let you be so proud, I want to see if you can still be so arrogant if the Grand Princess finds out that you have lost money!

Shen Xinyan found a seat and sat down. Seeing Fang's calm expression, she wondered if she had really made up for the loss or if she was very confident that she could make the fake account flawless.

"Are you all here? I will assign tasks to each room!" The eldest princess came out from the inner room, helped by her maid, sat down on the soft couch at the top, glanced at her three sisters-in-law, and spoke straight to the point.

"Mother, don't you need to check the account?" Seeing that she didn't even mention the account book, Yang became a little anxious.

"I have already ordered people to investigate. Do you have any opinions?" The eldest princess looked at her with a cold face and a very stern look in her eyes.

Yang had always been a little afraid of her. When she saw the look in her eyes, she couldn't help but shudder and couldn't say a word.

Shen Xinyan understood immediately.

It seems that the eldest princess knows everything, but she intends to let it go lightly.

This was also within her expectations, so it wasn't too surprising.

The Grand Princess had been keeping an eye on her, and when she saw that she looked indifferent and only said "Just follow mother's arrangements" and nothing else, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief.