Chapter 137 The Wicked Stepmother and the Poor Child (30)
The butler chimed in, his tone tinged with helplessness.
"There is no cash left in the warehouse."
The original three thousand taels in the mansion's public account were accumulated from previous years and the remaining amount from the lady's previous subsidies to the public account. According to the lady's previous spending when she managed the household, it was enough to support the mansion's expenses for a year with a surplus.
In the past, my wife always managed these income and expenditure, and we never had to worry about them or have ever been short of money.
Please, Aunt Zhou, provide the necessary funds for the master as soon as possible.
Zhou Jingxuan was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. Where could she possibly come up with one hundred taels? Her own savings had also been depleted in the past month of extravagance.
She was terrified. What would Gu Hongjian think of her if he knew that she had squandered her family fortune in such a short time and made him lose face in front of his colleagues? How angry would he be?
"Me, me."
Zhou Jingxuan pleaded for a long time, but still couldn't come up with any money.
She instinctively turned her pleading gaze to Shen Ci, only to see Shen Ci give a cold, amused smile, as if watching a spectacle unfold.
The laughter was too cruel; Zhou Jingxuan felt a chill in her heart.
Oh no! What should she do?
Zhou Jingxuan felt dizzy again, and thought that if she was dizzy, she wouldn't be able to think. The power of the housekeeper was now putting her in a very difficult position.
Seeing Zhou Jingxuan simply roll her eyes upwards and limply fall to the ground, falling quite slowly as if afraid of hurting the baby in her belly, Shen Ci was amused that she was trying to escape reality by fainting.
When faced with a problem, I get dizzy and confused.
"Dizzy? Aunt Zhou is so useless!"
"Dan Gui, go fetch a basin of well water. It needs to be quite cold to help Aunt Zhou wake up."
Shen Ci said coolly, her voice loud enough for everyone to hear.
When Gu Hongjian's attendant saw this, he was startled and quickly tried to stop him.
"Madam! You mustn't! Aunt Zhou is still pregnant. This well water is icy cold. What if it startles the baby?"
Shen Ci glanced at him indifferently, interrupting him.
"Then where will your master get the money he wants? Can you conjure it up?"
Chang Sui choked, and subconsciously looked at Chen Ci with a questioning look in her eyes, "Does Madam also not have the means?"
Shen Ci understood his gaze and spoke frankly.
"Now, Aunt Zhou is in charge of the household affairs, and she manages all the income and expenditure of the public funds."
I haven't been involved in the household affairs for many years, so what do I care about the profits and losses of the household?
If you want money, you should naturally go to Aunt Zhou.
However, judging from the situation, let alone the money for your master's drinking, I'm afraid you won't even be able to pay the monthly wages of all the servants in the household, right?
She wasn't just saying this to the servants, but also to all the servants in the courtyard. Sure enough, many of them showed strange expressions on their faces.
They can't even pay their monthly allowances. The Gu family is getting worse and worse. When the madam was in charge, they were never short of anything.
Shen Ci continued speaking to his attendant.
"If you don't want to wake her, then go and report to your master directly."
Take, for example, all the silver in the mansion’s public accounts, totaling three thousand taels, which was squandered by Aunt Zhou within a month. Now, even rats in the storeroom would have to come out crying, and thieves would have to leave something behind.
Let's see what he decides.
There was no other way, so Zhou Jingxuan pretended to faint. She was too embarrassed to offer advice, so who would?
Chang Sui's expression changed, unable to make up his mind. Just then, Dan Gui came over carrying a basin of still-chilling water that had just been drawn from the well.
Just as the basin of water was about to be poured down, Zhou Jingxuan, who had been unconscious, suddenly jolted awake and weakly clutched her chest.
"No, don't splash it, I, I'm awake."
She really knows when to faint and when to wake up. Shen Ci is truly a miracle doctor!
Looking at Shen Ci's eyes, Zhou Jingxuan felt a chill run down her spine, but she really had no choice but to grit her teeth and deal with the servants around Gu Hongjian.
"The manor is indeed out of money, and I... I can't come up with any more."
The servant had no choice but to return to Gu Hongjian with a bitter face and report back to him. The two remaining masters in the house were not giving him any money, so where was he supposed to get any money from?
Does someone have to pay out of their own pocket to cover the costs of serving others?
At that time, Gu Hongjian was enjoying drinks with two colleagues in a private room of a restaurant.
His colleagues kept praising him for being young and promising, with beautiful wives and concubines in his arms, and for his imminent promotion, saying his future was limitless. This flattered Gu Hongjian so much that he became quite arrogant. After a few drinks, he became even more spirited and waved his hand dismissively.
"This meal is on me, Gu. You two must enjoy yourselves to the fullest!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than his attendant came over with a strange expression and whispered a few words in his ear.
Gu Hongjian's smile froze instantly, and he sobered up considerably! No money left? Not a single tael of silver left? What about the boast he'd just made?
If you can't pay the bill, you'll lose face in front of your colleagues. How will you ever be able to stand firm in the officialdom again?
Oh no, this is terrible!
He was so anxious that he broke out in a cold sweat. He touched his purse and found that the few loose coins inside weren't even enough to cover the cost of the wine!
In the past, when had Steward Shen Ci ever worried about money? He would give whatever he asked for, and was always worried that he wouldn't be respectable enough in public, so he would always give him more. Now, he can't even come up with that little bit of money.
On a sudden impulse, he disregarded everything else, abruptly stood up, cupped his hands in greeting to his two colleagues, and looked anxious.
"Gentlemen, I'm so sorry! There's an urgent matter at home that I need to attend to immediately!"
"Let us part for now. I, Gu, will certainly host a banquet to apologize another day!"
After saying that, he fled almost in panic before the two could react, deliberately forgetting to settle the bill, making it seem as if something major had really happened in his family.
The two colleagues were left looking at each other in bewilderment.
"What happened at Lord Gu's house that he's in such a hurry?"
"Exactly, even if it's urgent, we have to settle the bill first. He said he was treating."
"Judging from his appearance, could he be short of money?"
"Since you're short on cash, how dare you trick us into ordering so much food and drink? Could it be that you've arranged this with the restaurant and are a shill for them?"
"No money in your pocket, yet you dare to spout nonsense about treating everyone?"
The two whispered among themselves, their impression of Gu Hongjian worsening. They couldn't believe he would do something so degrading.
Gu Hongjian rushed back to the mansion, and the first thing he did was to summon the steward and sternly question him about the money.
The old butler silently handed over the account book. Gu Hongjian eagerly flipped through it, and the more he read, the more his face turned ashen. By the end, the veins on his forehead were throbbing!
Three thousand taels! In one month! It was all spent on Zhou Jingxuan's personal enjoyment! Where did she get such audacity?! When she was in the Zhou family, she clearly maintained an elegant and refined demeanor!
Back then, she was simple and elegant, with hardly any jewelry and her clothes were neither new nor old. He liked Zhou Jingxuan because he thought she was a woman who could manage a household well!
"My lord, we only have eight taels of silver left in the manor. Not to mention your entertainment expenses, we probably can't even pay the servants' wages for this month."
The butler added a comment at the opportune moment.
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