Chapter 8: Liu Ming's Scheme

Gu Yunzhu saw that Hanzhi had no reaction, so she couldn't help but continue, "Sister-in-law, you have no idea how excessive that woman is. She wears gold and silver, looking utterly vulgar. You gave her the money from selling the shops, and she squandered it all."

Hanzhi watched Gu Yunzhu’s anxious expression and couldn't help but sneer inwardly. There was no difference between spending money on Liu Zhihua and spending it on Gu Yunzhu.

At the very least, Liu Zhihua was outwardly very respectful toward her.

Unlike this Gu Yunzhu, who would shout and scream at her at the slightest provocation.

"Yunzhu, I only want to live well now. You can smell the medicinal scent in here; I truly don't have the strength to manage the household anymore. *Cough, cough!*"

Hanzhi said, coughing.

"Sister-in-law, if you aren't well enough to manage the household, I can do it! If things go on like this, that slut will be riding on top of your head."

Gu Yunzhu felt annoyed seeing Hanzhi like this; she was trying to awaken Hanzhi’s ambition for the power to manage the household.

"Yunzhu, you are an unmarried young lady; it is not good for you to be out and about. If you truly want to manage things, you only need Mother’s nod. The shops I had in my hands have all been handed over to your Second Brother, and the rest have been sold."

Hearing this from Hanzhi, Gu Yunzhu turned and left without hesitation.

She was truly too stupid to have come looking for this foolish sister-in-law.

In this house, Mother had the final say; how could she have forgotten that?

Usually, Gu Yunzhu looked down upon women who were out and about. For a woman to be running around everywhere was truly a disgrace to their Marquis’s estate.

But now that Hanzhi was no longer going out to make money, Gu Yunzhu clearly felt the frustration of having no money.

Gu Yunzhu had a change of thought: Concubine Liu didn't need to manage shops or be out and about, so she herself would surely manage the household better than Concubine Liu.

She had seen with her own eyes the ten thousand taels of silver Hanzhi gave to Concubine Liu, and her brother also gave Concubine Liu one thousand taels every month.

Yet her own monthly allowance was only five taels.

Hanzhi’s courtyard was independent and did not draw from the household’s accounts.

The Second Brother was also independent now; the servants in his courtyard did not need to be paid by the household either.

That one thousand taels was more than enough.

What’s more, Hanzhi had even given Concubine Liu ten thousand taels.

The more Gu Yunzhu thought about it, the angrier she became.

Furthermore, Master Liu now needed to pull strings to secure an official position, and all of that required money.

Master Liu had also told her that her sister-in-law’s dowry was limited. The most valuable things now were those shops; the rest of the dowry had almost been hollowed out.

Hanzhi had been married for several years, and those shops had been managed by the eldest brother the whole time.

The household expenses had all been taken by her eldest brother to support the woman he kept outside.

It was only natural that there was no money now.

In the past, Gu Yunzhu didn't know that her eldest brother had been embezzling the profits from Hanzhi’s shops.

But now, her second brother had taken over for less than a month and had already turned losses into profits.

Gu Yunzhu knew what kind of person her second brother was.

He was a good-for-nothing.

If even her second brother could make money, and now had money to cover household expenses and give to Hanzhi to spend, it proved that the shops were definitely profitable.

Her eldest brother was truly too greedy; he had kept claiming there were losses. He must have pushed her sister-in-law to the brink; otherwise, why would she have handed the shops over to the second brother?

At this moment, Gu Yunzhu completely forgot about the times she would take her close friends to those shops to go on shopping sprees, all while getting everything for free.

Gu Yunzhu looked at Hanzhi’s sickly appearance, muttered "bad luck" under her breath, and had no choice but to leave to find the Old Madam.

The Old Madam had managed the household in her earlier years and knew the hardships involved, especially since her own food and clothing standards had never been lowered.

Furthermore, Gu Yundian had already told the Old Madam about not giving Gu Yunzhu money.

She felt that Gu Yundian had done the right thing; if he gave it to Gu Yunzhu, she would surely use it to subsidize that poor scholar.

That man was truly shameless; he took Hanzhi’s silver and still clung to Gu Yunzhu.

When Gu Yunzhu came to complain to her, she hadn't even imagined there could be such a shameless person in the world.

He took their Gu family’s silver and still acted aggrieved, saying the Gu family wanted to use the money to break them up.

If he felt so aggrieved, he shouldn't have taken the money.

It was truly the height of shamelessness.

The Old Madam was also very disappointed in Hanzhi for not being able to handle such a small matter.

However, seeing Hanzhi so ill, she couldn't bring herself to scold her anymore.

But the power to manage the household definitely could not be given to Gu Yunzhu; otherwise, she feared the family’s assets would be emptied out for that scholar Liu.

The Old Madam clearly knew Gu Yunzhu’s temperament.

She was too simple and could be deceived by a few words.

Mainly, she was her only daughter and the youngest, so who else would she dote on if not her?

Her eldest son was not close to her, having been raised by her mother-in-law, and her second son was unreliable.

However, the Old Madam did approve of Hanzhi handing the shops over to Gu Yundian.

Compared to her eldest son, she liked her second son more, though he was too much of a wastrel—useless in both literature and martial arts.

But now, Gu Yundian had stopped gambling, was watching the shops every day, and was handling the social networking quite well.

He was much better than that eldest son who would talk back to her for the sake of a vixen.

He knew full well that she hated that woman, yet he insisted on keeping her by his side.

If this matter were ever leaked, the reputation of the entire Marquis’s estate would be ruined.

The Emperor already disliked the Marquis’s estate, and if that happened, the succession of the title would be even further out of reach.

The Old Madam hated Liu Hanyan to the bone, but since her eldest son loved her, she was helpless.

However, the Old Madam had been in a very good mood lately.

Yundian was filial and had sent her quite a bit of jewelry recently.

The Old Madam didn't think Gu Yundian was better than Gu Yunhan, but this just proved how many good things Gu Yunhan had been giving to that mistress.

Moreover, she discovered that Gu Yundian wasn't actually that bad; he just hadn't had the opportunity.

He had been so busy lately that he didn't even have time to go to the gambling dens, let alone the energy to bicker and fight with those playboys in the brothels.

The Old Madam was very satisfied with Hanzhi’s decision.

Unable to get what she wanted from the Old Madam, Gu Yunzhu could only go to find Liu Ming in low spirits.

And at this moment, Liu Ming already had a scheme in mind.

He knew that if he followed the normal path, Gu Yunzhu would never be able to marry him.

He had to use a risky move.

Only if Gu Yunzhu married him would the Gu family help him.

The silver Hanzhi gave could be used to pull strings, but that official had said that with ten thousand taels, he could manipulate things to change his sister’s status from a musician’s registry to a commoner’s registry.

Although the Marquis’s estate was in decline, its current momentum was not bad.

Although Gu Yunhan was only a seventh-rank minor official, he wasn't one of those clerks in the Hanlin Academy; he held real power in the Ministry of Personnel.

He heard that he had recently been sent out to investigate a major case, and if he could return successfully, he would likely be promoted to the sixth rank.

If Gu Yunhan were in the capital, Liu Ming truly wouldn't dare to make a move.

Of the entire Gu family, Liu Ming only feared Gu Yunhan.

Now was a good opportunity.

As soon as Gu Yunhan returned, the deed would already be done, and even Gu Yunhan would be helpless.