The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Chapter 683 - 670: Slapping the Transmigrator (25)

Qingping has been serving Old Madam for quite some years now.

She manages quite a few matters in Old Madam’s quarters and knows many of the Cui Mansion’s hidden affairs.

Old Madam has been through the ups and downs of these decades since she came into this family as a granddaughter-in-law, and now she is a grandmother. It has not been easy, but her survival to this day surely relies on her wisdom.

Despite Old Madam’s apparent disengagement from household affairs now, nothing big or small in the mansion escapes her notice.

Whatever issue arises in any part of the household, whoever does whatever, she always finds out about it at the earliest.

Cui Yiran considers himself careful in his actions, making many arrangements behind Old Madam’s back, but Old Madam has long been aware of them.

If Old Madam knows, then surely Qingping does too.

Qingping looks down on someone like Cui Yiran, who really thinks he’s clever, treating others as fools to be played with. But then again, who in this mansion is truly a fool?

Watching Old Master spend his days in a drunken stupor with his concubines, one might think he’s muddled, but that’s not necessarily the case.

And is Second Old Master truly foolish?

Cui Yiran thinks that Old Master is nothing but a drunkard and glutton, and Second Old Master is hopelessly old-fashioned, but what good is he himself, really?

Qingping sneers, "Just you all watch and see what good comes to the master."

Huang Su and Hong Xian also consider Cui Yiran a fool.

Cui Yiran’s marital affair with Anning was deliberated by Old Madam for a long time before it was arranged for him, mainly because Anning comes from the Ji Family. Although she is a bit fierce, she is also shrewd and capable. Moreover, with the large dowry she brings into the marriage, she would be of great support to Cui Yiran.

Mrs. Zhao is a stepmother; she’s been thinking of suppressing Cui Yiran, the legitimate son of the primary wife, and then giving birth to a son herself to inherit the title.

However, Old Madam didn’t let her wish come true, pitting Cui Ji from the second branch against Mrs. Zhao in competition, thus putting Mrs. Zhao in her place.

Old Madam figured that Anning, who is quite domineering, would not fear Mrs. Zhao, the stepmother-in-law, and might even constrain Mrs. Zhao, creating many conveniences for Cui Yiran.

Additionally, with money in Anning’s hands, Cui Yiran could be more flexible financially, which could even turn their fortune around sometime in the future with Anning’s dowry.

But in the end, Cui Yiran himself ruined the favorable situation.

"We’ll just steer clear of Granny in the future."

Huang Su and Hong Xian quickly express their agreement with Qingping.

Qingping just smiles.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Guan, carrying the accounting books, hurries back to her quarters, eager to start auditing them.

Beginning with accounts from several years ago, she audits until dusk, even skipping lunch to send a maid to Old Madam with a message that she felt unwell and needed a couple of days of rest.

All of her actions are clear in Old Madam’s eyes.

Old Madam immediately sneers, saying Mrs. Guan is too shallow.

Mrs. Guan, too, understands a bit about stewardship and knows how to read accounts, but she can’t withstand scrutinizing all those ledgers at once.

By dusk, Mrs. Guan’s eyes are sore, her head throbbed painfully.

She walks around the courtyard, then returns with a heart full of complexity.

She would have never known if she hadn’t looked; the state of the Cui family is shockingly dire.

They are supposed to be unmatched in wealth, but the internal strength is exhausted. Each year, more is spent than what comes in, leading to deficits. If this continues for a few more years, they might just consume all their wealth to the ground.

Looking at the ledgers on the table, Mrs. Guan finds them very troublesome.

Now she has lost the initial excitement and joy of handling the accounts, feeling her entire being dimming.

Cui Yiran happens to return at this moment and is stunned to see a room full of ledgers: "What is going on?"

Mrs. Guan gets up: "Second Mrs. said she wanted me to take over the household, so she sent someone to deliver the ledgers here."

Cui Yiran rubbed his temples: "Then you carry on with it first."

Guan Group went to help Cui Yiran wash his hands and face: "This account book is a bit too complicated. I’ve looked at it, but there are parts that I can’t quite understand."

Cui Yiran took the account book and gave it a once over, then he had a servant girl fetch paper and ink, and he began to check the accounts himself.

The account books of ancient times were too troublesome, so Cui Yiran created his own ledger, filled in the data, and then started to check it bit by bit.

By doing this, everything indeed became much clearer at a glance.

He helped Guan Group with the accounts for a whole night, and by the second day, the couple both had pale faces with black circles under their eyes, looking like giant pandas.

However, Cui Yiran was full of energy.

He had been secretly investigating Cui Ji all these days, but even after so much time, he failed to catch her red-handed.

Cui Yiran suspected his birth mother, Mrs. Liu’s death was related to Cui Ji, but after looking into it, it was not the case at all.

Then he thought that the Aunt who married into Jiangnan might have encountered some issue. Having someone investigate it, he found no evidence that Cui Ji had targeted the Aunt in any way.

Even with matters such as the ancestral land, everything was as it should be; Cui Ji had not interfered at all.

But the more it was so, the more Cui Yiran felt that Cui Ji had done something wrong, it was just that he could not pin anything on her.

Now that he had the account books, Cui Yiran was determined to scrutinize them thoroughly; if he could find a loophole, he could destroy Cui Ji in one fell swoop.

For the next few days, both Cui Yiran and Guan Group were busy examining the accounts.

After finishing the accounting, the couple was speechless.

This was indeed a difficult situation to handle.

The situation for The Cuis was really not good; there really wasn’t much money left in the treasury, and on top of that, The Cuis still owed silver to the national treasury. If it was really paid back, the whole Ji family might end up having to face the harsh northwest wind.

Only now did Cui Yiran understand why The Cuis, even with a Cui Ji in the mansion, still wanted to bring Ji Anning into the family.

It was mainly because the Ji Family was wealthy. Cui Yiran was also aware of Ji Anning’s dowry, which was truly substantial. If Ji Anning entered the family, her dowry could support The Cuis for many more years of good living.

At this moment, he felt somewhat lost and helpless.

"You manage the household well."

Cui Yiran didn’t know what to do anymore, so he left with a few words, showing a bit of an escape.

Guan Group almost cried.

How was she supposed to manage this home?

With no money and nothing in the house, so many mouths to feed above and below, what could she do? She couldn’t just conjure up money from thin air.

Cui Yiran escaped to a tavern to drink, still pondering over how to get rich.

He tried hard to recall the methods he read in the books from before, those transmigration novels where the protagonists always found a way to get rich.

But after racking his brains, Cui Yiran still came up empty-handed.

Meanwhile, Lu Gui happily returned home with his wife and children.

Once home, he went straight to Lu Sanbao.

Lu Sanbao had just come back from doing odd jobs and asked upon seeing Lu Gui: "What’s the matter?"

Lu Gui rubbed his hands together and sat down: "Dad, there’s something I want to discuss with you."

He then conveyed Xiao Yuan’s intention to pull him up: "My brother-in-law said it’s mainly because he pities his sister, offering me two taels of silver a month. But out of those two taels, one tael is for my wife, and the other tael goes into the family funds. If you agree, I’ll work for him, but if you don’t, never mind."

Lu Sanbao was silent for a long time: "What do you think?"

Lu Gui laughed: "I’m willing. Even if there’s only one tael of silver for the family funds, it’s much better than before. Besides, with my wife having one tael of silver, we will reduce the family expenses a lot."

Lu Sanbao picked up a bowl of water and gulped down most of it: "If you’re willing, then it’s settled. Go tell your brother-in-law. I’ll speak to your mother about this; don’t worry, I’ll handle your mother."