Carrying the little lucky star, leading the villain on the road to exile

Chapter 607, Section 608: Hot Potato
When Rong Ruiyuan saw the two concubines flee as if they were running away, and then saw the account book and the pair of cards lying alone on the table, his eyes reddened. He then stood up and swept everything off the table.

The two concubines, who had just reached the door, both quickened their pace. They had finally managed to throw the hot potato out, and there was no way they could take it back.

"Sister Zuo, please come sit in my courtyard," Consort An invited after running a little distance.

"I haven't been to your courtyard yet. I'm free today anyway, so I'll go and bother you." Consort Zuo stopped in her tracks. Ever since they entered the mansion, the two of them had been constantly fighting and couldn't stand each other. Now, it was okay to try a different way of getting along.

The two returned to Consort An's courtyard. After the maid brought the water, they asked their respective personal maids to wait outside.

They were speechless for a moment, then both of them burst out laughing at the same time.

"We sisters are really on the same page today," she said. Going to the study to resign from her job was not something they had planned together.

"Yeah, it's such a coincidence. What were we always arguing about before?"

"Thinking about that person in the east courtyard, we're actually quite lucky." Zuo Fei sighed. She used to wish him dead, but now all that remained was endless sorrow and sympathy.

"Nobody knew he was so cold-hearted. Even after someone died, he showed no compassion whatsoever. I heard that his body was unrecognizable, and he didn't even bother to find a decent coffin. He just had someone wrap him in a tattered mat and threw him into a mass grave, right next to those two old women."

No matter how secretly Rong Ruiyuan did these things, he couldn't escape everyone's notice.

"Yes, those nights I would sometimes wake up from my dreams and couldn't fall back asleep for a long time." Although Zuo Fei was still wary of the person next to her and didn't touch a drop of water, it didn't stop her from joining in the complaints.

The atmosphere in the backyard of the Prince's mansion was extremely oppressive; everyone lived in constant fear.

Gu Antong was, after all, a friend of Rong Ruiyuan. Even if she knew that the royal family wouldn't keep her for long after she was poisoned, they would at least give her some dignity.

When Gu Antong entered the mansion, those boxes were moved directly to the storeroom. For that one contribution alone, she should have been treated well. But she never expected such a tragic end.

Everyone has their own moral compass. If it were them, how would Rong Ruiyuan react?

You can't think about this; once you start, you can't stop.

The two sighed for a while, feeling sorry for Gu Antong, and began to think about their own way out.

Consort An looked at Consort Zuo and said, "Sister Zuo, I won't talk to you about such empty words. My family has sent me a letter. From now on, I will only live my own life behind closed doors and dare not ask for anything."

The Left Consort's eyes flickered, and she finally understood why Consort An had invited her over today. It seemed that Consort An wanted to make her stance clear. "Coincidentally, I also plan to stay in my own courtyard and not get involved in the affairs of this courtyard in the future."

The two exchanged a smile, indicating that they had reached a tacit understanding.

At least, there's one less person to guard against.

"But if we push the task away today, I'm afraid that petty person will hold a grudge against us," Consort An added, effectively putting the two on the same side.

The concubine on the left said nonchalantly, "Let him hold a grudge. As long as our family doesn't fall, he won't dare to do anything to us. At most, he'll scold us a bit or be strict with our expenses."

"But do we sisters lack a few measly things?" Consort An covered her mouth and laughed. "Sister Zuo is right. We certainly don't lack a few measly things, but he shouldn't even think about coveting us."

Right now, all I want to do is hold onto my money and enjoy the rest of my life.

Instead of filling that hole, it's better to keep it for ourselves. Anyway, they have a lot of dowry. They can live a quiet life behind closed doors, which is quite nice.

The two reached a tacit understanding, and the Left Concubine did not stay any longer, getting up to take her leave.

Consort An escorted the person to the door, then asked, "Who do you think will be the next sucker?"

The left concubine said, "Since it's neither you nor me, nor the Princess Consort, I'm afraid he won't bother going to make a fool of himself. He might just send a steward to keep an eye on things."

Consort An felt a little regretful. Why hadn't she seen through it back then? She had even lost some money in the process. But luckily, they managed to stop the damage in time. "Speaking of which, we still don't have the foresight of Her Highness the Princess. She's closed her doors to guests now, and we don't have to pay our respects to her morning and evening anymore. We should learn from Her Highness."

"It can't be that bad. We sisters can still visit each other, otherwise life would be so boring." Zuo Fei was more sociable and didn't know how long she could keep it up.

“I think we’d better behave ourselves for a while,” Consort An suggested. “If we’re really bored, we can copy some scriptures and pray for our families.”

The Left Concubine said, "That is indeed a solution. I won't bother you any longer. Your courtyard is quite nice. You can visit my place sometime in the future."

My family sent some chrysanthemums over a while ago; they should be in bloom soon. I'll have someone invite you over to admire them then.

Consort An naturally agreed, and the two had reached a tacit understanding.

Rong Ruiyuan was unaware of all this. After venting his anger, he looked at the mess on the floor and ordered someone to come in and clean it up.

At the same time, I was also thinking about who should take care of these things in the backyard.
Thinking of the backyard, the three women at the front of the line all went on strike, so they could only look further down. There were two concubines, but their family backgrounds were not prominent and their dowries were quite impressive, so they probably couldn't support the royal palace.

He sighed and called the butler in.

Looking at the newly organized ledgers, the butler's heart pounded. Was he really going to be left with this mess?
As the steward, he was well aware of everything that happened in the backyard of the Prince's mansion. He had thought that the Prince would hand over the matter to the other masters in the backyard, so what was the meaning of summoning him here now? He hoped that it wouldn't be as he had guessed.

Rong Ruiyuan tapped the account book on the table. "Now that the Princess and the two concubines are all inexperienced, you should take charge of all the affairs in this mansion."

The ledgers and the matching cards are all here. You can arrange them as you see fit.

The steward immediately knelt down and said, "Your Highness, I am ashamed to have failed your trust. The accounts are empty. Even the most skilled cook cannot make a meal without rice."

Rong Ruiyuan took out the last two thousand taels of silver from his pocket. "Take this and use it for now. I'll think of something else later."

He knew, of course, the steward's status; even if he had some savings, it wouldn't be enough to cover such a large expense for the Prince's mansion.

Now he can only wait for good news from Lingnan. He regrets letting He Guangtian take so much silver with him back then, because he needs it more urgently now.

Now we need to get through this immediate crisis; it seems I'll have to go to the palace again.