Transmigration into a Book: My Lord, Your Wife Has Taken Another Concubine for You

The day after Zhou Shi clashed with Lin Yanran over trying to take Chu Yunheng's place at Zhiren Academy, she discovered that the extra privileges that her second branch of the family had previously enjoyed were gone.

In the past, if you wanted to buy something, you could just go through the public accounts. You could even withdraw tens or hundreds of taels of silver from the accounting office by simply pressing your fingerprint.

But now, apart from the allowances provided by the Marquis's household, all other expenses must be paid by himself. To expect to withdraw cash from the accounting office is simply a pipe dream.

The Zhou family had long been accustomed to luxury, and the meager allowances they received were far from enough to satisfy the daily needs of their entire second household.

But Zhou felt extremely distressed at the thought of them having to spend their own money to maintain their previous dignity.

Zhou Shi used the money from their second branch of the family to make up for the losses in just four or five days, and she became extremely irritable.

Having no other choice, Zhou had to risk being scolded by her mother-in-law and go to Deyuan Courtyard to pay her respects to Old Madam Hou.

Madam Hou was angered by Lin Yanran that day, and then by two unfilial children. She hasn't recovered after several days of recuperation and is still lying sickly in bed.

When Zhou met her mother-in-law, she only kept telling her about the grievances of the second branch of the family.

But upon further inquiry, Madam Hou had no solution. After all, the eldest son's family had only stopped giving preferential treatment to the second son's family; their allowances and other benefits had not been reduced.

Moreover, the three brothers had already separated their households long ago, so if things really escalated, even the concept of allocating share would be untenable.

After this ordeal, Madam Hou was truly terrified of her eldest daughter-in-law, who, true to her status, was utterly fearless.

Old Madam Hou could only give Zhou a thousand taels of silver notes herself and send her away.

Zhou was carrying a thousand taels of silver notes, which naturally displeased her, but she dared not let Zhou go to her sister-in-law to make a scene.

The eldest sister-in-law doesn't even give face to her mother-in-law, let alone her, the sister-in-law. What's more, her husband warned her a few days ago, "If she makes any more trouble, the whole family will move out."

The thought of moving out and having to cover all the family's expenses on her own made Zhou tremble with heartache.

In the end, Zhou could only curse in her heart as she returned to her own courtyard with the silver notes, planning to cry to her mother-in-law again in a few days and then ask her to find a way to ease the tension between her and her sister-in-law.

Zhou's plan was good, but the old lady Hou fell ill and did not get better for more than ten days.

For the past ten days or so, Lin Yanran has only done a superficial job, going to sit in Old Madam Hou's room for a while on her own.

Wen Mei and the others brought their own teacups and teapots. Lin Yanran stayed in Madam Hou's room every day with a cold face, and she would leave after finishing her teacup.

Every time this happened, Madam Hou would think of Lin Yanran coming here to give her a hard time, all under the guise of serving and being filial to her, and Madam Hou would be furious.

However, Madam Hou did not have the courage to fight with Lin Yanran again, and could only keep a cold face and ignore her.

After that, Lin Yanran spent the rest of her time managing her dowry, changing things that didn't generate income and closing down things that didn't.

Profitable industries improve the treatment of managers and their staff, encouraging them to continue their efforts.

As for the Marquis's estate, Lin Yanran didn't own much of it. After carefully examining the estate, she found that it was enough to cover the expenses of the entire Marquis's estate, but there wasn't much left.

Lin Yanran guessed that the clan's real money-making assets were still in Chu Mochen's hands.

Lin Yanran had no intention of improving the Marquis's estate under her control; she felt that maintaining the estate's expenses was sufficient. After all, any more profit would just benefit others.

Instead of having this idea, she would be better off managing her dowry properly and acquiring more businesses to make money.

After Lin Yanran had been busy for more than ten days, it was time for her eldest son, Chu Yunxuan, to return home from the palace for the holidays.

After finishing their classes for the day, Chu Yunxuan and the others were given a three-day holiday.

So after finishing her day's work, Lin Yanran got into a carriage and went to the palace gate to wait for her eldest son.

This was Lin Yanran's first time picking up her eldest son from school during his vacation.

In the days leading up to this, she had to adapt to her new identity and handle a whole host of affairs at the Marquis's residence.

Most importantly, at that time, although Lin Yanran had the original owner's identity, she still didn't feel the reality of becoming a mother without pain.

It was also because the three of them had spent more than a year together that Chu Yunxuan and Chu Yunheng, her two sons, were very sensible and filial to her in every way.

Lin Yanran's heart wasn't immune to warmth. Her two sons treated her so well, so of course she wanted to be a good mother to them and treat them as her own sons.

Lin Yanran's carriage stopped at the palace gate. Before her eldest son, Chu Yunxuan, came out, Chu Mochen came out first.

As soon as Chu Mochen left the palace, the servant boy beside him, who was always on guard with the Eighth Route Army, spotted the Lady of the Marquis's carriage and quickly told Chu Mochen.

Since Chu Mochen stormed out of Lin Yanran's courtyard last time, he hasn't been to Lin Yanran's main courtyard for the past ten days.

Seeing Lin Yanran's carriage waiting at the palace gate, he naturally assumed that the lady was there to wait for him.

Chu Mochen was instantly in a great mood and led his men toward Lin Yanran's carriage, thinking to himself with delight, "Sure enough, you can't spoil a woman like that."

As soon as Chu Mochen walked this way, Wen Lan, who was sitting on the carriage shaft, saw him.

Wenlan saw it and immediately told Lin Yanran, who was sitting in the carriage.

Lin Yanran, who was drinking tea and reading miscellaneous books in the carriage, didn't even blink, and simply replied that it was none of her business.

After Chu Mochen approached, he ignored the people bowing to him, lifted the carriage curtain, and got into the carriage.

He sat down next to Lin Yanran and asked in a good mood:

"Madam, what brings you here to pick me up today?"

Lin Yanran's mind was still on the miscellaneous book. "My lord, you're overthinking it. I'm here to pick up Xuan'er."

Chu Mochen, who was deluding himself, could only awkwardly move from next to Lin Yanran to sit opposite her.

Chu Mochen tried to justify himself, saying, "That kid Chu Yunxuan is coming back again? I've been so busy lately that I forgot."

Lin Yanran wasn't one to indulge Chu Mochen's words now. "Perhaps the Marquis has been playing the role of a father to others so much that he's forgotten about our Xuan'er!"

Hearing Lin Yanran's words, Chu Mochen felt a toothache. That cunning boy Chu Yunxuan didn't need his attention at all. "Look at what you're saying, Madam. Xuan'er is our first son, how could I not love him?"

As Chu Mochen spoke, Chu Yunxuan was already standing outside the carriage. "Really? Father, I'm out of money. Here's a thousand taels to spend."