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

Lin Yanran looked at the self-righteous Chu Xiyao with amusement, "It's not that I want to make a big fuss, it's just that your own brother is unwilling to spend money on you."

"Impossible!" That was Chu Xiyao's first reaction.

"Do you think your older brother would be willing to raise someone else's children? Sigh, reality is just that cruel." Lin Yanran spoke without holding back, her eyes full of schadenfreude.

"Sister-in-law, there's no need for such an excuse. If you're worried about the money, we'll just stop spending it from now on." After saying that, Chu Xiyao threw the account book on the ground and left.

Chu Xiyao understood "not spending money" to mean that in the future, when purchasing any big items, they would no longer go through the public funds and could pay for it themselves.

Lin Yanran understood "not spending money" to mean that they were moving out.

So, as soon as Chu Xiyao left, Lin Yan immediately sent people to help Chu Xiyao and the others pack their things.

Chu Xiyao almost fainted from anger when she saw the people Lin Yanran had sent.

Chu Xiyao had never seen anyone as unreasonable as Lin Yanran. When her relatives came to stay for a few days, she actually dared to openly kick them out.

Ma Mingzhen, Ma Zhongzheng, and Ma Zhongshuai were all at a time when they had strong self-esteem, and being openly unwelcome like this made all three of them furious.

Ma Zhongzheng even said directly to Chu Xiyao:

"Mother, return the silver notes we spent to my eldest aunt, and let's go back to the General's Mansion to live."

Upon hearing her eldest son's words, Chu Xiyao smacked Ma Zhongzheng on the head, saying, "Do you know how much money we've spent this month? You spendthrift!"

Ma Zhongzheng covered his head with his hand, "How much silver is that? We can't possibly not pay it back?"

Ma Mingzhen and Ma Zhongshuai also looked at Chu Xiyao with curiosity.

Chu Xiyao stretched out her hand and made an eight gesture, and the three siblings, Ma Mingzhen and Ma Mingzhen, all breathed a sigh of relief.

Ma Mingzhen complained, "My aunt is really stingy. Eight thousand taels is not enough for her to kick someone out."

Then Chu Xiyao smacked Ma Mingzhen on the head, "Eight thousand taels? Don't you three know what you bought? You three dare to spend eighty thousand taels?"

Chu Xiyao also wanted to forcefully throw the silver notes directly at Lin Yanran's face, but when they returned to Cangming, they only had 150,000 taels on them, and Chu Xiyao couldn't bear to throw away 80,000 taels at once.

When Chu Xiyao got married, she also had a grand wedding procession, but their expenses at the border have been high over the years.

Especially in recent years, her husband has been unwilling to relinquish military power, so the grain and military pay from the imperial court have been decreasing year by year, and Chu Xiyao and General Ma have been constantly adding to it.

Chu Xiyao's dowry was running low, and she couldn't afford to pretend to be someone with money.

As soon as Chu Xiyao finished speaking, the three siblings, Ma Mingzhen and Ma Mingzhen, looked at each other and asked in unison, "What did you all buy?"

Ma Mingzhen was the first to defend herself, "I didn't buy much, just two or three sets of jewelry. I've already returned to Cangming. Those kinds of jewelry from the border aren't fashionable here anymore. I need to have two or three sets of jewelry when I go out for social occasions, right?"

Ma Zhongzheng also defended himself, saying, "I didn't buy anything, I just bought a sword."

Ma Zhongshuai quickly distanced himself, saying, "I only bought a few jade pendants."

Chu Xiyao thought about herself and bought two sets of jewelry as well.

Looking at her three children, who knew they had made a mistake and were too quiet to speak, Chu Xiyao felt no anger, only heartache.

It's because they don't have these things that the children are so captivated by them.

A thought suddenly occurred to Chu Xiyao: if she had money, her child wouldn't have to go through this.

Chu Xiyao reached out and patted the three children's heads as compensation, "You three go pack your things. We'll move out tonight, so don't actually wait for someone to kick us out."

"Are we taking all the things we bought with us?" Ma Mingzhen asked this because she was reluctant to part with the beautiful jewelry.

"Take it! It's not your aunt's money; consider it a gift from your uncle to you when you first meet!"

Upon hearing their mother's words, Ma Mingzhen and her two companions immediately went downstairs to direct people to tidy up, as they did not want to live such a dependent life.

Chu Xiyao went to Madam Hou's Deyuan Courtyard alone.

When Chu Xiyao arrived at Deyuan Courtyard, she directly instructed the servants attending to Old Madam Hou, "You may all leave. I need to have a private conversation with my mother."

For the past month or so, Chu Xiyao had indeed frequently come to keep Old Madam Hou company, and occasionally she would ask them to leave.

Therefore, when Chu Xiyao gave this instruction, the servants around Madam Hou did not suspect anything and left immediately.

When Chu Xiyao entered the inner room, Old Madam Hou was still awake, her eyes open as she looked at Chu Xiyao, seemingly asking her daughter, "Did you come here for something?"

After the servants had all left, Chu Xiyao calmly sat down on the stool beside Old Madam Hou's bed. "Mother, I'm in trouble and need your help. You will help me, won't you?"

Old Madam Hou made a few "ah" sounds, as if she was asking Chu Xiyao what trouble she had encountered.

Actually, Chu Xiyao had been back for so long that she couldn't understand what her mother was saying, so she explained to herself:

"It's nothing serious, just a bit short on money. Since you already promised, please give some of your good stuff to my daughter!"

Madam Hou's reaction was simply "ah, ah," clearly indicating that she was unwilling.

Now that she's in this situation, her possessions are her source of confidence, and Old Madam Hou doesn't want to give them to anyone.

Old Madam Hou tried to reach out and stop her unfilial daughter, but Chu Xiyao reacted more quickly, dodging Old Madam Hou's hand and heading straight for Old Madam Hou's dressing table.

Having been the daughter of Old Madam Hou for so many years, Chu Xiyao knew better than her two older brothers where Old Madam Hou kept her valuable possessions.

Chu Xiyao first rummaged through a hidden compartment under the dressing table and found a box of silver notes. She glanced at them and saw that each note was worth one thousand taels.

Chu Xiyao didn't count it and just put it in her bosom, but she estimated it to be around 100,000 taels.

Then she took out a box containing land deeds. She opened it and saw that it contained fertile fields, shops, and houses, which greatly appealed to her.

But Chu Xiyao still reluctantly put it back. The house and shops needed to be transferred to the government, so she had no use for them.

Chu Xiyao felt that as soon as she went to the government office to transfer the property, her two brothers would find out, and they might expose what she had done for the sake of these houses.

Chu Xiyao dared not take that risk.

Then Chu Xiyao took out the jewelry that Old Madam Hou had treasured and picked through it. Regardless of whether it was a complete set or not, she put on the bracelets that she liked, and stuffed a few necklaces and hairpins into her bosom.

Only after Chu Xiyao's hands were covered with bracelets did she reluctantly put the rest of her jewelry back.

As she put things back, Chu Xiyao thought about her two sons and picked out a few more jade pendants to put in her sleeve pocket. Then, Chu Xiyao carefully put everything she had messed up back together.

Madam Hou went from initially groaning to bursting into tears.