Even the crown prince is getting a marriage of convenience? Why are you in such a hurry to stop bein

Upon returning to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, Xiao Lie's first action was to ask his guards if any urgent news from the border had arrived. His subordinates presented the letter, and Xiao Lie opened it and breathed a sigh of relief.

As he expected, the incident of the granary being accidentally burned down did indeed happen, but the fire was quickly extinguished and there was not that much damage at all. Most of what was reported in the news was fabricated by the emperor.

Xiao Lie breathed a sigh of relief, "Luckily I was quick-witted."

He burned the secret letter and then asked, "During my absence from the manor, has Aunt Liu made any unusual moves?"

The guards exchanged glances, causing Xiao Lie to frown.

"Just say it directly. What's the meaning behind your stammering?"

A guard stepped forward to report, but what he said was not what Xiao Lie thought, about how Liu Yun'er cleverly plotted to plant people and find out the secrets of the Duke's mansion. Instead, he secretly met with the steward outside the mansion, acted arrogantly, and ordered him to give some silver.

"Miss Liu also promised those people that she would speak well of them to the young master in the future, and she would guarantee that they could get even more lucrative jobs."

"What if they don't give you any money?"

"Then Aunt Liu loudly threatened that she was in charge of the Duke's mansion and that dismissing them was just a matter of a word. Once she found a suitable person, all of them would pack their bags and get out."

Another guard added with a wry smile, "With this one operation, Aunt Liu actually made over a thousand taels of silver for nothing."

Xiao Lie was surprised, "It's that valuable?"

If Aunt Liu used this tactic on someone else, he would praise her a bit, but using it on the Duke's mansion is just taking money out of his pocket for nothing.

How could Xiao Lie tolerate this? "What a Liu Yun'er! It's one thing for you to gather intelligence, but to actually try to squeeze money out of our Duke's mansion is simply outrageous!"

Xiao Lie waved his hand, dismissing the guards, and then summoned a servant to Qiutong Courtyard to fetch Liu Yun'er.

When Liu Yun'er was suddenly summoned, she thought that Xiao Lie missed her, so she made a quick effort to dress up, loosening her collar and tightening her waist to make her figure look more graceful.

Upon seeing Xiao Lie, she pounced on him with a weak and boneless gait, calling out in a coquettish voice.

"Your Highness, you've come to see me for several days now. I've missed you so much!"

Xiao Lie gave a cold laugh, "Is it me, or do you want my money?"

Liu Yun'er shuddered and lowered her head to murmur.

"Your Highness... what is Your Highness saying? I don't understand."

"Whether you understand or not, I am naturally innocent. Will you hand over the bribe money now, or will I have someone search for it? But I must say beforehand that if my men find it, you will be publicly punished and given a few lashes."

The thought of being tied to a bench and publicly tortured made Liu Yun'er shudder again, and her watery eyes immediately reflected a thousand grievances.

"Your Highness, I'm tired of living in poverty. I was just momentarily blinded by greed and went astray. Please forgive me this time."

Xiao Lie remained unmoved and firmly insisted on his original statement.

"Your choice is between handing it over yourself or being flogged and having everything confiscated."

Even a fool would know that the former has better conditions.

Helpless, Liu Yun'er had no choice but to go back and reluctantly collect the silver. However, when she brought it to Xiao Lie, he glanced at it and knew that there were only four or five hundred taels of silver, which was far less than the full amount Liu Yun'er had received.

"Ha, you dare to lie and try to fool me right in front of me. It seems you won't give up until you've faced the worst."

However, when Liu Yun'er stopped him, Xiao Lie immediately summoned two groups of servants. One group consisted of young men who went to find the shopkeepers of each store to verify the total amount of bribes they had handed over. The other group consisted of maids and servants, whom Xiao Lie ordered to turn Qiu Tong Courtyard upside down to see if there were any large sums of money of unknown origin.

Seeing this, Liu Yun'er trembled with fear, tears streaming down her face, and hurriedly apologized.

"Your Highness, I know I was wrong."

Liu Yun'er stamped her foot, about to go and get it, but Xiao Lie stopped her. Today, Xiao Lie was determined to teach her a lesson and curb her greed.

Not long after, the two groups of servants returned to report. After comparing the two reports, Xiao Lie returned all the bribe money. He then ordered a maid to hold down Liu Yun'er and beat her severely. Liu Yun'er screamed in pain and hurriedly admitted her mistake.

"Your Highness, I know I was wrong, I truly know I was wrong."

When Liu Yun'er was helped down from the bench, her face was as pale as paper, her back was soaked with sweat, and she shivered from the cold when a breeze passed by. Suddenly, her eyes reddened, and tears welled up but wouldn't fall. She looked so pitiful.

Xiao Lie remained cold and indifferent, ignoring his words.

After all the servants and maids had left, Xiao Lie was about to leave when Liu Yun'er spoke up, unwilling to give up.

"Young Master, the Duke's mansion is vast and powerful. I was merely taking a little silver for fun. Why are you so angry?"

Oh? It seems you still haven't realized your mistake?

Xiao Lie shook his head, "Unrepentant and insatiably greedy. What's the difference between handing over the management of the household to you and handing it over to a greedy thief? Rather than leaving it to you to cause more trouble, I'd rather take it back sooner rather than later."

Liu Yun'er's eyes widened. If she lost her power as the housekeeper, where would she get the money?

Liu Yun'er now truly realized her mistake. She gasped, hurriedly knelt down, grabbed Xiao Lie's clothes, and pleaded desperately, but Xiao Lie remained unmoved.

"Hmph, you should spend these days recuperating and reflecting on your mistakes in Qiutong Courtyard."

Liu Yun'er was filled with remorse and resentment. She felt that the Duke's mansion was too well-informed. She had just made her move when the young master found out. Moreover, she had gone too far.

"Now look what happened, I didn't get any money and I even got beaten up for nothing."

He lost face in front of everyone.

Liu Yun'er was furious and was about to kick the pillar next to her to vent her anger, but she accidentally aggravated her wound, and her face turned pale with pain. She could only leave unwillingly.

When Lin Wan'er heard about this at Xiyuan, she laughed at her, calling her a "fool".

She comes from that shady place, so shallow-minded. She's blinded by a little money and even lost her management position. She's truly... hopeless. If she were in charge...

Xiao Lie, far away in Qingfeng Garden, suddenly sneezed. He rubbed his nose, both surprised and suspicious, wondering if someone was using a trick to harm him.

He racked his brains but couldn't come up with a solution, so he could only instruct his men to be more attentive and report any further clues immediately.

Meanwhile, in the imperial court, the issue of supplies was hotly debated. However, all the officials knew that this matter could not be taken lightly. After some wrangling, they finally reached a solution that was acceptable to all the departments.

"The court saw that the damage to the granaries was not serious and that the situation could be sustained for some time. Therefore, it decided not to procure grain this time, but instead asked the ministers to find ways to procure winter supplies."