Remarried to a top-tier playboy, her reborn ex-husband is filled with regret.

Gu Jinghuai took a step closer, his eyes as cold as ice.

"Isn't dealing with Fengyunlou enough? You're even interfering with the shop's accounts?"

"You really can't tolerate Yu Yan, and you insist on forcing this young master to despise you?"

Looking at his self-righteous appearance, Yun Shuyao felt that she was too foolish in her past life, why did she adhere to the three obediences and four virtues?

The Marquis's family is taking advantage of her dowry and spending her money, yet they still dare to act like she's "ignorant."

Yun Shuyao raised her head, met his gaze, and said, word by word:

"Gu Jinghuai, everything I did was perfectly justified."

As for marriage?

She laughed, but her laughter carried a chilling undertone.

"Don't even think about it!"

Gu Jinghuai's face instantly turned a deep purplish-red. He pointed at Yun Shuyao, too angry to speak.

"You...you..."

He stammered for a long time, gritting his teeth, before finally managing to utter a single sentence.

"I must apologize to my mother!"

Yun Shuyao ignored him and turned to walk into the mansion.

Behind him, Gu Jinghuai's angry roar came.

"Yun Shuyao, you'd better not regret this!"

She didn't stop walking.

Regret?

What she has no shortage of is regret.

Gu Jinghuai's anger was left unsatisfied, as he faced Yun Shuyao's departing figure once again.

This gave him a vague, extremely bad premonition.

It was as if something had completely deviated from its course and was developing in an unknowable direction.

Zhenguo Duke's Mansion

"Girl, we've finally found you!"

The servant boy, Fu'an, rushed in, sweating profusely, clutching a heavy wooden box tightly in his arms, his trousers still covered in dust.

He traveled to three different prefectures in search of two top-grade and precious medicinal herbs, and his feet were covered in blisters.

Yun Shuyao was tying her hair up in front of the vanity mirror when she heard this and turned around.

The wooden box was opened, and wild ginseng with intact whiskers and a dark yellow color lay in red silk, worth two thousand taels of silver.

There was also a small piece of bezoar next to it. This thing is even rarer. It is said that a butcher might only have a chance to get a piece of bezoar after killing cows for four generations.

These are the main medicines for treating Lady Hou's heart ailment. They are not available on the market at all. Only by sending people to search and inquire everywhere can one possibly buy them.

In her past life, she would have personally wrapped the medicinal herbs, prepared two bolts of brocade, and delivered them to the Marquis's residence, fearing that her mother-in-law would feel slighted.

But now?

She traced the ginseng whiskers with her fingertips, determined to make that old, vicious woman vomit up all the medicine she had taken.

"Spring Peach".

Yun Shuyao called out loudly.

Chun Tao, the personal maid, hurried in:

"Miss, are you going to the Marquis's residence?"

"No!"

Yun Shuyao smiled coldly.

"Wrap these two medicinal herbs up and come with me to Jishetang to sell them for money."

Yun Shuyao casually grabbed a handful of melon seeds and stuffed them into Fu'an's hands.

"This is a reward for you. Go and rest."

Fu'an was stunned.

"Miss, are you no longer delivering the medicinal herbs to the Marquis's residence?"

"I won't see you out."

Yun Shuyao had already stood up, a faint smile playing on her lips as she said:

"I won't be sending them anymore."

Although Chuntao didn't understand, she quickly wrapped up the medicinal herbs.

Yun Shuyao looked at her face in the mirror and thought how wonderful it was to look so vibrant at twenty.

A hint of coldness flashed in his eyes.

In this life, she will no longer go to great lengths or worry for anyone in the Marquis's mansion.

They don't deserve it!

A soup kitchen was set up again in the open space in front of Jishetang.

As soon as the steaming hot white porridge was cooked, the poor and beggars from the neighborhood all gathered around.

The clinking of rough porcelain bowls and the laughter of children mingled together, creating a more festive atmosphere than the Lunar New Year.

Yun Shuyao stood on the steps of the clinic, watching the gray-haired Doctor Mu taking the pulse of a ragged old man.

Seeing her looking over, Doctor Mu stroked his beard and smiled:

"Shu Yao, my clinic has benefited greatly from your care over the years. I thank you on behalf of the poor people."

"Uncle Mu, you're too kind. Once we convert the two medicines we just gave you into cash, we'll use it all to distribute porridge and medicine..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a rude rebuke.

"Get out of my way! You're blocking my way, don't you know that?"

The crowd was suddenly pushed aside. Gu Jinghuai, dressed in a moon-white brocade robe, stood out like an anomaly among the dusty-faced people with his chin slightly raised.

The servant beside him was still shoving the crowd. A little girl holding a bowl of porridge spilled the porridge all over the ground and immediately burst into tears.

"Yun Shuyao!"

Gu Jinghuai spotted the person on the steps at a glance, rushed over quickly, his brows furrowed.

"Why did you sabotage this, causing Doctor Mu to stop seeing patients? What exactly are you up to?"

His voice was cold and harsh, as if he were reprimanding an ignorant servant.

The people around him stopped what they were doing and looked at him timidly.

Everyone knows that this is the heir of the Yong'an Marquis's mansion, and the fiancé of their benefactor.

Yun Shuyao merely lifted her eyelids slightly and coldly retorted.

"Is Young Master Gu here to treat the Lady of the Marquis's illness?"

"Otherwise what?"

Gu Jinghuai took a step closer, his brocade boots almost stepping on the porridge stains on the ground, and he immediately turned away in disgust.

"My mother suffered a heart attack last night, and that's when I learned of what you've done."

"No matter what your grievances are, you shouldn't risk your elders' lives. How can you be worthy of being my fiancée with such a reckless attitude?"

"If you think I'm not good enough for you, Your Highness, then hurry up and break off the engagement!"

Yun Shuyao's gaze was calm yet sharp.

"But before you pin charges on your mother, shouldn't you first find out who has been supplying her with medicine for the past five years?"

Gu Jinghuai was taken aback, then frowned and replied:

"Naturally, it's the Marquis's residence..."

"The Marquis's residence?"

Yun Shuyao turned to Doctor Mu, her tone respectful.

"Uncle Mu, please tell Young Master Gu, has the Marquis's mansion paid a single tael of silver for the medical expenses and medicines incurred for the Lady of the Marquis over the past five years?"

Doctor Mu withdrew his hand from taking Gu Jinghuai's pulse, his eyes now sharp.

"Young Master Gu, I have been treating the Lady of the Marquis for five years. Not to mention the consultation fees, even the medicines have been handled entirely by the girl Shu Yao."

Last month, Lady Hou's heart ailment relapsed severely. That Dendrobium officinale was something her maid had to ask someone to find for her in Jiangnan; the round-trip travel expenses alone cost fifty taels of silver.

Gu Jinghuai's face instantly turned red:

"Nonsense! My mother, the dignified mistress of a marquis's mansion, how could she possibly..."

"Is that impossible?"

Yun Shuyao interrupted him, her voice clear and bright.

"Every time you ask, does she just say that someone else is taking care of it?"

But they never mentioned where the expensive medicinal herbs she consumed came from.

As soon as Yun Shuyao saw Gu Jinghuai's reaction, she knew she had guessed correctly.

This was how it was in her past life; her contributions were often deliberately concealed by the Lady of the Marquis.

Even if Su Yuyan bought a needle for her aunt, it would be publicized by the Marquis's wife and known to everyone.

Yun Shuyao took a step forward, her voice echoing throughout the alley.

"Gu Jinghuai, your mother took my medicine and used my connections to get Dr. Mu to see her."

Five whole years! Now I don't want to support you anymore, and you're questioning me? Has your Marquis's mansion become addicted to taking advantage of others?

An uproar erupted in the crowd.

"My goodness, the Marquis's mansion even requires the future daughter-in-law to pay for the medicine?"

"This young master looks respectable, how can he be so shameless?"

"Hey, look at him, so self-righteous! Anyone who doesn't know the story would think our benefactor owes him something!"

Gu Jinghuai's face turned pale and then red as he was scolded. He pointed at Yun Shuyao, his hand trembling.

"You...you're the one who practically threw yourself at me to curry favor with this young master!"

"Our esteemed Yong'an Marquis's Mansion, a family with a century-long history, how could we possibly be short of money for medical treatment?"

"Paying out of pocket?"

Yun Shuyao laughed; she was not surprised at all by such ungrateful words.

"Fine, since Young Master Gu says I'm paying extra, then the Marquis's mansion will reimburse me in full for all the medicine and medical fees I've paid over the years, shall we?"

"Fine, I'll pay it back!"

Gu Jinghuai blurted it out, then scoffed coldly:

"It's just a small amount of money; my Marquis's mansion doesn't even consider it a concern!"

After listening for a while, Doctor Mu's face also showed some anger.

He turned around and took out a blue cloth account book from the clinic, spreading it out in front of everyone.

Then he read it aloud to the people around him.

"Lady Hou suffers from a congenital heart disease, and the basic maintenance medication alone requires six or seven hundred taels of silver per month."

Over five years, that amounted to 40,000 taels of silver.

Moreover, Lady Hou was in poor health and needed to gather precious medicinal herbs to nourish her.

In the first year, Lady Hou's condition frequently relapsed, requiring the use of "Fritillaria cirrhosa" and "Bird's Nest," which cost an extra 120 taels of silver per month.

In the third year, the lady's condition improved, but she was still weak and prone to illness, so they started adding "deer antler" and "angelica" to her diet, which cost an extra three hundred taels of silver per month.

After the attack last winter, the condition deteriorated rapidly, and wild ginseng and bezoar were added to the medicine again.

These two herbs alone cost five thousand taels…

Doctor Mu read each word carefully, his voice low but each word clear.

The surrounding people were increasingly astonished as they listened, and some couldn't help but gasp in disbelief.

"My goodness, in the last five years, they've spent a mountain of gold?"

"What illness does Lady Hou have? She's not taking medicine, she's practically throwing money away!"

Doctor Mu closed the booklet and looked at Gu Jinghuai.

"The cost of five years' worth of medicine, plus my consultation fee, totals 72,000 taels of silver. Young Master Gu, please settle the bill."

Gu Jinghuai's face turned completely pale.

More than 70,000 taels? His monthly allowance in the Marquis's mansion is only 15 taels of silver. How can he possibly repay that?