The administrative expenditures at the Regent’s Manor were shockingly luxurious.
Crystal shrimp dumplings, crab-roe soup dumplings, bird’s nest porridge, green stalk rice… an entire table was overflowing with food.
Su Tang sat across from Lu Ci. Although she tried her best to maintain her composure as the Princess Consort, her chopsticks were moving so fast they almost left afterimages.
[Wooo, this is way too delicious! The broth inside this crab-roe dumpling is heavenly! And these shrimp dumplings are so bouncy and smooth—it’s practically pure bliss! It’s ten thousand times better than the pre-packaged meals I ate back in modern times!]
[Does Lu Ci usually eat this well every day? Accursed capitalist! But looking at that lifeless face of his, eating a meal like he’s at a funeral—what a waste of good food.]
Lu Ci held his ivory chopsticks (a brand-new pair just brought out) and looked at the woman across from him whose cheeks were stuffed full like a hamster. The corners of his mouth couldn’t help twitching.
Was this woman the reincarnation of a starved ghost?
And who was eating like they were at a funeral? This Regent was merely following the rule of silence during meals!
Lu Ci picked up a slice of bamboo shoot and placed it in his mouth, swallowing it almost without chewing. For some reason, listening to Su Tang’s heartfelt praises, he actually felt that this usually mundane breakfast didn’t taste so bad today.
“Your Highness, why aren’t you eating this?” Seeing Lu Ci only reaching for the vegetable dishes, Su Tang couldn’t help playing the “virtuous wife” and served a piece of braised pork into his bowl. “This meat is rich without being greasy; it’s quite delicious.”
[Eat more meat, big guy! You’re already weak; shouldn’t you nourish yourself? Can you build muscle just by eating grass? I bet your eight-pack abs are shrinking from hunger. What if they don’t feel good to touch later?]
Lu Ci’s hand trembled as he picked up the piece of braised pork, causing it to plop right back into the bowl.
Touch?!
What kind of outrageous thoughts were filling this woman’s head?!
He took a deep breath, pushed aside the piece of braised pork “defiled” by Su Tang, and said coldly, “This Regent dislikes greasy food.”
Su Tang immediately put on a terrified expression: “This servant was careless in her thoughts.”
[Che, so picky! You should be grateful there’s food at all, yet you’re still choosing. Dislike greasy food? Why don’t you just become a monk then? Oh right, you practically are a monk, being a living eunuch who has the heart but not the power.]
Lu Ci: “…”
He suddenly felt a slight ache in his stomach.
Just as this meal was about to escalate into the tragedy of “the Regent murdering his wife on the spot,” rapid footsteps sounded from outside the door.
“Your Highness, Lady Su.”
A middle-aged man with a goat beard and shrewd eyes walked in. He carried a thick stack of account books in his arms. Though he was bowed low, his triangular eyes betrayed a sense of arrogance.
This was the manor’s chief steward, Liu Quan.
Liu Quan had been at the manor for over a decade. Relying on his seniority, even the unfavored side consorts had to walk on eggshells around him. Today, he had specifically come to “teach the rules” to the new bride.
“Since Lady Su has entered the manor, the authority over household management should naturally be handed over to you.” Liu Quan placed the account books in front of Su Tang with a half-smile, his tone carrying a trace of provocation. “However, our manor is vast and our accounts are complex. I wonder if Lady Su can understand them? If there is anything you do not understand, feel free to ask this old servant.”
While his words sounded pleasant, he was taking advantage of Su Tang being newly wed to freeze her out with a pile of messy, corrupted accounts.
Lu Ci remained silent, merely taking a sip from his teacup while watching Su Tang with an amused glint in his eyes.
He wanted to see if this woman, whose head was filled with nonsense, had what it took to handle this hot potato.
Su Tang blinked as she looked at the stack of account books piled higher than her head.
[Ding! Gossip System Quest Issued: Rectify the insolent servants of the Regent’s Manor.]
[Target Detected: Steward Liu Quan.]
[Gossip Report: This old fellow has quite the nerve! Taking advantage of Lu Ci not meddling in the inner court affairs, he has embezzled a whopping eighty thousand taels of silver over the past few years! He even set up a mistress twenty years younger than him in Jinyu Alley west of the city. That mistress was formerly a top courtesan from a brothel, and she bore him a chubby baby boy—except the child isn’t his at all, but belongs to Blacksmith Wang next door!]
Pfft!
Su Tang almost spat out the mouthful of soup she had just swallowed.
[Hahahahaha! This gossip is top-tier! This is absolutely wild! Embezzling public funds to raise someone else’s son? Isn’t he the legendary “cuckold hero”? This old fellow looks so shrewd, who knew he was just a clueless stepdad!]
Lu Ci was in the middle of drinking his tea, and upon hearing these inner thoughts, he almost dropped his teacup.
Embezzled eighty thousand taels?
Kept a mistress?
And the kid wasn’t even his?
This Liu Quan usually put on such a loyal and dedicated act in front of him, yet behind his back, he was playing such a wild game?
Lu Ci’s gaze instantly turned icy cold as he looked at Liu Quan as if he were looking at a dead man.
Liu Quan had yet to realize the impending danger. Seeing Su Tang remain silent for a long time, he assumed she was intimidated, which made him even more smug: “If Lady Su finds it overwhelming, perhaps it would be better to let this old servant continue managing it on your behalf. You would only need to inspect the summary accounts daily…”
“No need.”
Su Tang wiped her mouth unhurriedly and casually flipped open the topmost account book.
She couldn’t actually read these traditional vertical-text account books from ancient times, but that didn’t stop her from having a system!
“Steward Liu,” Su Tang looked at him with a half-smile. “These accounts are prepared quite neatly. However, how does this servant recall that only ten catties of bird’s nest were purchased last month, yet fifty catties are recorded here? Did the remaining forty catties get eaten by mice?”
Liu Quan’s heart skipped a beat. How could this new bride spot a flaw with just a casual flip?
However, he reacted quickly and immediately bowed: “Lady Su may not know, but those forty catties were kept as reserve stock. The storeroom has records of it all. If Lady Su does not believe it, you may send someone to verify.”
He had long prepared the falsified records and wasn’t afraid of an audit at all.
Su Tang was in no rush and turned another page: “Oh? Is that three-entrance courtyard mansion in Jinyu Alley west of the city also kept as reserve stock for the storeroom?”
Boom!
Those words hit Liu Quan like a bolt from the blue, completely stunning him.
He snapped his head up and stared fixedly at Su Tang, all color draining from his face: “What… what is Lady Su talking about? This old servant does not understand.”
The mistress in Jinyu Alley was his best-kept secret—even his own wife didn’t know! How could this new bride, who had only entered the manor a day ago, possibly know about it?!
Su Tang closed the account book with a brighter smile, though her voice carried a touch of mockery: “It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand. This servant also heard that a lovely Miss Liu resides in that mansion, and she even bore Steward Liu a chubby baby boy? Tsk tsk, Steward Liu is truly hale and hearty for his age.”
Liu Quan’s legs began to tremble uncontrollably, cold sweat instantly soaking his back.
It was over.
It was all over.
“What? Steward Liu isn’t going to explain?” Lu Ci, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke up.
He set down his teacup. The sharp clatter of porcelain against the table sounded exceptionally piercing, as if striking directly against Liu Quan’s heart.
“Your Highness, spare me! Your Highness, spare my life!” Liu Quan fell to his knees with a heavy thud, frantic head-bows slamming against the floor. “This old servant is wrongly accused! This is all Lady Su… no, these are all rumors! This old servant is utterly loyal to Your Highness, without a single treacherous thought!”
“Loyal?” Lu Ci let out a cold sneer, his Phoenix eyes filled with murderous intent. “Loyal enough to use my silver to raise someone else’s son?”
Liu Quan froze entirely, staring at Lu Ci in utter disbelief.
Even His Highness knew?!
Su Tang added fuel to the fire at the perfect moment: [Ah, why did His Highness blurt out the truth? That’s so damaging to his self-esteem. But this old fellow really is pitiful—working so hard to embezzle money only to raise Blacksmith Wang’s son. Does this count as ‘even though I embezzled, I’m also a victim’?]
Lu Ci: “…”
He really didn’t want to laugh.
Truly.
But as a professionally trained Regent, he was genuinely struggling to hold it in right now.
“Guards,” Lu Ci suppressed the twitch at the corner of his mouth and barked coldly.
Two secret guards dressed in black appeared in the hall like ghosts.
“Go to Jinyu Alley, bring the woman and the child here. Seize all assets under Liu Quan’s name and audit the accounts.” Lu Ci stood up, looking down at the limp, terrified Liu Quan. “If a single tael of silver is missing, I will skin you alive.”
Liu Quan’s eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.
Watching Liu Quan being dragged away like a dead dog, Su Tang gave Lu Ci a thumbs-up in her mind:
[So cool! Now that’s the aura a villain boss should have! Crisp, decisive, and ruthless! Not only did he help me handle the insolent servant, but he also established my authority. Even if he can’t perform, he’s really capable!]
Lu Ci’s foot, which had just stepped over the threshold, nearly tripped.
He paused, turning back to give Su Tang a deep look.
That gaze was immensely complex—three parts embarrassed annoyance, three parts inquiry, and four parts… indulgence that even he hadn’t noticed himself.
“From now on, you have the final say over the manor’s household affairs.”
Leaving those words behind, Lu Ci strode away with a dark face.
Watching his retreating back as he practically fled the scene, Su Tang happily struck a victory pose in her heart: [Done! Not only did I secure financial control, but I also clung to the big boss’s thigh! System, I’m one step closer to my dream of becoming a billionaire! Extra chicken leg tonight!]
[System: Congratulations, Host, on completing the quest! Reward: One ‘Lying Detection Truth Pill’. The next gossip will be even bigger~]