Inside the study, sandalwood incense coiled softly through the air, yet the atmosphere was so heavy it felt nearly suffocating.
Lu Ci sat in a spacious red sandalwood chair, his slender fingers tapping idly against the desktop with a rhythmic tap, tap. Every stroke seemed to strike right at the heart.
“An’yi.”
At his cold call, a dark shadow dropped from the roof beam like a ghost, sinking onto one knee. “Your subordinate is here.”
Lu Ci narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze piercing. “Earlier in the main hall, did you hear any… strange sounds?”
Dark One froze, a look of utter confusion washing over his face. “Reporting to the Prince, your subordinate was guarding from the shadows the entire time. Aside from the conversation between the Princess Consort and Liu Quan, I heard no other sound.”
Lu Ci’s fingertips paused.
Nothing?
Even Dark One, with his deep internal energy, couldn’t hear it?
“In the Princess Consort’s heart—cough, did the Princess Consort speak aloud about my health at that time?” As Lu Ci asked this, his earlobes flushed warm once again despite himself.
Dark One grew even more baffled, shaking his head like a rattle. “The Princess Consort was dignified and proper throughout, without a single word out of turn.”
Lu Ci waved his hand. “Dismissed.”
After Dark One vanished, Lu Ci leaned back against his chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
It wasn’t an auditory hallucination, nor was it poison. Could it be… sorcery? Mind reading?
That woman appeared timid and cowardly on the surface, but inside her resided a brazen, mouthy… shrew who spouted wild, unbridled nonsense.
What was even more absurd was that every single thought in her mind actually turned out to be true.
His cousin’s meat buns, Liu Quan’s mistress… every detail was horrifyingly accurate.
“Su Tang…” Lu Ci chewed on the name, a flicker of intrigue flashing in the depths of his eyes. “Just what kind of creature are you?”
At that moment, the “creature” on the Regent’s mind was slumped over a table in the storeroom with zero composure, drooling over a stack of silver banknotes.
“Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten-thousands…”
Su Tang’s hands trembled as she counted the money.
I’m rich! I’m rich! This Liu Quan is practically a money-gifting angel! Searching his house actually yielded a hundred thousand taels of white silver! According to Great Zhou law, as the whistleblower, I get a twenty percent ‘finder’s fee’!
That’s twenty thousand taels! System! In modern terms, that’s tens of millions! I can lie flat and retire right now!
System: “Show a little ambition, Host. This is barely anything. As long as you cling tightly to Lu Ci’s thigh, the entire Great Zhou treasury will be your melon patch in the future.”
Su Tang nodded vigorously. Right, right, right! Lu Ci might be useless as a man, but he’s loaded! He’s the legendary ‘Top Supporter’! For the sake of my retirement fund, I have to treat him like my own father… No, treat him like the God of Wealth and worship him!
Just as the thought crossed her mind, the light at the doorway suddenly dimmed.
A tall, upright figure blocked the sunlight.
Startled, Su Tang hastily shoved the silver banknotes into her sleeve. In an instant, she switched into “dignified Princess Consort” mode, stepping forward to bow. “This servant greets Your Highness.”
Watching her perform this fluid, masterclass face-changing act, Lu Ci’s lips twitched slightly.
Just a moment ago you wanted to call me ‘father’?
Now it’s ‘this servant’?
“What are you doing?” Lu Ci stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over the account books on the table that she hadn’t managed to clear away in time.
Su Tang kept her head lowered, her voice soft and submissive. “Replying to Your Highness, this servant is inventorying the illicit funds embezzled by Liu Quan, preparing to store them in the vault.”
Yet inside her mind, it was an entirely different scene:
What is he looking at? Don’t tell me he changed his mind? Does he want to take back my twenty percent finder’s fee?
No way! Money that enters my pocket is my lifeblood! How can this man be so stingy? Is it because he’s useless down there, so he places extra value on money, wanting to use wealth to compensate for his physical deficiency?
Lu Ci: “…”
He took a deep breath, telling himself to remain calm.
He was the Regent; he couldn’t stoop to arguing with a brain-damaged woman.
Lu Ci stepped into the storeroom, idly picking up a silver ingot to toy with in his hand, asking as if casually, “The Princess Consort achieved a great feat today. What reward do you desire?”
He was testing her.
He wanted to see if this woman truly cared for nothing but money.
Su Tang’s eyes lit up. She was just about to say “cash it out,” but sanity warned her that in front of the boss, she had to act like someone who treated money like dirt.
Thus, she raised her head, looking at Lu Ci with a face full of sincerity. “To share Your Highness’s worries is this servant’s duty. I dare not claim any credit.”
A reward? Really? I’m not picky! Just give me cash! Or maybe two courtyard houses in the capital?
Sigh, forget it. Looking at his kidney-deficient young master look, he probably needs to keep the money to buy medicine. I heard deer antler and tiger penis are super expensive… How about I hold off on taking my twenty thousand taels for now? I can pool it together as a contribution for him to buy some ‘Kidney-Treasure Pills’? After all, what’s good for him is good for everyone.
Crack.
The silver ingot in Lu Ci’s hand was crushed so hard it bore several deep finger impressions.
Kidney-Treasure Pills?
Tiger penis?
Was there nothing in this woman’s brain besides money and his kidneys?!
Lu Ci stepped forward, his tall frame carrying an intense, overpowering presence that shrouded Su Tang in shadow. He leaned down slightly, leaning close to her ear, and gritted his teeth. “Beloved Wife seems… deeply concerned about my body?”
The distance between them was extraordinarily close.
Su Tang could even smell the faint ambergris scent on him, mixed with a chilly, crisp aura that actually smelled remarkably good.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively shrank back.
Woah! This distance… Is this the legendary precursor to a ‘kabedon’?
What a pity. Such a top-tier handsome guy, with a voice so intoxicating and breath so warm, turns out to be all style and no substance… Ah, it really brings tears to whoever hears it. System, do you think I should feed him the ‘Truth Pill’ I just drew? Ask him if he can still be saved?
Lu Ci’s face turned completely black.
Saved?
I am perfectly fine! I don’t need saving!
He was just about to explode and severely punish this woman who didn’t know the height of the heavens or the depth of the earth when a sudden commotion broke out from outside the door.
“Out of the way! This old woman wants to see which vixen dares to target the veteran servants of this household the moment she steps through the door!”
The voice was sharp and harsh, carrying a brazen arrogance that relied on pulling rank.
Lu Ci frowned and straightened his posture.
Su Tang also poked her head out to look.
She saw an old woman clad in a dark purple silk jacket, her hair combed without a single strand out of place, storming aggressively into the courtyard supported by two maidservants. Her face was full of fleshy folds and her eyes were fierce; one look was enough to tell she was a tough customer.
Ding! New melon patch detected.
Gossip Target: Nanny Li (Lu Ci’s wet nurse).
Gossip Report: This old woman is a upbringing nanny bestowed upon Lu Ci by the late Emperor. Relying on the fact that she fed Lu Ci a few mouthfuls of milk, she acts tyrannical in the residence. Liu Quan is her sworn younger brother; the two have been in cahoots for years. Her visit this time is to overturn the case for Liu Quan, and while she’s at it, establish dominance over you, the new Princess Consort!
Su Tang’s eyes lit up in an instant.
Oho! The legendary evil mother-in-law NPC has gone live?
System, hurry up and get the melon seeds ready! This old woman looks like she’s covered in dark secrets. Out of the eighty thousand taels Liu Quan embezzled, at least half probably went into her coffin fund, right?
Looking at Su Tang, who wasn’t the least bit afraid and was instead beaming with excitement, a strange feeling suddenly rose in Lu Ci’s heart.
This woman…
Why did she seem even more eager for someone to cause trouble than he was?
Nanny Li strode into the storeroom. Seeing that Lu Ci was also present, her arrogance restrained slightly, yet she still didn’t curtsy. Instead, she flopped straight onto her knees on the ground and began wailing loudly:
“Your Highness! You must seek justice for this old servant! Liu Quan has worked conscientiously in this residence for over ten years; even if he has no merit, he has credit for his hard work! How could his house be searched just like that? Someone with malicious intent must have whispered pillow talk in Your Highness’s ear!”
With that, she glared venomously at Su Tang, her eyes like a poisonous snake. “Princess Consort, although I am a servant, I can be considered to have watched His Highness grow up. You have just entered the household; this old woman doesn’t blame you for not knowing the rules of the residence. But you cannot use us old bones as targets just to assert your authority!”
This massive label of “disrespecting elders and being venomously cruel” was slapped straight onto Su Tang’s head.
If it were the original owner of this body, she probably would have been scared into kneeling and begging for mercy long ago.
But who was Su Tang?
She was a gossip-enjoying spectator equipped with a system.
Standing behind Lu Ci, far from being angry, Su Tang actually whipped out a handful of melon seeds from her sleeve and cracked one open in her mind with a crisp sound.
Tsk tsk tsk, this acting ability is way better than that green tea cousin. The crying has cadence and rhythm, and she even knows how to morally kidnap someone.
But old woman, did you forget that your own rear end isn’t clean either? I heard you arranged for your foolish son to work in the procurement department, where he embezzled five hundred taels a month just on buying eggs alone?
Lu Ci had originally intended to have the dark guards drag Nanny Li down, but upon hearing this inner thought, his movement paused.
Procurement department?
Five hundred taels on eggs?
Lu Ci’s gaze instantly turned playful.
He turned his head to glance at Su Tang, who was feigning fear on the surface while watching the show internally, the corners of his lips curving slightly upward.
Since the Princess Consort enjoyed watching the show so much, then he… might as well put on a scene with her.