After this, Qinglian reacted the same way. She even recognized the box—it had been one she handled yesterday when organizing the Fifth Young Master’s belongings. She had been wondering why it was so heavy, but since she hadn’t opened it privately, she had no idea it was actually filled with silver notes, gold, and jewelry.
This… this was too much. Even more than what the Prince had sent!
Qiao Rongjin looked at her son with a complicated expression.
What does it feel like when your son is richer than his mother?
“Mm, it’s for Mother,” Qi You nodded again. In any case, he had no use for money. If he needed anything in the future, he could just ask his mother for it.
This… was really hard to refuse!
A conflicted expression appeared on Qiao Rongjin’s face, but only for a moment before she accepted it quite naturally, convincing herself that she would “keep it for his future wife.”
“Alright then, Mother will keep it for you first—this will be for your future marriage fund!” she said with a kindly, motherly smile.
Unexpectedly, Qi You shook his head. “It’s for Mother. I’m not getting married.”
In his past life, he had always been alone. He never married, never had children, nor any concubines—even though he was an emperor.
During his time as a prince, his father and the Empress had tried several times to interfere with his marriage, but none of it succeeded. In the end, they simply gave up.
When he learned he was terminally ill, he only adopted a suitable royal clan child early to groom as an heir. When he died, he was still mourned by all under heaven and paid respects by the court. Though his life had been lonely, it was without regret.
In this life, if he did not meet someone he wanted to marry, he did not intend to take a wife or have children. He was not someone willing to settle. He only wanted to stay by his mother’s side and accompany her through this life peacefully.
Hearing this, Qiao Rongjin widened her eyes.
Her four-and-a-half-year-old son was talking about not marrying—did he even understand what marriage meant?
She asked him that directly, even the silver in her hand suddenly losing its appeal.
“Of course I do,” Qi You said seriously, looking straight at her. “It means someone you live with in the future and rely on each other.”
Qiao Rongjin: …Well, that wasn’t wrong.
“Forget it, you’re still small. When you grow up and meet a girl you like, you’ll naturally want to marry her. But if you don’t meet someone you like, then it’s fine not to marry. You still have Mother—you won’t be lonely.”
Even Qi You was slightly surprised.
He hadn’t expected his mother to be so open-minded.
“Alright, then it’s settled. Mother will keep the silver for you. Let’s go eat—we’re all hungry.”
With that, she pulled him toward the dining table.
“Okay,” Qi You replied softly.
Qinglian had already eaten and was now carefully recording everything in an account book—clearly noting who had sent what. As for the Prince’s silver, she directly added it into her mistress’s private treasury. When she finished counting the Fifth Young Master’s box, she was shocked again: over 23,250 taels of silver in total, not including jade pendants and jewelry.
Who would’ve thought the young master was secretly so wealthy?
“Miss, the Fifth Young Master’s box contains a total of 23,250 taels of silver. I didn’t even include the jade pieces and ornaments,” Qinglian reported.
Qiao Rongjin looked at Qi You in surprise. “Son, where did all this money come from?”
Although the original host had neglected him, she still gave him some money—just less than a third of this amount. So where did the rest come from? Could it be the Prince?
Qinglian also pricked up her ears to listen.
Qi You swallowed his medicinal porridge calmly and replied, “It was all sent by Father through Eunuch Wang.”
Hearing this, Qiao Rongjin’s impression of the Prince improved slightly.
Well, at least he acknowledged his children. No matter how much he favored Consort Chen and the legitimate wife’s son, he still remembered to care about the other children.
“Not bad,” she said. “At least he knows this is his son and gives him money.”
In the book, the Prince valued three sons the most.
The first was the legitimate heir born of the Princess Consort—Qi Shao—whom he groomed as his successor and later appointed Crown Prince after ascending the throne.
The second and third were the sons born of Consort Chen, who received most of his limited paternal affection.
She had originally thought he completely ignored his other children, but it seemed he still showed some concern. It just wasn’t mentioned in the original story.
Qi You, however, did not react. It didn’t matter to him.
After the meal, Qiao Rongjin gathered all the servants in the courtyard, including the new group sent by the Princess Consort.
“Mother has something to do now. Baby, if you’re bored, go play by yourself.”
Qi You shook his head and obediently sat on a small stool. “I’ll stay here and play. I won’t disturb Mother.”
Seeing this, she let him be.
There were originally only two maids in Haitang Courtyard—Qinglian and Zhuyun. With the four new arrivals from the Princess Consort, that made six in total.
It was a bit too many for her liking. She didn’t like crowded spaces.
But when she saw the nanny, she suddenly thought of the old woman who used to take care of her son.
She turned to Qi You. “Son, what do you think of the old nanny who used to care for you?”
If she was decent, she would ask the Princess Consort to transfer her over. If not, she would forget it. After all, this newly sent Nanny Qiu was likely planted by the Princess Consort.
As for the other three maids, they were probably also arranged by different factions. Being watched like this never felt good.
Qi You lowered his gaze as he recalled.
That old nanny…?
He remembered she was lame, with a kind face and seemingly very honest.
But when he cried and didn’t behave, she would punish him by not letting him eat. When he accidentally wet the bed at night, she would prick her own arm with needles. If he disobeyed, he would be forced to stand with a basin above his head for at least half an hour. If water spilled, he would be beaten harshly.
Yet she was very skilled—so skilled that she left no visible wounds, only unbearable pain. She even knew basic medicine, so she could treat him afterward, erasing traces. That was why no one ever discovered anything.
Thinking of this, a faint murderous intent flickered in Qi You’s eyes before he quickly concealed it.
As for why she never took his money—it was because she believed everything in his possession was hers anyway. She would regularly count it by candlelight, terrified of losing even a single coin. Even the servants didn’t know where the money was kept.
Until the day he fell critically ill with a fever, and she and the servants were all arrested—everything finally ended.
In his previous life, he had personally subjected her to a thousand cuts.
A true thousand cuts.
Even those accomplice maids were fed to wild dogs alive.
That was the “gift” ten-year-old Qi You had given them after years of serving him.
After a long silence, seeing that her son did not answer, Qiao Rongjin turned to look at him—just in time to see him smiling softly at her.
“The nanny was quite good,” he said gently. “It’s just… I don’t know if I’ll ever see her again.”
His voice sounded regretful, but the strange darkness in his eyes was deeply hidden.
In his past life, he had been able to kill her.
In this life… how could he let her live freely?
Of course she had to return to his side—so he could slowly, patiently torment her.
But he couldn’t let his mother notice.
Otherwise, she would be frightened.