What is this ss?
How did he end up as a pauper?
Can you even talk properly?
Lu Lingxiao coldly glared at the servant: "Who stopped it?"
The servant replied sheepishly, "The Eldest Young Madam."
For years, Lu Lingxiao had been stationed in Beiliang at the border and hadn't concerned himself with the household's affairs upon his return. He had naturally assud that the household finances were still managed by his grandmother or mother.
Of course, if ng Qianqian managed them, that wouldn't necessarily be wrong either. After all, his grandmother was advanced in age, and his mother was not suited to labor. As the grandson's wife and son's wife, ng Qianqian sharing so responsibilities was only fitting.
Haitang Courtyard.
ng Qianqian was reading a storybook as Ban Xia listlessly entered through the curtain: "Miss, the master has co."
Disappointnt never erupts suddenly; it accumulates through one incident after another.
When Ban Xia saw the master again, she no longer felt the sa excitent as before.
Lu Lingxiao didn't bother with the servant. As soon as he entered the room, a wave of warmth washed over him.
Outside, the winter chill was biting, but inside, it was as warm as springti. Even the old madam's quarters weren't this cozy.
"Grandmother only uses two braziers, yet you have three. At such a young age, are you really so prone to the cold?"
He sneered and prepared to sit down, only to find all the chairs near ng Qianqian piled with things.
He glanced toward Ban Xia.
Ban Xia turned her head away and left.
Frowning, he had no choice but to sit on an uncomfortable stool.
ng Qianqian ignored him and continued reading her book.
Lu Lingxiao glanced at her, suppressing his annoyance, and said to her, "I know you're angry with , but it's already been a night. Surely the anger should have subsided by now."
ng Qianqian, her focus disrupted, showed a brief flash of cold irritation between her brows.
She placed a bookmark in her book and closed it.
"What do you an by 'a night has passed, so the anger should have subsided'? In my husband's eyes, anything that has happened only requires to play deaf and dumb, resolve it internally, and let it all go without addressing it—is that right?"
Lu Lingxiao didn't want to argue with a young girl: "Yesterday's incident was an oversight on my part."
ng Qianqian replied lightly, "How perfunctory."
Lu Lingxiao seed to have been stung, suddenly standing upright: "ng Clan's daughter! You take advantage of the situation and refuse to let go! It was an accident—I never expected you would co looking for . Couldn't you just find a place to wait out the rain? I'm a grown man, do I need a woman to worry about ?"
ng Qianqian laughed.
How does he have the audacity to say such things?
Neither his secret mistress nor his reckless act of leaving her in the carriage, exposed to the wind and rain, were acknowledged by him—not a single word!
If she had truly found shelter from the rain.
Wouldn't he say, "Weren't you supposed to wait in the carriage? Who asked you to go to the fabric shop? Made waste ti searching for you, even delaying the birthday banquet!"
"If you believe this is my fault, why bother feigning an apology?"
Lu Lingxiao frowned: "Are you done yet? You weren't hurt, were you?"
ng Qianqian said coldly, "Just because I wasn't hurt, I should forgive you? My survival was thanks to my own luck, not because my good husband did anything remarkable! I want to rest now; husband, please leave! Ban Xia, see him out!"
Guest?
He was her husband, the man of this courtyard!
Ban Xia lifted the curtain with a stony expression: "Master! Please leave!"
Lu Lingxiao was genuinely enraged. Being driven out by a re woman—where was his dignity?
He simply plopped down and refused to leave!
Ban Xia urged him, "Master—"
Lu Lingxiao roared, "Get out!"
Nanny Li dragged Ban Xia away.
ng Qianqian sneered: "General Lu sure has an impressive temper!"
Lu Lingxiao rarely lost his temper with won. After venting, he felt a bit regretful. Calming himself, he spoke earnestly:
"ng Clan's daughter, I ca today not to confront you. Grandmother entrusted the household to you because she trusts you. You should embody the role of a matron in charge, not spend the days arguing with Wan'er or using harsh words against your husband. I promised to treat you well, and that promise still stands."
When she heard "in charge of the household," ng Qianqian chuckled: "It seems husband hasn't co to apologize today but rather to ask for silver, has he?"
Lu Lingxiao replied firmly: "These are two separate issues; there's no need to conflate them."
ng Qianqian spoke breezily: "Very well, let's follow husband's words and speak only of silver."
Lu Lingxiao frowned: "That's not what I ant..."
ng Qianqian retrieved an account book: "Husband has been stationed at the border for five years and hasn't sent ho even a single copper coin for household expenses. Surely, you've amassed quite a bit of silver. How about repaying the silver you owe for these years?"
Lu Lingxiao was puzzled: "When did I owe you silver?"
ng Qianqian feigned surprise: "Grandmother didn't tell husband? For years, the estate's expenses have been covered with my dowry, including the massive debts accrued before my marriage, which I settled upon entering the family!"
"You lie!"
"If husband doubts , why not go to the accounting office and verify it yourself?"
ng Qianqian was being tactful. Back then, the Lu Family had even mortgaged their estate. If ng Qianqian hadn't bought it back in ti, the family would have been holess.
"Truthfully, I'm not an unreasonable person. A woman follows her father at ho and her husband outside. Spending silver for my husband is a pleasure to . But my husband, a man of great stature and decorated military achievents, a role model for the army—you surely wouldn't stoop to spending a woman's silver. I don't mind aiding my husband with my dowry, but if it affects his reputation, I couldn't bear the guilt. What does husband think?"
ng Qianqian used the gentlest tone to deliver the sharpest words.
If Lu Lingxiao were any kind of man, he wouldn't abandon this shred of pride.
ng Qianqian sighed lightly: "How about this? I'll secretly cover for my husband! Nanny Li, go fetch the silver and settle Miss Lin's accounts! But don't let anyone know it's from —say it's from husband's own military salary! A man should support his own woman!"
"There's no need!"
Lu Lingxiao's expression turned icy as he stord out, sleeves fluttering!
Nanny Li and Ban Xia finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Monts ago, they had feared the general might lose his temper so completely that he hard their mistress!
"Miss, today you've torn off his veil of dignity completely. But things are unpredictable; a cornered beast may lash out. If you truly anger the master and he divorces you in a fit of rage, what then? If that happens, your dowry will be unrecoverable, and there'll be nothing we can do."
Indeed, dowries belong to the woman, but where in this world is fairness so abundant?
A divorce simply signifies the wife's family couldn't overpower the husband's family; if they could, it would rely be a separation.
Without connections in the Capital City, the mistress stood little chance against the Lu Family.
Ban Xia panicked upon hearing this: "Miss!"
ng Qianqian replied, "No matter."
A man divorcing his wife requires one of the Seven Grounds for Divorce. A divorced woman also has the Three Protections against being sent away.
These include having no natal family to return to, having mourned for the husband's relatives for three years, or having been married during a ti of poverty and entering wealth thereafter.
She had fulfilled the mourning period for both Lu Lingxiao and his grandfather. If Lu Lingxiao wanted to divorce her, it would never happen!
Still, Nanny Li's concerns were valid.
She did need to start planning ahead.
"Nanny, bring all of the account books from the past few years. Let's calculate how much of my dowry remains."
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