Rebirth: The Aloof Prince Falls for Me

Auntie Liu looked as if she had been pricked by a needle and withdrew her hand, laughing, "Where have you heard such nonsense, child? How could I, an aunt, get ahold of such things? Besides, I've heard that your rotten mountain cost several hundred taels of silver. Even your second and third elder sisters combined don't have as much money as you."

Zuo Xiangning held out four fingers, boasting somewhat proudly, "Yes, it cost four hundred taels of silver."

"Four hundred taels for a broken mountain? It doesn't yield a penny all year round, and you even have to keep pouring money into it." Upon hearing about the four hundred taels, Auntie Liu felt the sting as if it were her own money, almost amounting to two years of earnings from her silk fabric shop. She urged anxiously, "You'd better sell that mountain right away, then give me the silver. I guarantee I can make you thirty taels in a year."

Zuo Xiangning nearly let out a cold laugh. Did Auntie Liu still take her for a five-year-old child?

"That's right, if you hadn't mentioned it, auntie, I would have nearly forgotten. Over the years, I've gradually kept around two to three hundred taels at your place, haven't I? I need the silver urgently now, so you must return it to me in the next couple of days," Zuo Xiangning said with a distressed expression.

Auntie Liu looked at Zuo Xiangning and laughed awkwardly, "I've bought you quite a few things over the years; where would there be any silver left?"

Auntie Liu wasn't saying that at the beginning. Moreover, those things you bought, Pan Cui has been keeping them well. I reckon it doesn't even come up to ten taels of silver," Zuo Xiangning said with her eyes reddening, asking pitifully, "Auntie, you didn't use all my monthly silver for elder sister's dowry, did you?"

Pan Xia supported Zuo Xiangning's arm from the side and timely added, "Many people were there when you asked Auntie Liu to help you keep the silver."

Auntie Liu was so angry her heart ached.

Initially, to gain a reputation for herself, she couldn't wait for everyone to know how close Zuo Xiangning was to her. Who would have thought it would become a pit she dug for herself?

If it got out that Zuo Xiangyun's dowry was actually her sister's monthly silver, not to mention Zuo Xiangyun being shamefaced, Old Madam Zuo herself would skin her alive.

"Look at you, child; could I, your auntie, possibly covet your silver?" Auntie Liu hurriedly steered the conversation back on track, "I haven't touched a single cent of your silver; it's all saved for you. I'll have someone send it to you later."

"Auntie, you don't need to give any extra, three hundred taels will be enough." The sorrow on Zuo Xiangning's face vanished instantly, and she said with a beaming smile, "The mountain I bought has hot springs. After the residence is built, I'll invite you to stay for a couple of days. Why don't you buy one for my third sister as well?"

"Your third sister doesn't have that spare money." Auntie Liu originally wanted to deceive Zuo Xiangning out of some silver, but now, to her irritation, she had to cough up three hundred taels instead.

Zuo Xiangning watched Auntie Liu walk away with a swaying behind and, towards her retreating figure, spit softly.

This woman was shameless to the extreme. Since Zuo Xiangning could remember, Auntie Liu and Zuo Xiangyu had never stopped cheating her out of things. Now, she was going to make them spit out everything they had taken, bit by bit!

In the evening, Zuo Xiangning went to Fanghua Courtyard.

Upon entering the courtyard and seeing the doors tightly shut, Lv Ping and Zixia were standing in the corridor outside the door.

Lv Ping saw Zuo Xiangning first and called out crisply, "Fourth Miss is here," before coming down the steps to greet Zuo Xiangning.

Zuo Xiangning saw Zixia walking to the door and gently knocking on it twice.

Zuo Xiangning knew it was not convenient for her to just walk in.

She paused and stood waiting in the middle of the courtyard.

Nanny Cai opened the door from inside the room and Zixia lifted the door curtain, smiling at Zuo Xiangning, "Madam is waiting in the room for you."

Zuo Xiangning walked into the house with a smile while Pan Xia was pulled aside by Zixia and left outside, then the door was gently closed.

Nanny Cai assisted Zuo Xiangning into the inner room, where they saw Madame Jiang leaning against the bedhead with a pale face.

"Mother, what has happened to you?" Zuo Xiangning sat by the bed, concerned as she looked at Madame Jiang's distressed face, "Are you feeling unwell? Have you called the doctor?"

"It's nothing; I just feel a bit choked up in my chest." Madame Jiang gently thumped her chest twice, whispering, "Nanny Cai went out today to check the accounts with her nephew Ming Wang all day. Guess what?"

"The accounts don't add up?" Zuo Xiangning had anticipated as much.

"Exactly," Madame Jiang said, angered, "The person I trusted the most was playing tricks on the books! If not for Ming Wang's attention to detail, it would have been completely undetectable!"

Zuo Xiangning tucked a pillow behind Madame Jiang and asked in a low voice, "So what do you plan to do now?"

"I've been racking my brains with Nanny Cai and still haven't come up with a good solution," Madame Jiang said with a headache. "My dowry includes many properties that your father and Old Madam Zuo don't know about. If I suddenly dismiss the steward now, who knows what he might do. Besides, he has embezzled so much of my silver over the years, I can't just let him get away with it!"

Zuo Xiangning looked at Nanny Cai and asked, "I remember Ming Wang has only been the accountant for a year, right? How is he doing now? Can he handle things on his own?"

"Miss, please just call him Ming Wang, don't say 'big brother.' It would be inappropriate if others heard that," Nanny Cai reminded her in a low voice.

"Nanny Cai is right, just call him Ming Wang," Madame Jiang recounted, "Both Ming Wang and his brother Ming Liang are sharp. The year before last, I placed them in two shops under my name. I was planning to have Ming Liang take over as the shopkeeper next spring and have Ming Wang come to the residence to help with steward duties."

Zuo Xiangning thought for a moment and said, "How about this? You can say that Ming Wang and Ming Liang are being prepared for me, let him learn the ropes with the steward first. Meanwhile, find someone else to buy a batch of maids and old women for Nanny Cai and Zixia to manage. Gradually push out the steward's people from the house, and once the management has mostly been replaced, then deal with the steward."

Madame Jiang's expression relaxed, "Right, the steward also knows about the companion household I found for you and the fact that I'm building a house for you. Even if I find two more people to manage affairs, he wouldn't find it strange."

Nanny Cai smiled and said, "Our Fourth Miss has grown up, she thinks things through thoroughly."

Madame Jiang sat up from the bed and threw off the quilt, her spirit invigorated as she said, "Get someone to serve the meal. I need to eat well so I have the energy to fight them to the end!"

"We have my older brother and older sister to back us up, who are we afraid of?" Zuo Xiangning said with a smile as she helped Madame Jiang dress.

What she feared the most was that Madame Jiang would become passive and dispirited without putting up a fight.

"It just irritates me to think about it, that he's been deceiving me right under my nose, and they must be laughing at me behind my back!" Madame Jiang said bitterly, "Just wait until I've sorted out the people in the residence, I'll make sure to upend her little stash of private wealth!"

"Exactly! Let's see what she'll use to win people over, prancing around with her makeup every day and infuriating people!" Zuo Xiangning hissed with shared animosity.

Madame Jiang smiled and touched her hair, "You child!"

After finishing her meal with Madame Jiang, Zuo Xiangning quietly asked Nanny Cai, who was seeing her out of Fanghua Courtyard, "Why haven't I seen Father these past few days?"

"Master left the capital for Yangzhou yesterday, and he won't be back for another two months," Nanny Cai informed her in a low voice. "The timing was just right."

Zuo Xiangning returned to Xianglan Residence, took a bath, and lay down on the soft bed. Suddenly, she thought about the way Gu Zhiqing had looked at her today.

That chilling sensation made her shiver just thinking about it.

She cursed herself for being so weak, how could she become so frightened just by seeing him?

In her past life, she had dared to kill him, so what was there to fear in this life?

Once the mansion was built and the gold mine was profitable, she resolved to prepare more manpower to avoid feeling restrained in her actions.

She would also place a few highly skilled martial artists around her, so the next time she saw Gu Zhiqing alone, she could beat him to a pulp, or perhaps just kill him outright to avoid future troubles.

Zuo Xiangning's thoughts were in disarray as she drifted into a confused sleep.

In the middle of the night, she suddenly heard a "clatter" at the north window of the outer room.

She hastily opened her eyes and sat up, straining her ears to listen.

Everything outside was dead quiet, not a sound to be heard.

Thinking she had heard wrong, she was about to lie down when she noticed an extra shadow outside the mosquito net.

Zuo Xiangning was so scared she almost screamed out loud.

It was Gu Zhiqing coming to capture her!