My Sister Insisted on Swapping Marriages, and I Became a Marchioness Instead-Chapter 70: Truly Frightening

At this moment, Mrs. Lu could no longer care about saving face.

Nothing is more important than one’s livelihood.

If she loses her job, her family will resent her to death.

Like a hole for a carrot, it’s not easy to secure a position in the household; if she loses her status as housekeeper today, tomorrow she can only be ordered around by others, and her children and grandchildren won’t enjoy any benefits, as the opportunities will go to others.

Having ordered people around for so many years, Mrs. Lu dared not imagine that taste.

Mrs. Lu turned her head to plead with the other housekeepers beside her.

The housekeepers all avoided Mrs. Lu’s gaze, afraid to speak in her defense.

The Marchioness’s move was truly terrifying.

Nobody would have expected; she appeared so tender and delicate like a flower, yet she was so experienced, swift in her actions like thunder.

Even the Sixth Madam, who was in charge for years, couldn’t achieve this.

They had no friendship with Qin Yuan, and were so shocked by this move that they dared not speak, fearing they might be next.

No one’s record was entirely clean.

If this were to be investigated...

Qin Yuan said, "What is this, Cui Ming, help Mrs. Lu up quickly and let her rest on the side."

Cui Ming hurried forward, helping Mrs. Lu up and guiding her to the side, saying softly, "Madam just wants you to clear up the accounts, whenever you have them sorted, come find the Madam."

Mrs. Lu, with trembling lips, said hoarsely, "But as for my position..."

Cui Ming said helplessly, "Jobs don’t wait for anyone, is clearing the accounts really that difficult, Mrs. Lu?"

Mrs. Lu fell silent.

She couldn’t say she couldn’t sort them out.

If she couldn’t, and old accounts were to be inspected, with the Marchioness’s fastidiousness, there would be no way to survive.

The whole family might be driven to the farm.

Mrs. Lu clenched her teeth, trembling as she held onto Cui Ming’s hand, whispering, "Good girl, I know you are respected in front of the Madam, please think of a way for me, I can’t lose my job, my family’s situation is different from others, just ask around and you’ll know."

Cui Ming tried unsuccessfully to pull her hand away, had no choice but to say, "Madam has other tasks to instruct, you can come find me later."

Mrs. Lu gave Cui Ming a grateful look, finally settled down somewhat, and stood aside waiting for Qin Yuan to finish the morning meeting.

But Qin Yuan had more to say once she finished sorting through the issues of the housekeepers.

"Today, several people barged into Wutong Garden one after another; have they forgotten the rules I set?"

Qin Yuan ordered the nanny guarding the door to be brought before her, only asked this question, without listening to their explanations, she said, "You have made mistakes, you must be punished, considering this is the first time, just hit lightly, but if there’s a next time, you won’t be let off."

The nannies begged repeatedly for mercy, but it was to no avail, all pressed onto benches, with Hong Ye overseeing the punishment, were hit with twenty thorns and dared not shout.

Hong Ye scolded at the side, "Madam is the mistress, the rules set by her must be followed, if today you plead for mercy after making a mistake, and tomorrow someone else does the same, if Madam gives in to all, wouldn’t the place fall into chaos?"

Qin Yuan sat quietly on the side with a cold expression.

The housekeepers, seeing this, felt even more afraid.

Mrs. Lu watched, trembling all over, in the scorching weather, cold sweat soaked her back.

Finally, it was over after Qin Yuan dealt with the issues in Wutong Garden, and the nannies were taken away. The housekeepers gathered around Qin Yuan with flattering smiles, saying, "Madam, we know you’re venturing into the pepper business, we all want to join in, we ask Madam to lead us to profit."

Qin Yuan smiled gently.

This smile was like a spring breeze blowing, a peony in bloom.

Everyone was momentarily stupefied.

They felt both affectionate and respectful and fearful of this Madam.

Secretly cursing themselves for being foolish.

Such a beauty can’t be underestimated by them.

The Marquis isn’t blind, how could they think Madam couldn’t compete with someone with the last name Zhao.

Truly blinded by their own folly.

Just heard Qin Yuan lightly say, "If you wish to join in, you can go find Hong Ye, this pepper business is merely an idea I’ve had, I don’t even know where the pepper is yet, and you all want to join, you must understand in business, there’s no guaranteed profit, if the original investment is lost, don’t cry."

"How could that be?"

Everyone laughed obsequiously, "Madam, rest assured, we aren’t inexperienced children, we know all this."

Qin Yuan nodded lightly, "That’s good. Do you have other matters? If not, I will go back to rest, the sun is getting stronger and it’s giving me a headache."

Upon hearing this, everyone felt her icy snowy skin truly a pity to tan in the courtyard.

"Madam, please return, Hong Ye can just inform us."

Only then did Qin Yuan, like a willow in the wind, return to the main room.

Hong Ye remained in the yard, busy giving receipts to the housekeepers, clarifying the items.

Everyone seemed to have agreed, each joining with fifty taels of silver.

After finishing up here, more housekeepers came seeking to join in.

Meeting precisely in one place.

Hong Ye was busy for another while, before settling the accounts, counting, found that every housekeeper in the household joined with fifty taels of silver.

"These people seem to have coordinated," Hong Ye presented the account book to Qin Yuan.

Qin Yuan glanced at it and said, "It’s not surprising."

Hong Ye said, "Surely you won’t say you anticipated this."

Miss was previously intelligent, yet not to the extent now, foreseeing everything.

Could getting engaged and marrying change someone so much?

But Second Miss still has her mental illness, doesn’t she?

Gu Jinghui coughed lightly, holding a scroll from not far away, a heavy hint of threat.

Hong Ye swiftly amended her words, "Did Madam already foresee this?"

Qin Yuan said, "Does it need guessing? They all want to curry favor with me; I had already told them even Manager Leng doesn’t think highly of the pepper business, naturally can only spare a little money."

"Then why exactly fifty taels?"

"You took fifty taels from Gu Shiliu to invest, Mrs. Cai saw and matched it with fifty taels, naturally others followed suit."

Hong Ye laughed, "Turns out this involved me and Gu Shiliu."

Cui Ming returned after settling Mrs. Lu, said, "Madam scared Mrs. Lu greatly, I saw her legs were weak when she left."

Qin Yuan said, "Later, invite Nanny Rong to come to us, just say the Marquis has questions, here in the household I still can’t clear things up, only by asking Nanny Rong can I understand."

After pausing, she added, "Call Xiao Hong too."

Hong Ye asked, "Is the child needed?"

Qin Yuan nodded, "I saw her coax a few of them, seemingly due to being close in age, children get along well, so let her spend more time with those two, also saves the Marquis from worry."

Gu Jinghui put down the book he hadn’t turned a page on for ages, said, "I’m not worried."