Chapter 192 Vying for Money
Inside the main room, the three maids were about to burst into laughter.
“Master is so clever. On the surface, she relinquished the power to manage the household.”
“However, she still has the most important treasure under her control.”
“The private coffer belongs to Master.”
“Even the Prince has no right to ask for it, let alone Jiang Ruqin.”
“Jiang Ruqin is just an a.s.s in a lion’s skin.”
“Sister-in-law, don’t feign ignorance. I mean the key to your private coffer. Please give it to me and save me the time.”
Jiang Ruqin spoke coldly. Meanwhile, the servants’ laughter became louder.
Inside the room, Lin Mengya lazily lay on the bed. She yawned and responded.
“Private coffer? It is my dowry out there. I didn’t know that you could manage my dowry. Cousin, stop dreaming.”
Jiang Ruqin had no way to go on. It couldn’t be helped. She would become a laughing stock among those people if she insisted on asking for the key.
However, she couldn’t reconcile herself with this.
“Now that you married Prince Yu, your dowry belongs to Prince Yu. Thus, I have the right to manage it.”
“Is that so? Well then, tell the Prince to ask for it himself. If he refuses, no one has the right to take it away.”
Lin Mengya replied calmly. “Want my dowry?”
“No way!”
“You—you’d better not leave!”
This drove Jiang Ruqin mad. She didn’t care about the key to her private coffer at all now. Jiang Ruqin turned to ask Long Tianhao for help in a huff.
“They are all gone. No one is outside now.”
Baizhi leaned against the door and peeked outside, speaking excitedly.
“They should have gone earlier. She really thinks she is the master. How over-confident she is!”
Baishao sneered.
“Baishao, you’d better open the coffer and give them their salary as usual.”
Lin Mengya didn’t want to be behind on payment. Jiang Ruqin was wrong, but this had nothing to do with the servants.
They had done this just due to the master’s orders. Besides, even though Lin Mengya was not the governor now, those servants still respected her. Why?
It was all because of the money.
“Okay, I’ll do it now.”
Baisu had actually gotten the money already. Without Jiang Ruqin’s disturbance, she might have given it by now.
Lin Mengya leaned on the couch. She rarely could enjoy a few cozy days.
The Princess should read a book or vent her anger on others in her daily life.
“Cousin, I was targeted by Cousin-In-Law. She refused to give me the key to her private coffer. Aunt told me to manage the household. It was not my idea!”
Inside the study, Jiang Ruqin cried softly.
One could hear her crying,
but her tears were not visible at all after a while.
“It’s none of my business.”
Long Tianhao frowned without looking at his cousin.
After what had happened last time, he detested the woman before him.
If it had not been for his remaining affection for her, he would have shouted at her.
He had never imagined that Concubine De would dare let her govern the family.
If Lin Mengya hadn’t told him about it, he would have taken back the power to manage the household.
However, Jiang Ruqin, who had taken over this power that did not belong to her, had come to complain to him now.
“Cousin, I’m doing it for your own good. Think about it. The first day Cousin-In-Law was the Master, so many accidents happened in our house. Aunt issued this order for your own good.”
Long Tianhao was clear about that. So many accidents had taken place because someone always wanted to murder him.
In fact, Lin Mengya was the one that he had gotten into trouble.
He knitted his eyebrows more tightly. He hated hearing someone speak ill of Lin Mengya.
“She claims that what’s in her private coffer is her dowry. How ridiculous she is! Isn’t her dowry your property?”
Jiang Ruqin thought her words would make her cousin frown.
Thus, she immediately started exaggerating.
Long Tianhao eventually lifted his head up and threw a cold look at her.
“Her dowry belongs to her, not to me.”
Jiang Ruqin’s face turned pale with anger. “Why? How could cousin stand by her side as well!”
“How am I worse than Lin Mengya? Why? Why does everyone prefer Lin Mengya?”
“Cousin, are you obsessed with that woman? I am your cousin. You and I are family!”
Jiang Ruqin didn’t care about anything else as she yelled in a questioning tone.
Long Tianhao glared at her in disgust.
He was bold and frank.
“She is my wife and the Princess. You shall respect her.”
Jiang Ruqin stood still in astonishment. “What is going on now?”
“Cousin has never harbored special affection for any woman ever since he was young.”
Aunt always took Jiang Ruqin with her, so he and she had naturally become close.
“I didn’t expect that he would really stick up for Lin Mengya in my presence!”
Jealousy was close to burning her sensible mind out.
Why? Why did Long Tianhao, whom she had always adored, have a crush on someone else?
“Don’t you know that Lin Mengya will bring disaster to everyone close to her, including her husband and her father? Sooner or later, you will die for her!”
Jiang Ruqin lost her head completely and shouted at Long Tianhao.
His cold look froze her anger instantly.
At the moment, she could sense the disgust in Long Tianhao’s eyes.
“Never let me hear you say that again in the future.”
Long Tianhao felt really disgusted with Jiang Ruqin, who had always been a cute, lovely little girl.
Although he didn’t like her, he genuinely considered her his young sister.
However, that lovely girl had unexpectedly grown into a disgusting woman.
He was disappointed.
Jiang Ruqin stared blankly at him. It was the first time she saw Long Tianhao look at her in such a cold way.
There had at least been some warmth in his eyes before.
Why? Why had his stare become so frighteningly cold?
“You can leave now. I’m busy.”
Long Tianhao had no time to be with Jiang Ruqin. He was deeply troubled now.
So many things needed his attention these days. He had no time to waste on a boring issue like this.
As Jiang Ruqin walked out of Long Tianhao’s study, she was out of her wits.
No pride could be seen on her face.
She had tried to earn Long Tianhao’s special affection.
However, what could she work hard for now?
Unconsciously, she approached the Art Courtyard.
Well, she still had Concubine De’s support.
Only if she pleased Concubine De would she take Lin Mengya’s place as Princess Yu one day!
“Master, the servants’ salaries have been distributed.”
Baishao always performed well. No matter how trivial a task was, she could do it.
That was why Lin Mengya had chosen her to govern the household.
“Well done. You can go now. Try not to go out unless it is necessary. Don’t quarrel with others either.”
Lin Mengya said before all the maids left.
“Little girl, this is not your style! Are you scared of that stupid woman?”
Qinghu popped up from behind, grinning cheekily.
“Scared? When did you ever see me be scared of someone? Oh, what have you done?”
Lin Mengya stared at the guy in front of her. Qinghu dressed casually in his daily life.
However, today, he was wearing a white robe. His appearance looked formal.
“Were you on a blind date?”
Upon hearing Lin Mengya’s words, Qinghu rolled his eyes at her.
Then, he looked into the mirror and self-confidently exclaimed.
“Look at me! I am such a handsome man. This is troubling.”
Lin Mengya speechlessly watched the fox lose himself in his beauty. She really wondered whether he felt so disgusted that he would vomit last night’s dinner.
“If you dare to disgust me again, I will castrate you and throw you out.”
How frightening her threat sounded.
Qinghu immediately grinned cheekily and got close to Lin Mengya. Then, he looked at her as if stars were in his eyes and spoke.
“I selected geniuses for you. No one recognized me, but they all agreed to recommend me to be King of Kung Fu among Mr. Genius!”
Lin Mengya was speechless. She knew clearly that this guy would never give up the idea of being Mr. Genius.
She looked at him and asked a question.
“You didn’t beat them until they were black and blue, did you?”
If it was true, she would definitely go crazy.
Qinghu smirked and couldn’t help scratching his head.
“I didn’t at the beginning. However, as time pa.s.sed, I got high. Then—”
“I want your life!”
Her hands were suddenly around his throat, shaking so violently that he felt giddy.
“Ah—little girl, calm down!”
Lin Mengya stared speechlessly at Qinghu.
“Doesn’t he know that everything should stop where it’s supposed to?”
“Don’t worry about them. They are very strong. In a few days, they will come back to life. Your things won’t be affected.”
Lin Mengya knew that Qinghu hadn’t meant to beat them.
She retracted her hands and pretended to ask a question.
“Qinghu, if there is a method that can help you detoxify at the expense of your kung fu, would you like to try it?”
Qinghu stood still and instinctively shook his head.
“No. If I have no kung fu, I will be unable to protect you from being bullied. That would make me sadder than dying.”
These words came from the bottom of his heart. Taking care of his little girl was the most important thing for him in his remaining years.
“But I will be sad if you die.”
Lin Mengya spoke sulkily. It seemed like Qinghu was still the same person.
However, she knew that due to his experiences in the past, Qinghu’s body was already heavily damaged.
He had powerful kung fu. That explained why he could keep being healthy and lively.
However, if he wasn’t detoxified completely, he would die sooner or later.
Lately, Lin Mengya’s teacher had made some progress in studying how to detoxify Qinghu.
Maybe it would work, but Qinghu would have to pay the price. He would never have kung fu again.
“Little girl, what kind of bad ideas are you coming up with?”