My Sister Insisted on Swapping Marriages, and I Became a Marchioness Instead

Qin Yuan couldn’t care less about Qin Wan’s thoughts.

Qin Wan’s rebirth and the desire to change her marital arrangement were merely because Lin Ziqi might become the Prime Minister. However, much of Lin Ziqi’s opportunities in his past life had come from her efforts.

Now, without her...

Even if Qin Wan knows a bit more than others by living another life, it’s not of much use.

Qin Yuan was drawing and writing under the lamp, noting down all the things and plans she remembered.

Cui Ming glanced over and exclaimed, "Miss, what are you writing?"

Hong Ye also put down the account book in her hand and leaned over to look, but couldn’t understand either.

The pages were filled with symbols, drawings, and some inexplicable words, with no discernible meaning.

Qin Yuan laughed, "It’s correct that you don’t understand. If you could, this plan of mine wouldn’t work. Haven’t you heard the saying ’knowledge isn’t shared with those not worthy or ready’?"

Hong Ye pouted and said, "Miss will eventually need someone to carry out tasks. You can’t do everything by yourself. As long as you have others doing things, how can you ensure that no information gets leaked?"

This statement touched Qin Yuan, and she smiled, "I’ve been very busy these days. The matter of the pepper keeps getting postponed. Calculating the days, shouldn’t Shen Changle start doing something?"

Hong Ye frowned.

Cui Ming asked, "Is it time to spread rumors now?"

Qin Yuan flipped through the calendar, did some calculations, and said, "Almost. Tomorrow, I’ll ask the Marquis for some people to inquire about the outside news. Who knows what the current situation at Prince Qi Mansion is?"

Cui Ming worriedly said, "Miss, we’re trapped in the mansion and don’t know what’s happening outside. The pepper business requires a lot of silver, you should be cautious. Why not wait until the mansion opens up?"

Hong Ye agreed, "Yes, Miss, with the household management soon to be in sight, being cautious won’t hurt us."

Qin Yuan knew they were worried about messing up the pepper business, making Old Madam Gu and Marquis Gu think she’s unreliable, so she smiled, "Alright, I’ll be cautious. Rest assured, the silver placed here with me will eventually double, quadruple, and even further multiply."

Hong Ye laughed, "Miss doesn’t need to rush. Once you take over the household management, won’t there be enough opportunity for profit just from the regular household purchases? No need to stress about earning a lot. Eventually, you can buy more shops and after decades you’d become the old feudal lord of the manor, not worrying about running out of silver."

"Furthermore, Miss, you should allocate positions for Cui Ming and me. Once those lucrative positions are vacant, let us take them. Given our respect for Miss, we won’t siphon off much profit, and as the years go by, we’ll become more affluent."

Cui Ming couldn’t help but laugh, "The way you calculate sounds so loud."

Qin Yuan placed the Hu Bi brush on the brush rest, then laughed, "No wonder you want me to pull Sixth Madam down, you’ve had your eye on the kitchen’s lucrative position all along. Haha."

Hong Ye pouted her lips, "Miss, just say if you agree or not."

Qin Yuan turned her face, extended her fingers, and said, "Agree, agree, agree. But, you have to wait. The first couple of years of my housekeeper role, I wouldn’t dare to use my own people too much. You two don’t have much prestige, and if I replace those well-managed housekeepers for no reason, it wouldn’t make sense. Also, the Old Madam’s people can’t be moved easily unless they make a mistake or age out of service. So, Hong Ye, you’ll probably have to wait until you’re in your thirties to manage the kitchen’s lucrative posts."

Hong Ye: "..."

Why is it taking so long?

Qin Yuan continued, "I don’t have many reliable people around me. I’ll have to rely on you two to monitor these housekeepers. After a decade or so, by the time you manage the kitchen, you might not even want to."

Cui Ming nodded.

Hong Ye thought it over, Miss does make sense.

Qin Yuan said, "You might as well hope that my business makes your share multiply by then, am I right?"

Hong Ye asked, "If what Miss says multiplies, will I have four hundred taels of silver?"

Cui Ming widened her eyes, still hadn’t calculated it.

Hong Ye exclaimed, "Right? Fifty taels doubled is one hundred taels, one hundred doubled is two hundred, two hundred doubled is four hundred."

Cui Ming squealed in excitement, "Yes, it’s four hundred taels."

Qin Yuan smiled without saying a word.

"Four hundred taels of silver would equal more than a decade’s worth of monthly silver in the Marquis Mansion, which is thirty-six taels per year,"

Hong Ye said, "I’m rich now, I must burn incense for the Bodhisattva, praying for Miss’s pepper business to go smoothly."

Qin Yuan couldn’t help but chuckle, "Hurry up and clean up for bed; you can dream about it later."

Hong Ye grumbled to Cui Ming, "See, Miss is so hard to please."

Cui Ming mumbled to herself, "If I had four hundred taels of silver, I’d quickly deposit it in the Money Shop."

Seeing them talk animatedly, Qin Yuan called a young maid to prepare bathwater.

...

In the outer courtyard, dungeon.

Marquis Gu stood in the shadows, coldly asking, "Still not telling the truth?"

Under the intense light, the green-brick floor was stained with a pool of wet blood. Doctor Liu slumped in the blood, and spitefully said, "No matter how formidable you are, Marquis Gu, you and I are both court officials. By setting up a Judicial Hall to interrogate a court official, you commit a great crime. Do you think this place is the Northern Border where you can act unilaterally?"

Marquis Gu’s face remained icy and stern.

"It seems you won’t stop until faced with grim consequences."

Doctor Liu couldn’t see him; only darkness surrounded him, so he endured the sharp pain and shouted, "I remember the righteousness of Dingbei Marquis and came to the Marquis Mansion risking my life, only to be falsely accused by villains. Marquis Gu, if I die unjustly at the Dingbei Marquis Mansion, how will you explain it?"

"Explain what?"

Marquis Gu’s voice was light but chillingly sinister.

"The thing you should worry about isn’t how to explain, but how you live to leave this place."

"I am not a benevolent person. If you dare to deceive me and use my trust to harm my family, you must know the consequences."

Doctor Liu trembled, "...I didn’t..."

Gu Jinghui’s cold, slender eyes fixed on the half-dead Doctor Liu, like a ruthless wolf brutally eyeing its prey.

One wrong move, and it would pounce to tear the prey apart.

"Why did you pass messages with the hostage from the Yelv Family?"

"What dealings do you have with Mrs. Zhao?"

"Why, just as she caused my two nieces to catch smallpox, did you show up at my Dingbei Marquis Mansion to stir trouble?"

Doctor Liu’s face grew more and more ashen. Although he stubbornly refused to speak, his involuntary reactions were clear to the Marquis.

Marquis Gu gripped a dagger tightly, his expression menacing like a bloodthirsty Rakshasa.

Family was his Achilles’ heel.

These people dared to target his family with such malicious actions and still hoped to walk away unscathed? Ha.

"Take him out," Gu Jinghui’s voice was as cold as ice, "Doctor Liu’s righteousness is evident, daring to enter the Marquis Mansion willingly facing death. Surely, he wouldn’t fear catching smallpox."