Chapter 4 — Exterior Hugs Her Belly, Drives My Master And Mother Out Of The Main Court

He walked too quickly, a piece of paper suddenly fell out of his sleeve, landing quietly at the foot of the stone table. I walked over, bent down and picked it up. That night, I acted extremely decisively, directly having people move all the remaining belongings in the main courtyard to the Western Course. Immediately after that, I summoned all the treasurers and administrators of Bui Palace and held a meeting in the main hall of the Western Academy.

"From today, the internal and external books of the Bui residence will be completely separated. My expenses, Tham Tri Vi, will be used by the Tham family's books; and the expenses of the Bui residence will be used by Bui Nghien's books."

Butler Liu Toan was stunned.

“Eldest young lady, this… this has never happened before.”

I look at him.

"Doesn't Bui Nghien want to retire from me? If that's the case, I don't need to continue being the Bui family's housekeeper anymore. The stores' cards, except for the part in my hand, must all be withdrawn."

Liu Toan wiped his sweat, didn't dare to ask much, could only bow his head and follow. Early the next morning, the main courtyard immediately erupted into chaos. Lieu Oanh Oanh woke up very early and waited for the maid to serve him a high-quality blood feast. As a result, what was brought was only two bowls of brown rice porridge and a plate of pickles. Lieu Oanh Oanh was angry and broke the bowl on the ground.

"I want to eat blood bird's nest! Is this pig food for humans to eat?"

The chef's face was full of helplessness.

"Auntie Liu, the revenue department no longer provides money, saying that you have to pay for your own meals. Your monthly allowance is only that much, just enough to buy these things."

Lieu Oanh Oanh was so angry that she trembled and immediately called Mrs. Lieu over.

"Go to the Western Academy! Find that poisonous woman and ask for money!"

Mrs. Lieu ran to the front gate of the courtyard, stood with her hands on her hips in the middle of the door, then dragged her throat and cursed loudly.

"Tham Tri Vi! You dark hearted thing, you dare to cut off our aunt's food, do you want to starve the Bui family's bloodline?"

I sat in the hospital drinking morning tea, not even bothering to lift my eyelids. The housekeeper stepped forward, carried a bucket of soup residue that had been prepared in advance, and poured it directly onto Mrs. Lieu's head. The fishy-smelling residue immediately poured all over her body. Mrs. Lieu screamed loudly and repeatedly backed away, as a result she slipped and fell onto the ground. The housekeeper conveniently threw the wooden box onto the ground. Mrs. Lieu immediately rolled and crawled straight back to the main courtyard. The old lady's hospital also quickly became turbulent. Normally, she loved gambling the most. Today she even deliberately invited several mandarin ladies to the palace to play mahjong, intending to send someone to the cashier's office to receive two hundred taels of silver as a bet. Unexpectedly, butler Luu Toan stood still, his expression unchanged, and bowed and replied:

"Old lady, the eldest lady has a warning. The Bui mansion's treasury now doesn't have much money left, and the revenue department doesn't dare to disburse money arbitrarily anymore. If you need money, please find an adult."

The old lady was so angry that she could hardly breathe, continuously banging on the table and shouting:

"It's been betrayed! It's truly been betrayed! When will it be your turn to rule this Bui palace?"

But no matter how angry she got, the revenue department remained tightly closed, refusing to release even a single silver coin. There is no more strength to support, The ladies of the mandarins, who were usually flattered and flattered, immediately turned their faces. Some people made excuses to leave, others lost their patience after not sitting for long, even the maids and women who had previously worked hard to serve them began to do their jobs sloppily. In just one day, the main court was so chaotic that chickens and dogs were restless. On the contrary, this side of the Western Course is still quiet as usual. I sat under the lamp, flipping through the notebook that Luu Toan had just brought, my eyes lingering for a long time on a large deficit. Last month, in order to smooth over relations in the court, Bui Nghien arbitrarily withdrew five thousand taels of silver from the Bui government treasury, but up to now he has not been able to fully compensate. My finger gently tapped that number, my voice was light but cold to the bone:

“Please write this money clearly to me.”

Liu Toan immediately bowed his head:

“I understand.”

On days when they had no money left to spend, Bui Nghien and Lieu Oanh Oanh could only hold on for only three days, and in the end they still couldn't hold on anymore.