Salted Fish Lady Loves to Eat Melons

Chapter 20 Marquis Wanhu

"Don't blame me! Ever since I married my wife, I realized that I can't be decadent anymore." Xiao Jin's low voice was filled with helplessness.

He originally wanted to close the door and live a good life with the little girl from now on.

What does the life and death of other people in the Marquis’ Mansion have to do with him!
But his little girl is kind-hearted and insists on taking over the responsibility of being the head of the family. What can he do?
In order to please the little girl, he had to roll up his sleeves and work hard to support his group of spoiled stepbrothers and stepsisters.

"The current Marquis' wife is only 21 years old, but she looks older than your father. Is it really that tiring to be the head of a household?"

"It may not be difficult to be the head of a household in other people's houses, but it is definitely difficult in our house. As the saying goes, even a skilled cook cannot cook without rice!"

"Tsk tsk... being your stepmother is so pitiful!"

"There must be something hateful about pitiful people. They all married my father voluntarily, so they are not innocent." Xiao Jin's voice was very light.

There was still a hint of coldness in his expression. Even though he planned to support the people in the mansion, he would never forgive his first stepmother and aunt.

They were so vicious that they always wanted to kill him so that their sons could inherit the title of Marquis.

The first stepmother deserved to die, there is no need to pity her.

Perhaps she never dreamed that her son and daughter would also be bullied by others.

Wen Qingwan saw that the man's face suddenly turned bad, so she changed the subject, "It's almost time for dinner, I'll go and see..."

"My dear, just stay in the mansion happily. Don't worry about the affairs of the mansion in the future. Your husband will take care of everything."

"My husband can only take care of the affairs of the front yard at most. It is more reasonable for me to take care of the back yard."

Wen Qingwan took a deep look at her husband in this life, not understanding why he wanted to seize the power to lead the family.

The power to be the head of the Marquis's mansion is clearly a hot potato.

He is more handsome than the prince, but perhaps because the marquis's mansion is too poor, he cannot marry a wife, let alone have the money to take a concubine.

"When I have my house in order, I will help you take in two concubines if I have extra money."

"Madam--" Xiao Jin's voice suddenly rose a few notches, like a summer thunderstorm, sudden and without warning, catching people off guard.

"Why are you so fierce? Do you want to fight again?" Wen Qingwan took a step back cautiously and assumed a fighting posture.

"........."

Xiao Jin almost blurted out, How could I bear to hit you?
But the little girl didn't care about him at all, so he didn't want to tell her and embarrass himself.

Wen Qingwan saw that his brows were furrowed and his eyes were as sharp as torches, as if he wanted to condense all his dissatisfaction and anger in his gaze and wanted to spray her to death with it.

"You want to kill me? But I didn't say anything wrong."

"You... don't talk about taking a concubine anymore. I like to be with one person for the rest of my life. Having you in this life is enough for me."

"........."

He had the same idea as Wen Mingzhu, so why did he abuse Wen Mingzhu to death?
Seeing the little girl looking at him in disbelief with bulging eyes, Xiao Jin sighed slightly and said softly, "You always make me worry."

"Who is the one who is worrying about whom? I am always afraid that you will abuse me." Wen Qingwan pursed her lips and muttered in dissatisfaction.

"Domestic violence? Who told you that?" Xiao Jin frowned and reached out to hold the little girl in his arms: "Your husband will never abuse you."

"Let me go quickly. If you want to talk, just talk. Why are you touching me?" Wen Qingwan struggled unhappily, but the man's hands were like pliers.

"Master, Madam, we have counted everyone's private property. I didn't expect that the Second Young Master has the most." Leng Yan came in to report.

"How much?" Wen Qingwan asked in a cold voice. Since she couldn't break free, she didn't struggle anymore. "Madam, although there is no food in the second young master's yard, he has the deeds of several shops in his study, and there is also a yard..."

Jinque followed behind Leng Yan, and when she heard her mistress asking a question, she immediately rushed to the front to answer.

She spoke in great detail, and Leng Yan and the others found out the origins of the Second Young Master's shop and yard.

At the end, he described it vividly: "Madam, you didn't see the expression on the second young master's face... It was like he had swallowed a fly and couldn't get it out. It was so awkward and distorted."

Jinque continued to laugh to herself after she finished speaking, Leng Feng also laughed with his hands on his stomach, and even Leng Yan smiled quietly with his head down.

Xiao Jin and Wen Qingwan had long since trained themselves to keep their emotions under control and remain calm in the face of major events.

After listening, Wen Qingwan calmly ordered, "Since the second son's shop is the dowry of the prince's mother, it should be returned to the original owner, but the Marquis's Mansion is very poor now, so it will be confiscated."

"Everything is up to you, my lady. Do you need me to find someone to take care of those shops?" Xiao Jin asked, hugging her slender waist.

He now understood that his little girl didn't like him interfering in the mansion's affairs.

"No need, I'll find someone to take care of it." Wen Qingwan said decisively. She had many capable people under her in her previous life.

Before getting married, she stayed in the Wen Mansion and did nothing. Now is the perfect time to dig those people over to help her.

"From now on, Leng Feng and Leng Yu will follow Madam. You can each pick ten followers and follow Madam's orders in all your actions."

"Then is there anyone else around you?" Wen Qingwan only has Jinlan and Jinque by her side for the time being, which is indeed not enough.

"I have Leng Yan and Leng Hong. If you need help, just let me know. I have several villages."

"Aren't you very poor? How come you still support people from several villages?" Wen Qingwan asked with her head raised.

“They don’t need to spend money to support their husbands, they have been self-sufficient over the years, and they are all soldiers injured on the battlefield.

Because they had no official position, the court did not give them any salary. Just a few years ago, when there was a drought, the people in those villages fled away to escape the famine.

I did not ask for the title bestowed by His Majesty, but only asked for those deserted villages as my fiefdom.

I, your husband, settled them there and gave them the reward from the emperor as capital.

There were too many injured soldiers, each with an account, and there were about 10,000 households in several villages.

This year they are already self-sufficient, and if Madam needs food in the future, she can ask them for some."

When Xiao Jin talked about his fiefdom, a satisfied smile lit up his face and his eyes were filled with complacency and pride, not at all like the decadent look that others saw.

"Oh, then aren't you a marquis? That's awesome!" Wen Qingwan praised sincerely.

The people in Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion didn't know that their prince was a marquis of ten thousand households? !

Wen Qingwan knew too well the title of Marquis Wanhu of Dasheng. It was a high honor, representing a lofty status and great glory.

It is the highest level of Marquis of Dasheng. It is no exaggeration to say that the Marquis of Wanhu is an honor bestowed by the emperor on important officials, second only to the title of king.

In the whole Dasheng, there are only three people who own ten thousand households of fiefdom. Only the first-rank Duke of Protectorate who have made outstanding military achievements can enjoy the fiefdom of ten thousand households.

As the name suggests, there are more than 10,000 households in the fiefdom of Wanhu Hou. They do not have to pay taxes to the court, but directly hand over the land to Wanhu Hou as their fief.

In addition, the Marquis of Wanhu had the power to draw personnel from his fiefdom. During the Dasheng Dynasty, the number of people whose fiefdoms exceeded two thousand households did not exceed ten.

"Don't think too much, ma'am. They are very poor."

(End of this chapter)