Chapter 395: Prince Ye’s Butler

Chapter 395: Prince Ye Takes Charge of the Household

Ji Yuntang's eyes shifted slightly as she paused her movements.

"Where are the people from Prince Qi's residence?"

Chen Hu replied, "They're right outside the gate. His Highness said they can't come in unless you agree."

Ji Yuntang's red lips curved into a faint smile as she stood up. "Bring them to the front courtyard. These are my money bringers."

Chen Hu didn't get it. He knew that Prince Qi and Ji Yuntang had never seen eye to eye—how could he possibly be her money bringer?

But since their Princess said so, there must be a reason. Chen Hu immediately went to make arrangements.

He was extremely thorough in his preparations, laying out fruits, pastries, and fine tea in abundance, which scared Prince Qi's guards half to death.

Both men figured this was their last meal before being executed, and they didn't even dare to sip the water.

When Ji Yuntang arrived, she saw them standing there nervously, their legs trembling uncontrollably, sweat streaming down their faces like rain.

She shot Chen Hu a glance and asked suspiciously, "Did you scare them?"

Chen Hu shook his head repeatedly. "Not at all. I just had the maids treat them well, but who'd have thought they'd react like this."

"Princess, they're way too timid. How could Prince Qi send such gutless guards to see you?"

Ji Yuntang shot him a warning glare. "Don't talk to my money bringers like that."

With that, she broke into a smile and walked over to the two men.

"Gentlemen, did Prince Qi send you here about the Jade Beauty Cream?"

One of the black-clad guards replied, "Yeah, yeah. Prince Qi sent us two to Prince Ye's place to pick up the Jade Beauty Cream."

The other guard quickly corrected him, "What do you mean 'pick up'? It's 'buy.' Prince Qi gave us two hundred thousand taels in silver notes!"

Ji Yuntang's eyes lit up at that!

For the first time, she realized Luo Feizhou could actually keep his word.

The two guards pulled the two hundred thousand taels in silver notes from their robes and handed them to Ji Yuntang with both hands, saying nervously:

"Princess Ye, this is all Prince Qi gave us. He also told us to give you a message."

"Third Sister-in-Law, I remember today's humiliation. When I get the chance, I'll repay it a hundredfold."

After saying this, the guards didn't even dare to breathe, afraid Ji Yuntang might kill them right there.

Ji Yuntang shrugged casually and curled her lips. "Oh, is that all? I thought it was something big!"

"You two can take a message back for me too. Tell Prince Qi that those with bad intentions will get a lesson from their sister-in-law!"

The two men didn't dare say a word. Ji Yuntang didn't care. She pulled a bottle of ointment from her robes and handed it to the guards, then tore up the hundred-thousand-tael IOU in front of everyone!

"Now your Prince Qi and I are even!"

After the guards left, Ji Yuntang headed straight to the West Courtyard and handed the two hundred thousand taels in silver notes to Luo Junhe.

"A He, this is the emotional distress payment Prince Qi sent for you. Take it!"

Luo Junhe was taken aback. Looking at the big stack of silver notes in his arms, a flicker of suspicion crossed his deep, peach-blossom eyes.

"A Tang, don't try to pull one over on me. Why would Prince Qi send me silver out of the blue?"

"This must be another one of your clever tricks to squeeze money out of him, right?"

Ji Yuntang gave him a teasing look. "Nothing slips past you, does it?"

"I told you before, I'd make anyone who bullies you pay."

"Luo Feizhou has been acting like your brother all these years on the surface, but ever since you got paralyzed, he's stabbed you in the back plenty and laughed at your bad luck."

"These two hundred thousand taels aren't much—consider it him paying for a lesson learned. You're a prince, and even if you don't need much silver now, you will later. Keep it safe."

Luo Junhe's gaze softened, and the corners of his lips curled up without him realizing.

"A Tang, I read in a book that when a husband earns money outside, he hands it over to the lady of the house to manage the household expenses and books."

"How come in my case, you're the one giving me silver and having me run the household?"

Speaking of which, Luo Junhe found it pretty amazing.

Ever since he could get out of bed and into a wheelchair, Ji Yuntang had handed him all the household accounts and management duties to keep him from getting bored.

He handled the inside stuff—arranging supply purchases, handing out servants' wages, and dealing with everything in the residence.

And Ji Yuntang? She was out in the world making money, running businesses, opening shops, and practicing medicine.

Luo Junhe had thought that after years of military campaigns, he'd struggle to adapt to such domestic matters, but surprisingly, he got the hang of it within three days.

Now, after a month and a half, he had become completely adept at managing the household.

In his spare time, he could even help Ji Yuntang cross-check the purchase and supply orders for the Evening Makeup Pavilion and the barbecue restaurant, reviewing expenses and profits through the accounts to offer his improvement suggestions.

Without managing a household, one wouldn't know the cost of firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea, nor would one understand how great the needs of an entire princely residence are or how numerous the trivial matters are.

Prince Ye's residence had a total of seventy-three people inside and out, and managing them was no easy task.

Luo Junhe not only had to arrange each person's daily duties but also establish a series of reward and punishment systems to ensure they worked efficiently while remaining loyal to Prince Ye's residence.

In addition, there were purchases and leases of land deeds, fief taxes, and the management of villas and estates.

All of these, Luo Junhe had to learn one by one.

To lighten Ji Yuntang's burden, he would spend entire days immersed in the study, seeking advice from Wang Sheng and Yaoniang on household management.

After learning all this, he came to understand the hardships of women in the inner quarters.

The outside world said that men worked from dawn to dusk and it wasn't easy earning money, so wives should be understanding and supportive.

But Luo Junhe felt that compared to the hardships of earning money, frugal household management was actually more difficult.

The lady of the house wasn't necessarily any less burdened than the husband working outside.

Managing the inner quarters was just the basics—sometimes they also had to serve their in-laws, manage concubines, and personally worry about their children's studies and education.

Compared to all that, Luo Junhe felt he already had it easy!

After all, Prince Ye's manor didn't involve serving in-laws, and there were no children to worry about.

In the end, Luo Junhe still stashed the banknotes away, and Ji Yuntang teased him.

"Now that's more like it—aren't a wife's earnings meant for her husband to spend?"

She leaned down and gave him a quick peck on his strikingly handsome face.

"All you gotta do is stay pretty and charming!"

Luo Junhe looked at her and smiled helplessly.

Only Ji Yuntang would dare say such a thing. If the bigwigs in the capital ever caught wind of this, they'd probably gossip about him behind his back.

"The mighty War Prince is kept in the manor by his princess like a pet canary."

"The War Prince's body is supple and easy to topple; Princess Ye hides her treasure in a golden chamber."

"The War Prince has turned into a kept man, willingly stepping back from the battlefield, stuck in the inner quarters for love."

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