Quickly wear salted fish, she won by lying down

However, the matter of the heir to the prestigious Duke's mansion is not something that married aunts and great-aunts can decide. Moreover, the emperor does not want to see the person chosen by his aunts and great-aunts to have a good relationship with them and then continue to form a political alliance with them, becoming like brothers.

So when the emperor saw that the Duke of Zhenguo's family line had ended, he naturally intervened immediately and appointed someone to inherit the Duke of Zhenguo's family. He was thinking that the person he appointed would not get involved with the husbands' families of his two aunts and great-aunts.

However, in the original world, the Zhou family did not understand this principle. In addition, the servants in the mansion, some of whom had feelings for the aunts and mistresses, and others who had been bribed by them, spoke well of the Zhou family in front of them. As a result, the Zhou family was won over by the three women and eventually joined forces with them. This made the emperor, who was already dissatisfied with Master Zhou and his group, even more dissatisfied. In the end, some things happened, and the Zhou family was stripped of their titles and their property was confiscated.

The title of nobility is indeed still valid because it is hereditary, so those illegitimate daughters will be able to get involved again, which will allow them to achieve their goals.

Of course, they thought they had achieved their goal, but in reality, they would never achieve it, because the emperor would not listen to them at all. Even if the Zhou family were gone, the emperor would still appoint someone else to inherit the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. They would not succeed. It was just a pity that the Zhou family became cannon fodder.

Leaving aside the fact that the Zhou family entered the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, it was like entering a dragon's den or a tiger's lair, fraught with danger. The Zhou family was unaware of the seriousness of the situation. They only mentioned that while the head housekeeper was introducing the place, she deliberately glanced at Linlang a few more times.

You know, someone told her during the Zhou family's conversation that it was Linlang who suggested that Zhou Dalang and the others guard the door to prevent their people from getting close and eavesdropping. In addition, Old Master Zhou had previously invited Linlang to participate in the discussion. Clearly, this girl is a very opinionated person, so she will naturally pay more attention to her. She will talk to her aunts and other women about this girl and tell them to keep a close eye on her. If things get really bad, and this girl ruins their plans, they will get rid of her.

Old Master Zhou also needs to be eliminated.

During this period of time, these servants realized that apart from Old Master Zhou and Zhou Linlang, there was no one else in the Zhou family who was capable.

Once these two are eliminated, the others are no threat and can be easily dealt with.

Leaving aside what the stewards and their wives in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion thought, the Zhou family settled down in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion immediately.

It was the first time they had ever eaten such a sumptuous meal, worn such luxurious clothes, and lived in such a nice house. They were incredibly excited every day.

Old Master Zhou didn't immediately send his son or grandson back to the countryside to deal with the old house and land, because he knew that everyone wanted to experience the wealth and luxury for a while longer. He planned to deal with the old family matters after everyone had lost interest. In any case, no one in his family held a powerful official position and didn't need to attend court, so there would be plenty of time to deal with the old family matters later.

Aside from their fascination with the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, which they frequented daily to admire its grandeur and learn etiquette, the Zhou family spent their time there.

This old man Zhou also knows some things, but because it's been a long time, he's forgotten a lot, so he can only give everyone some pointers; it's impossible for him to teach everyone everything.

Master Zhou also had the head steward and his wife arrange the etiquette, since they were new to the mansion and didn't know who to ask for guidance.

Not only are the etiquette matters handled entirely by the head steward and his wife, but the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion is also maintaining its previous operation. The Zhou family members basically don't interfere in affairs because they simply don't know how to manage such a large mansion with hundreds of people. They've never managed so many people before, not even Old Master Zhou. How could they be confident in managing it well? So for the time being, the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion will naturally continue to operate according to the old rules. However, when Old Master Zhou asks the servants to do something, he will report to them, firstly to know what has happened, and secondly to understand how the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion operates.

The Zhou family was terrified when they found out.

It turns out that the Duke's mansion had long been living beyond its means and was heavily in debt. Not to mention the estates that other families owned, it was said that the late Duke had sold them all long ago, and even his salary had been paid out for several years—of course, he couldn't just pay them out directly, so he borrowed money from loan sharks at high interest rates, using the excuse that he would pay them back when his salary was paid.

Fortunately, it was the Duke's mansion, so those money shops didn't dare to exploit them with exorbitant interest rates, and the rates were all within the range stipulated by the imperial court. But even so, the rates were not low. If the interest continued to accrue like this, sooner or later the Duke's mansion would not be able to pay it off.

The Zhou family thought they could enjoy wealth and luxury after entering the mansion, but they never expected that the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion was so poor that it was heavily in debt. How could they enjoy wealth and luxury now?

Although the Zhou family was poor before, at least they weren't in debt.

Grandma Zhou and the others, who had never been in debt before, were anxious and asked the steward's wife what was going on.

The steward's wife then said that the late Duke was a spendthrift who had squandered all the money.

Since the man is dead, and he can't come out of the underworld to defend himself, they naturally claim that all the money the manor owed was squandered by the late Duke.

Upon hearing this, Old Madam Zhou and the others became anxious and immediately asked Old Master Zhou what to do. After all, not only was there no money in the account, but there were also so many people in the mansion, and a large sum of money was needed every day. How could they possibly cope?

Master Zhou immediately said anxiously, "Why don't we lay off all these hundreds of servants in the manor? We don't need anyone to serve us anyway. Otherwise, we'll lose money every day. How can we keep going like this?"

Although they knew that the emperor had bestowed some gold and silver upon Old Master Zhou, considering the debts of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion and its daily expenses, that little bit of gold and silver was simply not enough. They had thought they had struck it rich when they saw so much money, since they had never seen so much money in their lives. But it turned out that it was completely useless.

Old Master Zhou said, "If we cut everything now, the manor will be in chaos. Take it slow, there's no rush. We already owe a lot of money, so what's the big deal? As long as our family doesn't spend money recklessly, we can pay off those debts gradually."

After hearing what Old Master Zhou said, Master Zhou was no longer in such a hurry.

Hearing Old Master Zhou's attitude, Linlang thought to herself that Old Master Zhou was indeed much smarter than the other members of the Zhou family in the original owner's memories.

In the original owner's memories, when the other members of the Zhou family arrived, they were not like the old master Zhou who did not interfere in the affairs of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. After they arrived, they felt that they must manage the household themselves. How could they entrust so much money and so many things to the servants? What if the servants embezzled their money? They were used to being poor and were used to being stingy, so they were naturally afraid that the servants would take advantage of them.

Their thinking was correct, because these servants would indeed take advantage of them. However, they were newcomers and immediately took over the management of the household. Could they really manage it?

How could that be? They can't control it, because they don't know how. (End of Chapter)