A sickly young man who travels back to the Song Dynasty

Chapter 11

Ouyang Han strolled in from outside and said, "Uncle De, is there something you need?"

"Oh! Master has asked this old servant to bring over some account books and the young master's monthly wages that have been withheld over the past few years!"

“We’ll accept the monthly payment, but what about this ledger?” Du Peiru asked after helping Ouyang Han sit down.

"Oh! Master said that from now on, all matters, big and small, in this villa will be under the young mistress's control. Also, if the young mistress wants to dismiss any servant in the mansion, she only needs to tell this old servant; she doesn't need to go through the madam!"

Du Peiru looked at the servant called Uncle De with suspicion, wondering what his position was and how he could speak so arrogantly!

"Oh! Young mistress may not know that Steward Zhang has been kicked out by the master! I have become the steward thanks to the young mistress and the young master! In the future, if the young mistress has any orders, just tell me!"

Ouyang Han gave a weak smile and said, "Congratulations, Uncle De! From now on, I should call you Steward Ma!"

"Young Master, please don't say that. How can this old servant accept such a compliment! This is all thanks to you and your wife!"

Du Peiru interrupted Steward Ma, asking, "Steward Ma, what is this ledger for?"

"Oh! These are the account books for the villa. Master said that from now on, the young mistress will be in charge of the accounts for this villa. The monthly wages of the servants in this villa have also been increased, and Master will also put you in charge of the cooks in the villa!"

"Okay! I understand! You can go now if there's nothing else!" Du Peiru said.

"Yes!" Steward Ma replied and withdrew.

"Who is he? I don't think I've ever seen him before!" Du Peiru asked Ouyang Han as soon as Steward Ma left.

“His name is Ma Fude. Eleven years ago, he collapsed on the snow and was barely alive. My mother saw him and saved him. To repay the kindness, he stayed at the Ouyang family as a servant. Because he was quite capable, my father promoted him to the position of deputy steward, which has been eight or nine years now! He has always been quite kind to me,” Ouyang Han explained.

"But I don't really like him when I see him, and I don't know why?"

Just then, Jin'er rushed in and said, "Miss, the cooks in the kitchen are demanding to see you, and they won't leave no matter how hard we try!"

"Then let them wait in the side hall!" Du Peiru said, but she showed no intention of going over to deal with it.

Abuse(10)

"Yes!" Jin'er replied and left the room.

"Husband, what do you think I should do about this?" Du Peiru asked.

"Give them a lesson, but don't kick them out. This way, we can establish our authority without having to rush to find a cook!"

"Wow! Husband, you are indeed clever and shrewd. So, I'll leave the task of checking the account books to you, and you can also handle the affairs of the villa from behind the scenes! Hmm! It's decided then. Take a look at these account books first!" Du Peiru said in one breath, then placed the account books in front of Ouyang Han, and without waiting for his nod of agreement, she ran out the door without looking back.

Ouyang Han could only smile wryly, then obediently picked up the account book to look at it.

Du Peiru sat in the main seat of the side hall. Jin'er, Xiao Hong, and Xiao Cui stood beside Du Peiru.

The cooks knelt on the ground and pleaded, "Young Madam, please don't send us out! We know we were wrong. We all have elderly parents and young children to support. If we lose this job, how will we survive?"

Du Peiru ignored them and just kept drinking her tea.

Just then, an old woman peeked in from the doorway.

Du Peiru entered and demanded, "Where are you from, you servant? What are you doing sneaking around like this?"

Upon hearing this, the old woman hurriedly went inside and replied, "This old servant, this old servant, has come to ask the young mistress when this month's wages will be paid?"

"Monthly wages? Oh! Xiao Hong, go to Steward Ma and collect this month's wages to distribute to them! Jin'er, you go with me too, make sure you don't get the amount wrong, the monthly wages for this villa have been doubled. You two go!"

Xiao Hong and Jin'er responded with "Yes!" and left to carry out the order. The old woman also withdrew.

After giving her instructions, Du Peiru said, "I was going to let you off the hook, but if I'm lenient this time, it'll be harder to manage next time!" She then sternly ordered the servants outside, "Take them out and give each of them fifty strokes of the cane!" Turning to Xiao Cui, she said, "Tell the manager of this garden to dock their wages for a month!" The servants dragged the cooks out and gave them fifty strokes of the cane. Even after being beaten, the cooks still came back in to thank Du Peiru for not kicking them out.

Du Peiru then said, "Anyone who commits another offense will be given a hundred strokes of the cane and then kicked out. Anyone who wants to be beaten or refuses to do it can commit the offense!" Then she ordered, "Disperse!" The servants outside the window went to do their own work.

Seeing their respectful manner, Du Peiru knew she had established her authority!

The wicked accuse the guilty first (1)

After that, Du Peiru became incredibly powerful in the villa and even the entire Ouyang mansion. Everyone treated her with utmost respect, which made Du Peiru extremely happy, to the point that she completely forgot about the murderer's attempt to kill Ouyang Han and all the unpleasantness of the past.

"The weather is so nice today! Jin'er, go find some people to play Cuju!"

"Cuju? That's not a good idea, Miss!" Jin'er said with difficulty.

"What's wrong with that! Just go when they tell you to, and tell them to change into some comfortable clothes while you're at it."

"Oh!" Jin'er went to find the person reluctantly.

Du Peiru explained the rules of the competition to everyone, and then said, "Alright! Now, the men will be in one group and the women in another. Get ready to start the competition!"

After a fierce competition, the women's team led by Du Peiru won.

Du Peiru jumped for joy and scolded the servants, "You men are so useless! You can't even beat us women! You're really useless!"

"My wife, why don't we have a couple more rounds to decide who wins!" Ouyang Han was originally looking at account books in the study when he heard the laughter coming from the courtyard and was unconsciously drawn into the courtyard.

"They still won't be able to win even if we play a few more matches!" Du Peiru said proudly.

“With me joining, things might be different!” Ouyang Han said confidently.

The servants all looked doubtful upon hearing this. Du Peiru, noticing this, quickly tried to smooth things over, saying, "Great! You've been taking the new medicine Yu Feng prescribed, and your health has improved significantly. Yu Feng also said you should exercise more, but if you feel unwell, be sure to tell me!"

So they played two more rounds, but with Ouyang Han joining in, the men's team won 2-1.

To avoid arousing suspicion, Ouyang Han pretended to be weak and about to faint.

Du Peiru chimed in, "If you're not feeling well, don't push yourself too hard. It's not good to ruin your health."

"It's alright! It's alright! You'll be fine after a rest!" The group helped Ouyang Han into his room to rest.

Du Peiru said to Jin'er, "Jin'er, give them some reward money!"

Everyone was delighted to hear this, feeling that the young mistress was considerate of her servants, and from then on, they not only respected but also loved Du Peiru.

Du Peiru then instructed everyone, "Bring some water; the young master and I want to take a bath!"

After the servants had brought the water, Du Peiru said to them, "You may all leave! You don't need to serve me anymore!"

"Stop pretending, they're all gone!"

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Han immediately rolled out of bed and said with a smile, "Wife, now that you've sent them away, do you want to take a bath with me?"

"Wash your head, you big dummy! Get out!" Du Peiru's face turned red with embarrassment. She pushed Ouyang Han out the door.

"My wife, I want to take a bath too. You can't take away my right to bathe!"

Du Peiru ignored him, closed the door, and said through the door, "Go! Go! Go to the study! I'll call you after I've taken a bath!"

The wicked accuse the guilty first (2)

Ouyang Han smiled and shook her head. She was still so shy! But sometimes she was incredibly bold! It was truly baffling! But no matter what, she was always so adorable!

While taking a bath, Du Peiru formulated a plan in her mind. After she finished bathing, she went to the study to call Ouyang Han back to take a bath! She pretended to be reading in the study. After Ouyang Han had been gone for a while, she sneaked back to her room. She pressed her face against the window, poked a hole in the paper window, and secretly peeked at Ouyang Han bathing through the hole. Just as she was enjoying the view, she noticed Jin'er walking towards her. So she put her index finger to her lips in a shushing gesture, and then quietly pulled Jin'er aside.

Jin'er asked Du Peiru curiously, "Miss, what are you doing leaning against the window?"

“Uh…oh! I’m looking at ants, yes! Looking at ants! I found a lot of ants on the window paper!” Du Peiru replied cleverly.

"Ants?" Jin'er didn't understand what was so interesting about ants.

"Jin'er, is there something you need?" Du Peiru asked, afraid that Jin'er would continue to press for answers. She quickly changed the subject.

"Oh! This servant has come to ask what Miss and her husband would like to eat for lunch today?"

"Oh! Those dishes from the day before yesterday were quite good, let's have those!"

Upon hearing this, Jin'er went to the kitchen to give the instructions.

Du Peiru tiptoed back to the window to peek out, but she didn't see Ouyang Han. "Huh! Where did he go?"

"Who is my wife looking for?" Ouyang Han asked, shirtless, arms crossed, a wicked smile on his face, standing behind Du Peiru.

"Looking for..." Du Peiru said, turning her head. Unexpectedly, she saw Ouyang Han standing right behind her, and swallowed the rest of her words, then forced a dry laugh: "The weather's lovely today!"

"Is that so?" Ouyang Han remained in the same position as before.

"Husband, you'll easily catch a cold if you're not wearing any clothes. Why don't you go back to your room and continue taking a bath? I have something to do, so I'll have to go now!" Du Peiru said, then tried to escape the scene.

Ouyang Han used some kind of movement technique, so fast that even Du Peiru didn't know what was happening before she was brought into the room by Ouyang Han and stood there.

Du Peiru stared at Ouyang Han in surprise, then glanced at the closed door. She gave up on running away and waited quietly for Ouyang Han's questions.

"Give me a reason!" Ouyang said coldly.

"Uh! Well... there are a lot of ants moving house by the window, so..."

"Tell the truth!" Ouyang Han said, emphasizing his words.

Chapter Seven

"Alright!" After deciding to tell the truth, Du Peiru felt calmer. "I was peeping at you taking a shower! Husband, do you know how amazing your body is? I almost drooled!"

"How many people have you spied on while they're showering?" Ouyang Han asked, his face turning pale.

"No! No! I only peeked at you! And today is the first time!" Du Peiru quickly denied it when she saw Ouyang Han's unfriendly expression.

The guilty party files a false accusation first (3)

"If you want to see, come inside! Peeking from outside, what kind of manners would that be if the servants saw you!" Ouyang Han scolded, his face flushed.

"My lord, you don't understand! If you were to peek openly, it wouldn't be fun. And your movements wouldn't be as natural. There would be no aesthetic appeal!"

"Nonsense!" Ouyang Han spat, his face flushed. "From now on, if you want to peep, you can only peep from inside the room. You're not allowed to peep from outside, and you can only peep at me!"

Du Peiru pouted and replied, "Oh!"

Suddenly, a brilliant idea flashed through Du Peiru's mind, and she came up with another scheme to trick Ouyang Han. So she stepped forward and nestled into Ouyang Han's arms, gently calling out, "Ahan!" and then drawing circles on his chest with her finger. When she felt Ouyang Han's whole body tremble, she quickly pulled away from his embrace and fled towards the door! But she hadn't considered that Ouyang Han possessed unparalleled martial arts skills. So before she even reached the door, Ouyang Han had already caught her. Du Peiru inwardly cursed her miscalculation! A miscalculation!

That day, Du Peiru went to Ouyang Han's study. Upon arriving, she found him calculating the accounts for the villa. So she found a chair and sat down facing him.

Seeing this, Ouyang Han stopped and asked, "Is something the matter, my wife?"