Soon, a fragrant breeze wafted in. Three concubines, followed by numerous maids and old servants, filed in one by one. Even Zhao Luoning was stunned.
In this room, there were beauties of all shapes and sizes, each with her own unique charm.
Ji Shisu really has good luck with women!
"I'm Nan Shuang. I pay my respects to the second young mistress."
Although concubines enjoyed good material benefits, their status might be even lower than that of a personal maid like Caixue. So in front of a proper mistress like Zhao Luoning, they could only refer to themselves as "this humble girl".
The first one to step forward must be the first concubine. Zhao Luoning nodded with a smile, sizing up this woman with proper makeup and demeanor.
Not to be outdone, the second concubine quickly stepped forward.
"I'm Chu Liu. I pay my respects to the second young mistress."
Compared with the first concubine, this second concubine was much more coquettish. She had a plump figure and walked like a willow swaying in the wind. Her voice was so tender that it seemed to drip water, which gave Zhao Luoning goosebumps.
Zhao Luoning turned her head and glanced at Ji Shisu. She found that he was no better off, with goosebumps all over his body too.
Serves him right. He asked for it.
Zhao Luoning smiled and then looked at the youngest and most favored concubine, Lv Qu, who had just had a miscarriage some time ago and hadn't had the chance to pay her respects yet.
Seeing Zhao Luoning looking at her, Lv Qu stepped forward to pay her respects.
Different from the previous two, Lv Qu's attitude was neither humble nor overbearing because of her favor. She was calm, as if everything had nothing to do with her.
Maybe it was because she had just lost her child and was disheartened.
Zhao Luoning felt pity for Lv Qu when she saw her like this.
They were all women and lived under the same roof. It was already a kind of fate.
She asked with concern, "Lv Qu, are you feeling better?"
Ji Shisu looked at Zhao Luoning, not understanding why she suddenly asked about Lv Qu's health. Was she rubbing salt into Lv Qu's wound?
Ji Shisu had grown up in a big mansion and was used to the intrigues and deceptions.
So he was used to thinking the worst of people.
But at this moment, he couldn't help but start to doubt himself.
Zhao Luoning didn't seem to be such a person. He'd better just wait and see.
Lv Qu, who was being questioned, was also a little stunned and said,
"Thank you, second young mistress, for your concern. I'm fine now."
Zhao Luoning said with a smile,
"I've been busy recently and haven't had the chance to visit you. I've told the accountant to increase your monthly allowance for six months. Don't treat yourself badly."
As soon as they heard about the increase in the monthly allowance, everyone's expressions became very intriguing.
Chen Chu Liu couldn't hold back the most. She stepped forward and coquettishly said to Ji Shisu,
"Master, we all serve you. You can't be partial!"
Zhao Luoning rolled her eyes secretly and said, "It's not that Master is being partial. The increased monthly allowance for Lv Qu is from my own account."
Hearing this, Chen Chu Liu didn't dare to say anything. After all, this was Zhao Luoning's own money. She could act coquettishly with Ji Shisu, but she couldn't with Zhao Luoning.
Ji Shisu felt embarrassed. He wasn't short of money. Why did Zhao Luoning have to use her own private money to make up for it?
But at the moment, he couldn't say anything. Otherwise, if everyone asked him for money, he would be exhausted dealing with them.
Zhao Luoning saw Ji Shisu's embarrassment and felt secretly happy.
Someone's backyard is going to catch fire!
With this increase in the monthly allowance, Ji Shisu would have to comfort the concubines in each room. Finally, she didn't have to be forced to serve him in bed and could have a few peaceful days.
Thinking of this, Zhao Luoning felt much better. She cleared her throat and ordered someone to show them to their seats. The maids then served the tea and pastries that had been prepared earlier.
"I've been married into the Ji family for some time, but I haven't had the chance to get to know all of you sisters well. It's my fault. I'll definitely find a chance to make it up to you all."
Ji Shisu felt a shiver run down his spine when he heard this.
This woman, isn't she going to do something like increasing the monthly salary again without asking first?
Zhao Luoning glanced at Ji Shisu and then said again,
"I'm not a person who sticks to old rules. You just need to come and report at the end of each month. As for the old matriarch, I'll go and talk to her myself. You don't have to worry. Husband, what do you think?"
Ji Shisu nodded. Just meeting once, Zhao Luoning had already thrown a time bomb at him. If this happened every day, he couldn't stand it.
"You can decide all the family affairs as you like."
Ji Shisu's words had already established Zhao Luoning's authority invisibly. Even if someone wanted to cause trouble, they had to consider Ji Shisu's presence.
So, it was just Zhao Luoning asking questions and everyone answering, killing time.
Everyone stayed here for half a moment, which was considered to have completed the task. Zhao Luoning pretended to invite them to stay for dinner. They all declined, which was of course great. She was more than willing to follow their wishes.
After seeing everyone off one by one, Zhao Luoning felt relaxed.
Once again, only Ji Shisu and Zhao Luoning were left in the room.
Ji Shisu said, "I'll go and talk to the old matriarch about canceling the morning greetings."
Zhao Luoning smiled and said, "Why? Are you afraid that the old matriarch won't agree if I go and talk to her, and it will tire out your beautiful concubines?"
Ji Shisu's face became a little ugly. He threw out a sentence, "Good intentions are treated like donkey liver and lungs!"
If he wasn't afraid that people would say that Zhao Luoning was being lazy by not having the concubines come to pay their respects, he wouldn't want to get involved in this mess.
However, Zhao Luoning was really happy to be lazy. Seeing that Ji Shisu had said so, she said with a smile, "Then this humble wife thanks Master for your kind intention!"
"As for the matter of increasing Lv Qu's monthly allowance, you should have discussed it with me first. They won't complain if you send her supplements, but this move is really a bit partial."
"I'm afraid Miss Lv Qu will worry that I've poisoned the supplements."
"You're overthinking. She's not such a person." At this point, Ji Shisu silently added in his heart: Neither are you.
But the thing had already happened, and it was meaningless to say more. Ji Shisu said, "I'll pay for this increase in the monthly allowance. You just don't tell others. You only have a small amount of income every month. Although you have your dowry, you can't afford to spend like this every day."
Zhao Luoning smiled. Ji Shisu didn't know that she really didn't care about this small amount of money.
The monthly allowance of the second young mistress of the Ji family was just half a day's income from the shops she managed.
She spent some money to cause trouble for Ji Shisu. It was just for fun.
However, since Ji Shisu was so "considerate", she was happy to let him be the scapegoat.
Is this what it means to be sold and still help count the money?
This Ji Shisu is quite cute in his stupidity.
Ji Shisu looked up at Zhao Luoning. She seemed to be in a good mood today, with a smile in her eyes and brows.
Actually, her eyes were quite beautiful. A strange feeling welled up in Ji Shisu's heart. He said half-jokingly, "Speaking of which, we've been married for several days, but I haven't seen your real face yet."
Hearing this, Zhao Luoning's heart skipped a beat.
What did Ji Shisu mean by this?
Could it be that he had discovered something?