Rebirth: So what if my husband is a little crazy? He loves me.

Chapter 84 My Husband Can Be Shy

"Why are the amounts in this ledger so large? Where are these accounts from?" Shen Li saw an open ledger, picked it up, and wanted to look at the cover.

“The farms in various places sold their grain recently, and the shops are only a few dozen short of making their profits.” Gu Chang’an looked at her and smiled: “Ah Li, do you look unfamiliar?”

Shen Li then saw the cover page, which read 'Shen Family Dowry'.

She paused, then looked at him: "So you've been in charge of all this all along?"

“It’s managed by the accountants who came with you when you married into the family. But there’s always a risk if these things aren’t handled by them, so they often take a look at them.” Gu Chang’an said, handing over another book: “This one belongs to our family. A-Li can take a look at it.”

Hearing these expressions, Shen Li couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. In her previous life, she had never been exposed to these things. She only occasionally heard the accountant say a few words and roughly knew that her money was increasing, but she knew nothing else.

It turns out that Gu Chang'an personally managed her estate and shops, which was getting better and better, since he could even manage the nation's finances.

She, a woman with nothing to do, never had to worry about these things in her life, which must have been a bit unfair to him.

"How about I take care of it?" Shen Li took the book from the Gu family and said apologetically, "You've been working hard outside all day long, which is already tiring enough."

Although she doesn't know how, she shouldn't be too stupid; with a little more effort, she'll be able to learn.

“Logically, the accounting should be left to Madam, but the mundane affairs are tedious, and you don’t like them.” Gu Chang’an shook his head slightly as he spoke: “I’ll do it. You can do what you like.”

“But I like those things, and they can’t take away the burden on your shoulders.” Shen Li looked at his thin body under his white clothes and felt a pang of sadness thinking about the heavy responsibility that body carried.

Gu Chang'an shook his head slightly, his smile gentle: "If a man needs his wife to share even such small things, he is probably not suitable for marriage."

"Then what does my husband say is the purpose of marrying a wife?" Seeing his serious expression, Shen Li leaned closer to tease him, half of her body leaning across the table, and was about to kiss him if she moved a little closer.

Gu Chang'an paused for a moment, looking at her darting black eyes. Not wanting her to succeed, he reached out and flicked her nose. "You're so naughty."

Shen Li wondered how he was going to react, but he just touched her so lightly, it was so cute how cowardly he was.

"The elders all say that the most important thing in a marriage is to have children to carry on the family line," Shen Li said with a sly smile. "What do you think, my husband?"

"A girl shouldn't be so shameless." Gu Chang'an poked her forehead with his finger.

Shen Li laughed happily: "My husband is quite shy, his neck is all red."

“Ah Li…”

"Let me see if it's red below the neck?" Shen Li said, running around the table to the other side of the bed.

"Ah Li...no...it hurts..."

In the end, Shen Li still couldn't snatch the accounting duties from Gu Chang'an. After thinking about it carefully, she realized that she probably couldn't manage it well anyway, so all she could do was stay by his side while he was handling official business.

A few days later, she was drawing at the table while Gu Chang'an handled official business opposite her. The only difference from before was that they had changed to a larger table.

Gu Chang'an was indeed very measured in his actions, and his injuries were gradually healing. At home, in addition to handling official business, he was also making plans for after court.

It's time to crack down hard on all localities.

"My lord, when do you plan to present your plan to His Majesty?" Shen Li asked during her rest.

Gu Chang'an, who was writing furiously, stopped writing as soon as he heard Shen Li speak and replied without hesitation:

"After I have recovered enough to handle government affairs, I request Your Majesty to send censors to various prefectures to thoroughly investigate the tax situation. If they can find anything, great; if not, it will serve as a warning to others."

Shen Li was originally quite serious, but upon hearing such a long string of words, she suddenly wanted to laugh. She had only asked one question, yet she received such a long response.

Her husband seems to be able to hide anything and doesn't seem to have any guile.

"Did I say too much?" Gu Chang'an began to reflect when he saw her laughing. "Does A-Li not want to hear it?"

Worried that he might misunderstand, Shen Li quickly shook her head: "No, I just have an idea, husband, would you mind listening to it?"

"Okay." Gu Chang'an nodded three times and put down his pen.

"Why don't you present this to His Majesty now, my lord? His Majesty will surely investigate in his anger. Why wait until you return to court?"

Gu Chang'an thought about this for a moment, but he didn't hide his thoughts from Shen Li, so he said what he thought: "It would be more effective for the Censor to be assisted by the Ministry of Revenue. You should know this, Shen Li. What do you want to do?"

Faced with his questioning gaze, Shen Li nodded seriously: "Whether it's dealing with people or making money, my husband doesn't need to be at the forefront."

Gu Chang'an understood, but he was a little confused. Wasn't A-Li always devoted to serving the country? How come she was now playing mind games with the person sitting at the dragon table?

"Didn't I mention that I had a dream?" Shen Li took a breath, her emotions particularly turbulent as she spoke.

Gu Chang'an nodded: "I remember, A-Li dreamed about me."

He was happy about this for a long time.

“In my dream, a sister told me that as long as you live, you should plan for yourself. There is no one you can always trust, and no one is worth risking your life for. You must leave yourself a way out.”

Shen Li thought of her sister who had been sold to bandits by her family, and a wave of sorrow washed over her.

Gu Chang'an sensed her sadness and quickly took her hand, whispering, "Ah Li, I'll listen to you. Don't think about those unhappy things anymore."

Shen Li sniffed and nodded.

"I haven't been working for anyone, it's just that reputation isn't important to me." Gu Chang'an said sincerely and guiltily, "I was inconsiderate. Even if I don't care about myself, I should at least care about you, A-Li."

Shen Li was still recovering from her sadness when she heard this and was stunned. Did she mean that?

“But Ah Li is wrong. There are still people in this world worth risking my life for.” He looked at her, his gaze firm.

Looking into those sincere eyes, Shen Li almost instinctively said, "I have one too, for you."

Gu Chang'an smiled, a clear and bright smile, as if he had thought of all the happy things in his life and didn't know how to be happy for a moment.

Although he was extremely reluctant to let Ah Li risk her life for him, hearing these words made him feel like the happiest person in the world.

He did as Shen Li said almost without thinking, and that same day he submitted a memorial to Emperor Cheng. Emperor Cheng had already had this idea, so they agreed immediately and entrusted the matter to the Censorate.

Emperor Cheng didn't think there was any difference in handing the matter over to the Ministry of Revenue and the Censorate. But the problem was that three days ago, the palace caught fire again, this time not in the inner palace but in the outer court.

The fire broke out in the alchemy room where the Taoist priests were refining elixirs. Upon seeing this, the censors submitted memorials one after another, accusing the Taoist priests of spreading heresy and misleading the emperor. They also accused His Majesty of being a laughing stock in his obsession with alchemy, saying that if things continued this way, the upper beam would be crooked and the lower beam would be crooked as well.

Emperor Cheng was furious. He was already anxious because of the repeated fires in the palace. Upon hearing the censors' words, he immediately ordered them to be severely punished with caning.