I gave her a playful smack on the butt and chuckled, “Little minx, wasn’t last night’s passion enough for you?” As I spoke, I took the stack of papers from her and flipped through them, only to see that each one was headed with the four big characters 昌荣皇庄. Below that, there were numbers written in large script—ten thousand taels, eight thousand taels, and so on.

What a mess is this? Could these be IOUs? That guy Henry Wood—he’d better not have landed me in a mountain of debt. I frowned. Suddenly, realization dawned on me, and I slapped my forehead, exclaiming, “They’re banknotes!”

“Even His Majesty likes to stash away some private money. If the Empress finds out, there’ll be hell to pay.” This girl Grace, at some point, had become much less in awe of me, and now dared to tease me openly.

“Little girl, could it be you’re a spy sent by the Empress?” I grinned wickedly and reached out to give her a playful punishment until she couldn’t take it and begged for mercy. Only then did I say, with righteous dignity, “I’m human too, after all. It’s better to have some private money than none at all.” Inwardly, I mocked that idiot—hiding private money and only knowing to stash it under the mattress.

I did a rough count—there were about three hundred thousand taels. But honestly, I had no concept of how much these banknotes were actually worth.

Just then, Brian Bolton came by early in the morning to pay his respects. Normally, a bodyguard with a sword wouldn’t need to do this, but I figured the kid just wanted more opportunities to interact with me. After all, that’s a way to get promoted and make a fortune. I remembered that in my time, many colleagues were eager to get close to the boss, and most of them got promoted quickly. My own stubbornness usually couldn’t stand that sort of thing, which is probably why I didn’t do as well.

“Brian Bolton, you’re just in time.” I decided not to bother with all the formal titles and just called his name, which felt more friendly. I casually handed him a banknote for ten thousand taels. “This is a reward from me to you. You’ve worked hard these past few days.”

Brian Bolton hurriedly knelt down to refuse, but when I put on a stern face and forced it on him, he finally accepted it. After a quick glance, he cried out in shock, “T-ten thousand taels?”

Seeing his exaggerated reaction, I realized that a ten-thousand-tael banknote must be quite valuable. So I asked curiously, “Brian Bolton, what’s your usual salary?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty, when I was a fourth-rank bodyguard, my salary was one hundred taels of silver, thirty shi of grain, and two bolts of silk.” Brian Bolton did a quick calculation. “If I go by the current first-rank bodyguard standard, it should be three hundred taels of silver, one hundred shi of grain, and ten bolts of silk. However, the first-rank bodyguard position still needs to be officially confirmed by the Ministry of Personnel after we return to the palace.”

“Is that an annual salary or a monthly salary?” I asked offhandedly.

Brian Bolton was taken aback, a bit confused, and replied, “Your Majesty, what is a monthly salary? What is an annual salary?”

I realized that such terms weren’t used in this era, so I explained, “I mean, is that amount given every month, or every year?”

Brian Bolton looked a bit helpless, but still answered respectfully, “Reporting to Your Majesty, it’s given once a year.”

No wonder—a first-rank bodyguard’s annual salary is three hundred taels. And here I was, rewarding him with thirty years’ worth of salary in one go. No wonder he was so shocked.

“Let me ask you,” I continued, “if you had one hundred taels, how long could your family live an ordinary life on that?”

Brian Bolton lowered his head and thought for a moment before answering, “A little over two years, I suppose. My family is quite large, with more than ten people. Of course, we live fairly well, and our annual expenses are about three hundred taels.”

Damn, so silver is worth that much? A reward of ten thousand taels could let an ordinary family live comfortably for a lifetime.

“Your Majesty, this reward is really too much. Please take it back.” Brian Bolton respectfully handed the banknote back to me—this kid really knew how to read the room.

Of course, the money wasn’t really mine, so I didn’t feel any pain about it. Since it was a reward, there was no reason to take it back. I decided to keep up the generous act and drew out another ten-thousand-tael banknote, handing it to him in a low voice: “Take this as well, and use it to win over some trusted men for me.”

This time, Brian Bolton didn’t hesitate. He immediately accepted the money and said respectfully, “With these twenty thousand taels from Your Majesty, I can guarantee that all the imperial bodyguards will be absolutely loyal to you.”

This kid—I really couldn’t help but like him. Judging by his look, he was probably planning to use even his own ten-thousand-tael note to win people over. I stepped forward and helped the kneeling Brian Bolton up. “Brian Bolton, I won’t treat you unfairly.”

Brian Bolton said nothing, but his eyes were full of excitement.

Suddenly, Brian Bolton seemed to remember something and said, “Your Majesty, after the incident at Jade Emperor Peak last time, a few brothers searching the scene found some strange items. They were just handed over to me this morning. Would you like to take a look?”

Strange items? Could it be my lighter, cigarettes, or maybe that travel bag?