A few days later, during the morning management sessions, Fifth Young Madam voluntarily invited Seventh Miss to attend. In front of all the managing matrons, she explained all of the Xu family’s written and unwritten rules to Seventh Miss.
“Grandmother and Mother are both Buddhist devotees. Every first month they worship at the temple and make vows both large and small. The yearly offerings vary accordingly—these are all settled with the temple in the twelfth month.” Fifth Young Madam didn’t hide anything about these small matters, then pointed to Lei Xianqing’s wife with a smile. “This is her responsibility. At year’s end when the Daoist ceremonies are held, if Sixth Sister-in-law hears the nuns complaining about money not arriving, you can hold her accountable.”
Seventh Miss looked at Lei Xianqing’s wife and laughed lightly, nodding. “That’s what Fifth Sister-in-law said. When the time comes, even if there are no complaints, I’ll find an excuse to scold you anyway.”
Lei Xianqing’s wife had a lively personality and was quickest to seize opportunities. She immediately laughed, “To receive Young Madam’s scolding would be our good fortune! As the men outside say, both thunder and rain are imperial grace. If Young Madam scolds us, doesn’t that mean Young Madam has us in her heart?”
Low laughter immediately sounded in the room. Even Duanwu, who was bent over writing, couldn’t help being amused by Lei Xianqing’s wife.
Fifth Young Madam glanced at Duanwu again and sighed quietly to herself.
Even her casual joking remarks—this wretched girl had to write them all down. In the future if anything happened, she could flip back and find exactly what had been said.
This way, she couldn’t employ even the smallest stratagem.
She couldn’t help turning her head, using the laughter to conceal her scrutiny as she carefully observed Seventh Miss.
Given this woman’s meticulous nature, back when Yang Shanli drank that bowl of medicine in Mingde Hall and immediately seemed on the verge of death, amid all the chaos and panic inside and out, she could still pay attention to where that bowl went. As soon as Yang Shanli died, she immediately raised suspicions and made the matter public…
With such keen observation and decisive character, how could she overlook her various machinations?
Never mind anything else—just last year when she first entered the family, after her own several shifts between hardness and softness, the next time she saw this woman, she could clearly detect a trace of probing on her face.
She had noticed something was wrong.
Once there was suspicion, investigation was inevitable. The several clues she had carefully arranged, half-hidden and half-revealed, all pointed to the account books. Just to cleverly arrange this one set of false accounts, she had delayed for over a month.
But all the effort was worthwhile. Given this woman’s nature, once she suspected irregularities in the household accounts, there was an eighty percent chance she would use it as an excuse to embarrass Fifth Branch. And according to her habit of planning thoroughly before acting, there was a fifty or sixty percent chance that before auditing with her own accountants, she would find her own confidants to review the account books in advance.
But that chest of accounts had only been in Mingde Hall for two days when she unfortunately fell ill, sleeping in bed for three or four days. Whether she had the leisure to arrange these matters was questionable. Time was also tight—autumn harvest was approaching. Perhaps she had already abandoned the idea of previewing the accounts, planning instead to improvise: if she found an opening during the audit, she’d dig deeper; if not, she’d let the matter pass?
If no problems were found during the handover audit, it would be very difficult to catch anything later.
Could she bear to give up this rare opportunity?
Fifth Young Madam immediately frowned inwardly.
Given Yang Shanli’s nature, she absolutely could!
If their positions were reversed, what couldn’t she herself give up? The heir’s position was secure for Sixth Branch. As long as she could stabilize the household, in ten or twenty years, ninety percent of the million-tael family fortune would go to Sixth Branch. She probably viewed her own schemes like watching a clown perform—treating it as entertainment.
Alas, if Yang Shanli hadn’t fallen ill during those three days, this path would have gone smoothly. She could have made her look foolish without leaving any trace.
Unfortunately, this concubine-born daughter of a secondary wife had been lucky since childhood. Thanks to her legitimate mother’s compassion, she picked up the title of legitimate daughter. Relying on her legitimate elder sister’s misfortune—dying during confinement… she schemed deeply and made a big issue of it, maneuvering herself into the Xu family to become the heir’s wife that so many legitimate daughters from prestigious families dreamed of!
Only half a year after entering the family, her mother-in-law doted on her, her husband adored her, and even her only blood brother from her natal family treasured her immensely. For just a common cold, he visited twice in three days, and precious medicinal ingredients flowed from the Grand Secretary’s mansion like water. If it weren’t for Madam Yang being unwell herself these days and inconvenient to go out, she would have come in person to visit!
When had she herself ever enjoyed such glory…
And her dowry was shockingly abundant. She heard that the ten thousand taels of family property Yang Shanli brought were also under her management—truly, different people have different fates. This plain-faced, slippery-handed concubine’s daughter just had such good luck!
Fifth Young Madam narrowed her eyes, and a rare trace of sourness rose in her heart.
A lifetime of such smooth sailing inevitably led to an unbearably smug manner.
Someone needed to teach Yang Shanli about proper boundaries in conduct!
She smiled amiably again and continued, pointing at Lei Xianqing’s wife. “Sixth Sister-in-law must already have a rough idea. Lei Xianqing’s wife usually handles errands for the female family members. Besides Grandmother and Mother, from us sisters-in-law down to the little maids wielding brooms—anyone who needs to purchase big or small items tells her, and she informs the outside purchasing agents. But this doesn’t go through our main accounts. Each branch settles with her, and she settles with the purchasing agents. I’m just letting you know, so in the future if you need to purchase anything, you can ask her too.”
This was a lucrative position. If Lei Xianqing’s wife and the old matron weren’t in-laws through their children, she couldn’t have held this position for twenty years. Seventh Miss looked at her and winked, then said seriously to Fifth Young Madam, “Fifth Sister-in-law is right, I understand. In the future if I want to purchase anything privately, I’ll certainly trouble Matron Lei!”
Actually, as a managing matriarch like her, she had countless means of connecting with the outside world and didn’t need to trouble Lei Xianqing’s wife. This service was mainly for those young ladies and chamber maids who couldn’t freely send servants out shopping. But Seventh Miss’s words clearly indicated her attitude. Lei Xianqing’s wife immediately beamed with joy, and even the old matron showed a slight smile.
“When the family has celebrations to organize, the female family’s purchasing tasks are also managed by Matron Lei.” Fifth Young Madam suddenly felt somewhat weary. She turned her head away, not looking at the eager smile on Lei Xianqing’s wife’s face, and instead glanced at several managing matrons with wooden expressions. Only then did her heart settle somewhat. “Of course, after Sixth Sister-in-law takes over the accounts, if there are any personnel changes and the two elders have no objections, just inform Shengjin’s wife. She’s currently managing the personnel roster.”
Seeing Seventh Miss nod without speaking, Fifth Young Madam felt a trace of satisfaction: when a new emperor ascends, new ministers serve. When Yang Shanli took her position, countless people would need to be installed under her. The first would be that young woman by her side who clearly specialized in personnel matters and was obviously set to compete with Shengjin’s wife for duties—this one was also an old servant from Mother-in-law’s side and by rights should be closer to Mingde Hall, yet over these months had only come to pay respects a few times.
She explained several more trivial matters to Seventh Miss. Seeing that Seventh Miss either already knew some details or was thoroughly informed, and there was nothing she didn’t know, she found the conversation rather dull and smiled. “As for other matters, others might not know, but the old matron certainly knows. I’m just giving Sixth Sister-in-law some unnecessary reminders. Seeing that you have everything in hand, I can relax.”
But Seventh Miss rarely smiled sincerely at Fifth Young Madam. “Fifth Sister-in-law, that’s not right. In families like ours, everything is about stability. Naturally, the same applies to changing household management. The more you tell me, the smoother things will be when I take over in a few days. Everyone helping each other this way, passing things along smoothly and steadily—that’s the greatest good. Your careful instructions show how much you care for me. Worthy of being a daughter from a prestigious family, conducting yourself openly and honorably—it truly earns this younger sister’s heartfelt admiration.”
Though her words were gentle, she had never before praised anyone at such length. These words, spoken so sincerely, made the listener feel as warm as having a hot towel pressed to their face. All the matrons showed expressions of admiration and competed to praise: “Such harmony between sisters-in-law truly warms the heart to see.”
“Not to presume on my age, but seeing the two young madams so filial and harmonious, even we servants feel good about it.”
But Fifth Young Madam paused almost imperceptibly, sighing irritably to herself before showing an amiable smile. “Sixth Sister-in-law is being too polite. Honestly, managing the household is no easy task. Working hard all year long, I’m truly exhausted. Teaching you like this, I actually have no good intentions—I’m hoping you’ll take over the household duties soon so I can be free of all concerns and enjoy my leisure!”
Their eyes met, and she carefully scrutinized Seventh Miss’s expression again.
Seventh Miss’s lips held a smile, her eyes were calm as still water, and her expression truly contained a trace of gratitude, as if she had spoken from her heart. She seemed somewhat grateful that Fifth Young Madam was kindly teaching her so the household duties could transition smoothly.
If she was focused on maintaining stability, she might not investigate deeply. Would all her careful calculations thus come to nothing?
No! With this woman’s methods and her position as heir’s wife, every additional day she managed in the mansion, her position grew more secure. She could afford to wait for stability—she liked waiting. But for herself, every day of delay meant losing advantage. Retreating now might mean no foothold in the future.
Since this path was blocked, she could only take the other route.
Fifth Young Madam smiled warmly at Seventh Miss and patted her hand. “Fifth Sister-in-law speaks from the heart. Don’t laugh at me, Sixth Sister-in-law—I couldn’t be more eager to stop managing these household troubles. Your taking over the household duties would be the best thing possible.”
#
Seventh Miss smiled as she left Leshan Residence, pulling Fifth Young Madam’s hand and reluctantly saying a few more words before heading toward Mingde Hall with Zhongyuan and Duanwu.
As soon as she turned around, her face fell. She couldn’t help reaching up to touch the corners of her mouth.
“My face is getting stiff from smiling so much,” she muttered quietly to the two maids.
Zhongyuan and Duanwu both had livelier personalities. Hearing Seventh Miss say this, they couldn’t help laughing together.
“Fifth Young Madam too—her face carries that shallow smile from morning to night. People who don’t know might think someone’s holding up her mouth with strings.” Duanwu looked back at Fifth Young Madam’s retreating figure and clicked her tongue. “I don’t know if this servant saw wrong, but somehow I feel Fifth Young Madam…”
She was about to continue when Seventh Miss and Zhongyuan simultaneously glanced at her. Duanwu immediately knew her mistake and snapped her mouth shut, not daring to say more. Only after entering Mingde Hall did she breathe a sigh of relief. “I almost caused trouble for Young Madam!”
Seventh Miss couldn’t help laughing. She waved her hand casually. “You still need to be mindful of the setting when speaking—what were you saying about Fifth Sister-in-law just now?”
Only then did Duanwu roll her eyes around. “This servant felt that these past few days, Fifth Young Madam seems somewhat uncomfortable. Though her movements remain elegant, when no one’s around, she shows traces of irritation on her face that’s rather frightening to see.”
Seventh Miss couldn’t help pondering for a moment before laughing lightly with pleasure.
Though Duanwu was sometimes frivolous, she was excellent at reading expressions.
It seemed her performance had indeed fooled Fifth Young Madam.
She nodded and reminded Duanwu, “Don’t speak carelessly about this. If others knew, they’d think we were gossiping about Fifth Sister-in-law!”
Saying Fifth Young Madam was in a bad mood was equivalent to saying she was distressed about transferring management authority. Coming from Sixth Branch, such words would seem particularly mean-spirited. Duanwu quickly covered her mouth and nodded seriously before laughing. “Sister Lixia and Sister Shangyuan are both on rotation today. Zhongyuan and I are serving meals. What would Young Madam like to eat? We’ll tell the small kitchen!”
Seventh Miss tilted her head to think, somewhat surprised herself. “I actually want to eat Huadiao wine-braised Jinhua ham!”
Not only she herself, but Zhongyuan and Duanwu were astonished. “Young Madam rarely wants to eat meat!”
Since childhood, Seventh Miss had a poor appetite. She always needed coaxing to eat most of a bowl of rice, and mostly picked at vegetables, taking only a bite or two of meat before stopping, finding it too greasy. Even after marriage with her own small kitchen, where she mandated using only vegetable oil for cooking, she still found it difficult to eat much meat. Quan Zhongbai and Dr. Zhong had both advised her to eat more meat for nourishment, but she couldn’t tolerate rich food, so the matter was continuously shelved. Therefore, today when Seventh Miss actually wanted to eat meat, everyone found it remarkable. That evening, as Zhongyuan set out dishes, she even told Xu Fengjia, “Young Madam ate a full four pieces of Jinhua ham at lunch today, each piece more than an inch square!”
Seventh Miss was greatly embarrassed. “The one time I’m greedy, you all catch me at it and treat it as something rare to gossip about everywhere.”
But Xu Fengjia was also very pleased. He slapped the table. “Jinhua ham is easily obtained. If you enjoy it, tomorrow I’ll write to the garrison commander in Jinhua—getting a hundred or two hundred pounds of the finest quality is no problem. But I’m afraid you’ll tire of it. Another day, why not try our capital’s famous clear-sauce meat instead?”
Seventh Miss’s heart stirred. “Speaking of which, last time some minor official from somewhere presented several blocks of someone’s clear-sauce meat as tribute. I heard Fourth Young Master and Fifth Young Master ate it with great relish, but they got mouth sores afterward. We don’t dare serve it regularly, but since you mentioned it, let’s give the children a treat too.”
“This happened?” Xu Fengjia raised his eyebrows. “Interesting. This sounds like Fifth Sister. When we were little, we all loved clear-sauce meat, but Seventh Brother and Fifth Sister would get mouth blisters after eating it. Yet the more it happened, the more they wanted to eat it!”
The two chatted and laughed while eating. In her momentary inattention, Seventh Miss actually ate several pieces of mutton that Xu Fengjia opportunistically placed in her bowl.
After the meal, Seventh Miss indeed did no more work. She only played several rounds of double sixes with Xu Fengjia, chatted briefly, then lay down with eyes closed to rest. The young general naturally fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. She closed her eyes and hypnotically repeated “sleep now” countless times in her mind until she finally dozed off in a daze.
At the end of the seventh month, Second Young Madam sent someone to deliver an invitation to Seventh Miss, requesting her to visit Duke Dingguo’s mansion.