Just as the day was breaking, Madam Jiang arrived at Chu Yuan and instructed the maidservants: “Reserve this pavilion for me. I will be using it.”

The maidservants didn’t immediately acknowledge her command, exchanging glances with one another.

Madam Jiang grew angry: “What’s this? Can I no longer make decisions about my own family’s garden? Has this place already become Miss A-Zhao’s domain?”

One maidservant hurriedly shook her head: “No, no, that’s not it.”

Another maidservant quickly added: “We need to ask Miss A-Tang first. She’s in charge of the garden.”

Upon hearing it was A-Tang, Madam Jiang’s anger vanished completely, her face lighting up with delight: “My daughter has become so capable! Why should I worry about anything? I’ll just let my daughter arrange everything.” With that, she no longer cared about inspecting the garden and went to find Chu Tang instead.

Since returning home, Chu Tang, like Chu Zhao, no longer dined with her parents, and her reason—well, she didn’t need a reason.

She had only sighed once and said, “It’s not good for me to always stay at someone else’s home.”

Madam Jiang had embraced her lovingly: “You can stay in your courtyard without coming out. I’ll set up a small kitchen for you. You can decide what to eat and drink yourself.”

Madam Jiang hadn’t seen Chu Tang for several days and didn’t know that her daughter now had the final say in the garden’s affairs. She happily came to Chu Tang’s quarters, where Chu Tang was having breakfast. It wasn’t the quiet and lonely scene one might imagine, but rather she was surrounded by seven or eight maids and servants.

These servants weren’t just attending to her meal. Some held account books, others were speaking, creating a lively but orderly atmosphere.

The scene was truly that of someone managing household affairs. Madam Jiang exclaimed with a smile: “Miss A-Tang is busy!”

The room fell silent, and the maids and servants hurriedly bowed. Chu Tang smiled and rose to welcome her: “Mother, please come in.”

She took Madam Jiang’s hand and led her to the table to sit down.

Madam Jiang saw that the table held only simple porridge and dishes, while thick account books of different colors and markings occupied most of the space.

“What are these? Zui Xian Lou—” she said, reaching out to take one.

But Chu Tang had already spoken, urging the maids and servants: “Quickly put these away and set out the food.” Then she asked Madam Jiang, “Mother, have you eaten yet?”

Just as Madam Jiang was about to say she had, Chu Tang pouted childishly: “I haven’t had a meal with Mother for so long. Even if you’ve eaten, please keep me company.”

How could a mother ignore her daughter’s sweet pleading? Madam Jiang immediately smiled and agreed.

The maids and servants hurriedly removed the account books and laid out more food. Mother and daughter sat facing each other to eat.

“Mother, I got these from her,” Chu Tang said softly, winking at Madam Jiang.

Madam Jiang understood immediately what she meant and looked delighted: “My daughter, you’re so capable.”

“It was hard for me to persuade her,” Chu Tang feigned exhaustion. “She’s like a horse without reins now. When she gets into a frenzy, none of us will have peace.”

Madam Jiang nodded repeatedly: “I know, I know.” She picked up some food and fed it to Chu Tang, her eyes full of tenderness. “Just humor her. My daughter has suffered so much.”

Chu Tang opened her mouth with an “ah” and ate it.

“By the way, Mother, what did you want to arrange?” she asked.

Madam Jiang hesitated for a moment, then said: “Recently, many ladies from other families have sent invitations saying they want to come and see the Little Wangchun Garden literary gathering. I must accompany them and arrange a good place—”

Seeing Chu Tang frown slightly, Madam Jiang quickly changed her approach: “Of course, if it’s not convenient, we can discuss it further. I don’t want to put you in a difficult position or provoke her to make trouble and cause you distress.”

Chu Tang thought for a moment, holding her chopsticks: “How about this: when the ladies arrive, Mother can sit with them in the house, and I’ll have the garden maids relay the competitions in real-time. The chess games and calligraphy can be brought in immediately for everyone to see.”

Madam Jiang considered this option.

“The girls are now all like her, extremely arrogant and overbearing during competitions. You know Qi Leyun, right? Oh my, when she lost, she cried and almost got into a fight with her opponent—” Chu Tang said in a low voice. “The scene was truly unseemly. If the ladies and elders went, the girls would be constrained, and the competitions couldn’t proceed properly. That’s one issue. But if we offended those ladies and they blamed our Chu family for indulging this behavior, that would be another matter entirely.”

If the competitions stopped, those thick account books would no longer exist; if the ladies were offended, she, as the manager, would be resented. These matters concerned their interests, so Madam Jiang immediately nodded: “Good, good. You’ve thought it through. Let’s do as you suggest.”

Chu Tang gave a sweet smile: “Being able to relieve Mother’s worries and solve family difficulties makes me happy too.”

Madam Jiang stroked her head and sighed softly: “When faced with problems, my daughter has truly grown up.”

Seeing this scene, Chu Zhao, standing at the courtyard entrance, withdrew her gaze and turned around.

Chu Tang reported the garden’s expenses and income to her every day, and this morning she had come to see this scene.

“Miss A-Zhao,” the maid who had been stopped from announcing her arrival asked nervously, “the Madam came suddenly.”

Chu Zhao smiled at her: “It’s natural for mother and daughter to talk. I won’t disturb them. I’ll speak with A-Tang when she’s free.” With that, she walked away.

A-Le hurriedly followed, and the two walked slowly.

“Now that there are more visitors and things seem settled, the First Madam has come back to take charge,” A-Le snorted.

Chu Zhao made a sound of agreement: “It’s fine, don’t worry. A-Tang will handle it.”

A-Le noticed she seemed somewhat distracted. Not worrying didn’t mean not being upset, right? She cautiously asked: “Young Mistress, are you angry?”

Chu Zhao made a sound of surprise, coming back to herself. Seeing A-Le’s concerned expression, she smiled: “No, no.” After a moment of silence, she looked back at Chu Tang’s courtyard. “Is this what it’s like to be with a mother?”

A-Le was startled. She also looked back. So this was what was bothering her mistress—

“I don’t know. I don’t have a mother either,” A-Le said. “First Madam treats Miss A-Tang completely differently from everyone else.”

Chu Zhao made a sound of agreement: “This must be what it means to be a mother—limitless indulgence for one’s child, seeing them as perfect in every way.”

The two girls stood on the path, gazing wistfully at the courtyard, as if they could still see and hear the intimate conversation between mother and daughter, sensing the overflowing affection in Madam Jiang’s words and gestures toward her daughter.

A-Le held Chu Zhao’s hand: “Young Mistress, don’t be sad.”

Chu Zhao felt the little maid’s concern: “I’m not sad, really. I was just thinking—” she squeezed A-Le’s hand, “my mother would have treated me the same way.”

A-Le blinked, not quite understanding. Was her mistress saying that if her mother were alive, she would treat her this way?

“Yes,” A-Le nodded. “She definitely would. If my mother were still here, she would dote on me terribly. Even if I stole something, she wouldn’t beat me.”

Chu Zhao burst out laughing and tapped A-Le’s forehead with her finger: “Your mother gave you a good name. You are happy, and you bring happiness to others.”

A-Le giggled.

Chu Zhao took her hand and strode forward without looking back. She was somewhat sad, but not in that way, because she did have a mother, and in her previous life, her mother had done many things for her—

Perhaps even sacrificed her life.

What saddened her was that mother and daughter had never met in life and remained ignorant of each other in death.

In this life, she would not allow such regrets to exist again. She wanted to meet her mother, regardless of why the husband and wife did not see each other, or why the mother and daughter were separated. She needed to understand everything clearly.

As the two returned to their courtyard, Chu Tang’s maid Lingrong hurriedly approached with account books.

“Our Miss knows you came by. Don’t worry about the Madam; she will handle it,” Lingrong said, then presented the account books. “These are yesterday’s accounts, already organized. Please review them, Miss A-Zhao.”

Chu Zhao smiled and pushed the account books back: “I don’t need to see these. My heart is not in such matters. I just want to focus on my affairs. For everything else, I rely on my cousin.”

Lingrong didn’t insist further and bowed: “Miss A-Zhao, please rest assured.”

After Lingrong left, Chu Zhao was about to study the chess diagram of Qi Leyun’s lost match when a small maid peeked in from outside, calling for A-Le. A-Le hurried out and soon rushed back in.

“Young Mistress, the heir of the Zhongshan Prince has come to visit,” she said in a low voice.

Chu Zhao’s hand, holding the chess diagram, paused.