“Mother?”

After dining, Lin Jiayue went to Jiang Mother’s Jiangxiang Courtyard. She pushed open the door to Jiang Mother’s sleeping chamber and walked in with light, careful steps.

Jiang Mother sat with her back to her inside the gauze curtains, murmuring something indistinct. Lin Jiayue stepped forward and pulled open the gauze curtain drapery, but was startled frozen by the scene before her.

In a single night, what little gray hair Jiang Mother had was now completely white. Upon her head, not half a trace of black could be found.

Lin Jiayue’s throat tightened, and the words she wanted to say were all stuck on the tip of her tongue.

After a long while, she finally said softly, “Yun Que said you haven’t taken any food or water all day. If you continue like this and ruin your health, what will we do?”

“How can I possibly eat? My Yi’er is gone, Man’er is also gone, and I can’t even bring their remains back to the capital for burial.”

“How can you expect me to eat?”

Lin Jiayue pressed her lips together, not knowing how to comfort Jiang Mother.

“Please leave. I don’t want to see anyone.”

Jiang Mother covered her face, crying ceaselessly, appearing as if she had completely lost her will to live.

“I know Mother is grieving, but you must still prioritize your health. No matter what, you must at least see your grandchild born and raise him to adulthood.”

After speaking, Lin Jiayue walked out.

Qing Wei had already gathered the steward matrons of the manor in the main hall. When Lin Jiayue emerged, everyone’s faces were filled with grief. But there were also those with impure intentions, their eyes darting around furtively, calculating who knew what.

Lin Jiayue stood before everyone, lowering her eyes and sighing.

When she first entered the marquis manor, she had greatly looked down on Song Wan’s careful, cautious manner of managing the household and fawning over those family servants. But now she could actually understand Song Wan’s painstaking efforts from those years.

Such an enormous marquis manor—ordinary people couldn’t support it, and neither could she.

Having suffered many losses, she finally recognized her own capabilities and developed some reverence for this era.

“The Imperial Consort and the Marquis…”

As soon as these words were spoken, many servants in the marquis manor began to choke with emotion. Everyone covered their faces or wept bitterly, all appearing very loyal.

“Some days ago when the court faced difficulties, the manor contributed considerable silver—everyone knows this. Now with the Marquis meeting misfortune at the Shu River, I’m afraid this marquis manor will face hardship.”

Now the marquis manor had only one legitimate male left—Jiang Ang, a son by a concubine. In this era, families without men to support them had only one path to take, and Lin Jiayue didn’t want to drag things out until that time.

The manor had many servants with various intentions. At present, they perhaps hadn’t yet developed any crooked thoughts, but given time, seeing the manor filled only with women and young children, who knew if they might commit acts of murdering their masters.

She didn’t want to take that risk, nor did she want to be on guard against these people daily.

“I’ve gathered everyone today because there’s something I want to inform you of.”

“The manor can no longer pay everyone’s monthly stipends, so I wanted to ask everyone—can you accompany the marquis manor through this difficult time?”

Qi Shun’s wife, along with Jiang Fu’s wife and the Zhou and Liang matrons, all wiped away tears and said, “Never mind just not receiving monthly stipends now—even if in the future this old servant must go out to help earn silver for the marquis manor, it would be proper.”

“We’ve been born in the marquis manor for generations, grown up in the marquis manor. At such a critical juncture, how could we kick someone when they’re down?”

“Having you say this is enough. The Marquis’s spirit in heaven will also find much comfort.”

If this were the past, they might not have been willing to speak so pleasantly with Lin Jiayue, but who told her she was carrying the Chengyang Marquis Manor’s precious treasure in her belly? If she bore a son this pregnancy, the marquis manor would belong to her and her son—who would seek discomfort at this time?

Thus, though everyone had some complaints about her, they dared not show them.

Lin Jiayue didn’t care about these things, only saying flatly, “Though you say this, the more loyal the servants, the less I can chill everyone’s hearts.”

“Speaking without fear of everyone’s laughter, the marquis manor can no longer bear such large expenses. After you return today, tell those below that if there are those who have reached the age and wish to leave the manor to marry, or elderly ones who wish to return home for retirement, they may all come find me. I will show mercy on behalf of the Old Madam and return their service contracts.”

After Lin Jiayue finished speaking, she dismissed everyone, keeping only Jiang Fu’s wife.

“I kept you today because I want you to make a trip to Pingcui Nunnery and Haitang Garden in a while.”

The marquis manor supported a bunch of nuns and theatrical performers. She had long found them distasteful, but had never had the opportunity to send them out of the manor. Now that she could make decisions, she couldn’t continue supporting these people.

“Just truthfully tell them the marquis manor’s circumstances. Those who wish to stay may do so, but they can no longer be young ladies—they can only pick up rough work in the gardens. If they agree, you may keep them. If they don’t agree, give each person two taels of silver for travel expenses and send them off.”

Jiang Fu’s wife nodded silently, but in her heart, she knew that after a hundred years of prosperity, the Chengyang Marquis Manor truly couldn’t sustain itself any longer.

Jiang Fu’s wife, along with Matron Liang and others, conveyed Lin Jiayue’s meaning. Those maids, servants, and even elderly matrons were all quite dismissive. But after the marquis manor truly couldn’t pay monthly stipends and reduced the meal allowances and provisions for both masters and servants, everyone finally realized Lin Jiayue’s words were not false.

At this point, people began seeking her out one after another to retrieve their service contracts and voluntarily leave the manor.

Later, when everyone saw Lin Jiayue seal up all the uninhabited residences, and even the deceased Old Madam’s Fuhe Hall and Second Master’s Yuling Studio were not spared, they reluctantly had to admit that the marquis manor had truly reached the point where it couldn’t even maintain appearances. One by one, they all requested to leave.

“Concubine Lin, yesterday at the document room, a servant let two fellow townsmen who were on duty at the manor’s stables into the document room at night. Several of them stole some writing implements and have now been bound and thrown in the outer courtyard. How do you think this should be handled?”

“Either send them to the authorities or beat them to death on the spot. Let them choose for themselves.”

Lin Jiayue clutched her handkerchief with a solemn expression.

She knew that one day the marquis manor would experience such incidents, and she was waiting to make an example of them.

“This…”

Jiang Fu’s wife showed hesitation in her eyes.

Whether sending them to the authorities or beating them to death, neither was the way of an official household. She wanted to advise Lin Jiayue but was stopped by her.

“I know what you want to say. No need to speak.”

“Right now, if I don’t use some thunderous methods, in the future those unruly slaves will climb on top of the manor’s masters. The marquis manor is different from before—you mustn’t be soft-hearted.”

Jiang Fu’s wife was awed by the威严 in her eyes, actually seeing for the first time some bearing of a managing mistress in her.

She nodded hesitantly and hurried off to handle this matter.

Though the Chengyang Marquis Manor occasionally had some disturbances, under Lin Jiayue’s personal management—wielding both grace and威严—it remained relatively stable.

Several months passed. Jiang Mother still locked herself in her room daily without taking a step out. Concubine Zheng also kept Jiang Ang confined every day, not letting him go before Lin Jiayue. Lin Jiayue knew her intentions but was now too lazy to bother, only because she had reached her time and was about to give birth.

Before her due date, she entered the palace to see Song Wan.

Song Wan’s health had now mostly recovered, returning to her formerly rosy complexion, though she was more silent and reticent than before.

As soon as Lin Jiayue saw her, she frowned and asked, “Looking at your complexion, it’s not too good. Has there been some change in the border war situation?”

“I’ve been busy with trivial matters at the manor during this period and haven’t paid attention to the war. If there’s anything, tell me about it.”

She picked up a piece of pastry and put it in her mouth, murmuring softly, “We’ve been fighting Prince Ning for three or four months now. How is it we still haven’t reached a resolution?”