“Does Concubine mean that Sister Huai Su cannot be trusted?”

Lin Jiayue shook her head: “Right now she wants to curry favor with me, so what she says must naturally be true. But as for how things will be in the future, that’s hard to say.”

After making a bowl of ice cream that little girls loved for Qian Bi, Lin Jiayue carefully pondered over Huai Su’s words.

Previously, she had made a fool of herself time and again because she didn’t understand the current rules, proprieties, customs, and habits. She hadn’t realized how important those elaborate ceremonies were to these people, which was why she had repeatedly made mistakes in this regard.

Although Lin Jiayue felt that both Song Wan and Huai Su were somewhat hypocritical in their pretenses, she had to admit that “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” was correct.

“Today, help me sew a pouch and put some broken silver in it. Also, prepare one for yourself and put some copper coins or the like inside.”

Qian Bi blinked: “How much silver should I put in?”

“Just put three to five taels each day.”

Qian Bi looked somewhat troubled: “But Concubine, there isn’t much silver left in your cosmetics box.”

“How is that possible?”

Lin Jiayue opened the cosmetics box that held valuable items, only to see a few lonely broken silver ingots lying inside, no more than fifty or sixty taels worth.

“Concubine only receives one tael of monthly allowance. Previously, the cosmetics box did have some silver, but during this period you’ve been playing cards with the Old Madam. After just a few days, it’s long since been emptied.”

Lin Jiayue frowned deeply, feeling somewhat uncomfortable in her heart.

Since arriving at the marquis’s residence, her clothing, food, and expenses had all been distributed by the marquis’s household. Moreover, she had been confined to the rear courtyard the entire time, never leaving since she entered, so naturally she’d forgotten the importance of silver since there was nowhere to spend money.

The silver in the box now, along with that bag of golden beans, was what Jiang Xingjian had given her when she first entered the residence. She had never rewarded servants before. Earlier, when she saw Huai Su was strapped for cash, she had generously grabbed a large handful of golden beans to give her, simply because she felt there was no need to use silver in the marquis’s residence.

“If I’d known, I would have grabbed less earlier.”

Lin Jiayue bit her lip, feeling increasingly uncomfortable in her heart.

She’d been busy day and night helping the marquis’s household, opening both a cosmetics shop and an ice shop. The profitable silver flowed like water daily into the public accounts, yet she ended up without a single penny to her name?

“No, I must open a few shops for myself as well.”

Qian Bi said: “How would Concubine open shops? This servant has never heard of women opening shops.”

“Why can’t women open shops?”

Qian Bi nodded: “Opening a shop requires writing contracts. How could women write contracts?”

Lin Jiayue didn’t understand: “Why can’t women write contracts?”

After thinking for a long while, Qian Bi said with confusion in her eyes: “This servant doesn’t know why either. Perhaps the law doesn’t permit it. Otherwise, should this servant fetch a stewardess from the outer courtyard for Concubine to ask?”

Lin Jiayue nodded. Qian Bi quickly brought back a middle-aged woman wearing an indigo-colored silk garment.

“Earlier Qian Bi said women cannot open shops. Is there such a thing?”

The woman smiled: “Indeed there is such a thing.”

“Women must follow their fathers at home and their husbands after marriage. They cannot have private wealth, and moreover, women shouldn’t show their faces in public. How could they be involved in merchant affairs? The only private wealth women can possess is their dowry. Although ordinary dowries include some estates and shops, most are registered under the manager’s name.”

“These managers are all house-born servants, or their contracts are held in the master’s hands, so it’s considered safe.”

Lin Jiayue bit her lip, feeling increasingly stifled.

Dowry…

Of course she didn’t have such a thing. She was a concubine!

“Besides dowry, is there no other way for women to establish property?”

“There is one way. If one goes to the yamen and registers as a female household head, one can also engage in commerce. But this female household head status requires having no men in the family—that is, widows without husbands or sons.”

“…”

Lin Jiayue’s delicate eyebrows furrowed tightly.

“So you’re saying that if I want private property, there’s no way at all?”

The woman looked shocked: “What is Concubine saying? How could women have private property? Women hiding private savings is equivalent to theft and is one of the seven grounds for divorce, let alone mentioning private property or shops.”

No wonder those inner courtyard women fought tooth and nail for the power of household management. Without some family assets or dowry, how could one survive in the rear courtyard?

The more Lin Jiayue thought about it, the angrier she became. The ice shop and cosmetics shop had already been handed over—how could she get them back?

The silver went directly into the public accounts. Even Jiang Xingjian couldn’t spend a penny of it, let alone her.

With a slap, Lin Jiayue struck the table: “This household management authority—it seems I must fight for it whether I want to or not!”

After thinking it over, she took the bag of golden beans and led Qian Bi to find someone in the residence to exchange them for silver.

Over the next few days, Lin Jiayue completely changed her style of conduct. She managed relationships with people above and below very thoroughly. When paying respects to Madam Jiang, she constantly kept in mind the proper etiquette and conduct that Nanny Li had taught her.

After pretending for just five or six days, Madam Jiang happily handed over the household management authority of the marquis’s residence to her at the mahjong table.

“In the past, I wrongly blamed you, thinking you didn’t handle affairs properly.”

Happily receiving silver from Lin Jiayue’s hands, Madam Jiang looked at the full harvest in her drawer and smiled from ear to ear.

“Yuanyang, bring out those bolts of gauze that the palace bestowed last year, and let Concubine Lin and Huai Su carefully select from them.”

Casually grabbing a handful of broken silver from the small drawer, Madam Jiang was in high spirits as she rewarded the maids in the room.

This silver meant nothing to her at all. Even if multiplied by a hundred or a thousand times, it couldn’t buy half a bolt of the soft gauze she was bestowing on the two of them.

But what was won from someone else’s hands brought joy to one’s heart, far exceeding its actual value.

“Thank you for the reward, Madam. With Madam’s cards going smoothly and luck running high, Jiayue won’t be polite with you.”

Generously selecting a bolt she liked, Lin Jiayue then pulled Huai Su to also choose one. As the two walked out of Jiangxiang Courtyard holding the fabric, she suddenly asked: “What are your plans for this cloth?”

Huai Su shook her head: “But does Concubine Lin want to do something?”

Handing the bolt of cloth in her hands to Lin Jiayue, Huai Su said: “If Concubine Lin likes it, please take it.”

“Then I won’t be polite with you.”

Lin Jiayue didn’t explain further and also took the bolt from Huai Su’s hands.

The next day at noon, she brought two sets of nearly identical long dresses to Huai Su’s room: “Yesterday I had Qian Bi send them to the residence’s embroidery room to be made into dresses. Come see which one you like?”

Huai Su looked at the trailing dresses and froze. Under Lin Jiayue’s constant urging, she casually selected one set.

The two changed behind the screen. Lin Jiayue smiled: “They really are beautiful. Why don’t we wear them to show Madam and make her happy too?”

Before Huai Su could refuse, Lin Jiayue pulled her out of the room.

Just as they left Xiuyan Pavilion, in Lanting Courtyard the two ran into Song Wan, who was picking balsam flowers with Heng Zhi and Heng Wu, preparing to dye her nails.

Song Wan raised her eyes to look at the two dressed identically, curving her lips in a slight smile. Huai Su, however, lost all color from her face and lowered her head, her small face turning pale.

Lin Jiayue glanced at her and said to Song Wan with a beaming smile: “First Young Madam is in such good spirits. I wonder if you’ll be busy later? Yesterday Madam handed the household management authority over to me. There are many things I don’t understand, so I really must consult you more.”

Withdrawing her gaze, Song Wan said warmly: “I’m not busy. I await you at any time.”