Gu Jinghui, seemingly hesitant to leave, stood by the door and asked, "By the way, what were you saying about being in a difficult situation when I just got back?"

Qin Yuan smiled and said, "No rush, my husband should go find Mr. Songshan first."

Upon hearing this, Gu Jinghui stopped moving, stood still, and turned his head to ask, "Are you really not in a hurry?"

Qin Yuan nodded and said, "There's really no rush. It's just that the price of pepper has dropped sharply recently, and I was thinking about how to settle the money for the housekeepers' gifts."

Gu Jinghui was relieved and repeatedly instructed, "Then I'm going. You eat well by yourself. I'll come back as soon as I'm done. If you're sleepy, go to bed early. We can talk about it tomorrow morning."

Qin Yuan smiled helplessly and said, "Alright, I understand. You can go now."

Gu Jinghui finally decided to leave.

Hongye came in again and whispered with a smile, "The way the Marquis is acting, it's like he's going to be gone for a long time. I'm not saying this, but it seems like after all this commotion, the Marquis and Miss are back together again, and they're even more inseparable."

Cui Ming retorted, "You talk too much. You don't even understand that you can see through things but not say them out loud."

Hongye chuckled.

Qin Yuan said to her, "The Marquis just gave you a big task to do."

"What's wrong?" Hongye couldn't help but feel nervous.

Cui Ming smiled softly, pursing her lips.

Qin Yuan said, "The Marquis is going to talk to Mr. Songshan. He asked the small kitchen to prepare some dishes that southerners like to eat and send them over. I said that Hongye has found out all of Mr. Songshan's preferences very clearly."

Hongye sighed and said, "I heard Brother Qi say a few days ago that Mr. Songshan was complaining that he had nothing to do all day in the mansion, but was kept talking about poetry by Sixth Master."

Qin Yuan couldn't help but laugh.

Hongye said, "I'll go and prepare it properly, and also get some yellow wine."

Qin Yuan nodded and said, "Anything is fine, you can decide everything."

Hongye then went off to do her own thing.

Before long, the food was ready, but Hongye absolutely refused to deliver it.

Cui Ming had no choice but to say, "Alright, I'll go deliver it."

Qin Yuan asked curiously, "What kind of strange thing is this now?"

Hongye didn't even look at her, and said, "...What strange thing could I be doing?...I just don't want to move. I've been cooped up in the small kitchen for so long, and I smell all over. I'm too lazy to change my clothes...I'm afraid of bothering the great scholar, Mr. Songshan."

Qin Yuan glanced at Hongye and said, "Is that so?"

"That's right, I'm tired and want to rest."

Hongye persists.

Cui Ming said, "Alright, alright, I'll go. Mr. Songshan is very interesting to talk to; it's good to listen for a while."

Seeing that Qin Yuan didn't ask any more questions, Hongye breathed a sigh of relief.

Cuiming, accompanied by several old women and maids, carried food boxes to the front yard.

Qin Yuan then remembered to ask Hongye, "Last time when you helped Mr. Songshan decorate the courtyard, did you hear him mention his family?"

If you want to keep a great talent like Mr. Matsuyama, you have to take good care of his family.

Hongye shook her head: "Not yet, let me ask Brother Qi first."

Qin Yuan nodded: "Keep this in mind for me. Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon, and Mr. Songshan will inevitably miss his hometown. If we can arrange things for his family and other matters as soon as possible, he will be very happy."

Hongye replied, "Yes."

After thinking for a moment, he added, "The main kitchen had been trying to make new mooncake molds, but they were put on hold for the time being due to matters at the manor. Why don't we get them to start making them again? Otherwise, we might not have good mooncakes to give as gifts for the Mid-Autumn Festival."

Qin Yuan nodded: "One thing after another, we need to arrange the gifts for all the visits. If we wait until after the funeral to take care of these things, it may be too late."

The two then discussed a few more things.

Qin Yuan asked, "These past few days, have you been observing who has benefited from your services?"

Hongye said, "I looked at some people before, but after talking to Hongmian and Mozhu, I felt they weren't quite right. Now it seems that none of them are as good as Manager Qian. However, there is a good candidate for the position of Accountant Sun."

Qin Yuan raised her eyebrows and asked, "What do you think?"

Hongye said, "Gu Shiliu mentioned this person before. Steward Han and Steward Cao both said he was a good match. He is an accountant under Accountant Sun, in charge of the accounts. His surname is Wan. He is also a servant in the manor. His ancestors served in the army and managed money and provisions. He was originally going to go to the northern frontier with the Marquis, but he was weak and had been suffering from illnesses. He only recovered a couple of years ago and entered the manor to manage the accounts, working under Accountant Sun."

Qin Yuan said, "Speaking of which, he comes from a family with a long tradition of learning."

Hongye nodded: "The old women all say in private that he is extremely filial to his mother. Because of his poor health, he didn't want to be a burden to others, so he never married. A few years ago, his brother passed away, and his sister-in-law couldn't stay and remarried. So he took his nephews and nieces with him to raise. He must be a good person."

All that's left is the ability to manage accounts.

There's no way to judge these red leaves.

Qin Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Then let's gather all the accountants who are responsible for the profit sharing in one place another day and let them have a competition."

Hongye looked at Qin Yuan with admiration: "Is Miss going to give them a test?"

“Yes, in the next couple of days,” Qin Yuan said. “Once the accountant and the steward of the inner courtyard are all settled, I can save a lot of trouble. The Marquis also wants to entrust me with the management of his private property, and I also need to take care of his own dowry shop. Fortunately, I have Shen Chang Le to rely on, otherwise I wouldn’t have time to work on any poetry collections.”

Just then, Cuiming returned and said with a smile, "Miss, the Marquis invites you to dine with him."

Qin Yuan asked in surprise, "Why do I have to go again?"

Cui Ming laughed heartily: "That's right. Mr. Songshan said that three cobblers are equal to one Zhuge Liang, but he and the Marquis together are only two."

Even the red leaves are smiling.

Qin Yuan: "..."

Cui Ming barely managed to suppress her laughter and said, "But Sixth Master Gu happens to be sitting there too."

Hongye also giggled.

Qin Yuan smiled and shook her head: "It's good that Sixth Master is here. We can discuss that account and talk about the Xu family's affairs. We don't need to avoid Mr. Songshan about these things."

Cui Ming said, "Perhaps the Marquis is also thinking about this."

Hongye then said, "Why don't you also take this opportunity to ask Mr. Songshan about his family?"

Qin Yuan said, "I understand. Or perhaps you still don't want to come with me to the front yard?"

Hongye hesitated for a moment, but still said, "How about I sort out the Mid-Autumn Festival list in the room today? Besides, Hongmian and Mozhu have carefully checked the items and accounts, and I still need to verify them."

Qin Yuan knew that it was probably Lord Gu who had mentioned Sixteen things to Hongye, so she nodded and said, "Since you're tired from walking around these past few days, you should rest."

Then he asked Cuiming, "Are you going to stay in Wutong Garden too?"

Cui Ming shook her head and said, "I stay in the sewing room all day busy with needlework, so it's nothing."

Qin Yuan then took Cui Ming to the front yard.

On the way, he asked, "Why didn't the Marquis go to Mr. Songshan's courtyard to discuss matters?"

Cui Ming said, "Shen Chang Le went to find Sixth Master to talk about the carving, and just then he ran into Mr. Song Shan commenting on Sixth Master's poem. The three of them talked for a long time. The Marquis arrived later and they were talking in the front yard. When I delivered the vegetables, I ran into Shen Chang Le. He was overjoyed, as if he was about to become rich. He stopped me and talked for a long time."