Chapter 58 A Messy Debt
Everyone looked at the Third Aunt.
When the third aunt saw that everyone was looking at her, she noticed that she was wearing a crimson jacket embroidered with gold-threaded floral patterns, and her light purple skirt revealed shoes with bright green embroidered with large floral patterns.
The third aunt felt her face burning. She hadn't even thought about coming to pay respects, so she hadn't paid any attention to her attire. When she saw everyone looking at her with ambiguous expressions, she became even more furious and turned around to slap the old woman following behind her.
He cursed, "You blind fool! You knew we came here to pay our respects, why didn't you remind me to change my clothes? Now I'm being misunderstood."
The old woman covered her face in frustration, not daring to utter a sound.
Madam Ning sighed and said, "Alright, the next round of rituals is about to begin. You should go back and change your clothes before coming back, dear lady."
Having said that, he ignored the Third Aunt and went to call the masters to begin the ritual.
The third aunt wanted to say something more, but her son Yang Yong forcibly pulled her away from the front yard. Only after they entered the second gate and returned to their courtyard did Yang Yong release his mother.
The third aunt shook off her son's hand and said angrily, "Why did you drag me back? Your eldest aunt is doing something unethical. I'm going to embarrass her in front of everyone."
Yang Yong rarely spoke angrily to his third aunt, saying, "Are you making my eldest aunt lose face? You're making us lose face."
Third Aunt slapped him across the face: "What nonsense are you talking about? You think you're all grown up now and dare to talk to your old mother like that?"
Yang Yong raised his hand to touch his cheek where he had been hit, and then advised, "Mother, let's go back. No matter how nice Uncle's family is, they are not our Yang family. We can't have our whole family living here forever."
My aunt has always been kind and never complained. Our family has never been shortchanged in terms of food, drink, or other necessities. Yet, my mother keeps asking for this and that. I'm too ashamed to stay any longer.”
The third aunt was so angry that she slapped her again: "What's shameful about me living in my own parents' house? If you want to go back, go back by yourself, you spineless thing!"
After saying that, she ignored her son and went back to her room.
He thought bitterly to himself: This isn't over yet!
After spending half a day at Songbai Hall, when it was time for Madam Ning to rest after lunch, she took out several account books and said to her sister-in-law and her husband, "You two take a good look at these account books and tell me what you understand after you've finished reading them."
"yes."
The two women agreed and left with the account book.
Yu Qingci spent the entire afternoon in her room at Guanlan Pavilion looking at the account books. Because of her experience in her previous life, she was able to read the account books very quickly. The more she read, the more suspicious she became. According to the account books, it was just as her mother-in-law had said. In the past few months, the daily expenses of the huge General's Mansion had been more than the income.
The accounts were almost transparent. Apart from the two generals' fixed monthly salaries, there were occasional rewards from the court. However, since the two generals passed away, their salaries naturally stopped.
As for the family's farmland and shops, just as my mother-in-law said, there was no income to be seen. So in recent months, the accounts only showed outflows, with almost no income.
Looking closely at those shops, they were all in good locations in the capital, on prime street-front locations, yet they made very little profit, and in some months they didn't even make any profit.
As for the accounts on the estate, they are even more incomprehensible. The autumn harvest has passed, but there is almost no income on the books. Given that the two estates are so large and not far from the outskirts of Beijing, they should be able to earn some money in a year. Could it be that someone is embezzling funds?
After looking for a while, he simply called Lianqiao over and asked, "Do you know which steward manages the shops outside our mansion?"
Lian Qiao thought for a moment and said, "I don't know much about this. I heard the old lady mention it when she was discussing things with the head maids. It seems that the shops outside were handed over to the brothers of the second and fourth wives. We have to ask the old lady or the head maids around her for the specifics."
Yu Qingci frowned upon hearing this: Second Aunt and Fourth Aunt's brothers? These people are managing the General's Mansion's properties?
As the master and servant were talking, a commotion arose outside.
Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw that Madam Wei was holding a small child in one hand, followed by a group of servants. The two children were Madam Wei's grandsons, Qian Ge'er and Wei Ge'er.
Since the guests were guests, Yu Qingci quickly got up and invited Madam Wei and the two children to sit down and talk.
Without any ceremony, Madam Wei sat down and, with a beaming smile, pushed her two grandsons, saying, "Didn't you two just say you missed your aunt? Why aren't you saying anything now that you've seen your aunt? Come on, quickly greet your aunt."
The two children obediently stepped forward and bowed. Yu Qingci hurriedly told them to get up and then asked Tong'er and Lianqiao to bring out some snacks that had just been made in the small kitchen for them to eat.
Qian Ge'er is Lu Yunzhang's eldest son. He is nine years old this year. He stands up straight in front of people and looks quite well-behaved.
Wei Ge'er is only four years old this year. He is the legitimate son of Lu Yunbo, the second son of the second wife. He is fair-skinned and chubby, with a pair of bright black eyes that darted around the room, clearly very curious.
Sitting opposite Yu Qingci, Madam Wei looked at the account books on the small table in front of her and asked with delight, "Oh, my niece-in-law is looking at the account books. Does that mean my sister-in-law is going to put you in charge of the household? That's wonderful!"
Yu Qingci casually put the account book away and said, "Not at all, Mother has only just started teaching Yun Chu and me how to read account books. I've looked at it for a long time and I still can't figure it out. I'm still a long way from being a steward."
Just then, my second aunt arrived, and I had some questions about this, so I could ask her for help.
Wei chuckled and said, "Ask away. I will answer anything I know."
Yu Qingci then asked with a bewildered look, "I've been looking at the account books for a while now, but why isn't there any record of Second Uncle and Fourth Uncle's monthly salaries? We haven't separated the family yet, so logically Second Uncle and Fourth Uncle's salaries should also be handed over to the public fund, but why isn't it written in there?"
Wei was surprised that she asked this question, and couldn't help but twitch her lips and smile, "Oh, niece-in-law, you don't know, your second uncle and fourth uncle are old and don't have any proper jobs outside, so naturally they don't have any salary. But they haven't been idle all these years, and have been helping the public to manage the household affairs."
Yu Qingci suddenly realized, "Oh, I see."
Then, changing the subject, she asked curiously, "But there's no record of my eldest and second cousins' salaries either. That's strange. Could it be that neither of them has any official position?"
Wei's smile faltered slightly: "Your eldest cousin had a job a few years ago, but unfortunately, he was unlucky and the job fell through. Now he's been helping to manage the household affairs."
My dear niece-in-law, you don't know this, but your father-in-law and husband are no longer here. All those social obligations, shops, and land properties outside require someone to take care of them. We, as family members, have to look after them carefully. It's just managing our own household affairs, so where does the talk of a salary come from?
"You can't just give him his monthly salary with one hand and then ask him to return it to the account for public funds with the other, can you?"
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