Chapter 40 "Does Yuanyuan miss me?"
Cui Xintang had to rush to the yamen, while Meng Yuanxiao took Hongshao into his own house.
She rarely came to this house, leaving only the head maid and a few servants to manage it. The head maid was capable and kept the house very clean and tidy.
Perhaps because there were few people, the huge house felt rather deserted.
Meng Yuanxiao thought to himself, "I should come and stay here more often."
Besides this house, her dowry also included an estate and several shops.
After strolling around the house and resting for a while, the nanny brought all the account books for her to review.
These accounts were much simpler than those of the Cui family. Having studied under Madam Chen for a long time, Meng Yuanxiao was able to understand the general outline of these accounts.
After reviewing the accounts and asking a few questions, Meng Yuanxiao dismissed the nanny.
The next day, Meng Yuanxiao arranged to go shopping with Zhang Mingyue. The two played on the street for a while, then had lunch at a restaurant. When they came out, they saw Xinyun Cloth Shop. Meng Yuanxiao paused slightly, then pulled Mingyue into the shop.
The fabric shop was thriving. As soon as I entered, I saw the same woman I had seen in the shop before, talking to someone.
When Meng Yuanxiao heard the man call the young woman "Manager Lin", he was taken aback.
After finishing their business and seeing the man off, the young woman came over to greet them, "Madam, would you like to buy anything?"
Meng Yuanxiao took out a list prepared by the nanny from her sleeve and handed it to the young lady. "Please trouble you, shopkeeper, I need to buy these."
This list was made by her nanny yesterday.
She owned shops and estates, with managers and servants totaling about twenty people.
It was Meng Yuanxiao's first time being a landlord, and it happened to be the New Year holiday, so he felt he should be generous. He went out today to buy some things to decorate the house, and also asked someone to deliver some cloth to sew new clothes for the servants for the New Year.
After saying that, he looked around the cloth shop and casually pointed to two pieces of fine Yun brocade, "And those two pieces too."
She was beautiful and generous. The young woman glanced at her and said with a smile, "Madam has good taste. Those two bolts of brocade are newly arrived. The fabric and patterns are of the finest quality and match you perfectly."
After saying that, she instructed people to prepare the cloth according to the list. She then took an abacus, stood in front of the counter, and began to manipulate the abacus beads with her long, slender, fair fingers.
As she fiddled with her fingers, her sleeve slipped down slightly, revealing a slender, fair wrist where a jade bracelet was faintly visible.
Meng Yuanxiao couldn't help but let his gaze fall on the bracelet on the woman's wrist.
Having been raised in luxury since childhood, she naturally knew how to distinguish good jade from bad. Having not seen it clearly last time, this time, upon closer inspection, the bracelet on the young woman's wrist was hardly of high quality.
For some reason, she breathed a sigh of relief.
The young woman worked quickly, soon calculating the price, writing it down in the ledger, and handing it to Meng Yuanxiao.
"Madam, please take a look. Do the accounts match?"
When the young woman handed over the ledger, a faint scent of herbs wafted from her sleeves, very similar to the scent on Brother Tang's clothes that day at the estate.
Meng Yuanxiao's heart pounded, and he took the accounts and glanced at them.
When she returned it, she asked, "The shopkeeper smells so good, what kind of perfume is he wearing?"
The shopkeeper smiled and casually pointed behind him, "These are incense products sold in our cloth shop. Would you like to send some to Madam?"
“Okay!” Meng Yuanxiao said.
The young woman agreed, "Would you like the cloth delivered to your residence?"
Meng Yuanxiao said, "Please deliver it to the address on the form."
She had originally intended to send the two bolts of brocade to the Cui residence, but after a slight hesitation, she gave up on the idea.
When it came time to pay, the young woman said, "The original price was sixty-five taels and six mace of silver, but I'll only charge you sixty taels."
Meng Yuanxiao asked in surprise, "Why?"
The young woman had a gentle smile on her beautiful face. "Madam, you don't need to think too much. I just feel that you and I looked somewhat alike when we were your age."
Meng Yuanxiao was stunned, and his heart suddenly stopped beating.
After leaving the fabric shop, Meng Yuanxiao was still somewhat absent-minded. Zhang Mingyue tugged at her arm, "What are you daydreaming about?"
Meng Yuanxiao snapped out of her reverie, pursed her lips, and asked, "Mingyue, do I really look alike to the manager of the cloth shop?"
"You believe everything others say?" Zhang Mingyue said irritably. "Of course not, you're much prettier than her."
“Exactly!” Hong Shao chimed in.
Meng Yuanxiao pursed her lips and remained silent.
When she returned to the house in the afternoon, Meng Yuanxiao specifically instructed someone to use the incense that Xinyun Cloth Shop had sent that day to scent her nightgown.
After taking a bath that evening, Meng Yuanxiao changed into this nightgown, casually draped a robe over it, and sat on the couch reading a storybook, waiting for Cui Xintang to return.
When Cui Xintang returned to the house, he took a bath in the washroom as usual before going back to his room.
When he returned to his room, if Meng Yuanxiao was not asleep, she would rush up and hug him, chattering away for a long time.
But today she just sat obediently on the couch, her round almond-shaped eyes looking at him, waiting for him to come over.
Cui Xintang was somewhat surprised. He walked to the bedside, pulled off the outer robe draped over Meng Yuanxiao's body, then picked him up and wrapped him in his own outer robe.
As he carried her towards the bed, he asked with amusement, "Who has the audacity to mess with our Yuanyuan?"
Meng Yuanxiao wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. "Brother Tang, do I smell good?"
"Um?"
Meng Yuanxiao said, "Brother Tang, I went to Xinyun Cloth Shop today."
"..." Cui Xintang paused slightly, "What are you going to the cloth shop for?"
Meng Yuanxiao looked at him with her wet eyes, noticing the fleeting strange look on his face, and her heart sank.
She remained calm and said, "I went to the cloth shop and bought some fabric. I asked someone to deliver it here, and then asked the matron to find a tailor to make new clothes for the New Year, which will be distributed to the stewards and servants of the house and estate."
Cui Xintang said, "How many people do you have under your command? Yuanyuan doesn't need to worry about these things in the future. Just hand them over to the Chen family and have them take care of the Cui family as well."
Meng Yuanxiao snorted twice, "That won't do. These things still need to be distinguished. Otherwise, if others learn them, wouldn't things be chaotic? Mother will also be unhappy."
Cui Xintang found it amusing, "Does the Cui family lack your meager funds?"
As he spoke, he walked to the bedside, placed the person on the bed, and then pressed himself against them.
Meng Yuanxiao was speechless.
Cui Xintang kissed her on the lips and pulled away slightly.
Meng Yuan, having found an opportunity, clung to his neck and said, "Brother Tang, I don't like Xinyun Cloth Shop. I want to replace it with another one from the Cui family's shops and start my own cloth shop. I've already told you that."
Men are always the easiest to talk to at this time. Cui Xintang paused, he had been holding back for a long time and didn't want to hold back anymore. He directly parted her legs and bit her lips, "Yuanyuan, whatever you want is up to you."
The next day, Cui Xintang arrived at the yamen and gave Qingzhu a few instructions, then sent him back to the Cui residence.
When Meng Yuanxiao woke up, the sun was already high in the sky. Although he was comfortable living in his own house, he still had to go back to the Cui residence.
So after dawdling for a long time, they finally returned to the Cui residence.
Upon returning to the Cui residence, Meng Yuanxiao bumped into Qingzhu talking with Madam Chen. Surprised, she asked, "Qingzhu, what are you doing here?"
Qingzhu smiled and said, "Reporting to the young mistress, I've come back to fetch something for my mistress."
After saying that, he stopped talking to Chen and left after exchanging a few words with Meng Yuanxiao.
Meng Yuanxiao first went to see her mother-in-law, Wu, and then returned to her own courtyard. Chen came to report to her about the affairs of the mansion.
After finishing their business, Meng Yuanxiao casually asked a few questions about the winter clothes in the manor and about the Xinyun Cloth Shop.
Chen answered all the questions without showing any change in expression.
Meng Yuanxiao thought for a moment and asked, "Does Xinyun Cloth Shop also send incense with them every time they deliver cloth?"
"Yes, Madam Chen," Madam Chen said. "The other day, they sent incense again. The servants in the manor have started using it, but the eldest young master said you don't like it and just ordered that it not be used anymore."
Meng Yuanxiao did not ask any further questions.
After she bathed that evening, the clothes that Hongshao brought her indeed had a faint, fresh scent of herbs and trees.
The smell wasn't unpleasant, but Meng Yuanxiao just didn't like it.
She refused to wear the dress and ordered Hongshao to find her old clothes, adding, "Have all these clothes re-scented."
Meng Yuanxiao intended to continue slacking off after returning to the Cui residence, but the end of the year was the busiest time in the household. The next morning, Meng Yuanxiao had just gotten out of bed and hadn't even had breakfast when he was summoned by his mother-in-law, Madam Wu, and then met with the manager of a shop.
In the afternoon, there were a bunch of trivial matters to attend to, and the next day he even went with Madam Chen to the farms below.
It was already evening when Meng Yuanxiao returned from the farm, and he was so tired that he didn't want to move.
Fearing that Madam Chen would call her out again, Meng Yuanxiao summoned Madam Chen early the next morning and asked her to bring the account books of the various shops in the mansion over the past few years so that she could take a closer look.
Madam Chen knew perfectly well that Meng Yuanxiao wanted to shirk her duties. Madam Wu had instructed her to supervise the young mistress in learning how to manage the household. Madam Chen had reservations, but remembering what Cui Xintang had said that day, she let Meng Yuanxiao do as she pleased and had the account books from the shops in recent years sent over one after another.
Meng Yuanxiao pretended to flip through a few account books, but then got annoyed.
She wanted to take this opportunity to select one of the shops in the Cui family mansion and convert it into a cloth shop.
However, the Cui family owns many properties, with more than twenty shops of various sizes in the capital alone. It would take who knows when they would be able to read through all these account books.
The person who dealt most with the shops and managers in the mansion was Steward Qian. After looking at the account books for two days, Meng Yuanxiao sent Hongshao to summon Steward Qian, wanting to ask about the situation of each shop directly.
Hongshao returned quickly, but said that Steward Qian had not been in the manor for the past few days and had been sent to work as a manager at a lower estate.
Meng Yuanxiao asked in surprise, "What mistake did Butler Qian make?"
Hong Shao said, "I was also puzzled. Why was I sent to the lower estate when I was perfectly fine? I didn't dare to ask any more questions."
Meng Yuanxiao didn't take it to heart, casually tossed the ledger aside, picked up the storybook and flipped through it.
Her eyes were glued to the storybook as she asked curiously, "What has Second Aunt been busy with lately? Why hasn't she come over?"
Qin is eloquent and loves to stir up trouble. Before, she wanted to run to her every day, but she has been so quiet these past few days.
Hongshao was already familiar with all the servants in the Cui household, and she knew some of the news in the mansion. "Reporting to Master, the Second Madam has been busy arranging marriages for the Second Young Master these days."
Cui Erlang was a few years older than Meng Yuanxiao, so it was time for him to get married.
After Hongshao finished speaking, she leaned closer and whispered, "I heard that the Second Master seems to have encountered some trouble at the yamen. A couple of days ago, he had a huge outburst of anger in his study."
"What trouble?"
"This servant does not know. Yesterday evening, the young master had just returned from the yamen when the second master invited him to the study, where they talked for a long time."
"The second master is really unreliable. He knows that the second young master will be taking the imperial examination next spring, but he still insists on causing trouble."
"The second young master is going to take the imperial examination, and it was the son-in-law who went to the trouble of finding a teacher for him. Every day after the second young master finishes his studies at the Imperial Academy, he studies with his teacher."
Meng Yuanxiao was unaware of these things and was surprised to hear them.
Cui Xintang returned home late that evening, and Meng Yuanxiao had already gone to bed.
He lifted the bed curtains and got into bed. Just as he lay down, Meng Yuanxiao rolled over from under the covers and climbed on top of him.
Cui Xintang froze. "Not asleep yet?"
"Hmm," Meng Yuanxiao poked her dark head out from under the covers, leaning against him with a questioning look, "Brother Tang, you didn't deliberately wait until I fell asleep before coming back, did you?"
Cui Xintang is funny.
His large hand slid down her slender back to her waist, then down to give her a squeeze. "Even when Yuanyuan is asleep, Brother Tang still wakes you up quite a few times, doesn't he?"
Meng Yuanxiao knew that she wouldn't get the slightest advantage in a verbal exchange with Brother Tang.
Her face flushed slightly. She removed his hand and asked, "Brother Tang, I heard that Second Uncle is in trouble at the yamen. Will this implicate you?"
Cui Xintang never expected that the reason she waited for him to come back was to ask him this.
“It’s alright,” he said. “It’s not a big problem. At most, I’ll get a reprimand and a pay cut.”
The trouble Cui Qin encountered was indeed nothing serious. It was probably Cui Zhenshi's methods that kept Cui Qin preoccupied with his own problems, preventing him from getting further entangled with the Prince of Liang.
Meng Yuanxiao felt relieved, then pouted and said, "Brother Tang, I heard that you even hired a tutor for Erlang and are in charge of his studies. You have the mind to care about others, but you can't find the time to spend with me."
He'd been leaving early and returning late these past few days, and had indeed neglected her. Cui Xintang teased her, "I've been staying up several nights in a row, and I even took a day off. Who were you spending it with?"
As he spoke, he pulled off her undergarment from under the covers, grabbed her waist with his large hand, and kissed her lips.
"Erlang will take the imperial examination next year. If he passes and becomes a Jinshi, he can establish himself in the court sooner, which will make things easier for your husband."
After saying that, she tentatively touched him with her hand, her smile deepening. "Yuanyuan missed me?"
Meng Yuanxiao's face flushed even redder. Cui Xintang smiled deeply, pinched her slender waist, and pressed her against him.
Meng Yuanxiao had no more interest in asking questions. After a long night, Cui Xintang carried him to wash up and then they went back to bed.
Exhausted from all the commotion, Meng Yuanxiao nestled in Cui Xintang's arms, just about to drift off to sleep, when he suddenly heard him ask, "Yuanyuan, what have you been doing in the manor these past few days since you came back?"
When Meng Yuanxiao came to her senses, she didn't understand why he suddenly asked about this, but she still told him what she had done in the past few days, and also mentioned that she had deliberately asked to look at the account books in order to avoid being lazy.
"Oh?" Cui Xintang paused slightly, then stroked her back with his large hand and asked, "Can you see anything?"
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