Chapter 87 Two Orders
Fanghua Academy.
Song Yi looked nervously at Tao's mother and Li Nanke, her eyes filled with undisguised anticipation.
How was my performance?
Li Nanke smiled and gave two thumbs up without hesitation.
"Mother is the most powerful, Mother is the most amazing."
"You're just good at making your mother happy."
Song Yi tapped her little nose and asked Tao's mother somewhat nervously.
"Does Tao's mother also think I performed reasonably well?"
A smile appeared on Tao's mother's lips. "Not only is it acceptable, the young master's wife has done an excellent job."
She used two "very"s to emphasize it.
Song Yi's watery eyes instantly welled up with tears, and her voice choked with emotion.
"Actually, my legs were shaking with nervousness when I sat up there. I was afraid of saying the wrong thing or handling something improperly."
Luckily, you guys did your homework for me last night, otherwise I would have been really embarrassed today.
Li Nanke wiped away her tears and said with a smile, "It's alright, practice makes perfect. Mother will get better and better in the future."
Madam Tao: "Being a housekeeper is a process of practice makes perfect and accumulating experience. The only thing the young master's wife lacks is experience."
Song Yi sniffed and nodded.
"Actually, I really want to be as strong as Tao's mother, able to hit or punish whenever she wants, but I... I don't think I can do it."
Tao's mother sighed, a hint of helplessness appearing on her serious face.
"Does the Crown Prince's wife think that I am not naturally inclined to be gentle? No, people's assertiveness is often forced out of them."
My daughter grew up without a mother, and her stepmother is heartless. If I don't take a strong stance, how can I protect her?
Song Yi was slightly taken aback.
Tao's mother realized she had said the wrong thing, her expression changed, and she immediately knelt down.
“This servant has misspoke. My mistress is now the young lady and the young lady of the crown prince. I should not be thinking of my former mistress. Please punish me, young lady and young lady of the crown prince.”
Song Yi came to her senses and helped her up.
“Aunt Tao, you don’t need to be so careful in front of me. I’m just a little sad. I feel the same way as that little girl, Jiang.”
I wasn't as lucky as her to have a wet nurse like Aunt Tao who wholeheartedly protected her.
Thinking of her deceased mother, Qian, she still felt a mix of emotions.
"It's not too late for Mother to meet Aunt Tao now. Things will only get better for us in the future."
Li Nanke said with a grin.
Song Yi pinched her soft, fair cheeks, and her previous sadness vanished.
"Yes, Ke'er is right. We will get better and better."
Li Nanke then said to Tao's mother, "Although I can't promise you anything right now, I will try my best to find Miss Jiang as long as there is even the slightest chance."
Tao's mother's eyes reddened, and she almost shed tears.
She stood up and solemnly kowtowed to her, saying, "This servant thanks you, Miss. From now on, my life belongs to you."
Li Nanke helped her up.
"Tao's mother just needs to stay by her mother's side and rest assured."
Tao's mother is thoughtful and has strong methods; having such a person by her side makes her feel much more at ease.
At this moment, Zilan came in from outside to report.
"As instructed by Mama Tao, I asked Zilan to keep an eye on Mama Zheng. After leaving the flower hall, she went to the Second Young Mistress's courtyard."
After leaving the second wife's house, she instructed the driver to get a carriage and they went out.
The servant followed at a distance, and saw that the carriage had returned less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea after leaving the city, and escorted Zheng Mama to Cuihua Alley.
“I saw that Madam Zheng gave the coachman a dime and told him that he didn’t need to go back to the mansion for the next two days and could just go find somewhere to have fun.”
She went straight into a small house at the very back of Cuihua Hutong and never came out again.
Song Yi looked shocked.
"You were right! Mother Zheng really didn't plan to go to the estate. What will happen to the grain on the estate?"
Li Nanke was not surprised.
Today is August 26th, and there are only two more days of heavy rain ahead.
The torrential rains drowned all the crops in the fields, so it's better to harvest them early.
The wheat and millet planted in the fields now will be fully ripe in about half a month.
Harvesting now, even if the yield is halved, is better than letting the fields be completely flooded.
It was her idea to have Zheng's mother supervise the harvest, and she was certain that Zheng's mother would not go to the village.
She thought for a moment, "Let Mama Tao take Mother's token and a few strong servants with her."
"Grandma Tao, can you persuade the headman to buy the grain?"
Tao's mother took the card, her expression solemn.
"This servant will certainly not fail in my mission."
Li Nanke nodded, "Mother, let's go see the dowry fields you just took back; we need to arrange for the harvest there too."
Of Song Yi's 100 mu of dowry land, 50 mu were her original dowry, and the other 50 mu were just taken back from Song Hui.
The land deed has been changed, but they haven't been to the estate yet.
Li Nanke was worried that Song Yi wouldn't be able to go alone, so he planned to go with her.
Song Yi said, "Those hundred acres of land are all in Chixian County. If we want to go, we have to set off now. Before we leave, I need to meet with Manager Qin and Manager Liao."
Besides the men's salaries, the main sources of income for the Marquis of Anping's mansion included four shops and three hundred acres of sacrificial land.
Manager Qin is the head manager in charge of four shops.
Manager Liao was the manager of the ten shops she had just taken back.
This was settled last night.
Both Manager Qin and Manager Liao brought their account books, assuming that Song Yi, having just taken office, would definitely check the accounts first.
To everyone's surprise, Song Yi didn't even glance at the ledger, and only gave them two instructions.
Manager Liao looked shocked. "Selling old grain without clearing out the stock? This... Your Highness, you may not know, but the new grain will be available soon."
"If we don't dispose of the old grain in the warehouse, where will we put the new grain?"
Manager Qin was speechless.
"Use all the money in the shop to buy grain? The grain circulating in the market now is all old grain. The price is cheap, but we won't be able to sell it for a good price."
"Besides, the sun has been shining brightly for many days in a row, so this year is sure to be a bumper harvest. Buying old grain now will only result in losses."
Song Yi's hands, tucked into her sleeves, clenched nervously, but she dared not show a trace of fear on her face.
Ke'er said that there would be several days of torrential rain soon, and the grain would be flooded, making it impossible to receive new grain. The price of old grain would also skyrocket.
No one would believe her if she said these things, so she put on a stern face and tried her best to appear authoritative as a master.
"Now I am the steward. If I tell you to collect, then collect. If you can't do it, then I'll find someone else who can."
Manager Liao hesitated for a moment, but still advised, "Madam, why don't you reconsider? Using all the money to buy grain is indeed a losing business."
Song Yi looked determined.
"If I lose money, it's my loss; I won't hold it against you."
Manager Liao's forehead veins throbbed, and his face turned black with anger.
I had long heard that the eldest aunt of the Song family was a good-for-nothing. She started interfering as soon as she took over the shop, pretending to know everything. She was not as good as Madam Zhang in managing the shop.
If this continues, the shop will go out of business in less than three days.
Manager Liao was disheartened and didn't bother to persuade him.
"With the words of the young mistress, I am relieved. I only hope that when the shop goes bankrupt, the young mistress will not regret it."
Having said that, he left dejectedly.
Song Yi looked at Manager Qin, "And you?"
Manager Qin smiled, his expression carrying a hint of disdain.
"The Crown Prince's wife doesn't understand business matters. Her reckless actions will only make the business in the shop worse and worse. If the shop goes bankrupt, I really can't bear that responsibility."
"Lady, please ask the Marquis's opinion before giving me any instructions."
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