Zhen Jie'er stood in front of Shiyi Niang with a big smile on her face. There were two rosy clouds on her fair cheeks. Although her voice was calm, her excitement could not be concealed: "...I made silk flowers and tied them to the holly tree with green silk threads. I also added different scents according to the styles of the silk flowers. At first glance, I thought the Goddess of Flowers had come down to earth and made all the flowers in their house bloom overnight." As she spoke, she pursed her lips and smiled.

"Was it Sister Hui's idea?" Shiyi Niang peeled an orange wrapped in a handkerchief and handed it to her. "It's definitely not made overnight. It should have been made at any time and tied up temporarily when the guests came."

Zhen Jieer nodded, took the orange and whispered to Shiyi Niang, then divided the orange into two and handed one to Shiyi Niang to eat: "But it's not as fresh and juicy as ours." She whispered again: "Besides, their house is not as big as ours. They live very crowded. Several concubines live in the east wing of the upper house.

Eleventh Lady laughed.

It is women’s nature to like these gossips!

"Lord Lin has six sons, and they all live together. It must be very crowded." She smiled and asked, "Doesn't their family have a greenhouse?"

Sister Zhen shook her head: "I didn't see the greenhouse."

"How about you ask the people in the greenhouse to pick some flowers and send them over." Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "I'm afraid they will be more precious than sending gold or silver."

Zhen Jie'er was very happy to hear this: "I think so too. I plan to come back and discuss it with my mother."

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "You can do what I can do, so you don't need to consult me ​​in the future. Just make your own decisions."

Zhen Jieer was startled: "How can this be possible..."

"What's wrong with that?" Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "You are the eldest daughter of our family. What's wrong with that?"

Zhen Jieer listened in silence, looked at Shiyi Niang and smiled shyly: "I..."

Eleventh Lady hoped that she would be more confident in herself, so she held her hand and emphasized once again: "What I can do, you can do too."

Zhen Jie'er's eyes were slightly wet. Thinking of Shiyi Niang's words for her not to cry easily, she blinked her eyes and held back her tears. Smiling, she asked Shiyi Niang, "Did mother's visit to Third Aunt go smoothly?"

Eleventh Lady felt warm in her heart.

Sister Zhen is also thinking about herself.

"My grandmother personally took me over and introduced me to the mothers in charge." She chatted with Zhen Jie'er as if she were a friend. "Everyone was naturally very friendly to me when they saw this. However, I thought that since I was a newcomer, it would be best for me to remain unchanged in the face of all changes, follow your third aunt's hand and foot, and see how your third aunt handles it. Even if the mother in charge asked me, I would not express my opinion. I would just say that I would have to ask your third aunt before making a decision. In this way, your third aunt's dignity was maintained, and she would not say or do the wrong thing because she did not understand the rules of the family. You know, the superior should not change his orders every day. Even if he is wrong, he must keep making the wrong decision to maintain his dignity. But this kind of mistake is also limited. For example, if it will cause very serious consequences, then he has to change it. In order to avoid this situation, the best way is not to make decisions casually..."

She told Zhen Jie'er in detail about her thoughts and actions.

This will be beneficial for her when she gets married and faces an unfamiliar environment.

Sister Zhen listened very carefully.

"In fact, the best way is to look at the account book. The family's income and expenditure are all accounted for. If you want to know the rules of this family, you can check the account book and you will know everything. For example, if you know where the family's income comes from, you can know how the family should spend. If you know where the family's money goes, you will know how to spend the family's money..."

After hearing this, Zhen Jie murmured, "Don't the outer courtyards transfer money to the inner courtyard every year? Why do we need to know how the family should spend money?"

Seeing that she had taken her words to heart, Eleventh Lady was very happy and explained to her, "For example, if a large part of the family's income comes from the farm, you have to consider that if the harvest is bad, it is impossible to have the same income every year. You have to save a part of it and only use a part of it."

Zhen Jieer understood immediately: "That is to say, we should ignore the worst and the best years, and only look at the normal income."

Eleventh Lady listened and nodded secretly.

Zhen Jie'er has the Wen family's genes as expected, she can understand this kind of accounting problem at a glance.

She nodded: "That's exactly the point."

After getting the affirmation from Eleventh Lady, Zhen Jie'er became much bolder and said, "If we know where the money in the family goes, we can do things according to the old rules."

Seeing that she was able to draw inferences from one example, Eleventh Lady encouraged her with a smile, "Yes, yes, yes." She said, "If a maid who is used to serving the maid gets married, how much should she be rewarded? How should she be rewarded? There are conventions for this. If the rules are broken, firstly, the servants will be dissatisfied, and secondly, future generations will not know what to do. At this time, it is best to look through the account book. Follow the rules, and no one can say anything."

Zhen Jie nodded and said thoughtfully, "If you like it very much, you can give it to me privately, but you can't break the rules and pay for it from the account."

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but sigh slightly after listening to this and touched her head.

Sister Zhen is really talented!

"Can you use an abacus?"

After hearing this, Zhen Jie'er's face turned pale.

Shiyi Niang immediately realized that Zhen Jie'er was somewhat taboo about her origin. This must be related to the way the Xu family looked at Madam Wen. But she thought this was not a good sign.

People need to face themselves instead of avoiding them!

"I want to find someone to teach me how to use an abacus. Do you want to learn together?" she asked Zhen Jie'er with a smile.

Zhen Jie'er hesitated for a moment: "Second Aunt taught me how to do mental arithmetic and asked me to practice it well!"

Eleventh Lady was a little surprised when she heard this, but then she thought that it was more in line with the Second Lady's usual style of maintaining a noble and elegant demeanor.

She didn't want to affect Zhen Jie'er because of their different ideas and make Zhen Jie'er embarrassed. She immediately smiled and said, "That's not bad!"

Zhen Jie'er heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this and said, "Second Aunt also said that for a family like ours, it's okay for women to do some small business for fun, but it's best not to get involved in bigger businesses - it's much easier for us to do business than others, so as not to arouse the jealousy of merchants and cause unnecessary trouble."

This makes a lot of sense.

A family like the Yongping Marquis could start a business without any capital, or even invest in a company, as long as they spread the word that they wanted to do business. But there is no such thing as getting something for nothing in this world. If you make money from others, you have to give something in return!

Eleventh Lady laughed and said, "No wonder the Second Madam wants to open a perfume shop with the Fifth Madam!"

Zhen Jie'er listened but shook her head: "Second aunt did not open the perfume shop with fifth aunt. It was fifth aunt who opened the perfume shop and asked second aunt for the recipe, and second aunt gave the recipe to fifth aunt. Later, fifth aunt said that the perfume shop's business was very good and wanted to give two shares to second aunt, but second aunt did not want it."

Eleventh Lady was stunned.

I didn't expect Zhen Jie'er to know about this. On second thought, the Second Madam was her teacher, and they must be together often, so it's not surprising that she knew these things.

Zhen Jieer smiled and said, "Did Third Aunt tell you this?"

Why is there such a saying?

Eleventh Lady smiled calmly at Zhen Jie'er and said, "No. I wanted to open a perfume shop before, but later I found out that the only two shops in Yanjing were owned by the Fifth Madam. I also heard that she opened it together with the Second Madam, so I gave up the idea."

After hearing this, Zhen Jie'er blushed and said, "Once, my third aunt came to me specifically to ask for news. I told her, but she didn't believe it. I thought she said it..." She added, "But I really don't know the recipe of the fragrant dew - mainly because I didn't pay attention to this matter before." After saying this, she looked at her uneasily.

Of course, no one would pay attention to these things unless they are attentive.

Eleventh Lady said hurriedly: "I also have a recipe for making perfumed dew, but I have never made it. Since our family already has two perfumed dew shops, how can our own people dig into our own family? Naturally, we can no longer consider this aspect."

After hearing this, Zhen Jie'er breathed a sigh of relief, and then, as if to make up for something, she said, "How about I talk to Second Aunt and ask her to tell you how to make incense. Second Aunt's incense is very famous. The most famous Yipinxiang in Ciyuan Temple was once instructed by Second Aunt, and the formula was improved. Now it sells very well."

Eleventh Lady didn't want Zhen Jie'er to ask for help for her own affairs. She laughed and said, "Look at me, how can I have time to do business? The main reason is that when I got married last time, I was given two bottles of perfume as a betrothal gift. I liked them very much, so I wanted to make perfume myself. I also thought that if I like it, other people must like it too. So I thought of opening a shop."

Sister Zhen nodded and said with a smile: "How about I help you make the scented lotion at home in the spring? If it doesn't work, go ask Second Auntie!"

Eleventh Lady was vague: "I am so busy now. I may not be able to do it just because I want to. Let's talk about it when the time comes!"

Zhen Jie'er thought about it and asked about Shiyi Niang's New Year's celebration: "...Do you want my help?"

Well, let’s learn how to manage the household together!

"Okay!" Eleventh Lady welcomed it. "Let's look at the account book together and summarize some things. Then we will have a better idea of ​​what to do. If you encounter it in the future, you can also compare it with the one at home."

Sister Zhen blushed slightly when she heard this.

Eleventh Lady covered her sleeves and smiled.

A little maid ran in: "The Marquis is back!"

Eleventh Lady was stunned.

I hurriedly got up and looked at the clock - it was still a quarter to noon.

Why are you back at this time?

She said something to Zhen Jie'er and hurried out to meet him.

As soon as I lifted the curtain and walked out of the door, I saw Xu Lingyi striding across the yard towards the main house.

He looked a little tired, but his expression was as calm as usual, making it impossible to guess his true emotions.

"My Lord!" Eleventh Lady bent her knees to salute him, and Zhen Jie'er, who followed her out, also squatted down.

Xu Lingyi was slightly surprised when he saw Zhen Jie'er.

Eleventh Lady smiled and explained: "Sister Zhen has grown up, and I want her to help me with needlework. The Madam asked her to move to our place temporarily. When Fifth Brother's wife is settled, I plan to find a place for her to move in in the back garden. This matter was decided in a hurry, and I didn't discuss it with the Marquis..."

Before she could finish, Xu Lingyi waved his hand and said, "You just make the decision on these matters." There was some hesitation in his eyes when he looked at Zhen Jie'er, as if he had something to say but didn't know how to say it. After hesitating for a moment, he went straight into the house.