Wang Xiuxiu once had the privilege of witnessing a heated debate between Madam Cheng and her sisters-in-law, a scene that remains vivid in her memory to this day.
That day, in the flower hall of the Cheng family mansion, several ladies sat together, seemingly smiling and chatting, but their words were actually full of undercurrents.
Madam Cheng's personal maid, Yu Dai, had a stomachache. Since everyone else was busy, she asked Wang Xiuxiu to help out for a while.
After serving the tea, Wang Xiuxiu quietly stood aside, observing this war without gunpowder with bated breath.
The incident stemmed from the second wife's complaints about the allocation of the household's expenses this year. Her words were laced with veiled criticism, implying that the eldest wife of the Cheng family was biased towards her own.
"Sister-in-law, something seems off about our household expenses this year. The second branch's expenses seem to be less than in previous years. Could there be some mistake in the accounting department?"
After the second wife said this, the third wife was not to be outdone and added fuel to the fire.
She put down the fan in her hand and said with feigned concern, "Yes, sister-in-law, I was looking through the account books a few days ago and found some discrepancies in our third branch's expenses last year. Although we are all family, the accounts should be kept clear to avoid misunderstandings."
The atmosphere in the flower hall suddenly became tense. Although the ladies had smiles on their faces, their eyes were as cold as knives.
Wang Xiuxiu stood to the side, holding a teapot in her hands, secretly sweating with anxiety.
Although it was her first time experiencing this, she could tell that these ladies had come with ill intentions and clearly wanted to use this as an excuse to give Madam Cheng a hard time.
However, Madam Cheng seemed oblivious to the tense atmosphere before her.
She took a sip of tea, and as she put down the teacup, her gaze swept gently over everyone. She slowly said, "What my second and third sister-in-laws said makes sense. The household expenses do need to be sorted out. However, we are all family. Why should we hurt our harmony over such trivial matters? How about this, I will recalculate this year's expenses, and if there are any deficiencies, we can discuss and make up for them together?"
As soon as she finished speaking, all the ladies present were stunned.
The second wife frowned, her tone hesitant: "Supplement...supplement what?"
Madam Cheng smiled slightly, her gaze calm yet sharp: "Of course, it's about patching up the 'unreasonable' loopholes."
After saying that, she turned to Granny Lu, who was waiting beside her, and instructed her, "Granny Lu, go and fetch the account book."
Granny Lu responded and left, and a brief silence fell over the flower hall.
The wives of the second and third wives looked at each other, clearly not expecting that Madam Cheng would agree to check the accounts so readily.
They originally just wanted to take this opportunity to cause trouble, but they never expected things to develop to this point.
A short while later, Granny Lu came in carrying a thick ledger and respectfully handed it to Madam Cheng.
Madam Cheng took the account book. "Since my younger siblings have doubts about the accounts, let's take a look together. If there are any omissions, I will definitely give everyone an explanation."
Upon seeing this, the ladies' expressions immediately became somewhat unnatural.
Now that they were in a difficult situation, they had no choice but to bite the bullet and nod in agreement.
Madam Cheng casually flipped to one of the pages and said calmly, "This is the page. The Second Master redeemed the courtesans of Fenghua Tower for two hundred taels of silver."
"You...you're talking nonsense! Our master has never paid to redeem a prostitute!"
Madam Cheng ignored her and dusted off her sleeves.
Granny Lu stepped forward from the side and said, "Second Madam probably doesn't know, but Second Master did not spend any money. However, that very night, the madam of Fenghua Brothel came to our door, saying that our Second Master had taken people away without paying a single penny. If we didn't hand over the money, she would go to the government office to sue the Cheng family!"
A sneer came from the side, and the second wife immediately felt embarrassed.
Madam Cheng ignored him, picked up the account book again, and continued, "The sixth daughter of the third branch of the family got into a fight with the daughter of Song Xuezheng's family, and damaged a cloisonné hairpin. She has to pay 800 taels of silver in compensation."
"Eight hundred taels!"
Before the Third Madam could speak, the Second Madam jumped out first.
"Third sister-in-law, I'm telling you, you need to keep a closer eye on your Yu'er. Losing some money is nothing, but if word gets out, she'll be known as arrogant and domineering!"
"I will take good care of Yu-jie, so there's no need for you to worry about it, Second Sister-in-law!"
"Look at you, you don't appreciate kindness!"
The second wife sat down without the slightest displeasure; on the contrary, she was all smiles.
Hmph! Serves you right for laughing so hard just now! Now it's your turn!
The First Madam then picked up the account book again, and was about to speak when she said, "The Fourth Branch..."
Before the First Madam could finish speaking, the Fourth Madam lowered her head and interrupted, saying, "In the household, it has always been the eldest sister-in-law who manages the household. Everyone outside says that the family is peaceful and the whole family is united. Regardless of others, I admire my sister-in-law the most, and I will definitely take her as my role model in the future!"
Fifth Madam quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes, Eldest Sister-in-law is always fair, what do we, as her sister-in-laws, have to worry about?"
"Yeah?"
Madam Cheng smiled and glanced at everyone present.
Several ladies stood up in unison and bowed to Madam Cheng, who was seated at the head of the table.
The atmosphere in the flower hall relaxed again, and the ladies began chatting and laughing as if the tense standoff had never happened.
Throughout the entire process, Madam Cheng maintained a smile, and although her words did not reveal any sharpness, they all went straight to the point.
In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the sisters-in-law were completely convinced.
Wang Xiuxiu stood aside, secretly marveling.
---
Having stayed in the mansion for a long time, Wang Xiuxiu had seen through Madam Cheng's methods.
Although she despised such two-faced behavior, she also understood that only someone like Madam Cheng could keep the large Cheng family in check.
Wang Xiuxiu could only secretly remind herself that she must be more careful with her words and actions, and never offend the First Madam.
Gradually, she learned to read people's expressions, to say the right thing at the right time, and to survive in the Cheng family mansion.
In the stillness of the night, Wang Xiuxiu often sat by the small window of her embroidery room, gazing at the bright moon in the sky, her mind filled with countless thoughts.
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