“If my mother-in-law trusts me, I will be deeply grateful. I have learned how to manage a household from my mother at the Xie family home, so I am not completely ignorant,” Xie Xiangxiang said respectfully.
The old lady's gaze darted around, but she did not stop it.
Upon hearing her words, Madam Tu said in a huff, "Fine, I'll have someone deliver the account books, keys, and tokens to Fanghua Garden later."
Xie Xiangxiang raised the corners of her lips high and said generously, "Thank you, Mother."
She quickly looked at Xie Zhaozhao, whose eyelids were lowered, and who still looked calm and composed.
Madam Lu and Aunt Wang blinked, but said nothing.
Anyway, it's not their place to manage the household affairs, so it doesn't matter who's in charge. As long as they get good food and their allowances are paid on time, who cares who's in charge!
The temple was poor, but the abbot was rich. The Tu family had been in charge of the household affairs for more than ten years. Although the mansion was not wealthy, as long as the gates were open, they could make a living.
Madam Tu never expected Xie Xiangxiang to actually take over the management of the household. What kind of new daughter-in-law would come up and try to take over the management of the household? Especially not the power from her own mother-in-law.
Back in her own courtyard, Madam Tu was so angry that she smashed things.
The personal maid, Granny Wan, advised, "Madam, there's really no need to be angry. Think about it, she's in charge of the household affairs. Even if she's stingy and makes a profit, in the end, isn't it still the young master's son?"
"The accounts are heavily in deficit now. If she wants to be the one to stick her neck out, then let her be. If she wants to maintain her dignity, she has to swallow her pride and do her best to show her filial piety to you."
"The Xie family daughters all have generous dowries. I think the Third Madam's dowry is even better than a princess's. The Heir Apparent's wife really can't take it anymore. As sisters, the Third Madam will naturally help. Otherwise, we would really be embarrassed to ask the Third Madam for help."
After a long lecture from Granny Wan, Madam Tu immediately understood.
If you say she dislikes Xie Xiangxiang, it's only because she seized power today. In reality, the person she dislikes the most is Xie Zhaozhao.
She didn't know why, but she always felt that Xie Zhaozhao was aloof and had a cold gaze.
Like the third brother, he is the most annoying.
Soon, the household's account books, keys, and tokens were all sent by Madam Tu to Fanghua Garden and given to Xie Xiangxiang.
Xie Xiangxiang was overjoyed.
She had only been married into the Marquis's mansion for a few days when she took over the management of the household. With such ability and luck, she asked: Who else has this ability and luck?
Xiangxing and Biyou were part of her dowry, and Madam Xu also chose the most suitable nanny, Wei, for her.
Upon seeing the account books, keys, and tokens brought by Granny Wan and Ruhua, the three women beamed with joy. Granny Wei said, "The Marquis's wife has truly entrusted the management of the household to Miss; she's even given her the tokens."
Xie Xiangxiang told Xiangxing to give Wan Mama and Ruhua, who were delivering the account book, a reward. The two smiled and accepted the reward, then left without stopping.
Xiangxing, Biyou, and Granny Wei began to sort out the accounts, but their hearts grew heavier and heavier.
"Miss, this...this can't be right!"
Xiangxing said incredulously, "The entire Marquis's mansion is actually tens of thousands of taels in debt?"
Granny Wei had already calculated it two or three times; the Marquis's account books were nowhere near as good as the Xie family's.
The Xie family's accounts need to be sorted out. Even the most capable Granny Xu would need seven or eight days to finish. The shops, land, income, and expenses are all meticulously recorded.
The Hou family's accounts were meticulously detailed, with every penny coming in and every penny going out, however small.
It was all done in half a day.
The income consisted of nothing more than the old lady's dowry, the estate bestowed upon the deceased old marquis by His Majesty, and the income from Grand Secretary Gu's salary, estate, and shops.
The most valuable things were still Gu Ge Lao's estate and shops.
The old lady's several shops suddenly went out of business last month, with the note: "Paying off people."
The account showed a balance of 174 taels of silver, which was the amount of money received as wedding gifts from various parties.
If it weren't for one of the incomes of 50,000 taels of silver, the Marquis's mansion would be penniless and still in debt.
Xie Xiangxiang was annoyed and took Granny Wei to find Madam Tu.
"Mother, what's going on? Why is there only 174 taels of silver in the account? That's not even enough for a day's food!"
“Yes, you don’t know the cost of firewood and rice until you’re in charge of the household. You see, this is the current situation in the Marquis’s mansion.” Madam Tu said with secret satisfaction, “There was still some silver in the account, but you and the Third Madam have emptied the mansion after you came in.”
Granny Wei couldn't help but say, "I noticed that the servants' wages haven't been paid for two months. Surely the young master's wife won't have to figure out how to pay them?"
Madam Tu looked at her as if she were a monster: "Whoever is in charge of the household affairs should naturally figure out how to manage these funds."
Xie Xiangxiang was dumbfounded. What exactly was this "management power" that she had so happily acquired?
She even happily gave Wan Mama and Ruhua tips, but they were probably laughing at her for being foolish!
Seeing her dumbfounded, Tu Shi didn't want to give her any pointers. She was still a little angry when she told Xie Xiangxiang, but now she was incredibly cheerful.
"Go back now, I'm a bit tired today, I'll take a nap. By the way, I don't have much of an appetite today, I heard that Yuqingtang's bird's nest is very good, could you make me some?"
Having no money, yet wanting to enjoy the best?
Xie Xiangxiang wanted nothing more than to smash the account book in her face. What was she trying to prove? This kind of mansion was really too much.
Returning to Fanghua Garden in a daze, Xie Xiangxiang said blankly, "Xiangxing, Biyou, do you think Grandma did it on purpose?"
Xiangxing was also filled with regret. They shouldn't have been in such a hurry; they should have learned more about the Marquis's residence.
What to do about this hot potato?
Just as they were filled with anxiety, an old woman from the mansion came to collect the silver.
They were all shrewd and knew that the young master's wife had just taken over the household affairs and was probably not yet aware of the situation in the mansion, so they quickly disbursed the money.
Granny Zhang, who was in charge of purchasing in the kitchen, came to Xie Xiangxiang with a sign, her face beaming with smiles, flattering her relentlessly: "The young master's wife comes from a prestigious family, and you can tell at a glance that she has a very good temper. With you in charge of the household affairs, we servants are truly blessed."
Unable to embarrass the person who was flattering her, Xie Xiangxiang could only say to Xiangxing, "Pay the money."
Xiangxing checked and found nothing wrong, so she had no choice but to give her 40 taels for firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea.
With a beaming smile, Granny Zhang showered her with compliments and happily went out.
As soon as he left, he told his close junior managers, "Go and get the money quickly. The new wife is shy. If she doesn't realize what's going on, you won't get a single penny."
Xie Xiangxiang got the keys to the household affairs office, and within a day, all 174 taels of silver were gone. She even had to pay out more than 300 taels of silver.
Granny Wan came over and said to her, "Young Master's wife, the servants' wages must be paid. Several servants in the outer courtyard haven't received their wages for three months."
Xie Xiangxiang retorted angrily, "You haven't claimed it for three months, and you have the nerve to tell me this?"
Granny Wan's face burned with embarrassment. She said, "You are the steward now. Who else can we turn to if not you? You can also discuss it with the Third Madam. Perhaps she has a good idea. This month's allowance must be paid."
How could Xie Xiangxiang possibly discuss this with Xie Zhaozhao?
Having no other choice, she had to use her dowry money to pay the servants' wages.
With over 600 servants in the Hou mansion, plus the allowances for each household's masters, she would have to spend nearly 600 taels this time.
She hadn't been in charge of the household for three days when she had already spent over a thousand taels of silver to make ends meet.
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