The room quieted down, and Su Rong sat in the chair, sighing heavily.
Yuewan tiptoed in and looked at her, "Miss, what are you sighing for?"
Su Rong glanced at her and instead asked, "How’s your learning going?"
Yuewan promptly wilted, "It’s so hard."
Su Rong thought, of course it’s hard, for someone with a slow mind like Yuewan it would be strange if it wasn’t. She encouraged her, "Eat more walnuts, they’re good for your brain."
Yuewan nodded firmly, "Miss, don’t worry. The amount of silver I get each month is now the same as lady Wang’s. I must work hard, otherwise, the mistress will reduce my wages." She sighed, "I didn’t feel bad when I didn’t receive the extra two taels of silver, but now that I have them, I don’t want to lose them."
Su Rong laughed, "Mother certainly knows how to run a household."
Yuewan pouted, "Miss, can you still laugh? With the Young Master coming back so soon, has he broken up you and Young Master Zhou?"
Su Rong’s mouth twitched, she raised her hand and knocked on Yuewan’s forehead, "If you can’t say something sensible, don’t speak."
Her relationship with Zhou Gu was not so intimate, there was no question of being separated.
Yuewan giggled, "Miss, how have you been getting along with Young Master Zhou these past few days? Is it good?"
"Not bad!" Su Rong was a little bit frustrated, "Before I could get him completely hooked on me, my brother returned. I wish my brother had returned a few days later, given me a little more time ..."
Yuewan’s eyes widened, "How do you charm someone?"
"If you want to win his heart, first win his stomach? To elevate your status in his heart, subtly make him accept our relationship? If you want him to care about me, give him lots of surprises?" Su Rong listed several strategies all at once.
Yuewan admired, "Miss, you’re really clever."
She would never figure this out on her own!
Su Rong sat upright, maintaining her poise, "I guess I am somewhat clever!" But soon after, her face fell. She leaned on the table and muttered, "Why do I have an elder brother?"
Yuewan knew the answer to this question: "The Madam gave birth."
Su Rong: "..."
Speechless, she got up, "Enough, I’m tired now. Ask someone to bring me some water for a bath."
Yuewan nodded and got up to instruct the kitchen to deliver water.
After bathing, Su Rong stopped considering any further issues, collapsed onto the bed, and quickly fell asleep.
The next day, after breakfast, Su Xingze came to the guest house, stating that from today onwards, he’d accompany Zhou Gu. He asked Zhou Gu where he wanted to go. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚
Zhou Gu was surprised, "Brother Su, you will accompany me?"
"En."
"Where is Su Rong?"
"She’s at home studying house management."
Zhou Gu: "..."
He really wanted to know why Su Rong was suddenly so studious.
He tentatively asked, "Studying household management is not a rush, right?"
Su Xingze replied, "Doesn’t the daughter of the Duke Residence start learning to manage the house at the age of seven or eight? Because of mother’s indulgence, Seventh Sister has never been forced to learn these things. We always thought she was too young, but now she is almost of age, it’s a bit late for her to start learning, so we can’t delay any longer."
Upon reflection, even Zhou Gu’s cousins started learning these things at a young age, so he was speechless. "Grandfather said we should spend more time together to foster feelings..."
Su Xingze smiled placidly, "In the world, most marriages happen according to parents’ order and matchmaker’s word, and the couple only meet each other on the day of the Great Wedding. With the Duke’s openness, our Governor’s Residence naturally has to cooperate. But since my younger sister needs to learn household management, I will hence accompany you. However, you live here at the Governor’s Residence, there’ll certainly be time to chat every day."
Zhou Gu understood Su Xingze’s implications. This means that Su Rong wouldn’t be going out with him every day. What more could he say? He could only smile and nod, "Alright, it seems Su Rong has already shown me Maple Leaf River, Phoenix Mountain, and Peach Blossom Creek. I don’t really know where to go next, so I’ll rely on your arrangements, Brother Su!"
Su Xingze nodded, "These are all tourist attractions, and after visiting these places, you’ve nearly seen all the beautiful sights in Jiangning. Next, I’ll introduce you to some friends through literature as they will be participating in the imperial examination this autumn."
Zhou Gu had a thought and readily agreed, "Good."
Jiangning produces talented individuals, and those that Su Xingze specifically introduced to him should all be fairly accomplished. If they could be favorably included in the Eastern Palace, and they achieved laureate status in the future, they would be of help. Even though the Crown Prince didn’t specifically instruct Zhou Gu to do so in their meeting, if the opportunity arose naturally, it wouldn’t hurt. Isn’t that how he came to know Ning Chi, through an unexpected opportunity?
While Su Rong lazily accompanied the Madam in studying, she heard that Su Xingze had taken Zhou Gu out to meet his literature friends. She assumed Zhou Gu must be delighted, as he openly confessed to Ning Chi that he was half a Eastern Palace man. Making these social connections was not suitable for her, but there was no problem at all for Su Xingze.
She made a noise of agreement and sincerely suggested to the Madam, "Mother, I think, even if you don’t depend on me, you can expect Brother to bring you an imperial title in the future. He will surely pass the imperial examination and marry my sisters to good families."
"Why do you say so?" The Madam asked while flipping through the account books.
"Because, my brother is so good at managing people." Su Rong said, "Look, he said he’d accompany Zhou Gu and meet their literature friends, and Zhou Gu happily agreed. It’s just like if you want a horse to work, you must feed him the grass he likes."
The madam chided her, "What a terrible analogy."
"But that’s what it means."
The Madam prodded her forehead, "Stop with the useless talk and look at this account book. You’ve been looking at it for a long time. What have you found?"
Su Rong nodded, "I’ve found out that Manager Hu is making false accounts to cheat you out of silver, he surely has another real account book. Mother, you need to summon Manager Hu! Ask him to bring out the real account book. If he doesn’t do so, or refuses to admit to it, just marry off the maid his son has his eyes on."
The Madam was startled, "What nonsense? How are these accounts fake?"
"Look at this, and this, the amounts in these two accounts match, but the ins and outs don’t. Even if it was flawlessly made, it would be a fake account." Su Rong put the account in front of the Madam, "Mother, I think I don’t need to study this. I naturally have the keen insight, there’s no need to waste my time."
After the Madam studied it carefully and pondered over it for a while, her face changed, "It’s exactly as you’ve said."
She was immediately furious, "Someone, fetch Manager Hu!"
After the Madam gave her order, she turned to Su Rong. The erroneous accounts that she didn’t spot were noticed by Su Rong. Naturally, the Madam wouldn’t let her off and immediately piled a large stack of account books in front of Su Rong, "Go through the Governor’s Residence’s accounts for me, pull out all the problematic accounts. If you do this, I won’t force you to study them."
Su Rong: "....."
It was a mistake!
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