Moreover, in terms of kinship, His Majesty probably still feels closer to Hu Mingmei. In addition, Hu Mingmei now controls the entire Hu family, which is equivalent to controlling half of the economy of the Great Zhou Dynasty. His Majesty is even less likely to pay attention to him.
Old Madam Huang slumped back in her chair, utterly dejected. "What to do? What to do? What if... what if..."
When asked what it was, Huang Wenbo didn't respond. He just had a gloomy face and dark eyes, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
"Mother, is Second Brother really letting us move back to our original courtyard?" Huang Ziyao asked incredulously as she watched Lu Ying leave. She still remembered what Bai Nuo had said that night, and Huang Ziyao couldn't believe it was all true.
"Go back to your courtyard first!" Madam Zheng said, glancing at the old nanny standing beside her. She felt a little unfamiliar with her; she knew this was also a former servant of the Hu family, but not the one she usually used. Not long after returning to her courtyard, Wang, the old nanny who served Hu Mingmei, came by and told her that Bai Nuo had officially taken over the Hu family. From now on, everyone on their side would receive a monthly allowance. Moreover, Bai Nuo had checked the accounts and found many discrepancies. Since Madam Zheng had been in charge of the household before, the discrepancies were made up by using items from Madam Zheng's courtyard. However, Bai Nuo did not touch Madam Zheng's dowry; it remained where it was.
Madam Zheng didn't trust Bai Nuo, so she still wanted to check if her things were still there and how much Bai Nuo had taken. If even a single copper coin was missing, Madam Zheng would report it to the authorities.
Therefore, Madam Zheng was in a hurry to get rid of Huang Ziyao.
“Go see if your brother has returned, and your younger brother too!” Madam Zheng said.
"Mother, aren't you going to go and see him?" Huang Ziyao asked, somewhat puzzled. In the past, her mother doted on her fourth brother the most. Whenever she came back from somewhere, she would always visit her fourth brother first. If there was anything good, she would always think of her fourth brother first, while she and her third brother would have to wait their turn.
"I'll be there in a bit, you should go back now!" Madam Zheng said gently.
"Oh!" Huang Ziyao could only leave, puzzled.
Madam Zheng wasn't unconcerned about Huang Yi'an and Huang Yikang. She rushed out because of them, thinking that they were still outside and her youngest son was injured. But after coming out, Madam Zheng suddenly had a strange thought: Hu Mingmei and Bai Nuo weren't targeting her or her three children. Bai Nuo and Hu Mingmei were only targeting a few other people.
Therefore, Madam Zheng felt that Bai Nuo wouldn't do anything to her two sons, so she wasn't in such a hurry to see them and instead returned to her own courtyard to take stock of her belongings.
As she walked out, she noticed that things were different at home. Many of the servants were gone, and the people around were all unfamiliar faces. Since those people were penniless, Huang Haichuan would definitely try to take her dowry. She decided to deal with them as soon as possible to avoid giving Huang Haichuan any advantage.
Listening to what Lu Ying said, Madam Zheng didn't feel much. She had been in charge of the household for so long, it was impossible for her to be completely clean.
As Madam Zheng pondered this, she began to count her dowry. Her dowry had always been in her possession and had not been put into storage. After counting it once and checking the dowry list, everything was indeed there. Therefore, she was no longer bothered by Bai Nuo taking her things.
These things all belong to the Hu family, so let them go back to them, as long as her dowry isn't touched.
After Madam Zheng finished checking the items, she came out. The old nanny was still standing outside. She asked, "Were you assigned by the young mistress to serve me?"
The old woman was dull-witted; she answered whatever was asked, but didn't say much, only replying with a single "yes" and then nothing more.
"Where did Granny Jiang go?" Madam Zheng asked. Granny Jiang was right; she really was one of her people, and she had been a subordinate of Madam Zheng's since she married into the family. They had known each other for over ten years.
"Granny Jiang has been sent to the government office by the young mistress for embezzlement!" the old woman replied.
Madam Zheng felt a jolt in her heart. She managed to calm herself down and asked for the names of several people she had brought from her maiden home. Only after confirming that they were all still in the mansion and had not been punished but had simply done other work did Madam Zheng breathe a sigh of relief.
"Alright, go and get some hot water. I want to take a bath!" Madam Zheng said. She had never had a proper bath in Huang Wenbai's courtyard.
The old woman didn't say anything more, just agreed and left. Madam Zheng looked at the empty room, then called her back, who had already reached the door. "What was your name?"
"My husband's surname is Liu, so you can just call me Granny Liu!"
On the other side, Huang Haichuan followed Madam Zheng back to his own courtyard. Just as Madam Zheng had expected, Bai Nuo didn't bother touching their things at all. She even let Huang Haichuan stay in the original central courtyard. The first thing Huang Haichuan did upon returning was to take a bath, and then he went out of the courtyard.
However, he didn't go to see his son; he went to find his beautiful concubines, but he couldn't find them.
"Now that everyone has been released, Granny Wang, what do you think is the best way to determine the monthly allowance?" In Hu Mingmei's courtyard, Bai Nuo was discussing the monthly allowance for each person with Granny Wang and Lu Ying.
Bai Nuo asked Granny Wang instead of Lu Ying because Lu Ying, like her, had just taken over the Hu family's affairs and didn't know much about the inner courtyard. Granny Wang, however, was different. She had previously helped Hu Mingmei manage the entire courtyard and was very organized, so she had some experience.
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