Chapter 66 Finally, I met a capable person (a malnourished version combined with another): "Have you thought it through?" "Yes, I have." "Regarding the child..."
"Have you thought it through?"
"I've thought it through."
"Since the second son has agreed to the matter of the child, this old woman will not nag any longer, lest you two dislike her. It's better that you don't go to your post; with your dear mother here, life in Tunan and Huizhong will be much easier."
If she had to choose between her husband and her child, the master of balance, Tongjia, would definitely choose the child. But she would have to choose between her husband and her two daughters-in-law.
Needless to say, for all these years, how to be a good second wife has always been the most important thing to her. Regardless of whether she truly loves He Yi or values the status of the second wife, He Yi is always her top priority.
The eldest son's wife was the same. When her eldest son was still alive, Niohuru always put her eldest son first in everything; she was the eldest son's first wife. With her eldest son as her pillar of support, she did indeed put on a good show. Only after her eldest son died did her true colors slowly emerge. She was actually useless at everything, and all she had was a facade that couldn't fool anyone.
"Since you're staying here and won't need to stay in bed to protect the pregnancy anymore, there are some things I need to say upfront. From now on, the matriarch in charge of the household will be Madam Shen. You and the second son will contribute money to the public fund every year. The public fund will also handle all the monthly expenses for the West Courtyard, as well as the family's social obligations. As for other expenses, how you manage the West Courtyard is none of the public fund's business."
To put it bluntly, the current West Campus has become the former East Campus, and the current West Campus is even more passive than the former East Campus.
After all, to put it bluntly, the people in charge of the West Courtyard have usurped the family business. Ultimately, this family property still belongs to the eldest son's family, and they will always have the right to do so. If the West Courtyard continues to exist, they will be living under someone else's roof, and in the long run, that feeling will be even more unbearable than that of the East Courtyard.
“I understand what Mother is saying. Without the child, my health is not as good as before. All the big and small things at home will naturally be handled by Lang’s wife. I’m content as long as I can take good care of Tu Nan and Hui Zhong.”
“Not only Tu Nan and Hui Zhong, but since Li Shi and Ma Shi are not going to their posts, you also need to treat them and Er Ya Tou and San Ya Tou well. Be more tolerant. The two girls are still young. Raise them well and they will have to be filial to you, their mother, when the time comes.”
Lady Tongjia knew her son well; He Yi was the kind of person who learned from his mistakes. Having lost the Emperor's favor this time, he would only become more cautious in his actions from now on.
Having broken ties with his wife, Shumulu, since they haven't divorced and his first wife hasn't died, he will be even more careful to avoid major conflicts with her from now on.
The son and daughter-in-law were quite a good match. After understanding their plans, Tongjia immediately went from being indifferent to reverting to being a normal mother-in-law. After all, she and Shumulu would have to get along for a long time.
"Grandma is right, I'll remember that." She said she remembered, but her eyes remained completely unmoved. Shen Wanqing could tell at a glance that these words hadn't even reached Shumulu's ears, let alone gone in one ear and out the other.
The matter of the second wife's affairs was settled, and there was no point in saying more. From now on, no one in the family would mention the child of Shumulu again. If anyone in this world occasionally thought of this child who was never conceived or born, it would only be Shumulu. Even Shen Wanqing would only feel a few sighs about it, and would not have any further emotional fluctuations.
Shen Wanqing and Shumulu emerged from the main courtyard one after the other, both appearing remarkably calm. In contrast, the servants and maids, Chunxian and Huamei, were on edge, fearing that Shen Wanqing and Shumulu might start arguing again for no apparent reason.
"Guess whether the old lady will be willing to let Fuxuan marry far away to Jingzhou."
"It's my aunt who's getting married, so why don't you guess which family she'd like to choose?"
Shen Wanqing looked into Shumulu's eyes, stared at them for two seconds, and was certain that she knew that Shumulu did not want Fuxuan to marry into the capital.
"This has nothing to do with me. After He Yi leaves the capital to take up his post, I will stay in the manor with Tu Nan Hui Zhong. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that we'll live off the old lady and my eldest nephew Yu Lang. When Second Aunt goes back to her parents' home for something, she'll still come to you more often."
Because I trouble you more often, it's you who should want Fuxuan to marry out of the capital. I don't manage the household anymore, so what am I afraid of? My married sister-in-law will just say a few polite words when she comes back home; what can she do to me?
Shumulu was flexible and adaptable. Looking at Shen Wanqing's ambiguous smile, Chunxian and the others saw it as a blatant provocation. However, Shen Wanqing's focus was on something else entirely.
She then realized that Shumulu had been referring to He Yi by his name directly all day, something she never did before. She always addressed He Yi as "our master" or "second master," and now she had suddenly changed her way of addressing him. She wondered if Tongjia had noticed.
If she hadn't discovered it, then the old lady would truly be completely focused on her daughter, Fuxuan. If she had discovered it and remained so calm, then the old lady's mind was far more profound and composed than she had imagined.
They don't care at all what the daughter-in-law's attitude is towards her son. The two of you are just putting on an act. As long as you can keep going and live peacefully together in this family, the mother-in-law can pretend to be deaf and dumb and know nothing.
"Second Aunt, you don't need to be stubborn. You and I were working together very well in front of the old lady just now. I was afraid that you would keep agreeing with what I said. If that were the case, the old lady would really suspect that the two of us were conspiring to marry off our little aunt out of the capital."
Shumulu appeared to disagree with Shen Wanqing's choice in front of Tongjia, but she actually helped her in return. Tongjia was certainly reluctant to give up both families, and Shumulu's words, while seemingly indicating that the Ulanara family was better than the Dong'e family, actually only suggested that Tu Lin was closer to her maternal home in the capital.
"You're a smart person. I'll let it go since you said it, but I won't admit it later. I'm not in charge of the household these days, so this is your responsibility. I'm just offering my help this time, and if this works out, you'll have to think about how you'll thank me."
Shumulu was not one to give up easily, especially when it came to things she already held. But if she was pushed to the brink, survival would become her first priority. As long as she could survive, bowing down to Shen Wanqing wouldn't be difficult.
Shumulu was still thin. According to her, she had only miscarried five days ago, so her appearance in the main courtyard today must have been a forced effort. Shen Wanqing watched her receding figure, so thin as a sheet of paper, yet this very sheet of paper, when sharpened, was more resilient than a knife.
"Madam, what does the Second Madam mean by this?"
"It means she's given in to me and is willing to acknowledge me as the head of the family. She'll just stay in the West Courtyard in the capital and raise the children there without having to worry about anything else."
“This…” Chunxian frowned, disbelieving that the second wife would be so pragmatic. “Can the eldest madam trust her?”
"Whether I believe it or not doesn't matter. Whether she can turn her life around in the future has nothing to do with me. It depends on whether the Second Master can achieve political success in his post, whether he can be promoted, and whether he can return to the capital."
Ultimately, that's what she's after. Otherwise, how could Shumulu have swallowed her anger, wiped her face, and pretended nothing had happened? How could she have become husband and wife with He Yi?
He Yi's career is going smoothly, and the Second Madam can recover from all the mistakes and embarrassments she made before. If He Yi's official career is not going well, what good would it do for her to rush to the East Courtyard and beat herself up tomorrow?
She's a smart person as long as she doesn't get stuck on trivial matters. She wouldn't do such foolish things, after all, she has the Shen family behind her. Even if she gets confused occasionally, He Yi will definitely leave someone by her side to remind her from time to time.
With Fu Xuan getting married, Shen Wanqing had originally planned to let Yu Lang stay home for the next couple of days and then get busy. But now, no matter how she thought about it, she felt she didn't have enough time. After returning from the main courtyard and having lunch, she summoned the steward, the old women, and the accountant.
The Hesheli family had two types of stewards: one internal and one external. The external steward, Urgun, was a bondservant under their command, and his family had served the Hesheli family for generations. It was also said that a branch of their relatives still served in the Viscount's mansion.
Urgun usually manages the affairs of the front yard and outside, and deals more with He Yi and Yu Lang. In the past, he was in charge of the family's farmland, shops, the annual harvest in Shengjing, and the exchanges with the Zuo Ling.
It's not a matter of good or bad management; as far as he's concerned, he listens to whoever is in charge in the household. Back when Erhe was alive, he listened to the eldest master. After the eldest master passed away and the west courtyard took over, he consulted the second master and second mistress on everything. Now that Shen Wanqing has taken over the management of the household, he should naturally listen to the eldest master and eldest mistress as well.
As far as he was concerned, his family had served as bondservants in the Hesheli family for generations. It didn't matter whether the East Wind prevailed over the West Wind or the West Wind won against the East Wind among the inner masters. As long as the Hesheli family didn't fall, he, as the external steward, could continue to live a peaceful life.
So after Shen Wanqing obtained the keys to the East Courtyard and the Main Courtyard, Urgun quickly sent Biyun to deliver a message. The main point was that the eldest mistress was now in charge, and he, as the steward, would do whatever she told him to do. If anyone wanted to investigate matters related to the West Courtyard, he also had his own records.
When Shen Wanqing heard this, she just nodded and didn't ask him to do anything or take his pledge of loyalty. She just told him to do what he was supposed to do, like the other stewards in the mansion, according to the old customs.
Urgun is a calm and collected man. These days he has really been doing what he was supposed to do. Some of the younger maids did not know the old practices when Tongjia was in charge. He has been busy sorting out all the servants in the house recently. Now the servants in the mansion know how to do their work. No one has made any mistakes because of the change of the head housekeeper.
A few days ago, Shen Wanqing was going out to inspect the fields and shops. In principle, Urgun could have gone with her, but Shen Wanqing didn't say anything, so he pretended not to know anything about it. He just prepared the carriage and horses in advance and repeatedly reminded the coachman and servants who were going out with him to be careful in everything. He didn't ask any more questions.
Today, Shen Wanqing finally gathered all the stewards together for a meeting. Before Shen Wanqing could ask any questions, Wuergun first listed all the clothes, shoes, socks, and furnishings that everyone in the mansion would need to change in late September.
The Hesheli family originated from the Viscount's mansion, and their rules and regulations were even stricter than those of other families. There were specific rules about what material to use for clothing in different seasons, and with two officials in the family, Yulang and Heyi, they couldn't afford to make any mistakes in these matters.
Then there were the charcoal and firewood, cotton curtains and Korean paper that had been prepared in advance, as well as winter-stored vegetables that could be piled up like mountains and various candied fruits and dried fruits. He even listed out the quota of chickens, ducks and geese that would be sent from the manor to the city after winter.
This alone shows that he is a truly capable person, and someone who doesn't offend anyone.
Because Shumulu had just come out of the west courtyard and gone to the main courtyard that morning, Urgun stopped talking about the account book he had mentioned earlier. He put on an act of loyalty to the eldest mistress, saying that he would not do anything that would offend people and that she didn't need to ask him. He was as slippery as an eel.
But looking at the booklet he presented, Shen Wanqing felt incredibly relieved. So long, so very long! She had finally met someone in the Hesheli family who was capable, hardworking, and knew how to get things done before she did. If there hadn't been so many people in the house, she would have burst into tears of joy.
"Steward Wu, these things must have cost a lot of money to prepare. Can we still withdraw that much from our family's public funds?"
"I dare not hide it from you, Madam. The Second Madam had taken a sum of money before, and we agreed that it would be returned after the Mid-Autumn Festival. But then Guangyuan Bank had an accident, and the money has not been returned since."
"Where did you get all these things? Are they all on the books? Didn't you say that after the Mid-Autumn Festival, many of the suppliers who provided things to our homes didn't pay us? They didn't pay the previous amount, and now they owe us another one."
Businesses have historically sought payment from clients around the Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Chinese New Year. Ideally, they should do so before the festival; if payment hasn't been received by the end of the festival, it's highly likely that payment will have to wait until the next festival.
"Most of it is bookkeeping, but a few families pay in cash. The servants who pay in cash managed to exchange some silver for it."
"Don't worry, Madam, it's nothing. Our master is a favorite of the Crown Prince now. It's just that you're busy right now, and people outside can't even get close to you. As a result, even the servants are benefiting from this. They're the ones scrambling to deliver supplies to the mansion, not the ones urging us to give them money."
"That's right. Considering the price we pay them, I would be just as eager to please if I were in their shoes."
Shen Wanqing gave Urgun a wink. She knew that she had figured out all the shady dealings in the accounts since she took over the Hesheli family, and that the managers and accountants must also know that she had figured it out.
Shen Wanqing hadn't mentioned what to do about Shumulu's embezzlement of public funds, wanting to see what they planned to do. Unexpectedly, Yulang's reputation was too great; they weren't forced to pay anything at all.
As for Urgun's claim that he had exchanged some silver, Shen Wanqing listened but didn't take it to heart at all. How could someone like Urgun not have some wealth? Back when she was a project manager, didn't she often advance money herself? Advancing money was to make it easier to earn more money after the higher-ups allocated funds; it wasn't a loss for her.
"Grandma is joking. The suppliers who provide us with vegetables, meat and other things are replaced every few years anyway. Otherwise, it would be a bad thing if the quality of the goods they supply kept getting worse."
This servant is also looking for a new person to handle this matter, but the procurement process is rather complicated, so it's better to be slow than to make a mistake. After all, these are things that our masters need to eat and use every day, so we can't be careless."
"Since you're looking for something new, that's good. You must already know what's going on at the estate, so I won't make things difficult for you. Just hand over the booklet to me like this after the New Year. Is that enough time?"
"That's enough, that's enough. It's our blessing that Madam is so considerate of us servants."
"Don't flatter me. I know what you mean by that." Shen Wanqing gave Chunxian a look, and Chunxian immediately turned around and went to the west side room to get the box that He Yi had given to Yulang earlier.
There were originally 3,500 taels of silver inside. Shen Wanqing gave 1,000 taels to Yulang and set aside another 1,000 taels for the Winter Solstice and the New Year. Then, Shen Wanqing gave the remaining 1,500 taels to Wuergun and asked him to deposit it into the public account.
“This year’s situation is a bit special, and I know it won’t be easy for you to mediate between the two sides. This 1,500 taels is my personal savings. As the new housekeeper, I can’t just watch you suffer without contributing anything myself.”
"This money isn't much, so please use it carefully. I don't expect you to do anything fancy. It'll get cold soon, so make sure you have enough cotton for winter clothes, enough charcoal and firewood, and fresh vegetables, meat, rice, and noodles."
Don't make it look all glamorous on the surface, while the substance is tainted with scum. If that's the case, Steward Wu will know I'm a scoundrel, and he won't be going to bother with any leniency.
"Don't worry, Madam. I, Old Steward Wu, have been around for many years and I still have some sense. Just watch and see. If I do anything wrong, you won't need to punish me. I'll pack my bags and get out of here on my own."
I used to think that none of the family members were capable, so Shen Wanqing's methods were inevitably a bit harsh. Now that I've discovered there's also Urgun, I can loosen my grip a bit.
Regardless of whether the purchasing personnel change their identities and continue supplying, as long as Urgun can take this opportunity to get rid of the people from the West Courtyard and keep those people in check so that he doesn't waste money, that's all that matters.
With Urgun there, everyone in the accounting department was organized and efficient. Only the old accountant seemed indifferent to Shen Wanqing, wondering why the new matriarch wasn't showing any interest in the accounting department.
Shen Wanqing didn't care about this at all, after all, the old man would be retiring after the New Year.
Along with the old man, his wet nurse, Granny Feng, and Yulang's wet nurse, Granny Zhou, also retired. Now, besides himself, only Yulang knows about this.
These old servants weren't bad people, nor was it that Shen Wanqing deliberately disliked their age. It's just that their seniority and seniority were too high, so even unintentionally, they inevitably put on airs, expecting the maids in the courtyard to listen to them. Even she, their mistress, was treated the same way, or she was accused of being immature and disobedient to elders.
The three stewards in the inner courtyard, Granny Fei, Granny Peng, and Granny Zhang, had witnessed Shen Wanqing's temper and personality earlier than Urgun and the others in the outer courtyard. They had already privately consulted Chunxian and Biyun for advice, and were able to keep up with Shen Wanqing's pace in terms of the arrangements for September and beyond.
The task was completed faster than Shen Wanqing had anticipated. She didn't ramble on, only setting the date for a meeting every five days in the East Courtyard, usually from the beginning to the middle of the Si hour (9 to 10 am).
If there's no one in front of you, you can go in; if there are, queue in the corner room next door. Prepare your message beforehand; if you haven't arrived by 10 o'clock, Shen Wanqing won't wait.
Of course, if something unexpected happens, that's another story. Whether something is urgent or not, what needs to be done immediately and what can wait until tomorrow, we'll have to work things out gradually over time.
"By the way, you guys need to keep an eye on Auntie's side. Get everything ready. If anything in the storeroom is broken, get it all sorted out and report it to me. Repair what needs repairing and replace what needs replacing. Don't wait until you need it to be scrambling around."
"Yes, this servant will open the storeroom in a couple of days." Urgun, quick to understand, knew from Shen Wanqing's words that she was preparing a dowry for the second young lady.
Many items in a dowry are prepared after the engagement is finalized, but many others are acquired when the girl is around ten years old.
Just like the bed and furniture that were to be given as part of the dowry, it was not easy to find a complete set of wood. Even if you had the wood, you still needed a craftsman to make them. You couldn't just buy ready-made ones from outside. If the Hesheli family really did that, they would become a laughing stock in the Plain Yellow Banner.
"Alright, that's really all right now. You guys go ahead and do what you need to do, or rest as you please. I'm going to have a meal and get some sleep too. We'll be spending a lot of time together in the future, so relax, relax, and focus on your work. Don't worry about anything else."
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[Dog head carrying a rose]
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