The late spring rain continued to fall for more than ten days before the weather finally cleared up.
The continuous rain makes you unaware of the passing of spring, and the clear sky makes you realize how deep summer is.
As summer arrives, the weather becomes hotter day by day.
Chen Liyue was also lazy all day long and hadn't gone out for several days.
During dinner that day, Shen Wangqiu suddenly mentioned that Madam Shen's birthday was approaching. Madam Shen was old, and coupled with the early death of the old marquis, Madam Shen was too sad and her health was damaged. She had no longer been in charge of the Shen Mansion, and Shen's mother was in charge of everything inside and outside the Shen family.
This year is Mrs. Shen’s fiftieth birthday.
There was no big celebration in previous years, but this year, Mrs. Shen looked better today, and it happened to be the New Year, so Shen Wangqiu brought up this idea.
Celebrating the old lady's birthday was a matter of course, so Chen Wangqiu planned to ask Jiang Jinghe to do it as usual.
But unexpectedly, He jumped out.
"Brother, in the past, all the affairs of the mansion were handled by my sister-in-law. Now Jiao'er is engaged. When she marries into the Yong'an Marquis's mansion, she will be the mistress of the house. Why don't you let Jiao'er try this time?"
Shen Lijiao was so scared that she pulled He's sleeves under the table.
He patted the back of Shen Lijiao's hand soothingly.
"Let Jiao'er do it?" Chen Wangqiu felt puzzled. "Can Jiao'er handle such a big birthday?"
Old Madam Shen has always been partial to the second wife. She disliked Jiang Jinghe from the beginning and despised her for being from a merchant family. Among the four classes of scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants, merchants were ranked at the bottom. But her eldest son was devoted to Jiang, and Jiang was also angry. She gave birth to a son and a daughter three years after entering the house. She wanted to put someone in Shen Wangqiu's room, but was blocked by her eldest son with a clear conscience.
He was different. Although her family background was not prominent, she was from an official family. In addition, He was sweet-spoken and her words always touched the heart of Old Lady Shen.
Now that he heard that the second family wanted to organize his birthday, he was naturally overjoyed.
"In that case, let Jiao'er do it." Old Lady Shen said.
Old Madam Shen had spoken, and Shen Wangqiu had no reason to refute, "It's just that Jiao'er has never done it before. If something goes wrong..."
Madam Shen waved her hand impatiently, "But isn't Jiang still watching? I'm tired. This matter is settled."
Old Madam Shen put down her chopsticks and returned to her own yard with the help of her mother.
The rest of the people had no appetite for food, as everyone had their own plans in mind.
The meal was quickly finished and everyone went back to their rooms.
Shen Lijiao followed He back to the courtyard of the second house.
"Mother!" Shen Lijiao said with reluctance. "Mother, why did you take on such a big trouble for me today?"
He's face was full of disappointment, "What do you know?"
"Wasn't the person you lost a while ago big enough?"
Chen Lijiao's face changed when she heard this. She felt ashamed after being scolded by Prince Yi and hadn't left the house for over a month. None of the sisters who used to hold her in high esteem had come to visit her, and they were secretly laughing at her.
"Mother, you know I don't want to see anyone, so why did you ask me to organize the mistress's birthday?"
"How come you didn't inherit even a little bit of my genes?" He's eyebrows shot up in anger. "You keep hiding like this, can you keep hiding forever?"
"This is your chance to prove yourself."
"If you organize the old lady's birthday banquet successfully, and let all the noble families see how you handle things, who will look down on you in the future?"
"Are you willing to be suppressed by Chen Liyue all the time?"
When Chen Lijiao heard what He said, she also had the idea of competing with Chen Liyue.
What's so great about her, Shen Liyue? Even if she took over Jiang's shop, she is still a merchant after all.
Merchants are profit-oriented and have always been looked down upon. So what does it matter if the shop is run well?
If I shine at the old lady's birthday banquet this time, everyone will know the second lady of the Shen family in the future, and who will still take Shen Liyue seriously?
It was a good opportunity to show the Yong'an Marquis's Mansion my abilities, paving the way for me to marry into the Yong'an Marquis's Mansion and become the mistress of the house in the future.
So the next day, Shen Lijiao went to Jiang's room to get the head of the family's pair of cards.
Jiang Shi did not make it difficult. Seeing Shen Lijiao coming, she asked her men to get the key to the master's card and the public warehouse and gave them to her.
Shen Lijiao happily took the pair of cards and keys and opened the warehouse.
As soon as she entered the warehouse, Shen Lijiao was dumbfounded.
After counting the cash, there were only three hundred taels. Shen Lijiao found that this amount of money was not enough to hold a birthday banquet for her grandmother.
Chen Lijiao went back and told He, and during lunch, He came with Chen Lijiao in a rage.
When Jiang saw them, she was not flustered and drank her tea slowly.
"If you don't want Jiao'er to host the birthday banquet, just say so. Why make things difficult for her?"
Jiang had expected He to come and accuse her, so she wasn't angry at the moment. "Jiao'er came to get the matching cards and keys this morning, and I immediately asked someone to bring them to her. Why are you saying this to make things difficult for me, sister-in-law?"
"The Shen Mansion is so big, but there is only that little cash in the treasury. Aren't you deliberately making things difficult for Jiao'er? Hurry up and take out the money!" He was convinced that Jiang must be deliberately making things difficult for her, or she was usually corrupt. She wondered why the first wife's food, clothing and other expenses were usually much higher than those of the second wife, so it must be Jiang who embezzled money.
Hearing this, Madam Shen looked at Jiang with an unexpected expression.
Jiang put down the tea bowl and said, "Indeed, this is the amount of silver in the treasury."
The Shen family had not been divided, and in the past the salaries of the three masters were all turned in to the public treasury, which was then distributed uniformly by Jiang and distributed to each family on a daily basis every month.
"The salaries of the three masters, the salaries of the three masters are only this much left? Who would believe it!" He wanted to rush up and smash Jiang's tea bowl.
"Don't be in a hurry." Jiang turned around and asked the nanny beside her to bring up a thick stack of account books.
"Since I took over the Shen Mansion, all the accounts are here. Would you like to take a look, sister-in-law?"
"I don't want to see any account books." He thought to herself. She wouldn't understand them even if she took them. "I just want to know where the money went."
"Yes, from the eldest family, where is the money?" Old Madam Shen spoke, her tone already filled with blame.
Jiang casually picked up the top account book.
"Yesterday, Weiyuan Pavilion said the second master bought an ancient Duan inkstone for thirty taels of silver and asked someone to come pick it up. I paid for it from the public treasury."
He sneered, "It's just an ancient Duan inkstone. Master is a scholar, so what's so strange about buying a Duan inkstone?"
"Yes, a real man should hold the inkstone properly when he is engaged in literary pursuits." Old Lady Shen thought this was not a big deal at all.
"The day before yesterday, Wangchunlou sent us another account statement, saying that the second master had been on credit for more than three months at Wangchunlou for one hundred taels, totaling one hundred and twenty taels, including principal and interest. This money was also paid from the public treasury." Jiang spoke slowly.
When Wangchun Tower was mentioned, He's face obviously turned unhappy.
"Where is Wangchun Tower?" Old Madam Shen had not been out for a long time and was not very familiar with the shops outside.
He blushed and was speechless. Jiang slowly explained, "Wangchunlou is the largest brothel in Wangjing City today."
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