Steward Qian laughed and said, "To be honest, Madam, the eldest son of the family has taken a fancy to Qiuju in the main house. I didn't dare to ask for her hand in marriage before, but now that I've been promoted to steward of the inner courtyard, I have a bit more confidence, but I still don't have enough money."
With plenty of money comes confidence and a strong backbone, and the housekeeper understands this very well.
Qin Yuan smiled and said, "Since that's the case, go find Accountant Wan and tell him that you've entered the account. He will then reconcile the accounts with Hongye and Cuiming."
Steward Qian said happily, "Now that we're all together, this old servant doesn't feel inferior to others. Otherwise, they all got a share, but this old servant didn't."
Qin Yuan asked curiously, "Did Wan Zhangfang also contribute?"
Butler Qian nodded and said, "Of course it was acquired, but the amount was small. So we took a share that the other party wanted to resell, signed the contract, and then transferred it."
He wanted a lot, but he was impatient to find people to sign contracts one by one. He also wanted to curry favor with Qin Yuan, so he asked for favors in public.
Naturally, he knew that Qin Yuan wouldn't refuse.
Qin Yuan understood this and smiled, "Now that you're at ease, I'm afraid you'll be worried about the price of pepper again in the future."
“No,” said Steward Qian. “This old servant may not have any other skills, but I am very good at judging people. Once I’ve made up my mind, I won’t change it. Madam has a long-term vision and is cautious and prudent. If she says that the price of pepper will rise, then it will definitely rise.”
This flattery and the red cotton seem to have been taught by the same master.
Qin Yuan smiled, and Butler Qian tactfully took his leave.
Hongye said, "Now everyone in the manor is praising Miss, which shows that Miss has won the hearts of the people."
Seeing that there were no outsiders around, Qin Yuan smiled and said, "It's just that I'm in power now. People say a few flattering words to me, and I'm happy to hear them. They're happy to see me happy. If I'm more lenient in my actions, even more people will say good things about me. You must not take it seriously. If you do, you're not far from suffering a big fall."
Hongye pondered for a moment, then clicked her tongue and said, "Miss's words were so composed, as if she had weathered many storms. She was far too composed. The key is that Miss not only said it, but she can also do it. That's incredibly difficult. I'm not saying this to be rude, but many people in Miss's position would become arrogant."
Qin Yuan spat, "Even you're trying to flatter me to death. As the saying goes, 'One who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and one who stays near ink gets stained black.' You should at least tone down your loud and boisterous nature. I'll believe you then."
"Don't worry, Miss, I'll fix it right away."
Hongye's face was full of determination.
Qin Yuan pretended not to hear. It was the same in her previous life. She always made resolutions, but never made them.
After a while of busy work, it was almost lunchtime when Qiuju came to invite them personally, saying, "The old lady is entertaining guests in the main room and would like you to come and keep her company."
Qin Yuan asked in surprise, "What kind of guests have come to the main room? How come I didn't know?"
Qiuju chuckled and said, "You'll know when you get there, Madam. They're all acquaintances."
Qin Yuan asked in surprise, "Why can't I tell you yet?"
Qiu Ju just smiled.
Qin Yuan knew it was the old lady's order, so she didn't ask any more questions and followed her to the main room. While they were still on the covered bridge, they could hear a group of people shouting and laughing inside, as if the roof was about to be blown off.
Gu Baozhu's voice was the loudest.
Qin Yuan asked curiously, "What are you doing?"
Qiuju smiled with her lips pursed and instructed the maid in the corridor, "Hurry up and go in to announce that the madam has arrived."
The little maidservant dashed inside, and a moment later, a group of people came running out to greet Qin Yuan.
Gu Baozhu was at the front, followed by Qin Heng, Xiao Dong, Kang Ge'er and Fu Ge'er, with Lan Jie'er swaying behind, and Qin Siyuan at the very back.
Everyone stood under the eaves talking.
"My God, how did you get here? When did you arrive? I had no idea!"
Qin Yuan was filled with astonishment.
Qin Heng has arrived, that's fine, but now that Qin Siyuan has come, I should at least send her a message.
Qiuju smiled and said, "Isn't it because the old lady said she hadn't seen the two young masters for a long time and insisted on having them dine together in the main room? She specially instructed that we would come to invite you back for lunch to give you a surprise."
Qin Yuan covered half of her beautiful face with a round fan and chuckled, "It is indeed a surprise. Why is my cousin here too?"
Qin Siyuan should have been busy with his studies, but he came with Qin Heng instead. It's quite strange that Sixth Master Gu wasn't there to accompany him.
Qin Siyuan hadn't spoken yet.
Qin Heng said, "The Xu family was causing trouble for my cousin, but Sister Baozhu came to his rescue and helped him out of the predicament. She then went to the Imperial Academy to pick me up, and we came to the mansion together to talk."
Qin Yuan asked curiously, "Why was it Baozhu who went to pick you up? Shouldn't it have been Cuiming who sent someone? And why did the Xu family cause trouble for my cousin?"
Gu Baozhu laughed and said, "These aren't the people Cuiming sent out. I just happened to run into them. Didn't Third Sister-in-law say that I should teach Heng-ge'er how to ride a horse? So I just took the job and went to the Imperial Academy to see what was going on. I didn't expect to run into them like this. Let's go inside and talk. It's kind of silly of us to just stand here."
Qin Yuan found it somewhat amusing.
Qin Heng said, "Sister Baozhu, you are only a little over a year older than me. I call you Sister Baozhu, but you shouldn't call me Brother Heng."
Gu Baozhu said, "I can call them Kang Ge'er and Fu Ge'er, and they don't have any objections."
Qin Heng blushed and argued in his defense: "They are your nephews, and besides, they are much younger than you. I am different."
Gu Baozhu clicked her tongue twice.
From inside came Madam Gu's voice: "Baozhu must not be disrespectful to her elders."
Gu Baozhu then said, "Alright, otherwise people will think I'm taking advantage of Third Sister-in-law. From now on, I'll just call you Brother Heng."
Qin Siyuan and Qin Yuan just found it funny.
After the two finished discussing their forms of address, the group went back into the living room.
Old Madam Gu was reclining on the couch, with Madam Dai and two other elderly women, all members of the Gu clan, sitting beside her.
Upon seeing Qin Yuan and the others enter, they all smiled broadly, took Qin Yuan's hand, and asked her all sorts of questions.
Madam Gu said, "As you can see, the Qin family members are all good-looking. The three Qin children standing together are gentle and handsome, a sight to behold."
The two women flattered, "It's one thing to be good-looking, but the people in our Marquis's mansion are not bad-looking either. Marquis Gu was a handsome young man in the capital when he was young, and Sixth Master is also a talented and intelligent man. But the Qin family is also talented, which is rare."
Upon hearing this, Qin Heng quietly shrank behind Qin Siyuan.
One of the older men asked Qin Yuan, "I just asked Scholar Qin, and he said he is not yet married. Do you know what kind of marriage your cousin's family wants to arrange for him?"
Another one said, "What, you want to take advantage of your proximity and snatch her home as your son-in-law?"
"You old fool, every family has daughters of marriageable age. If they are destined to become husband and wife, wouldn't that be a good thing?"
Just as Madam Gu was about to speak.
Gu Baozhu immediately waved her hand and said, "No, no, this won't do."
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