Chapter 28 Two Rooms, Dark and Light
However, Zong Ning did not receive a reply to this letter for a long time.
Soon after the letter was sent, King Xuan ordered an expedition to the north. The Hu people were unprepared and had run out of ammunition and food, so they were defeated one after another.
After the first month of the year, good news reached the capital. The Pusu City that had been seized by the Liao Dynasty in the previous dynasty was taken back. After hundreds of years, the northern land that had been divided into two was finally unified again and changed to the name of Dayan, Danyang.
Emperor Jingwen was also in high spirits, and said with emotion: "It is a blessing for Great Yan to have the Zong family!"
There are so many compliments that I don't need to list them all.
However, the Ningguo Mansion was too busy to take care of this matter.
It turned out that Wei caught a cold after she finished arranging Ning Yu's marriage. She became ill like a mountain and had a high fever for several days. She couldn't even get out of bed.
As a daughter-in-law, Wei Ziyi served by her side every day and took care of her personally.
Even Ning Ran, who was pregnant, didn't care about her child and rushed over. When she saw the thin Wei, she immediately burst into tears: "Mother."
"Silly child, you are pregnant. What if your mother catches a cold? Go back quickly. Your mother will be well in a few days." Wei coughed lightly and frowned.
Ning Ran insisted, but she couldn't get away from Wei, and was taken out of Wei's bedroom by Li Ma. Li Ma said earnestly: "Second Miss, please don't let Madam worry about it. What's more important now are these trivial matters in the mansion. Madam is only worried about this matter."
Ning Ran paused, and then sent someone to take her to Qin Garden. As soon as she saw Old Lady Ning, she knelt down and said with tears in her eyes: "Grandma, my mother is seriously ill now. Please ask the old ancestor to make the decision and let Second Aunt take care of the affairs of the mansion. Otherwise, my mother may not even be able to rest in peace."
She was crying like a pear blossom in the rain, so pitiful.
Old Madam Ning looked distressed, and hurriedly helped the girl up and wiped her tears with a handkerchief. She originally didn't want to interfere in the affairs between her two daughters-in-law, but now that things had come to this, she had to get involved. She said to Ruyi, "Go and ask the second wife to come over."
When Ning Fu came to Qin Garden with Madam Ning, they saw Ning Ran wiping her tears, and Madam Ning was coaxing her.
"Grandma, second sister." Nymph called softly.
"Second Aunt is here. Grandmother, please talk to Second Aunt first. I'll go back to my mother first." Ning Ran stood up with a smile and was supported by Nanny Li out of the yard.
In fact, she knew what had happened by now, but Madam Ning pretended not to know: "Old Ancestor asked me to come here today, what is the matter?"
Old Madam Ning sighed and said, "The affairs of the mansion have always been managed by Wei. I originally thought that since you didn't care from the beginning, I would let you do whatever you want now. But recently Wei has become seriously ill, so you should also worry about the mansion."
In fact, from the bottom of her heart, Old Lady Ning also hoped that the second house could be in charge. The first house was not good at managing the household. Over the past twenty years, the Duke's Mansion had been run only so-soly under her control. But for the sake of family harmony, she had to turn a blind eye.
Madam Ning smiled and said, "Now that my sister-in-law is in such a situation, I should help her, not to mention that the old ancestor has spoken well of her. But although I am also in charge of the shop given to me by my mother's family, I have no experience in managing such a large Duke's Mansion, and I don't know if I can be competent."
Mrs. Ning had anticipated this since Mrs. Wei claimed to be ill and bedridden. But it was not easy to refuse this matter, as Mrs. Wei was "seriously ill", and if she refused again, it would make her second branch seem selfish and indifferent.
"Just do your best." said Mrs. Ning.
"However, I'm afraid I can't handle these miscellaneous items by myself. The old ancestor has to find a helper for me." Madam Ning thought for a moment and said again.
"You can go ask the eldest wife about this matter." Old Madam Ning couldn't make the decision on her own. The only helpers she could find were the two people in the eldest wife's house. If she made a bad choice, the eldest wife would be resentful.
When Wei saw Madam Ning, she sat up from the bed, coughing non-stop, and said, "I've already told Madam Mu to help you. My sister-in-law only needs to help me for a while, and I'll take over when I'm better."
However, Wei knew that Madam Ning was trying to shirk responsibility in order to let her give up her power. However, once the household expenses were handed over, who knew how much money would be taken away by the second house in the future. Similarly, Madam Ning also knew that she had arranged for Mu in advance because she was afraid that she would really find Zhang.
However, both of them pretended to be ignorant even though they knew the truth and maintained politeness on the surface.
Originally, Madam Ning would not take over this hot potato, as she knew exactly what Wei was planning.
But a few days ago, her daughter woke her up. The one who really couldn't stand to see the treasury empty was the eldest wife. Ning Yu and Duke Ning relied on the money from the Duke's Mansion to do their work and smooth relations, while their second wife was not short of money, so whoever was short of money would be anxious.
Madam Ning suddenly became enlightened. She said nice things, saying that it was okay to take the matter on herself, but she didn't necessarily need to really worry about it. It would be better to take it over and pretend to be a good person.
At that time, she would just be a hands-off boss and let Mu worry about everything. After all, she was also from the eldest wife's family. If the eldest wife had evil intentions and wanted to push the accounts that the mansion could not settle onto her, she would be able to get out of it.
In the afternoon, Zhang also learned that Mu was taking over the accounting, and she was furious.
It's fine that the Wei family is suppressing her, but now even the Mu family wants to suppress her?
Zhang knew without a second thought that it must be Wei who was suppressing her, fearing that she would take her place.
That night, she went to the second room's lotus garden and sat for a while.
Madam Ning knew her intention, so she said frankly, "At first I suggested that you help me manage it, but my sister-in-law didn't agree. Today she told me that she had already informed the Mu family."
Zhang said, "Madam, you don't need to explain to me. I know everything in my heart. I am still young. She is afraid that I will give birth to a son, so she has put a lot of obstacles in my way behind the scenes, not to mention these things involving the power of the Duke's Mansion."
Madam Ning did not speak.
"She is narrow-minded and jealous. Even Madam can't stand her." Zhang was willing to stand on the same front with Madam Ning at this moment. She said sincerely, "Madam, you thought of me to assist you first. I am very grateful."
Zhang really thought that Madam Ning was a good person. Even with that concubine from earlier, although she and the Second Master had some grudges against each other, she had never made things difficult for her. It was a pity that the concubine reached out to the Fourth Young Lady.
If Wei hadn't been so good at suppressing her, Zhang actually didn't want to compete with her for favor at the beginning. But if she didn't compete for favor, she might not be able to survive.
She had tried to show her goodwill before, but Wei never treated her well and instead pressed her in every way.
"Fourth Miss, please come and visit me when you have time." Zhang said to Ning Fu with a smile before leaving.
"Where is fifth sister today?" If Ning Fu acted closer to Ning He, Ning He's life would be easier.
"She is reading in the yard. She has been very diligent in her studies recently. Does the fourth lady want to go find her?" Zhang said.
"Let's do it another day. I have to go out to buy books today, so I might as well bring two books for my fifth sister." Ning Fu said with a smile.
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After the New Year, Qingtian Pavilion has become very lively.
Fu Jiahui placed a stack of banknotes in front of her and said, "This is this month's share. Fourth Miss, count it."
It was a total of eight thousand taels, much more than before, and this was after the profits were divided. If she ran the shop alone, it would be enough for her to spend most of her life in one year.
"This is what the prince asked me to pass on to you." Fu Jiahui took out another letter and handed it to her.
This letter was not written by Zong Si, but by Zong Ning. The letter said that she had said a lot of good things about Zong Duo in front of him. Zong Si sent this letter to her, and the meaning was obvious, which made her have some sense of propriety.
Ning Fu thought to herself that Zong Si, the cold-faced King of Hell, was really idle. Even now he was on the battlefield, he was still watching her every move.
"Sister Fu, please tell the prince that he can rest assured." Ning Fu said.
Fu Jiahui said: "Since the fourth lady is here today, why don't you write a reply letter yourself."
Ning Fu thought about it and wrote: My Lord, please rest assured.
After pondering for a moment, he added: I hope you return safely.
But she was mostly polite.
It's just that I received the money today and I'm in a good mood, so the letter seems to be more sincere.
After returning home, Ning Fu began to think about the household affairs, leaving everything to Mu, an outsider. The holes in the mansion would surely surface faster than in the previous life, and perhaps even bigger.
Although Wei was not good at running the Duke's Mansion, she had twenty years of experience and had learned something. Just like she didn't know anything before she got married, but after three years of running the Prince Xuan's Mansion, she was completely different from before.
When this matter comes to light, it will be time to talk about the distribution of power.
At first, Wei was proud of herself for successfully passing the matter to the second wife. However, half a month later, she realized something was wrong. Mu was nowhere to be seen all day and was busy like a top, while the second wife was often leisurely drinking tea.
But now that the mess has been thrown away, it’s better not to ask about it for now.
So Wei pretended not to see it.
It was not until Ning Yu failed to allocate the money for social events three times in a row that Wei went to Mu to question her.
Mrs. Mu cried and said, "Madam, we are really out of money. I have saved money from all sources, but it is still not enough to cover our expenses. If I grant this much money to the eldest son, our food, clothing and other expenses will become a problem."
Wei naturally knew all this. Before handing it over to the second house, she had already made a beautiful account. It would take a lot of effort to find out the problems. Even if the second house wanted to investigate, they would have to make up for part of it in advance. After all, she certainly didn't want the accounts to be ruined in her hands.
She wanted to give her the mess because she took advantage of her psychology. The one from the second wife always protected her reputation for the sake of her children.
Wei frowned and said, "Since there is a problem, what did the second house say?"
"Although the Second Madam agreed to be the manager, she has never really come to manage the house in more than a month. When she came, she just took a look at the account books and listened to the manager talk about the situation in the mansion." Mu had a lot of grievances in her heart but couldn't say it, and she didn't dare to send Madam Ning away.
When Wei heard this, his eyes almost turned black and he was so angry that he almost vomited blood.
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