Chapter 19: Sewing the Young Lady's Shoes
Dongmai and Lin's mother brought the account book to Shangguan Jin to reconcile the accounts.
As soon as Dongmai entered the door, she happily pulled out a ruby hairpin and a pearl flower from her sleeve.
"You tore it off?" Shangguan Jin asked with a smile.
Winter wheat shook its head.
"How could that be? They fell down on their own, but I kicked them into a corner."
Hey, miss, look how perfect the color of this ruby is!
I've made up my mind. I'll pry off these two gems and then make a new pair of shoes for the young lady, setting these two stones into the shoes.
As for the remaining gold and pearls, they were all exchanged for silver and sent to the charity.
Shangguan Jin's eyes twitched as she listened.
The jewels that Lady Wuding wore on her head were to be worn by Shen Qingyue on her ankles...
While playing with the hairpin and pearl flower, Dongmai talked to Shangguan Jin about her plans.
When Shangguan Jin heard the words "charitable hall," it took her a while to realize what they meant.
Oh, that's a village on the outskirts of Beijing, inhabited by the orphans of soldiers who went to the battlefield and never returned.
There were both boys and girls, and they had always been taken care of by the Duke of Dingguo's mansion and the Marquis of Changsheng's mansion.
Every year, the Duke of Dingguo's mansion would allocate a sum of money to him.
Dongmai is particularly devoted to this charity.
Of her monthly allowance of four taels of silver, at least three taels were sent to the charity.
She had told Shangguan Jin before that when she saw those children, she was reminded of herself and always felt she had to do something.
Therefore, Shangguan Jin would slip Dongmai a small purse or something every now and then.
They were afraid that if this girl wasn't careful, she wouldn't even have the money to buy some Taoyuanxuan pastries.
"Gemstones are set in shoes, and they can easily fall off if you're not careful. It would be such a waste if they did!" Shangguan Jin advised.
"It's no pity, it was an unexpected gift anyway." Dongmai wasn't embarrassed at all.
Shangguan Jin sighed and gently tapped the winter wheat.
“I just told those ladies I wanted to be frugal, and then I turned around and had Sister Yao’s shoes adorned with expensive gemstones. What do you think of me?”
Winter wheat then realized what was happening.
Yes, if I did that, wouldn't I be slapping my young lady in the face?
"Miss, I'm sorry, I didn't think that much!" Dongmai said with a look of regret.
Shangguan Jin smiled and waved her hand.
"It's alright, just remember in the future. Let's sell those two gems together. They weren't originally from the Duke of Dingguo's mansion; you picked them up by the roadside."
Since that's the case, let's just exchange them all for money and send it to the charity."
Lin's mother smiled and nodded.
"Yes, those two pieces of jewelry can be exchanged for a lot of silver, which is enough to cover the expenses of the charity for half a year."
However, you should still be careful about winter wheat in the future.
Miss has been married into the Duke of Dingguo's mansion for so many years, we've long since told you to call her Madam, but you just won't.
"Look, you've gotten used to it again today!" Lin's mother reminded her with a smile.
Dongmai shook its head, then shook its head again.
"I won't change it, I just won't change it."
"The lady belongs to everyone, but the young lady belongs to me alone, and that's not going to change."
Seeing Dongmai's stubbornness, Shangguan Jin and Lin's mother both smiled and shook their heads.
"Okay, if you don't want to change it, then you don't have to. It's just a name anyway. Dongmai has been with me for so many years, so it doesn't matter what I call her."
Dongmai glanced at Lin's mother smugly, her face beaming with pride.
See, Miss still loves me the most!
Shangguan Jin remained silent, casually flipping through the account books the two had brought.
Dongmai also diligently poured Shangguan Jin a cup of tea.
"Miss, do you think that Lady Wuding is a fool? She doesn't even know how to change the wedding gift."
"If I had to change it, I'd definitely choose something that looks similar! That way, it'd be easier to fool them," Dongmai continued nagging.
Shangguan Jin, her eyes fixed on the ledger, casually remarked, "Absolutely! Pure idiot!"
Lin's mother, winter wheat...
"Miss, what does 'stupid' mean? Does it mean someone who is an idiot?" Dongmai asked cautiously.
Shangguan Jin...
Damn, he's getting a little carried away. His mouth is faster than his brain, and he's spouting all sorts of words!
"Pretty much, but even dumber than an idiot."
It means... someone so stupid they could drive you crazy.
"Oh, she doesn't even realize how stupid she is. She keeps jumping around in front of others, as if she's afraid they won't know she's stupid," Shangguan Jin tried to explain.
Lin's mother nodded thoughtfully.
That's very apt; isn't that exactly how Lady Wudinghou was?
Dongmai looked at Shangguan Jin with eyes full of admiration.
Oh, it means they're incredibly stupid and don't even realize it!
My young lady is indeed worthy of being the eldest daughter of the Shangguan family. She has been well-versed in poetry and literature since childhood, and she must have seen these words in books.
Sigh, she's just not good at it; she doesn't know any of those fancy, literary insults.
All she does is roll up her sleeves and try to out-shout people...
"Miss, you're amazing!" Dongmai couldn't help but say again.
Shangguan Jin smiled awkwardly and quickly picked up the gift ledger beside her to ask Dongmai.
"You sorted the gifts quite well this time. Who taught you how?"
Dongmai leaned over to take a look, then chuckled.
"Miss, this is the eldest young lady's handwriting. How come you didn't recognize it?"
The young lady reviewed all the congratulatory gifts and then registered them all.
The young lady even made a special booklet, listing which family's congratulatory gifts were what and where they were placed; it was much better than the ledgers we used to keep ourselves.
How could I possibly write such beautiful characters?
These were all written by the young lady. Young lady, her handwriting is getting better and better; it's almost as beautiful as yours!
Shangguan Jin gave an "oh" and continued looking at the gift ledger.
Indeed, as expected of the eldest daughter of the Duke's mansion, her handwriting is truly beautiful.
What surprised Shangguan Jin even more was that Shen Qingyue had actually categorized all these congratulatory gifts clearly.
When the time comes, it will be clear at a glance if needed.
Shangguan Jin nodded repeatedly.
This eldest daughter seems to be the type who possesses inner beauty and talent.
No, she's quite pretty too, okay?
"And this, this is the account book compiled by the eldest son."
All the expenses for the old lady's birthday banquet are covered here.
The eldest young master has checked these accounts several times, and later the manor's accountants also checked them, saying that the eldest young master's calculations were correct.
As she spoke, Dongmai handed another ledger to Shangguan Jin.
Looking at the ledger with a different font style, Shangguan Jin paused for a moment.
"How are you feeling today, Sister Yao?" Shangguan Jin asked.
"I didn't realize that the eldest young lady was still reading and practicing calligraphy with the young lady, and even drew a picture for her," Lin's mother said hurriedly.
Shangguan Jin nodded and handed all the account books to Dongmai.
"You can look at the ledgers anytime."
"Mother Lin, go and call Sister Yao here, just call her alone," Shangguan Jin said.
After watching Lin's mother leave, Dongmai glanced at Shangguan Jin again.
"Miss, is it still because of the Marquis of Wuding's residence?"
Shangguan Jin took a sip of tea and nodded.
The old lady's birthday banquet turned into such a mess that the whole capital probably knows that the Duke of Dingguo's mansion and the Marquis of Wuding's mansion have fallen out.
Shen Qingyue, who was engaged to the Marquis of Wuding's family, was probably the one who suffered the most in the whole affair.
Shangguan Jin needed to understand Shen Qingyue's thoughts before deciding on the next step.
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