Nara chuckled, "Sister Tong thinks it's too little? You probably don't know, but including Honghui in my courtyard, my personal expenses in the kitchen are only around two hundred taels. Considering that Sister Tong is not in good health, I added fifty taels."
Then he turned to Yinzhen and said, "Your Highness, do you think we should add more?"
Nan Yi laughed. As expected of the primary consort, her words were watertight, and she even thought of a backup plan.
The principal wife and the eldest son of the master only spend about two hundred taels a month, while she, a concubine, only gets one hundred and fifty taels, and she still dares to complain that it's too little.
"Well, since the Fujin thinks it's appropriate, then so be it." Yinzhen said after a moment's thought. He didn't know any of this, and only thought that 150 taels was too little. He didn't expect that the principal wife would only have this much, and Tong Shi couldn't go over the principal wife's share.
Li gave Nala a thumbs up in her heart. Tong was still too naive. The principal wife had indeed only received a little over two hundred taels in the official account, but who knew how much she had secretly supplemented herself?
Both of them were wives with dowries, so they didn't care how much money the household spent. Only she had to be careful with every expense, and she lived a life of luxury thanks to the master's private subsidies.
Song, who was sitting at the lower seat, chuckled and said, "My lord, I feel indignant on behalf of the Fujin. When you calculate it, not to mention the eldest prince, Sister Tong spends more than the Fujin, which seems to be against the rules." She wanted to add fuel to the fire, not to burn Tong, but to give her a good scolding.
"Oh—then tell me how much to pay," Yinzhen said, his face darkening as he lightly tapped the table.
She and Madam Tong were not on good terms; Madam Tong had humiliated her last time, and this time... Madam Song's mind raced, and she said, "A hundred or so taels would be enough." She'd be more satisfied if they didn't give her a single cent.
—Ha, even more ruthless. Nan Yi doesn't even give this much to the maids in private.
“Thank you, Master Xie and your wife. Sister Song is right. I am really being too kind to you, Master Xie. I didn’t want to accept this, but it would be unreasonable not to. If word got out, it would be embarrassing for you. If I accepted too much, people would say that the concubine spends more than the primary wife, which would damage your reputation. So, I will give Lan Yuan a hundred taels of silver from now on. Before I got married, my father and mother gave me a lot of dowry money left over. No one in Lan Yuan will go hungry.”
After Nan Yi finished speaking, he stood up and said, "I don't want a single extra penny. Also, I will support the servants in Lan Courtyard myself. I have other matters to attend to in the courtyard, so I will take my leave now."
She turned and gracefully left, ignoring the strange looks from everyone. She glanced at Nara out of the corner of her eye and thought to herself, "I can't outsmart you, but I'll make you suffer."
Yinzhen's eyes were filled with gloom. He suppressed his thoughts and thought that one hundred and fifty taels of silver was not even enough for half a month's worth of bird's nest for Li Shi, who also had to support more than a dozen servants. If that were the case, he would not need to go out at all.
He took a sip of tea, then slammed the teacup down on the table with a dull thud, silencing everyone.
He had originally planned to give Tong a little extra money secretly, but now she had declared she didn't want a single penny more. Given Tong's current temperament, she probably really wouldn't accept it. However... well, it's fine. Once she's spent all her money, and comes begging him, he can change this ridiculous rule.
Nara returned to her bedroom, lay down on the couch, her undershirt slightly damp. She wiped the fine sweat from her forehead, realizing that she had been too restless and hasty in her actions lately.
Liu fanned her from the side, and after the Fujin calmed down, she advised, "Your Majesty, doing that would be a losing proposition. Even if she really didn't give enough, the Master would make up for it behind her back."
Nara nodded. "I originally intended to prevent her from using the small kitchen. You see, without the large kitchen, we would miss out on many opportunities. But I never expected..."
Lady Nara had not expected this outcome. How could the shrewd man not know that he might be angry with her as well?
When she first married into the household, her mind was not on the master. She was more concerned with internal affairs, power, and children. Being out of the picture, she was not constrained in her actions and acted without restraint.
Now, caught in the middle, all she wants is his complete devotion. She wants more than just mutual respect in their marriage; she wants a loving and harmonious relationship. To achieve this, she must overcome all the obstacles that might hinder her from obtaining it. But in the end, she's become impatient...
Lady Liu was disheartened. Her husband, the Fujin, had not listened to her opinions for a long time, and saying too much would be presumptuous, so she could only remain silent with her.
When Nan returned to the courtyard, she told everyone about the incident. The maids were indignant, but only Aunt Qiu chuckled silently. Nan knew that Aunt Qiu was the most experienced.
"Aunt Qiu, you should tell the maids. Huan'er, go close the courtyard gate."
"But..." Huan'er was stopped by her mother before she could finish speaking, "This is a wonderful thing, but I'm afraid..."
If the master doesn't have enough money, it might be difficult to handle.
Knowing Qiu Ma's concerns, Nan Yi said, "You're worried about the money? Don't worry, someone will deliver it to your door." Seeing her master's confidence, Qiu Ma felt relieved.
"Qingyun, tell the others that if anyone doesn't want to stay here, they can leave now, and I will reward them with two months' worth of monthly allowance."
Qingyun smiled and withdrew.
At dinner time, her lover brought over the food and placed it in front of Nan Yi: four hot dishes, four cold dishes, and a soup. Seeing that her lover hadn't taken all of it, she said, "That's enough. Don't take the rest. Take it and share it with them."
The lover explained with a smile, "It was Aunt Qiu's instruction that today is a special day, so she added dishes for everyone. It's also to treat the master, and everyone gets a share." The Lan Courtyard is now essentially independent, which is worth celebrating.
"Oh, that's right, but there's too much. It'll be a waste if we can't finish it," Nan Yi said, glancing at the dishes. He then took a plate of braised pork ribs, a plate of egg drop soup, and a plate of rice, leaving the rest for his lover to take.
The lover glanced at it, frowned and said, "Master, this is not enough," and left another plate of shredded chicken with lily bulbs and sweet and sour fish.
“Girl, I can’t finish this. Do you want to make your master fat?” Nan Yi handed it to her again, pouting. “My love, I don’t like waste. From now on, just have Granny Zhao make two dishes and a soup for each meal.”
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