Chapter Seventy

  One after another, horse-drawn carriages from afar entered the side gate of the Duke of Yong's mansion, and several young servants pulled goods in through the back door. It was only October, and no one had expected things to arrive so early.

  The delicate snowflake-like curtains covered the warm pavilion's lush greenery, only faintly visible was the figure sitting on the couch. Li Sheng, the chief steward from Suzhou, bowed his head and replied: "...... Afraid that the weather is a bit cold, it's not good to travel on the road, and also froze the goods, so we set out early. The farm has entrusted our servant to deliver the New Year's goods together with the account book, although Madam didn't ask for it, but what should be given cannot be less. The account book is placed outside, please take a look, Madam."

  The accounts of the twelve households' shops for three months, put together are not a small sum, and there are also the harvest from the farm and the expenses of the academy, it will take several days to settle these accounts.

  Li Sheng then heard a voice from inside asking: "How is the Enlightenment Academy?"

  "What he heard was Guan Pei asking questions, and Li Sheng hurriedly said: "I often go there to take a look, everything is fine, the reputation has improved a bit, but this batch of students hasn't graduated yet, so it seems ordinary."

  "You've come such a long way, let someone take you down and rest properly first."

  Li Sheng hastily thanked him and listened to the slight movement inside, knowing that Quan Dai had left. He straightened his waist slightly and was about to leave when he met Hong Qian who had just arrived.

  "I heard someone say that you were coming over today, so I returned early from the palace. Luckily, I ran into you. How was your journey, sir?"

  Hong Kuan's greeting made Li Sheng's smile more sincere: "The road is fine, but it startled Brother."

  "What did the master say? I'll take the master to rest."

  The matter of Suzhou caused Quan Pei to become busy, and Yongzheng inadvertently saw the account book sent from Suzhou, only then did he become surprised: "I originally knew you were doing business, but I didn't think it was this big, whose account book is this for so many shops?"

  "There were twelve shops in total, all of which were spice shops."

  He roughly calculated that he himself had opened a shop, and there were not many people without power. The shipping business still had to go through the rights, and he could earn 10,000 taels of silver in a year, half of which came from the rights.

  This made him feel both ashamed and appreciative.

  "You're really making it impossible for me not to admire you!"

  Ruan Wan lightly smiled: "Are you admiring or jealous? If you're short of silver, I can lend some to you."

  "This is what you said, don't regret it later!"

  Husband and wife should be like this, not feeling inferior because of the other's excellence and competence, but genuinely happy for them, and then motivated to strive even harder. Although Yun Chen felt ashamed, he was more appreciative, and didn't have any prejudices or dislikes towards Quan Pei, which is a blessing that others can't ask for.

  The main courtyard of the imperial concubine was always bustling with servants coming and going, but the matter of the steward seemed to have been put aside and no one mentioned it. When going to the accounting house to receive silver, there was no special allocation for the main courtyard, and Yiyi also chose to remain silent.

  In a few days, it will be Fei Yanggu's birthday. She thought about what gift to give and ordered someone to prepare it. Cuiwen went out for a while and came back saying: "The eunuch from the Ceremonial Department said that Li Shen, the chief steward, had already asked Madam Fu specifically what to prepare, and she had given instructions."

  Ru Yi felt like a fishbone was stuck in her throat. Although she was now in charge of the household, how could such things be done without going through her? It was as if they didn't take her seriously at all!

  Several maidservants carried in a few bolts of fabric: "The mistress said that winter is approaching and instructed the concubines and princesses to select some fabrics to make clothes."

  Everyone was delighted, but Ruyi's face looked even worse.

  The housekeeper didn't give the mistress any silver, nor did she hear that the mistress had opened the warehouse to take things out. How could there be so many new fabrics brought out for people to make clothes?

  Ru Yi calmly said: "I don't know where these fabrics came from, but they look so good."

  The maid smiled and said: "I'm not very clear either, it seems that the lady had someone buy it outside."

  Bought outside? Where did you get so much money to do these things?

  Is the money secretly given by Grandfather or did Madame have it originally? Or is it that Madame has always been in charge of the household accounts and the money she received was just allocated to her by Madame?

  She thought that managing the household, finances and personnel was the only one in this mansion, but now it seems ridiculous. She is just like a general manager under her, just a subordinate of Fu Jin, no wonder Fu Jin doesn't take the right to manage the house seriously, because Fu Jin's status and power in the family have long surpassed her imagination.

  The Li and Song families had already chosen the fabric for their daughters, sons, and themselves, and were now selecting styles. The remaining few pieces of cloth were somewhat dull in color. Yu Yi came back to her senses, her expression gloomy and unclear.

  "Didn't the steward give the mistress any silver? I wonder how she managed to buy it?"

  Li looked at the album and said, "That's really extravagant for a lady of means, using her own silver!"

  "This is not the message she wanted to convey, she took a deep breath and said: 'It must be that Master secretly gave money to Madame Fu, Madame Fu is really different from us.'"

  Li pointed at the gesture of his hand to the people below and said, "Make it like this for me." Then he turned his head to look at Ruyi, measured her with a few glances, smiled and only said: "Cefu Jun is right."

  Song Shi was unwilling to say more, and took her two daughters away after selecting the materials and styles.

  Li and Song both left, but Li's gaze made Ruyi feel uneasy. Li knew something, but didn't bother to tell her. There were many things in the mansion that she didn't know about, and she felt it was hard to accept. Li and Song seemed very calm when they looked at each other, and no matter how much she provoked them with words, their emotions didn't change.

  Only after returning to the house, Li sat on the couch and said to Liu Li: "Did you hear that? Ce Fu Jun is jealous of Fu Jun. She wants to stir up trouble between us. It's ridiculous! In the past, when we were in the palace, we didn't even have a single piece of silver. But it was Fu Jun who secretly opened a shop with Master outside and gradually improved our situation. I'm not someone who is short-sighted and lacks vision. The fact that Fu Jun has her current status is because of her own abilities. Does she think that by not allocating silver to the main courtyard, she can make things difficult for Fu Jun? Most of the wealth in this mansion was probably earned by Fu Jun herself. Although she's in charge of the household, she's just a servant who manages affairs. She doesn't even realize it herself; she just thinks she's doing fine!"

  Liu Li Bian also smiled secretly: "You say Cefu Jun can still manage the household for how long?"

  Mr. Li thought for a moment: "This... ... just see how long she can hold on, maybe today will be the end of it..."

  On the stone table was a plate of roasted goose meat, surrounded by several vegetarian dishes. The Ninth Princess cut off a piece with her small knife and tasted it, exclaiming in surprise: "Fourth Sister, what kind of food is this that's so special?"

  "called Hún Yáng Xū Hū."

  The Ninth Princess smiled: "What kind of strange name is this?"

  This was one of her favorite dishes a thousand years ago, and at that time it seemed to have a different flavor. On the attic, pushing open the window, on the main street outside, you could always see women wearing Hu clothing on horseback, bright and bold. Take a bite of the mutton skewers and drink a mouthful of spring water, as if you are also a heroic man from the north of the Great Wall, play a game of polo and become a brave warrior who has gone out to battle.

  The sun's warmth gradually dissipated, and it was a bit chilly sitting outside. The Ninth Princess and Quan Pei entered the house, sat down on the soft couch, and had a maid bring in two bowls of steaming hot soy milk. After drinking one bowl, she finally felt refreshed.

  Once inside, the Ninth Princess finally spoke of her purpose.

  "...The last time, the matter was investigated and it turned out that the child in Meng Ya's womb is not Shun An Yan's. She herself admitted it, saying that someone had been forcing her and she couldn't do anything but cause trouble at their doorstep." The Ninth Princess paused and lowered her voice even further: "She didn't know who was forcing her, we let her go back, waited for many days before running into that person again, managed to catch him, but just as we were about to interrogate him, he bit his tongue and died...nothing was obtained..."

  Qian Wei slightly lowered her eyes: "Things are indeed not simple..."

  It's fortunate that Fourth Sister was there that day, otherwise I'm afraid a big mistake would have been made already. Shun An Yan also asked me to thank you on his behalf!

  Wei Juan smiled and raised her head: "Are you two getting along again?"

  The ninth princess was not shy at all and smiled: "Isn't that right? It's about time we stopped being so stubborn!"

  "Didn't you say you were pregnant?"

  The ninth princess laughed and said: "Who spread such nonsense? It's not true!"

  Yu Rong was in the ear house, and Ya Tou said: "Fu Jin is talking to Ji Gong Zhu now, let's wait a while."

  She smiled and nodded.

  After a while, the sound of laughter came from outside the house. She stood up and looked out, Ninth Princess was holding onto Madame Fu's arm, looking very intimate, don't know what she whispered to make her laugh uncontrollably.

  Quan Pei didn't return to the courtyard until she had seen the Ninth Princess onto her carriage.

  Yatou said: "The concubine of Jinxiu Garden has come to see you."

  I haven't really talked to Ruyi since I got back, now that I'm here, might as well meet up.

  The delicate green phoenix tail orchid and the plum blossom carved lacquer table's small potted azalea complemented each other, while the intricately carved pink four-season flower small square box was casually placed on one side. Quan Pei opened it to take a look, and the person sitting below, Ruyi, felt her eyelids twitching. The full box of large pearls made her take a shallow breath. However, Quan Pei seemed to be unaware of this and handed it over to Xiaoyue on the side: "Put it away."

  It should be the ninth princess who sent this gift.

  Feeling the gaze of Quan Yu on her, Yi sat up straight: "I came to find my sister to ask about Ama's birthday, I don't know what needs to be prepared, so I can prepare early."

  Quan Pei glanced at Ruyi: "Didn't you just call Qiaowen to the ceremonial hall? The things have already been arranged, no need for you to worry."

  It's just a trivial matter, but Quan Pei already knew everything here, and her pleased expression stiffened: "Ah...yes...it's already been taken care of, no need for me to worry..."

  The Western-style clock suddenly rang out, and the bush warbler chirped happily. However, Ruo Xi was startled and her back stiffened up. Why did she always feel unable to hold her head high in front of Quan Pei?

  "I don't want to take back the management of the household from you, because you are my sister and I was the one who asked you to come into the mansion. Sometimes people's ambitions cannot be too big, it's better to be content with the current situation, because if they get too out of hand, in the end, nothing may be left."

  What is now called household authority is just a kind of charity. What she should manage can be managed, and what the master has taken charge of is not her business.

  Suddenly, footsteps were heard outside the house. Yatou came in with a smile all over her face: "Nalan Fu has sent news that our family's eldest uncle has been appointed by the Emperor as the Governor of Henan!"

  Nalan Xingyu graduated from the Imperial Academy, served as a Shao Yu Scholar in the Hanlin Academy for one year, and was then appointed by the Emperor to be the Magistrate of Shangqiu, Henan. Not long after that, he became the Provincial Governor. This shows Nalan Xingyu's imperial favor and ability.

  Ruan Yu smiled and said: "This is indeed a great joy, let someone go and tell Nalan Xuefu Jun about it!"

  Lian Nalan's moonlight has power now, but Ruo Yi only feels that the road ahead is dark. At this moment, even the authority of Guan Jia, whom she despises, has become precious. At least she still has a sister who is willing to indulge her.

  The author has something to say: All of Ruyi's troubles stem from her discontent, always thinking that she can surpass Ruoyu in terms of power and status.