What else could Countess Jingâan say? Matriarch He was using her responsibility as a daughter-in-law to pressure her. If she didnât take over the management of the household, then she would deemed unfilial.
While standing beside them, Chu Lian frowned slightly. She didnât understand Matriarch Heâs intentions.
Although she wanted to speak up for her mother-in-law, the matriarch and Madam Liu were both her elders. She was in no position to speak right now.
Countess Jingâan was soft-hearted. She didnât dare to disobey the matriarch upfront. Thus, she reluctantly agreed.
She couldnât decline because she didnât have any legitimate reason to refuse.
She hadnât managed the household in the past because she had been seriously ill and she didnât have the energy to do it. She had even needed the matriarchâs help to take care of her. However, her health had gotten better now. Since the matriarch had personally requested to hand over the rights to manage the household to her, she didnât have any good reason to decline.
Countess Jingâan grasped the handkerchief in her hand, stood up, and bobbed towards the matriarch, âMother, please rest assured. Iâll do my best to manage the household.â
âHurry and stand up. Youâve just recovered, so thereâs no need to keep bowing like that. Well then, Iâll rest easy now that youâll be taking care of the household affairs. If you have any questions, feel free to ask Muxiang and Miss Ying.â A smile finally appeared on the matriarchâs face.
âI understand.â
Thus, Countess Jingâan returned to her courtyard with several maidservants, each carrying a stack of account books.
Chu Lian followed behind her mother-in-law. She noticed that the countess was frowning deeply, and she appeared to be laden with worry. She tried consoling Countess Jingâan, âMother, you donât have to worry too much. We donât have that many people in our estate. Thereâs only a head steward and an assisting steward in the outer court. There are also plenty of senior servants acting as stewards in the inner court. As long as you keep these people in check and you look over the account books thoroughly, there shouldnât be any major problems.â
Countess Jingâan was a little embarrassed. She smiled apologetically at Chu Lian, âIâm really useless. At this age, I still need reassurance from a young girl like you. Donât worry, Iâm not that easily fooled. When I married into House Jingâan, I did manage the household for several years.â
âItâs good that Mother thinks of it this way. If you need any help, you can send someone to Songtao Court to find me. I donât have much to do anyway. Although Iâve never managed a household before, I can help you out.â
Countess Jingâan felt more relaxed after Chu Lianâs offer of help.
She nodded and told her to return to her courtyard for some rest.
She patted Chu Lianâs hand, âAlright, itâs just some minor household affairs. I have senior servants who can assist me as well, so Iâll be fine. You should concentrate on nourishing your body. Iâm still waiting for my grandsons!â
Chu Lianâs face immediately reddened due to her mother-in-lawâs words.
She had never thought about having children at such a young age. Back then, she had even thought about finding a nice and quiet place to live out a rural lifestyle in seclusion. However, with the passage of time and the progression of her relationship with He Changdi, she was actually starting to hope that a child would form in her belly as soon as possible.
She and He Changdi could watch their adorable little child grow up, bit by bit. They could raise him or her together.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
After sending Chu Lian off with her servants, Madam Liu returned to her own courtyard and headed directly for her study.
She had much to do today, and she wasnât going to have any free time to take care of her granddaughters. She sat in front of her desk and flipped open the account books. It didnât take long before Countess Jingâan discovered many suspicious gaps in them.
She was dumbfounded after making a rough calculation of the estateâs assets. Why were there so few stores and properties left in the public accounts?
Judging by these calculations, the monthly income probably wouldnât even hit five hundred taels...
Moreover, that was under the assumption that the stores were turning a profit...