jdhmnovel Chapter 279: Housekeeper? Cut back on expenses first
Chapter 279: Housekeeper? Cut back on expenses first
After Shen Wenting went to court, he found out that what happened last night was already known to everyone. Even the emperor was alarmed. After the morning court, he called everyone to the imperial study to inquire about the situation.
In the imperial study room.
"Your Highness!" Shen Wenting calmed himself and saluted to Emperor Cang Ling who was sitting at the top.
"Minister Shen, your romantic affair has spread throughout the capital early in the morning. How do you explain it?" The emperor said in a cold voice without asking him to get up.
"Your Majesty, this is unfair! This has never happened. Someone must be trying to frame me!" Shen Wenting kowtowed and protested his injustice. Even if it was true, so what? He had dealt with the person himself. There were no witnesses or evidence. He would refuse to admit it, so who would dare to accuse him?
"This is originally your family affair, and I am not in a position to interfere too much. But since it involves the Duke's Mansion, it is no longer a simple family affair. Minister Shen has always been a role model for everyone in the capital, and I hope you won't let me down." The emperor looked at him meaningfully and motioned for him to leave.
"I will follow your majesty's instructions and take my leave!" Shen Wenting came out of the palace, feeling very nervous. So he decided to go find Chen Shuhua first and appease her so that the rest of the things can be handled easily.
As soon as he returned to the mansion, he went straight to Chen Shuhua's yard, but the servants told him that the lady was not in the mansion. She packed her things and went to Xiangguo Temple. She would not be back for a few days. Hearing this, Shen Wenting was furious. It was urgent, but she went out to hide away. But no matter how angry he was, he could only wait for her to come back.
The cause of Chen Shuhua's poisoning has not been found yet, so it is a good idea for her to go to Xiangguo Temple. I have prepared medicine for her to take. There will be no danger for the time being. On the contrary, it may be safer. I will find a chance to go to her yard to see if I can find the source of the poison.
Chen Shuhua went to Xiangguo Temple and handed the jade seal of the head of the mansion to Yao Qingnian, and asked Yuzhu to assist her as the housekeeper.
The first thing Yao Qingnian did was to look through all the account books at home and sort out the assets in the mansion. She heard from Shan Wei that the Shangshu Mansion was relying on Chen Shuhua's dowry for subsidization, and she wanted to see how the subsidy was used.
The main source of income for the Shangshu Mansion is Shen Wenting's salary, but that little salary is not enough to fill the gaps between teeth. In recent years, the Shangshu Mansion has relied on the relationship with the Duke's Mansion to purchase some industries, and the profits from the farms and shops are also good, but the expenses of the mansion are also high.
The old lady never ran out of rare medicinal herbs and supplements. Shen Wenting's socializing, gifts, etc., were all huge expenses. Not to mention the other gorgeous clothes and delicacies, which all cost money. No wonder Shen Wenting tried his best to please Chen Shuhua even if he didn't like her. If he angered her, they would be the ones to suffer.
Yao Qingnian looked through the account books and the assets of the mansion. Chen Shuhua's dowry was really extraordinary. It included real estate, farms, shops, and a variety of vegetables and fruits. The shops were all in the prime locations of the capital. There were many kinds of shops, and the annual income was not small. If it were an ordinary family, just taking out any one of them would be enough to live a life of luxury for several lifetimes.
Yao Qingnian was dazzled by the list of Chen Shuhua's dowry. She had seen many of them in the old lady's yard, and on Shen Wenting and Shen Youran. As for the other decorations, there was no need to mention them.
After seeing it, she realized that almost everything in the mansion had the shadow of Chen Shuhua's dowry. Despite this, her dowry was still shockingly generous. Wow, this Duke's Mansion is really generous. With so much dowry, I'm afraid they must have emptied their entire family savings to send it here.
"Miss?" Shan Wei interrupted, thinking that she was angry when she saw how much dowry Madam Shen had given to support the family: "Miss, they are too much. They actually embezzled so much of Madam Shen's dowry."
"Nothing, didn't Shen Wenting say that my mother was too much last night? Then let him taste something even more excessive. Yuzhu, help me summon the stewards of the mansion to see me!"
The next day, all the stewards were called over, their eyes and tones full of disdain. The madam was really out of her mind to let a young girl from the countryside be the steward. Now that the jade seal of the head of the family was in her hands, they dared not disobey. However, they did not care at all and just stood aside to watch the show.
"Miss, what do you want? Our stewards are all busy!" The leading steward asked first.
"My mother gave me the housekeeper's jade seal and asked me to be her housekeeper. I checked the accounts these two days and found that the Shangshu Mansion is spending more than it earns. Therefore, it's time to make some adjustments." Humph, if you want to turn your face away, then don't use Chen Shuhua's dowry. It's impossible to be a whore and still want to be a virgin. Yao Qingnian did this to make them face up to the reality.
"What does the young lady mean?" A new official has three things to do upon taking office. What does this country girl want to do?
"Starting today, cut back on spending."
No one knew the situation in the mansion better than the stewards. However, with the lady's dowry, the expenses had only increased over the years. Now they were talking about reducing it, but how to reduce it? The stewards who came were all talking about it, and they had a lot of opinions about this young lady who had just returned from the countryside.
"My lady, you just came back from the countryside. I'm afraid even many people in the mansion don't know about it. How easy is it to cut down on expenses? We are stupid, please explain clearly."
Yao Qingnian sat at the head of the main hall, knocking on the table, making a "dong dong dong" sound. Everyone present was nervous when they heard it, wondering what this young lady was up to.
The one who spoke was Mrs. Feng, who was in charge of purchasing for the kitchen in the mansion. She was in charge of the entire kitchen and had many benefits!
After a while, when everyone was quiet, Yao Qingnian spoke up, "Mrs. Feng, you are also an old man in the mansion. Do you think there are any unreasonable expenses in the kitchen?"
"Miss, you are putting me in a difficult position by asking this. Not to mention us servants in the kitchen, the masters have to prepare fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, and precious ingredients every day. All of them cost money, and they have to be prepared in different ways. The ginseng soup and bird's nest in the ladies' rooms cannot be stopped. All of them are clearly necessary. You asked me to reduce them, but I don't know how to start."
"Yeah, it's the same with us."
"Who isn't? If the masters want it, why don't they give it to us?"
"There is no place that doesn't need silver..."
These managers started discussing again, saying that life was already tight now, and if there were further cuts, how would they get by? The managers all complained bitterly.
Yao Qingnian stopped tapping the table, picked up the teacup, took a sip and said calmly: "Mrs. Feng has worked hard for the Shangshu Mansion and has made great contributions. It is indeed hard work, and she is old. Why not give the opportunity to the young people and go back to enjoy her old age!"