Shen Yi Yao went in and out of the estate every day. Those who understood naturally knew she was busy with the matter of her daughter's marriage. Those who didn't understand or didn't want to understand, such as the old madam, naturally wasn't pleased.
On this day, the old madam called Shen Yi Yao over to the Rongan Hall by herself.
"I see you bustling about every day and wanted to bring it up a little later. But now that you're back, you can't let Xue-shi continue managing the household. How improper is that if word gets out? It's better if you took things over. After all, you are this estate's proper madam."
Shen Yi Yao sat below and answered submissively: "Mom is right, but your daughter-in-law is busy with discussing Ah Yan's marriage and doesn't have time to manage the household. Your daughter-in-law feels eldest sis-in-law is doing a pretty good job. Why not let her continue managing it?"
Her answer was extremely reasonable so the old madam could only drop it.
From that day onwards, the old madam started nitpicking everything Xue-shi did.
It was mostly to do with managing the household. Xue-shi suffered frequent abuse and couldn't even raise her head. The entire estate knew the eldest madam made the old madam unhappy. This also affected Yan Ru's mood. These days when she occasionally came to the Ningxiang Chambers, Yan Ru seemed preoccupied.
"Eldest sis, what's wrong? You seem unhappy these couple of days. You're not even working as hard on etiquette anymore."
Yan Ru sighed and put the needlework in her hands down.
She was truly busy recently. Xue-shi wished to have her learn a whole lot in a short amount of time. She learned etiquette from Nana Chang in the morning. She and Yan Ling weren't as familiar with this as Yan Yan was, and it was a lot of work. In the afternoon she still had to learn household management from Xue-shi. When she occasionally had free time, she still had to practice her mediocre needlework.
Yan Ling rubbed her neck. She continued her needlework while saying: "Isn't it because of that old woman seizing onto the principal mother every day? She's picking at the slightest faults and laying them all out."
Her attitude nowadays was similar to Yan Ru's. Yan Ru was in a hurry due to her age. As for Yan Ling, she had to urge herself on due to her status.
Yan Yan was the most relaxed out of the group. At this time, she was half leaning against the pillows on the kiln. Compared to Yan Ru and Yan Ling who couldn't even rest their hands, she seemed leisurely enough for others to be envious.
But second aunt pampered the third miss. When that Nana Chang asked about their embroidery skills, Yan Yan had said straightforwardly that since she didn't want to learn it, her mom said it was fine.
Nana Chang understood the implication and didn't say anything about it. But while Yan Yan dared to say so, did Yan Ru and Yan Ling? Yan Ru didn't want her mom to fuss at her while Yan Ling wanted to improve herself.
They had thought themselves decent at needlework before, but Nana Chang picked out a bunch of issues. Actually, Nana Chang didn't have to teach these things. But she felt that since etiquette only took up half the day, it wasn't good to idle the other half away. Since the master's household had paid the silver, she decided to instruct them in needlework in her spare time.
Xue-shi felt this nana was more than worth her price. Shen Yi Yao however recalled her own daughter managing to prick herself full of holes when she picked up needle and thread. She could only shake her head and sigh.
This won't be mentioned for now. Yan Yan's eyes flashed and she said: "She can't last much longer."
Yan Ru was restless. She decided to put away the needlework and leaned over. "Do you know something?"
The matured Yan Ru resembled Xue-shi, but her brows were a little more exquisite. Her features were delicate and pretty, and she looked a few shades more elegant. Along with her love for the arts, she had a scholarly air that enhanced her appearance a bit more.
Seeing this normally scholarly-looking eldest sis reveal a curious expression, Yan Yan laughed in spite of herself. She put the book in her hands down and said: "She's acting this way because she wants to hand over the authority to my mom. It's not something that can be dragged out."
After a pause, Yan Yan spoked again: "However, my mom doesn't want to manage this household at all."
"That's true. I also have some understanding of how hard household management is now. Up and down, in and out, not the slightest mistake can be made."
Yan Ru thought about the intricacies of household management and felt her head hurting. These days she had been learning from her mom. As of now, she was merely observing. Despite this, she could see that it wasn't easy to manage a household well.
Yan Ling had a lot more thoughts than Yan Ru. She looked at Yan Ru and then at Yan Yan. Only after seeing that Yan Yan didn't seem to be hiding anything did she feel relieved.
At the same time in the Yusheng Pavilion.
Xue-shi was complaining to Yan Zhi who was resting at home. Compared to the younger generation, they naturally had to consider more things.
"This matter cannot wait any longer. I really can't stand that mom of yours. I must find an opportunity to push this matter away."
Yan Zhi frowned, "Have you given second sis-in-law a heads up?"
"I've mentioned it to her before. She wouldn't be that foolish, right?"
"That's hard to say. Second sis-in-law has always been a pushover. It's not like you don't know this."
"Then I'll go tell her once again. Under these circumstances, I'm sure she's also unwilling to take over."
After speaking, Xue-shi headed to the Jinse Pavilion.
***
Chen-shi sat below listening to the old madam fussing.
The old madam cursed Xue-shi, and then cursed Shen Yi Yao. Ultimately, she didn't have anything good to say about these two daughters-in-law.
Chen-shi was taciturn as usual. Even if she heard something, she wouldn't say anything more. The old madam only had Matron Zhao to vent to, but Matron Zhao was also busy with many things. Inevitably, Chen-shi was pulled over as a substitute. In the old madam's heart, this was her daughter-in-law. She was naturally closer with her than outsiders.
But closeness depended on the circumstances. For example, the old madam wouldn't bring up why she hated Shen Yi Yao and Xue-shi in front of Chen-shi. Xue-shi wasn't actually a big deal. She was just cursing her for not relinquishing her authority while not performing well, unable to do the smallest thing.
While those above vented, those below naturally had to think about many things.
Although Chen-shi was taciturn, she wasn't a fool. She just never had much authority within the estate due to her status. First of all she was the youngest, and had two older sisters-in-law. Secondly, she entered the estate later. By the time she had married in, Xue-shi and Shen Yi Yao had been here for a while. She could only be last in line for everything. She was also not good with her words, and thus became basically invisible within the estate.
Despite being invisible, she was still a mistress and the estate's third madam.
Shen Yi Yao was busy going out and Xue-shi wasn't favored. Wasn't this her chance to get involved?
Managing the household was something Chen-shi could only dream about. Early on there was Shen Yi Yao, and then Concubine Pei was more favored by the old madam. After Concubine Pei left, there was still Xue-shi who was good at flattering the old madam. Now that Xue-shi had become an annoyance, was it her time to shine?
Of course, these were just Chen-shi's thoughts. On the surface, she remained silent while listening to the old madam chatter on.
It was at this time Xue-shi requested an audience from outside.
The old madam's eyes flashed and she stopped her tirade. She took a few sips of tea and calmed her breath before letting Xue-shi in.
Xue-shi was also direct. The moment she entered, she straightforwardly admitted she was incapable, and was also worried about the eldest miss's marriage. Since she continuously messed up these days, she no longer dared hold this position and wanted to hand over her authority as household manager.
The old madam was overjoyed inside but still had to try and convince her otherwise on the surface. Xue-shi was rather insistent so the old woman could only reluctantly and helplessly accept.
Xue-shi ordered people to fetch the various keys and account ledgers from the eldest branch. The old madam ordered her personal maids to call Shen Yi Yao over from the Jinse Pavilion.
Chen-shi felt gloomy inside while Xue-shi pretended not to have heard.
Shen Yi Yao came very quickly. The old madam didn't beat around the bush and pointed at the pile of things. She said Xue-shi had resigned herself so it was better for Shen Yi Yao to take over.
Shen Yi Yao's expression was extremely troubled, but she had never been one to express her thoughts. She could only look at the old madam and then looked at Xue-shi. She followed Xue-shi's gaze and then looked at Chen-shi who was on the side.
Chen-shi's gleaming eyes made her slightly pause. When she looked again, Chen-shi had lowered them.
She slowly and clamly sat down and put a smile on her face: "Mom's deep affection and trust truly makes it hard for daughter-in-law to reject this responsibility...." She paused and saw Chen-shi quickly glance at her before lowering her head again.
She sighed in her heart and continued: "But you also know my situation is similar to the eldest sis-in-law, and I don't have any time to manage the household. How about this? Let third sis-in-law manage the household. She has also been married in for quite some time."
The old madam was about to speak up and refuse when Shen Yi Yao directly asked Chen-shi: "Would third sis-in-law be willing to accept this responsibility?"
Chen-shi's body reacted faster than her mind. Before she could think, she realized she was already nodding her head. Since this was the case, she could only say: "Then I won't be polite. Hopefully I won't let down mom and sisters-in-law's expectations."
Her thoughts were naturally simple. The two sisters-in-law weren't liked by the old madam while she herself was quite favored. Perhaps this was a sign that the old madam wanted her to manage the household. The old madam naturally wouldn't say it openly, but it seemed very likely.
The old madam looked very startled. Her expression was sufficient to show she was extremely startled.
Xue-shi laughed in her heart while she said to Shen Yi Yao: "Second sis-in-law, there's something I want to ask you. It's about the eldest miss's matter."
Shen Yi Yao nodded and said to the old madam: "Mom, then we'll take our leave."
"Oh right. Third sis-in-law, these records are extremely simple. Because I wasn't in charge of the income, I just had to make sure the expenses match what's recorded in the ledger. You can see for yourself if everything matches. If you see anything wrong, you can come find me."
How could anything be wrong? Xue-shi had already verified everything a few days before.
After speaking, the two of them left. They didn't want to stay behind while the old madam was raging.
The old madam pointed at Chen-shi, her finger trembling continuously. She had trouble accepting that her efforts had all been wasted by this fool.
How could Chen-shi not see that the old madam's expression wasn't a gratified one, but was startled instead? She felt a little aggrieved. "Mom, could it be you don't want to let your daughter-in-law manage the household?"
The old madam choked up and shook her head. "Of course not, how could that be?"
Chen-shi was delighted. "Daughter-in-law will definitely not disappoint mom!"
After speaking, she happily ordered her maids to take the box of keys and the stack of ledgers, preparing to verify the records back at the third branch.
After she left, the old madam's face was ash grey, her chest hurting tremendously. The maids saw her looking unwell and hurriedly brought over her pills. After helping her take them, they helped her into the inner room.
Some maids were worried and asked if they needed to call a doctor. As of now, there wasn't a single doctor left in the estate. If they wanted to call for one, they would have to arrange a carriage and invite one from outside.
The old madam shook her head weakly. How could she let others know her chest was hurting due to anger? Especially since it cost silver to call a doctor!
She was familiar with this old issue of hers. It came and went. Although Doctor Chang wasn't here anymore, his prescription was. She ate the medicine accordingly and would feel better. Her issue just needed her not to get angry, not to get worn out and rest more in order to get better.