There was more than one stack of these books. Wushuang stepped forward and counted them; there were four stacks in total.
"Good morning, Your Highness." Madam Qiao greeted Wushuang respectfully upon her arrival.
"Good morning, Mom." Wushuang pointed to the pile of notebooks. "What...is this?"
"Your Highness, these are all the account books in our household since the old princess left."
Wushuang was somewhat stunned. She held back her saliva and did some mental calculations. It had been eleven years since the old princess had left the mansion. No wonder the account books were piled up like a small mountain.
but……
"I naturally trust Mother about the accounts." With a very bad premonition in her heart, she instinctively said, "There's no need to present them to me one by one."
Madam Qiao raised her chin slightly and said with a sidelong glance, "That won't do. The accounts must be clear. So when I heard that the Princess Consort was going to hand over the affairs of the inner court, I immediately had someone send over all the account books. Only after we checked the accounts and found no problems could we truly hand them over."
With hundreds of ledgers, how many lifetimes would it take to match them all?
Wushuang rubbed her throbbing temples, her imposing manner unconsciously weakening: "Mom is right..."
Before she could finish speaking, Madam Qiao interrupted her, saying, "Your Highness, please listen carefully. Our manor's accounts are divided into four categories. First, the expenses for everyone in the manor, including their food, clothing, housing, and transportation; second, the expenses for gifts given by various families and households that have dealings with us in the capital and even throughout the country during festivals, weddings, and funerals. This part is recorded together with the inflow and outflow of goods in the various storerooms of the manor; third, expenses for personnel, such as buying and selling maids and servants, distributing monthly allowances, and other trivial expenses; and finally, the income from the manor's estates, shops, and villas."
It sounds like it's similar to how she sorts things at home.
Wushuang breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Although she had learned to read account books when she was at her parents' home, it was only to prevent her from being schemed against by servants with ulterior motives, not to actually exhaust her life's energy on reconciling accounts...
“If the Princess has no objections, then let’s set a time three days from now. If there are no problems with the accounts, we can proceed with the next step,” Madam Qiao added.
Three days?
Wushuang was so frightened that she felt dizzy. By the time she calmed down, Qiao's mother had already left, leaving her no room to object.
"I think she's deliberately trying to make things difficult for the Princess." Chaohua said, massaging Wushuang's temples with medicated oil while defending her. "Our mistress reconciles the accounts every six months, and with the help of the second wife, it still takes seven or eight days. How could she possibly look at ten years' worth of accounts in three days?"
Helper, yes, she can ask for help!
Wushuang suddenly understood and stood up abruptly: "You've all studied accounting, come here and watch with me!"
At the beginning of the Si hour, Chu Wan, who had eaten and slept well, came to find Wu Shuang. She was excited and her voice came before she entered the house: "Shuang Shuang, my brother finally went to the yamen today. You can play with me now. I'm so happy."
She giggled and rushed into the east side room, where she saw books covering the floor. Wushuang, Qiqiao, and Chaohua were sitting cross-legged in front of the kang table, all engrossed in their books.
Could it be that both of them studied this hard when they were at their parents' home?
Chu Wan opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She felt a little guilty. If this happened, would Brother Bo laugh at her for not being well-educated if she didn't understand something in her studies in the future?
"You've come at the perfect time!" Wushuang looked up from the ledger and patted the only empty seat in front of the square kang table. "Come sit down, let's look at it together."
"What are you looking at?" Chu Wan kicked off her embroidered shoes, climbed onto the couch, and obediently sat down next to Wushuang.
With Wushuang as the main character and Chaohua as the secondary character, the two of them repeated the events of the morning in a back-and-forth manner.
"How can you finish reading it in three days?" Chu Wan was dumbfounded. She had been studying and writing with her teacher for seven or eight years, and she had never read so many books in total...
"We still need to watch it first!" Wushuang said decisively. "Wanwan, come and help. The more people there are, the more strength we'll have. The sooner we finish watching, the more I can play with you."
"Okay!" Chu Wan didn't notice the loophole in his words and immediately joined in with great enthusiasm.
As evening fell, Chu Yao returned home and witnessed the same scene as Chu Wan, except for one more person.
"What are you doing?" he asked, frowning.
"Brother, you're back!" Chu Wan rubbed her sore eyes and was the first to complain, "Mother Qiao is making things difficult for Shuangshuang. She wants Shuangshuang to finish reading all the account books within three days before she will hand over the affairs of the mansion to her."
To show solidarity with Wushuang, she added, "She used to bully me too. When my monthly allowance ran out, I wanted to borrow some more from her, but she refused, saying I shouldn't have spent money recklessly. I didn't spend money recklessly at all; I just bought a thank-you gift for Brother Bo to thank him for taking care of me on his way to see Shuangshuang."
"Such a thing is true?"
Chu Yao had somewhat expected that Mrs. Qiao would be unwilling to relinquish her housekeeping authority, but he was quite surprised that she wouldn't give Chu Wan any money to spend.
Ultimately, Madam Qiao was merely managing the household on behalf of the late Princess Consort; she had no right to discipline the children on behalf of the late Princess Consort. Chu Yao and Chu Wan were the true masters of the Prince's residence. They could respect the servants around their elders according to etiquette, but they had no right to be controlled by these people in return.
“Next time something like this happens, Wanwan, just tell Shuangshuang. Your brother and Shuangshuang will never let you go without money,” Chu Yao said.
The Prince's mansion is overflowing with gold and silver treasures. Chu Wan is just a little maid who buys some clothes, jewelry, and snacks. How could she possibly spend it all? What reason is there to be mean to her?
"Yes, your brother is right. Even if the Prince's mansion is broke, I still have my dowry. As long as Shuangshuang has food to eat, Wanwan won't be short a bowl of porridge." Wushuang patted her chest and assured him with great loyalty.
Chu Yao chuckled and said, "We'll talk about the future later. Let's talk about this matter now. Qiqiao, go and invite Aunt Qiao over. I have something to say to her."
"No, no, no," Wushuang quickly stopped her, "There's no need to call her, I can handle it."
Chu Yao shook his head: "It's not a bad thing that you're willing to work hard, but you have to be realistic about your abilities. I'm not saying you don't have the skills to do accounting or housekeeping, but... even if it's a novel that doesn't require much brainpower, you wouldn't be able to finish reading all these books in three days, would you?"
"But this isn't a question of whether we can finish reading it or not," Wushuang said seriously.
Chapter List 126 | 8, 122, 123, 124, 125
Chapter 126:
"Oh? Then tell me, what's the crux of the problem?" Chu Yao asked. (Download full txt file at )
Wushuang tossed aside the account books, stood up on the couch, hands on her hips, chin raised, and looked down at me condescendingly, saying, "They say people's hearts are unpredictable, because we can't directly see what someone is really thinking. The idea that Aunt Qiao deliberately made things difficult for me is just our speculation. Even if the situation itself is illogical, it shouldn't be a mistake made by an old housekeeper with years of experience. But to judge based on that is still inevitably biased. I'm not taking her side, nor am I deceiving myself. Even if she really was trying to intimidate me, so be it. Whether you reprimand her and that's it, or I can't finish reading this..." Whether or not the event is postponed, it all proves one thing: in our first encounter, I was at a disadvantage and couldn't defeat her. There could be many reasons for this—lack of ability, weak temperament, whatever the reason. But ultimately, when facing Madam Qiao again, my presence weakens, I can't control her, and how can she obey my commands? If I can't even manage an old woman, how can I be a proper mistress? How can the entire palace truly respect me? If the mistress can't command respect, everything I do will be hampered, and I won't be able to act freely—that would be truly terrible. Therefore, I must finish reading it, even if it means not eating, drinking, or sleeping!
After her impassioned speech, Chu Wan applauded enthusiastically: "Shuangshuang, you know so much!"
Chu Yao retorted, "What you said makes a lot of sense. But, not to discourage you, but do the math yourself. Even if the four of you didn't eat, drink, or sleep, could you really finish reading it in three days? It's such a waste of energy to argue with a servant..."