"Is your aunt still at the manor?"
Walking along the path, Mi Yao suddenly remembered Xiao Rou whom she had seen yesterday. If the woman was still here, she ought to pay her respects.
"Aunt left after visiting mother and us yesterday. According to Mama Fan, she didn't even stay for the banquet."
Xiao Liang answered Mi Yao with a serious expression, gazing intently at her.
Mi Yao knew he was trying to get her attention and earn her favor.
Looking at his uplifted fair face, she resisted the urge to pinch his cheek and merely patted his head instead. "Erlang explained everything so clearly."
Having his head patted by Mi Yao, Xiao Liang smiled shyly. He had originally thought his mother would keep her distance from him and his elder brother. Who would have guessed that not only had she given them gifts, but she was now taking them to the storeroom to look at things?
Although he didn't know what they were going to see, he felt so happy and expectant now. He wished Mi Yao would ask more questions about things he knew, so he could answer them and talk more with his mother.
Unfortunately, Mi Yao showed no intention of speaking further along the way. But his disappointment was short-lived—when they reached the storeroom, Mi Yao had servants bring chairs and a brazier. His seat was right beside Mi Yao's, which made him happy again.
Xiao Liang's thoughts were written all over his face. Xiao Yi glanced at his younger siblings from the corner of his eye—one squeezed onto Mi Yao's chair, dozing while clinging to her arm; the other looking up at Mi Yao with sparkling eyes.
When Mi Yao had been cold toward them, his second younger brother had been dejected, but Xiao Yi had felt secure. Now that Mi Yao had changed completely, he didn't feel happy but rather somewhat apprehensive.
He feared that one day Mi Yao would lose patience with Erlang and Shan'er, leaving them disappointed and sad. He was even more afraid that Mi Yao's current kindness had ulterior motives, worried that the warnings the adults used to scare them might come true—that Mi Yao, as their stepmother, would find them burdensome and couldn't bear them living together with her future children in Xiao Manor.
Mi Yao paid no attention to how much psychological pressure her changes were causing Xiao Yi.
Her mind was now completely occupied with inspecting the storeroom's inventory.
Besides chairs, she also had two tables brought over: "Shuang Hua, you record the ledger. Steward Zheng, you indicate the locations. Shi Ya, you fetch the items for my inspection."
After giving these instructions, Mi Yao noticed Yu Xiu staring at the three children nearby and added, "Xiu'er, you assist Shuang Hua. If you do well, I'll reward you."
Hearing Mi Yao's directions, Xiao Yi couldn't remain seated. "Mother, I recognize many characters and I'm strong too. I can help with tasks."
Following his elder brother's lead, Xiao Liang immediately said he could help as well.
Xiao Liang was one thing, but Mi Yao looked at the serious-faced Xiao Yi. Since someone was eager to work, she naturally welcomed it: "You can read aloud from the old ledger. Ask me if you encounter any characters you don't recognize."
The old ledger used simple recording methods without particularly difficult characters. Having Xiao Yi take on this task would save her voice.
The Xiao family's storeroom was quite spacious—a two-story building, and more than one room at that.
The storeroom contained everything from large items like beds and couches to small pieces like jewelry and decorative objects.
Only one steward and a young page were in charge of the storeroom. Seeing them, Mi Yao understood why Xiao Chu felt confident leaving the storeroom under Steward Zheng's management.
Steward Zheng stood nearly eight feet tall with a robust build and regular features, though a ferocious scar on his right cheek had nearly ruined half his face.
Additionally, he leaned on a crutch at his side—one of his legs was clearly disabled.
Despite his physical disability, Steward Zheng had fierce eyes and a thick beard, clearly a tough man who had been on the battlefield with blood on his hands. Though his leg was injured, ordinary people would find it difficult to take advantage of him.
Considering Xiao Chu's official position, this Steward Zheng was likely a former subordinate or the like. Xiao Chu must have been certain of his loyalty to assign him to guard the storeroom.
Upon seeing Steward Zheng in person, she felt the sloppiness of the old ledger didn't matter at all. The fact that Steward Zheng could read and had the patience to write small characters already seemed remarkable to her.
She had no intention of inserting her own people into the storeroom. Besides selecting decorations for her new residence, her purpose in coming was to do some work—re-cataloging the vaguely recorded items from the previous ledger to make it easier to continue acquiring fine items in the future.
"The items listed in the ledger are all piled up here. The smaller ones are packed in boxes, while the larger ones are outside."
Mi Yao told Steward Zheng to sit, and he didn't hesitate, taking a seat boldly at the edge of the corner he had pointed to. "Madam, just mention the dates and items from the old ledger. Zheng has a good memory and will surely find them all for you."
Steward Zheng confidently patted his chest.
Seeing his demeanor, Mi Yao couldn't help but wonder if she was being too judgmental based on appearances.
Steward Zheng might look rough and unrestrained on the outside, but that didn't mean he wasn't a meticulous man. However, in less than half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, seeing the clutter of objects on the table and the sweat pouring from Steward Zheng's forehead, Mi Yao realized she had overthought it.
At first, Steward Zheng tried to recall the dates recorded in the ledger, assuming the items from earlier dates were at the bottom, and managed to guess a few correctly. But as he went on, he ended up rummaging randomly through the boxes.
Mi Yao couldn't stand to watch any longer and simply had Shi Ya and the others bring the items out and place them on the table. She then identified each one against the ledger.
Fortunately, she had inherited the original owner's memories. Since the original owner had some knowledge, she could naturally recognize the names of each artifact.
"This jade pendant is quite nice."
Looking at the entry in the ledger for white jade gifted by the Sun family of Jingzhou, Mi Yao opened the brocade box and saw a mutton-fat white jade carved with lotus blossoms. Touching it, she felt a warm, smooth texture and, finding it pleasing, instructed Shuang Hua to record that she had taken it.
After claiming the jade, Mi Yao casually handed it to Xiao Shan for her to play with, then moved on to the next item.
This small storeroom mostly contained gifts others had given to Xiao Chu. Since Xiao Chu was a military officer, the types of gifts were quite similar. Even if the box contained a dagger, it was often inlaid with gems and had a gilded sheath.
In addition, Mi Yao uncovered many items intended for children.
Presumably, the gift-givers knew Xiao Chu had three children and had thoughtfully prepared presents for them, hoping to curry favor with Xiao Chu. Little did they know that all these items had been tossed into the storeroom, with no intention of giving them to Xiao Yi and the others.
Naturally, Mi Yao gathered these items and distributed them among the three children. Moreover, when she came across a box of animal figures made from gold beans, she handed the case to Yu Xiu.
"This box is for you. As for the other playthings, I can't be bothered to sort them in detail. If your nephews or niece have something you want, use this to trade for it. If they also like it, you can exchange this for silver and buy something else outside."
Watching Mi Yao continuously take out items and place them in front of Xiao Liang and the others to take back to their courtyard, Yu Xiu gritted her teeth in frustration. If everything was taken by them, then when her elder sister gave birth, wouldn't the legitimate child end up with nothing?
Unexpectedly, the next moment, her elder sister handed her a box of gold beans.
"Elder Sister, this is too valuable…"
Yu Xiu didn't dare accept it. As a concubine-born daughter, staying by Mi Yao's side these years had prevented her from being looked down upon by the manor's insolent servants, but her treatment was worlds apart from Mi Yao's as the legitimate daughter. The single gold bracelet in her bundle was given by her legal mother Li Shi before she left the Yu residence.
These gold beans alone should be enough to make two gold bracelets.
"Even if they're valuable, you're my sister and naturally worth it."
Mi Yao didn't mention how these gold items were insignificant among the room full of treasures, but instead emphasized Yu Xiu's worth.
Hearing this, Yu Xiu's eyes welled up with tears, completely forgetting about the things Xiao Shan and the others had received: "Elder sister, no one in this world treats me better than you."
These words felt familiar. Mi Yao thought for a moment and realized she had said them to Xiao Chu before.
So this was how satisfying it felt to hear such words—no wonder when she had said them, even someone as self-controlled as Xiao Chu, who rarely showed emotion, had gazed at her deeply a few more times.
"Aunt, if there's anything you want, just take it. There's no need for exchange."
Xiao Yi had wanted to refuse when he saw Mi Yao selecting so many things to send to Tingsong Courtyard, feeling it was too much. Since Father hadn't given them these things before, they probably weren't meant for them.
Hearing Mi Yao's instructions to Yu Xiu, he immediately spoke up.
After he finished, Xiao Liang also pushed the box in front of him forward slightly, "Aunt, please take it."
Just receiving the Nine Interlocking Rings from Mi Yao had made him happy enough. Besides, if all these things were kept in Tingsong Courtyard, he feared they would gradually disappear within no time, just like his favorite toys before—either taken by Hutou or gone missing in the room.
"Taking them isn't for right now."
Mi Yao said, "Xiu'er, go make several inventory books. After we finish here, go record all the items in your nephews' and niece's courtyards. Record these things too, so if anything goes missing later, we'll know what was lost."
In large families, keeping inventories of young masters' and mistresses' possessions was completely normal. But Xiao Chu, a fourth-rank official, had come into his position midway—he didn't manage the rear courtyard, and there were no women to manage it either, so naturally everything was in disarray.
Additionally, the Xiao Manor was severely understaffed.
The Yu residence was only slightly larger than Xiao Manor, yet had nearly two hundred servants, while the Xiao family had only nineteen.
Adding "purchase servants" to her action plan, she directly filled Yu Xiu's name in the steward column she had written earlier.
Mama Luo couldn't be used. Mi Yao thought through the potential stewards in the Xiao family—those with ability were naturally servants from other households. Even if she poached one, loyalty would be a concern.
Rather than spending effort finding and training talent, she limited her options to the few people around her.
Three cobblers with their wits combined surpass Zhuge Liang. Shuang Hua, Shi Ya, and Yu Xiu were all literate—with some training, they could assume their positions.
Anyway, the Xiao Manor's original foundation was like this—personnel in newly created positions would have plenty of time to explore and grow on their own.
After inventorying the first storeroom, Mi Yao moved on to the next one.
The second storeroom was slightly larger. Seeing the obviously haphazardly piled items, she knew this storeroom contained Xiao Chu's war trophies.
Hence, many items didn't even have boxes.
After sending people to buy the brocade boxes needed for storage, Mi Yao lazily propped her chin on her hand, watching the increasingly competent Shuang Hua and Xiao Yi. She felt more and more that her future was promising—just a few more days of hard work and she could relax.
Feeling her stomach empty, she simply took Xiao Shan and Xiao Liang to slip away first, heading to the food storeroom where the Xiao family stored medicines and rare ingredients.
Having just hosted a banquet yesterday, the food storage still held many fresh ingredients that hadn't been used. Only by stepping inside could one see the abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, and fish maw stored in the cabinets.
Looking at the quality of these ingredients, Mi Yao frowned slightly.
The ingredients for her personal kitchen were all sourced from the main kitchen. Since the chef she brought from Jiangnan was quite skilled, and the ingredients purchased during their journey hadn't been fully consumed, she hadn't noticed anything lacking in her meals before.
But now, seeing these inferior abalones that weren't even as large as Xiao Shan's palm, she felt displeased. This was the Xiao Manor with tens of thousands of taels of gold on the books! As Xiao Chu's beloved wife, how could she be expected to eat such mediocre fare!
At the very least, she should be served three-head abalone, premium shark fin, and superior fish maw.