Shen Yao was caught off guard, her fingers trembling slightly, causing the spoon to tilt and spill a few drops of brown medicinal broth at the corner of Xie Yuan’s mouth.
She quickly pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve to wipe it away, and in her haste, her fingers brushed against Xie Yuan’s cheek.
Xie Yuan’s eyelashes trembled unexpectedly twice.
However, Shen Yao turned her head to look at Qiushan and did not notice.
Her heart pounded like a drum as she stared nervously at Qiushan.
Fortunately, he stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, “Changing clothes and wiping the body will require turning His Highness over. As a woman, Your Highness lacks the strength to move him. These tasks should be left to me.”
Shen Yao breathed a sigh of relief.
Steadying herself, she set down the handkerchief. “By the way, aside from you and Yinzhu, I haven’t met everyone else in this courtyard. Call them all over so I can take a look.”
Qiushan acknowledged with a respectful “Yes.”
“But Your Highness, there’s one thing you should know.”
“What is it?”
Qiushan explained, “The Jingwangfu is divided into two factions. One is this courtyard, and the other is outside the courtyard. Whether it’s personnel assignments or expenses, everything is kept separate.”
Shen Yao was taken aback, finding this quite unexpected. “How could that be?”
“When His Highness first brought Aunt Zhou into the mansion, he made such arrangements. As for why, I never asked. But now, everything outside the courtyard is managed by Aunt Zhou, while inside the courtyard, His Highness used to oversee things himself. After His Highness fell unconscious, I temporarily took over. I haven’t managed it well—it’s been a mess. Aunt Zhou has suggested several times that she take over, but I didn’t agree…”
Qiushan looked somewhat embarrassed as he glanced at Shen Yao. “Fortunately, we have Your Highness now.”
For some reason, despite their limited interactions, Qiushan felt an absolute trust in this seventeen-year-old girl.
Shen Yao, meanwhile, fell into deep thought.
Before entering the mansion, she had no idea the Jingwangfu was like this.
But this situation actually put her at ease. At least she wouldn’t be constrained by others and could make many decisions on her own.
Stepping out of the room, the summer heat hit her face.
Qiushan brought a chair and placed it in the shaded area under the corridor.
Soon, all the servants in the courtyard, except for the sword-bearing guards, were summoned.
Shen Yao sat in the chair and scanned the group, noting six manservants, six maids, and two matrons.
She instructed them to introduce themselves one by one, explaining how they had entered the mansion, where they had served before, and what their daily duties were.
Listening to them, she gradually gained a general understanding.
The two matrons had entered the palace as children and had once served Empress Dowager Shuxian. When Xie Yuan was enfeoffed as Prince Jing, the Empress Dowager assigned four matrons from her side to help manage the mansion’s affairs.
Over the years, one matron had returned to her hometown due to old age, and another had passed away, leaving only these two—one surnamed Zhao and the other surnamed Yu.
The remaining manservants and maids included children of palace servants from the Empress Dowager’s side, relatives of soldiers from Xie Yuan’s army, as well as those responsible for sweeping and cleaning the courtyard, and others who were literate, knowledgeable, and capable of handling affairs.
In short, the personnel were reliable, and the arrangements were reasonable.
And with Qiushan standing behind Shen Yao—his imposing stature and status as a deputy general both exuding an undeniable authority—everyone treated the young Princess Consort Jing with utmost respect.
Everything gave Shen Yao a feeling that someone had prepared everything in this courtyard long ago, just waiting for the mistress to enter.
Was Xie Yuan doing this for the woman he loved?
Little did she expect that in this second life, Shen Yao would benefit from that young lady’s preparations.
With a sigh in her heart, Shen Yao faced the crowd and said, “By the grace of His Majesty’s decree, I have married His Highness and become Princess Consort Jing. Having grown up in a general’s household since childhood, I am unfamiliar with the intricacies of managing a household. I only know one thing: as long as each person fulfills their duties well, they will be generously rewarded. Seeing how hot the weather is and how hard it is for everyone to stand here listening to me, later, go to the small kitchen and each take a bowl of chilled mung bean soup.”
Everyone was clearly somewhat surprised.
But standing under the sun in such a large group, they were indeed already sweating profusely from their foreheads.
Hearing about the mung bean soup, and chilled at that, they couldn’t help but swallow their saliva.
Shen Yao added, “From today onward, everyone will have a bowl of mung bean soup every afternoon until summer ends. If one bowl isn’t enough, go back for more. If you want something else, just tell Qingque, and I will make arrangements as appropriate.”
Everyone expressed their gratitude one after another.
Shen Yao thought to herself, this must be what her sister-in-law once called “combining kindness with authority.”
Let them bask in the sun for a while, but then give them mung bean soup to relieve the heat.
They would fear her authority as the princess consort, yet also remember her kindness.
This way, it would be much easier to accomplish things in the future.
After recognizing everyone in the courtyard, Shen Yao went to review the account books.
Just as Qiushan had said, he was completely clueless about this. The accounts were a mess, and his handwriting was as messy as a dog’s scratch.
Shen Yao patiently examined them, unaware of the passage of time.
“Princess Consort, it’s time to rest. If you keep looking like this, your eyes will surely suffer.”
It wasn’t until Qingque came in from outside.
Shen Yao was still trying to decipher what that blob of ink was supposed to be and casually asked, “What time is it?”
“It’s the hour of Hai.”
Shen Yao was taken aback and raised her head.
However, having kept her head lowered for too long, her entire neck and shoulders had stiffened. The slightest movement brought a dull, aching pain.
Shen Yao hissed softly, rubbing her neck as she looked at the ink-splashed darkness outside. She hadn’t realized it was already so late.
She still hadn’t gone to see Aunt Zhou today.
Wanxiang Hall.
Madam Zhou furrowed her brows into a knot and slammed her palm heavily on the table. “This Madam Shen actually doesn’t show the slightest respect for me, her elder!”
Her younger daughter, Xue Jiaoyue, was doing embroidery beside her and, without looking up, said, “Mother, Cousin-in-law hasn’t done anything wrong. You are her aunt-in-law. Since when is there a rule requiring a new bride to pay respects to her aunt-in-law on the first day?”
“I’m still managing the household!”
Xue Jiaoyue muttered, “But their courtyard isn’t under your management…”
Madam Zhou choked, glaring at her fiercely. “Ungrateful child, siding with outsiders! And you still call her ‘Cousin-in-law’—originally, this position of Princess Consort Jing should have been yours!”
Seeing that Xue Jiaoyue was still staring at the embroidery, Madam Zhou flew into a rage. She snatched the fabric away impatiently. “Stop embroidering! All you do all day is embroider, embroider, embroider! Who knows what you can possibly embroider! How did I give birth to such a useless daughter!”
Caught off guard, Xue Jiaoyue was pricked by the silver needle, leaving a long bloody scratch on her finger.
She gasped in pain, her eyes instantly reddening. Clutching her finger, she tearfully complained, “I never wanted to marry Cousin anyway, and Cousin has no feelings for me either…”
Madam Zhou was exasperated by her daughter’s lack of ambition. “Fool! If he has no interest in you, don’t you know how to seduce him? If you could climb into his bed, even if he doesn’t like you, he’d still have to marry you!”
She gritted her teeth and said bitterly, “If you can’t become this Princess Consort Jing, Jingwangfu will sooner or later fall into someone else’s hands!”
Xue Jiaoyue’s tears welled up in her eyes. “But Jingwangfu was never ours to begin with. It’s only because Cousin is kind-hearted that he took us in…”
Slap!
A heavy slap cut off her unfinished words.
Madam Zhou was furious and began to rant incessantly. “You really can’t compare to your sister! I should have raised you by my side from childhood instead of letting you follow your father and become such a weak, incompetent fool who doesn’t fight for anything! If your sister hadn’t married early, she would have already captured Prince Jing!”