Jiang Xiu said calmly, “The one managing the household now is the old madam, not me.”
Nanny Zhao’s expression turned ugly. “Madam, you can’t say that. The old madam is getting on in years, and it’s only natural she might struggle to manage everything at once. As her daughter-in-law, how can you bear to see the marquis’s household become a laughingstock?”
Jiang Xiu lifted her gaze.
“Is the marquis’s household being laughed at because I refuse to provide silver, or because the household itself cannot produce the silver?”
Nanny Zhao’s face changed abruptly. “Madam!”
Jiang Xiu’s voice remained even. “All these years, I’ve used my dowry to subsidize the marquis’s household out of consideration for our bond. But that doesn’t mean everyone in the household can take my dowry for granted as if it were the public treasury.”
She paused. “Go back and tell Mother that I am physically weak after childbirth and have no energy to worry about the front courtyard. If Mother truly finds managing the household difficult, she can always hand the keys back.”
Nanny Zhao was completely speechless.
Hand them back?
How could the old madam possibly be willing!
To return them in disgrace after just one day—wouldn’t that make the entire household laugh at her?!
Her face flushed and paled in turns. After holding back for a long moment, she could only stiffly bow. “This servant will relay your words to the old madam.”
With that, she turned and left.
Fu Fu watched her retreating back, feeling quite pleased.
【She ran off so quickly.】
【Five hundred taels?】
【How dare that wretched old woman even suggest it.】
Front courtyard.
When Nanny Zhao returned, Old Mrs. Wu was sitting in a chair, panting.
The table was piled high with bills.
Huaxiang Pavilion, silk shops, medicine shops, butcher shops, taverns… sheet after sheet of black ink on white paper, like slaps to the face, striking her hard.
Wu Jiaojiao’s eyes were red, but she still spoke defiantly. “It’s just a few boxes of rouge and powder! In the past, no matter how much I bought, Jiang Xiu never said a word. Now she’s just resentful that Brother took in Sister Lin and is deliberately making things difficult for us!”
Lin Shuang, holding Wu Ling, sighed softly.
“It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t entered the household, Madam wouldn’t be so angry. Those things were also Sister Jiaojiao’s kind intentions, afraid that I would appear shabby in the household.”
She lowered her eyes, pretending to pull out the plain silver hairpin from her hair. “If the old madam is in a difficult position, please take my jewelry and pawn it.”
Wu Jiaojiao hurriedly stopped her. “Sister Lin, what are you doing! You’ve just entered the household. It’s bad enough that Jiang Xiu doesn’t show you any respect—must you also use your own belongings to fill the household’s coffers?”
Old Mrs. Wu also felt distressed. “Shuang’er, don’t do that. You’ve only just arrived—how can you suffer such humiliation?”
Lin Shuang’s eyes reddened slightly. “If I can help the Marquis and the old madam with their worries, a little humiliation is nothing to me.”
Old Mrs. Wu felt comforted by her words, and when she thought of Jiang Xiu’s cold demeanor, her anger flared even more.
“That Jiang Xiu has truly rebelled!”
Just then, Nanny Zhao entered.
Old Mrs. Wu immediately asked, “Where’s the silver?”
Nanny Zhao hesitated. “Madam said…”
“What did she say?”
Nanny Zhao had no choice but to steel herself and relay Jiang Xiu’s words.
As soon as she finished speaking, Old Mrs. Wu slammed her hand on the table.
“How dare she! She dares to threaten me with the household keys?”
Wu Jiaojiao shrieked, “I told you she was doing it on purpose! She’s just unhappy that Mother is managing the household and deliberately trying to make us lose face!”
Old Mrs. Wu was so angry her chest heaved.
Angry as she was, the bills were still lying there.
The people from Huaxiang Pavilion were still waiting outside. If the bill wasn’t settled soon, they might really make a scene in the streets.
Wu Xiong sat at the head of the table, his expression dark.
He was seething with anger, feeling as if the entire household was against him.
Yet he knew perfectly well that if things escalated, he would be the one to lose face.
He said in a low voice, “Enough.”
The room fell silent at once.
“First, take a few items from the storeroom and exchange them for some ready cash at the pawnshop.”
Old Mrs. Wu’s face stiffened.
The storeroom?
When she had opened it yesterday, she had nearly fainted from shock.
What good things were left there?
Jiang Xiu had long since moved all her dowry away, leaving behind only some decorative pieces and the Wu family’s worthless old belongings.
Wu Jiaojiao also grew anxious: “How can that be? In a few days it will be brother’s birthday banquet—we can’t just pawn all the decorations! What will we use to maintain appearances then?”
Wu Xiong’s expression darkened further.
The birthday banquet.
These three words weighed on his heart like a massive stone.
In the past, which of his birthday banquets had not been splendid and dignified?
Jiang Xiu would arrange everything a month in advance; he only needed to change into his robes, sit in the seat of honor, and receive everyone’s congratulations…
What troubled him even more were the looks from those at court this morning!
Though they said nothing outright, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
No!
The birthday banquet must be held!
And it must be held with grandeur!
Otherwise, outsiders would only look down on him even more.
Lin Shuang took in his expression and said gently, “Marquis, after all, you and your wife have been married for many years. I imagine she is just angry for the moment. If you go and speak a few soft words yourself, she may not truly refuse to help.”
Wu Jiaojiao immediately objected: “Why should brother have to coax her?”
Lin Shuang lowered her voice: “Not coaxing. Between husband and wife, what grudges last overnight? The lady has just given birth, so it’s natural for her to be more sensitive. If you give her a way out, Marquis, her heart will soften, and she will naturally still make plans for the Marquis’s household.”
Old Mrs. Wu thought it over and found it reasonable.
Though she disliked Jiang Xiu, she had to admit that Jiang Xiu was truly capable at managing the household.
If the birthday banquet were left to her, it would surely be splendid.
Only, she would never lower herself to beg Jiang Xiu.
So she looked at Wu Xiong: “Shuang’er is right. Women—they may make a fuss, but their hearts always remain with their husbands. Go and coax her a little, and she’ll naturally calm down.”
Wu Xiong’s face was gloomy.
To go and coax Jiang Xiu?
He was utterly unwilling.
But thinking of the birthday banquet, of his colleagues at court, of the face of the Marquis’s household, he ultimately gritted his teeth and endured it.
“I understand.”
Lin Shuang lowered her head, a faint smile flickering at the corner of her lips.
At the banquet, she would have Ling’er perform well.
As long as Ling’er could catch the eye of a noble, her own status in the Marquis’s household would naturally rise.
[Mother.]
[The birthday banquet must be held!]
Hearing Wu Ling’s inner voice, Lin Shuang was startled and whispered, “Ling’er, did you dream of something again?”
Wu Ling nodded lightly.
In her previous life, it was precisely at Wu Xiong’s birthday banquet that she, under the guise of a child’s innocent words, had predicted the great victory at the border.
From then on, everyone in the capital said she had a spiritual nature.
Later, she accurately foretold several more events, gradually earning the name of an Auspicious Omen.
As for that infant girl…
A trace of ruthlessness flashed in Wu Ling’s eyes.
She had to find out exactly what that thing was.
In the side courtyard.
Jiang Xiu had no idea that the front courtyard was already planning to have Wu Xiong come and coax her.
She was having Xing’er bring over several account books.
These were not the household’s public accounts, but her private records of the dowry funds she had used over the years to subsidize the Marquis’s household.
Every entry, she had recorded.
In the past, she kept these records not to settle accounts, but to avoid forgetting any social obligations, lest Wu Xiong lose face outside.
Now, looking through them again, they had become volumes of evidence of wrongdoing.
Xing’er looked at the thick stack of account books, her eyes reddening: “Madam, over the years, the silver you’ve poured in is just too much.”
Jiang Xiu lowered her gaze: “Yes.”
Ten years.
She had poured her dowry, the silver notes left by her mother and grandmother, and the rewards her brothers sent from the battlefield—bit by bit, all into this bottomless pit.
Upon hearing the mention of settling accounts, Fu Fu struggled to open her eyes.
They’ll have to cough up all this money later.
If they can’t cough it up, they’ll have to use the marquisate’s plaque as collateral.
If the plaque isn’t enough, they’ll have to use Wu Xiong’s face as collateral.
Though it’s not worth much either.
Jiang Xiu’s heavy mood was stirred into a mix of amusement and exasperation by her words.
She gently patted Fu Fu. “Xing’er, put the account books away properly.”
In the past, she simply hadn’t investigated.
Not that she didn’t know how.
Now that she was settling accounts, not a single entry could be missed.
A light sparked in Xing’er’s eyes. “This servant understands.”
Jiang Xiu added, “Also, send someone to the Jiang residence to relay a message. Tell my father and brothers to be cautious of court movements in the coming days, especially news from the border.”
Xing’er’s expression turned solemn. “Yes.”
Fu Fu closed her eyes contentedly.
Although the incident at the border allowed my eldest uncle to avoid a fatal disaster, Wu Ling definitely won’t stay quiet.
She’s still counting on using that outdated prophecy to polish her own reputation.
But without my eldest uncle as commander, those useless good-for-nothings can only barely buy time.
When her so-called great victory turns into nothing more than a temporary lull in the fighting, will her little face turn green with fright?
Jiang Xiu lowered her gaze.
The birthday banquet.
The border prophecy.
She already had an idea.
It seemed this banquet not only couldn’t be stopped but had to be made as lively as possible.
The more people there were, the faster Wu Ling’s prophecy would spread.
And only when it spread fast enough would the fall be painful enough.