Jiang Lingyuan only rested for a short while. By the time Lin Feng arrived, she had already composed herself and was ready.
After entering, Lin Feng bowed to Jiang Lingyuan, then lowered his head and did not dare look directly at her.
Jiang Lingyuan remained as gentle as ever.
“Starting tomorrow, the courtyard will be renovated. This afternoon, I’ll trouble Steward Lin to make another trip to the estate outside the capital and bring over the manager in charge of the craftsmen.”
Lin Feng immediately agreed.
“This servant will go at once.”
The more Lin Feng interacted with the people under Jiang Lingyuan, the more he realized that she was not a simple person.
He no longer dared to underestimate her.
As soon as Lin Feng left, Michun came over.
“Miss, Nanny Hu is outside and wishes to see you.”
Jiang Lingyuan said,”Let her come in.”
After entering, Nanny Hu respectfully bowed.
“Greetings, Fourth Young Madam.”
“Nanny Hu, please rise. Michun, bring a seat for Nanny Hu.”
Jiang Lingyuan knew that Nanny Hu must have something important to discuss.
Michun brought over an embroidered stool.
After thanking her, Nanny Hu sat down below Jiang Lingyuan.
Nanny Hu spoke. “I came today to ask Fourth Young Madam about something. It is almost time to prepare the items to send to Fourth Young Master. I wonder what arrangements Fourth Young Madam has made, so that the small kitchen can coordinate accordingly.”
Her attitude was clearly one of placing Jiang Lingyuan in charge.
But Jiang Lingyuan only learned now that she was supposed to send things to Lu Yun.
Thinking about it, it made sense.
Although Lu Yun was studying at the academy in preparation for the autumn imperial examination, the household would naturally not neglect him.
What surprised Jiang Lingyuan was that these preparations had always been handled by Yilan Courtyard.
She had assumed Eldest Madam would at least oversee such matters.
Jiang Lingyuan immediately sensed that something was not right.
Was Nanny Jin preparing to make her move?
She quickly said,”To be honest, this is the first time I’ve heard about this. I must trouble Nanny Hu to guide me.”
Nanny Hu hurriedly replied,”I wouldn’t dare call it guidance. The affairs of each courtyard have always been handled by that courtyard itself. Before Fourth Young Madam married in, all matters within Yilan Courtyard were managed by Nanny Jin. Naturally, she was the one who prepared everything. After all, Nanny Jin was someone Eldest Madam personally arranged for Fourth Young Master, so Eldest Madam has always trusted her.”
So Eldest Madam truly did not interfere?
Jiang Lingyuan was somewhat surprised.
Was she really that confident in Nanny Jin?
She wondered just how obedient and well-behaved Nanny Jin appeared in front of Eldest Madam normally.
Jiang Lingyuan understood.
Compared to herself, Eldest Madam clearly trusted Nanny Jin more.
By default, she intended for Nanny Jin to continue managing Yilan Courtyard.
But Jiang Lingyuan would never agree to that.
She asked, “I see. Then may I ask how often things are sent to Fourth Young Master each month, and what the usual arrangements are?”
“Things are sent twice a month. However, Fourth Young Master does not necessarily return every month, so everything depends on Nanny Jin’s decisions. The arrangements were also set by Nanny Jin.”
Those words were rather interesting.
Since Nanny Jin was the one who established the rules, then Jiang Lingyuan could also change them.
Nanny Hu continued, “On the last day of every month, Eldest Young Madam sends over the monthly allowance for the next month. Originally, when it was only Fourth Young Master, it was thirty taels of silver. After Fourth Young Madam married in, it became fifty taels. In addition, the household provides twenty taels each month for the small kitchen’s purchases. Altogether, it is seventy taels.”
That was actually a considerable amount.
Jiang Lingyuan knew Nanny Jin would never hand this money over to her.
Nanny Hu coming today was also a subtle reminder.
Jiang Lingyuan thought to herself that fortunately Nanny Hu had informed her.
Otherwise, she truly would have suffered a silent loss.
After Nanny Hu left, Michun couldn’t help asking, “Miss, then what should we do?”
“No need to rush. Have Xunxia investigate what Nanny Jin usually sends. We will prepare a similar list. The quality of the items should be better than what Nanny Jin prepared, but keep it within those thirty taels of silver. I’ll first let Mother-in-law review it before making any decisions.”
Jiang Lingyuan did not believe Nanny Jin used all thirty taels every month on Lu Yun.
That was exactly what she was relying on.
There were some things she absolutely had to keep control over.
Since she was the mistress of Yilan Courtyard, she would not allow Nanny Jin to act arrogantly within her own courtyard.
After Nanny Rong returned from delivering the letter, she also learned about the matter.
She said to Jiang Lingyuan, “Now it seems Eldest Madam only appeared not to interfere in our courtyard’s affairs, but that clearly isn’t the case. Xiangxue was probably also someone Eldest Madam approved of as a future maidservant for Fourth Young Master.”
Jiang Lingyuan was not surprised that Xiangxue had been sent to Yilan Courtyard as a potential tongfang (concubine-like maid serving the master).
She said, “If Fourth Young Master needs a tongfang, then naturally one should be prepared. But Xiangxue will not do.”
Thinking about what Xiangxue had done on their wedding night, Jiang Lingyuan felt that she was not particularly clever.
She was simply too reckless.
Having such a tongfang would only mean endless provocations every day.
Jiang Lingyuan had no interest in dealing with that.
Seeing Jiang Lingyuan’s expression, Nanny Rong understood.
Jiang Lingyuan did not have Lu Yun in her heart.
Otherwise, she would not have been able to speak about tongfangs so calmly.
Nanny Rong thought this might actually be a good thing.
In a noble household like Duke of Yu Manor, male masters were bound to have tongfangs and concubines.
A woman becoming too emotionally attached would only make things more difficult.
However, Nanny Rong still reminded her, “Fourth Young Master is still someone you should pay attention to, Miss. Not only should you prepare according to Fourth Young Master’s thirty-tael monthly allowance, but you should also prepare more.”
A mother-in-law always hoped her daughter-in-law would take good care of her son.
Since Jiang Lingyuan was not the daughter-in-law Eldest Madam had wanted, her expectations toward Jiang Lingyuan would only be stricter.
Jiang Lingyuan blinked, understanding what she meant.
They wanted her to use her own dowry money to supplement Lu Yun’s expenses.
Thinking of the disgraceful incident that happened when she returned to her maternal home, Jiang Lingyuan remembered that although Lu Yun had been angry, he had helped conceal the matter for her.
Then spending some silver on him could be considered a repayment.
“Have Tanqiu prepare it. She has always been careful and knows how to handle such things.”
She did not care about this small amount of money.
However, Jiang Lingyuan did not want to personally prepare it.
After thinking for a moment, she continued, “After Xunxia gets the lists of what Nanny Jin prepares each time, have her estimate how much silver Nanny Jin actually spends.”
Without her involvement, Yilan Courtyard had fifty taels of silver each month.
She absolutely did not believe Nanny Jin spent all of it on Lu Yun.
She wanted to know exactly how large Nanny Jin’s appetite was.
Nanny Rong added, “I wonder whose hands Eldest Young Madam will send next month’s monthly allowance to.”
Jiang Lingyuan thought about her interactions with Eldest Young Madam Lu that day.
Although Eldest Young Madam Lu maintained some distance from her, she did not look down on her.
Moreover, the twenty taels provided for kitchen purchases was not a small amount.
She could easily have centralized the purchasing and secretly profited from it, but she had not.
She was clearly a relatively upright person.
Therefore, Eldest Young Madam Lu would not send the monthly allowance to Nanny Jin.
Jiang Lingyuan said, “Eldest Sister-in-law will not voluntarily give it to Nanny Jin.”
However, if Nanny Jin shamelessly demanded it, Eldest Young Madam Lu might not necessarily offend her.
Xunxia was always efficient.
The next day, she had already obtained the details.
After calculating, the items sent to Lu Yun each month only amounted to around fifteen or sixteen taels of silver.
Nanny Jin had directly pocketed more than half.
Jiang Lingyuan could not help but marvel at how bold Nanny Jin was.
But what shocked her even more was this, Over all these years, neither Lu Yun nor Eldest Madam had noticed?
Jiang Lingyuan found it unbelievable.