Chapter 5

Chapter 5

That day, Ah He and I were checking the household expenses for the past month.

I pointed to an entry marked “Autumn Supplements for Each Courtyard” and said to Granny Li, “This autumn, none of the courtyards ordered any major new garments. Most of them simply had old clothes padded and mended.

“The quantity and prices for this purchase need to be checked again. There’s no need to follow last year’s precedent.”

The respectful look on Granny Li’s face stiffened. “Miss, you may not know this, but the price of silk and satin rises every year, and each courtyard has a fixed allotment. If we prepare too little and they suddenly ask for more, it will only cause trouble.”

She watched my expression, then added with an ingratiating smile, “This old servant is only thinking of the manor as a whole. If the supplies run short, it would damage the masters’ dignity.”

I listened, leaning back slightly.

“Granny Li, you’ve served in the manor for almost twenty years, haven’t you? If I remember correctly, your husband is the one who handles needlework purchases outside?”

Granny Li did not understand why I was asking this. She rubbed her hands together uneasily.

“Miss has a fine memory.”

I closed the account book, my smile not quite a smile.

“Business has been harder these past years, yet Rongchang Silk and Satin Shop in the west of the city still gives your husband a twenty-percent kickback. Rather generous of them.”

Granny Li’s knees went weak, and at last she dropped to the floor. “This old servant… this old servant was foolish.”

I rubbed my temples, my smile deepening. “So now, can the list be redrafted as I said?”

“Yes! Yes, we’ll do it exactly as the Eldest Miss says! At once!”

Granny Li kowtowed again and again. “This old servant was blinded by greed! I won’t dare do it again! Please show mercy, Eldest Miss!”

“Go. I want to see the new list before dinner.”

I settled back into my seat and no longer looked at her.

Granny Li scrambled out in a panic.

I picked up my brush again and dipped it in ink. “Granny Li has been in the manor for many years. Inevitably, some of her roots have grown crooked. In a couple of days, find a pretext to reward her with a few things.”

Ah He was clever and immediately understood what I meant.

That evening, Mother looked over the account books we submitted and nodded.

“Not bad. You know to cut away the excess, while not reducing a single coin of what the servants are due. In the places that matter, you even added a little more.”

“Managing a household is like holding a scale. What matters is balance-and people’s hearts. You are beginning to grasp the edge of it.”

She said no more. She simply returned the account books, then turned to ask about my younger brother Yin Lan’s studies.

The twelfth lunar month crept in, and the New Year drew near.

In past years, by this time, Yin Manor would have been bustling with visitors.

This year was different. The stone lions before the manor gates looked especially cold and lonely.

The prepared New Year’s gift list was much thinner than before.

Gifts were still sent to the palace and a few important households, but most others were simplified.

On New Year’s Eve, the ancestral hall ceremony remained solemn as ever.

But after the rites, there was no grand banquet as there had been in previous years.

The main branch of the family gathered around a round table in the warm pavilion. Compared to the laughter and chatter of years past, it felt particularly bleak.

Father drained the warm wine in his cup, his gaze sweeping over all of us.

“I have submitted a memorial requesting to resign from office. After the New Year, the whole family will return to the old estate in Qishan.”

Mother’s expression did not change in the slightest. Presumably, she had known long ago.

Ah He and I exchanged a glance. Though our hearts were shaken, we did not let it show on our faces.

Conflict was rising on all sides, the imperial family was weakening, and His Majesty, obsessed with elixirs, had no heir.

If Father continued to remain in his position, not only would he be unable to set things right, he would also be easily dragged into factional strife.

Perhaps by staying under the eaves, one could see farther instead.