Chapter 4
Chapter 4
The young noblemen gently waved their fans, plainly eager for entertainment.
Pei Junyuan closed his eyes for a moment, stepped forward, and pulled me aside. Speaking in a low voice, he sounded as though he were exercising tremendous patience for the sake of everyone involved.
“Wan’er, stop making a scene. You will only let outsiders laugh at a legitimate young lady. This will damage both your reputation and the Lu family’s—”
“Let go.”
I frowned at his hand, my voice cold.
He released me instinctively and stared in shock.
“Eldest Young Lady,” Qinghe began in a respectful, proper tone, “servants are people too. If every matter is investigated to the bitter end, it will inevitably chill their hearts. I punished both women so they would remember the lesson and live in harmony from now on. As for their wages, I offered my own money to cover their treatment. Surely that cannot be wrong?”
She spoke the final question very softly, with the faintest smile, as if helpless before an unreasonable young lady who could not be made to understand.
Yet her eyes blazed when she looked at me, hiding a barely perceptible edge. She clearly intended to recover the ground she had lost in the storehouse affair.
Several young noblemen nodded.
The servants did not dare speak, but agreement showed on their faces.
“Of course it is wrong,” I said coldly.
“You use your own allowance to bestow favors. It appears generous, but it undermines the rules. With one order to become friends, you erase the possibility of theft and false accusation. The person who followed the rules suffers the same punishment as the liar. That is what truly chills people’s hearts.”
Qinghe’s smile tightened.
“You appear fair, but you refuse to distinguish right from wrong. Today they fight over osmanthus honey. Tomorrow, a few pounds of meat. The day after that, charcoal. If you continue smoothing over every dispute, the servants will bring every problem to Miss Qinghe while the manor’s rules become meaningless. Why have rules at all?”
“You put out fires without tracing their source. More than one hundred and sixty people live in the Lu Manor, and thousands of items enter or leave each day. No single person can keep it running by constantly rescuing others and dispensing favors. It requires clear authority and responsibility, dependable processes, and strict rules.”
Li Wang’s brush raced across the page. He flipped to the next sheet with a rustle and continued writing.
Some servants began to nod. One of the kitchen women who had fought now looked both furious and aggrieved.
I surveyed the crowd and asked evenly, “Is the steward in charge of the kitchen present?”
“I am.”
Someone stepped forward and bowed.
“You will investigate today’s kitchen dispute according to the rules. If you cannot determine the truth, the manor’s chief steward will investigate. If the chief steward cannot, we report it to the authorities. One jar of osmanthus honey is a small matter, but theft and false accusation are grave offenses that corrupt the Lu family’s household discipline. I will uncover the truth and make an example of the guilty party.”
No sooner had I finished than one of the kitchen women collapsed to the ground, trembling violently.
She said nothing, but everyone understood.
Qinghe pressed her lips into a hard line. Something seemed to crack quietly behind those eyes that were always so calm and assured.
“Li Wang.”
“Present.”
“Within three days, draft a material-management policy for the kitchen. Establish ledgers for purchasing and issuing supplies, then run a one-month trial. If it operates smoothly, extend it to every courtyard, the gatehouse, and the stables, covering every item entering or leaving the entire manor.”
When I finished, the surroundings became utterly still.
Everyone looked stunned yet enlightened, as though a road they had once considered wide had suddenly opened onto an even broader avenue.
At some point, the young noblemen had closed their fans. The contempt had vanished from the way they looked at me.
Pei Junyuan stood in place, dazed, as though thinking through something or remembering the past.
I turned and left.
Li Wang hurried after me with the booklets in his arms.
We had just rounded a garden path when we found Grandmother standing ahead with a group of maids behind her.
She had clearly heard everything.
Grandmother gave me an affectionate smile.
“Wan’er, I just remembered how you used to drag Grandmother through the garden because you said walking was good for my health. Ah, these last two years, it seems we have not been as close as we once were. But there is plenty of time ahead. We will have many more chances.”
Her eyes were loving, as though she had returned to those earlier days.
I respectfully agreed.
Inside, I thought without emotion:
No.
There would be no more chances.