Shao shi gave a little start and then said hurriedly, “I don"t know other things, but I do know that when my father-in-law pa.s.sed away, the indentures of every servant in this family except for the servants that you, my sister-in-law and I have brought here when we got married are in this box.” After she paused, she saw Minglan smiling to her. Then she plucked up and added, “The servants I brought here who served the imperial court all submitted their indentures.” Old Madam Qin looked askance at Shao shi as hearing that.

Minglan chuckled and said to a servant who was standing there, “Are you Peng Shou"s wife?” That servant replied at once, “Yes, I am, Second Madam.” That servant was around forty years old with a clean face and looked rather affable when she smiled. Minglan then said with a loud voice, “Is Steward Mo here?” A reverent voice of a middle-aged man came through, “Yes, Madam, what do you need me for?”

Minglan nodded and straightened to stretch her tired body, “Let"s call it a day. Off you go. I"ll find you if I need anything.” Steward Mo give a short respond and left. However, Peng Shou"s wife moved her legs but then stopped. She seemed to glimpse at Old Madam Qin first and then said with a beaming smile, “Well… Madam, after the new year, a lot of the posts in this family will be vacant. Please instruct me with this.”

“You are the Mama in charge, it"s your call.” Minglan said that randomly with a sleepy look. Her words not only shocked Old Madam Qin and Shao shi, but also all the servants and maids in the room. Peng Shou"s wife went stiff at first and then gave out a bashful smile, “I… I cannot make that decision.”

“Since it"s the beginning of this year, there shouldn"t be any great matters in the family now.” Minglan"s voice sounded lazy.

Peng Shou"s wife stammered, “No, there isn"t… just some trifles. I"m just afraid that I"ll do it wrong… I mean, I won"t satisfy you, Madam. You are such a n.o.ble and delicate madam, I can"t afford to displease you. I"ve never served you before, I… I don"t dare to make decisions by myself.” She had been the Mama in charge for years after all, so her speech got more and more fluent. “A family like ours should have fixed rules for years. Whenever have we acted according to anyone"s temper? What do you think are the family rules used for?” Minglan asked while glimpsing at Old Madam Qin. Danju applauded for Minglan inwardly. The glimpsing action Minglan had made was able to tell everything.

As expected, Old Madam Qin was not able to sit still with a sulky look on her face. Peng Shou"s wife added hastily, “No way. That"s impossible. I was too clumsy with words and put my foot in my mouth. I was afraid that without your instruction, I might do something wrong…” She stretched out the last words in hesitation. Little did she know that Minglan didn"t dither and said quickly, “Whoever makes contributions will be awarded and whoever makes mistakes will be punished.”

Peng Shou"s wife changed the look on her face at once. As she was about to say something, Minglan said ahead of her with a chuckle, “Mama Peng, among all the mamas in the inner yard, you are one of the respectable ones. You earn more wages, have more power and enjoy higher status than others. In the outsider"s views, you live a more decent life than some madams do. I am a young woman, so allow me to say this. Since then, you"ll have to endure some of the grievances and figure out certain things by yourself. There are also some responsibilities that you have to take. If not…” Minglan pointed to Xiaotao and chuckled, “My stupid maid has followed me for a long time. Now she"s only willing to take charge of the needle work and the kettle. However, she could stay carefree like that. What do you think?”

Peng Shou"s wife was sweating out of his forehead already. The madams in the big families never inquired about anything in the family and only a.s.signed tasks to the people in charge. Peng Shou"s wife had only wanted to test Minglan"s att.i.tude, and now she only was frightened.

Being struck by drowsiness, Minglan got sleepy again and her words also sounded light, “I heard that you have a lot of experiences after all those years you have worked in this family. Since you are able to satisfy others, I guess you won"t bully a young woman and me and will make me satisfied too.”

The look on Minglan"s face seemed gentle but Peng Shou"s wife was very frustrated. She opened her mouth but didn"t know how to speak the words in her mind. Now she really ran into a huge trouble. If Peng Shou"s wife worked well, Minglan could say that that"s within her duty. However, if she didn"t work well, she would be regarded as despising the new madam on purpose. What"s more, doing things right was not enough for Peng Shou because she had to make her new madam satisfied. Such being the case, Peng Shou"s wife couldn"t help but getting nervous. Now she knew that her new madam wasn"t easy to bully and regretted that she had said those words which brought troubles to herself.

After that, Peng Shou"s wife didn"t dare to say anything. She bowed to Minglan with her head lowered and dismissed herself. Old Madam Qin never aired any opinion the whole time and only watched at them with a smile. After they had chatted for a short while, Minglan and Shao shi stood up and bit farewell to Old Madam Qin. Old Madam Qin watched them leaving while hearing their voices getting dim and distant.

“Sister-in-law, these days I have stayed at home all day. I feel like I got lazy bones already.”

“You should get out more. It"s just the snow hasn"t melted yet and it really is cold outside. Don"t get cold.” Shao shi seemed to have already got used to Minglan"s intimate tone since a long time ago and answered fluently. Ever since she had married to her sick husband, she had been used to take care of others. However, her daughter was an independent and clever girl who seldom let her worry. On the contrary, Minglan who had accustomed to act cutesy when she had lived with Old Madam Sheng was more than happy to meet a woman who loved to care for others like a nanny. As a result, she and Shao shi balanced each other out and they got along quite well.

“I still want to take a walk. I felt as if my bones are about to collapse.”

“Well… how about we walk in the corridor…”

Old Madam Qin sat on the arhat bed with a glum face without uttering a single word. Mama Xiang then winked to the two maids in the room. After that, the two girls lifted the thick brocade cotton curtain and left in a hurry. “Peng Shou"s wife is so useless. How could she be frightened by a few words?!” Mama Xiang said in a low voice. However, Old Madam Qin still said nothing.

“Have you… really handed over all the accounts, Madam?” Mama Xiang asked tentatively, “I feel that Second Madam wasn"t in a hurry at all.” Old Madam Qin thumped on the bed table and said with a heavy voice, “Of course she"s not in a hurry. Always. .h.i.t a guy where it counts. Before the New Year, her husband has already taken back all the profitable properties. Now they have all the silvers at hand. Humph, if I don"t give her the accounts, if I don"t do that, the payments on the accounts will exceed the silvers we have after the Spring Festival. They will not pay for those bills, do you I"ll pay?”

Mama Xiang fell into silence. After a while, she said, “Old Madam, do you think Second Madam would go through the old accounts?”

Only until then did Old Madam Sheng show an obscure smile, “I wish that she could go through them. It"ll be better if she finds something wrong. The accounts of a family like ours can never be clean, not to mention how messed up our accounts were when Fourth and Fifth brother-in-law were here.”

Mama Xiang tried to remind Old Madam Qin, “But I feel that Second Madam didn"t care about those account books too much just now. The indentures are the things she values the most. These days she has been focusing investigating the population in the mansion.”

“Sheng Minglan is shrewd and calm. Have you ever seen her taking a beat during the several times I confronted her? She hasn"t even got angry once and only lives happily every day.” Old Madam Qin leaned on the cushion slowly, “Although I don"t know what she"s up to, I guess it won"t be simple. Have you done arranging our people?” “Don"t worry. It"s all set.”

After the wedding date was settled, First Madam Xuan who was in charge of the planning started to get busy. On the other side, Old Madam Qin was busy preparing Tingcan"s dowry. That dowry had been prepared long ago. However, that loving mother had added a lot of properties in the dowry and thereafter been forced to take those properties out. As a result, the dowry needed to be rearranged. First Madam Xuan had to live in Marquis Ningyuan"s mansion from time to time in order to purchase the tables, chairs, teacups etc., and appoint the stewards who will greet the guests. After she had taken charge of Gu Tingyu"s funeral, even Old Madam Qin had admitted First Madam Xuan"s ability in this area. Since this time First Madam Xuan was planning the wedding of Old Madam Qin"s beloved daughter, not a single servant dared to declined First Madam Xuan"s order. With Old Madam Qin"s support, First Madam Xuan had made the preparation of the wedding with high proficiency. Also, as a sensitive woman, every time she exercised her power, she would have tea with Minglan and sometimes with Shao shi and chatted with them.

Ever since Minglan had taken control of the family affairs, she stopped her light reading and handled the official business with a serious att.i.tude. She had ordered two accountants of the Cheng Manor to check the accounts she had taken over from Old Madam Qin. After that, Minglan leafed through a whole box of indentures carefully. After that, she would call in a group of servants after meals every day according to their position. She would only ask a few random questions with a gentle smile on her face. Seeing that, those servants who had been nervous before all got relaxed more or less. (Let down their guard) After that, Minglan would tell Lvzhi and Ruomei to record those servants" information in their personal files.