In the following days, Qin Miao and Xie Lin continued to live in peace. Perhaps it was because of Qin Miao's words that morning, Xie Lin had taken them to heart, and every night before falling asleep, the two would exchange a few sentences, although they were all trivial matters, but at least it was better than a night without talking.

  It was again the fifth day of rest, Xie Yun went to pay respects to his ancestors and then as usual, he went to Tingyu Pavilion.

  Having recently obtained a letter from Master Kong, I sat at my desk, eager to copy it. Just then, the servant came in and said that he had something to report.

  "How was the search? Come and tell me." It can be seen that he is in a good mood today. In the past, he often locked himself in the study, and his face was mostly gloomy. Therefore, today Xingzhi stood aside grinding ink with a less tense gesture.

  April's sky says it's hot but not hot, but the broken wind that rushes over first wipes away a handful of sweat with its sleeve.

  "After the lady took over the management from the second lady, she was busy sorting out the accounts and spent three days reviewing the general ledger and detailed breakdowns. During these three days, she locked herself in the study of the Chao Lu courtyard and did not allow anyone to disturb her unless it was absolutely necessary. Even during lunch breaks, she often skipped rest. When you didn't return for dinner, she would eat some food and continue reading by lamplight at night. These past few days, I started calling over the housekeepers one by one to ask them questions, and they all complained to me that the new lady is difficult to get along with."

  He said halfway, Po Feng raised his head and looked at the master who was still in the post, with a normal expression, without any ripples on his face. He had already made up his mind, continuing to say: "Through these few days of turmoil, Madam thinks that there are some problems with the expenses and income of the mansion, so she has assigned several people in charge to go to different farms and shops for investigation, mostly within the next two days."

  "Oh? She thinks there's a problem with the accounts and silver in the mansion?" Xie Yan put down his brush, glanced at Xing Zhi who was grinding ink, and asked Po Feng with interest.

  "The servants didn't ask much, but from the mouths of a few people in charge, I vaguely heard that the lady felt that the household was gradually showing signs of... income not covering expenses."

  As soon as this was said, Xie Lin's heart skipped a beat. In all these years, he had hardly managed the affairs of the mansion, entrusting everything to his second aunt. His uncle was born out of wedlock and was inferior in status to his third uncle who was born in wedlock. He himself was an honest man, even though he held a nominal position in the Ministry of Rites and had entered officialdom, but for the rest of his life, his prospects would probably be limited to this. So he thought about letting his second aunt take over the management of the mansion's internal affairs, which could help support the second house somewhat.

  Indeed, Second Aunt's temperament is somewhat gentle and soft-hearted. Although she is affable and doesn't offend anyone, her methods are insufficient and she lacks the power to control those under her. She thought that managing the Hou Manor's backyard and properties wouldn't be complicated, but unexpectedly, it hasn't been well taken care of.

  "Go and ask Madam to come to the study to see me." Xie Yan waved his hand, and then added another sentence: "Let her bring the account book, just say I want to take a look."

  When Baofeng arrived at Chaoyuan Garden, Qin Miao had just sent away the steward and nanny who came to receive the token today. Hearing that Master Hou had invited her, she let Zixuan quickly tidy up the study's account book and follow her to the front yard.

  Before leaving, she asked Li to pack the fruit and meat soup that had just been cooked in the morning into a food box, and personally carried the food box to Tingyu Pavilion.

  The Rain Listening Studio is located in the east of the front yard, close to the spacious hall for discussing matters. On ordinary days, if there are outsiders visiting Xie Yun, they will generally be received in the spacious hall for a short while. The Rain Listening Studio seems more like Xie Yun's own courtyard.

  Passing through the hanging flower gate, walking through a corridor with a handrail, and then passing through the moon cave gate, the rhombus flower courtyard door of the Rain Listening Hall is right in front. Po Feng made a gesture of invitation, naturally letting Qin Miao enter by herself.

  The Rain Listening Studio is not big, with a small path paved with bluestone bricks in the middle. On the left side stands a tall and straight green pine tree, which seems to have been there for many years. On the right side, a pot of water lilies is placed, but it's still not the flowering season, only seeing the green leaves floating on the water. After a few steps, you can climb up the stone stairs to under the corridor, and under the eaves of the corridor, there is nothing, quite desolate.

  Qin Miaoduan carried the food box, originally intending to push the door open and enter directly according to her nature, but after a moment's thought, this was after all Xie Yan's private territory, so she tried lightly knocking on the door. It wasn't until a clear and gentle voice from inside said "come in" that she stepped inside with Zi Xuan.

  Before she could take a closer look at the layout of the study, a young woman appeared standing beside the desk. For now, she could only see the woman's profile, her small and delicate nose, slightly upturned and cute nose tip, and her eyebrows and eyes were very harmonious. And looking again, it didn't seem like the usual maid's uniform made of satin used in the mansion, but rather a more exquisite and delicate peach-red long dress that reached the ground, with white satin at the waist.

  This was the first time Xingzhi had seen Qinyao, and seeing that she had already entered from the doorway, he very consciously took two steps forward to welcome her, making a polite bow. "Greetings to the madam!"

  Most likely this is the apricot branch that Mother mentioned. Indeed, compared to the vivid and resplendent beauty of Ruhua, the apricot branch in front of me has a delicate and elegant charm, exuding cleverness everywhere.

  It was only a momentary panic, and Qin Miao immediately returned to normal, kindly helping her up and taking out a pearl-encrusted hairpin from her hair: "No need for excessive courtesy. Usually, you serve Lord Hou in the front yard with diligence, and I didn't prepare anything good either. This hairpin was my dowry, you can keep it for now."

  Xingzhi glanced at Xieyan behind her, as if asking if it was acceptable. Seeing Xieyan nod slightly, she then graciously accepted Qinmiao's gift. This made Qinmiao feel somewhat uncomfortable in her heart - could it be that not serving in the backyard meant one wasn't a member of the household? Moreover, it was the mistress who had sent the gift, so why did they still need to get confirmation from the lord?

  Fortunately, Xie Yan didn't give her too much time to digest and let her take a seat to ask about some matters in the mansion.

  "Recently, you've been working hard, I don't know if you've taken over these past few days, have you found anything unusual?" Xie Yan directly got to the point, skipping the pleasantries. Qin Miao immediately had Zixuan, who had followed her, put the account book on Xie Yan's desk and began explaining one by one.

  She had been inside for a long time, but no one served tea. Qin Miao couldn't help but furrow her brow. "Xingzhi, serve tea for me and Lord Hou." She naturally instructed the only servant belonging to the study.

  Apricot branch still stood quietly with her hands clasped together, thinking about the moment when she and Qin Miao locked eyes just now, indeed forgetting seven or eight parts of what was going on. It wasn't until Madame Hou reminded her that she attracted a rather severe glance from Xie Yu. Seeing this, she hastily retreated to the side room to pour water. Before long, two newly brewed cups of Bi Luo Chun were brought up.

  After drinking the tea handed over by Xingzhi, Qin Miao's heart felt a bit more at ease, and he continued to say to Xie Yan: "Your Excellency, I also said just now that Auntie has been working hard as the mistress of the house for several years. It's really difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice."

  Xie Xuan didn't expect his new wife, who was normally ruthless and vengeful, to speak up for the second mistress with whom she had no relationship. He lazily rolled his eyes and looked at Qin Miao: "Oh, what's going on?"

  Her cherry lips parted, and she sipped her tea with a slight bow of her head, revealing a hint of elegance. Qin Miao put down the teapot lid with a soft clink and explained in a serious tone: "Although Auntie Er manages these shops and estates, it's already not easy for her to barely break even. After all, most of those shops and estates aren't profitable businesses. Moreover, several of the estates are far away, with lax management and careless stewards who exaggerate their yields when reporting back. It's no wonder Auntie Er is in a difficult position... given her awkward status..."

  She straightforwardly spoke out the awkward situation of having a second wife, and it took guts to do so, thought Xie Yun. He had long heard that his young wife was an expert in managing the Qin family's shops, able to handle half of their business at such a young age. At first, he didn't believe it, thinking that the old ancestors were exaggerating on purpose so that he could accept Qin Miao more easily. Now, after hearing this conversation, Xie Yun believed it a bit more.

  "So what should we do now?"