Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Dowry Subsidized the Public Coffer

Yun Chu had just returned to the Xie residence.

Mammy Zhou, who served beside the Old Madam, promptly invited her over to Anshou Hall.

Old Madam Xie sat in the main seat, with Xie Ping, the eldest young miss of the Xie family, seated in the lower tier.

"You've arrived," the Old Madam said indifferently. "Sit down first."

Yun Chu took a seat, and Mammy Zhou served her a cup of tea.

She took a small sip; this was the very tea the Emperor had bestowed upon the Yun family years ago, which her mother had sent over to her, and which she in turn had given to the Old Madam out of filial piety.

The Old Madam had hoarded it for several years, only now willing to bring it out to drink.

Setting down her teacup, she asked, "I wonder what matter prompted the Old Madam to summon me here?"

"Chu'er, Old Matron Li in charge of the courtyards said that the entire estate is going to be planted with jujube trees this year?" the Old Madam asked mildly. "Was this your idea?"

Yun Chu nodded. "It is an order I gave."

"Mother!" Xie Ping could not hold back her temper and blurted out, "Our family hosts a flower-viewing banquet every spring. If we plant jujube trees this year, won't that make holding the banquet impossible?"

Old Madam Xie frowned.

Out of regard for the legitimate daughter of a First-Rank General's Estate, numerous mistresses and young ladies from great aristocratic families would come to join the lively gathering every year for the spring flower banquet.

She had prepared a great deal in private for this year's banquet, but now, with the flowers all gone, what kind of banquet was there left to hold?

Could they invite people to admire jujube blossoms? Wouldn't that be making a laughingstock of themselves?

Yet deep down, she knew Yun Chu was not someone who acted without a method, so she softened her tone and asked, "Chu'er, why is this?"

"With so many masters and servants in our Xie household, does the Old Madam know how much silver is spent each day?" Yun Chu sighed. "With money flowing out faster than it comes in, if we don't trim our expenses further, we won't even be able to make ends meet down the road. The reason I had Matron Li plant jujube trees is because jujube trees are cheap and easy to raise. In the future, we won't need to change out the seasonal flowers, saving five to six hundred taels of silver a year. Furthermore, once the jujubes bear fruit, they can also be sold off, counting as an extra source of revenue."

The Old Madam looked astonished. "The businesses belonging to those shops of ours in the Xie family run exceptionally well. How could the income possibly be less than what goes out?"

Xie Ping chimed in, "The Xie family's powder and rouge shop is the most thriving one in Osmanthus Alley. The shopkeeper said it brings in over a thousand taels of silver a year. How can we suddenly not even afford to plant flowers?"

"Over a thousand taels of silver..." Yun Chu smiled. "Ping'er, you don't manage the household, so you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are. A little over a thousand taels of silver isn't even enough to sustain the Xie family's living expenses for a single month, let alone leave any surplus cash for planting flowers! If I hadn't used my own dowry to plug the gaps, how could the flower banquets of last year, the year before, and the year before that have been held with such grandeur?"

Incredulous, Xie Ping blurted out, "Mother used her own dowry to patch up the Xie family's deficits?"

The Old Madam slammed her teacup down heavily. "That's impossible! The Xie family would never make use of a daughter-in-law's dowry. Chu'er, some things cannot be said so carelessly."

Coming from a scholarly lineage, they valued their pride and reputation immensely. If word of this got out, how could Jingyu hold his head high in officialdom?

Yun Chu raised her hand. "Tingshuang, the account books."

Tingshuang hurriedly stepped forward and presented the neatly organized ledgers.

"These are the account books of the Xie residence, and every month's expenditures and revenues are recorded with absolute clarity." She motioned for Tingshuang to place the ledgers before the Old Madam's desk. "Every single month, the outflows exceed the inflows. Fearing that the Old Madam would worry herself over these domestic affairs, I kept silent about it. But since the conversation has led us here today, rather than being doubted, it is better to lay everything out and make it clear."

Influenced by her background, the Old Madam could only understand the Four Books and Five Classics, and was not very well-versed in commercial bookkeeping.

As for Xie Ping, a thirteen-year-old girl with no one to teach her, she was naturally completely clueless.

"Have An'er come over," the Old Madam commanded. "His tutor says An'er is quite skilled with the abacus. Have him come take a look at the family's accounts."

Using a daughter-in-law's dowry was a deeply disgraceful affair, and she could not simply take Yun Chu's word for it.

Since they couldn't make heads or tails of it themselves, they would summon someone who could.

Acknowledging the order, Mammy Zhou immediately headed to the ancestral hall to summon him.

Xie Shi'an was still kneeling in the ancestral hall, but since nothing else was pressing, he quickly followed along.

Along the way, he had already figured out what this was all about. Upon arriving, he paid his respects to the elders before picking up the account books to examine them swiftly.

"Our Xie family is indeed running at a deficit..." Xie Shi'an said slowly. "Over the past year, total revenue amounted to five thousand six hundred taels of silver, while expenses soared as high as thirteen thousand taels."

The Old Madam was completely dumbfounded. "How could the gap be so massive?"

Yun Chu might deceive her, but An'er certainly wouldn't.

Holding the ledger, Xie Shi'an explained, "The Xie family's income comes solely from storefronts. Father's official salary and the manors in the suburbs of the capital—none of these silver funds have ever been entered into this household ledger."

The Old Madam remained silent, for this was the bare truth, and she had no grounds for refutation.

Standing behind Yun Chu, Tingfeng muttered softly, "The silver belonging to Master and my lord ought to be pooled into the public coffers instead. How does it end up looking like our Mistress, an outsider by blood, had her dowry confiscated to subsidize the public funds..."

Though her voice was extremely low, everyone present heard it with crystal clarity.

Before the Old Madam could utter a word, Yun Chu stood up straight.

Walking to the very center of the room, she offered a slight, graceful curtsy. "Ever since marrying into the Xie family, whether it was serving the elders, educating the children, assisting my husband in forging connections, or managing the countless household affairs of the Xie estate, I dare say I have committed no fault whatsoever. Yet today, simply because I wished to cut back on expenses by planting jujube trees, I am subjected to such intense interrogation... Old Madam, my abilities are limited, and I return the authority of household management to you today."

Tingshuang stepped forward and placed the box containing the managerial tally tokens right before the Old Madam.

The Old Madam frowned deeply.

In the earliest days, the Xie family only had seven or eight maids and matrons, making management quite simple.

However, now that her grandson was an official holding office, the Xie estate boasted vast properties and a towering mansion; managing such a large household with so many people was no simple task.

"Chu'er, you are overthinking this." Swirling a myriad of thoughts in her heart while wearing an expression of utmost benevolence, the Old Madam took Yun Chu's hand and spoke in an earnest, heartfelt tone. "Over these past four or five years, it is precisely because of you that our Xie family has grown more and more prosperous. You are our Xie family's greatest contributor. Today's incident was merely Grandmother acting too abruptly; Grandmother apologizes to you, so do not speak in moments of anger."

"Old Madam, I am not speaking out of anger," Yun Chu lowered her gaze. "Having looked over the account books, An'er should know what state the Xie family is currently in. If I were to continue managing the household, my dowry would sooner or later be hollowed out entirely. By then, I would be forced to return to the Yun family to ask my mother for silver, and I'm sure the Old Madam would not wish to make a scene back at the Yun estate."

Old Madam Xie felt a surge of embarrassment.

If the Yun family were to discover that the Xie household had utilized Yun Chu's dowry, the consequences... at best, they would cease supporting and advancing the Xie family members, and at worst, they would submit a memorial to impeach them.

The Xie family had spent three generations to finally establish a foothold in the capital; they could not afford even a single misstep.

Faced with this realization, the Old Madam spoke up, "An'er, calculate how much dowry your mother has poured into the family over these years."

Xie Shi'an had someone fetch an abacus, and with a rapid clacking of beads, he calculated the total in no time at all: "A total of twenty-one thousand two hundred and thirty-five taels."

Old Madam Xie felt a sharp pang in her heart.

Yet she knew all too well that no matter how reluctant she was to part with this fortune, she had to pay it back in full.

The only thing that brought her solace was that since her granddaughter-in-law had devoted herself heart and soul to the children, this sum of money would sooner or later find its way back into the hands of the Xie family anyway.

With a wave of her hand, Mammy Zhou, who stood behind her, acknowledged the order and stepped into the inner chamber, returning with a thick stack of bank notes.