Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: How to Retrench Expenses

At Yun Chu's single command, the pageboys immediately hoisted the wooden benches and marched straight into the courtyard.

Xie Shiwei was pressed down onto a bench by the servants, struggling frantically as he screamed, "Mother, I was wrong, I was truly wrong! I beg Mother to spare me this once..."

With an icy gaze, Yun Chu declared, "Begin."

Two sturdy, strong-armed servants took their positions on either side, each gripping a thick wooden paddle.

"Thwack!"

A fierce strike landed squarely across Xie Shiwei's backside.

He let out a shrill, piercing shriek.

"Stop right there!"

Dressed in the green attire of a domestic servant, Madam He suddenly rushed in from outside the courtyard, shoving the executioner aside with a forceful push.

Masking her anxious expression, she hurried over to Yun Chu, dropped into a curtsy, and pleaded, "Mistress, invoking family law is a matter of utmost gravity. Shouldn't the Mistress consult the Old Madam and Madam first? Besides, the Second Young Master is still young; I'm afraid he won't be able to endure twenty board strikes. If he gets crippled from the beating, and the Old Madam starts asking questions..."

Yun Chu let out a soft, light laugh. "How is it that Mammy He seems even more distressed over Wei'er than I am, his own mother? It is almost as if Mammy He were his biological mother, while I, his legal mother, am nothing more than a wicked stepmother."

Madam He's face turned abruptly pale. "Mistress, this slave did not mean that! This slave is merely worried that the Old Madam will blame the Mistress for injuring the Second Young Master..."

"Matters concerning the masters are not for a lowly servant to fret over. Step back!" Yun Chu's voice turned bone-chillingly cold. "Continue!"

The two servants stepped forward, and with another resounding thwack, Xie Shiwei unleashed a continuous string of miserable wails.

Madam He bit down hard on her lower lip.

As expected, he wasn't her biological child, which was why she felt not a single shred of heartache.

Turning around, she bolted toward Anshou Hall.

Yun Chu watched with utter detachment as the servants administered the board strikes. One, two, three—at first, Xie Shiwei was able to scream at the top of his lungs, but soon his voice grew progressively weaker and fainter.

By the tenth strike, he passed out cold.

"Wei'er!"

Leaning heavily on her cane, the Old Madam arrived rather late, nearly frightened out of her wits at the ghastly scene before her.

"Quickly, someone go fetch a physician at once!"

Flustered beyond measure, she ordered the servants to carry Xie Shiwei back to his quarters without delay.

"If I hadn't come, were you planning to beat Wei'er to death?!" Staring fixedly at Yun Chu, the Old Madam bit out every single word. "It was merely a cricket! If it died, it died—could you not simply go buy another one? Was there any need to beat the child into such a state?! Even if punishment was warranted, there are a hundred different ways to do it. Who gave you permission to invoke the family law? You are trying to take Wei'er's life!"

Xie Shi'an stepped forward. "Great-grandmother, this was my idea."

The Old Madam was struck dumb with astonishment.

Madam He had rushed over panting to lodge a complaint, claiming that Chu'er was going to beat Wei'er to death. She had naturally assumed it was an arbitrary order issued by Chu'er.

How on earth could it have been An'er?

"Shiwei's reckless disposition truly needs to be reined in, or there is no telling what catastrophic disaster he might cause in the future!" Xie Shi'an stated. "Father's reassignment is imminent; if we were to offend the people of the Prince of Pingxi's Estate, there is no predicting the consequences. These twenty heavy board strikes are a punishment Shiwei simply had to take."

The Old Madam tightened her grip on her walking cane.

The Prince of Pingxi—that was the current Third Prince, a man of illustrious military exploits who enjoyed immense imperial favor, a towering figure the Xie family could never even hope to brush shoulders with in their wildest dreams.

Yet her granddaughter-in-law had actually managed to befriend the little young lord of the Prince of Pingxi's Estate.

Lowering her gaze, Yun Chu murmured, "Whether I punish An'er by making him kneel in the ancestral hall, or punish Wei'er with the board, the Old Madam always worries that I will harm the children. In the end, it is simply because I am not their biological mother. Perhaps I can only spoil and indulge them in the future, giving them whatever they demand, in order to maintain peace within the household."

The Old Madam found herself momentarily lost for words.

Over these past few days, she had repeatedly sought out Chu'er to question her, yet facts proved that she had been in the wrong every single time.

"Chu'er, since these children are registered under your name, they are your legitimate children. Whether you choose to beat them or scold them is entirely your prerogative. As a grandmother separated by a generation, I truly have no business interfering so heavily." The Old Madam let out a heavy sigh. "Let us return to Anshou Hall."

Standing behind the Old Madam, Madam He pressed her lips into a tight, anxious line.

If even the Old Madam chose not to intervene, the Madam certainly wouldn't either. Wouldn't that mean her own children would be entirely at the mercy of the Mistress to torment and grind down as she pleased?

Yet as a mere servant, what could she possibly say?

As she stepped out of Yusheng Residence, she heard Yun Chu instructing the servants: "There are still ten board strikes remaining. Resume the punishment once Wei'er has recovered his health."

Madam He stumbled so violently she almost lost her footing.

The concubines lingering in the courtyard exchanged uneasy glances, each lowering their heads to render themselves as inconspicuous as possible.

With a wave of her hand, Yun Chu dismissed them all, keeping only Xie Ping behind.

"Mother."

Xie Ping felt a faint flutter of nervousness.

In the past, she had always thought her mother was remarkably easy to get along with, but she no longer dared to entertain such naive notions.

Standing meekly beside Yun Chu, she adopted a thoroughly obedient posture.

Yun Chu instructed Chen Defu to go out once more and procure an even superior cricket to be delivered to the Prince of Pingxi's Estate, before turning her attention to teaching Xie Ping how to read the ledgers.

Xie Ping was literate, knowing how to read and write; her only shortcoming was her unfamiliarity with bookkeeping, so Tingshuang guided her hand in hand on how to balance the accounts properly.

For someone who had already received an education, once someone showed them the ropes, this task was actually not difficult at all.

Xie Ping grasped the fundamentals in no time. Pulling out the ledger from the previous year, she calculated the numbers and gasped in shock, "I truly never imagined that our Xie family, with such a modest standing, could rack up such exorbitant expenses in a single year. If we had to rely solely on these storefronts, the entire household would be left drinking the northwest wind. Fortunately, we have Mother here."

Setting aside the documents in her hands, Yun Chu spoke in a gentle tone, "Therefore, our most pressing task right now is to increase revenue and retrench our expenses. Since a young lady of a boudoir like you doesn't know the first thing about generating income, why not help Mother brainstorm ways to retrench our spending?"

A profound sense of being deeply valued washed over Xie Ping. Nodding with full confidence, she promised, "Mother, rest assured. I will certainly come up with a solid plan."

For the entire afternoon, Xie Ping remained in Yun Chu's side hall to study the account books.

As twilight began to blanket the sky, she turned excitedly toward Yun Chu. "Mother, our Xie estate has a total of over twenty coarse-labor matrons. Every single afternoon, these women are provided with tea and pastries, which amounts to roughly over ten copper cash per person. Added up together, that comes to more than two hundred copper cash a day, and nearly ten taels of silver a month! If we eliminate this single expenditure, we can save at least close to a hundred taels of silver in a year."

Yun Chu smiled warmly. "Although a hundred taels may not seem like much, if we hunt down a few more areas to cut costs and let the pennies accumulate, it will amount to a very substantial sum of silver over the course of a year. Ping'er, this matter will be left in your hands. Can you handle it well?"

Inspired by the encouragement, Xie Ping responded, "I will do my utmost to execute it well."

Yun Chu nodded. "You are still young, so it doesn't matter even if you make a mistake. If there is anything you don't understand, simply come and ask me."

"Thank you, Mother."

Filled with fighting spirit, Xie Shi'an and Xie Shiwei had suffered punishment back-to-back, yet she alone had won her mother's praise. She was determined to accomplish the task assigned by her mother to absolute perfection.

Clutching a massive stack of account books, she returned to her own courtyard to continue her research.

Curving her lips into a faint smile, Yun Chu lowered her head to resume reviewing the ledgers.

What she was looking at was not the Xie family's accounts, but rather the ledgers for her own personal shops and manors.

Dealing with the Xie family's affairs was merely going through the motions; the most critical priority was properly planning and managing the enterprises under her own name...

She busied herself until the sky outside grew pitch black, at which point Tingshuang gently reminded her that it was time to partake in the evening meal.

No sooner had the dishes been arranged upon the table than Tingxue hurried in from outside. "Mistress, Uncle Chen has just returned to the estate. He reports that the little young lord of the Prince of Pingxi's Estate is unwilling to accept that cricket…”