What else could Countess Jing 'an say? Matriarch He was using her status as a daughter-in-law to pressure her. If she didn't take over the reins of the family now, she would be considered unfilial.

Chu Lian also frowned slightly, not understanding Matriarch He's intentions.

Although she wanted to say a few words for her mother-in-law, Old Lady Bai and Mrs. Liu were her elders. She had no right to intervene.

Countess Jing 'an was a soft-spoken person, so she didn't dare to disobey the matriarch. She could only obediently agree.

He had no choice but to agree. In the end, she was the one being unreasonable.

In the past, she didn't care about the family because she was seriously ill. She didn't have the energy and even needed Old Matriarch to take care of her. Now that she was well, Old Matriarch wanted to hand over the leadership of the family to her. She had no reason to refuse.

Countess Jing 'an squeezed the handkerchief in her hand. She stood up and curtsied to the matriarch. "Don't worry, Mother. I will do my best to take care of everything in the estate."

"Get up. You've just recovered, so there's no need to be so polite.

With your words, I can rest assured in handing over the leadership of the household to you. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask Mu Xiang or Sister Ying. "Matriarch finally smiled.

"Yes."

Thus, Countess Jing 'an, the Liu matriarch, brought a few servant girls carrying a stack of account books back to her courtyard.

Chu Lian followed behind her mother-in-law. She saw that her mother-in-law's brows were tightly furrowed with worry, so she could only comfort her, "Mother, you don't have to worry too much. We don't have a lot of people in our estate, and the population is simple. There's the head butler and the second butler in the front yard, and there are also many stewards in the back yard. As long as you keep these people in check and keep a clear eye on the accounts, there won't be any big problems."

Countess Jing 'an was a little embarrassed. She smiled apologetically at Chu Lian. "I'm really useless. I'm already so old, yet I still need a little girl like you to comfort me. Don't worry, I'm not that easy to fool. When I was young, I was a housekeeper for a few years when I first married into the Count's Estate."

"It's good that Mother can think this way.

If Mother needs help, she can send someone to find me at Songtao Court.

Anyway, I don't have much to do all day.

Although I've never managed a household before, I can still be an assistant to Mother. "

Countess Jing 'an was amused by Chu Lian and relaxed a little.

He nodded and told her to go back and rest.

She patted Chu Lian's hand. "Alright, it's just some family matters. Mother has nannies by my side, so I can handle it. You take good care of your body. Mother is still waiting to hold a grandson!"

Chu Lian's cheeks reddened at her mother-in-law's words.

In the past, she had never thought of having a child at such a young age. At that time, she even thought of living in seclusion and finding a beautiful place to live a rural life. But as time passed and her relationship with He Changdi progressed, she actually began to hope for a child to be born as soon as possible.

Then, he and He Changdi would watch the cute little guy grow up bit by bit and raise him/her together.

Watching Chu Lian leave with the maidservants, the Yun matriarch returned to her courtyard and went straight to the study.

Today, she didn't even have time for her granddaughter. She sat in front of the study table and flipped through the account books. Very quickly, Countess Jing 'an discovered that something was amiss.

After a rough calculation, Countess Jing 'an was extremely shocked. How could the public estate only have so few shops and fields left?

If he were to calculate according to the current situation, the monthly surplus would not even reach five hundred taels of silver …

Moreover, this was under the condition that the shops were making a profit.

As for some of the fields, they would only collect money from the tenant farmers at the end of the year. Normally, they would only produce some fruits and vegetables. If they were sent to the estate's own family to eat, they wouldn't be able to earn much money.

The servants in the estate, the children in the estates, the shopkeepers and assistants in the shops, and even the monthly allowances of the estate's masters — which one of them didn't need money?

With this, the monthly expenditure amounted to six to seven hundred taels of silver. And this was just a quick calculation. It didn't take into account the favors they received from the other estates.

The monthly income was only five hundred taels of silver, but the expenditure was much more than the income …

She recalled the victorious smile on her sister-in-law's face when the Matriarch passed the reins of the household to her.

Countess Jing 'an was burning with anger, but at the same time, she also felt extremely helpless and helpless.

She remembered that Count Jing 'an's estate wasn't like this twenty years ago. At that time, her housekeeper's account book had five to six thousand taels of silver.

The monthly income from the shops, fields, and estates was also quite good.

So many years had passed. How did the Count's Estate end up in this state? Not only did they not accumulate wealth, but they even regressed a lot.

By the time she came here, they were already at the point where they could barely make ends meet.

Countess Jing 'an's trusted aide, Senior Nurse Wang, said worriedly, "Madam, what's wrong? Great Doctor Miao told me that your body has only just recovered, so you mustn't overthink things."

Countess Jing 'an sighed. She passed the rough calculations in her hand to Senior Nurse Wang. "Suxin, take a look."

Suxin was Senior Nurse Wang's name when she was a maidservant. Now, only Countess Jing 'an would call her that.

Senior Nurse Wang took the paper and quickly scanned through it. She said in disbelief, "Madam, how did this happen?!"

Senior Nurse Wang was secretly happy for Madam. After all, now that Madam's body had recovered, it was time for her to manage the household.

Countess Jing 'an was the eldest madam of the Count's Estate, so it was better for her to control the household's finances than Eldest Young Mistress's. However, who would've thought that this was a hot potato that would result in huge losses?

Countess Jing 'an was extremely worried. Now that she was in charge of the household, from tomorrow onwards, the stewards of the front and back courtyards would have to pay for their expenses. She had almost used up all of her dowry when she took the medicine, so how was she going to find the money to supplement the household's accounts now?

Senior Nurse Wang was Countess Jing 'an's trusted aide and understood her the best.

Judging from the expression on her face, it was obvious that Madam was trying to find a way to supplement the household's finances!

However, where would they find the money?

If they were to supplement the household's accounts, they would need at least three to four thousand taels.

She paused, then said with a determined expression, "Madam, you can't force yourself. You have to explain this to Matriarch and Eldest Young Mistress."

Although Countess Jing 'an was a little timid and softhearted, she wasn't completely clueless. After being reminded by Senior Nurse Wang, she also decided to look for Eldest Young Mistress.

She immediately led her people to where Eldest Young Mistress lived in Qingxi Hall.

However, she was escorted out by Eldest Young Mistress in less than an hour.

Countess Jing 'an was on her way back to her courtyard with Senior Nurse Wang and the others. Senior Nurse Wang was furious. "How could Eldest Young Mistress do this? This old servant doesn't believe that Eldest Young Mistress didn't' contribute 'to the deficit in the household's accounts!"

He Ying wasn't even willing to fork out a single tael of silver. Moreover, she pushed all the blame onto Madam Zou, who had already separated from He Dalang.

Although it was very likely that Madam Zou was the biggest culprit, it was impossible for He Ying to not be responsible!

Countess Jing 'an shook her head at Senior Nurse Wang. "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. If this gets out, people will start gossiping."