On the other side, Madam Zou and her husband walked back to the main branch's courtyard. Along the way, Madam Zou kept her head down in silence.

However, He Changqi moved closer to her and sighed regretfully, "If Third Sister-in-law knew how to cook venison, I wonder how delicious it would be."

Madam Zou choked and felt even more stifled.

Her footsteps paused and she walked even faster. He Changqi was slow and didn't know what was going on with her.

"Hey, Yuanjing, Yuanjing, slow down. It's dark and it's not easy to walk!"

Madam Zou bit her lip with an ugly expression.

Ever since her husband came back yesterday, she had heard him talk about how Chu Lian's longevity peaches were very popular at the old Marquis Dingyuan's birthday banquet.

Later, she told her mother-in-law and then the Matriarch that it was a pity that Chu Lian didn't know how to cook venison.

As He Changqi's wife, how could she not be angry?

So what if Third Sister-in-law knew how to cook? She was San Lang's wife, not He Changqi's!

Madam Zou's heart felt stifled when she heard this.

If Chu Lian knew why Eldest Sister-in-law hated her, she would definitely cry in front of her Eldest Brother He Changqi.

Eldest Brother!

You can't do this to your teammates!

Also, does Eldest Sister-in-law know that you're so slow?

In the evening, Gui Momo helped Chu Lian change her clothes and gave her the silver from the jewelry and the items on Chu Lian's list.

Chu Lian walked towards the small study as she opened the small wooden box Gui Momo gave her.

Inside the wooden box were four small gold bricks and the silver jewelry she had asked Gui Momo to find a jewelry store to buy.

Gui Momo followed behind her and hesitated for a while before advising, "Third Young Mistress, you should keep this money for yourself. Although it's in the fu, you're still the third branch. Third Young Master can't inherit the title and after the Matriarch passes away, you'll have to live alone. The fu's expenses are controlled by Eldest Grandmother, so there's actually a lot of money that needs to be spent!"

Chu Lian turned her head and looked strangely at Gui Momo. Her almond-shaped eyes were like stars under the light, bright and clear. "Momo, do you still expect money to be saved?"

Gui Momo was at a loss for words. She paused and wanted to persuade again, "But you have just taken charge of the Third household, how can you be so extravagant."

What she didn't say was that it wasn't the New Year or a festival. If she rewarded someone, she would earn a lot of money. It would be fine if there were rewards in the future, but if there were no rewards at all during the festival, the servants would be disappointed, and it would be easy for them to have disloyal thoughts.

Moreover, although the silver jewelry on the list wasn't very expensive, each one of them was beautiful!

Not to mention the servants, to be honest, even the master of an official's family could wear it.

Chu Lian had already walked to the desk. She placed the wooden box on the desk and took out the silver jewelry from the box and placed it on a mahogany plate.

Chu Lian had specially placed a layer of dark blue silk handkerchief on the lacquer plate.

The freshly made silver jewelry was set off by the dark silk, making it look even more beautiful and shiny. In addition to the novelty of the jewelry, under the light, it didn't look any worse than gold jewelry.

"Nanny, don't worry. Didn't grandmother give me a restaurant?"

Chu Lian happily fiddled with the jewelry on the lacquer plate and sorted them.

She casually replied to Gui Momo.

Gui Momo choked. Restaurant?

That shabby restaurant?

It wasn't on a good road in Shengjing, and the dishes weren't novel. They couldn't even make ends meet every month. How could they earn money?

Gui Momo really suspected that the Matriarch didn't like their Third Young Madam and deliberately threw this shabby restaurant for Chu Lian.

"Aiyo, my Third Young Madam, how can that restaurant earn money!

You can't count on this restaurant! "

Chu Lian finally looked up at Gui Momo, "Momo, I know you are doing this for my own good, but I know these things."

When she said this, Chu Lian's tone clearly became serious, and it was no longer her usual soft and delicate voice.

Gui Momo was startled and shut her mouth tightly.

Although Third Young Madam's character wasn't as extreme as before her marriage, and sometimes she was a lot easier to talk to, it didn't mean that she could influence her decisions with just a few words. She had violated the taboo of the servants.

Gui Momo's back broke out in a cold sweat when she reacted.

Chu Lian also had this kind of thinking. Although she didn't like to be harsh to others and liked to live a comfortable life, and even sometimes was a bit muddle-headed and careless, she was never careless when it came to important matters. She could be considered a very assertive person, and she especially didn't like others interfering or even making decisions for her.

She knew that her way of thinking was very different from the people of the Great Wu Dynasty, so after arriving here, she had always been easy to talk to. However, it didn't mean that the things she decided could be easily changed by others.

Today's silver jewelry was like this, and it was even more so for the more important decisions in the future.

"This old servant understands."

Chu Lian saw that Gui Momo had reacted, and her expression softened, returning to her usual soft expression. Her tone was gentle, and it made people feel very comfortable when they heard it.

"Momo, you must believe me. It's not that hard to earn money." She even grinned and winked at Gui Momo mischievously.

Although Gui Momo nodded on the surface, she didn't actually believe Chu Lian's words at all. Although Third Young Madam had a tenacious spirit, due to her previous status in the British Duke's Estate, she didn't have many opportunities to interact with the outside world. Furthermore, the second wife of the second branch had never sincerely taught her, so it was normal for her to have high standards but low ability.

Gui Momo sighed inwardly. She would understand if she let Third Young Madam suffer this time.

After Gui Momo left, Chu Lian put away the gold bricks in the wooden box. Including these gold bricks, she had about six hundred taels of silver on hand. Although it was a huge sum in the eyes of ordinary people, it was far from enough for Chu Lian.

Chu Lian opened a brocade box at the side and saw Princess Leyao's golden qilin lying inside. The corners of Chu Lian's mouth curled up.

"Princess Leyao, since you like your Brother He so much, you can fork out the rest of the money."

Before going to bed, Chu Lian took out the Guilin Restaurant account book that Matriarch He had given her and flipped through it.

This was Guilin Restaurant's account book for the past three months. Because there were only a few customers every day, there was only one thin book for the past three months.

With such a thin book, Chu Lian couldn't agree with the way the accounts were kept. With a cursory glance, she could tell that there were many parts of the accounts that didn't match up.

Let's talk about these.

On the first of June, the kitchen purchased one tael of silver.

Purchase for the kitchen?

What did they purchase?

Were they the daily vegetables, pots, bowls, ladles, or tables and chairs? They were only roughly mentioned. Could it be embezzlement?

On the twelfth of June, five catties of pork for a hundred copper coins, ten copper coins for pickled vegetables, five hundred copper coins for fresh tea …

From the beginning of the month to the middle of the month, there were only two or three customers who came to the restaurant every day. On a few days, there wasn't even one customer, and on a few days, there weren't more than five customers. Among these customers, only one had ever ordered a dish made with pork.

That was why Guilin Restaurant's pork dishes weren't popular. The kitchen didn't need to purchase more than one catty of pork every day, but today, they bought five catties of pork. Did they use the public account to open a private kitchen?

Haha!

She hadn't even read a third of the thin book, but it was already full of loopholes. There was no need to continue reading.

It looked like this Guilin Restaurant didn't just have a problem with the management, but also with the employees. If some people who only knew how to fill their own pockets came to run the restaurant, even if they gave them the most flourishing store in Shengjing, it would still be a loss!

The next day, Chu Lian told Matriarch about the appointment at the Wei Wangfu in private. The matriarch held her hand and was very happy. Finally, she told her not to worry.

When she returned from Qingyi Hall, she had Servant Zhong gather all the servant girls and senior servants in Songtao Court.

Chu Lian handed the matter over to Xiyan and then went to the small study to practice her calligraphy.

Xiyan carried a mahogany lacquer plate and said to the servant girls and senior servants in the reception hall, "Third Young Mistress's birthday is coming up. A few days ago, I ordered people to make these jewelry. I want to use this opportunity to let everyone in the courtyard bask in the joyous atmosphere."

What Xiyan said had been specially instructed by Chu Lian this morning. Xiyan wasn't lying. Chu Lian's birthday was indeed in these two days. The 26th day of the seventh month was the day that Princess Duanjia had invited her to the Wei Wangfu.

There had to be a reason for the reward, otherwise these servants would be too greedy. Although Gui Momo didn't say it directly last night, Chu Lian had already thought of it.

This was just like in her previous life, when the company would always give out some benefits during the holidays. Only when the benefits were good would the employees be willing to work for the company.

Gui Momo, who was standing at the side, was startled. She hadn't expected that Third Young Mistress would be so thorough in her panic and forget to remind her. She felt a little guilty.

When the servants in the room heard that there was a reward, all of their faces were filled with joy.

Xiyan coughed twice and the room immediately quietened down.

"Third Young Mistress has instructed that the second-rank servant girls will each pick a silver hairpin and two rings. The third-rank servant girls will each pick a silver hairpin and a ring. As for those who aren't ranked, they will each get a ring."

After she finished speaking, she passed the tray in her hand to Wenqing beside her and asked her to carry it over and sort it out.

The servants were overjoyed and said in unison, "Many thanks to Third Young Mistress for the reward."

"In the future, all of you will work hard. As long as you do a good job, Third Young Mistress will definitely reward you again. However, if you don't follow the rules, not only will you not be rewarded, you will be immediately kicked out of Songtao Court."

After hearing Xiyan's encouragement, the servants all said in unison, "We servants will definitely do our jobs well."

Bai Cha was a lowly servant girl in Songtao Court. Her parents were all children of Count Jing 'an's household, but they weren't doing well. Her mother used to be in the main kitchen, but the kitchen caught fire and she was burned. Even now, she still couldn't get out of bed. Her father ran errands for the head steward of the outer courtyard. A few years ago, he was implicated and framed for embezzling the estate's silver. He was severely punished by the eldest grandmother and was now shoveling horse dung in the stables.

Perhaps it was because of this setback that he became addicted to alcohol and got drunk every day. Her two older brothers weren't placed in important positions in the estate, so Bai Cha started working at the age of ten as a lowly servant girl. Now, four years had passed, but she was still sweeping the estate.

She originally wanted to stay in Third Young Master's courtyard and see when she would be able to gain his favor. However, Third Young Mistress suddenly entered the door.

Third Young Master suddenly left the estate to go to the north, so Bai Cha could only obediently work.

However, her mother was seriously ill and urgently needed money to treat her illness. All of the money in the house had been used by her father to drink. She was at her wit's end when she met Chu Lian.

She gripped a silver ring shaped like a clover in her hand and looked towards the master bedroom in the courtyard with eyes full of gratitude.