Yunchu stopped looking at the rain.
Her eyes fell on several children.
The eldest daughter, Xie Ping, is thirteen years old and has a graceful appearance.
The eldest young master Xie Shian is still kneeling in the ancestral hall.
The second young master, Xie Shiwei, was eight years old and did not come to say hello. He was probably not awake yet.
The eldest three children are all born to the He family.
The third young master is Xie Shiyun.
The second young lady, Xie Xian, is the daughter of Aunt Jiang and is only three years old.
Aunt Tao is pregnant, and in her belly is the future fourth young master...
Yun Chu glanced at everyone and said quietly: "I still have things to deal with, so you all should go and do your work."
After she married into the Xie family, she took over the general affairs of the house, so the old lady and her wife specially exempted her from greeting her every day.
As soon as the greeters left, the ladies in charge of the Xie Mansion came.
The mothers-in-law reported the matters one by one.
Yunchu blew the tea foam.
The Xie family was a family of farmers and scholars. After Xie Jingyu's father was admitted to the Juren Examination, nearby villages and towns put their property in the name of the Xie family to avoid taxes, and he made a lot of money as a result.
After Xie Jingyu became an official in the court, her father-in-law used the money to buy some land and several shops in the suburbs of Beijing.
The annual revenue of those shops was about more than 5,000 taels of silver. Most of it was used by Xie Jingyu to smooth his official career. The remaining money could not afford the life of so many people in the Xie family.
In her previous life, she always felt ashamed of the Xie family and wanted to do something within her power.
As a result, her dowry was emptied bit by bit.
So later, when something happened to the Yun family, she wanted to take the money to the dungeon, but at this time, she only had less than a thousand taels left in her dowry...
"lady?"
Seeing that she was only drinking tea and not talking, the woman who reported the report was a little uneasy.
Yun Chu recovered his thoughts and said quietly: "Where did you just say?"
The mother-in-law hurriedly said: "Spring is here, and it's time to change the flowers in the yard. Should we change them to orchids or azaleas this year?"
Yunchu chuckled.
The Xie family comes from a poor family, and the mud spots on their legs have not been washed off yet, so they want to imitate the aristocratic families in the capital and plant flowers every season and hold flower appreciation banquets.
Changing the orchids every spring and the chrysanthemums every autumn is a simple thing, but it costs a lot of money to do it.
In the past four or five years, she has spent her own dowry to maintain the Xie family's dignity.
But now...
She put down the tea cup and said, "The flowers can only be exchanged so much. It's too troublesome. This year we will plant all fruit trees instead."
The mother-in-law thought she heard wrongly: "Plant, plant fruit trees?"
Yun Chu thought for a moment and said: "The bark of the jujube tree is really easy to feed, so let's just use the jujube tree."
The woman was shocked.
All the ladies in the capital love flowers. Every spring, various prefectures compete to hold flower viewing banquets, and the Xie family is not to be outdone. This is a good time to make connections.
At first, when the lady talked about planting fruit trees, she thought they were peach trees or pear trees. After all, peach and pear blossoms can be considered a common sight.
The jujube flowers are small, unsightly, and hidden under the leaves. I have never heard of any house in Beijing growing jujube trees.
Simply unheard of!
"Is there anything else?" Yun Chu's voice was very calm, "If you have nothing else to do, just go down."
The mothers-in-law had long heard that the wife was furious and punished the eldest young master yesterday, so they didn't dare to say anything, bowed their heads and retreated.
"Tingfeng, go and ask Uncle Chen to come." Yun Chu said, "Tingshuang, Tingxue, you two sort out my dowry. What is missing, what is used for the Xie family, and what is used for the Xie family. Write everything clearly."
Tingfeng hurriedly went outside to invite someone.
Tingshuang hesitated and said, "Madam, has something happened?"
Something has been wrong with Madam since yesterday. She punished the eldest young master for a reason, and then asked Aunt Yu and the third young master to move out. It was a bit strange. Now she has to count the dowry... something terrible must have happened.
Yunchu looked at Tingshuang.
Among the four dowry maids, the smartest and most steady one was Tingshuang, but Tingshuang died early in the fire.
If Tingshuang hadn't died, with Tingshuang's sensitivity, he might have been able to discover the wolf-like heart and dog-like lungs under Xie Shi'an's delicate skin...
Yun Chu looked at her and said warmly: "Nothing happened, don't think too much about it, just go get busy."
Tingshuang put away the worry in her eyes and walked with Tingxue towards the warehouse where the dowry was kept.
A quarter of an hour later, Tingfeng came with Uncle Chen.
Uncle Chen was also brought into the Xie family by Yunchu. His name was Chen Defu. He was almost fifty years old and was specially responsible for taking care of her dowry.
After she took over the general affairs of the Xie family, she also handed over several shops of the Xie family to Uncle Chen to take care of.
Her father-in-law was a scholar and was not good at business. The Xie family's several shops only earned more than a thousand taels of silver a year.
After taking it into Uncle Chen's hands, his annual income became four to five thousand taels.
"Say hello, madam." Chen Defu walked in, "Madam, is there anything important that you are so anxious to call me over?"
Yun Chu said, "Does Uncle Chen have a steward named He?"
"There is one, named He Xu." Chen Defu raised his head, "Is there anything wrong with this person?"
Yunchu lowered his eyes.
Only after something happened to the Yun family in her previous life did she find out that Butler He of the Xie Mansion was actually the brother of the He family.
When she knelt at the door of Xie Jingyu's study to seek a chance for the Yun family, He Xu teased and insulted her many times, claiming that he was Xie Shi'an's biological uncle...
But after all, she was the first wife of the Xie family, and He Xu only dared to tease her verbally.
Tingxue and Tingfeng were just maids, with no ability to resist, and were ruined by He Xu... Later, she died with a glass of poisonous wine, and these two girls must have followed her...
Seeing Yun Chu's ugly face, Chen Defu knew that something was serious.
He clenched his fists: "Madam, just give me your orders!"
"There's no need to do anything special." Yun Chu concealed the chill in his voice, "Give him a chance and let him climb up. The higher he climbs, the worse he will be if he falls."
Chen Defu is a person in the business world, so he naturally understood what this meant and immediately accepted the order.
Yun Chu put down the tea cup and stood up: "Uncle Chen, take me to the trousseau shop to have a look."
In her previous life, all her trousseau shops were sold off one by one, and most of the money gained was spent on Xie Jingyu's official career.
Of the seven or eight dowries from the suburbs of Beijing to Zhuangzi, half were given to Xie Shi'an's wife, and the other half were given to Xie Ping as dowry...
This was a dowry carefully prepared for her by her mother, which cost most of the Yun family's wealth, but in the end it all fell into the hands of the Xie family.
After experiencing the despair of the Yun family's destruction, I realized how beautiful money is.
In a new life, she not only has to keep her dowry, but also wants to make it three times, ten times, or even a hundred times!
