Chapter 145

Chapter 145: In the Palace

No matter how various factions harbor their own schemes and seek benefits from this selection, it has nothing to do with the Li family now. Aside from the Wang family, no one else has come to Dong Yuting seeking assistance.

Dong Yuting enjoys her leisure, dozing off daily in the room with the ice chest, occasionally seeing her children, and embroidering with Yao Jieer. However, this skill demands patience; if it were her profession, she would persevere, but now there is no need, so she only stitches a few times before setting it aside.

Household affairs still await her review.

Dong Yuting always uses such a pretext, but for minor matters, she authorizes the stewards to decide on their own. Only issues they cannot resolve or those without precedent in the household are brought to her for a decision, so ultimately, there are few things left for her to handle.

Outside, an eerie peace prevails, while inside the household, it is a leisurely tranquility.

With the master observing mourning, the number of invitations to the household has decreased. The Correspondence Office is seldom used, and the Transport Department is used less frequently. Without invitations, there is no need to host banquets, and the kitchen doesn't need to prepare large feasts... In short, all parts of the household are tranquil now, and the busiest time is during the regular account checks.

Li Nianyao avoided this selection, but she will still marry in the future, so Dong Yuting has her assist nearby. These are things she must learn now, or she will have to learn later.

Knowing the prices of goods will prevent her from being deceived by subordinates when she manages the household in the future.

On the table, chilled peaches are arranged, their sweetness diffusing with the cool air.

Dong Yuting said, "Don't just sit there; come and have some."

Li Nianwei is always reserved in front of her, but Liu Wanqing smiled and said, "Thank you, Aunt."

The maid stepped forward to divide the peaches from the plate into small dishes, serving them one by one.

Xia Qing came from the central room to Dong Yuting's side, "Madam, the stewards have arrived."

Dong Yuting then remembered it was the day for checking accounts.

Liu Wanqing stood up proactively, "The hour is getting late; my sister and I should head back now."

Li Nianwei also stood up without speaking, but her actions indicated the same intention.

Dong Yuting smiled, "Why don't you wait in the west side room for a while? Yao Jieer will join you shortly. Chun Yue, have someone bring this plate of peaches to the west side room and also bring a basin of ice."

Chun Yue responded with a smile and persuaded Liu Wanqing and Li Nianwei, "Please wait here for a bit, young ladies. Madam and the young lady will be done soon."

The household has purchased ice now, but the distribution varies. The matriarch, of course, gets as much as she wants, followed by the master and madam, then the young masters and ladies, and lastly the concubines.

However, in such hot weather, the ice allocated to the concubines is insufficient. Li Nianwei, feeling sorry for Wang Yiniang, gave her own share to her.

Dong Yuting is unaware of this, but it has spread among the servants.

Liu Wanqing curtsied, took Li Nianwei's hand, and they went to the west side room together.

Dong Yuting then said to Dong Zhi, "Bring a plate to the stewards as well, and prepare some fruits and tea."

With Li Nianwei and Liu Wanqing in the west side room, the stewards had to wait in the central room.

As the weather is hot, Dong Yuting no longer keeps Xia Qing, who is responsible for announcements, waiting outside constantly, instead having her wait in the central room.

The central room's door is always open, letting in continuous heat. Considering the stewards are elderly, Dong Yuting had someone bring a basin of ice over.

Now that the household is quieter, the number of accounts to record has decreased. Copying and checking them once takes less than an hour.

Qiu He took out the account books kept with her and prepared brushes. Dong Yuting, Li Nianyao, Qiu He, and Dong Zhi each took one to check. Qiu He and Dong Zhi had abacuses nearby to calculate the recent expenses.

Chun Yue is less patient than Dong Zhi. When it comes to learning characters and using the abacus, Dong Zhi has surpassed her, so Chun Yue can only watch from the side, handing tea to anyone who needs it, as the table is covered with account books, and spilling tea would ruin them.

Dong Yuting and Li Nianyao wait for them to finish calculating, then review the books silently. If the numbers match, they place the book with Dong Yuting, indicating it has been approved.

The room is filled only with the sound of abacus beads clicking.

The two are already skilled with the abacus, their fingers moving so swiftly it's dazzling.

Dong Yuting has streamlined the account-checking process, so the books sent to her no longer require an entire afternoon.

Li Nianyao took the Transport Department's account book handed by Qiu He. The expenses of the Transport Department in recent days are clearly listed: purchased fodder, new saddles, repairs to the stable door, and the costs are all recorded. Initially, Li Nianyao worried about making errors and would carefully review it three or four times, only handing it over when Dong Yuting urged her.

After reviewing more often, Li Nianyao no longer needs prompting and hands it to Dong Yuting after calculating herself.

However, Dong Yuting still checks her work now, but in the future, when she becomes the mistress of the household, no one will review it for her.

Thinking of this, Li Nianyao sighed faintly and handed the Transport Department's account book to her mother.

Xia Qing entertained the stewards in the central room, not wanting them to sit idle. Xia Qing is lively and efficient, and while chatting with them, she can learn news from the outer courtyard that she wouldn't otherwise know.

While Dong Yuting was reviewing the account books, Xia Qing suddenly entered and said, "Madam, the Marchioness of Yongle is here."

Dong Yuting was startled, "Has she come alone?" She remembered the selection ended yesterday, so why has Wang Wanjun come again?

Xia Qing said, "This maid doesn't know... Should I go ask the messenger?"

Dong Yuting glanced at the sky outside and changed her mind, "No need, let her in."

After Wang Wanjun entered and saw the stewards, she paused briefly, then hurried to the west side room, looking flustered, and called out, "Elder Sister..."

This indicated she had something to discuss. Dong Yuting set down the account book, "Please go check the accounts in the west side room first."

Qiu He and Dong Zhi took the account books and left with Li Nianyao.

Only the two of them remained in the room.

"What is it that has you in such a hurry?"

In families like theirs, if someone visits, they must send an invitation first and wait for approval before coming. This shows propriety, distinguishing them from ordinary households.

"It's not exactly an urgent matter, but my grandmother is overthinking things, so she sent me to ask if you know anything about the situation." Wang Wanjun paused and said, "Yesterday, Xun Jie'er went to the palace and hasn't returned yet."

"Wasn't the selection yesterday..."

Before Wang Wanjun could finish, Nanny Wang, who came with her, eagerly said, "Yes, yesterday there should have been results, but until today, our young lady hasn't returned. The palace even has guards stationed, not allowing anyone near. Our elderly lady is worried sick. Madam, could you please ask your elderly lady so we can at least know what's happening in the palace and reassure our elderly lady."

She had visited not long ago, and Dong Yuting remembered clearly. Last time, she didn't give Nanny Wang a hard time; although Nanny Wang suffered a setback, she still carried an air of arrogance. But this time, she is very humble. Her facial expression isn't visible because she is kneeling on the ground, head bowed low, only the top of her head visible.

But these words... asking her to approach the elderly lady—is it fear of rejection? Or is it hinting that their purpose in coming to the Li residence isn't to see you but the elderly lady?

Yet, Wang Wanjun is the only one who knows someone in the Li family.

After not hearing Dong Yuting's response for a while, Nanny Wang lifted her head, her forehead covered in fine sweat, her eyes clearly showing urgency.

After Qiu He and the others took the account books away, teacups were placed back on the table. Wang Wanjun stood up and personally poured tea for Dong Yuting, saying slowly, "Having visited the Li residence several times, I still haven't seen the elderly lady. Last time, my grandmother said Nanny Wang was impolite and insisted that when she comes again, she must pay respects to the elderly lady."

Nanny Wang quickly added, "Yes, actually, my elderly lady later checked the family records and found that two generations ago, the Wang family had marital ties with a branch of the Zeng family! It's truly fate. The elderly lady also said that since we didn't know before, it's fine, but now that we know, our families should visit each other often."

Dong Yuting rolled her eyes inwardly but said aloud, "Then I'll have a maid check if the elderly lady is still asleep. You know how the elderly are—they need their rest. If we wake her now, she'll be tired all afternoon."

Though reluctant, Nanny Wang had no choice but to go along with it.

Dong Yuting summoned Qiu He and whispered a few words in her ear.

Dong Yuting had someone help Nanny Wang up from the ground and brought a round stool for her to sit on. Nanny Wang looked extremely anxious, kept glancing toward the door, but Dong Yuting remained perfectly calm and said to Wang Wanjun, "I'm afraid my mother may not know either. You should brace yourself."

Wang Wanjun glanced at Nanny Wang and lowered her voice, "It's alright. I know my brother-in-law is still in mourning. Before coming with Nanny Wang, I asked around but couldn't find out anything, so I had to trouble you again, sister."

Dong Yuting nodded slightly. When Qiu He returned saying that the old lady had agreed to see them, everyone stood up to leave.

Before going, Dong Yuting instructed Dong Zhi to have the stewards go back first. Yao Jieer was to accompany Liu Wanqing and Wei Jieer to continue playing—they could either stay here or go elsewhere. Chun Yue was told to set the account books aside for now and return them to the stewards once the calculations were done.

Yinfeng Courtyard and Lanzhu Courtyard were close by, so they arrived shortly. Sending Qiu He ahead also served to gauge the situation—if the old lady didn’t want to see them, Dong Yuting could use the excuse that she was still napping to send them away. If she agreed, it wouldn't reflect on Dong Yuting anyway. Nanny Wang had come under the pretense of visiting the old lady, so Dong Yuting could simply stay and listen on the side.

To be precise, Wang Wanjun was also acting as a persuader. She had Nanny Wang kneel first and elaborate on how much the old lady wanted to see her and the purpose of their visit, then Wang Wanjun would appeal to emotion.

But the old lady was not easily fooled. Thinking she could be persuaded with a few words to approach Li Lingchuan was too naive.

The old lady made a show of pondering for a moment and said, "So that’s how it is. But I think you needn’t worry too much. Since she was sent into the palace as a palace candidate, she should be fine. She’s under the emperor’s direct supervision, after all. However, given the connection between your old lady and me, I must ask my son to help you inquire. But I can’t guarantee he’ll find out anything. You know he’s in mourning now, not at court, so he has limited means to investigate."

Nanny Wang was no fool. Hearing the old lady’s ambiguous words, she grew irritated. Seeing that the old lady made no move to send a maid to inquire but simply smiled at her and Wang Wanjun, she said stiffly, "Thank you, old lady. It’s getting late, and my old lady is waiting for my return. I’ll take my leave now."

"Mm, if I learn anything about the situation in the palace, I’ll have someone let you know," the old lady said.

Dong Yuting escorted Wang Wanjun out. The two walked ahead, whispering quietly.

She could tell that Wang Wanjun had been forced to come both times. Just now, when the old lady dismissed Nanny Wang with a few words, Wang Wanjun even showed a relieved smile.

"Don’t worry too much. I don’t think Xun Jie'er is the type to cause trouble. As long as she behaves properly in the palace, she'll likely be fine," Dong Yuting said.

Wang Wanjun whispered, "That’s what I think too, but my grandmother insisted I come ask... Ah, she’s just worried about Xun Jie'er. Please don’t hold it against her, sister."

Wang Wanjun was afraid Dong Yuting would come to dislike her because of this.

"Of course not. You are you, and your grandmother is your grandmother. I can tell the difference," Dong Yuting thought to herself: I just wonder if your grandmother is more worried about Xun Jie'er or more concerned about the situation in the palace?

Could it be that the Wang family is also supporting some prince?

Anyway, it doesn't concern the Li family. After seeing Wang Wanjun off, Dong Yuting put the matter out of her mind.