Glory

At the same time, Third Miss Ye also employed a method called double-entry bookkeeping, where each transaction was recorded in at least two different accounts. "For every debit, there must be a credit; debits and credits must always balance." This prevented accounting errors, a method that earned Jiang Huan's admiration, and he was quite willing to try it out on the Ye family's accounts.

...

The Ye family was wealthy. With furniture occasionally needing repairs and frequent weddings in the household, they kept two carpenters on retainer year-round. When Ye Yaqing got married, several skilled carpenters were hired to craft her furniture. Now, for Ye Yaming's wedding, the craftsmen were readily available.

Ye Yaming did not prefer overly intricate carvings, opting instead for simple and elegant patterns. With plenty of craftsmen on hand, the furniture she commissioned was completed in less than a month and a half.

After inspecting it and finding no issues, Ye Yaming immediately had it moved into Lu Guanyi's residence.

The house was built of blue bricks with tiled roofs. The main room in the inner courtyard faced south. Ancient architecture followed the principle of "one central hall flanked by two side rooms." The door to this main room was not in the center, directly opening onto the corridor, but rather a small door led from the central hall into the bedroom.

In the outer section of the bedroom, to the right upon entering, stood a set of Chinese-style sofas—two short and one long—covered with thick cushions. In the opposite corner was a long table. One-third of it served as a dressing table, while the remaining two-thirds held decorative items like vases on either side, with a scholar's four treasures (brush, ink, paper, and inkstone) placed in the center.

In the inner section of the bedroom, a large bed measuring 2.5 meters in width and length was positioned against the center of the eastern wall. It was topped with a soft mattress specially commissioned by Ye Yaming, with footstools and bedside tables on both sides. The bed curtains could be drawn open from either side. During the day, the curtains were tied to the frame, making the space feel more spacious.

Since this was for the wedding, the bed curtains were made of bright red gauze. After the wedding period, Ye Yaming planned to replace them with blue gauze.

The placement of this bed was entirely different from the norms of the time. Beds in this era were typically placed with the headboard and one side against the wall, tucked into a corner. The person sleeping on the inside would have to climb over the one on the outside to get out, which was highly inconvenient. Moreover, the bed curtains were usually tucked under the mat on three sides, with only the outer side able to open and close. The side against the wall remained perpetually shrouded in the gloom of the curtains.

Since the wall behind the headboard was nearly six meters long, after placing the 2.5-meter-wide bed and a footstool in the center, Ye Yaming added a row of wardrobes on either side, one for each person, ensuring no interference.

This design would likely be seen as rebellious by people of this era. After all, men were superior to women here, and wives were not supposed to be equal to their husbands. Ye Yaming's design, however, allocated equal space to both, fully embodying the concept of spousal equality.

Finally, a screen as tall as the wardrobes was placed one meter from the foot of the bed, dividing the room into two halves.

Ye Yaming disliked fully carved screens, finding the rosewood color too heavy and oppressive. She opted for carved frames only, with five silk paintings in the center. She paid a hefty sum to a famous painter in Lin'an to depict five lilies on them.The overall layout of the room was actually quite similar to Lu Guanyi's original setup, but due to the larger dimensions of the custom-made furniture, exquisite designs, and the addition of soft furnishings, the entire space appeared exceptionally grand. The elegant patterns and color coordination of the soft furnishings throughout the room highlighted the meticulous care and ingenuity of the decorator.

In addition to the main bedroom, Ye Yaming also arranged two rooms in the west wing: one served as her secondary bedroom, furnished with a bed and a desk, similar in style to the main bedroom, though the bed was only one and a half meters wide; the other she set up as her personal study.

The remaining room became her small storage space, where she could keep frequently used items in the future.

After some thought, she realized that leaving the east wing untouched might make Lu Guanyi feel neglected. In the end, she moved his original belongings to the westernmost room, while the middle and easternmost rooms were arranged identically to her own study and bedroom.

If Lu Guanyi disliked the setup and wished to rearrange it, she would leave it to him.

As for the remaining areas, she simply added some furniture to the main halls and principal rooms of each courtyard and called it a day.

The rest of the estate remained untouched. With her busy schedule, she had no time to stroll through the gardens or tend to flowers and plants. She summoned the Ye family's gardener to inspect the grounds and tidy up the flora, considering the residence thus settled.

Granny Li breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this and privately remarked to Lao Songtou and her son Song Gang, "It seems the future mistress is an easygoing person. She’s always been polite to us whenever she visits, and she rewards us for helping her with tasks. I’m relieved."

She had heard from the page who delivered messages that the future mistress might reside here for most of the year. Granny Li had been deeply concerned about the possibility of an ill-tempered mistress making their lives difficult.

"However," she added, "the main bedroom is arranged rather oddly. In my days serving the late mistress, I’ve seen many noble bedrooms, but I’ve never seen furnishings like this."

She went on to describe the main bedroom’s layout to Lao Songtou.

"Why meddle in the master’s affairs?" Lao Songtou, who had once been a minor Housekeeper in the Lu residence, spoke with the authority of a family head. "If the young master doesn’t mind, who are you to gossip? As long as the mistress is kind and treats us leniently, that’s all that matters."

Granny Li shrank back, muttering, "I wasn’t saying much, just discussing it with you in private."

"With a mistress in the house now, even private discussions should be cautious. Whether it’s the young master’s regard for Miss Ye, their marriage being decreed by the Emperor, or the importance of Miss Ye’s Dark Tea to the court, the future mistress is not someone we can afford to slight. Remember that," Lao Songtou admonished.

"Understood."

…

Time flew by, and soon it was September, with the wedding day approaching.

Members of the Ye family came one after another to add to the dowry.

Ye Chongming had saved some private funds over the years and discreetly gave Ye Yaming ten thousand taels of silver as Dowry for personal use, while Old Mrs. Ye gifted her a Manor.

As her biological parents, Ye Hongsheng and Yin Shi felt that if their contributions weren’t visibly included in the publicly displayed dowry, it might invite criticism. Seeing that Ye Chongming had already provided the Dowry for personal use, the couple deliberated and purchased a shop and a farmstead as part of the dowry, valued at six to seven thousand taels of silver.Ye Hongchang and Tao Shi, as Da Bo and his wife, originally only needed to gift two sets of head ornaments and some silk fabrics.

However, since Ye Yaming had previously given Ye Yaqing a shop worth ten thousand taels, they couldn't appear too stingy. Thus, they gifted Ye Yaming a large estate in Tongxiang worth approximately four to five thousand taels. Ye Yaqing gifted head ornaments valued at over three thousand taels.

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