Chapter 4: Date Trees Are Easy to Grow
Yun Chu stopped looking at Ting Yu.
Her gaze fell upon the children.
The eldest daughter, Xie Ping, was thirteen years old and already graceful like a budding flower.
The eldest son, Xie Shi'an, was still kneeling in the ancestral hall.
The second son, Xie Shiwei, eight years old, hadn't come to pay his respects, likely still asleep.
The three oldest children were all born to He Shi.
The third son was Xie Shiyun.
The second daughter, Xie Xian, was born to Concubine Jiang and was only three years old.
Concubine Tao was pregnant, carrying the future fourth son in her belly...
Yun Chu glanced at everyone and said calmly, "I have matters to attend to. You may all go about your business."
After marrying into the Xie family, she had taken over the management of the household affairs, which was why Old Madam and Madam had specifically exempted her from daily greetings.
As soon as those paying their respects left, the stewardesses of the Xie residence arrived.
The stewardesses reported their matters one by one.
Yun Chu blew on the tea foam.
The Xie family could be considered a scholarly farming family. After Xie Jingyu's father passed the imperial examinations and became a provincial scholar, nearby villagers registered their farmlands under the Xie name to avoid taxes, earning the family a considerable amount of silver.
When Xie Jingyu entered the court as an official, her father-in-law used that silver to purchase some farmlands in the outskirts of the capital and bought several shops.
The annual revenue from those shops was about five thousand taels of silver, more than half of which was taken by Xie Jingyu to smooth his career path. The remaining silver was far from enough to support the luxurious lifestyle of the entire Xie family.
In her previous life, she had always felt guilty toward the Xie family and wanted to do what she could.
As a result, her dowry was gradually depleted.
By the time the Yun family encountered trouble, she wanted to use silver to bribe the prison guards, but by then, her dowry had dwindled to less than a thousand taels...
"Madam?"
Seeing her only drinking tea without speaking, the reporting stewardess grew uneasy.
Yun Chu snapped out of her thoughts and said calmly, "Where were we just now?"
The stewardess hurriedly replied, "Spring has arrived, and the flowers in the courtyard need to be replaced. Should we plant orchids or azaleas this year?"
Yun Chu chuckled lightly.
The Xie family was of humble origins, with mud still clinging to their legs, yet they wanted to imitate the noble families of the capital by planting flowers every season and hosting flower-viewing banquets.
Every spring, they replaced the flowers with orchids, and every autumn, with chrysanthemums. Though it seemed simple, it cost a considerable amount of silver.
For the past four or five years, she had used her own dowry to maintain the Xie family's dignity.
But now...
She set down her teacup. "Changing flowers back and forth is just the same old routine, and it's too troublesome. This year, we'll plant fruit trees instead."
The stewardess thought she had misheard. "P-plant fruit trees?"
Yun Chu thought for a moment and said, "Date trees are sturdy and easy to grow. Let's go with date trees."
The stewardess was stunned.
The madams of the capital all loved flowers. Every spring, the various households competed to host flower-viewing banquets, and the Xie family was no exception, as it was a good opportunity to build connections.
When Madam first mentioned planting fruit trees, she thought it would be peach or pear trees, as their blossoms could still be considered scenic.
But date blossoms were small, unattractive, and hidden beneath the leaves. She had never heard of any household in the capital planting date trees.
It was simply unheard of!
"Is there anything else?" Yun Chu's voice was indifferent. "If not, you may all leave."
The stewardesses had already heard that Madam had severely punished the eldest son yesterday and dared not say another word. They bowed their heads and withdrew.
"Ting Feng, go and invite Chen Bo here," Yun Chu instructed. "Ting Shuang, Ting Xue, the two of you sort through my dowry. Note what's missing, what's been used, and which items were spent on the Xie family. Write down every detail clearly."Ting Feng promptly went outside to summon someone.
Ting Shuang hesitated before speaking: "Madam, has something happened?"
Since yesterday, Madam had been acting strangely. Punishing the eldest young master could be justified, but immediately having Concubine Yu and the third young master move out was somewhat odd. Now she actually wanted to inventory her dowry... something major must have occurred.
Yun Chu looked at Ting Shuang.
Among the four maids who accompanied her as part of her dowry, Ting Shuang was the most intelligent and steady. Yet Ting Shuang had died early in that great fire.
If Ting Shuang hadn't died, with her sharp perception, she might have discovered the wolfish heart and dog lungs hidden beneath Xie Shi'an's refined appearance...
Yun Chu looked at her gently and said: "Nothing has happened, don't overthink it. Go attend to your duties."
Ting Shuang concealed the worry in her eyes and went with Ting Xue toward the storeroom where the dowry was kept.
A quarter of an hour later, Ting Feng brought Chen Bo.
Chen Bo was also someone Yun Chu had brought into the Xie family. His name was Chen Defu, nearly fifty years old, specifically managing her dowry for her.
After she took over managing the Xie family's affairs, she had also entrusted several of the Xie family's shops to Chen Bo to manage together.
Her father-in-law was a scholar, not skilled in business. The Xie family's several shops only brought in a little over a thousand taels of silver annually.
Under Chen Bo's management, the annual income increased to four or five thousand taels.
"Greetings, Madam." Chen Defu entered. "What urgent matter requires Madam to summon this old servant so hastily?"
Yun Chu spoke: "Does Chen Bo have a minor steward surnamed He under him?"
"There is one, named He Xu." Chen Defu looked up. "Is there some problem with this person?"
Yun Chu lowered her gaze.
In her previous life, she only learned after the Yun family's downfall that Steward He of the Xie residence was actually He Shi's biological elder brother.
When she knelt outside Xie Jingyu's study begging for a chance of survival for the Yun family, He Xu, relying on being Xie Shi'an's maternal uncle, repeatedly harassed and insulted her...
However, she was after all the principal wife of the Xie family, so He Xu only dared to harass her verbally.
Ting Xue and Ting Feng were merely maidservants with no means to resist. They were violated by He Xu... Later, when she died from a cup of poisoned wine, these two maids surely followed her in death...
Seeing Yun Chu's unpleasant expression, Chen Defu knew the matter was somewhat serious.
He clenched his fist: "Madam, just give the order!"
"There's no need to do anything special." Yun Chu concealed the chill in her voice. "Give him opportunities, let him climb higher. The higher he climbs, the harder he'll fall when the time comes."
Chen Defu, being a man of the business world, naturally understood the meaning behind these words and immediately accepted the order.
Yun Chu set down her teacup and stood up: "Chen Bo, take me to see the dowry shops."
In her previous life, her dowry shops were sold off one by one, with most of the silver obtained used for Xie Jingyu's official career.
The seven or eight dowry estates in the capital's suburbs—half were given to Xie Shi'an's wife, the other half to Xie Ping as her dowry...
All these were carefully prepared as her dowry by her mother, costing the Yun family more than half their wealth, yet in the end, they all fell into the hands of the Xie family.
Only after experiencing the despair of the Yun family's destruction did she realize how wonderful money truly was.
Given a second chance at life, she would not only protect her dowry but also make it triple, tenfold, even a hundred times greater!
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