Zhu Men Ji Shi

Chapter 61 Family Affairs (2)

Zhu An heard the words, and replied respectfully: "As for the young mistress, most of the ledgers are written by servants. Occasionally, when they are busy, the servants around them will do it for them."

Shen Yuechen smiled slightly, nodded and said: "So that's the case, no wonder I see that the handwriting on it is different." After finishing speaking, she spread the account book in front of Zhu An, pointed to an account with vague details, and asked: " Please, Manager Zhu, take a look for me, where did the 25 taels of silver go?"

Zhu An hurriedly bowed forward, glanced at it, and said: "The ink was too deep from the servant's hand shaking for a moment, blurring the handwriting, and I'm afraid the details on it may not be clear."

There was still a smile on Shen Yuechen's face, and then he flipped through a few more pages, reached out his hand again and pointed out a five-two place, and asked, "What about this place? Can Guanshi remember it clearly?"

Seeing her asking and asking tirelessly, Li Shi and Chai Shi felt strange, but they didn't stop her.

Zhu An hesitated a little, looked up at Shen Yuechen's face, and muttered slightly: "Returning to the young mistress, this account was made at the beginning of last month, and the servant can't remember it clearly."

Shen Yuechen closed the account book with a smile, and said warmly: "Guard Zhu is a busy person. There are so many things he takes care of every day, it's normal that he can't remember clearly. The advantage of this bookkeeping is that you can keep everything in detail, so you don't have to spend two or three A month later, I revisited the memory to find out the reason, and I was confused. No matter how small the money is, it is still money. If one, two, two, two are piled up, it will gradually become a large number, not to mention, it is still 25 It's a sum of two silver... Guanshi Zhu, don't you think so?"

Shen Yuechen could see clearly just now, but for all the vague accounts, almost every penny was more than Wu Liang's silver, and there were every month.If someone did it on purpose, adding up these silver coins of unknown origin would be quite a lot.

Zhu An was indeed not well prepared, and Shen Yuechen's face was reddened by Shen Yuechen's words.Although her words were gentle, her words were sharp, which made him feel very embarrassed.

He originally thought that today was just going through the motions as before.Unexpectedly, this eldest young mistress has sharp eyes and a careful heart, and she can see the tricks at a glance.

Shen Yuechen returned the account book to Zhu An, and instructed: "The details of this account book are complicated and unclear, it seems very inconvenient, please ask Guanshi Zhu to copy a new copy."

Redo the books?Zhu An's eyes flickered slightly, but his expression remained calm, and he said with a smile: "Eldest young mistress, although the servant accidentally dirty a few accounts, but the general ledger and details of each month are clearly prepared, Why bother to copy it again?"

Zhu An looked at Shen Yuechen's face, and felt a little nervous in his heart. This new grandma looked young but full of momentum, and she put on this posture for the first time as a director-compared with the previous Qin's, it was really worse than anything else. And ah.

Shen Yuechen took a deep look at Zhu An, the smile on his face faded, and he said in a calm tone: "Guard Zhu, let me be blunt, this account book looks detailed, but it is not organized clearly. The cost of food and clothing is different, and the cost is different. It is necessary to divide the rations, and note each case one by one. The things used in each hospital every month are allocated according to the rations. The details are roughly the same, but the grades and prices are not the same. In particular, things like tea hangers, tea bowls, washcloths, handkerchiefs, etc. are not things that need to be purchased every month. They should be added as much as they lack. As for trivial items such as hair grease powder, candle incense, etc. There is no need to store too much, just now I read on the account book that the west courtyard costs more than 30 taels a month just to buy candles. Thinking about it, it must be inexhaustible, and in the end it will be piled up in the warehouse to accumulate dust and waste. In fact, it’s okay, send someone to check every month, and if there is a shortage, let the people in the procurement department or the maids of each courtyard take the cash and make up for it in time.”

Hearing this, Zhu An's face turned red and white, and he was speechless for a while. He just felt that since the new young mistress didn't give him face, then he didn't need to be polite to her in every possible way.

Li Shi and Chai Shi were also slightly taken aback, they felt that what she said was fresh and logical.

Shen Yuechen didn't want to be in the limelight today, or to embarrass anyone, so she wouldn't be able to step down. She just wanted to let the respectable stewards of the Zhu family fear her. Don't think that she is young and is the second wife. Don't understand anything, don't care about anything.

Zhu An saw that neither the eldest lady nor the second lady spoke for him, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and lowered his eyes slightly: "The eldest young lady doesn't know something, there has always been an old rule in the house that the amount of money every month is determined by the old lady herself of."

On the surface, these words are justifying himself, but secretly they are satirizing Shen Yuechen's meddling, things that even the old lady didn't care about, where is it her turn to be mean to herself, even if it costs too much, it is the old man and the old lady's fault Money doesn't use her silver.

Li Shi turned her head to look at Shen Yuechen, and thought: She is not stupid, but she is too impatient, and she will put on airs as soon as she comes up, no wonder the servants are dissatisfied with her.Since the old lady wants to test her ability, I don't have to favor her, let's see how she responds.

Hearing Zhu An's words, Shen Yuechen blinked slightly, and naturally understood the meaning behind what he said, and then smiled casually: "Guard Zhu, I heard that you are also the old man in the family, and you are in charge of the office every day. Household affairs must be the most important thing... Although I have not been married to the Zhu Mansion for a long time, I often calm down and do the calculations for you, but I feel that the things in the yard are too expensive. I It's not that I feel sorry for those white money, I'm just afraid that I'm not shrewd and thrifty enough to spoil the elders' wishes."

When she came here, she paused for a while, turned her head to look at Li Shi, slightly lowered her head and said docilely: "The old lady is kind and kind, she loves us juniors, no matter it is for food or use, everything is the best... I often send people to add and add, I am really grateful. I never dare to neglect the kindness of my ancestors, I just think that I can cherish, be diligent and thrifty, and not waste things in vain. They have done their part.”

Seeing what she said so sincerely, Li Shi couldn't help feeling a little warm and sour in her heart, and said: "You are sensible."

Shen Yuechen continued to speak softly: "I take care of the uncle every day, and see that he goes out early and returns late every day, busy with business matters. I am a woman, and I want to share his worries, but I am incapable and incompetent. I don’t have enough strength. My heart aches when I see my uncle working hard every day. I really wish I could break a penny into two halves. I just hope that I can give my uncle a rest..."

It is petty to feel sorry for money, but a person who loves money is a caring person.

After hearing this, Li's eyes twinkled slightly, and sure enough she was coaxed by her words, his expression gradually softened, he took the initiative to hold her hand, and said: "My good boy, if you can hurt Jintang for everything, you will It's the greatest filial piety to us. But, don't deliberately wrong yourself, and sincerely save money for the family."

Mrs. Chai was at the side, but also changed the subject, deliberately raised the handkerchief and said: "It's so good, it makes people sad, and my heart is sore."

Zhu An knew something was wrong when he heard the words.

Shen Yuechen held Li Shi's palm back, turned his head to look at Zhu An again, and said with clear eyes: "The old ancestors rewarded not only money but also kindness. Saving money is small, but cherishing kindness is big. Manager Zhu, you Say it?"

Looking at Shen Yuechen's peaceful and smiling face, Zhu An felt inexplicably guilty, and a layer of cool timidity floated in his heart. He felt that although this new grandma was young, she was definitely not easy to provoke, with red mouth and white teeth, and eloquent words. , can't help but lack the squeamishness of a boudoir girl, but a little more calm and sophisticated that doesn't suit her age.

"Your servant understands. This servant must follow Eldest Mistress's order and re-copy the account book as soon as possible." Whether you want it or not, you have to agree first before you speak. If you talk back again, I am afraid that Eldest Madam will change her face accordingly.

Shen Yuechen felt a little relieved when he heard the words, and when he saw that he was subdued, he said kindly with a smile: "Guan Zhu, you are a busy person, and it was just that I didn't think carefully enough to make things difficult for you. Why don't you just use this account book?" Is it okay for me to copy it myself? I will copy it carefully in lower case letters, and it will be more convenient for my mother and second wife to look it up later."

Zhu An was in a hurry, kneeled on the ground with a plop, and said in a panic: "Young Mistress, this is impossible!"

Li Shi also said in a voice: "You are thin and have many things in the past few days, you should take a good rest."

Shen Yuechen smiled and said: "Ma'am, it doesn't matter if I am a concubine. The old lady asked me to follow you to learn housework. The concubine is not good at writing, and can only write a few words. But I just copied the account book again, and it is already managed by Zhu Guanshi." If there is something clear, if there is anything I don't understand, just ask Guanshi Zhu."

Li Shi thought for a while, then looked at Chai Shi, only to hear her nod with a smile and say: "Sister-in-law, the child is so sincere, let's just obey her."

Li Shi hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said: "Okay, you can do whatever you like."

Shen Yuechen stood up upon hearing the words, and hastily blessed the two of them slightly. "My concubine thanked the eldest lady and the second lady."

Beads of sweat were already visible on Zhu An's forehead, and his heart was pounding.

Shen Yuechen looked at Zhu An quietly, and after a long while, he smiled kindly and said: "Guan Zhu, please get up quickly. In the future, I will inevitably trouble you, so please raise some points."

Zhu An didn't dare to get up easily, but knelt on the ground, lowered his head and said, "Young Mistress is too flattering to the servant. The servant must obey the order of the Young Mistress anytime and anywhere."

Shen Yuechen deliberately found a reason to take the account book into his own hands, just to see clearly.In just such a short period of time, the flaws can be found. If you take it back and examine it carefully, you may be able to see more tricks.

When Zhu An left the main room, he was already sweating profusely, even his armpits were soaked.His usually bright and quick mind suddenly couldn't turn his head. He calmed down for a moment, and then told the people around him: "When the chief manager comes back in the evening, let me know immediately." Discuss with Chief Steward Zhu Rong.

Zhu An bumped his nose in front of Shen Yuechen, which made the four women who were in charge of shopping outside raised their hearts.They were all thinking of going through the motions, so nothing serious happened.Unexpectedly, the newly promoted young mistress is so powerful that she taught Zhu An a lesson as soon as she showed up.

(End of this chapter)