Chapter 516: An Invitation from House Ying (1)
It was already 1pm by now, and this was when Chu Lian just woke up from her afternoon nap. She got up from bed and had a lazy stretch before entering her little study.
Although she wasn’t the lady-in-charge of the Jing’an EState, there were still plenty of matters for her to take care of within her courtyard.
The first item on her to-do list today was a thick letter that had arrived from the northern border. It was from Manager Qin and contained reports about the trade market with the barbarians.
She had to finish reading all the pages of the letter and come up with some appropriate suggestions for Manager Qin before sending someone to mail it back to the north.
The jewellery store that she had opened with Royal Princess Duanjia, Treasure Pavilion, hadn’t produced any new designs for a while. Yesterday, Princess Duanjia had mentioned to her while she was at the Wei Estate. She had to find some time this afternoon to draw up a few more new and unique designs and send them over quickly.
After listing out her tasks in her mind, she realised that there were really quite a few matters on her hands today, enough to keep her busy for the entire afternoon.
She tackled Manager Qin’s letter first. He had sent a really thick envelope with at least twenty or more sheets of paper inside…
Chu Lian noted down some of the more important questions as she read, in preparation for her reply later.
However, she had only made it halfway through the letter when Senior Servant Zhong requested to meet with her.
Chu Lian frowned. The servants of Songtao Court were all sensible enough to avoid interrupting her while she was taking care of proper business, so this was likely an emergency.
She set down the letter in her hands and moved over to a sofa before calling out to the maidservants outside to let Senior Servant Zhong in.
The old servant entered with a face full of worry. She quickly bobbed in greeting before she spoke in a hurry, “Third Young Madam, this old servant has something to report.”
Chu Lian instructed Wenqing to bring two cups of honey water in, “Unless it’s a matter of life or death, it won’t help to be so rushed. Momo, take a seat and have a sip of water to calm your nerves first.”
Despite her earlier urgency, Chu Lian’s words were somehow able to get Senior Servant Zhong to calm down.
Once she had calmed down and regained a clear mind, Senior Servant Zhong couldn’t help smiling inwardly. It really was just as Third Young Madam had said. As urgent as the matter was, there was no point in being so anxious as she would be more likely to make a mistake in that state.
The warmth of the honey water sliding down her throat settled her nerves and Senior Servant Zhong was able to give her report with a steady voice.
Chu Lian set down the teacup in her hands. Her tone didn’t hold any of the alarm or anger that Senior Servant Zhong had expected. She only seemed slightly surprised at the most, “So what you’re saying is that Grandmother wants me to give Guilin Restaurant’s deed to the public accounts?”
Senior Servant Zhong nodded helplessly.
The servants of the third branch didn’t just keep to themselves in the estate after all. Senior Servant Zhong was also someone that He Changdi had specially trained, so she had her own ways to watch for news in the estate. It wasn’t strange that she had been able to discover the movements from Qingxi Hall so quickly.
A corner of Chu Lian’s lips tugged downwards. Since Matriarch He had started showing her displeasure towards her, she had already foreseen such a day coming. She just hadn’t expected it this soon.
The income from Guilin Restaurant was too dazzling after all. Just as birds would die in pursuit of food, men would perish for money. This was the same even amongst the nobility. The matriarch had likely come to this decision with the ‘help’ of Eldest Madam He Ying.
She hadn’t reopened Guilin Restaurant even now, in preparation for this day!
Guilin Restaurant was a golden goose in the eyes of those who coveted it. However, only Chu Lian knew that Guilin Restaurant was nothing but a dead goose without her!
Senior Servant Zhong waited for a long time for Third Young Madam’s reply. When she finally raised her head to peek at Chu Lian, she realised that Third Young Madam was just daydreaming while staring blankly into the air!
The corners of her mouth twitched. She was stunned speechless.
Even she, as a servant, was already anxious beyond belief, yet Third Young Madam seemed to be in a daze?
She knew that the profits that Guilin Restaurant brought in every month were enough to support all the monthly expenses of the Jing’an Estate with more to spare!
Although most people were greedy for money, could it be that Third Young Madam didn’t care about the profits at all?
Chu Lian really didn’t!
While she had brought Guilin Restaurant up all by herself and it was indeed a very profitable restaurant, she was no longer the penniless Third Young Madam who had just entered the Jing’an Estate.
She had the shares from Treasure Pavilion and the profits from the northern market in her pockets now. The money earned from either venture was magnitudes above that of Guilin Restaurant.
However, even though she didn’t really care about the profits from Guilin Restaurant, that didn’t mean that others could simply take it for themselves.
When Guilin Restaurant had come into her hands, it had just been a deserted little restaurant bleeding money from the Jing’an Estate every month. She had used her own dowry to renovate it and bring it back to life, putting in her time and effort into rebuilding it. She had even made a special plan for its reopening to turn the nameless little restaurant into one famed across the entire capital, even transforming it into a place of amusement for nobles.
Out of all the effort required to transform Guilin Restaurant into its current state, all that Matriarch He had contributed was a deed worth three hundred taels at the maximum.
However, when it came to ‘sharing the spoils’, everyone wanted a part of it. There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world! Even if she was disinclined to fight for her share, that didn’t mean that she wouldn’t do it.
Senior Servant Zhong was getting a little antsy. She and the other servants of Songtao Court had watched how Third Young Madam had made Guilin Restaurant a success with their own eyes. No one else knew better than they did how much Third Young Madam had put into Guilin Restaurant.
Matriarch He wasn’t being fair with this move.
The deed had been transferred under the name of Third Young Madam back then! They had even registered it with the authorities.