After entering the courtyard of Old Madam Zhuang, the maid raised her voice and announced, "Miss Cousin, Second Miss, Fourth Miss, Fifth Miss, come to pay your respects to the old lady."
When they entered the east living room, Mrs. Wu, Mrs. Zou's eldest wife, Mrs. Liao, the second wife, Mrs. Wu, and the third daughter, Mrs. Zhuang Qingyan, had all arrived.
Zhuang Qingyan is the daughter of the second wife, and looks very similar to Old Madam Zhuang when she was young.
Oval face, almond-shaped eyes, and drooping eyebrows.
When she saw her sisters coming in, she stood up and waited until Jiang Changning and the others greeted the old lady and the two ladies and sat down before she sat down.
"Ning girl." Old Mrs. Zhuang called.
"Old lady." Jiang Changning stood up and bowed his head respectfully.
"So many things happened to you on the way to Beijing, why didn't you tell me?" Old Mrs. Zhuang believed that she was doing Jiang Changning a favor by bringing him into her house and raising him.
She was very dissatisfied that Jiang Changning had concealed so many things.
If she had known that Jiang Changning had the golden locket left by the Queen Mother, she would have been able to plan something for the Zhuang family.
She had long forgotten that she took Jiang Changning in to raise her for the sake of the Jiang family's wealth.
Old Mrs. Zhuang brought Jiang Changning to the Zhuang family for other purposes, and Jiang's father actually didn't want Jiang Changning to go to the Zhuang family.
He was worried that his daughter would be trapped in the mansion and would be at the mercy of others.
But Jiang Changning is young and a girl, so she has to depend on others.
Although the banker is not a good person, he can protect my daughter for a while.
Jiang Changning obeyed her father's orders, restrained her edge, and obediently went to the banker's house to be a weak cousin who needed protection.
Secretly, Jiang Changning controlled the Jiang family's business based on the arrangements made by his father before his death.
When Jiang Changning first entered the mansion, the Zhuang family not only received a portion of the Jiang family's property, but Jiang Changning also handed over 30,000 silver notes to Old Lady Zhuang in public.
Rather than saying that the banker raised Jiang Changning, it would be more accurate to say that the relationship was mutually beneficial.
It is true that the Zhuang family raised Jiang Changning, but the money from the Jiang family also made up for the Zhuang family's deficit.
Old Madam Zhuang came to question Jiang Shaoning, which was within Jiang Shaoning's expectations. He lowered his eyelids and said, "I thought big brother would tell the old lady."
Jiang Changning certainly hadn't thought of telling anyone about the golden lock, but she hadn't thought of hiding the fact that she had saved Concubine Li and the Third Prince.
After all, it couldn't be hidden, because Zhuang Jiwen, who went to pick her up in Beijing, was the insider.
But why didn’t Zhuang Jiwen mention it
Now that Zhuang Jiwen has passed away due to illness, no one knows the reason behind this.
Jiang Changning used Zhuang Jiwen to get rid of the matter.
Mrs. Zhuang couldn't ask any more questions, so she turned to talk about the two maids, "Qin Lin and the other two are both elderly people who have served me for many years. You are young and not very good at handling things, so I asked them to serve you so that they could give you more advice."
"Thank you, old lady, for thinking of me. Ever since Mother Zhou left the house, I have been lacking an old mother to give me advice." Jiang Changning bowed and said with a smile.
"My cousin is so lucky to be favored by the old lady." Zou said with a smile.
"An old person in the family is like a treasure. With an old lady around, everyone is blessed." Jiang Changning was too lazy to guess what Zou meant by this and deliberately praised the old lady a little.
Zou smiled and said, "That's right, we are all blessed people."
Old Mrs. Zhuang smiled cheerfully, looking happy.
At this time, the maid came in and said, "Madam, breakfast is ready."
"Let's go and have our meal." Old Mrs. Zhuang handed her hand to Zhuang Qingyan.
In the Zhuang family, the girl who was truly favored by Old Lady Zhuang was Zhuang Qingyan, who looked very similar to her.
The Zhuang family’s breakfast consisted of chicken porridge and shrimp porridge, served with steamed buns, siu mai and steamed buns, as well as eight side dishes.
Mrs. Wu and Mrs. Zou sat aside, drinking tea and eating together, Mrs. Liao placed the chopsticks, and Mrs. Wu served the soup.
Don’t talk while eating and don’t talk while sleeping.
After dinner, everyone left except Zhuang Qingyan who stayed to accompany Old Mrs. Zhuang.
The person in charge of the Zhuang family is still Wu. After Liao married into the family, Wu transferred part of the management power to her.
But as soon as Zhuang Jiwen died, Wu took back Liao's housekeeping power on the grounds that she should concentrate on taking care of her daughter Zhuang Nianyun.
After Zhuang Qingyu and Jiang Changning turned fourteen, Wu should have taught them how to manage the household.
But Wu didn't like Zhuang Qingyu, her concubine's daughter, nor did she like Jiang Changning, her cousin's daughter, and was unwilling to teach them.
However, today, Wu said, "Girl Hong, girl Ning, you two should come with me to the porch. Girls of your age should learn how to be the head of the household."
Zhuang Qingyu and Jiang Changning looked at each other in surprise and said in unison, "Yes."
Servants from various parts of the family were standing inside and outside the meeting hall.
The banker has been passed down for five generations. There are many masters and servants, with more than a thousand people on the roster.
However, not many of the Zhuang family’s descendants had great prospects, and their family was gradually showing signs of decline.
Wu went in and sat in the main seat, while Zhuang Qingyu and Jiang Changning sat on the chairs next to them.
The managers came in one by one to deal with some trivial matters.
At this time, Wu's chambermaid Zhu Xiaojia came in with a little nun, "Madam, the little nun from Yunju Temple has something to report."
The young nun bowed to Wu and said, "I think the nun is seriously ill and may not survive for a few more days."
Wu was stunned for a moment, and Zhu Xiaojia leaned close to her ear and whispered to her, "It's Aunt Fang who used to be with the old master."
After Old Master Zhuang passed away, he left behind one wife and five concubines. Except for Aunt He, who gave birth to a daughter for him and stayed in the mansion to live out her old age, the four concubines who had no children were all sent to Yunju Temple to become nuns.
Every year, the banker would send one hundred taels of silver to the nunnery for the four people's expenses.
Mrs. Wu suddenly realized what was going on and asked, "Did the doctor take a look?"
"I asked a doctor to examine her and gave her some medicine, but he said that the nun was seriously ill and would not live long," said the little nun.
"There's nothing we can do if medicine doesn't work. Go to the account office and withdraw ten taels of silver. If the nun has passed away, bury her properly. There's no need to go back and forth." Mrs. Wu took a sign and handed it to Zhu Xiaojia.
Zhu Xiaojia took the sign and led the little nun out.
Wu spent the whole morning dealing with matters, while Zhuang Qingyu and Jiang Changning spent the whole morning watching and listening.
After the matter was settled, Wu didn't say a word to the two girls, and sent them away, "You have been sitting here for most of the day, you must be tired, go back to your room and rest."
The two girls bowed to her and led the maid back to the yard.
After entering the house, Xiulan and Fucui came forward to help Jiang Changning change her clothes, "Are you tired, young lady?"
"Just sit there. What's so tiring about that?" Jiang Changning took off the white jade bracelet and wisteria ring on her right hand and placed them on the dressing table.
"The eldest wife doesn't really want to teach the girl, she's just pretending." Fangju said angrily.
"There's nothing to be angry about. I didn't expect her to teach me." Jiang Changning smiled, "Besides, I already know what I should know, so I don't need her to teach me."
There is not much difference between managing a household and managing a company.
As long as the right people are placed in the right positions and allowed to do their respective jobs,
The accounts are clear, everything is done according to the rules, and both kindness and severity are emphasized.
If you can manage a company well, you can manage a home well.
After living here for more than ten years, she almost forgot that she was once a white-collar woman working in a multinational company.
(End of this chapter)