Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine

Chapter 137.2: Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine Ch 137 Pt. 2

Translated by gingercat

Edited by gingercat

Noticing the appearance of Consort Qing, Qing Wang was very surprised and at a loss. Ever since he left the main courtyard yesterday, he hasn’t seen Consort Qing again. He couldn’t help feeling a little guilty.

Even now he still felt guilty. Jirou must be very angry. Even fifth brother felt annoyed, not to mention her.

“You seem to have drunk a lot of wine. Here’s some soup to warm the stomach.”

After drinking the soup, Qing Wang approached Consort Qing. “It’s delicious.”

She looked at the young man’s face in front of her. He was handsome, masculine, upright and valiant, but at the same time, he was also fragile and soft.

There was a trace of discomfort and guilt on Qing Wang’s face. He hesitated a bit before saying, “Jirou, I…”

“What’s wrong?”

“I only gave her a light punishment…” It seemed that after saying this, the rest of the words were easier to say and they started pouring out. “She did such an audacious thing, but I only punished her by grounding her. She cried a lot and said it was all because other people looked down on her and Cheng Ge’er, that she did such a thing…”

Consort Qing snorted softly.

He seemed to be afraid of making her angry, but at the same time, he also realized that she was probably already angry, so he explained in a hasty tone, “Jirou, I won’t see her again in the future. Since she already has Cheng Ge’er, she has someone to rely on in the future. We’ll have a good future together so don’t be angry with me anymore okay?”1

“Aren’t you afraid that after not seeing her for a long time, the servants will no longer take her seriously and make things difficult for her in secret?” Consort Qing remembered how Side Consort Han had used this excuse countless times.

“How can that be? Now that the servants around her have been changed, no one would dare to do such a thing.”

Consort Qing nodded, “Since you think it’s fine then we’re good.”

Mammy Mu had a subordinate named Mammy Gong who was in charge of the various housekeeping matters of Jin Wang Manor’s backyard.

The matters she was in charge of range from the seasonal clothing of the servants to the allocations of each courtyard, the ins and outs of the items in the warehouse and the arrangement of the servants. Yaoniang followed along to observe, only to realize that despite the small number of people in the manor, there was still so much to manage.

In the backyard, besides Jin Wang, there were only five people who could be seen as the masters. Yet there were nearly five hundred servants. They worked in the kitchens, warehouses, gardens, main courtyards and side courtyards. There were sweepers, laundry workers, gatekeepers, gardeners, kitchen managers, warehouse managers, etc. The list goes on and on.

Take the kitchen as an example. There were more than a dozen cooks, maids, and grannies. There were also different categories within. For example, some were in charge of the food purchasing. Even then, these servants would be divided into those who do the actual shopping and those who do the accounting.

With so much happening, Yaoniang felt her head spin when she first came in contact with all this.

And this was only the backyard. The front yard was even more complicated. Not only were there different divisions for things like guards, reception, carriages and horses, there were also dozens of senior and junior managers.

Yaoniang was willing to learn, but she had to learn everything from scratch.

Mammy Gong was also aware that she wasn’t super interested in all this. In the past, His Highness had brought this up yet nothing happened. It must’ve been because His Highness brought it up again that she took more interest in this. Yet who knows how long her interest would last? Mammy Gong used to work in the palace, and she honestly couldn’t understand the thoughts of this Side Consort Su. If changed to any other woman, in any other major household, she’d only be too eager to hold all this in her hands, for fear of it being taken away.

Because this was power. As the mistress of the manor, managing the household was the greatest sign of authority. With this power in hand, no one would dare to belittle her. Regardless of whether someone was the main wife or the concubine, whether they were favoured or not, they still had to keep their heads lowered and behave properly in front of the person with the authority to manage the household. If there ever came the day when she was no longer favoured, the right to manage the household would become her greatest guarantee.

So to push this authority aside, despite living for so long, Mammy Gong had yet to see anyone do it until now.

Fortunately, this master finally came to her senses. But how could she have known that this time, it was Yaoniang who took the initiative to bring it up after being inspired to do so.

After spinning like a top for several days, Yaoniang gradually became familiar with everything. Only then did Mammy Gong say to her, “Actually, Your Highness doesn’t need to work so hard. You don’t need to keep an eye on every single matter in every single place. If all those ladies and mistresses of big families were like you, they’d have no time to get anything else done. Now, all you have to do is find some people you trust, and let them act as your left and right hands and as your eyes and ears. They’d only need to report to you about matters that require your decision. Of course, the rules for rewards and punishments must be made clear before anything else. With everyone aware of and following the rules, it’ll be a lot easier.”

“People I trust? You guys right now are pretty good. As for the rules, I remember that you showed me a booklet with all the rules and protocols clearly listed.”

Mammy Gong nodded. “There is still one more thing. Your Highness will also be in charge of the account books, the warehouse keys and the keys to the various other places within the manor.”

Mammy Gong then asked people to bring in several boxes. Inside were all account books and keys to different places. Fortunately, the box with the keys was clearly labelled. And since Jin Wang Manor had only recently settled in the capital, there weren’t too many account books, only a dozen or two.

Even so, Yaoniang was still dumbfounded.

After sorting out which key was for which place, the first thing Yaoniang did was to put away the keys to the two warehouses.

Inside were all the assets of Jin Wang Manor, such as furniture, ornaments, antiques, calligraphies, paintings, fabrics, etc. They were all stored in the warehouse. Back then, dozens of carriages had transported these items from Jinzhou to the capital, but only some of the stuff was brought here. The more cumbersome things were left in the manor at Jinzhou.

Back when all the items on the dozens of carriages were unloaded and put into the warehouse, Yaoniang had heard the servants talking about it. She was quite surprised at how rich Jin Wang Manor was, or more accurately, how rich Consort Jin was.

As for the second warehouse, it stored gold, silver, and other valuables. Inside, not only were there many precious treasures but lots of silver. Actually, it was the silver that was the most important. After taking a look, Yaoniang was very satisfied when she came back.

Every month she receives her allowance and it was only barely enough. Although it appeared like she was swimming in luxury, she was actually a pauper. The total amount of money she saved up didn’t even exceed one hundred taels. As long as she didn’t look at it, everything was fine. But whenever she looked in her treasury, she felt the urge to cry tears of blood at the thought that one day, she may not even have the money to reward the servants.

When Jin Wang came back from the Ministry of Works, he saw her with a delighted look on her face, showing a mysterious smile from time to time.

When she went into the inner room, he called Yu Chan over to ask before realising what had made her so happy. By the time Yaoniang came back, she saw Jin Wang looking at her with a meaningful gaze.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.” Jin Wang looked as calm as the surface of still water. “By the way, I heard from the servants that you went to take a look at the warehouses?”

Yaoniang nodded hurriedly, her eyes shining. “There’s a lot of treasures in there!”

Jin Wang covered his lips with his fists, coughed lightly, and said in a solemn tone, “Now that you’re in charge of the household, unless you’re using over 5000 taels, there’s no need to report to this prince. You can use everything as you please.”

“Really?”

Jin Wang gave a slight nod.

“Your Highness, you’re amazing!”

At the side, Yu Chan lowered her head, not daring to intrude on this show of affection by her two masters.

She decided to bury this secret in her heart. Every month, a portion of Her Highness’s allowance was set aside for emergencies.

Nearly an entire box of money had been set aside. Every time she would secretly take money out of Her Highness’s treasury behind her back. She wasn’t allowed to let the amount of money in Her Highness’s savings exceed one hundred taels. Yu Chan felt a nearly unbearable pressure in her heart.

How should she take the money so as not to let Her Highness notice it? And whenever the amount of money left was not enough, how should she put the money back to make up for it? This matter always gave her a huge headache.

But who asked this matter… to be an order?

Mini-theatre:

Yaoniang was counting the money in her small treasury: one tael, two taels, ten taels…

A maid’s voice came from outside the door, “Madam, His Highness bestowed you some rewards.”

…

“Congratulations Madam, His Highness truly favours you.”

Yaoniang smiled stiffly. “Reward, all of you! Everyone will be rewarded with a hundred wen…”

Yaoniang continued to count the money in her small treasury: one tael, two taels, ten taels…

A knock on the door suddenly sounded again, shocking Yaoniang out of her wits.

“Madam, His Highness is here to reward you again.”

“Reward! This Madam is very happy. Let’s share the joy, share the joy…”

…

As she counted her money, Yaoniang realized that the money in her treasure became less and less. All the money given at the beginning of the month would be gone before the month was even over.

She gave herself the nickname, Moonlight Clan. →.→

~~~

Yaoniang: wuwuwu (??ˇ?ˇ??) Humph! It’s all your fault, I have no money! (〃′o`) Ahh, I want to cry! Pound your chest, you big rascal! ! ! (￣^￣)ゞQAQ Pound your chest, why are you so annoying! Why must you reward these things? What I want is the money ah! (=?ω?)? I’mma beat your chest with my small fists! ! ! (?? ︿???) Big villain, gonna beat you to death! (つд?)

Jin Wang: You’re always wanting to run off with money, it’d be strange for this prince to give it to you!

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