Even though Matriarch He said that, she knew that Sanlang’s wife wasn’t stupid. She had been watching Sanlang’s wife this whole time. Perhaps she really was a lazy bones and didn’t like to manage others. However, her little courtyard was managed very well. It was clear that Chu Lian just didn’t like to work. Why had she been so wary of this lazy little imp trying to take away the main branch’s authority? She had really had her age get to her.
“Alright, alright. All you know how to do is act like a spoilt child. Wait until Sanlang comes back! Then you can use that act on him! Grandmother’s heart can’t take your silliness any more. That’s right, what about that restaurant Grandmother gave to you? How is it doing now?”
Chu Lian chuckled and sat up straight again before replying, “Don’t worry, Grandmother! Granddaughter-in-Law has already made arrangements. We’ll be able to reopen in a few more days. By then, Grandmother has to help Granddaughter-in-Law out and grace the restaurant with your illustrious presence!”
When her thoughts led to the restaurant, something else had the matriarch worrying all over again.
The title of Count Jing’an was surely going to be passed down to Dalang. Sanlang had left so hurriedly for the northern border. Who knew if he would be able to make a name for himself out there? Although Sanlang’s wife was a good child, with House Ying as her background, she surely didn’t have much money at hand now. How was she supposed to maintain her own household in the future?
She only hoped that this young girl could really make something out of Guilin Restaurant again. She didn’t hope for Chu Lian to earn tons of gold. It would be good enough if she could have some source of income for her household. That way, when Sanlang returned in a few more years, the couple would have a nice nest egg. As long as she helped out by adding some gold here and there, their lives wouldn’t be too poor.
Now there was only that disappointing brat, Erlang, who still refused to marry. Matriarch He had to keep some money in reserve for him as well. With so many areas to fund, as full as her purse might be now, it was slowly slimming down further.
After some time, her daughter-in-law’s medicine fees would still have to be drawn from the shared household funds. That would be a humongous expense. When she thought of this, Matriarch He started feeling overwhelmed by all her worries.
To most people, it might look like a bed of roses to be a member of a noble house. However, if the noble house didn’t have someone who knew how to earn money, then searching for sources of income was a massive headache on its own.
When Matriarch He was younger and in charge of the He household, she had managed to save up a good amount of money for her personal funds. She could be considered a rather wise matriarch from this action alone. However, she still wasn’t all that good at business, and she had only managed to keep the properties in her hands running normally.
Later on, when she passed on the household management to her daughter-in-law, Countess Jing’an hadn’t been in charge for long. She had given birth to her three sons in those years and hurt her body. The household management rights had been passed back to Matriarch He.
It wasn’t until Madam Zou had married into the family that the rights had passed into her hands. However, Madam Zou was even worse at making money than Matriarch He, so it was good enough that their stores had even continued business as usual.
If not for the fact that Matriarch He had trained up some loyal managers in her younger days and kept them in charge of the family properties, most of their businesses would probably be in the same state as Guilin Restaurant.
House Jing’an didn’t have much spare income and it was impossible for Madam Zou to expect any extra money from her mother-in-law, Madam Liu. Her dowry had all been used for her own medicine. Although Matriarch He did contribute some funds to the household from time to time, she had to keep enough for her grandsons as well, so she didn’t give much.
Madam Zou hadn’t been able to give Dalang any heirs for so many years, so she put all her heart into managing the household to assuage her inner guilt. Sometimes, when the household expenses exceeded the monthly budget, she would use her own personal funds to cover the difference.
However, this wasn’t a long-term solution. Madam Zou’s personal funds weren’t unlimited.
Erlang was serving in the Dragon Guards and didn’t come home much. He practically wasn’t involved with managing the household at all. Dalang had gotten a slack position. Although he tried his best to support the Jing’an Estate, he was still a military man to his core, just like his father, Count Jing’an. He looked down upon merchants and their sneaky ways, so he rarely bothered with helping to increase the estate’s income.
The men of the He Family were all hotheads. Although they didn’t spend much, they didn’t think to make more money for the family either. This had the ladies of the Jing’an Estate wracking their minds for ways to keep their household afloat.
If they had more clan members like other noble families, they would still be alright. If the main branch wasn’t good at business, they still had the other branches to support the family. However, Count Jing’an was the only son and their ancestors had mostly been single sons as well.
Old Count Jing’an had a brother, but he had died on the battlefield, leaving behind a single daughter. That daughter had gotten married, but she died in the second year of marriage due to a difficult birth, and they hadn’t managed to save her child either.
It was only when they had reached He Changdi’s generation that they had miraculously gotten three sons in the same generation. This was also why Matriarch He still favoured and respected Madam Liu even though she had gotten injured while giving birth to He Changdi and was now mostly bedridden. Madam Liu had helped the He Family spread their family tree.
However, who could have expected that their youngest generation would cause them so much worry? The eldest son’s wife hadn’t been able to give birth to a male heir despite close to ten years of marriage. The second son refused to marry. Worried for Sanlang’s future, Matriarch He had been forced to plead the Empress Dowager to bestow an engagement of a House Ying lady for He Changdi.
Now that she thought about it, after so many years, that decision had been the best one she had ever made.
