Songtao Courtyard.
Lu Qingyuan sat upright in the Study, half a person's height of account books piled up before her.
From noon until dusk, the sunlight through the window lattice cast her shadow onto the green brick floor, stretching longer and longer.
Her frown deepened in kind.
The silver-threaded charcoal in the Old Madam's quarters, the eldest young master's gemstone sleeve arrows, the second young master's wolf-hair brushes, the third miss's Suzhou embroidery skirt, the fourth miss's mutton tallow soup...
And the winter outer robes for the several hundred men of the Huo Family Army stationed in the Capital. The court-issued robes were not warm enough, so Huo Yanxing had ordered them unstitched and refilled with cotton.
Item by item, case by case, some with clear entries and others without, the accounts were intricate and chaotic.
If these were casually handed to a newlywed bride, her head would surely spin. No wonder in her past life she had occasionally overheard Lu Rongyue sneaking out to lend high-interest loans.
However, such matters were no challenge at all for Lu Qingyuan.
After all, she had helped her maternal grandfather manage escort agencies since she was a child. Money issues ultimately came down to people issues; once the people were managed well, the money naturally fell into place.
Besides, the items used by the children and the Old Madam in the estate were without exception carefully selected top-tier goods, some even exaggeratedly expensive. Yet Huo Yanxing's personal expenses were minimal.
Three or four summer garments, five or six winter clothes; he ate meals with the military camp, and his bedding was also issued by the army.
He was truly easy to provide for.
Lu Qingyuan rubbed her eyes and laid down her cinnabar brush, suddenly catching sight of a small head poking in from the doorway.
"Lingxi?" she called out softly.
The little girl squeezed in with a mess of hair, clutching a painting to her chest.
"Aunty, this is for you."
She stood on tiptoe and shoved the drawing forward.
Lu Qingyuan unfolded it to find a drawing of a mythical chimera sketched on the finest Bailu Paper.
A terrifying tiger's head was breathing fire, but its ears were shaped like a pig's, and even its tail was a curly pig's tail.
Written in the blank space were three crooked, sprawling characters:
Huo Yanxing.
Lu Qingyuan could not help bursting into laughter. To think that in the children's eyes, the dignified Marquis of Zhenbei was nothing more than a tiger-headed, pig-tailed monster!
"Heehee~" Seeing her smile, Huo Lingxi smiled along, secretly clinging to the edge of the table and staring longingly at the plum blossom pastries on the plate.
Lu Qingyuan reached out, scooped up the little dumpling, set her on her lap, and picked up a piece of plum blossom pastry for her.
Huo Lingxi held the pastry with both hands like a little hamster, nibbling carefully from the edge, terrified that crumbs might fall and dirty Lu Qingyuan's skirt.
"Aunty, please don't be mad at Yao-jie. Actually, she secretly cries in the middle of the night, saying that Third Uncle won't care about us anymore now that he's married Aunty."
Finding this odd, Lu Qingyuan asked, "Who told you that your Third Uncle won't care about you after marrying Aunty?"
"Hmm..." Huo Lingxi tilted her head and thought for a moment. "...I forgot."
Lu Qingyuan wore a trace of helpless laughter.
Indeed, to say nothing of spies hidden within the Marquis's Estate, even the original servants of the estate might well whisper such things to the young masters and misses.
Huo Lingxi slowed her chewing and blinked her large eyes. "Aunty, can I still eat?"
Unable to whether to laugh or cry, Lu Qingyuan said, "Go ahead, eat, eat."
Huo Lingxi ate her fill here and even took a box of pastries back to Plum Blossom Cottage when she left.
Songyan walked in. "My lady should rest a while. The Marquis sent a servant with a message saying he is drilling troops outside the city today and will lodge at the military camp, so he won't be returning to the estate tonight."
Lu Qingyuan did not even raise her head, her eyes seemingly glued to the account book. After a good while, when she finished reading the volume in her hand, she finally spoke.
"That's right, according to protocol, for a royal marriage, tomorrow the Marquis and I are supposed to enter the palace to express our gratitude."
"I have already prepared everything for My Lady." Songyan brought out the garments to be worn the next day. "This is the newly made summer gown. The satin was sent from home, absolutely exquisite. My Lady wearing this into the palace tomorrow to express gratitude will be a sight to bring joy."
Lu Qingyuan's two personal maids, Songyan and Zhuxia, were brought with her from her maternal grandfather's household; when she said "home," she meant the He Family.
It was a true red brocade-woven satin long gown, the peonies woven in golden thread exuding nobility and elegance, truly fitting the status of the Marquis's Wife.
However... this was not what she wanted.
Lu Qingyuan opened the wardrobe and pointed casually at a different garment.
"That one."
Uncomprehending, Songyan nonetheless obediently complied.
The sound of pattering footsteps came from outside, and someone rushed into the Inner Courtyard like a gust of wind, strode into the room, grabbed the teapot, and drank it down to the last drop.
"Zhuxia!" Songyan tugged at her good sister's sleeve. "Our mistress is still right here. Where are your manners?"
After finishing the pot of tea, Zhuxia's little face was flushed, looking as though she had been running around outside all day.
"My Lady guessed correctly. I checked, and Prince Xian went hunting in the outskirts early this morning."
Lu Qingyuan stood up and tapped her gently on the head with the account book. "Call me 'Madam'."
Zhuxia giggled, shielding her head. "Alright, alright, Madam! Marquis's Madam! The all-knowing Marquis's Madam!"
Refusing to play along with her nonsense, Lu Qingyuan turned and wrote a letter on pink peach-blossom letter paper, handing it to Songyan to give to the messenger outside.
"Remember, you must give it to him when there are many people around, and tell him to deliver it directly into the Marquis's hands."
Lu family.
"The maidservant saw with her own eyes Sister Songyan hand a piece of peach-blossom stationery to the Marquis's attendant, and repeatedly instructed him to deliver it directly into the Marquis's hands."
A short while later, a short maid with red freckles on her face hurried out through the back door of the Lu family estate.
Lu Rongyue was having a meal in Lady Lin's room. The red rashes on her face had not yet faded entirely, though the area around her eyes was not as red and swollen.
She smiled smugly. "I told you so! How could Huo Yanxing possibly like her? All that talk about their wedding night collapsing the bed—it must be a rumor she spread through her maids herself! Truly shameless!"
Lady Lin added a bowl of white congee for her daughter. "She is, after all, a wild girl raised in an escort agency; she dares to spread any kind of rumor. She has completely disgraced our Prime Minister's Mansion!"
"That peach-blossom stationery has always been used by lovers to pour out their hearts. If Huo Yanxing liked her, why would she need to eagerly write love poems!"
Lu Rongyue was ten-tenths sure of herself, for in her past life, Huo Yanxing had never cared for women.
She had never seen Huo Yanxing show fondness for any female; all day long he only knew how to stay in his wretched military camp. She even suspected whether Huo Yanxing had a penchant for men!
"According to protocol, tomorrow she must enter the palace to express her gratitude." Lu Rongyue stroked her swollen face, her voice cold as poison. "I cannot let such a prime opportunity slip by. I must let Lu Qingyuan know that even upon marrying into the Marquis's Estate, she needn't dream of living in comfort. Mother, I want to enter the palace tomorrow to pay respects to the Empress Dowager!"
"Nonsense!" Lady Lin made a motion to slap the back of her hand. "The rashes on your face have not fully cleared yet; do not run around everywhere. In case you run into Prince Xian, wouldn't that..."
"Oh, Mother! Your daughter knows what she's doing." Lu Rongyue leaned on Lady Lin's shoulder, acting coquettishly. "I've already asked around; Brother Qi has gone out of the city and surely won't be back tomorrow. Besides, if I wear a veil tomorrow, when the Empress Dowager asks, I'll just say I broke out in a few red rashes, nothing serious."
Unable to wear down her daughter's persistence, Lady Lin had no choice but to send someone to submit a plaque to the palace.
"Mother~ just wait and see!" A ruthless glint flashed in Lu Rongyue's eyes, as if she could already see Lu Qingyuan's humiliating plight in the palace. "Tomorrow I will surely make Lu Qingyuan lose all her dignity!"