She hurriedly dodged and said, "You aren't a child anymore. What rewards do you still want?"
Qi Jinshan chuckled, his deep voice vibrating through Xie Mingyue's ear and making it tingle.
"Madam," a warm, large hand traced up Xie Mingyue's arm and cupped her cheek, Qi Jinshan's expression burning with intensity, "you are very different today compared to the past."
He had not seen Xie Mingyue smile in many years.
Perhaps she still smiled when facing her maid, but toward him, she had always worn a look of abhorrence.
Qi Jinshan fell into a momentary trance, unable to resist leaning over to gently kiss Xie Mingyue's temple.
Xie Mingyue tightly closed her eyes. Could Qi Jinshan not have noticed her oddness?
With her entire mind focused on this thought, she barely reacted even when the man kissed her.
Qi Jinshan's gaze deepened.
His lips shifted downward, capturing a trace of softness, and kissed her even more lightly.
This situation truly felt like a dream.
"Mmm..."
Strange sensations rippled through her limbs and bones. When Xie Mingyue came to her senses and realized the posture they were in, she could not help but push against the person before her.
"No... Qi Jinshan, I am uncomfortable."
She still feared such intimate contact. Although Qi Jinshan had been treating her well, she was not yet able to open her heart and mind to accept him.
After all, she had only known the Qi Jinshan of ten years into the future for a single day.
"Alright, go to sleep."
Qi Jinshan planted one final peck on her lips, quickly released her, and lay back down in his original spot.
Xie Mingyue rolled over, curled herself up in the corner, and her heart went *thump, thump*, ready to leap out of her throat.
Never had any moment told her more clearly than the present that she had truly arrived ten years in the future and become Qi Jinshan's wife.
He would kiss her, hold her, and in the future, they might even bear children together...
Under Qi Jinshan's weighty gaze, Xie Mingyue slowly drifted off to sleep.
The next day, when she woke up, she was the only one left on the bed.
Wasn't Qi Jinshan supposed to be off duty today?
Wutong pursed her lips and smiled. "The Eldest Young Master went to the front courtyard early this morning to see the Marquis. These are the keys to the First Branch's storehouses and the roster of personnel given by the Grand Madam, which Jinhe brought over."
Xie Mingyue leafed through them, knowing that Qi Jinshan had likely explained the matter regarding Madam Yun to the Marquis of Shunqing.
Now that she had obtained the account books and keys, it meant she would truly begin managing the First Branch.
The Qionghua Courtyard had been thoroughly searched by Qi Jinshan's men to ensure everything was secure. When Xie Mingyue returned to the courtyard, the maids and matrons inside had all been replaced with a brand-new batch, every single one of them looking honest and loyal.
Xie Mingyue sat down while Wutong stood beside her, addressing the servants standing below the steps.
"All of you saw the fate of those three matrons yesterday, didn't you?"
The maids and matrons had all been handpicked by Qi Jinshan's men. Hearing that they were to serve an out-of-favor First Madam, they had initially felt some resentment. Never did they expect that the First Madam would actually spend the night in the Eldest Young Master's bedchamber, returning to her own courtyard only when the sun was high in the sky. With that rosy, glowing complexion, she looked nothing like someone out of favor.
"This maid will certainly serve the First Madam well and will never harbor a divided loyalty."
The quick-witted ones immediately pledged their loyalty.
Xie Mingyue neither confirmed nor denied it, and only Wutong spoke, "It's good that you understand. Know who your master is, do your respective duties, and you will receive everything you deserve."
With that, she waited for Xie Mingyue to nod before taking out the reward silver she had prepared in advance and distributing it.
Xie Mingyue did not wish to overwork Wutong, but she could not easily decide on her personal attendants either, so she selected four second-rank maids to work under Wutong and assist her.
"The Eldest Young Master is coming to the courtyard for lunch today. Wutong, go keep an eye on the kitchen. I'll review the account books in my room and won't need you to serve."
Once the servants in the courtyard had settled into their respective duties, Xie Mingyue sat back down at the desk and slowly perused the account books.
Qi Jinshan was reserved and restrained; she could get no answers by asking him, but the account books could always reflect certain things—such as what kind of life she had actually lived over the past ten years.
Upon reading through them, she discovered the numerous manipulations Xie Wanqing had made on the First Branch's accounts.
An egg cost a single copper coin, but on the ledger, it had become ten copper coins. There was also the snowflake charcoal burned in the winter. Xie Mingyue had heard from Wutong that the amount sent over by Qi Jinshan far exceeded what she could consume in a single winter, yet according to the accounts, they had even fallen short, forcing the First Branch to procure another batch.
Such instances, when looked at closely, were all small sums of money, but accumulated over years and months, they actually totaled tens of thousands of silver taels.
Xie Mingyue quietly stared at the swaying branches outside the window.
She did not manage affairs in the First Branch, but Madam Yun was not someone who let go of power. Since Xie Wanqing dared to embezzle funds so blatantly, she must have colluded with Madam Yun long ago; otherwise, Madam Yun would never have allowed the management rights of the First Branch to fall into the hands of the Second Branch.
No wonder Madam Yun spoke up for Xie Wanqing yesterday—it turned out these two were grasshoppers tied to the same rope.
Since Madam Yun could no longer jump around, the next person to deal with was Xie Wanqing.
Xie Mingyue suppressed the coldness in her eyes and pulled another volume from the stack of account books.
Upon opening it, however, she discovered this was not the ledger of the First Branch, but rather the personal account book for Qi Jinshan's own courtyard.
She flipped to the title page and saw that it was indeed Qi Jinshan's personal ledger, which had been handed over to her along with the keys and roster of the First Branch.
From the previous ledger, she could tell that nobody restricted things within her own courtyard, and Qi Jinshan even sent the finest goods there. Yet, due to her own lifeless state, aside from necessary expenses, she had incurred no other costs. Her spending over the past year was far lower than usual, which unfortunately provided Xie Wanqing the space to play her tricks.
She wondered what kind of things could be seen in Qi Jinshan's ledger.
Xie Mingyue pressed her lips together and reopened the account book.
The accounts for Qi Jinshan's courtyard were clear and orderly, revolving almost entirely around daily expenses and social banquets with no out-of-the-ordinary expenditures. However, every three months, there was an expenditure of over five hundred taels paid to a courtyard located in Guinan Ward.
The ledger recorded it as a rental expense. Xie Mingyue turned pale, unable to flip to the next page no matter how hard she tried.
A man whose wife wouldn't let him touch her rented a courtyard outside for the long term, spending five hundred taels of silver every quarter—what else could he be doing?
Her guess had truly hit the mark: Qi Jinshan appeared spotless within the manor, but he had actually kept a mistress outside.
"Madam, the Eldest Young Master is here."
Wutong pushed the door open with a beaming smile. Xie Mingyue instinctively closed the account book just as Qi Jinshan blocked the light at the doorway. Perhaps because the two of them had been intimate yesterday, he walked straight into the room and stopped beside her desk.
"Why are you looking so pale from reading the account books? Let's have a meal first."
Qi Jinshan pressed his large palm down upon the account book, and Xie Mingyue flicked her hand away reflexively, trying her utmost to restrain herself from showing an expression of disgust.
"The Eldest Young Master has arrived, yet nobody announced it."
She smiled as she stood up, pressed the account book to the very bottom of a stack of ledgers, and tried to herd Qi Jinshan outside.
"It's chilly indoors. How about we go out to the courtyard to bask in the sun?"
Noticing her deliberate aloofness, Qi Jinshan narrowed his long eyes and withdrew his hand.
"Health comes first. If you aren't feeling well, you can look at the account books another day."
"Understood."
Xie Mingyue forced a stiff smile while a wave of bitterness surged up in her chest.
Though it was common for men to have three wives and four concubines, why did her heart hurt so much?
It was truly bizarre; it must be because Qi Jinshan spent far too much on this mistress.
Two thousand taels a year! Qi Jinshan certainly doted on this mistress a lot.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing Xie Mingyue stumble slightly, Qi Jinshan reached out a hand to her.
Xie Mingyue instinctively stepped back to dodge his support, then composed her expression to cover it up once she realized her lack of composure.
"I'm not feeling very well."
The two of them walked over to the table and sat down facing each other in silence.
Noticing the shift in her attitude, Qi Jinshan withdrew his gentle smile, stood up, and stepped back. "In that case, there's no need to fuss. Rest well, and I'll go back to my own courtyard to eat."
The servants waiting nearby looked at one another in dismay, and Wutong broke out in a nervous sweat.
The Madam had spent the night sleeping with the Eldest Young Master last night, and she had been happier than anyone, thinking the two of them could finally mend things. How could the Madam suddenly revert to her previous self?
Xie Mingyue watched Qi Jinshan's retreating back, a sense of powerlessness welling up inside her.
Could it be that the heavens brought her to the present just for her to walk the exact same path as she had ten years ago? To let her experience the feeling of withering away in silence all over again?
She wasn't a difficult person; why did she always act so stubborn and prickly when she encountered him?
Xie Mingyue closed her eyes, then abruptly stood up.
"Wait, I have something to ask you."
Qi Jinshan had already reached the courtyard entrance. Hearing this, he paused and his expression cleared slightly.
She raised her eyes and looked straight at him: "Did you keep a mistress?"