Minglan nodded and drew a line on the paper while saying in a clear voice, “Since then, these expenses could be wiped out from the beginning of this year… I should add the expense for Eldest Brother’s funeral and Seventh Sister’s wedding… That’s all. Third Sister-in-law has recently hired a wet nurse and a servant… Rong and Xian both grew up. They need more clever maids in their rooms. That’s another expense…” Every time she said about an expense, the servants would respond to her.

Peng Shou’s wife listened to Minglan for a long while. Then she asked gently with an intention, “Madam, since the two Old Masters both moved away, now we are fully staffed. Maybe we shouldn’t spend too many silvers on hiring other people to demolish and build the walls. Why don’t we let our own servants take charge of some of the construction works? First, we can save some money. Second, the servants who don’t have anything to do now would have some income too.” Work brough income as well as extra profits. If the servants do nothing, they could enjoy a peaceful life indeed, but also had to live in poverty too.

Minglan raised her eyebrows, “Oh, can any of our servants do the mason’s job?”

Peng Shou’s wife, embarrassed, said, “Well, eh… no, but I think the job wouldn’t be that hard, it’s just…”

“Nonsense!” Minglan reproached her, “The construction project is a big matter. We either don’t do it or do it nice. Also, the walls are very important in the construction work and have to be firm and thick. The mason group we have invited is already the best in the capital, but Master still couldn’t fully trust their skills. You are an experienced servant in our family, how can you say something so unreasonable?!”

Peng Shou’s wife, with a frustrated look on her face, admitted her fault continuously and didn’t dare to say a work.

Another square-faced servant glanced at Peng Shou’s wife with a sarcastic look on her face and stepped forward, “Madam, I have a suggestion. In early spring, the masons worked with three shifts a day. The three meals and the snacks we provided for them are of a great amount. My old sisters in the Cheng Manor already got super busy making meals for them. Maybe we should…”

Minglan didn’t say a word with her eyebrows knitted, seeming to be thinking of the practicality of that proposal.

That servant observed the look on Minglan’s face secretly and continued in a hurry, “We worked in the kitchen before. In the old days, all the masters and madams live in our mansion, so there were also lots of servants working in the kitchen. Though the two Old Masters had brought a few cooks with them when they left, lots of us were left unoccupied. We do nothing every day but still get paid, that truly makes us nervous.”

Minglan nodded without giving an opinion. Actually, the Cheng Manor was understaffed indeed. There were enough servants to serve the masters and madams, but Minglan did feel short of hands when she tried to organize some activities. That had bothered her for quite a while.

“But someone has already taken charge of this…” Purchasing was a profitable post.

Seeing that Minglan was a bit convinced, that servant added at once, “Madam, there’s no need to be bothered about this. We will only assist our sisters and not dare to get involved with other stuffs.”

Minglan stared at the servant for a while, “Wouldn’t the job be too tough for you? Those masons have to eat before dawn. You have to walk over in the middle of the night. Or… do you have any other solution about this?”

The servant understood Minglan’s hint right away and raised her head surprisedly, “Well… Madam, if you trust us, we can collect our wages every three days and prepare for the meals in the empty kitchen here. Then we can bring the meals to the masons in time just like our old sisters. The two construction sites are not far away from our place and all the kitchen wares are available. Madam, what do you say?…”

Minglan nodded and waved her hands softly, “Fine. We’ll do it this way.”

The servant knelt down and expressed her thanks at once while kept saying, “Madam, you are so kind and capable.” Seeing that, the other servants all got jealous.

“You are Fan An’s wife, right? You can go find Liao Yong’s wife when you go back and ask her to advance you the money this afternoon. Tomorrow you can start working. Will it be on time? Great, then it’s settled.”

Fan An’s wife kowtowed to Minglan ceaselessly. Minglan then said with a smile, “I still have to warn you first. Since you decided to work for me, you have to do things according to my code. If the meals aren’t good enough or you are late at work, I won’t pardon you easily.”

Fan An’s wife raised her head and said loudly, “If I don’t do my jobs well, you can do whatever you can do to me, Madam!”

Minglan couldn’t help but burst into laughter. The maids in the room also tittered.

Some of the servants who had worked in the kitchen and a few housemaids had been left here by the Fourth and Fifth family. Old Madam Qin and Zhu shi also didn’t want them. As a result, those servants and maids had their hands free all day. Minglan had planned to expel them before. They hadn’t been put into any important positions before and didn’t have the chance to make any achievement in their career in the future. Minglan then decided to give them a try. Later, she would check those servant’s file.

“Madam…” A servant who worked with the accounts asked, “Then, what about the accounts?”

“The construction work hasn’t been done yet. We’ll continue to deal with the accounts separately. You guys only need to take care of the accounts of Old Madam Qin, my Eldest Sister-in-law, my Third Sister-in-law and the wages of the servants, but you need to report accounts to me. Let me tell you the rules. You’ll go to Steward Hao to collect wages every month. Then you can record all the accounts on the booklets… I don’t need to teach you all of this. The past is the past, now we shouldn’t follow the ancestor’s established customs of the spending of the madams and the servants.”

The servant got shocked as she heard that while thinking, ‘You have the control of all the money and I am no difference than an ornament as an accountant. It will all depend on you if I can have the money to dispose or not.’ “Then… what if there’s an emergency and I don’t have enough money at disposal?”

Minglan chuckled, “Mama, you are so funny. Everyone knows that the money you can dispose is limited, it’s not like they will kill you if you can’t give the money. If anyone needs money for an emergency, tell him or her to go to the accountant at my place and draw money from here! The money that you govern now is for specific uses. Do not use the food money to buy make-ups!” The servant understood Minglan’s words while praising Minglan’s capability inwardly.

Shao shi was a sensible woman. Zhu shi was a proud person. As for Old Madam Qin… She wouldn’t be so shameful to travel so far to ask for money to buy the antique vase or gem head-ornaments. Gu Tingwei’s mother and wife both had lots of savings, so he wouldn’t ask for money to purchase the birds or horses. Actually, even if Old Madam Qin and Gu Tingwei squandered the money, Minglan still had a solution for that. She would ask the accountant in Cheng Manor to record every purchase they made. Then, on the day when the family property was divided, Minglan could show all the numbers on the account. The things the mother and son had bought with the family’s money shouldn’t be considered as their private property and should be divided by all the family members.

“What if any master of madam is incensed…?” The servant still seemed a bit worried.

Minglan interrupted her resolutely and said slowly, “I am the one who asked you to take care of the accounts. You only need to make sure that I won’t be mad at you.”

The servant was finally enlightened and got a clear head. ‘First, this new madam looks gentle. It’s very likely that she wouldn’t go after the former accounts and only wants me to do a great job from now on. Second, she is my madam now. If I don’t make her satisfied, I will lose my job.’

Minglan blew the white fungus soup in her hand slowly while glancing at the looks on the servants’ faces.