Once Chu Lian had left, Matriarch He immediately reprimanded He Ying.

“What were you doing! You’ve already lived for decades, yet your manners lost out to a young lady who has just come of age! You’re the elder, but you didn’t even have a first meeting gift for your junior. You even had Sanlang’s wife give you a gift out of filial piety!”

The moment Matriarch He chastised her, He Ying lowered her head and turned on the waterworks.

The matriarch was angered further by her sobbing and crying, “Think about how old you are now! Yet all you know how to do is cry! What happened to your fierce streak from the past!?”

After this continued for some time, He Ying finally explained while sobbing, “Mother, did you think I didn’t want to? It’s not like you aren’t aware of the situation we’re in. Despite how I’m dressed today, every single of these items from head to toe all belong to you. Sanlang’s wife is an honoured lady. The palace sends out jewellery for the titled ladies during the New Year or other festivities. Sanlang’s wife was able to casually give out this high-grade white jade, how could I have something suitable to gift her? Even if I did have something to give, she wouldn’t fancy it. In any case, we’re broke, so why should we care about dignity...”

What her daughter said tugged on Matriarch He’s heartstrings, so she completely forgot about the rudeness He Ying had just displayed towards her granddaughter-in-law here in the parlour.

Matriarch He sighed, “Forget it, forget it. I’m tired. Take Miss Pan back to your room to rest and come back here for dinner.”

He Ying obediently got up and left with Pan Nianzhen, but the moment she left the parlour, she couldn’t help breaking out into a smirk.

After leaving Qingxi Hall, Chu Lian didn’t go directly to Songtao Court. Instead, she went looking for Great Doctor Miao and carefully placed the Snow Mountain Mists flower into his hands for verification.

With a glance, Great Doctor Miao was able to confirm that it was the Snow Mountain Mists and he sighed in relief, “Thank goodness Third Young Madam returned in time. The treatement for this illness can’t be delayed for much longer. Rest assured, Third Young Madam, as long as this Snow Mountain Mists is used, I have a seventy percent chance of curing the Countess’s old illness completely.”

Chu Lian curtseyed respectfully towards Great Doctor Miao, which he accepted gracefully. He took the medicine and quickly went to the medicine room that House Jing’an had prepared for him.

By the time she returned to her own courtyard, another hour had already passed.

Finally, Chu Lian had time to change her clothes and cleanse her body. She then laid on the sofa and shut her eyes for a quick nap.

After napping for half an hour, Chu Lian got up to drink a cup of honey water and summoned Senior Servant Gui and Xiyan for a chat.

“Has anything happened while I was away?”

Senior Servant Gui spoke first, “Third Young Madam, Mingyan has passed on.”

Chu Lian was startled, but she didn’t reveal any other emotions on her face. There was no need to sympathise with someone who had betrayed her, so she simply asked, “Has she been buried?”

Senior Servant Gui nodded, “Xiyan gave some silvers to the manservants at the corner gate to buy a casket and have her buried.”

They didn’t have much affection for Mingyan here, so after exchanging a few words, they changed the topic.

Xiyan handed the account books to Chu Lian, before passing on Princess Wei and Royal Princess Duanjia’s messages to her. Finally she said, “Third Young Madam, Guilin Restaurant is still under the public accounts. It’s already the second month of the year, but it remains closed. The matriarch has sent Senior Servant Liu to enquire about it several times.

To prevent Guilin Restaurant from getting stolen, Xiyan had followed the solution that Chu Lian had left behind and closed Guilin Restaurant. However, as a restaurant, Guilin Restaurant couldn’t possibly stay closed forever!

Even if they didn’t mind, their regular customers would probably come to the estate to make a fuss eventually.

Amongst them was Old Duke Zheng, who was someone they couldn’t afford to offend.

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Chu Lian smiled, “You don’t need to worry about this, I’ll settle it.”

Hearing that made Xiyan relieved. Now that their masters had returned, they finally had a pillar to lean on, and they could stand tall as servants.

After dealing with these important matters, Xiyan suddenly recalled the matter of Miss Pan coming to Songtao Court to borrow clothes.

“Third Young Madam, as Miss Pan came to the estate in a hurry, she didn’t have enough clothes. The new clothes that were made for you last year have all been borrowed by her.”

Realisation dawned upon Chu Lian. It was no wonder she had found Pan Nianzhen’s clothes so familiar. Those were the winter clothes made with materials that she had personally picked out.

It seemed like Miss Pan wasn’t actually as timid as she seemed, she was obviously a ‘white lotus’, someone who looked pure and innocent on the surface but was scheming inside!

Chu Lian’s fair fingertips tapped on the side of the teacup, “Momo, have someone investigate this new aunt of mine.”

Senior Servant Gui beamed until her eyes turned into crescents. She could feel that Third Young Madam had become even more mature after returning from her journey. Previously, she had only cared about matters regarding Songtao Court, but now she had learned to be vigilant and observant towards others.

“Understood! This old servant will have it done, Third Young Madam.” As she spoke, Senior Servant Gui couldn’t help but size up Chu Lian’s body.

Chu Lian rolled her eyes at her speechlessly, “I haven’t even consummated my marriage! Momo, you should stop overthinking things!”

Senior Servant Gui and Xiyan’s eyes widened; they had disbelief written all over their faces.

The fact that she and He Changdi had not consummated their marriage was only known to the two of them as Chu Lian’s close aides. They hadn’t thought that the couple still hadn’t consummated their marriage even after their trip to the northern border, so...

Even Senior Servant Gui was starting to feel anxious.

Previously, when He Sanlang had gone to the northern border with no known date of return, she had turned a blind eye when Chu Lian acted willfully, but things were different now. He Sanlang had become a marquis from his military accomplishments and their Third Young Madam was now a marchioness.

Count Jing’an was still alive now, but the day would come when Count Jing’an passes his title to his heir. House Jing’an’s third branch would have to break away from the family then. Chu Lian’s first son would then become the heir of Marquis Anyuan. Now that this concerned the survival of a noble house, it was a problem of epic proportions that they still hadn’t consummated their marriage!