The Stepmother Who Stayed - Chapter 4

Taoxi spent the whole afternoon investigating. By the time she came back, her face was dark with anger.

“Miss, you’ll never guess what I found!”

“Since last winter, that young master has had only two new outfits made!

“One for the New Year and one for spring.

“He’s already outgrown the spring one. The sleeves are too short, and he’s still wearing it!”

I frowned. “Nobody had more made?”

“Nobody! The nanny in his courtyard said he grows so fast there’s no point. He can make do.”

“Who said that?”

“Nanny Zhang, the one who looks after him! I also found out she’s been here for years and used to serve the Old Madam. She throws her weight around because of her seniority.

“She doesn’t care about the young master at all. She doesn’t care if his clothes are dirty or he’s hungry. All she does is hide away drinking!”

I set down my teacup.

“Anything else?”

The more Taoxi spoke, the angrier she became. “There’s more! The girls are a little better off. They’re older, and people keep an eye on things. But even their allowances have been withheld. They were told there was no money in the accounts and they’d get it later. Later never came.

“The eldest is so sensible she never says a word. The second made a fuss a few times, but Nanny Zhou put a stop to it, telling her she ought to think of the family.”

I listened without speaking.

“Miss, that’s the Nanny Zhou who met us today. She’s worked here for twenty years and runs the inner household. She barely even shows his lordship any respect.

“They say the Old Madam used to favor her. Once the Old Madam stopped managing things, Nanny Zhou became the one everyone had to obey.”

I nodded.

Understood.

Nanny Zhou was the local tyrant of the inner household.

Now that I’d married in, she was the first person I needed to deal with.

But I couldn’t rush it.

“Taoxi, bring me the storeroom ledgers and an itemized list of this year’s expenses.

“And the records of the children’s allowances. Bring those too.”

Taoxi answered.

I sat by the window, watching the sky grow dark.

Afu hadn’t returned. He must be having the time of his life.

I remembered little Qi Zhao, so thin, peeking at me from behind his sisters.

He was shy, just like Afu.

But Afu had me to protect him. Who did he have?

His mother was dead, his father was run off his feet, his grandmother shut herself in the Buddhist prayer hall, and nobody cared when servants bullied him.

He was only eight.

I sighed.

Taoxi returned, carrying a stack of ledgers.

“They’re all here, Miss.”

I opened the first. After two pages, I was frowning.

What beautifully prepared accounts.

Payments for favors, rewards, and social obligations alone made up nearly half the expenditure.

The children’s allowances were marked as paid every month. I suspected they received barely half of what was listed.

I leafed on to the last month of the previous year and found a small entry.

“Eldest young miss ill. Physician and medicines: five taels of silver.”

Five taels?

Five taels to call a physician?

Farther on was another entry.

“Second young miss ill. Physician and medicines: four taels of silver.”

Four taels? Another physician?

I put down the ledger. “Taoxi, was the eldest girl ill last winter?”

“Yes. A chill, I heard. She was in bed for nearly half a month.”

“And the second?”

“She was ill too, a few days later. Also a chill.”

I considered that.

Two children, ill one right after the other, both with chills. Yet the physicians’ fees were different.

Five taels for one, four for the other.

These accounts were rather carelessly done.

“Taoxi, first thing tomorrow, ask about all the well-known physicians in the capital. Find out whose house calls cost the most and whose cost the least. Write it down.”

Her eyes lit up. “Are you going to check the accounts, Miss?”

I smiled. “Check the accounts? No. I’m going to settle them.”