Chapter Twenty-Four: A Qualified Ancient Noblewoman

  "Alright, Yuanyang will listen to you, Miss. Whatever you say, I'll do it." Yuanyang said blindly to Gu Qingjin.

  Qing Jin couldn't help but burst into a smile at the blind trust of Yuanyang.

  Having decided to learn household management from Madam Gu, the next day at dawn, Gu Qingjin took Yuanyang and went to Madam Gu's courtyard.

  In Junshi's room, Junshi had already gotten out of bed. At this time, she was looking at the account book in front of her desk. As the legitimate wife of the Duke of Anji Houfu, Junshi would get up every morning before dawn to arrange all sorts of things in the mansion. After having breakfast, she would check the accounts for the day and listen to the steward's report on some important matters. In the afternoon, she would chat with Shen Shi, who was Qingjin's grandmother, or accompany Shen Shi to recite Buddhist scriptures in the Buddhist hall for one or two hours.

  As the eldest son's wife and the mistress of the Hou Mansion, Jun Shi's day was busy and dull, with only a little time left to worry about her mischievous youngest son. As for her daughter, she wanted to care for her, but her daughter Qing Jin had been precocious and strong-willed since childhood, making Jun Shi feel proud yet unsure of how to interact with her.

  After having a son, she spent most of her time on him and couldn't even take care of her daughter. The relationship between the mother and daughter became increasingly distant as Qingjin grew up. Fortunately, since her daughter recovered from her illness, she had become closer to herself again. However, when she saw her daughter appear in her room, Junshi was still taken aback. When she heard her daughter say that she wanted to learn about managing the household affairs, she looked at Qingjin with even greater surprise, as if only now realizing that her daughter had grown up so much and was almost old enough to be married off.

  However, she has never been one to overthink things, and after hearing Qingjin's request, she readily agreed to Qingjin's request.

  Since that day, Qingjin started going to Junshi's place every morning to learn about managing the household chores, and in the afternoons, she would accompany Junshi to Shen's courtyard to keep Shen company. At first, Qingjin was very patient when learning from Junshi, but as she learned more about managing the household, she couldn't help but feel astonished and impressed - it turned out that a qualified ancient noblewoman had to know so much and take care of so many things, from big matters like arranging major events in the mansion to small details like how much monthly allowance each servant should receive.

  Not to mention the complicated human relationships, what this house can send and that house cannot send, so many details need attention, Buddha ah, why not let her return to modern society!

  Mr. Jun saw Qingjin's bitter and resentful appearance for a day, still very happy at first, after watching for two days, one day finally spoke to Qingjin, it's not easy to learn so many things all at once, otherwise, why not start by learning account management, starting from the accounts and then slowly understanding should be easier.

  Gu Qingjin's eyes lit up when she heard Jun Shi's words, as she was skilled at keeping accounts. Modern spreadsheets weren't very useful? So Qingjin easily took on this task, taking out some modern forms and numbers, and in no time at all, she understood more than half of the affairs within the manor.

  But the more she understood, the lazier Gu Qingjin became. Why bother learning so many things? What's the fun in studying all this? The thought of spending her whole life with Jun Shi like this made her feel bleak about her future. However, she couldn't just give up on what she needed to learn. She wasn't someone who would easily abandon things when faced with difficulties. How could she achieve her goals while still living a carefree life? She had to think of a good solution. After thinking for two days, she finally came up with a great idea - she could simply cultivate one or two people to do these tasks for her!

  Thinking of this, Qingjin put her scorching gaze on Yuanyang's body. Yuanyang was someone who had been with her since the previous life and could be trusted. Even if there was a slim chance, in this feudal society where hierarchy was strict, she could elevate someone to heaven or trample someone underfoot. Moreover, she believed that Yuanyang would not have left her when she fell on hard times in her past life, so her loyalty must not be fake.

  Then Qingjin began to gradually hand over some things to Yuanyang, and after a period of time, Yuanyang was able to thoroughly use the things handed over by Qingjin, and Qingjin finally had nothing to do.

  However, the days were too idle, and Gu Qingjin was a bit bored, so she cultivated herself in one or two good things. In ancient times, the ladies of the aristocratic families seemed to have one or two good things before and after marriage. Qingjin thought of the main wife who ate vegetarian food and recited Buddhist scriptures but held great power in the palace struggle dramas. Eating vegetarian food and reciting Buddhist scriptures? Okay, this can be directly ruled out without consideration.

  What else? Qing Jing's eyes sparkled as she thought of embroidery, which was a good idea and also popular among the masses. Which woman wouldn't want to see her future husband and children wear clothes embroidered by her own hands under the flying needle and thread?

  After deciding to learn embroidery, Qingjin eagerly asked Junshi to find her an embroidery teacher. However, it seemed that Qingjin really didn't have a talent for embroidery. After half a month of learning, she had managed to poke several holes in her hand, and the things she embroidered were comparable to the works of abstract artists.

  Jun saw the blood holes on Qingjin's hands and felt heartbroken for half a day, unwilling to let Qingjin embroider anything again. Under Jun's intervention, Qingjin's embroidery learning came to an abrupt end.

  Watching Junshi happily send off the embroidered girl, Qingjin was speechless. Alas... But she also understood that she really didn't have any talent for embroidery, so she didn't force it anymore.

  One day, Qing Jin suddenly had an idea when she saw the flowers and grass planted in the yard. She remembered that before crossing over, her childhood dream was to grow many different kinds of flowers, wasn't it?

  Raising flowers and planting grass can also cultivate a person's temperament. From then on, Qingjin began to plant peonies, letting the servants in the mansion find all kinds of peonies for her. Qingjin started her life as a flower artisan.

  At first, it was probably just to cultivate a hobby, but gradually Qingjin liked the process of planting flowers and waiting for them to bloom. Even in the quiet life of planting flowers, Qingjin felt that she had returned to the kind of peaceful and serene life at Bōrě Temple. Occasionally, the face of Shuijing Dust, as holy as an immortal, would flash in her mind, but it was just a fleeting thought.

  The servants of the Tianfu brought several precious seeds, saying they were rare peony flower seeds. Qing Jin looked at the seeds in her hand, among which one seed with a metallic luster caught her attention. She felt that this seed had an inexplicable strange feeling, but when she observed it carefully again, she didn't find the previous feeling. She handed the seeds to Yuanyang beside her and let Yuanyang plant them first.