Do you know: I should be fat and you should be thin!

Main hall!

Zhou Ning said, "Let's leave this matter here for now. I have a few announcements to make. First, this house has indeed been given to Sheng Rulan, so the whole family will be moving immediately, shortly!"

Wei Zhi, Rong Feiyan, Sheng Rulan, and Sheng Minglan all looked at him. Why did he have to move? It's such a small matter, it's not that big of a deal!

Sheng Rulan explained, "I just wanted to move to a different courtyard; I didn't say we couldn't live there."

Zhou Ning said, "I don't blame you. I saved the Emperor's life this time, and he rewarded me with a hot spring resort in western Beijing, a garden called Cheng Garden, and a thousand acres of fertile land. The place we're moving to is Cheng Garden! It was the former residence of a high-ranking official. After he retired, the Emperor took it back, and it had been abandoned ever since. Now the land deed is in my hands. Not counting the surrounding woodlands, the house alone covers more than ninety acres, divided into front and back sections. I'll be in charge of the front yard from now on, and I'll choose someone to be in charge of the inner courtyard in the back later!"

Yu Yanran breathed a sigh of relief. She was genuinely afraid that Zhou Ning would directly tell her to make the decisions. She couldn't even handle today's situation, let alone the future. She quickly said, "My lord, I'll listen to you. This matter is settled. The whole family will move in later!"

Zhou Ning had already made his decision, and his wife supported it, so the matter was settled.

Now the front and back yards are separated, and no one can get close to each other. Who stays overnight is entirely up to Zhou Ning. Sheng Rulan thinks it's quite fair!

Zhou Ning said, "The second thing is that the hot spring resort is quiet and sparsely populated, with three natural hot springs, each about the size of a private room. It's perfect for relaxing and unwinding. It's the only place there, and I can't favor anyone over it, so I'll keep it for myself. You can go there together on weekdays, or you can go by yourselves. Of course, I can also join you, but that will have to wait until after I finish court!"

The five women blushed slightly, secretly cursing inwardly, yet also harboring a faint sense of anticipation.

Zhou Ning smiled and said, "You're blushing, alright, let's not talk about that for now. Managing household finances is your duty as young ladies. Right now, you each have quite a bit of savings, which you can use for business or save for later. But I want to remind you of one thing: you are not allowed to lend money at exorbitant interest rates! The Great Zhou Dynasty explicitly prohibits officials from lending money. Those who violate the law will be sentenced to two years in prison, and if an official's family member lends money at exorbitant interest rates, it will lead to the official losing his position and reputation. In serious cases, the court will pursue criminal charges against him. Do you understand?" After saying that, he first looked at Sheng Rulan.

Rulan repeatedly assured that she knew her mother had made this mistake and had even lost her position as housekeeper for a period of time!

All the women nodded and promised that they would not do such a thing.

Zhou Ning said, "The third matter is the selection of a steward! My eldest daughter-in-law is gentle, refined, well-educated, kind-hearted, an excellent embroiderer, and generous and magnanimous. She has a good reputation throughout the capital, so you don't need to worry that she will be intolerant of you or maliciously make things difficult for you. However, she is timid, lacks assertiveness, and easily panics when things happen. When faced with bullying or trouble, she can only cry and seek help from others, making it difficult for her to fulfill the responsibilities of a high-ranking lady. I plan to have her act like my grandmother, free from worrying about these household affairs. For this stewardship, I need someone who can treat everyone fairly, so I'll have to trouble Sixth Sister!"

"Me?" Minglan asked.

Zhou Ning said, "It can only be you. Consort Wei is capable enough, but she is still a concubine. You three noble concubines have come from all walks of life, can you accept that? Consort Rong still has many noble ladies in Bianjing who resent her because of Consort Rong, so that's not appropriate either! Fifth Sister is straightforward, just look at what happened tonight. I like to watch other people's drama, but I don't want to be the one being watched. Don't say you're not good enough. I know that Cuiwei under your command is a first-class maid personally trained by Old Madam Sheng, and Danju is also a meticulous and reliable person. I'll make the decision, two of them, and let's include Xiaotao too, all three of them will be promoted to head maids, and their monthly salary will come from me, to help you manage this inner quarters."

Wei Zhi had no objections. This way, she could relax a lot more. She felt that as long as it wasn't Steward Ru Lan, it was fine. That girl was really willful.

Having experienced many ups and downs, Rong Feiyan has become more reserved and understands that she is indeed not suitable for the role. If a comparison must be made, Minglan seems alright, and she is certainly better than Rulan, who caused a ruckus from the moment she arrived.

When Sheng Rulan saw that it was her sixth sister who was in charge of housekeeping, and not anyone else, she gladly accepted, since she always got her share anyway.

Seeing that Minglan was about to speak, Yu Yanran immediately said, "It's decided then."

Sheng Minglan knew that this was Zhou Ning's recognition of her, and after listening to his analysis, she realized that it could only be her!

"Alright, it's almost noon. Tell the kitchen to prepare a feast. Let's all have a meal together today and have some fun! After we eat, we'll head to Chengyuan to see the new house!" Zhou Ning said.

While waiting for her meal, Yu Yanran took Minglan to her place and gave her 20,000 taels of public funds as start-up capital to cover the daily food, clothing and other expenses of the entire household, as well as the monthly wages of the servants.

Cuiwei, Danju, and Xiaotao, the three maids, were overjoyed to learn that their sixth young lady was valued so highly, even more so than when they themselves were promoted to head maid.

The family ate together, and then, with all the maids and servants in tow, they set off for Chengyuan in a grand procession.

Chengyuan has an excellent location, very close to the Ningyuan Marquis's Mansion, separated only by a mountain forest, and surrounded by the mansions of powerful and noble families such as the Qi State Duke's Mansion!

As the group disembarked and entered the park, they saw dozens of people cleaning, which was arranged by the officials.

Even excluding the surrounding mountains and forests, Cheng Garden is nearly three times larger than the Zhou Mansion!

The garden features winding paths, pavilions, bridges, and flowing water, complemented by artificial hills and greenery, along with natural landscapes such as forests and ponds. The space is open and spacious, making a stroll through the garden feel like visiting a modern park.

The park's front and back yards are clearly divided, but they have been abandoned for ten years, covered in cobwebs and dust, and need to be carefully swept and repaired in some places.

"Sixth Sister, arrange for someone to help clean up. Let's get all the bedrooms in each courtyard clean tonight so people can move in," Zhou Ning said.

Minglan immediately made arrangements, assigning 20 people to clean the main courtyard of Chengyuan Garden first. In addition to the main courtyard, there were 5 other independent courtyards around it, each with several side rooms. These were already being cleaned, and she assigned 5 people to each of them, with a first-class maid in charge of supervising them.

The main courtyard still belongs to Yu Yanran. Don't be fooled by her easy-going and bullying nature; she doesn't yield her due status, otherwise she'll just embarrass Zhou Ning.

"Sixth Sister, we must live closer together!" Sheng Rulan was very satisfied with these independent courtyards. Each one was no smaller than her mother's Wei Rui Xuan, and if not compared with the main courtyard, they were quite impressive.

Zhou Ning accompanied the women to choose courtyards, noting the directions of each courtyard's name.

Rulan named her courtyard Taoran Pavilion, which exudes a casual and relaxed feeling, perfectly matching her personality of not currying favor with the powerful and wealthy.

Wei Zhi named her courtyard Zhentangxie because she chose a courtyard built by a pond, seeking tranquility and relaxation.

Minglan's residence is called Zhufei Courtyard, inspired by the image of mist rising from bamboo groves. The wind rustles through the bamboo tips, carrying water droplets, filling the courtyard with the fresh scent of grass and trees, a place of tranquility and peace.

Rong Feiyan's Songxuelu (Pine Snow Lodge) evokes a refreshing and serene imagery of white and blue, inspiring a sense of tranquility.

Zhou Ning rubbed his hands together, pondering which orchid to eat first tonight, when a palace eunuch summoned Cheng Yuan!

The old emperor was dying, so he summoned many people to the palace and specifically asked to see his childhood friends!

......