Chapter 272 Clear Accounts

Chapter 272 Clear Accounts

Of course, the same was true for Madam Liang. Xie Wanniang also sent her a copy of the account details of where her nine thousand five hundred taels had been spent.

Upon receiving the accounts and gifts, Madam Liang was so shocked and overwhelmed with emotion that she was speechless for a long time.

When Liang, who was helping her greet Xiaomei, saw her mother staring wide-eyed and with her mouth slightly open at the accounts and gift list, she quickly called out "Mother" softly.

Madam Liang was brought back to her senses by her shout, and only then did she belatedly realize that she had neglected the young girl, Xiao Mei, who was supposedly Xie Wan Niang's apprentice and had come to run errands for her.

Xiao Mei didn't mind. She smiled and curtsied to Madam Liang, "Now that the things have been delivered, I'll go back and report to my lord."

Madam Liang hurriedly tried to persuade her to stay, but to no avail. She and her daughter then personally saw Xiaomei off.

It wasn't until Xiaomei got into the carriage and the carriage was completely out of sight that Madam Liang and her daughter returned to the backyard flower hall.

On the way, her daughter asked her mother with a curious look, "What did the county princess give you? Why did you freeze up after just one glance?"

After what had just happened, Madam Liang's mood had calmed down somewhat. When she heard her daughter ask this question, she sighed and replied, "It's the accounts."

"Accounts?"

“Didn’t your mother give the county magistrate five thousand taels of silver to support her girls’ school? She had every single penny spent carefully recorded.”

Miss Liang's eyes widened. "So, the county princess had someone send you the detailed accounts?"

Madam Liang nodded vigorously with deep emotion, "Not only that, she also gave most of the money I spent to hire a tutor for you to that girls' school."

After all, the account book Xie Wanniang gave her clearly stated on the first page of the cover that it was an account totaling nine thousand five hundred taels of silver.

Miss Liang was even more astonished upon hearing this. "You mean, she... she only accepted five hundred taels of silver from our family as tuition?"

"No, she has already given those five hundred taels to that Lady Wang."

Although Madam Liang was not well-liked by the wives of officials, she was straightforward and generous, and most of the servants in the various households still liked her very much.

The servants in Xie Wanniang's household were no exception. Some things that didn't need to be kept secret were discussed without them deliberately avoiding Madam Liang, who accompanied her daughter to Xie Wanniang's place every day.

Madam Liang had already inadvertently learned of Xie Wanniang's extravagant spending during her daughter's first month of school.

While she did indeed pay a hefty fee of five thousand taels, who was Lady Wang? She was someone whose indenture was held by Xie Wanniang, and who was also receiving Xie Wanniang's monthly allowance.

There has always been an unwritten rule that a servant with a contract in the hands of the master would receive a tenth of the money earned by the master.

Those who could give a reward of a hundred or eighty taels were already rare and kind masters, but giving five hundred taels was something Madam Liang had never heard of before.

However, she also understood why Lady Wang was so dedicated to teaching her daughter.

Not only did she not show any impatience or stiffness because of her daughter's initial timidity, nor did she openly or secretly despise or belittle her because of her daughter's humble origins, but she was gentle and patient throughout the entire process.

However, the teacher did not deliberately go easy on her daughter. After three months of instruction, her daughter's manners, etiquette, and even personal demeanor improved significantly.

Let alone five hundred taels, even if it were five thousand taels, she would feel that the money she spent was well worth the price.

Well, actually, strictly speaking, Xie Wanniang did receive five thousand taels from her.

It wasn't that she insisted on thinking that way, but rather that Xie Wanniang's publicly stated tuition fee was indeed "five thousand taels."

Many wives of minor officials who discovered that Xie Wanniang had successfully gotten close to Xie Wanniang by hiring a tutor for her daughter had considered replicating her success.

Unfortunately, Xie Wanniang's "fees" for temporarily lending out the female official Wang were ridiculously high. The wives of minor officials, whose combined savings might not even amount to ten thousand taels, were unwilling to spend five thousand taels on such a matter.

Because of this, many people gossiped behind Xie Wanniang's back, saying she was "money-grubbing" and "no wonder she fell for that nouveau riche."

Xie Wanniang had anticipated this, but it was impossible for these people to make her a victim of public opinion, offering her Wang Nuguan's private lessons at half price, and even giving her a voucher for visiting her home.

She's not the kind of person who can't stand people saying anything bad about her. As long as these people don't come up to her in person, she doesn't care what they say about her behind her back.

Given her status and position, even if these people harbored resentment towards her, they would still treat her with utmost courtesy and smiles when they actually met her.

Regardless of what others thought, Madam Liang and her daughter were now completely in awe of Xie Wan Niang.

They claimed to have received five thousand taels from them, but in reality, they didn't spend a single penny on themselves or their families.

She gave five hundred taels to Lady Wang, who had worked hard, and sent four thousand five hundred taels to a girls' school to support women from the lower classes who struggled to make a living...

This is equivalent to the mother and daughter drinking their tea, eating their snacks, and using their house for three months for free, and even significantly improving their status among the wives of minor officials because they were allowed to visit.

The mother and daughter exchanged a glance and immediately felt that Xie Wanniang had been taken advantage of.

Miss Liang tentatively suggested, "How about next time you send a festival gift to the county magistrate, you choose more and more expensive items?"

Madam Liang nodded vigorously, "We absolutely cannot let the county princess suffer too much of a loss."

Xie Wanniang: ......

Author: No, wake up! You all contributed a total of ten thousand taels!

Leaving aside what kind of lavish gifts this foolish and wealthy mother and daughter will give Xie Wanniang next time, let's just talk about Xie Wanniang. Besides the girls' school, she is also systematically promoting her new farming tools.

Since the teachers, guards, and some students of the girls' school were traveling around teaching in villages and towns in Yi County and Tang County, Xie Wanniang simply assigned them the task of promoting the new agricultural tools as well.

Of course, it's impossible to accept money, and it's absolutely not going to be given away for free.

Their approach was to first showcase the products, and then have the villagers exchange them for grains, fruits and vegetables, eggs, mountain produce, and their own chickens and ducks.

If you are so poor that you can't afford anything, then help the school with some tasks they assign, such as chopping wood, carrying water, cooking, or lending them your yard as a classroom or dormitory.