My wife wants a divorce; if she ruins my life, I'll leave.

The next day, Meng Ruohua arrived at the side hall at 3:45 AM, where the managers from various departments were already waiting for her.

Now that it's not a holiday or festival, it's just daily expenses, and all the affairs can be handled according to routine. It didn't take long to get most of them done.

Finally, they came across Wang Gui's house, who managed the kitchen.

"Aunt Wang, I remember the meal expenses for today have already been paid out?" Yu Ye asked.

Wang Gui's family smiled apologetically, "Yes, yes, it has been sent."

Meng Ruohua took a small sip of tea before asking, "Does Auntie have something else to do? Why have you come again?"

Wang Gui's wife took out a list and handed it over, saying, "This was given to me by Aunt Lü's courtyard. She said to prepare things for them according to the list."

The daily meals were written down several days in advance, submitted to the madam for approval, and only after receiving the approval document could money be allocated to purchase ingredients. Therefore, any dishes ordered separately by Aunt Lü needed to be reported separately.

Meng Ruohua glanced at the menu; it included chicken, duck, fish, and meat, and the portions were quite generous. "Does Aunt Lü want this much?"

"Madam instructed that Aunt Lü can have whatever she wants to eat prepared by the main kitchen," Wang Gui's wife replied with a smile, as she was simply following orders.

Since the madam gave the instructions, Aunt Lü has indeed asked for more things than before, but only a little more, which can be covered by the spare ingredients. But today's quantity is far too much, and the kitchen simply cannot supply it.

According to the list, she, a concubine, was eating more lavishly than the principal wife.

Meng Ruohua stared thoughtfully at the list. She had heard from Shanhu that Aunt Lü's meals were much better than before, and now that she saw it, she had a plan. She knew that postpartum women needed to nourish their bodies, but was every meal just chicken, duck, fish, and meat?

Wang Gui's wife secretly glanced at Meng Ruohua's expression, only to see that she remained calm and composed, without the slightest hint of anger. Everyone said that the second young mistress was gentle and easy to talk to, but how could someone so young and capable of managing the household be gentle!

Recalling when the second young mistress first took over the household, she immediately dismissed two unruly old women, along with their families, and sent them to the estate. A chill ran down her spine; this second young mistress was no pushover. It was just a matter of whether she would take it to heart.

Although she was brought as part of the dowry by the madam, her entire family was on duty in various parts of the mansion. Given the second young mistress's methods, offending her would inevitably implicate the whole family.

Meng Ruohua looked at the list for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, then returned it to Wang Gui's family, saying, "Write down the quantity and price of these items."

Wang Guijia raised her arm to wipe away imaginary sweat from her temples, trying to shrink her slightly plump body. She secretly breathed a sigh of relief, bent down to find Shanhu to get a pen, and then rewrote a copy.

Meng Ruohua took the rewritten list and handed it to Linglong to copy. She pointed at Shanhu and said, "Go with Aunt Wang to tell Madam that I have no experience and don't know how to nourish Aunt Lü. I'm afraid that I might harm Aunt Lü's health, and I'm also afraid that Aunt Lü is young and doesn't know any better and might eat the wrong things. So I'm troubling Madam to take care of Aunt Lü's meals."

As a woman herself, as long as her bottom line isn't crossed, she won't make things difficult for a concubine without reason. Besides, Aunt Lü is the second madam's niece, and she's always been very protective of her, so let the second madam handle it; after all, whatever money is spent will come from the Song family.

It all depends on whether the Second Madam is willing to part with it.

After hearing this, Coral went with Wang Gui's family. Meng Ruohua finished dealing with the rest, and it was almost 9 a.m.

Linglong tidied up her brush and ink, looking at them again and again, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

“Say what you want to say, do you think I’m blaming you?” Meng Ruohua pointed to a chair next to her, gesturing for her to sit down.

She put her things away, glanced at the room and saw that only Yu Ye was there, and said with relief, "We spent more than twenty taels today, and there are only sixty taels left in the account. This money can only last for five days at most. Besides, there is the second young master's full moon banquet. What will we do if we don't have money? Do you expect the second young mistress to pay for it?"

Meng Ruohua smiled. She was right; the Second Madam wanted her to pay for it. To put it nicely, she was supposed to cover the costs, but no one ever offered to make up for the money she had paid.

Yu Ye, usually carefree and impatient with account books, immediately became anxious upon hearing Linglong's words. "How can this huge Song mansion be so poor? Ever since the Second Young Mistress started managing the household, the accounts have never been full! If you ask me, if you don't have money, don't put on these airs. You all act like you're so noble."

Meng Ruohua chuckled, "Who has offended you this time?"

"No one provoked me, I just overheard some gossip this morning."

“Sit down, tell me about it,” Meng Ruohua said, pointing to the chair on the other side.

Yu Ye cleared her throat, striking a pose like a storyteller in a teahouse, "This morning, Song, the maid in charge of needlework, said that Madam rewarded Aunt Lü with several bolts of fine fabric, and also said that the addition of a new member to the family is a good thing, and when it's time to change into winter clothes, everyone will receive an extra foot of fabric." She then pouted, "Isn't there no money in the accounts? We haven't even secured the money for winter clothes yet, and you want an extra foot of fabric?"

Winter clothes?

Meng Ruohua raised an eyebrow and a sarcastic smile appeared on her lips.