The matriarch was helped off the carriage by two maids.
Following her were Lord Ji, Lady Ji, several young masters, and a group of family members.
In front of the servants were three basins of burning charcoal.
The one who greeted them was still the same steward from years ago. Usually serious, he now wore a beaming smile.
He bowed respectfully to the matriarch before uttering some auspicious words.
"Matriarch, after stepping over this brazier, you'll enjoy good fortune from now on."
As people grow old, they tend to like hearing auspicious words.
The matriarch lifted her skirt and stepped over the brazier.
Lord Ji and the other men of the Ji family stepped over the brazier on the right.
As for the female family members, they all stepped over the one on the left.
The servants guarding the entrance made way, allowing the matriarch to lead the way.
The servants followed their masters one by one, forming a long line.
The seal on the door had been removed.
The main gate clearly had just been washed, and the lanterns in front were brand new.
It was even cleaner than when they had left the mansion.
Upon entering the mansion, they were even more surprised to find that everything had been tidied up.
There was not a single weed in the garden,
not a single dead fish in the pond,
not a single cobweb in the rooms,
not a speck of dust on the tables and chairs.
Even the bedding and the clothes in the cabinets had been washed, dried, and neatly folded.
They had thought it would take about ten days to clean up the house, but unexpectedly, someone had already taken care of everything.
The only person with the ability to gather everyone and organize everything so orderly was Zhao Luoning.
Thinking of this, Ji Shisu was naturally overjoyed.
Ning'er had surely not left!
This realization made Ji Shisu ecstatic.
He grabbed the steward and quickly asked.
"Where's the second young mistress?"
The steward was completely confused by the question.
"I don't know, sir!"
Ji Shisu grew anxious and stammered.
"Isn't... wasn't all this arranged by Ning'er?"
Hearing this, the steward realized Ji Shisu had misunderstood and waved his hand.
"I haven't even met the second young mistress yet!"
"Then who did all this..."
Not only Ji Shisu, but everyone had thought it was arranged by Zhao Luoning.
Everyone was looking at the steward expectantly, hoping he could solve the mystery.
"I originally thought it was the second young mistress's order. But after asking the person who rehired us, I found out it wasn't."
Everyone was annoyed by his slow way of speaking. The matriarch directly showed her authority as the family head and scolded, "Who on earth did all this? Give us a definite answer!"
The steward bowed and said, "All this was arranged by the first young mistress."
The first young mistress, Zhao Luoyu?
Everyone's eyes turned to Zhao Luoyu, who was quietly following Ji Shijun.
Zhao Luoyu was also puzzled.
When did she give such an order? How come she, the person involved, didn't know?
Ji Shijun was also extremely confused and asked.
" Nian'er, when did you give this order? How come I didn't know?"
There was a hint of surprise in his words.
Before Zhao Luoyu even had a chance to refute, someone interrupted.
"She's no longer Ning Ruonian. She's Luoyu, Zhao Luoyu, the missing third young lady of our Zhao family."
The person who walked in from behind the crowd was none other than Zhao Luoming.
He had received the news that Ji Shisu and the others would be returning today, so he had specially brought the manager of the silk store for the handover procedure.
After all, the Ji family's property had been taken over by Zhao Luojing.
"Luoming pays respects to the matriarch, uncle, and aunt. I'm sorry to intrude."
After paying respects to the elders of the Ji family one by one, he walked straight up to Zhao Luoyu.
" You're saying Nian'er is the missing young lady of your Zhao family?"
Zhao Luoming took out a document from his bosom and handed it to the matriarch.
After reading it, the matriarch was greatly shocked.
She called Luoyu over and handed the document to her.
"Yes, after the truth of what happened back then came to light, my father has always felt extremely guilty towards my younger sister and has sent people to look for her many times. Later, we found out such a coincidence. Luoyu had actually become the first young mistress of your esteemed mansion."
The matriarch was also surprised.
At first, she hadn't paid much attention to this daughter-in-law. It was only after she had a miscarriage that the matriarch started to care about her.
After getting along, she found that this daughter-in-law was very similar to Zhao Luoning in many aspects.
There had been too many shocks today, and the old lady was even a bit overwhelmed for a moment.
After reading the document, Zhao Luoyu's eyes also turned red.
She knew this wasn't something her muddled father could do.
It was her sister helping her.
Her sister had returned her identity to her.
All the hardships and grievances of these years turned into hot tears after seeing this document that vindicated her.
She could finally admit her identity openly.
"Luoyu, the family misses you very much. After you've settled down here, find some time to go back and visit your parents."
Zhao Luoyu clutched the document tightly. A simple nod from her had already admitted that everything Zhao Luoming had said was true.
The only ones in the Ji mansion who weren't surprised were probably Ji Shisu and Ji Shijun, who had known about this for a long time.
After this matter was resolved, the only thing left was the handover of the family property.
"Also, this is Manager An. He has been managing your family's property for the past year. My second brother specifically asked me to bring him here to return the Ji family's property intact."
Manager An presented three thick account books.
One was the detailed inventory when the Ji family's property was taken over.
One was the detailed record of the maintenance and management expenses.
The other was the detailed record of the harvest from the Ji family's farmland and other industries in the past year.
The accounts were very clear and easy to understand.
The way Manager An kept accounts was simpler and clearer than that of ordinary accountants. It was segmented and easy to calculate.
This made Lord Ji, who had been in the business world for decades, couldn't help but praise. If someone under his command could invent such a practical way of keeping accounts, that person would surely be highly valued by him.
He really didn't expect that the second young master of the Zhao family was indeed not just a reputation.
What shocked him even more was the detailed record of the surplus in the last account book.
After reading it, his face changed drastically, and he quickly handed the account book to the matriarch.
After the matriarch opened it, she forgot about her elegant demeanor and was so shocked that her jaw dropped.
Everyone was puzzled and thought there had been a huge loss.
They only heard the matriarch asking Manager An.
"Is this the surplus from these years? It's even more than what we used to harvest in five years. How did you manage to do this?"
If they had known that the second young master of the Zhao family had such abilities.
They would have wished they could have stayed in the capital for another year. Judging from this situation, they might even harvest more next year.
"We didn't do anything special. Last year, there was plenty of rain, and we had a bumper harvest, which is why we had such good results. If it were in the off - season, we wouldn't be able to reach this amount."
Although Manager An said so, the matriarch and Lord Ji were still extremely shocked.