The next day, Xu Youqing came with an old maid and two young maids.
Last night, Shi Qingmei came to pack things. She really did a thorough job. She almost emptied all the movable items in Jingbo Garden. Not only the items but also the servants were taken away. There were not only maid servants but even the rough maids who washed the chamber pots were all taken.
In the whole Jingbo Garden, there were only Nanny Zhang and Lu'er left as servants. Nanny Zhang was originally high - and - mighty and wanted to show her authority as an important old maid in front of Shi Ning'an. But after Lu'er scolded her several times, saying that the master would severely punish her, she completely quieted down.
Lu'er was busy all morning. When she saw Xu Youqing coming, she just casually bowed and left her in the hall, then went on with her own business.
Nanny Chang was quite annoyed and coughed: "The mistress is here. Don't you even know to serve tea?"
Lu'er rolled her eyes: "Can't you see, Nanny? This yard is so empty. Except for me, there are no other servants. There's no one to carry water. The water for the young lady's morning wash was fetched by me after running a long way."
Nanny Chang was so angry that she couldn't help pointing at Lu'er and scolding: "You impudent maid! How dare you be so presumptuous in front of the mistress? You keep saying 'I', don't you even know how to be a maid?"
Lu'er hadn't had a good rest last night. Looking at the state of Jingbo Garden, she was also full of anger. She immediately flared up: "Do you still call yourself a maid when you talk to other servants on weekdays?"
"Right now, it's you talking to me, not the mistress."
Lu'er refused to back down an inch: "It's really strange. Don't you have tea in your yard? You come to Jingbo Garden to beg for tea?"
Nanny Chang had never suffered such humiliation. She rolled up her sleeves and stepped forward: "If I don't teach you this impudent girl a lesson today, I won't believe my surname is Chang..."
"Who dares to touch my maid?"
Nanny Chang was stunned. She turned around and saw the young lady walking over gracefully. No matter how angry she was, she remembered that this beautiful young lady was not an easy person to deal with. With just a few words, she had sent Nanny Zhang away.
She endured her anger and bowed before saying: "Young lady, you may not know. Lu'er was being so rude in front of the mistress, so I was going to teach her a lesson."
Shi Ning'an walked up to Xu Youqing and bowed as a junior. Then she walked to the opposite seat and sat down. She played with the cups and saucers for a while before saying helplessly: "Did the mistress come here today just to teach my little maid a lesson?"
Xu Youqing gave a soft laugh: "If Lu'er wasn't so rude, Nanny Chang naturally wouldn't have gotten angry. Ning'an, you've indulged your servants too much. In the capital, there are rules everywhere. If your servants are so unruly, you'll be laughed at when you go out."
Shi Ning'an stood up and waved to Nanny Chang: "Come here."
Nanny Chang was puzzled. She took two steps forward and walked up to Shi Ning'an. She tilted her head slightly, wanting to hear what she had to say.
Shi Ning'an raised her hand and gave her a heavy slap on the face: "The mistress said that there are rules everywhere in the capital. But you, an old maid, are so unruly. Aren't you embarrassing the mistress?"
The slap was extremely heavy. In her previous life, this old witch Nanny Chang had caused her a lot of trouble both openly and secretly. She had held this anger for so long. For now, she couldn't deal with Xu Youqing and Shi Qingmei, but she could punish this old witch.
Nanny Chang was suddenly slapped. She suddenly raised her head and looked at Shi Ning'an in disbelief.
Xu Youqing was also startled. She opened her eyes wide, stood up and asked: "What are you doing?"
Shi Ning'an was very calm. She took out a handkerchief from her sleeve and slowly wiped her hands: "You're using the mistress's power to bully others. You gave me a hard time when I just returned yesterday. I gave you some face because you're an important maid beside the mistress. But today you come to my yard to show off your power. Do you think I have no one around me to protect me?"
Xu Youqing was furious. She took a deep breath to calm down her anger. Even so, her voice was still full of hatred and trembling: "You... Shi Ning'an. As the saying goes, you should show some respect to the master when beating a dog. By slapping my important maid like this, do you not want to put me, the mistress of the house, in your eyes?"
Shi Ning'an looked at her coldly: "The mistress always talks about the rules in the capital. But I learned about the strict hierarchical etiquette in the Zeng family. Your important maid in the main courtyard should manage the affairs in the main courtyard well. Lu'er is my maid in Jingbo Garden. Even if she has made a mistake, it should be me, her mistress, who punishes her. Only today did I know that the family is in such a mess. Even my important maid can be beaten and scolded by anyone. If I didn't consider showing respect to the master, I wouldn't have let it go when she bullied me yesterday. Why should I wait until today?"
Xu Youqing gritted her teeth. For a moment, she didn't know what to say. She waved her sleeves, left an old maid and two young maids, and then turned around and left.
Shi Ning'an followed behind and said coolly: "I won't say much else. But Jingbo Garden is so big. There can't be just a few people here, right? You won't even give me some rough - working servants? I saw that my cousin has a lot of servants around her. There are more than just three or four."
Xu Youqing suddenly turned around and glared at her fiercely. Then she frowned and said: "Some rough - working servants will come later. But there aren't many servants in the mansion now. I didn't know that you only brought one maid with you. I'll buy some suitable maids and old maids for you later."
Shi Ning'an agreed. Then, as if by chance, she said to Lu'er: "Grand - aunt once asked me to bring the old maid and your two elder sisters here. I thought that they were all servants of the Zeng family. As a daughter of the Shi family, my father would surely make proper arrangements for me. Alas, if I had known this, I should have accepted grand - aunt's kindness."
Lu'er looked innocent: "The young lady is right. The master is a man and doesn't manage the affairs in the inner courtyard. He must have overlooked this. There's no one close to you in the mansion. It must be hard for you, young lady."
The mistress and the maid sang in harmony. Xu Youqing was so annoyed that she didn't want to argue with them anymore. She turned around and left with her servants.
After they left, Shi Ning'an sized up the old maid and the two young maids. The old maid was a rather fat woman with a dark face. She kept her head half - lowered and didn't dare to look around randomly. She was rubbing the corner of her clothes with her hands. Without looking closely, one could tell that she had never been an important old maid in charge of things. She was probably a low - level maid and was just temporarily found to make up the number.
Looking at the two young maids, they were both eleven or twelve years old, several years younger than Lu'er. One of them was looking around constantly, and the other was too dull. They obviously hadn't been well - trained and couldn't be relied on.
Lu'er was quite unhappy looking at these three servants. She mumbled and asked about their backgrounds.
The old maid's surname was Tian. She was a very quiet person. After Lu'er asked and asked, she finally found out that she was originally a woman from a tenant family. Later, due to a natural disaster, all her family members died. She voluntarily became a servant. Before, she was a firewood maid in the kitchen.
There were also different levels among the maids in the kitchen. The head cook and the junior cook were in charge of the masters' meals, while the firewood maids could only do some odd jobs and cook for the low - level servants.
After she said this, Lu'er was even more unhappy: "What kind of person is this? A firewood maid is coming to be the important old maid for our young lady?"
Nanny Tian blushed and finally said a complete sentence: "Young lady... This servant... This servant can cook well."
Then she stammered and explained. It turned out that although her previous husband's family was ordinary, they could save some money in good years. She taught herself some dishes, and they tasted okay. After she entered the mansion, she was lucky enough to be taught by the previous head cook and had some skills. But unfortunately, the master's family didn't value her.
Lu'er shrugged: "It's a pity that although we have a small kitchen in Jingbo Garden, we can't cook separately. No matter how good Nanny Tian's cooking skills are, she can't cook without ingredients."
With this, the topic ended. When Lu'er asked the two young maids, as expected, they knew nothing. Cuizhi, who liked to look around, had just entered the mansion and hadn't even learned all the rules. Songzhi, who was dull, had been in the mansion for three or four years. She had been taking care of the flowers in the flower shed and had never communicated with others on weekdays.
Lu'er looked at the young lady worriedly: "Young lady, what... what should we do?"
Shi Ning'an clapped her hands: "Go to the kitchen and ask if the young pigeons have been bought. I'm going to make pigeon soup for father tonight."
Lu'er was stunned. She asked helplessly: "But who will serve you, young lady?"
Shi Ning'an stretched: "I don't need anyone to serve me. Nanny Tian, I'll leave Cuizhi and Songzhi to you."
Nanny Tian quickly pleaded: "Young lady, this servant doesn't know how to train young maids."
Shi Ning'an shrugged indifferently: "Now that you're my important old maid, you have to learn to do these things. Otherwise, do you want me to do it myself?"
Nanny Tian trembled and could only agree.
Shi Ning'an then said: "Anyway, I'm not a very picky person. I only have one requirement, and that is loyalty."
Nanny Tian quickly replied: "This servant will be absolutely loyal..."
Shi Ning'an didn't expect such servants to say anything nice. Compared with Lu'er's dissatisfaction, she was extremely happy.
In her previous life, she lived in the small courtyard in the southernmost part. Xu Youqing didn't treat her badly on the surface, but only she knew how painful the hidden torment was. Two tutoring old maids were very strict day and night. Two important young maids and two second - level young maids were all sent to monitor her. Only Lu'er was truly loyal.
The current old maid and young maids were not to her satisfaction, but this dissatisfaction made her feel at ease. These three servants who couldn't hide things and didn't dare to hide things were much easier to deal with than those smart young maids.
Moreover, the most important thing now was not the matter of the old maid and young maids, but the upcoming birthday banquet of her maternal grandfather.
Thinking of her maternal grandfather, Shi Ning'an was filled with guilt. The Rong family was so noble and so arrogant, but they were willing to help Wei Hongmiao for her sake. How stupid she was! Rong Sui had warned her many times that Wei Hongmiao had ulterior motives and had an unclear relationship with Shi Qingmei.
She was so blind. She even thought that Rong Sui was deliberately trying to sow discord between her and Honglang.
Honglang...
Shi Ning'an clenched her fists. According to the current power of the Wei family, even if Wei Hongmiao went to the Rong Mansion's birthday banquet, he couldn't sit in the honored seat. But in her previous life, Shi Yongtang found a way to let Wei Hongmiao make a stunning appearance in front of her.