The next morning, before dawn, Hong Yingrong had already washed and dressed.
She is nearly fifty years old, but she lives a life of luxury and has no worries. Although there are fine lines at the corners of her eyes, she still does not look her age and has an elegant figure.
Coming out of the Prajna Hall, he led Zhao Ma, Han Qiao and two capable old ladies who had been serving by his side, and went to the Xiangyun Hall together.
The darkness still enveloped the surroundings, but the white paper lanterns in the front hall illuminated the entire night.
Before she even stepped into the yard, Hong Yingrong heard Jiang Shuxiu's voice assigning tasks in an orderly manner.
"Today's rituals at the Water and Land Dharma Hall will proceed as usual."
The last day of the funeral has arrived. The old marquis's coffin will be carried out tomorrow, and more mourners are expected to come.
Jiang Shuxiu therefore added a group of maids to take charge of tea and food matters.
"We also need to start setting up the roadside tent for tomorrow's funeral. All stewards and servants must remember not to disturb the public."
Hong Yingrong was very satisfied when she heard her eldest daughter-in-law Jiang Shuxiu's thoughtful arrangements, but she also felt a little guilty.
As the wife of a prince from a noble family, her performance was truly impeccable.
However, beneath this perfect appearance, does the daughter-in-law also have her own joys, sorrows, anger and happiness?
Recalling the scene of Jiang Shuxiu in the imperial prison, heartbroken and looking like a madman, Hong Yingrong felt even more guilty.
In the crowded courtyard, a sharp-eyed housekeeper suddenly caught a glimpse of Hong Yingrong.
She immediately bowed respectfully to Hong Yingrong, and this action attracted the attention of people around her.
Mother Zhou, who was standing behind Jiang Shuxiu, also quickly caught her arrival. She leaned close to Jiang Shuxiu's ear and whispered softly, "The old lady is here."
Jiang Shuxiu, who was turning a page of the roster in his hand, seemed to be lost in thought. He immediately put down the book and walked quickly towards him.
She gently supported Hong Yingrong, feeling surprised, not understanding why her mother-in-law came here so early in the morning. Her mind was turning over and over again, but she couldn't figure out whether she had made any negligence or mistakes in recent days.
But his expression remained calm and composed, and he said respectfully, "Mother, I'm here. Mother, please sit down." Then he took Hong Yingrong's arm and walked to the main seat, carefully helping her sit down.
"Madam, Wanan."
The people below spoke in unison, their voices uniform and respectful.
Hong Yingrong nodded slightly in response, her eyes scanning the room before she slowly spoke, "Everyone, get up."
"You just go ahead and do your thing. I just came over to take a look." He said kindly to Jiang Shuxiu who was sitting next to him.
Jiang Shuxiu bowed slightly. In fact, when she was looking at the roster just now, she really had something in her mind that she wanted to deal with on the spot.
Since the funeral was laid to rest, the stewards, mothers and maids in the inner and outer courtyards have all been doing their respective duties and busy with their own tasks.
The male stewards and servants in the outer courtyard are mainly responsible for welcoming and seeing off incoming carriages and horses, and their duties are quite clear.
However, the affairs of the inner court are more complicated.
Although there have been no obvious mistakes so far, in the past few days, some people have started to slack off, relying on the fact that they are servants of the Marquis' Mansion and have accumulated enough qualifications.
This kind of situation is common in wealthy families, but Jiang Shuxiu's mother, Zhou Ma, who is responsible for reconciling the accounts every day, soon realized that someone took the opportunity to enrich themselves and commit petty thefts.
At the daily morning meeting in Xiangyun Hall, Jiang Shuxiu did not directly name anyone, but made it clear in advance that if anyone was lazy or embezzled, they should change their ways as soon as possible and would not be held accountable.
If you still hope to get away with it and refuse to repent, we will investigate one by one and punish you severely.
Some servants who knew their place in the world quickly corrected their bad habits, but there were still some who were stubborn and, seeing others doing things carefully, became even more unruly and acted like they were capable of everything. They even secretly set up mahjong and gambled for money while on duty at night. Among them, there were a few who behaved the worst.
Jiang Shuxiu no longer hesitated. Since she was in charge of the affairs of the inner courtyard, there was nothing to worry about.
As soon as she placed the book in her hand on the tea table, Mother Zhou was ordered to step forward.
"Tie up Zhao Wu's wife, as well as Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Li from the storeroom!"
As soon as he finished speaking, several servants who were waiting for orders rushed in from outside the yard. They were all big and strong, with a large piece of thick hemp rope in their hands. They came up and tied the three men's hands behind their backs, and then tied them up.
The maids felt pain and panic and started screaming.
"Shut up!" Mother Zhou pointed with her finger.
Rags were stuffed into the mouths of several people, and a foul smell came into their mouths, scaring the maids around them and making them step back repeatedly.
Hong Yingrong looked at her daughter-in-law's resolute and calm expression, and suddenly a fragment of her past life flashed through her mind.
She vaguely remembered that during the mourning period for the old marquis, her daughter-in-law had resolutely reorganized the servants in the mansion, including several experienced old maids, and even one of them was a servant who had served here since she got married.
At that time, Jiang Shuxiu not only ordered them to be beaten with a stick, but also planned to send the old maid to the farm to do hard labor, while the others would be sent to the pawnshop to be sold again.
However, those people came to her begging for mercy. Several old maids begged for mercy and cried bitterly. Hong Yingrong softened her heart and decided to give them a light punishment. As a result, she deducted one month's silver and let the matter go.
Afterwards, Hong Yingrong also advised her daughter-in-law that considering that the old marquis had just passed away, it would be inappropriate for her to be too tough when handling things and to accumulate some merits.
After hearing this, Jiang Shuxiu did not say much. Instead, she respectfully admitted her mistake in front of her. From then on, if any servants in the mansion did something inappropriate, she would just let it go, fine them some wages, and let the matter go.
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