Chapter 43: All shall be treated as thieves
"Write it down."
Liang Weiyuan picked up his red pen and made a heavy check mark under the item of privately cutting public property. "According to family rules, you will be deprived of food for three days and punished by being forced to cut grass in the stable for ten days."
She paused, her eyes scanning the densely packed account books. "I will also inform all the other courtyards that every blade of grass and every tree in the mansion belongs to the public. Anyone who touches them without permission will be treated as a thief and punished without mercy."
Not long after, the cook from the second room and the shopping lady from the main room came in, arguing with each other, and the sea bass in the basket splashed all over the floor.
"Madam, please make the decision for us!" The purchasing lady bowed.
"The Second Young Master's wife said that she wanted to have steamed sea bass for the Second Master to nourish him today. However, there was a flood the day before yesterday, and sea bass has become a hot commodity. When I went there, I only managed to grab two."
"According to the rules, one yard is for the main courtyard, and the other is for the eldest lady's courtyard. How could the second house presumptuously take them away?"
"Bullshit!" the cook cursed, hands on her hips. "Our Second Master is the legitimate son, and he's just about to recover. Why can't the Second House eat fish?"
"On the contrary, the eldest young master is still unconscious, and he can't even taste this delicious and tender sea bass. Can't the eldest wife give it to him first? You are mistreating the master!"
The cook's brows were raised and her voice was like a firecracker. She didn't have the attitude a servant should have in front of Liang Weiyuan.
Liang Weiyuan raised her eyes and glanced over, seeing that the cook was wearing a jade ring inlaid with beads, which clearly exceeded the standards for a servant. She immediately knew where the cook's confidence came from.
She said coldly, "According to the rules of the Marquis' Mansion, third-class servants are not allowed to wear gold and jade jewelry. Did you steal this ring or rob it?"
The cook's face turned pale and she hurriedly took off the ring: "This, this is a gift from the Second Young Master's wife..."
"A reward?"
Oh, it turned out that Liang Shanyu deliberately sent people to cause trouble.
Liang Weiyuan raised her eyebrows with a smile, "I didn't know the Second Young Master's wife had the power to reward servants privately."
Of course, each family would have times when they would reward their servants or take care of things.
But that was all done in secret.
On the surface, in order to prevent each family from forming their own factions and disrupting the rules, only the lady of the house can properly reward or punish the servants to show fairness.
Liang Weiyuan turned to Zhu Shu and gave her the order: "Strip her ID card and send her to the laundry room. As for this sea bass—"
She glanced at the basket of vegetables and said, "This lady has worked so hard to manage the household. Send it to the main room and make it into a braised dish."
Liang Weiyuan's words were unquestionable, and the four maidservants listened to her. With the suppression of force, the cook had no room to struggle at all, and was soon thrown out by Zhu Shu with a pale face.
And the news spread quickly.
Mei Shu brought over some warm almond cheese and whispered, "Miss, today the stewards in each room are saying that you are the reincarnation of an abacus, able to count even a grain of rice."
"If you can't figure it out, you'll be plotted against."
Liang Weiyuan looked at the clouds in the sky. She was afraid that the theft case and meal dispute she had to deal with today would have been caused by the secret interference of the second house.
The second wife is not so easy to keep quiet.
Liang Weiyuan rubbed his swollen brows and gave a clear order: "Go tell the doorman that from tomorrow onwards, all items entering and leaving each room must be registered."
"Anyone who violates the rules—" Liang Weiyuan curled his lips slightly, "will be locked in the corner gate and punished by kneeling with his hands raised."
This punishment was not severe, but the punished had to kneel there. On the one hand, it could serve as a warning to the other courts, and on the other hand, it could embarrass their masters, so that they would teach their servants a lesson.
Those petty troubles will not be able to cause her any trouble, and the habit of petty theft can be eradicated.
Mei Shu smiled and said, "Young lady, you have an idea. Besides, those servants see you accompany the old lady to worship Buddha every day. They think you are using the old lady to establish your authority, so they are less presumptuous."
"It's not a loan, it's supposed to be this way." Liang Weiyuan carefully stamped each land deed with ink, slowly and methodically.
"The rules of the Marquis' Mansion were never set by me. They were established by our ancestors' etiquette and laws. I am merely promoting the rule of the entire mansion. If you dare to cross the line, you are not an enemy of me, but an enemy of etiquette and laws."
As he was speaking, he suddenly heard the sound of angry footsteps coming from the corridor.
"It's good that my sister is here. You must give me an explanation today!"
Liang Shanyu strode in wearing a scarlet gold-woven dress, her voice was sharp, and the ruby pendant on her temples made people dizzy.
Liang Weiyuan didn't even look at him and continued with the work at hand. The crackling sound of the abacus drowned out the other party's angry shouts: "Sister, you are so angry, did you lose something precious?"
"Stop pretending." Liang Shanyu felt jealous when she saw Liang Weiyuan's condescending attitude as the lady of the house.
In recent days, Yu and Huo Siyuan have been busy filling in the tenants' account books.
But she was really upset with the eldest princess, so she could only find ways to cause trouble for Liang Weiyuan herself.
Now that the cook was punished, she had a legitimate excuse and came immediately.
"My second room's cook was just asking for a sea bass for me and she didn't do anything wrong, so you sent her to the laundry room?"
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