The lady smiled at Shiyi Niang and said, "You were the one who tipped off the lady, right?"
Eleventh Lady smiled: "The Marquis is also worried about you!"
"You kid..."
Xu Lingyi said, "Mother, why didn't you tell me you were coming to Xishan? It's been a bumpy ride, if anything gets uncomfortable, I'll be the one to blame."
"What nonsense are you talking about?" The lady scolded, "In broad daylight, what are you talking about? Life or death!" She added, "I just came out for a walk, there's no need to make a fuss!"
Xu Lingyi was about to say something, but Shiyi Niang had already pulled on his clothes: "My Lord, you have come from a far distance, have you not eaten yet? We just sat down."
Now that things have come to this, there is no point in saying more.
He was just anxious for a moment, but when Eleventh Lady blocked him, he immediately reacted and said with a smile: "I haven't eaten either!"
When the lady saw Shiyi Niang pulling Xu Lingyi, her eyes narrowed and she said, "Eat, eat."
The Second Lady also smiled and asked the maid to help Xu Lingyi change his clothes.
The three of them ate around the Madam. The Second Madam urged her to go back: "...go slowly on the road to avoid the bumps."
Seeing that the Second Madam was fine, the old lady felt relieved and gave her some instructions for a long time before Xu Lingyi accompanied her back to the lotus garden.
Xu Lingning and Xu Lingkuan were waiting at the gate, and they were relieved to see Xu Lingyi. When they got off the car at Chuihua Gate, they saw the Third Madam and the Fifth Madam, who both came forward to greet the Grand Madam: "You are back." Only the Third Madam bowed, and the Fifth Madam was supported by someone beside her.
Seeing this, the lady laughed: "Are you afraid that I'll get lost?"
"Mom, you are old, you can't do this anymore." Xu Lingkuan helped his mother up. "My fourth brother was so scared when he heard that you went to Xishan alone that his face turned pale."
"Isn't it that Eleventh Lady is accompanying me?" The Lady said with a smile, "You are making such a fuss!"
As he was speaking, a servant came running over and said, "My Lord, the eunuch from Kunning Palace is here."
The lady was startled when she heard this.
Xu Lingyi said hurriedly, "The Queen Mother told me to go see her after the court session. Because she was going to West Hill to pick you up, she sent someone to inform you. Maybe she sent someone to ask what happened?"
A trace of uneasiness flashed across the lady's face: "Go and tell the queen quickly. She's in the palace, and I don't know how anxious she is!"
"I'm glad you know." Xu Lingkuan helped his mother to the inner courtyard. "If you are going to go somewhere in the future, tell us first. We should have a plan. You just left without saying anything like this, and you scared us..."
Xu Lingyi said, "I'll go and take a look," and then went out with the servant.
Eleventh Lady followed her to the lady's room.
A group of people surrounded the lady, some helping her change clothes, some fetching water to wash her face, some making tea and serving snacks... they were very busy.
Seeing that Eleventh Lady was also busy at the side, the lady smiled and said, "You should go back and change your clothes too!"
After such a long journey, I really feel bad. Eleventh Lady smiled and nodded, then returned to her room.
Amber and others were busy serving Eleventh Lady.
She washed her face, recombed her hair, and changed into a green jacket with a vase pattern. Then Mother Tao came in.
"Madam, Lu Yonggui is back!"
Lu Yonggui was helping Yuanniang manage her dowry. When she first got married, she asked about this man, and Mother Tao was quite evasive in her response, saying only that he had gone outside the Great Wall for business. She also hurriedly explained, "... the eldest aunt's property and accounts are all in the hands of General Manager Lu." She looked as if she was afraid that she would ask about it.
Didn't expect him to come back at this time? And he took the initiative to come to see her? I don't know what's going on?
"He arrived early in the morning." Mother Tao smiled, "to greet you. But you accompanied the Madam to the West Hill. I waited until dusk but you didn't come back. He is a grown man, and it is not convenient for him to stay in the inner courtyard, so he asked me to greet you on his behalf and said he would come to see you early tomorrow morning."
Eleventh Lady thought for a moment and said with a smile, "Tell him to come see me after 15:00 this afternoon!"
Mother Tao agreed with a smile.
Eleventh Lady sat down beside the dressing table and put on her earrings, indicating that she could leave.
Mother Tao smiled as she walked to the dressing table, took out a silver-gilt silk-wrapped pearl flower and put it on her, whispering, "Madam, you just got married, so there are some things you don't know. The families of nobles are not like those of the rich, and there are rules for the relationship between wives and concubines. In the past, there were only Concubine Qin and Concubine Wen. The eldest aunt had twenty days, and the other two concubines had five days each. Now that a month has passed, you should also have some arrangements in mind."
She thought that she was young and no one told her these things...so she had to "guide" her everywhere.
Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Don't worry about this, Mom. I will ask the Marquis for his opinion and then make the arrangements."
Sensing her displeasure, Mother Tao smiled and said, "Madam, don't blame me for being nosy. Men make decisions about outside affairs, and women make decisions about family affairs. This is the rule that has existed since the beginning of the world. Why do you need to ask the Marquis? Besides, if you ask the Marquis, how will he answer? If he says 'yes', won't you be known as a 'favored concubine'? If he says 'no', won't you be known as a 'jealous'? Just make the decision on this matter!"
Eleventh Lady smiled slightly: "Mom is right. I am the one who makes the decisions about the affairs of this room. So I say, where would you like to rest? How many days would you like to rest? It's all up to you!"
Mother Tao's smile froze on her face.
"Okay, it's getting late. I still have to serve the lady with dinner." Eleventh Lady stood up and smiled, "If you have anything to say, let's talk about it tomorrow!" With that, she went to the lady with Luyun and Hongxiu serving her.
* * * * * *
The Fifth Lady's cheerful laughter could be heard through the curtain. When she walked to the front of the curtain, a faint voice came: "...I was so envious at that time. I thought I would find a way to pick one and wear it one day. But before I could make up my mind, I was sent back. Today, thanks to the blessing of the Queen, my wish has come true!"
The little maid's report interrupted the Fifth Madam's words.
When Eleventh Lady entered the room, she saw a large red plate with seawater patterns on the table where the old lady was sitting, and seven or eight crystal clear white camellia flowers were grown in the water.
"Eleventh Lady, come here quickly." The lady smiled and waved at her. "The white camellia flowers in the palace are in bloom. The Queen sent a few flowers. You can pick two too."
Eleventh Lady saw that the Third Lady and the Fifth Lady each held two flowers in their hands, and also saw that Xu Lingyi had already picked one and brought it back. She couldn't help but secretly wonder: Could it be that the Queen is worried that the Dowager is not in a position to ask directly, so she took the opportunity of sending flowers to come to the house to find out the truth?
She walked over and bowed to the lady with a smile, exclaiming "How beautiful" while picking two flowers.
The lady then told Mother Du to prepare dinner.
Yao Huang and Wei Zi hurriedly invited Xu Siqin and others who were playing in the warm room to come out.
A few younger generations greeted their elders, and everyone ate together, then went back to their own rooms.
On the way, Eleventh Lady said to Xu Lingyi, "My Lord, Mother Tao said that Lu Yonggui is back and wants to see me. He is in charge of my eldest sister's dowry, and this is the first time we meet. I want to invite you, my eldest brother, and my eldest sister-in-law to meet Lu Yonggui tomorrow. What do you think?"
Xu Lingyi stopped and looked at Shiyi Niang with a half-smile: "I will disappear. You two brothers just need to meet each other." He actually looked like he wanted to distance himself from her.
* * * * * *
The next morning, Eleventh Lady sent Amber back to the Luo family to invite the uncle and the grandmother. When Luo Zhenxing and the grandmother knew that they wanted to see Lu Yonggui, they immediately agreed.
She called Mother Tao over and asked, "How do you pay the maids in the house their monthly wages?"
Mother Tao smiled and said, "When the eldest aunt was in charge, the people who worked in the mansion were all paid by the mansion. The maids in each room were managed by the head of each room."
"What do you mean?"
"For example, here you have four first-class maids, six second-class maids, ten third-class maids, six rough maids, two kitchen maids, two kitchen maids, and two rough maids. These are all customized. The monthly allowance is paid by the family. For example, the daughter-in-law who combs hair is not customized, so you have to pay the monthly allowance yourself. If you want to add a first-class maid, it is not in the customization, so you have to pay the monthly allowance yourself."
In other words, she doesn't have to worry about the monthly wages of the people in the house.
"What if there are only five servants in my house?"
"Then only send it to five people."
"Will it be distributed to each room after they receive it, or will it be distributed all at once?"
“Send it all at once.”
“When will it be sent?”
"When the eldest aunt was alive, it was the first day of every month. Later, when the third lady took over, it became the fifteenth day of every month."
Shiyi Niang's face changed involuntarily: "I haven't sent Nanyong's wife's monthly allowance yet?"
She herself had experienced the time when she had to wait for her monthly salary to make ends meet.
Mother Tao smiled and said, "Although she works in your house, she is in the name of the Madam's house. She gets her monthly allowance from the Madam, so you don't have to worry about her monthly allowance."
A little maid came in and reported: "Madam, the third lady is here!"
What is she here for?
Eleventh Lady welcomed the Third Lady in and sat them on the large kang by the window in the east room, one on each side.
The maid brought tea and snacks.
Eleventh Lady smiled and asked her, "Third sister-in-law, is there anything wrong?"
The Third Lady pointed at the thing wrapped in a handkerchief in Qiu Ling's hand and said, "I'm here to send the monthly allowance to Fourth Brother's wife!"
Eleventh Lady was a little surprised.
Speak of Cao Cao and he will appear!
She let Amber take it as if it didn't matter to her: "Thank you, Third Sister-in-law, for delivering it personally."
"Oh! What's the big deal?" The third lady smiled and said, "I just wanted to come and sit with you." As she spoke, she took a sip of tea and said, "Come to think of it, I also have something I want to discuss with you!" Then she glanced at the servants in the room.
When Eleventh Lady heard the voice, she knew what was going on and sent the servant away.
"Fourth brother's wife," the third wife lowered her voice, but her eyes flashed with a scorching light, "Do you want to make some money for the flower powder and rouge?"
Eleventh Lady was stunned.
This is the second person who asked her this question!
The Third Lady was very satisfied with the Eleventh Lady's expression. She sighed helplessly, "Ten taels of silver can earn one tael in two days, one hundred taels of silver can earn ten taels, and if there are ten thousand taels of silver, you can earn one thousand taels... To be honest, if I didn't have a little capital for this business, I would never be willing to find someone to partner with me."
Eleventh Lady couldn't help but frown.
What’s the difference between this and pie falling from the sky?
Unless it was a side business, how could a legitimate business have such a high profit? I wonder what the Third Madam was planning? What kind of business was she doing? Did Xu Lingyi know about the Third Madam's "business"?