Upon hearing this news, Mrs. Xu was so angry that her hands trembled.
After the banquet, Old Madam Xie led several mistresses of the Xie family to Xie Zhaozhao's courtyard for a chat.
Xie Xiangxiang left Anxiang and Xunmei at Fanghua Garden, and only took Granny Wei with her to Qingpu Courtyard.
Xu deliberately mentioned Guan Yingying and said angrily to Xie Zhaozhao, "Aunt Yue is too arrogant and doesn't respect the mistress at all."
Upon hearing this, Madam Xie immediately realized that Madam Xu wanted to use someone else to do her dirty work, and said unhappily, "What are you talking about with Miss about matters in the eldest young master's courtyard?"
Madam Xu wiped away her tears and said, "Xiangxiang is foolish. I beg Mother to have pity on her and I beg Miss to take care of her."
"You want me to go up against Guan Yingying?" Xie Zhaozhao smiled reassuringly as she saw her grandmother's anxiety, and gently stirred the tea leaves with the lid of her teacup.
She said calmly, "The young mistress is the mistress, and Aunt Yue is just a concubine. The difference in rank is clear. If she doesn't follow the rules, she should be beaten or punished. If she repeatedly fails to correct her ways, she should be beaten to death."
Xie Xiangxiang felt that Xie Zhaozhao was talking without understanding the situation, and said, "The young master is with her every day, without any manners, and has never treated me as the mistress of the house. I also want to set rules for her, but I can't fight city hall."
"The young master only has her as his concubine now. What if he had several more? Would he still be so carefree?"
Xie Zhaozhao said calmly, "The two head maids in the young master's courtyard were in his room before Aunt Yue."
You might as well be more generous and grant them the honor of becoming concubines; they will naturally be extremely grateful to you.
Madam Xu understood long ago and said to Xie Xiangxiang, "Your elder sister is right. You should be more generous and give the two head maids in the young master's room a chance to serve him, so that they can serve the young master together with Aunt Yue and reduce Aunt Yue's burden."
Madam Xu sat there for a short while, then accompanied Xie Xiangxiang to Fanghua Garden for a while before returning to the Xie residence with Old Madam Xie and Second Madam Xie.
After the banquet, Xie Xiangxiang went to Tu's courtyard to pay her respects.
Tu harbored resentment towards Xie Zhaozhao and vented her anger on Xie Xiangxiang.
When do you plan to consummate your marriage with the eldest young master?
“This is not my problem, but rather when my husband wants to consummate the marriage. He spends all his time in Concubine Yue’s room, so it’s not appropriate for me to squeeze into the mulberry garden.”
Xie Xiangxiang didn't show it on her face, but in her heart she wanted to spit in Tu Shi's face.
Tu was annoyed: "Never mind, I'll talk to Yan'er about it later."
“Mother, I only learned today that Shaoyao and Bailing, who live in the eldest young master’s room, have been his women for several years. They are both quite old now. I was thinking of having them ordained as prostitutes and having them taken in by the eldest young master. If they are lucky enough to have a son or daughter, they will have someone to rely on for the rest of their lives.”
When Madam Tu saw that she had brought this up herself, she nodded and said, "You've thought it through. Peony and Bai Ling are both top-notch in appearance, many times more beautiful than that Aunt Yue. They're also clever, and they'll definitely be able to pull the young master back from that woman, which will also benefit you."
The matter was settled in the midst of conversation.
The current mother-in-law is like this: she has fought with her husband's concubines her whole life, but when it comes to her son, she can't wait to have him take in a few more concubines.
If a son has fewer women, it's because his daughter-in-law is jealous.
Although Tu Shi had a short tongue and spoke in a garbled manner, Xie Xiang managed to understand her meaning through a combination of guesswork and deduction. With the elder's approval, he summoned Gu Chengyan that evening.
He must agree to this concubine arrangement.
Upon hearing that he was to be given a concubine, Gu Chengyan immediately jumped up and said, "No way! I only want Qianyue. I won't touch any others, no matter who you take."
Xie Xiangxiang said, "I didn't force you to go to their rooms. They've all been with you, so they have a title and you'll have someone to rely on for the rest of your life."
Gu Chengyan said, "You'd better not interfere. I have no intention of taking a concubine."
"It's alright, I'll just give you a title, you don't need to have sex with me."
Having made the arrangement, Xie Xiangxiang went to find Shaoyao and Bailing and said she wanted to promote them to be Gu Chengyan's concubines.
Peony and Bai Ling were utterly stunned. They kowtowed to Xie Xiangxiang with all their might, immediately expressing their gratitude to their mistress.
They all followed Gu Chengyan during their youth, but after Gu Chengyan had Consort Yue, he never touched them again.
Now that she has become his official concubine, and his mistress Xie Xiangxiang is easy to get along with, they are overjoyed.
As for Aunt Yue, the two women said that they would definitely fight that old, ugly, and unruly woman to death to vent their anger for the mistress.
Xie Xiangxiang acted swiftly, performing facials on Shaoyao and Bailing, and directly arranging for them to stay in two courtyards not far from Qinyaxuan. Since Shaoyao's original surname was Hua, the two were designated as Aunt Hua and Aunt Bai.
They were each given four sets of new pink clothes and shoes, fifty strings of cash each, and a complete set of gold hairpins and bracelets.
Upon hearing this, Madam Lu gave her two concubines an additional ten strings of cash, along with clothes and shoes.
Aunt Hua and Aunt Bai kowtowed to Xie Xiangxiang and served her tea, thus making her a concubine.
Anxiang received a gold hairpin from Guan Yingying. Xie Xiangxiang found out, but pretended not to know.
He deliberately showed her the gifts he had given to Shaoyao and Bailing one by one, and said on purpose, "I will not mistreat any of those who are loyal to me."
Anxiang and Xunmei were filled with envy.
They initially looked down on Xie Xiangxiang, but now that they saw that Xie Xiangxiang was quite capable, they all secretly pledged their loyalty to her.
Xie Xiangxiang, accompanied by Aunt Hua and Aunt Bai, went to kowtow to Madam Tu and the Old Madam. Then she said to the Old Madam, "Grandmother, you gave Anxiang and Xunmei to me. I think they are both very skillful and they are not young anymore. They will eventually get married. I am reluctant to part with them. They know each other well. I was thinking of letting them become servants in the young master's household. What do you think, Grandmother?"
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