After Ah Man left, Jian Ning smiled at Ding Youtian and said, "I was just thinking that this girl's rules were learned in vain, but I was wrong. Look at how disciplined she is now. She has made some progress after all."
Ding Youtian frowned slightly. "If every woman in the world learned to be so rigid, what fun would that be? I do think what you said before makes sense. You don't have so many dogmatic restrictions on women there. That's how it should be."
"Everything has its pros and cons. Let's talk about other things, just take our two little ones. If we let them grow up freely without any restraint, who knows what they will become when they grow up! We still need to supervise them and learn some rules. Otherwise, if they go out and act wild, people will just say that their parents didn't discipline them enough."
"Of course we need to discipline women. I just don't agree with forcing women to learn all kinds of rules. It makes everyone the same, which is really boring."
"You are such a rebellious guy. No wonder Jiajia and Yaoyao love to fight so much. It turns out that the root of the trouble lies with you."
"The bad things are all my faults, and the good things are your faults and Xiu Gu's."
"I'm glad you know."
As Jian Ning finished speaking, a woman's voice rang out from the corridor: "Mr. Ding, Mrs. Ding, the water for washing your face and feet is here."
"Oh, come in." Jian Ning raised her eyes and saw the door curtain being lifted by a hand. Then four little maids came in one after another, each carrying a basin of water.
After putting down the basin, the two maids walking in front took off the handkerchiefs on their shoulders, dipped half of it in the basin and half of it on the edge of the basin, walked back two steps before turning around and leaving. The other two maids took off the handkerchiefs and held them in their hands, standing quietly by.
Then a maid came in with a thermos and said to Jian Ning with a smile, "If the foot washing water gets cold, ask them to add some hot water."
"We'll do it ourselves, you guys go and rest." Jane Ning felt uneasy. She was not used to waking people up in the middle of the night and tiring them to serve her.
Ding Youtian also waved his hand to signal them to go down. The two maids hesitated and didn't dare to move until Ding Youtian said again: "Go down."
The old woman waved her hand, and the two maids knelt down and bowed, still walking back a few steps before turning around.
"When the young master and the lady have finished washing, please call us and we will wait outside. We will take our leave first." After the old woman said this, she also knelt down and bowed.
After she left, Jian Ning lowered her voice and said, "So this wealthy family is just like the ones I used to see on TV shows. How much money does it cost to support all these people? It's too expensive."
Ding Youtian rolled up his sleeves and said, "No, my lady, you're wrong to think so. If wealthy families can't bear to spend money to hire servants, how can poor people with many children survive?"
Jian Ning thought about it and realized that this was true, but she refused to give in. "This is typical exploitative class thinking. If it were in our country in the 1950s and 1960s, it would have been criticized and overthrown by the proletariat!"
"Oh, how do you criticize me? How about you tell me in detail after we go to bed?"
It was originally a very normal sentence, but coupled with his devilish smile, Jian Ning felt that it was quite meaningful. She couldn't help but glare at him fiercely, "You big-headed ghost!"
After they finished washing, Jian Ning took the basin to pour water, but as soon as she reached the door, the old woman hurriedly took it and handed it to the maid who was guarding outside.
"It's such a small thing, why bother doing it, Madam? If Madam sees us, we'll be scolded at best, and at worst, our monthly salary will be deducted. If Madam feels sorry for us servants, she won't dare to do it herself again."
The old woman said with an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry, I didn't think it through. I won't do it again next time. Don't worry."
"Oh, my lady, don't dare say that. You are honored guests. My master personally escorted you to the guest room. It would be humiliating for us to say that."
"Don't ever say that."
The old woman still smiled apologetically.
Jian Ning thought that although Huo Jincheng was the son of an official, he himself was only a first-class guard in the Crown Prince's palace, and the rules of his family were too strict. There was no mistress of the house, and Yunniang was just a concubine. Jian Ning couldn't help but wonder how she managed to command everyone and keep the inner house so orderly. It seemed that she was a man of great means.
She told Ding Youtian about this, and Ding Youtian said, "That's what you don't know. She was originally the head maidservant beside Old Madam Huo, and was later awarded to Huo Jincheng as a maidservant. Because Ah Man's mother passed away, Huo Jincheng had no one to take care of the housework, so she was promoted to concubine to help him manage all the affairs in the inner house."
So that's how it is. The maids around the old lady do have great power, just like Yuanyang, the maid around Lady Jia in Dream of the Red Chamber, and Xiren, the maid around Baoyu. Thinking of Yunniang secretly looking at herself, Jian Ning felt uncomfortable. She was afraid that she was involved in the expulsion of Yue'e and her siblings.
It's not that she has mean intentions. These maids who have been in wealthy families for a long time are very scheming. Yue'e is extremely beautiful, far superior to Yunniang, and she is also a member of A'man's family. In order to ensure that she can climb to the position of mistress of the house, she might whisper in someone's ear.
Fortunately, A'man is a girl, and when she gets married in the future, she will just add to the dowry, which will not conflict with Yunniang's interests. Thinking of this, Jian Ning felt relieved.
"Take a rest. You can still sleep for an hour or so." Ding Youtian had already changed into a tight-fitting long gown for sleeping, shook out the apricot-colored silk quilt with auspicious deer patterns, and got into bed yawning.
Beside the bed, a seven-treasure gold-dotted Boshan incense burner was emitting a faint fragrance. On the screen curtain of the bed was a hand-embroidered picture of a riot of colour. Jane Ning saw that the embroidery was truly amazing. The flowers in the picture were flourishing and swaying, making people want to reach out and pick them.
"Do you think A'man and the others will play until dawn?" Jian Ning asked Ding Youtian after going to bed. She wanted to go to A'man's place to check on her, but she didn't know which room A'man lived in. She wanted to ask someone, but she was afraid of disturbing the maids and old women in the mansion. They were just guests staying temporarily. It was already bad enough to make others restless in the middle of the night, and it would be bad to cause trouble for them again.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
