But Qian Ruoyu knew very well in her heart that maybe she needed to give them a little more money to motivate them to work more actively.
Because helping them is helping yourself.
Then Qian Ruoyu came in front of these chefs. When Fatty Wang saw Qian Ruoyu, he quickly lowered his head.
"Meet the Princess..."
Although the chefs from the Dahonglou saw Qian Ruoyu, they did not salute her immediately.
The royal family members have never been afraid.
It is human nature to take money to get things done, and it is not a bad thing.
Naturally, they didn't want to perform the ceremony. Besides, the dignitaries were busy with government affairs, and they were just servants when they met them.
Xiaohong spoke directly.
"The one coming now is the Princess of the Night Palace, who is of the same rank as the prince. According to the laws of the dynasty, anyone who is disrespectful when meeting the king will be punished with thirty strokes of the cane."
When they suddenly heard her say this, the chefs reacted immediately, and hurriedly lowered their heads towards Qian Ruoyu, saying one after another.
"Meet the Princess—"
Seeing their negative expressions, Qian Ruoyu just nodded calmly.
Fatty Wang looked anxious. After all, he was the head chef and he had promised everything before. Now that such a thing suddenly happened, he naturally felt a little ashamed.
But Qian Ruoyu didn't even look at him. Instead, she spoke to the chefs in front of her.
"What's wrong? Did anything unpleasant happen to you?"
None of the cooks dared to speak, so Qian Ruoyu had to continue persuading them.
"Just tell me what you want to say. I asked the shopkeeper to borrow you from the Red Mansion. If you feel bad about anything, just tell me. I am listening here!"
"I am telling you right now that the Old Lady's birthday banquet is not something to be taken lightly, and it is of a very high level. If something unexpected happens, none of us can afford it!"
"If anything goes wrong, I, the princess, will only be punished, but all of you servants will be exiled to the frontier at the very least, or your entire family will be executed at the worst! Not only will you lose your heads, but your family will also be implicated!"
When the chefs heard Qian Ruoyu's words, they were all shocked.
Qian Ruoyu's tone was indeed a bit harsh. If something unexpected happened at the old lady's birthday banquet, at most these cooks would be punished with hard labor, but they would not be exiled to the frontier or have their entire family executed.
After all, these people were borrowed by Qian Ruoyu from the Dahonglou.
Qian Ruoyu continued to comfort her.
"So now if you have any problems, just tell me. I will try my best to solve them for you. Otherwise, you can go back now. However, what punishment the Red Mansion will receive is up to you!"
"If anyone wants to talk, please take a step forward."
After Qian Ruoyu finished speaking, everyone looked at each other in surprise.
Soon a young cook came out.
"If everyone is embarrassed to say it, let me say it!"
"Princess, please forgive me for my intrusion. We just received a message that we will not get any wages for coming to the palace to help in the past two days. They said that this is the corvée assigned by the palace and we must complete it. In addition, the Red Mansion will not pay us for these days."
After hearing this, Qian Ruoyu frowned slightly.
This Dahonglou is really stingy. Although it is the largest restaurant in Jincheng, it is unwilling to pay such a small salary.
Qian Ruoyu just asked casually.
"How much is your daily wage?"
The young chef immediately replied: "Your Highness, our daily wages are one hundred coins, which is about three taels of silver a month."
"Although two strings of silver is nothing to a person of your status, my family all depends on our money... so we have no choice but to complain to Chef Wang..."
After saying that, the young chef turned to Fatty Wang and led the chefs behind him to apologize.
"Chef Wang, I'm really sorry that you were treated unfairly just now, but there's nothing we can do!"
Everyone apologized.
Fatty Wang also showed an embarrassed expression on his face.
When Qian Ruoyu saw the appearance of these chefs, she found that they were quite polite and did not really intend to make trouble.
Besides, Dahonglou is the largest restaurant in the whole capital, so three taels of silver per month for each chef is indeed a salary worthy of Dahonglou.
If two hundred coins were deducted from each person and these dozen cooks were not paid for two days, it would only save Dahonglou a few taels of silver.
Qian Ruoyu didn't expect that this Dahonglou was really stingy. Although the wages were adequate, but...
But Qian Ruoyu changed his mind and felt that the expenses of these two days should indeed be charged to the palace.
Being able to let Dahonglou lend out a dozen cooks was already the most that Dahonglou could do. Qian Ruoyu thought about it and thought that maybe Dahonglou was right to do so.
After all, if it weren't for the run-in with Cui Wenhong and the head shopkeeper, the head shopkeeper probably wouldn't have loaned these dozen cooks and their helpers to Qian Ruoyu.
Therefore, Qian Ruoyu felt that perhaps he and the palace should indeed pay this money.
Qian Ruoyu then said calmly.
"Not only are you exhausted in these two days, but you also haven't made any contribution. This is really not fair to you."
"But this princess will not mistreat anyone who has helped this princess and the palace. If you have been working in the palace these two days, the palace should give you money. After all, you are working for the palace now."
When they heard what Qian Ruoyu said, a light immediately appeared in everyone's eyes, and they all looked at Qian Ruoyu.
"You are here to do great things, not to do odd jobs. Therefore, the palace also attaches great importance to the talents of you in the kitchen. Don't worry, although the Dahonglou has sent you here, the palace will pay you."
"Your usual wages in the Red Mansion are one hundred coins a day, so the wages you get in this palace are also one hundred coins, but..."
Qian Ruoyu changed the subject.
"In addition to the wages, there is also a reward for your work, which is also one hundred coins a day. Of course, the premise is that you need to work in the palace without any accidents. Then, as long as you wait until the old lady's business is finished, everyone can get 400 coins!"
Hearing Qian Ruoyu's sudden words, the chefs took a step forward one by one and looked at Qian Ruoyu in disbelief.
Qian Ruoyu said calmly.
"Okay, you heard it right. These are what I said. If you don't believe it, bring me a piece of paper and a pen. I will write it down for you and sign it for your confirmation. How do you think?"