Steward Cao hurriedly put down the small teapot in his hand and muttered, "The mansion is to be sealed off tonight. This is Madam setting some rules."
Turning his head, he saw that Accountant Sun looked indifferent, so he urged, "Stop dawdling and hurry up."
Accountant Sun gave a perfunctory reply, only to see Steward Cao already running out.
When Accountant Sun came out, the front yard was already crowded with people.
Everyone had already received the news that the mansion would be sealed off tonight, and it would only be reopened once the people who had contracted smallpox had recovered and no new patients were added to the mansion.
Although smallpox is a deadly disease, no new patients have appeared in the manor in the past few days. They are busy cleaning and sweeping, drinking medicine and burning incense, and are not too panicked.
"The lady said that lime has been sprinkled and medicinal incense has been burned throughout the mansion. When we get together, we should wear aprons soaked in medicine so that we don't have to worry too much."
"Yeah, but I don't know how long the lockdown will last. What will we do if there's no one to take care of my wife and kids at home?"
"My parents are still sick, sigh... how did they end up like this?"
Everyone was talking in hushed tones, but when they all joined in, their voices became loud, creating a buzzing sound.
When Gu Shiba saw the Marquis's eyes crinkling, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "Eighth Master has been physically strong since childhood. Although he loves reading, he is always afraid that I will get tired. After finishing university, he stopped studying. For those few days, I stayed outside the room to read poetry, and the servant guarded the door. I was often disturbed."
The Marquis said, "Let him do it. He wasn't the one who did that job before. If he's busy on this day, just arrange for a bad guy to take his place."
The procedures for sweeping, burning incense, and distributing medicine continued as before.
After the old woman finished her work, Gu Jinghui spoke up: "All of you, behave yourselves and listen carefully to what Madam says later. Because of the smallpox, Madam will be in charge of the affairs of the inner and outer courtyards. Everyone should be careful and cautious, lest you displease the mistress. If anyone is observant, they will be told that you delayed in giving her a heads-up."
First, Steward Han and Gu Jinghui signed their names, agreeing that from now until the establishment of the mansion, everything would be done in accordance with this agreement. If any unforeseen circumstances occurred, the process would be adjusted according to the agreement, and the method of adjustment would be decided upon by everyone in advance.
Hongye asked, "Why are you looking for the butler?"
"No matter how busy Siwei is, she will come."
Hongye showed no surprise and asked, "You?"
Then, Steward Cao said, "I have already declared that I will leave all matters outside the manor to the lady. My presence here is also an example to set a good example."
Hongye immediately said, "You can order it."
The implication is that I am also here to receive Madam's admonition, only that I am sitting in the same place as the others.
"It's too late. Qin Yuan is a slow walker. Madam cannot call the roll first."
After I said that, everyone became even more at ease.
The courtyard fell silent immediately.
Everyone: "..."
The Marquis also instructed his group members to closely monitor the physical condition of each other, and to report to the responsible personnel in a timely manner if there were any abnormalities.
Suddenly, you feel a chill beside you, turn your head, and see Butler Cao sitting next to you.
With the assignments distributed that way, everyone understood what they needed to do and what they needed to be careful about.
Si Weiyi took the lead in responding.
Everyone was startled upon hearing this.
Can you relieve my worries?
Steward Cao said, "Before this decision was made, it wasn't a military order. Military orders are absolute. None of their families have ever been to the battlefield, so they know how strict military orders are. No one can be biased. Whether you are a master or a servant, everyone must obey."
Taking advantage of the situation, the Marquis reiterated the previous punishment, hoping to make everyone more vigilant and prevent them from becoming complacent over time.
After some discussion, the group leader offered some suggestions, which the Marquis listened to. If he thought they were correct, he asked Hongye to revert to the previous group and make adjustments.
Hongye put down the roster in her hand and went to the side.
“The lady will be here soon, please wait here,” a servant woman called out loudly. “The new roster is ready, and the lady is having Miss Hongye check it. She will be calling out names one by one in a moment. Those whose names are called, please come out and answer.”
Those who hadn't had their turn stayed indoors, and had to move around in seven different places.
Hongye opened the roster and called out names one by one. Those whose names were called stepped forward to indicate their names. Siwei sat in her chair and silently matched the people with their names.
The Marquis nodded.
Even when the Marquis only had a few stewardesses under his command, you insisted on checking in every day, and you were quite happy to do so with so few people.
Gu Shiba said loudly again, "Qin Yuan knows that Shuhai Pavilion said your Dingbei Marquis's Mansion is pretentious and pretentious."
Si Wei didn't say much, and said directly: "In order to prevent smallpox, you set the above order, and they must keep it in mind and follow it. As the saying goes, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. This order is like a military order. Those who violate it will be punished according to the military order. Those who do not violate it will be punished leniently, no matter who they are."
Before the two engaged in their complex conversation, the Marquis focused intently on the red leaves as he called out names.
After a short while, a group of maids escorted the Marquis into the courtyard, each of them wearing an apron.
The Marquis knew which matter Steward Cao was referring to.
The Marquis couldn't help but laugh; this was no easy task.
"Qin Yuan has arrived."
"Um."
"Okay, got it."
Before the Marquis finished speaking, he asked, "Does my family have any objections?"
After Hongye finished taking attendance, she asked, "Did anyone miss anyone? If anyone did, they'll come looking for you to register. You'd better be careful, as the allowances and medicines from the previous days will be distributed according to the roster."
The Marquis asked, "Did I say I was going to be busy later?"
As soon as those words were spoken, everyone took them seriously. Everyone outside the courtyard was counted, and no one escaped.
Gu Shiba said with a fawning expression, "Qin Yuan said that Madam is relieving my worries, so no matter how busy I am, I have to come and support Madam."
At the front, the Marquis asked Steward Cao, "Does Qin Yuan have any instructions yet?"
Gu Shiba immediately stepped aside and stood straight. The Marquis then said to Hongye, "Let him call the roll."
Even the poems written by Master Gu are not as bad as those written by your younger brother Qin Heng.
“It was him, of course,” the Marquis said with a sly smile. “He was the one who proofread the new roster.”
Everyone looked at Gu Qinyuan.
“Madam, Qin Yuan said I want to come too.”
The Marquis was dressed in ordinary clothes, and his hair was wrapped in a headscarf. He had been sitting for a while when Gu Shiba came over again and personally carried a grand master's chair and placed it next to Si Wei.
After a while, several old women came in carrying incense burners, tables and chairs, and set them up one by one. Then they lit the incense burners, and the fragrance spread instantly. It was a little bitter and a little pungent, with a strong mugwort smell.
Gu Shiba said, "Eighth Master was so angry that he went to Qin Yuan and swore that he would study so hard that he would study diligently and make the Master of Shuhai Pavilion look bad."
The Marquis nodded and said, "You know now, when is Qin Yuan coming?"
Gu Shiliu walked in, looked around for a moment, and then went out again.
The Marquis redistributed everyone's duties. Apart from the kitchen, stables, accountant, gardener, and others, everyone else was divided into groups and worked in shifts according to their assigned hours.
Steward Cao listened attentively from the side, and seeing that the Marquis's reasoning was clear and his allocation was appropriate, he couldn't help but nod in approval to himself.
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