Seeing Feng Yuheng accept the silver, An Shi finally let go of her worries. She didn't mean to please him. The silver was indeed prepared yesterday, but she didn't expect that the Prince Yu's Mansion would come to offer the betrothal gift today, which made it seem like she was trying to curry favor with him.
"Don't worry, Auntie. Ah Heng will treat Third Sister well." Feng Yuheng had no intention of promising anything to An. She knew that for An, wanting Rong to live a good life was what she hoped for most.
After sending An and Xiangrong away, Yao pulled Feng Yuheng aside and asked her, "Do you still remember the incident when the tonic was replaced?"
Feng Yuheng nodded, "I didn't remember much at first, but after talking to Aunt An for a few words, my memory of my childhood became clearer."
Yao told her, "Your Aunt An is a sensible person. When mother became the legitimate mother, she did not try to curry favor with her. Later, when the Yao family ran into trouble, she did not add insult to injury. Instead, she secretly slipped a handful of silver coins into Zirui's collar before we left."
"Good people will be rewarded." She handed the teacup to Yao, "Drink some tea, mother, and don't think too much. After we move to the next yard in two days, there will be many things that need to be taken care of by mother herself."
Yao was originally the mistress of the house. Although she was a little weak-tempered, she was more than capable of taking care of a small courtyard. She immediately agreed: "Don't worry, Ah Heng. You don't have to worry about the complicated matters at home. As for Zirui, it's time for enlightenment."
When she mentioned Feng Yuheng, she remembered that, yes, Zirui was over six years old and had reached school age.
"Ah Heng really neglected this matter. Fortunately, mother remembered it. However, the Feng family's attitude is still to be considered. Let's wait and see for a few days, and then find an opportunity to mention it to the mansion."
As the mother and daughter were talking, Nanny Sun and Nanny Zhao came into the yard, followed by an old woman and a group of little maids. The Willow Garden, which was already piled with betrothal boxes, was crowded with these people and could not be any more full.
Nanny Sun led Nanny Zhao around the boxes and finally walked to the main hall. Nanny Zhao smiled and said as soon as she entered the room, "Second Miss is so lucky, so lucky!"
Feng Yuheng sneered in her heart. Who had followed her old master before and didn't even look at her?
"What you said is wrong, Madam Zhao. I am a concubine's daughter, how can I have any good fortune? The blessings of this mansion are all on my elder sister and elder brother. Madam Zhao is an old lady, so you have to be careful with your words."
Madam Zhao was really stumped by her words. The old lady didn't understand. It was clearly just a polite remark, so how could the Second Young Lady not understand anything at all?
But she only dared to complain in her heart, and didn't dare to show the slightest bit of unhappiness in front of Feng Yuheng. Instead, she laughed even more than before. Since there was no way to connect with the previous words, she simply avoided mentioning them and changed the words directly - "This old servant invited a famous man in Beijing to bring some maids here for the second young lady to choose. In addition, the old lady asked this old servant to go to the best ready-made clothing shop in Beijing to select a lot of clothes for the second young lady, the second young master, and Aunt Yao, and brought them here as well. Second young lady, take a look!"
After she finished speaking, she waved her hand, and a maid came in behind her holding pieces of clothes.
The clothes sent to them at this time were naturally good, with good materials and styles, and there were no secret tricks as before. Feng Yuheng only took a quick look and asked Huang Quan Wangchuan to take the clothes and put them in the inner room.
Afterwards, the young girl with a mouthful of yellow teeth came into the hall, followed by the twenty or so little girls.
Soon, the small outer hall was also crowded. Feng Yuheng glanced around casually and saw that they were all children aged 13 or 14. She felt annoyed, but there was nothing she could do. In this era, children from poor families had no better way out except to be slaves. Moreover, girls could get married at the age of 15, and there were many who went out to work at the age of 10. Even if she wanted to control them, she didn't have the ability.
After looking through all the little girls with gritted teeth, Feng Yuheng finally picked out five of the stronger ones to do the cleaning, and another three to be servants. One of them followed Nanny Sun to serve Yao, another followed Huang Quan to take care of Zirui, and the other followed Wang Chuan to stay with her.
Seeing that Feng Yuheng had no intention of choosing again, Nanny Zhao took the initiative to ask, "Are these people enough? After we move to that courtyard, there will be many places that will need people."
She waved her hand, "These are enough. I don't like crowds."
Madam Zhao nodded, "Everything is up to Second Miss." Then she winked at the maid, who quickly picked out eight papers from a pile and handed them to Feng Yuheng, "Second Miss, these are the indentures of the eight maids you selected. They have all been filed with the government. Please feel free to use them."
Feng Yuheng was very satisfied with this.
Seeing that she had no more instructions, Nanny Zhao laughed and left with everyone, leaving eight newly selected maids standing in the hall waiting for arrangements.
Feng Yuheng had no experience in this area, so he turned his attention to the Yao family.
Yao took over the task with familiarity and asked, "Do you have the original name?"
One of the braver maids answered, "Yes, but they are all cheap names. I am afraid that it will pollute the master's ears if I say them out loud. Please give me a name, master."
Yao thought for a moment and said to the five maids, "I'll give you these characters as names, and you can add the last character you already have."
The five girls thanked him in unison.
As for the other three maids who served as attendants, Yao still wanted Feng Yuheng to make the decision herself. At the same time, she also told Feng Yuheng: "According to the rules, all maids who serve as attendants are first-class. There should also be second-class maids who serve tea and so on. But Ah Heng, you don't like too many people, so keeping these is enough."
Feng Yuheng nodded. She really didn't know much about these things, but fortunately she had Yao Shi by her side.
After looking at the three girls she had chosen, she had no interest in naming them, so she asked them, "What were your original names?"
Several maids answered in turn: "My maid's real name is Qianlan, my maid Ling'er, my maid Hanyu."
"Not bad." She was quite satisfied with these names. "No need to change them, just keep them like this."
Who would have thought that upon hearing this, the three girls would kneel down with a thud - "Miss, please have mercy on us and keep us here! Miss, please have mercy on us and keep us here!"
Feng Yuheng didn't understand, "When did I say I wanted to drive you away?"
Yao explained to her: "When a slave recognizes his master, being given a name is the first reward for them, especially for the first-class attendants. Giving a name means that they have completely severed all ties with their past, and from now on they are the slaves of the new master."
Feng Yuheng finally understood that changing someone's name was a sign of respect for them. She had completely thought the opposite and felt that the name was given by their parents and could not be changed casually.
After thinking for a while, he came up with an idea: "Then let's do this. I'll take one of your names and give it the word Qing in front. Is that okay?"
The maids finally breathed a sigh of relief and said in turn: "The maidservant Qinglan thanks the master for giving her a name, the maidservant Qingling thanks the master for giving her a name, and the maidservant Qingyu thanks the master for giving her a name."
"Okay." Feng Yuheng looked at the new maids in the room, and then squeezed the contract in her hand. This large and loveless Feng Mansion finally gave her a sense of belonging. "You will be our servants from now on. In two days, we will move from this small courtyard to the house next door. Although the house is not big, it is still a little short of manpower. I like quietness by nature, so you will have to bear more trouble. As for the monthly salary, in addition to the one given to you by the Feng Mansion, I will give you an extra one every month."
When the eight girls heard this, they became happy and thanked him in unison.
Feng Yuheng waved her hand and looked at Nanny Li, Manxi and Baotang who were standing at the door: "As for the three of you, I'm sure your master will have new arrangements soon. My Liuyuan Temple is small and can't accommodate you." After saying that, she cast a calming look at Manxi who was looking over, and Manxi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Because of the new servants, the small willow garden was not big enough to live in. The betrothal boxes filled the whole yard, Huang Quan and Wang Chuan volunteered to take turns to look after them, and Nanny Sun arranged for the others to squeeze into the side rooms and ear rooms.
As for Nanny Li and the other two, no one knew what they were thinking. They would rather squeeze together with these servants and did not mention returning to Jinyuyuan.
Since they didn't mention it, Feng Yuheng didn't rush them away and still asked Manxi to help her bathe.
In Li Ma's opinion, this was Feng Yuheng's deliberate attempt to embarrass Man Xi. Bao Tang felt sorry for Man Xi, but Man Xi knew in her heart that the Second Miss must have something to say to her alone.
With Feng Yuheng's instruction, Wang Chuan continued to take inventory of items in the yard with Qing Yu, who was arranged to live in Feng Yuheng's room, while Man Xi carried buckets of water into the room in preparation for bathing.
Feng Yuheng had already taken out the special medicine for treating onychomycosis from the space, removed the outer packaging, and found a small porcelain bottle to put the liquid in. It looked no different from this ancient thing.
After bathing and changing clothes, she called Manxi to the table, first removed the nail polish with nail polish remover, then asked him to stretch out his hands, and personally applied the liquid medicine on them carefully with a small brush.
Manxi naturally had no idea what was painted on her nails, she just felt very comfortable, with a slight coolness, and her nails, which had been itching, stopped itching in a short while.
She was extremely surprised, and looked at Feng Yuheng with genuine gratitude. However, Feng Yuheng did not explain the medicine in detail, but only asked her: "Did Madam Li say when she plans to take you back to Jinyuyuan?"
"Yes." Man Xi told Feng Yu Heng, "She said she would stay tonight to see if there are any actions here. If nothing unexpected happens, she will go back early tomorrow morning."
Feng Yuheng sneered, "You want to see how I plan to arrange these betrothal gifts, right?"
Man Xi nodded, "Of course. The eldest lady has always been very concerned about money. The second lady has so many good things out of nowhere, she must want to get them for herself."
"Then let her do it." Feng Yuheng said no more. Seeing that the medicine on Manxi's hand had dried, he applied it again and said, "Then you will go back with me tomorrow morning. Everything will be the same as before. Pay more attention to Shen's. If I need anything, I will come to find you."
Manxi was very smart and immediately understood what Feng Yuheng meant. "Don't worry, Second Miss. I will stay over there and provide support for you."
"Yes." She was very satisfied. "I will send you medicine every five days. You stay in my room for a while. I will paint for you in half an hour."
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