Chapter 135 Returning to the Meng Family (1)
While Li Xiaoxiao was busy making fitness equipment, Liu was also extremely busy.
Because she never thought she would live here, the house is so big, but there are too few people available to help. They simply can't keep up with all the work. So, Liu's most urgent matters are buying firewood and food for the winter and hiring people.
There's no need to buy grain. The Meng family also owns a 100-mu (approximately 6.7 hectares) estate in the suburbs of Beijing. Since they had planned to move to the capital, Liu had already sent a letter to Qi Hui, requesting that all the rent collected this year be used as food. The rent from the 100 mu of land would yield several thousand jin (approximately 1,000 kilograms) of grain, enough for the whole family to eat until next year with some left over.
They have now settled down in Chang Le Fang, and when they have free time, they will ask Qi Hui to transport the grain over.
With Qi's help in finding a seller for the firewood needed for the winter, Zhao Jian took Asheng out to arrange it. They ordered 3,000 catties of firewood and 1,000 catties of charcoal, paid the deposit, and were just waiting for the seller to deliver the goods to their door.
The headache is finding the right people.
Cooks are in high demand, but a good cook is not easy to find. She needs to be skilled, discreet, and preferably have worked in a wealthy household and know the rules, but she cannot have been kicked out for making a serious mistake.
With such high standards, it's naturally difficult to find suitable people. These past few days, Granny Qi and Xiumei have been cooking for everyone at home. Their cooking skills aren't very good, and the food they make is barely edible. But everyone is used to Mama Mao's cooking and has become picky about food. Even Granny Qi herself doesn't like it.
Besides finding people, there were a few other urgent matters that Liu needed to attend to. First, now that they had settled in the capital, they needed to visit the Meng family's old residence. Although they had separated from the family, Liu, as a daughter-in-law, still needed to take her children to meet her parents-in-law, as it was a matter of etiquette. Second, there was Lord Min's side. Meng Liniang and Min Yu hadn't met even once since their engagement, so Liu also needed to take Meng Liniang to visit the Min family so that the two children could meet before their marriage.
However, with not all the servants in the house ready and things in complete disarray, she had no choice but to postpone these two matters.
For several days in a row, she went out to look for several brokerage firms and bought more than ten servants. There were gatekeepers, maids and old women who were in charge of cleaning and sweeping, and several little girls around eight years old who had just started to grow their hair. They were all daughters of poor families in the surrounding area with clean backgrounds. She was handed over to Granny Qi to be disciplined for a period of time. After they learned the rules, they would be sent to serve Liu Shi, Aunt Luo and Meng Liniang.
Li Xiaoxiao wasn't used to having people around her; she just wanted someone to do the housework, so she politely declined the offer of close personal service.
After thinking it over, Liu did not force the issue. She planned to give Liu Zhi to Li Xiaoxiao when she found a suitable maid to be her head maid. They had grown up together since childhood and got along well.
As for Zhao Jian, Liu Shi didn't plan to let him go back. Instead, she would let him take over his father's job as the housekeeper. He was mature and steady from birth, knew martial arts, and was the most reliable person to do things.
Unfortunately, after searching the brokerage for four or five days, Liu had not found a particularly good maidservant suitable for close service. She had no choice but to give up and thought that she would first look for servants in the kitchen. If she really could not find one, perhaps she could relax her requirements and hire someone.
Liu and Granny Qi boarded the carriage and left the brokerage firm, but were stopped by a man on the roadside. Liu looked and saw that it was Rong Si, the godson of Wanwan's father-in-law.
Rong Si smiled and said, "Madam Meng, Eunuch Wan heard that you have been unable to find a suitable servant recently, so he would like to do you a favor."
Madam Liu hurriedly replied, "No, no, sir. Do you have any acquaintances who could introduce you?"
Rong Si laughed and said, "I don't know anyone here, but the case of Fan Wei, the chief clerk of the Ministry of War, who was convicted of embezzlement, has just been concluded. The Ministry of Justice sentenced him to have his property confiscated, be stripped of his post, and exiled to Ningguta. All the servants in his household are going to be taken to the market to be sold. Madam, would you like to pick out a few that you like and take them back with you?"
Mrs. Liu was both surprised and delighted: "Really? I can go and choose?"
Rong Si said, "Since the eunuch handed over the note, it must be genuine. You can't find a servant in the brokerage firm who understands the rules of wealthy families and has done nothing wrong. It would be most suitable to choose from the families of officials who have committed crimes."
That's true. Servants in the homes of officials are usually hereditary servants and don't easily come to market. Even if they do, they're usually bought up by people with connections long ago. Wan Quan really did her a big favor.
Liu followed Rong Si to the place where the slaves of the Ministry of War were imprisoned. All of them, regardless of gender, were tied up in an empty room, shivering from the cold. When someone came to pick people, they quickly knelt on the ground and begged to be taken away.
Being bought by someone is better than freezing or being beaten to death here. As servants, they never get the good things when their masters have good fortune, but when bad things happen, they are dragged down with them. They have no way to express their suffering.
Liu finally found a suitable cook here. This cook was nearly forty years old and knew how to cook both northern and southern cuisines. When Liu asked her about kitchen matters, she rattled off the names of the dishes she knew how to make and kept kowtowing, begging Liu to buy her whole family.
Her husband was a horse breeder. He had a son and a daughter. His son had just gotten married this year, and his wife was six months pregnant and hadn't given birth yet. His daughter was thirteen years old, both of whom were of working age.
Her biggest worry was her daughter-in-law, who was six months pregnant. If she continued to be tied up and left to the cold, the baby would definitely be lost within two days. Therefore, she hoped that her family would be bought by Liu.
As expected, Madam Liu selected her entire family, along with a former steward, two servants, four second-class maids who had previously served the young lady, and finally two embroiderers skilled in needlework, making a total of fourteen people.
Those who were chosen were so happy that they shed tears and kowtowed repeatedly, while those who were not chosen cried and begged Liu to take them away. Liu could not bear to see this, so she hurriedly left after selecting the people.
Rong Si handed Wan Quan's note to the guard, who quickly pulled the man out and handed him to Rong Si, who then crossed out their names from the register.
Liu handed Rong Si two heavy silver ingots: "Thank you for your hard work, father-in-law. This is just a small token of my appreciation. Please keep it for your tea."
Rong Si didn't refuse. He accepted the reward money with a smile and stuffed it into his sleeve. He smiled and said to Liu Shi, "The task my godfather gave me is finished. When Madam Meng goes back, just mention today's matter to Young Master Meng and that's it."
Liu was taken aback. Did Meng Guanqi need to know about the selection of servants? What did this mean?
But she didn't dare ask any more questions and quickly agreed. Rong Si had someone drive over and put all those people in the car to be taken to Chang Le Fang.
After getting out of the car, he looked up at the empty signboard and said, "Madam, you should hang up the signboard as soon as possible, otherwise people won't know whose family it is."
Liu hurriedly replied, "I've already sent someone to do it, but it hasn't been returned yet."
Rong Si asked, "I wonder which two characters Madam Liu has chosen?"
Liu said, "Naturally, it is the Li residence." Although Li Xiaoxiao repeatedly emphasized that the residence was given to her and Meng Guanqi by the Crown Prince, Liu was not shameless enough to claim it as Meng's property, so the residence naturally belonged to the Li family.
Rong Si nodded, bowed to Liu Shi, and then took his leave.
Exhausted, Liu whispered to Granny Qi, "Dealing with these important people is always nerve-wracking. Who knows if they have any hidden meanings in their words..."
Granny Qi knew that Liu was simple-minded and not very good at dealing with these cunning eunuchs, so she remembered what Rong Si and Liu said and prepared to tell Meng Guanqi.
Just as she couldn't quite understand why Wan Quan would specifically send Rong Si to deliver people to them, why he would specifically mention the matter of the Ministry of War's chief clerk, and why he would ask about the name of the residence, she only felt that there was something mysterious about it.
Meng Guanqi frowned slightly: "The Ministry of War official was exiled after his family was raided? Eunuch Wan sent Rong Si to deliver this message to me?"
Who was this Ministry of War official who got into trouble? Why did the Crown Prince allow Wan Quan to leak the information to him?
But the Dali Temple's verdict had already been handed down, so this kind of news was the easiest to find out. Meng Guanqi called Asheng in and asked him to go out and find out what this Ministry of War official was originally in charge of and what crime he had committed.
Ah Sheng accepted the order and left. Meng Guanqi looked at Liu Shi, who had a worried expression, and couldn't help but laugh and say, "Mother, I don't quite understand this matter either, so don't worry about it. His Highness the Crown Prince is probably just informing me, and it won't involve me. I won't leave the house before the imperial examination and won't cause any trouble."
Liu felt relieved, but upon hearing that her son wasn't going out, she couldn't help but think of returning to the Meng family home: "We haven't been back to the capital for four years. After we settle down these next few days, we'll definitely go back to visit your grandparents. Do you want them to know about you and Xiaoxiao?"
Meng Guanqi said, “There’s nothing to hide, but if they don’t ask, Mother, there’s no need to say anything more. It’s better to avoid trouble. Father told the clan before that I would wait until I passed the imperial examination before getting married. In the past few years, the family hasn’t inquired about marriage with any family in the capital. The people in the manor shouldn’t know that Xiaoxiao and I are already engaged. If Mother tells them now, although Grandfather has promised not to interfere in my marriage, my uncles and great-uncles might have their own ideas, and it will cause another uproar. If it were after the imperial examination, I would naturally not care and reason with them slowly. But now there are less than three months left, and I really don’t have the time to get entangled with them.”
Liu asked, "So, are you still going back with me? Or are you going to pretend to be sick and hide at home for a while?"
Meng Guanqi pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "We must go back. Otherwise, if Grandfather and Grandmother send someone to visit them, wouldn't it be easier to be exposed? Mother, please arrange the servants in the mansion first, and then let me know when you have the news of our return visit."
Liu agreed and turned to deal with the servants she had bought.
After buying more than twenty people in one go, the problem of not having enough manpower at home was finally solved. Liu called everyone to stand in the front yard and began to assign tasks.
The first step was to appoint stewards for both the inner and outer courtyards. Zhao Jian was to temporarily assume the position of steward for the outer courtyard, as his father was still the steward of the mansion. However, his father was still in Biyang County, so Zhao Jian was to temporarily assume the position of steward. This move also meant that after Steward Zhao retired, Zhao Jian would officially take over his position and become the steward of the outer courtyard for Meng Guanqi and Li Xiaoxiao.
Zhao Jian agreed without hesitation, and Xiu Mei was so happy that her face turned red. Her father-in-law was the head steward of the mansion, and her husband's future was already secured. What did she have to worry about?
After Zhao Jian took over the position of general manager, Liu entrusted him with the management of the newly purchased gatekeeper, groom, servants, and the steward of the office, and he was responsible for assigning their tasks.
Granny Qi served as the head steward of the inner courtyard, assisting Madam Liu in managing household affairs.
Granny Qi was also very satisfied. She was actually the head steward of the inner courtyard in Biyang County, but unfortunately she had no servants under her command. Even Liu Shi only had her granddaughter Liu Zhi as her personal attendant, and Aunt Luo and Meng Liniang only had one maidservant each. As a result, she, the head steward of the inner courtyard, had little presence. Now that nearly twenty maids, servants, cooks, and embroiderers had entered the inner courtyard, she finally had a place to use her talents.
Liu continued to assign duties, promoting Liuzhi, Xingge, and Meixiang to first-class head maids. Two newly purchased second-class maids were assigned to Liu's room, one to Aunt Luo and the other to Meng Liniang.
The young maids, who were eight or nine years old, were also sent to various rooms to learn how to do things. Once they learned the rules, they would be promoted depending on the situation.
Twenty-odd people may seem like a lot at first glance, but when divided among different departments, it still feels like there aren't enough people. Especially since Li Xiaoxiao, as the owner of the house, didn't take a single person. How can that be?
Liu said, "Liuzhi, from today onwards you will serve by Xiaoxiao's side. I will also assign a maid to teach you how to manage Xiaoxiao's household affairs."
Liu Zhi was overjoyed. Not only was she getting a promotion and a raise, but she also didn't have to take care of the children anymore? Was she dreaming?
She immediately agreed with a beaming smile.
Liu continued to assign tasks, and the kitchen was handed over to the cook's family. The elegant room next to the main house in the second courtyard was cleaned up and used as an embroidery room for the embroiderer, who was in charge of the clothes and shoes of everyone in the mansion.
After the tasks were assigned, Zhao Jian led the people from the outer courtyard away, while the people from the inner courtyard followed Granny Qi into the second courtyard. First, they were arranged to live in the front courtyard. Those with families lived in the back rooms of the front courtyard, while the unmarried maids lived in the servants' quarters of the inner courtyard, two to a room.
With over twenty people arriving at once, it was clear that the embroiderers wouldn't have enough time to make new clothes. So, Liu asked Zhao Jian to go to the cloth shop to buy ready-made clothes, one set of clothes for each person, along with a winter coat. The new servants were so delighted that they immediately knelt down and kowtowed to Liu to express their gratitude.
After a few more busy days, the plaque for the house was finally finished and delivered. The worker who made the plaque helped to set up a ladder and install it. The two characters "Li Residence" on the indigo background with yellow borders and black characters looked ancient and dignified.
Li Xiaoxiao stood in front of the gate with her arms crossed, looking at the two characters, feeling extremely satisfied.
She now owns a house in Beijing, which is great; she's very satisfied.
Liu said, "Logically, when a house is completed, you should hold a housewarming party. Do you want to do that?"
Once the name "Li Residence" is hung here, the neighbors will definitely inquire about who has moved in. Then, they can send a housewarming gift and invite them to a banquet to establish an acquaintance.
Upon hearing this, Li Xiaoxiao shook her head: "I don't have time to deal with that right now. We'll talk about everything after you finish the imperial examination."
She has found ironwood for making fitness equipment. The hardness of this wood is almost comparable to steel. She is very satisfied and plans to start making a set of uneven bars at home in the next few days.
The ironwood was so hard and heavy that no one but her had the strength to carve it into the shape she wanted.
After finding the wood, she bought an axe, a hammer, and a machete and started working.
First, use an axe to cut the thick ironwood into several pillars of the same height. Make grooves at the top of each pillar. Then, dig a deep pit in the yard, fill it with quicklime mixed with glutinous rice paste to fix them in place. Next, select ironwood the thickness of an arm, polish it smooth, and place it into the grooves at the top of the pillars. A hard and sturdy horizontal bar is now complete. After freezing it overnight, the horizontal bar will remain firmly in place.
Following the same method, Li Xiaoxiao made several more parallel bars and horizontal bars of varying heights. Once they were all frozen solid, she called Meng Guanqi over: "Okay, let's try it."
Meng Guanqi looked at her in confusion, while Rui Rui, who had been following her around every day for the past few days, had been eager to play with the big toy she had made.
Li Xiaoxiao pulled Rui Rui aside: "This isn't for you to play with. After your brother finishes his exams, I'll turn this horizontal bar into a swing so you can swing to your heart's content."
It's too cold to swing on a swing right now, as it's easy for children to get sick from the cold.
Li Xiaoxiao put Rui Rui aside and demonstrated a few pull-ups for him in front of Meng Guanqi, then jumped down: "Try to see how many you can do until you're exhausted?"
Meng Guanqi thought it was quite simple for her to do, so he tried it himself. After doing seven or eight, he started to struggle. His arms trembled and sweat beaded on his forehead. He never expected that he couldn't even complete ten of such a simple action.
Unconvinced, he used all his strength to barely manage twelve repetitions before losing control and falling off.
Li Xiaoxiao reached out and caught him, only to find that his hands were as soft as noodles.
"Twelve is not particularly bad, but it's not good either, just average," she commented seriously. "However, doing more of these can quickly strengthen your back and arm muscles, and because this exercise can also stretch your neck, it can also relieve neck pain."
She helped Meng Guanqi to the parallel bars, which were much lower than the horizontal bar. Standing inside, they only reached his elbows. Li Xiaoxiao easily lifted herself up with her hands and demonstrated a few standard movements for him: "This is much easier than the horizontal bar. It can train your arm strength, as well as your chest, abdominal, and core muscles. If you feel soreness in the muscles you're using, it means it's effective. From now on, you should set aside one hour a day to do the parallel bars without fail for two months. With a proper diet, you'll build muscle quickly, and you won't be so afraid of the cold anymore."
Also, because of the constant exercise, blood circulation is accelerated, and the hands and feet are less likely to get chilblains.
It will definitely feel uncomfortable at first, but you'll get used to it after the first seven days. And if you keep exercising, you'll become addicted. Once you're addicted, you'll feel uncomfortable all over if you don't take some time to stretch every day.
In the first few days of practice, Meng Guanqi was sore all over and almost couldn't even hold a pen, and he almost gave up. But as Li Xiaoxiao said, after getting through the first few days of hardship, he found it more and more interesting. Calluses inevitably formed on his palms, but he also clearly felt that his body was not so afraid of the cold anymore.
After he settled down, Liu finally sorted out the household affairs and sent out two invitations, one to the residence of Minister Meng and the other to the residence of Lord Min.
After receiving the visiting card, Madam Meng said to Zhao Jian, who had delivered it, "I understand. Tell her to come over tomorrow afternoon. I heard she had another son, who is now two or three years old. Bring him over so I can meet him."
If they come again in the afternoon, doesn't that mean they're not going to let Liu and the others have lunch at the mansion? Zhao Jian was secretly alarmed. He hadn't expected that Old Madam Meng would be too lazy to even pretend anymore, and that she wouldn't even bother to entertain her illegitimate daughter-in-law with a meal when she came to pay her respects.
But he was just a servant after all, and dared not say anything. After receiving a purse of money as a reward from Old Madam Meng, he took his leave.
Upon hearing this, Liu felt a chill run down her spine: "Even though we've separated from the family, even if we're just visiting as relatives, we shouldn't be left without a meal. It seems that my mother-in-law really has a lot of opinions about our branch of the family."
Granny Qi could only comfort her: "The old lady doesn't care about us, so there's no need for us to fawn over her. As long as we are polite enough, we don't need to care what others say."
They've already separated into two separate families, so they're now two different households.
Liu sighed, "I don't have any conflicts with the sisters-in-law in the mansion. A few years ago when I was in Biyang County, I even received a lot of gifts from them. It's just that my mother doesn't like me, so they probably can't say anything. But after I come back, I will take Li Niang to visit the Min family. I wonder if the Min family will have any thoughts when they find out that the Meng family didn't invite us to dinner."
Granny Qi said, "Miss, don't worry. They'll regret treating us like this..." Once the eldest son passes the imperial examination and is highly regarded by the Crown Prince, will he still need to be mindful of the Meng family's feelings?
That was all Liu could tell herself.
Granny Qi then brought up Liu's family: "Madam has already sent out invitations; should we also send a copy to the Liu family?"
Liu was somewhat listless: "My aunt died early, and my stepmother never liked me. When I was in the Meng family, she told me not to visit her unless necessary. Now I heard that my father has been sent to the Ministry of Agriculture in Tianjin, and there is only my elder brother left in the family. You can prepare a gift and send it over, and I won't come to visit."
The news that Liu had sent a visiting card to the Meng family to pay her respects quickly spread throughout the Meng household. However, the fact that Old Madam Meng had told her to come back in the afternoon still surprised the ladies of the various households when the news spread in the back courtyard.
It's been four years since Liu left, and she finally came back, but Old Madam Meng didn't even offer her a meal. This is such a slap in the face!
Meng Rong's wife, Nie, couldn't help but go to talk to the second wife, Ye. As soon as she arrived, she found that the third wife, Jia, and the fifth wife, Tang, had also arrived. Obviously, everyone was talking about this matter.
Minister Meng was quite devoted to his family. Of his five sons, four were born of the principal wife, while Meng Ying was born of a concubine. After Meng Ying moved out, the wives of the other wives were considered to be of the same blood and maintained a harmonious relationship on the surface.
"Sister-in-law is here." Madam Ye got up and welcomed Madam Nie in to sit down.
Madam Nie cut to the chase: "With all of you siblings here, you must have heard about your fourth sister-in-law's upcoming return, right?"
The sisters-in-law nodded in unison.
Ye said, "My fourth sister-in-law hasn't been back for four years. I heard she had a son the year before last, and he's about two years old now. We haven't met him yet. We were just thinking about what kind of gift to give her."
Madam Jia said, "The gift is a small matter, but did you all hear that Mother asked Fourth Sister-in-law to come again this afternoon..."
Upon hearing this, the sisters-in-law looked at each other and all fell silent.
Regardless of whether they had any opinions about Liu, surely it wouldn't be so unreasonable to refuse a meal to a relative who hadn't returned for four years when they came to visit?
Madam Nie sighed, "If only we had been there when Mother received the visiting card, we could have persuaded her. But the news has already reached Fourth Sister-in-law's ears. If we invite her to stay for dinner, I'm afraid she will still feel resentful."
The others knew perfectly well what was going on, but they kept their mouths tightly shut.
So, Madam Meng disliked Liu Shi really that much? When they lived in the mansion before, they were jealous of how well their mother-in-law treated her stepdaughters-in-law, not letting them do anything, but she was extremely strict with her own four daughters-in-law. Now they understand, it turns out she didn't like Liu Shi.
No, it should be said that she disliked Meng Ying, which led to her disliking his entire family. So when Meng Ying got into trouble, she and Minister Meng kicked the fourth branch of the family out. It seems that she had wanted to do this for a long time.
Everyone knew this in their hearts, but dared not say it aloud, otherwise, if their mothers-in-law heard it, they would be labeled as unfilial and would be in deep trouble.
The youngest daughter-in-law, Tang, said, "I heard that Liniang from Fourth Sister-in-law's family said that the eldest son of Minister Min, the head of the Ministry of Personnel, is getting married. The wedding is probably set for next month. Since Mother doesn't like Fourth Sister-in-law, will she still send us invitations?"
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