Facing his elder sister, Gu Yanfei was not embarrassed at all. His big eyes were clearly black and white, bright and sincere.
Gu Yunzhen: “…”
Normally, Gu Yanfei always looked calm and confident. Gu Yunzhen had always admired her sister's courage to act. But seeing her acting like a little girl, his heart softened.
The eldest sister is like a mother. As the eldest sister, she should help her younger sister with the housekeeping in the mansion so that her eldest brother can focus on his work outside.
In an instant, Gu Yunzhen felt a sense of mission to shoulder a heavy responsibility.
"Okay, leave the household affairs to me." Gu Yunzhen agreed with a gentle and moving smile. She rubbed Gu Yanfei's soft head and thought to herself: Everything has a rule. She will first help her second sister sort out the personnel and rules, and then hand it over to her second sister little by little in the future.
All she could do for her elder brother and second sister were these trivial matters.
"Big sister, you are so kind." Gu Yanfei smiled sweetly, her fair little face was as gorgeous as a summer flower, and she thought happily in her heart: Sure enough, the eldest sister is the most reliable! Whether it is the senior sister or the eldest sister, they are all reliable, much more reliable than that stupid cat! Gu Yanfei ordered Juanbi to open the wooden box in her hand, took out a booklet from it, and handed it to Gu Yunzhen impatiently, "Big sister, this is the roster of the mansion."
The names recorded on this roster are all servants of the Gu family, and do not include the maids of each family's wives. The indentures of the maids are in the hands of each family.
Gu Yunzhen lowered his head to look at the roster, while Gu Yanfei leisurely picked up the teacup.
She had just taken a sip of tea when the door curtain was lifted from the outside. A pretty maid in blue came in with a red lacquered wooden food box and said with a smile, "Miss, Miss, the third wife asked me to bring you the golden candied date soup she made herself."
Gu Yunzhen turned a deaf ear and buried his head in looking at the roster.
The maid in blue slowly put down the food box, and then slowly took out two bowls of candied golden date soup, presenting one bowl to Gu Yunzhen and the other to Gu Yanfei.
Gu Yunzhen grew up in the Marquis' Mansion and was very familiar with most of the names in the account books. As soon as he saw the names, he could recognize their faces. He also knew a lot about the complicated relationship between these servants.
Gu Yunzhen looked at the roster intently, occasionally tapping on the name list with his fingers.
The maid in blue took out three or four plates of cakes and candied fruits from the food box and placed them on the coffee table next to her.
After a moment, Gu Yunzhen waved at Gu Yanfei, pointed at a few names on the roster, and said, "Second sister, what are you going to do with these people?"
Gu Yanfei leaned over to look at the roster, his chin naturally resting on Gu Yunzhen's slender shoulder.
The names that Gu Yunzhen pointed out on the roster were either people who had worked in Cihetang and the Second House Courtyard in the past, or they were stewards in the mansion who married Wang's concubine, or they had relatives working in the Second House and were given the Second House when the family was divided...
"What do you think, big sister?" Gu Yanfei smiled and let Gu Yunzhen make the decision.
Gu Yunzhen said in a gentle voice: "There are few people in the mansion now, so let each room take their people away."
The servants of the Gu family are all family-born children, and their deeds are all owned by the public. Yesterday, the clan leader presided over the division of the family and roughly distributed the servants serving in each family to each family. Their deeds were also handed over to each family in front of the clan leader and elders.
The roster in Gu Yunzhen's hand is the one that was updated yesterday.
Just now, Gu Yunzhen re-sorted out the relationship between these servants on the list and pointed out all the inappropriate names.
After all, there are few people in the mansion now, and there is no shortage of servants. It would be better to distribute all these servants who are closely related to each family to each room, so that the mansion will be quiet in the future.
"Yeah." Gu Yanfei nodded with a smile. She thought so too.
When the blue-clothed maid next to her heard this, she silently carried the empty food box and left, her steps silent and soundless.
Gu Yun was so focused on the roster that he didn't notice when Yan's maid left. Gu Yanfei noticed it, but didn't care at all.
As a widow, Third Aunt Yan has been cautious in her words and actions in the mansion over the years, giving in in everything and never daring to compete with other rooms. This time, such a change happened in the mansion, and she must be feeling uneasy.
With Gu Yunzhen in charge of household chores, Yan would probably feel at ease.
This kills two birds with one stone.
Seeing that Gu Yanfei agreed, Gu Yun really became more interested. He asked Feicui to prepare pen and ink, and enthusiastically wrote a list based on the roster.
The two sisters discussed it and spent half an hour sorting out the personnel matters.
Gu Yunzhen looked at a piece of silk paper that was filled with writing and repeatedly revised, picked up his pen and rewrote a final list, writing in soft and neat small calligraphy with flower-shaped characters.
"Second sister, take another look." Gu Yunzhen blew the ink off the paper and handed it to Gu Yanfei personally, her gentle eyes full of energy.
Seeing this scene, Gu Yunzhen's maid Feicui curled her lips and silently brewed new tea for the two sisters. She was also happy for her own girl.
Ever since the girl broke off the engagement with the Murong family a few years ago, although she never said anything, Feicui served her day and night and could see that her girl was a little listless and in a low mood.
This kind of "depression" does not mean that the girl feels sad, nor does it mean that the girl is nostalgic for the marriage... It should be said that she is confused, as if the girl does not know what she should work hard for in her life.
And now, the girl is full of energy again.
That's great! Feicui was very happy. She served Gu Yunzhen with writing materials, poured tea and water, and then went with the two sisters to Yude Hall at the front of the inner courtyard.
In Yude Hall, seven or eight maids and daughters-in-law had been waiting inside for quite a while, all of them eagerly waiting, occasionally whispering to each other and looking outside from time to time.
When these housekeepers saw Gu Yunzhen coming with Gu Yanfei, they were all surprised, and some of them exchanged glances secretly.
The maids were all feeling a little solemn. Everyone knew that things had changed in the mansion. From now on, the second young lady, who was brought back only last year, would have the final say in the mansion.
It is true that things change over time! If someone had said a few months ago that this situation would happen, I am afraid no one would have believed it.
All the sounds in the main hall suddenly disappeared, silence ensued, and the atmosphere became solemn and peaceful.
In contrast, Gu Yanfei was in a very relaxed and happy mood, and his steps were so brisk that he seemed to be flying.
Her idea was really great! Before her eldest sister got married, she could live a relaxed life without having to worry about anything.
When my eldest sister gets married...
Gu Yanfei was not worried at all, he thought happily: By that time, maybe my sister-in-law will also come in.
Fortunately, she is a younger sister, so it’s better to be a younger sister!
Thinking of this, the smile on Gu Yanfei's lips deepened a little. He took Gu Yunzhen's arm and walked into the main hall, while glancing at the maids in the hall.
Only about half of the housekeepers present were there.
It has been nearly an hour since she gave the order to Juanbi, and the maids who were late were obviously doing it on purpose.
Gu Yanfei and Gu Yunzhen sat down on the two rosewood armchairs at the top. The solemn and majestic armchairs were more suitable for men like Gu Jian and Gu Yuan, making the two girls look even more slender and thin.
The maids all greeted the two girls.
"Madam He." Gu Yanfei called out neither lightly nor heavily.
A woman in her fifties, wearing a brown jacket with a Ganoderma lucidum pattern, stepped forward from the crowd, bowed and waited, "I wonder if the second young lady has any instructions?"
Gu Yanfei asked directly: "How many people have not arrived yet?"
Nanny He could answer them one by one without even looking at them: "Madam Zhou, Nanny Qian, Nanny Lai, Nanny Xu..."
The maid of Zhou Li's family is the daughter-in-law of Zhou Li, the chief steward of the outer courtyard, and is in charge of the access control of the inner courtyard; Madam Qian is in charge of the inner courtyard warehouse, and Madam Lai is in charge of purchasing matters for the inner courtyard... Each of them is a well-known maid in charge of the inner house of the marquis's mansion.
Nanny He called out six or seven names in a row before stopping. At the end, she added, "Only these few maids didn't come."
Gu Yanfei turned around and told Juanbi, "Go find the indentures of these people and give them to the Second Madam."
Gu Jian was stripped of his title, which meant that Wang had lost the imperial decree of being the Marquis' wife. Now Wang could only be called the Second Wife, just like eight years ago.
Nanny He was sighing in her heart when she heard Gu Yanfei in front of her casually continue: "Tell the Second Madam that if the Second House wants to take these people away, then take them all away and let the Second Madam buy them with money."
"If the second wife doesn't want them, then find a matchmaker to sell them all."
Gu Yanfei did not lower his voice when he spoke, and everyone present heard it clearly.
Even the two maids guarding under the eaves outside and the old woman sweeping the courtyard pricked up their ears and listened attentively to the movements inside.
(End of this chapter)
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