"Is the young mistress going to see us or not? We can't just stay here forever."
"Yeah, I've been waiting for half an hour, and I'm freezing."
"I can bear the cold, but I still have work to do. If I leave for too long, I'm afraid my superiors will blame me."
The stewards stamped their feet in the cold and whispered amongst themselves when a haughty voice suddenly rang out, "You want to leave? The young mistress didn't make you wait. No one's stopping you if you want to go!"
Who is it?
How dare you speak so arrogantly!
Everyone saw her, but the owner of the voice remained as arrogant as ever, "What are you looking at! It's true, the young mistress didn't ask you to come, you all chose to wait here!"
"Who do we have here? It's Li Gui's wife, who's in charge of the kitchen."
"Li Gui's wife, what are you so smug about? You only received two rewards from the young mistress, so what?"
"I've never seen you have much influence in front of the young mistress. Judging from your arrogant attitude, anyone who didn't know better would think that the young mistress values you a lot."
"Exactly, what makes you so great? You can't get in either."
The stewards all attacked Li Gui's family.
Li Gui's wife wasn't angry when she heard this; in fact, she was quite pleased with herself. Of all the stewards in the mansion, she was the first one to favor the young mistress.
Last month, the head maid asked her to tamper with the young mistress's food, but she managed to get away with it.
Later, she told the young mistress about it, and the young mistress said that she knew she was very loyal and would never forget her.
Are you saying I have no face in front of the young mistress?
Haha, sorry, I've already made my name known to the young mistress, you just don't know it!
Li Guijia glanced disdainfully at the people around him, thinking to himself that even if these people used every means to curry favor with the young mistress, they would still not be ranked ahead of her.
The only one who could rival her was the manager of the sewing room.
Thinking about it, Li Gui's wife spotted the head of the sewing room in the crowd.
The old woman who was doing needlework also noticed her. The two quietly walked to the side and exchanged a few pleasantries. The old woman kept glancing at Li Gui's wife while casually saying, "With so many managers gathered here, the young mistress neither says she wants to see them nor that she doesn't. I don't think it's a good thing. We can't keep them waiting forever."
"Hmm, so what?" Li Guijia licked his back teeth.
"Why don't you go and ask her if you're close to the young mistress..."
"Why don't you go and ask?" Li Gui's wife glared at her directly. "You ill-intentioned person, the young mistress has her own rules for doing things, it's none of my business to interfere."
"Hehe, I was just kidding, why are you angry..."
"I know you too well. You're definitely plotting something, and you want me to stand up for you. If the young mistress gets angry, you'll be the most useful person by her side, right?"
Li Gui's wife saw through her scheme at a glance. How could the needlework nanny admit it? She immediately cried out that she was innocent, "It's a misunderstanding! How could I think that? We are all the young mistress's people. We should work together. After all, the mistress is in charge of the household now. We can't fight amongst ourselves."
That made some sense, and Li Guijia's anger subsided slightly.
Indeed, now is not the time for them to compete for favor; they should work together to help the young mistress seize control of the household.
Thinking about it, Li Guijia hesitated.
Perhaps she should really ask the young mistress?
After all, these busybodies have abandoned their work to gather here and pay their respects to the young mistress. If the young mistress doesn't care or ask any questions, she might be accused of being arrogant.
Of course, the young mistress has the right to be arrogant.
These people coming to pay their respects to the young mistress is simply a gesture of goodwill; these are all human sentiments, and there's no need to push them away.
Thinking of this, Li Gui's wife felt that even if the young mistress disliked it, she had to offer some advice; otherwise, how could she show that she was different from the needlework woman?
The young mistress is currently very popular, and although she has already been formally recognized by the young mistress, she should strive even harder to improve herself.
She should work hard for the young mistress so that the young mistress can see her value. Otherwise, why would the young mistress value her after she takes over the family?
Having already made up his mind, Li Guijia pushed his way forward.
"Grandma Fang..."
She squeezed to the door and was about to knock when she suddenly felt a silence behind her. Turning around, she saw the crowd parting like a tide, and a group of brightly dressed head maids and nannies walked out through the moon archway.
A rough count revealed more than a dozen, all of whom were at least mid-level managers, and the leaders were none other than the three matrons headed by Chang Mama.
There are three senior matrons in the mansion. In terms of status, the head matron is the highest, followed by the storeroom matron, and finally the matron in charge of etiquette.
However, since Chang Mama was part of the old lady's dowry, the head maid and the storeroom maid treated her with great respect, always letting her walk ahead of them.
Chang Mama didn't refuse. She came from the palace and was from the old lady's quarters, so this was the proper decorum she deserved.
At this moment, Mama Chang arrived with a group of stewards, all there to pay their respects to Jiang Shuwan.
After giving the pearls as a reward, Madam Pei recalled how Jiang Shuwan had been treated coldly by the steward on her first day of marriage.
The old lady directly instructed Chang Mama to lead the way, bringing along the head maids and nannies of Yongshou Hall to pay their respects to Jiang Shuwan.
Of course, Madam Pei didn't explicitly give any orders to the other managers, but judging from their demeanor, anyone with eyes could tell that the old lady was trying to establish the young mistress's authority.
So all the head maids and servants in the household, whether they could leave or not, came over.
Even the head maid and the storeroom maid followed behind Chang Mama with their tails between their legs.
On the first day Jiang Shuwan married into the family, they were so arrogant that not a single one of them came, not even their subordinates.
Now they've all gathered, a large, listless bunch, like defeated roosters.
"Hello, Aunt Chang."
"Greetings, Head Madam."
"Greetings, storeroom nanny."
The stewards gathered outside Jiang Shuwan's courtyard greeted them warmly, feeling quite fortunate.
Fortunately, they came as soon as they learned that the old lady had given them pearls; otherwise, it would have been a real waste for Chang Mama to have to send someone to call them.
Just then, the courtyard gate creaked open.
Granny Fang opened the door and stood respectfully to one side. Granny Tao and Xiao Tao came out to greet them and pay their respects to Granny Chang.
"With such heavy snow, why has Aunt Chang come? Please come in, Aunt Chang."
Granny Tao welcomed Chang Mama in, then feigned surprise at suddenly seeing the head nanny and the storeroom nanny.
"Why are the two matrons here too? And what time did you all arrive, stewards?"
"You haven't been waiting long, have you? Why didn't you ask Granny Fang to pass on the message when you arrived? It's so cold outside, and you've just been waiting here..."
What she said was too fake. This group of people had been waiting here for almost half an hour. Even a blind man could see it, but who would dare to expose her lie?
In the current situation, Jiang Shuwan is on top, and they are on the bottom.
That's often how it is; when you're in a high position, what's wrong can become right, and what's right can become wrong, depending on how you look at it.
Of course, if Jiang Shuwan were to be impolite at the clan banquet and fail to gain the approval of Old Madam Pei, the situation would be quite different.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
