Chapter 46 If it were any other time, the maids and servants would have already come forward to greet the guests...
Normally, the maids and servants would have already come forward to greet her.
But now the maids and servants in the lead looked embarrassed, cautiously peeking out, not daring to show their smiles, for fear of running into Third Sister's guns and cannons.
"What are you all standing there for? The mistress has spoken, everyone in the courtyard will get some, and there's even a reward!" It wasn't until Mama Zheng and Mama Xu came out of the house and called everyone over to get their porridge that the maids and servants filed out and came forward to greet them.
"Sister Yun, why haven't you hung lanterns in the courtyard yet?"
“Pick out some festive silk fabrics and lanterns; the courtyard needs to have a festive atmosphere.”
The maids were quick-witted and immediately understood the meaning behind the two mistresses' words.
Almost instantly, smiles appeared on their faces. The maids and servants went to the storeroom to fetch lanterns and silk, or to find the florist to get flowers. Others spoke auspicious words to the two matrons. In an instant, the courtyard was no longer as quiet as before, but became lively.
Mother Zheng's brows relaxed, and she finally revealed a satisfied smile: "That's more like it."
"It should be lively and festive."
“That’s right, holidays should be lively. What kind of person would keep a long face?” Mrs. Xu chimed in from behind.
The two mothers were satisfied and turned to lift the thick curtain to go back inside to serve. Xu Mama walked to the table, took out Laba porridge from the food box, and presented it to Third Madam Zhou with both hands: "Madam, come, drink a bowl while it's hot."
"Leave it there, I don't have much of an appetite."
"My lady, after you and your husband drink Laba porridge, everything will be perfect," said Madam Zheng, offering auspicious words and urging Zhou to have some.
Leaving aside how the two mothers persuaded Zhou to eat porridge and rice, Jiang Zhenniang outside the house finally breathed a sigh of relief, and a hint of joy appeared on her face.
You should know that what she does in the house is raise birds and cats. She has to go in and out with Third Sister every day. These days she can be said to be on tenterhooks and has no time to relax.
The two maids who were expelled from the house today used to have a lot of influence in front of Third Sister. Even Mama Zheng and Mama Xu treated them with courtesy and never showed a bad face.
Now, they have been relegated to working in the courtyard, and it's unclear how long it will be before they can return to serving inside.
Jiang Zhenniang used to only remember the wealth and power of the Marquis's mansion, but now she remembered that when she was in the mansion, there were many maids who were either driven out of their rooms, demoted out of their courtyards, or even sent to wash toilets or sold off.
Jiang Zhenniang's mind was filled with a thousand thoughts. After finishing the Laba porridge, she changed the water and food for the birds and washed the tray clean.
Next, she went to the cat room to get some bath powder to wash her hands. The bath powder was unremarkable in appearance and had almost no fragrance, but it was made from ingredients such as strychnine and frankincense, and was specially used by servants to wash their hands before touching cats.
After washing her hands, Jiang Zhenniang picked up the white cat Jinzhu, which was wandering around her feet, bent down, and picked up scissors to trim Jinzhu's nails.
Jinzhu was a good-natured cat, and after smelling the scent of Jiang Zhenniang's palm, she stretched out her body and made purring sounds.
Jiang Zhenniang rubbed her cheeks, scratched her neck, then rubbed her belly, and finally stroked her back. While Jinzhu was stretching out, she pinched the soles of its paws, quickly trimmed the protruding tips of its toenails, and then used a file to smooth out any rough edges.
By the time Jinzhu realized something was wrong, swung its bushy tail, and let out a dissatisfied meow, Jiang Zhenniang had already easily completed her task.
"Meow—Meow!"
"Good girl... good girl! I'm doing this for your own good." Jiang Zhenniang put Jinzhu on the carpet and coaxed her gently. Third Sister had been in a bad mood lately, and it wouldn't be good if Jinzhu scratched her while playing.
But the kitten didn't understand the two-legged creature's concern. It angrily pounced on Jiang Zhenniang's feet and nibbled at them with its sharp little teeth.
Jiang Zhenniang, with a stern face, tried to shoo away the troublesome Jinzhu.
But Jinzhu wasn't afraid at all. Its tail was held high and curved, and it thought Jiang Zhenniang was playing with it. It pounced even more vigorously and even stretched its claws towards the charcoal brazier.
"My little darling, you can go to the side." Jiang Zhenniang grabbed Jinzhu's little paw and pushed it aside.
She muttered to herself, picked up the charcoal with tongs in one hand, lifted the lid of the charcoal basin with the other, added more charcoal, and then closed the basin again, making sure to fasten the outer buckle, lest Jinzhu be opened.
Jinzhu rolled over and flicked its tail.
After Jiang Zhenniang finished her work, she played with Jinzhu for a while with a cat toy, and then went to wait outside the main room.
After coaxing Zhou Shi into drinking a bowl of Laba porridge, Madam Zheng came out with a smile on her face. Seeing Jiang Zhenniang standing guard at the door, she told her to go to the tea room to rest for a while: "What are you doing standing guard outside in this cold weather?"
"Ever since Sanlangjun returned, Jinzhu has been extremely restless, unable to eat or drink, and thinking about his wife every day."
"I think Madam is in a good mood today, so she might want to see her." Jiang Zhenniang's words pleased Zheng Mama. Even cats and dogs miss their masters, let alone the servants and maids in the courtyard. She smiled and instructed Jiang Zhenniang to bring Jinzhu over and take her inside.
Jiang Zhenniang smiled and agreed, then carried the cat into the house a moment later. This time, when she went out, she changed to a clove-scented bath powder to wash her hands. The cat, Jinzhu, didn't like the smell, so as soon as she entered the house, she broke free from her arms and ran towards Third Sister Zhou.
It recognized Zhou Shi and circled around Zhou Shi's legs several times, making sticky meowing noises.
“My wife, look, Jinzhu misses you and my husband too.”
“People say that livestock have no conscience… Look at our Jinzhu, it has a much better conscience than some people.” Zhou bent down and picked up Jinzhu. Seeing that its fur was clean and neat, and its toenails were trimmed neatly, she hugged it and rubbed it.
Zhou's words were pointed, and no one in the room dared to respond. She was still concerned about Sanlang's condition, so she only played with the cat for a short while before instructing Jiang Zhenniang to take it back. However, when Jiang Zhenniang went forward, Jinzhu became unhappy and even slapped her with its paw.
"My wife, look..."
"Jinzhu truly misses his wife. When he sees her, he can't see anyone else," Zheng Mama said with a smile, flattering him.
Third Sister Zhou smiled, clearly in a good mood.
When she saw how pitiful Jiang Zhenniang looked after finally catching Jinzhu and being slapped a few times by Jinzhu, she couldn't help but laugh out loud. She told Zheng Mama to get her money pouch as a reward and also took an old gold hairpin from the box for her.
Holding the gifts from Zhou, Jiang Zhenniang could not hide her joy and thanked her repeatedly.
Don't be fooled by the fact that it's an old style used by the Zhou family. They all used pure gold hairpins. Even if they weren't kept for themselves, they would sell them because they thought the styles were too old and exchange them for two sets of silver headdresses.
When Jiang Zhenniang received such a reward, the maidservants serving her in the room couldn't help but take a second look.
It wasn't out of jealousy. Third Madam Zhou was always generous, and the maids and servants in the courtyard often received rewards, especially those in the house, almost all of whom received silk clothes or jewelry as rewards.
However, Jiang Zhenniang was not a member of the household, but a third-class servant who kept cats and birds in the courtyard.
You should know that cats and birds can often come into the house to visit their wives, but people generally cannot. Usually, when servants who keep cats and birds are called into the house for questioning, it's either because the cats and birds are unwell, or because the cats and birds have run away or gotten lost, or because they have injured someone.
"Congratulations, Madam Jiang." As Jiang Zhenniang carried Jinzhu out, the little maid who lifted the curtain smiled and flattered her, "You'll probably be going inside to serve us soon."
"Oh dear, if that's really the case, I'll definitely treat you to a good meal, Sister Yu," Jiang Zhenniang said shamelessly, joking with several maids outside the house.
...
The news of Jiang Zhenniang's reward quickly spread throughout the courtyard. The maids in the house praised her, and the maids and servants in the courtyard were envious but also relieved.
When Xu Mama came out, she praised Jiang Zhenniang again and again: "It's all thanks to you for teaching Jinzhu so well that my wife can smile like this."
"I also think that Third Sister has lost weight."
"Indeed." Madam Xu took out a handkerchief from her sleeve, wiped her eyes, and sighed inwardly. Third Sister was so worried about Third Young Master that she couldn't eat or drink, let alone laugh. She had lost a lot of weight. This morning, she tried on the dress that had been made earlier, but it was two sizes too big. She hurriedly asked the embroidery workshop to take it back and alter it.
She thought for a moment and then instructed, "Now that you've stepped forward this time, don't step forward again. It's not a good time to step forward now... Wait until Sanlangjun wakes up, and I'll think of a way to teach you to go inside and serve him."
"I know." Jiang Zhenniang didn't actually intend to go inside to serve; she was just doing her job honestly. As for using clove bath powder to wash her hands so that the cat could get close to her wife, that was truly a clever idea.
After giving a few more instructions, Mrs. Xu went back inside.
In the evening, seeing that Third Sister was dressed in her finest clothes and heading to the main courtyard for a banquet, she went home.
When Jiang Zhenniang arrived home, she did not see her daughter. When she went to the main kitchen, she learned from the maid that "Han'er has really had great luck!"
"Cook Xu wants her to help her prepare the banquet dishes!"
"Ho!" Jiang Zhenniang was startled and stood at the entrance of the main kitchen, looking inside. She saw her daughter standing next to Chef Xu, deftly handling the ingredients and nodding occasionally as she listened.
Jiang Zhenniang clutched her chest, too shocked to speak. If only she could learn cooking skills from Chef Xu—
Just thinking about it made Jiang Zhenniang almost faint with laughter. She didn't bother going in to talk to her daughter, but instead turned around and went home to prepare a gift so that she could take her daughter to thank Chef Xu later.
In the kitchen, Su Zhihan was not as happy as Jiang Zhenniang. Some time ago, she learned from Pearl and Qiuyue that Chef Xu had withdrawn the letter, but no matter how she observed it, she felt it was very strange.
You should know that after she entered the kitchen, the cook, Xu, did not like her at first, and was very cold to her afterwards, showing no intention of getting close to her at all.
Aside from the time Su Zhihan visited and gave gifts when she became the head chef, the two never interacted again. Su Zhihan said that Chef Xu intended to take her on as an apprentice and pass on all her skills to her.
Su Zhihan looked at it and felt that it was just a reflection in the jar. It seemed very close, but in fact it was impossible to touch.
This morning, when Su Zhihan went to work in the main kitchen, she was suddenly called to her side by Chef Xu.
She was accompanied by two maids.
Su Zhihan's hands moved non-stop as she followed Chef Xu's instructions to scoop the whelks out of the pot and carefully place them into several identical dishes, finally sprinkling each dish with a handful of chopped scallions.
Almost the instant the action stopped, the waitress who was waiting nearby placed the dishes on a tray and quickly sent them away.
Su Zhihan didn't even have time to look up, and immediately started preparing the next dish.
Or rather, everyone in the kitchen was like that, so busy that they didn't even have time to drink water, let alone eat; everyone was on an empty stomach.
Busy, busy, busy!
The kitchen was bustling with activity, while the front yard was equally lively. Those who came to the banquet were all relatives and friends of the Marquis of Zhongyong's family. The men gathered in the main hall, while the women gathered at the flower hall.
Even though Third Sister Zhou had prepared herself mentally, she couldn't help but get angry when she saw all the officials' wives who used to fawn over her surrounding Second Sister.
"My wife."
"...I understand." Even if Madam Zhou had a fiery temper, she wouldn't explode at the Laba Festival family banquet. Besides, she had seen a lot of ups and downs in recent days, so her reaction was surprisingly calm.
Until everyone started talking about Laba porridge: "Speaking of which, the Laba porridge that our Marquis's mansion sent this year was truly extraordinary."
“That’s right.” Someone immediately chimed in.
"Such elaborate Laba porridge is truly a first for our Marquis Zhongyong's mansion!" The lady-in-waiting next to her said with a smile. She was from the maternal family of the second lady, Xu, and knew that the second lady was in charge of the Laba porridge this year. She was happy to flatter her: "I have only heard people say that it should be made this way before, but this is the first time I have ever tasted it."
"The porridge really did have the fragrance of plum blossoms."
"The Jianzhou lotus seeds are indeed well-deserved of their reputation. Each one is as white and bright as a pearl, melts in your mouth, and has no bitterness at all."
"And those Jiuzhen longans, which are dried nine times, are truly fragrant and sweet as honey. My daughter loves them so much that she keeps asking for another bowl."
"And the ham used in the savory porridge was originally smoked in the valley forest. Even the pigs that make the ham have to eat spices and grow up listening to music."
The ladies of the officialdom showered Zhou with praise, one after another, which made Zhou's smile falter slightly, leaving her quite confused.
She had a bowl of it this morning, and it tasted just like always, with no changes to the ingredients.
What on earth are these people talking about?
Mrs. Zheng was stunned for a moment, then her expression suddenly changed.
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