Madam Wang was deeply provoked by Shen Ajiao's amused look. As soon as she got into the carriage, she slapped the maid in the carriage and said, "You wretch, why is the carriage so cold? Didn't you burn charcoal?"
The maid covered her face, tears welling up in her eyes, "Madam, there's no...no more charcoal."
Madam Wang slapped him again, "What do you mean? Does the family need you or not?!"
The maid covered her slapped face and cried out, "The house has been under renovation all this time, and there are so many expenses. The old lady decided to remove the charcoal brazier from the house, so it's only warm for a short while when cooking."
"Even when going out, we try to save carbon emissions as much as possible."
Madam Wang angrily punched her twice. She was really good at saving money; she even tried to save on things for herself!
It was one thing for the old lady to dislike her, but these servants were also outwardly compliant but inwardly disobedient, treating her so poorly.
She glared at the little maid and said, "Go back and find the person in charge! I want to see who's so audacious!"
Madam Wang rushed home and summoned all the stewards, asking, "Who told you to remove the charcoal from the carriage?"
The person in charge lowered their head, looked at each other, hesitated, and remained silent.
Lady Wang was so enraged that she picked up a teacup and smashed it over her shoulder. How dare a group of servants neglect her?
"Do you think you can get away with this just because I've lost my imperial title? Do you think you can bully me now?"
"Don't forget that I gave birth to the eldest daughter! I'd like to see who in this family dares to overstep my bounds."
Madam Wang's meaning was clear: it was the old lady's doing. As long as the stewards gave a clear explanation, she would go to the old lady.
The stewards, trembling like quails, stood to one side, stammering and whispering, "It's Master Bao who's in charge of things at home now."
"Baoyu?" Madam Wang was taken aback. How could it be her Baoyu? Had she mistaken him?
"Don't try to fool me with Baoyu. He wouldn't know any of this." It's not like someone is doing this on purpose behind my back.
The stewards exchanged bewildered glances. "The old lady instructed us that since Master Bao is getting older, it's time to take charge and know some of the inside stories, so he won't be ignorant of basic agricultural knowledge and lazy in his physical labor."
The stewards were also complaining bitterly. They had originally thought that Master Bao was a lenient master, but in the past few days, he had become even more stingy with money than other masters. Originally, the money was just enough to meet their needs, but since Master Bao arrived, not only was it insufficient, but it was now quite tight.
I don't know which bastard came up with the idea to stop the charcoal braziers in the outer courtyard. Not only was there no food for those on duty, but there was also no alcohol. It was alright on other days though.
But nowadays, there's no reward money. You make a wasted trip, freeze half to death, and don't even get a drink to warm yourself up.
After discussing it, they decided that since they were going to stop charcoal burning, they shouldn't just stop it in the outer courtyard. So they stopped burning charcoal in the inner courtyard, except for the master's room.
Now everyone was complaining. Those on duty and those off duty were freezing, and there was a lot of grumbling. Now they were all waiting for Madam Wang's instructions.
Lady Wang's anger subsided considerably after hearing that it was Baoyu's idea, and she couldn't help but nod. This was the first time Baoyu had come up with such a thought, and as his mother, she couldn't help but support him. Although it wasn't particularly good, it was his first time, and she should support him.
This will also help Baoyu establish his authority in the future.
At the same time, she was overjoyed, knowing that her precious child had grown up and could stand on his own.
“Baoyu has grown up. Since these are his ideas, let’s do it this way. In the future, we should consult him more often if we need anything.”
The stewards stared wide-eyed in disbelief. They supported this? Had their household truly become useless?
Just find another job.
I instantly wanted to quit. It was freezing cold, and the office in charge was even colder than outside, like an ice cellar. I couldn't even hold a pen, so how was I supposed to handle things?
On second thought, there was no need to rush. Work couldn't start today anyway; let's wait until it warms up. None of the officials wanted to get involved in the matter of repairing the house while visiting relatives.
Need anything else from Master Bao?
Aside from causing trouble, what can Bao Er Ye do?
Now that there's such a huge mess, their lady still thinks she's so great? Great my foot! The stewards were so angry that they secretly gathered together and kept cursing her.
They only cursed for a short while, because it was too cold and they needed to go home to warm up.
Lady Wang thought that since Baoyu was now in charge of things, she gave him some more instructions.
When Baoyu heard about the task that Madam Wang had assigned him, he was completely bewildered. The old lady had only asked for his opinion, and once he gave it, there was nothing more to do. Why was Madam Wang assigning him tasks directly?
Baoyu asked someone to find out the details of the incident and learned that it was the steward who had filed the complaint. He was so angry that he jumped up and down, "Oh dear, these damned servants! They're trying to ruin me!"
"How could I possibly manage this? Now that my wife has entrusted me with the flowers, plants, and trees in the yard, I... I know how to arrange them, but I know absolutely nothing about purchasing them!"
Baoyu was so anxious that he paced back and forth. The servants around him heard this and hurriedly came up to persuade him, "Second Master, we don't understand, but someone does."
"It's best to leave professional matters to professionals. My cousin knows a timber merchant; why don't I ask him?"
Upon hearing this, Baoyu clapped his hands with delight, "Good, this task is entrusted to you. If you do a good job, I will reward you!"
Seeing that the little maid could curry favor and bring such great benefits to the family, everyone rushed forward to coax Baoyu and took on a lot of work for him.
Baoyu was also very happy. If he had known that things would be so easy to handle and the household so easy to manage, he would have taken over long ago. With a wave of his hand, he set up two or three tables of food and drink in the courtyard and celebrated happily with the maids and servants in the courtyard.
When the managers heard that this was possible, they were so angry that they stopped caring about anything else and started taking sick leave one by one. When Baoyu found out, he didn't think it was a big deal. These managers used to always complain about how difficult things were and how they didn't have enough money.
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