Chapter 087 Chapter 87

Finally, they didn't have to pay their respects. When Shen Linfeng was leaving, he told Yao Niang to sleep for an hour before getting up. Unexpectedly, she was woken up by someone. Gu Mama came in and said, "Grandma, the people from the third room and the second grandma came to the kitchen and scolded them, saying that the main kitchen didn't send them any food."

Yao Niang rubbed her eyes, sat up and said unhappily, "Who let them in directly? We have already separated the family and the kitchen, and they are still making trouble here. Call the managers of the main and second gates to me, I want to give them a lecture, and also tell the kitchen that they are now the kitchen of the first room, not the kitchen of the third room. If the people in the third room want to eat, they should cook it themselves."

The managers of the main and second gates came over quickly. Yao Niang looked at them and sat down first and said, "I heard that someone from the third room came to our place to make trouble. Who let them in?"

There were six maids guarding the second gate, and besides the guards at the main gate, there were also about six people coming here. The second gate was mainly guarding the current East Corner Gate and West Corner Gate, while the main gate was the only way for people to come and pay respects to the masters of the Shen family.

The twelve men dared not say a word.

Yao Niang glanced at them and said, "If you come forward today, I won't punish you. If you don't come forward, I will always find a way to ask you. Then, it won't be just a matter of a few words."

As soon as she finished speaking, Granny Fang and Granny Liu stood up and knelt on the ground: "Today, we let her in. In the past, they were able to come in at will."

"You are also talking about the past, which shows that you are very clear that our three mansions have already separated. In the future, some unknown person casually claims to be from the second or third room and pretends to be them to come in. What should we do if our house is robbed? My first priority as a housekeeper is to keep the family strictly under control. If you can't take good care of this family, many people will come to investigate." Yao Niang snorted coldly.

Mrs. Fang and Mrs. Liu were both elderly people who had worked in the Shen family since the old lady of the Shen family. Mrs. Shen also asked them to guard the door. Now they were beaten by Yao Niang, their faces turned blue and red, and they both said in a stammer that they dared not.

Yao Niang said, "Since you know you don't dare, don't let anyone in casually next time, especially at the second gate, and make sure to inform. Your fortunes all depend on the master. Now that the master has resigned, his future is of utmost importance. If I hear that any important documents in his study have been stolen or important items have been lost, then I can only hand it over to the Ministry of Justice for punishment."

She deliberately said something serious to make them nervous, then she softened her tone: "Of course, there has been a lot of noise these days about the division of the family, and everyone has worked hard. Especially those who guard the second gate, who have to stay up all night. I have discussed with the eldest master that you night watchmen will get a half-dollar increase in salary every year. But you are not allowed to play dice or cause trouble at night. Once discovered, you will be dismissed immediately and there will be no leniency."

In fact, now that the second and third rooms have been separated, the first room's expenses have been reduced by more than half. Madam Shen will not argue with the second and third rooms, but Yao Niang can no longer tolerate it. It would be better to use the money saved to let the capable ones advance and the mediocre ones demote.

When Mrs. Fang and Mrs. Liu heard that there was going to be a salary increase, they were delighted again. As gatekeepers, they received a monthly salary of 800 wen, and on weekdays they gambled when they had nothing to do, so they could not save much every month. Now, the new young mistress was raising their salary by 500 wen a year right from the start. How could they not be happy?

The maid at the second gate could not help but feel pleased and convinced.

Yao Niang continued, "If the masters of the second and third rooms come, you don't have to stop them, but someone must inform them at the gate of my courtyard and they are not allowed to enter casually. The servants of the other rooms are not allowed to enter without a clear reason, my order, or someone around me leading the way. Everyone, the peace of the family is in your hands."

After being hit with a big stick, he was given a date. Yao Niang was a housekeeper for the first time and had no experience, so she could only live by feeling her way.

Mrs. Fang and Mrs. Liu quickly stepped forward to express their loyalty: "Grandma, we will listen to you, but if Second Madam Jiang sends someone over again, how should we respond?"

"Let's forget about it today, considering that she's pregnant. If we say anything, we won't be responsible if she gets into trouble in her anger. But if she comes to make trouble again tomorrow, I won't tolerate it. You should also talk to her servant, and now each family has its own food, and the family has been divided after all." Yao Niang narrowed her eyes.

Mother Fang and Mother Liu thought that if Madam Shen were here, she would definitely not offend her relatives and would take good care of them all.

But this new grandmother, with her lightning-like power, was not afraid of what others said at all. Although she was young, she was quite organized.

Madam Jiang didn't notice anything at all. She ate the shrimp dumplings and crab roe buns that were served to her and even said in a disdainful way, "Crabs are cold in nature. You can't eat too much. Aunt Wang, why did you bring this?"

Wang Gu smiled and said, "I had a quarrel with them and brought a few dishes here at random. Now that the Madam is not here, the main room is in chaos."

"You can't say that. After all, the eldest lady is young, and it's possible that she was not careful for a moment. By the way, my cousin from my uncle's family will be here in two days, and you have to ask the kitchen to prepare a table of food and send it over. Don't be stingy with the money, give it what's due." Second Grandma Jiang is still very generous.

Wanggu went to make a scene today and felt that the morale was greatly boosted. Madam Shen was not at home and there was only a young grandmother. She felt that the eldest wife could do whatever she wanted and did not object.

As luck would have it, Second Madam Shen had ordered more food for lunch, so she sent some soup and dishes to Second Madam Jiang, saying that she was pregnant and needed to eat more. Second Madam Jiang Shao ate the food as a matter of course, and did not go to the main room again.

In the evening, when Shen Linfeng came back, Yao Niang told him what happened in the morning: "I was sleeping, and was woken up by the servant from the third room, who also made a big fuss in the kitchen. If she wasn't pregnant, I would have scolded her."

When Shen Linfeng was at the Shen family, he often saw his mother punishing slaves but being very kind to the clan members.

When he heard Yao Niang say she was going to come over to scold him, he quickly said, "Forget it, it's not a big deal. If you don't have enough money, I'll give it to you."

"You can't say that. In this world, I give, I send, I borrow, and now we have separated. If you want to take a piece of wood chip from my house, you must get my permission first. And you dare to break in and make trouble like a bandit. Today you made a big fuss in the kitchen, and I don't know where you will make trouble in the future. If she doesn't come tomorrow, it's fine. If she comes, I will definitely have someone slap her in the face. You will support me tomorrow." Yao Niang was worried that she couldn't find anyone to establish her authority.

Shen Linfeng looked at her and asked, "Aren't you afraid of retaliation?"

Yao Niang smiled and said, "You are wrong. If I am strong, only a few people with bad intentions will take revenge on me. But if I am gentle, then everyone will bully me. Do you know what it means to eat up the whole family? No matter how gentle and kind you are, those people will not show mercy for the sake of profit."

Just like how polite her mother was to Zhen, giving her everything she had, so what? She would not let you off.

She thought more about it. They were going to consummate their marriage soon. She heard from Madam Liu that young people had a great chance of getting it right the first time. If she was pregnant and someone did something bad to her, she would regret it deeply.

She was embarrassed to tell Shen Linfeng all this, but Shen Linfeng would listen to her, and as he listened, she spoke out what was in her heart.

Shen Linfeng had never thought about having children. He looked at Yao Niang's slender waist and was a little excited: "Yao Niang, I had forgotten about having children."

"Silly boy, just marry me and come back, you'll just be watching me like this. But it's better for us to get married a little later. I'll feel at ease when the needles and water can't get in our house." Yao Niang said, hugging his arm.

Shen Linfeng asked doubtfully: "Who dares to harm you?"

"That's hard to say. You and I are both very rich, and it would be a crime to possess the treasure." Yao Niang stopped there.

Shen Linfeng originally didn't think about anything, but now after listening to Yao Niang's words, he stood up suddenly, looked at Yao Niang with clear eyes, and analyzed: "What you said makes sense. I am the only son of the Shen family's eldest wife. If I die, my property will naturally be confiscated. As for you, it goes without saying that you have a lot of dowry. If you give birth to a son, he will still be a prisoner. Who wouldn't be jealous? Humph, I plan to come back early every day and patrol our house."

"Hey, hey, hey, don't make too much noise." Yao Niang pulled him and said.

This guy really just does what he wants when he's not convinced. He doesn't seem to think too much about things normally. As soon as she said it casually, he started to plot again.

However, Yao Niang really needs his protection, and he will do whatever she asks.

What I fear most is people who don't listen.

The couple went to bed at night. Shen Linfeng placed his precious sword beside the bed. Yao Niang tickled him so much that he asked for mercy. The next morning, Second Madam Jiang didn't know that the main house was on guard. When Wang Gu came from Qingyi Garden to the west corner gate of the main house, Fang Pozi and Liu Pozi had just been scolded. When they saw her today, they asked, "Are you okay?"

"It's nothing. I came here to serve breakfast as usual." Wang Gu said.

Mother Fang said, "Wanggu, the third and first wives have separated, and each has closed their doors and eats their own meals. Why are you still coming to our house? When we let you in yesterday, our eldest grandmother scolded you, saying that now everyone has set up their own households, why are you from the third wife coming to our first wife's house to make trouble?"

"You old woman, haven't you always been like this? It was the eldest lady who asked the kitchen to take good care of our grandma." Wang Gu still remembered that a few days ago the eldest lady had instructed the kitchen to prepare whatever Second Madam Jiang wanted to eat and not to be restrained.

Seeing that she was still pestering him, Mrs. Fang said, "If you say this is what your grandmother wanted, then I will have someone take you to see our eldest grandmother."

Wang Gu thought that this was originally the order of the eldest lady. They were still serving dishes in the kitchen the day before yesterday. As soon as the eldest lady left yesterday morning, the eldest lady took the initiative.

She was not afraid: "I will go, as long as I explain it to my grandmother, she will definitely agree."

Mother Fang sneered twice and asked someone to take her to see Yao Niang. Yao Niang was having dinner with Shen Linfeng. She shouted to the outside, "Let her in."

Wang Gu had been here before with Second Madam Jiang. When she came that time, the eldest grandmother had just married and was very polite. Now when she came in, she saw the eldest grandfather and the eldest grandmother having a meal together, and there were more than a dozen plates of various sizes on the table.

"I am Wanggu, the servant, paying my respects to the eldest lady." Wanggu hurriedly paid her respects.

Yao Niang glanced at her nonchalantly and said, "You made a scene in the kitchen yesterday, but I didn't punish you. What are you doing here again today?"

Wang Gu's heart tightened, and she smiled and said, "It was our Second Madam who asked me to come here."

"Your second grandma? Since she doesn't know, then you go back and tell her. If she sends someone to tell me that she doesn't want to eat in the third room and wants to eat something in our first room, she can just say so. But now that the family has been separated, I am sending her a gift, but that doesn't mean she can send someone to barge into my house and make trouble. I only heard that separation of family means dividing the stove, but I haven't heard that the sister-in-law who separated the family sent servants to make trouble in the kitchen of the sister-in-law next door." Yao Niang glanced at her.

Wang Gu quickly cried out in injustice: "Grandma, it was not our Second Grandma who wanted to come here. It was the Madam who insisted that our Second Grandma eat at your place. Otherwise, I would not have come here. It's unfair, it's unfair."

Yao Niang stood up suddenly, pointed at her and said, "Well, you dare to use the words of the first lady to pressure me. Now that the first lady is gone, the sister-in-law from the next room wants to bully us because we are weak and alone? Come on, drag her away and slap her in the face. If she refuses to obey, tie her up and take her to the stable."

No one expected that she would have a seizure immediately; even Shen Linfeng was startled.