Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 148 - 2: Susu Leaves the Manor (2)

Susu walked out of the upper room, and there were quite a few maids outside who wanted to see her off. Most of the maids and matrons from Sui’an Hall had received help or advice from Susu; even those who were secretly jealous came along out of courtesy now that Susu was leaving.

Fen Dai and the other three waited outside Sui’an Hall. Seeing Susu, they hurried to greet her. Susu had already wiped away her tears and smiled, "Let’s go!" A large group of people surrounded Susu as they left Sui’an Hall.

At the West Corner Gate, there were carriages and accompanying maids arranged by the Old Madam. Apart from carriages carrying people and luggage, there were heavily laden mule carts behind them. Susu asked, "What’s in the carts at the back?"

The accompanying matrons were rough maids from Sui’an Hall, including Nanny Liu and Nanny Qi who had previously accompanied Susu outside. Nanny Liu said, "To answer the girl, it’s prepared by the Old Madam, including two stone green rice, two stone rouge rice, two stone top-grade fine white flour, some tea, and other things. The Old Madam is afraid the girl won’t be used to food from outside, so she prepared items commonly used in the mansion. The Heir’s wife also asked someone to prepare some food utensils for the girl, so she won’t feel aggrieved outside." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Susu didn’t expect the Old Madam to worry about even these small things, and she boarded the carriage with tears in her eyes.

As Susu silently wept, she was startled upon boarding the carriage and forgot to wipe her tears, "Why are you two coming along?" The two young maids inside the carriage giggled, helped Susu sit down, one on each side, saying, "The Old Madam is not at ease, so she sent us to come along and see our sister settle in before returning to report everything."

As it turned out, the two young maids in the carriage were Yun Tong and Chun Feng, both very close to Susu.

The carriage started moving. Susu lifted the carriage curtain and looked back at the gradually receding Shun’an Earl Mansion. In a trance, she seemed to see the days when she had just arrived at the Song Family. She came to the Old Madam at seven, now fourteen, and had stayed with the Old Madam for over six years. The longest time she left was when Yang Liu and Ning Cui married, and Susu went to be their "bridesmaid." She only stayed away for a few days, and upon her return, the Old Madam would lament for quite a while, "Without Susu by my side, everything feels uncomfortable."

Yun Tong and Chun Feng saw Susu looking dejected like an eggplant after the frost and hurriedly exchanged a glance, leading Susu to ask about the manor given by the Old Madam. They just said it was arranged by the Old Madam. Susu didn’t want to scare the children, so she composed herself, hearing their words, and helplessly replied, "It’s my first visit too. I don’t know much more than you, but Grandpa Qiao is in charge, and he always handles things thoroughly, so I trust it won’t be bad." Furthermore, the Old Madam is not lacking money, so the reward for Susu can only be better.

The manor and land given to Susu by the Old Madam are located ten miles outside Tong County, named Shili Slope because of the few small hills there. Tong County happens to be where Yang Liu’s husband’s family is located, and the Huang Family owns more than half of the farmland in the county. Susu passed through Tong County on her way to the Capital.

Susu was going to leave the mansion to go back to the Pearl Manor, so she had already sent someone there to deliver the message to have it cleaned up for the master’s residence. After an hour’s journey, the carriage arrived outside the manor.

Everyone, old and young, on the manor, dressed neatly, waited outside to greet the master! Susu, with the help of Yun Tong and Chun Feng, put on a wide-brimmed hat, and then got off the carriage.

"Manor Head Zhao Youshen, along with all thirty-eight people of the manor, respectfully greets the girl!" The contract of the four families was signed to death, and there were long-term hired laborers on the estate, who knelt down to Susu all at once, and Susu was still quite unaccustomed to it.

"Everyone, please rise! Shuimo, help your father get up. This is my first time at the manor. Once I’m settled, I’ll greet each of you individually!" Shuimo quickly stepped forward to help his father to his feet.

Fen Dai, supporting Susu, laughed, "Uncle Zhao has met the girl before and should know she doesn’t encourage this!"

Zhao Youshen, together with the others, straightened up with a smile, saying, "Thank you, girl," and got to his feet. Looking at their own girl with Fen Dai and the others, he smiled, "It’s only been a few days since following the girl. The Uncle wouldn’t dare to recognize them. It shows how the girl trains people well!" And then he said, "Please, girl, come into the manor. If there’s anything unsatisfactory, I’ll have someone change it!"

The manor wasn’t small, featuring a courtyard with three sections at the front. The main house was in the second section, consisting of five large tile-roofed brick rooms, obviously newly built, likely arranged by the Old Madam. Besides the main house, there were side rooms east and west wing rooms, and the furnishings inside were very exquisite.

No outside men were allowed into the inner courtyard; the ones who came in were the heads of the four households’ wives, which included the mothers of Fen Dai and the other three maids.

The external steward was Zhao Youshen, while the internal steward was the wife of Bai Fu, who was Linglong’s mother.