Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 252 - 4: Settling In (Part 1)

Not to mention how Hong Sheng explained his innocence to Susu, nor how Miss Yue was jumping up and down. Just to say that it took Susu four or five days to settle the household.

The mansion was originally bought by Hong Sheng for his marriage. Fearing it would be ruined, he never rented it out. There were only one or two servants guarding the property.

It wasn’t until Hong Sheng planned to return from the Capital that he called people from his former residence to tidy up. It was then that Miss Yue volunteered herself. But for such an important task as preparing a new home, how could Hong Sheng let a young lady manage it?

Of course, a steward led the servants to clean and organize, and he also tasked Mrs. Shangguan with helping out.

That Miss Yue would only put on a pitiable show in front of Hong Sheng, but acted as if she were the mistress in front of the servants in the Puli County residence.

The servants looked down on her but understood her status, so they refrained from gossiping about her in front of Hong Sheng.

They would casually stop her when Hong Sheng returned, fearing she might do something to tarnish his reputation and thus help out the future mistress a little.

These people were originally soldiers under Hong Sheng’s command, but they were the older, weaker, and sickly kind. The army naturally wouldn’t keep those who can’t work, so they were given silver as severance and allowed to retire to their hometowns.

Yet some of these people had homes thousands of miles away, others were alone, and they struggled to even support themselves, let alone a family.

Some had wives who ran off with others, and some didn’t have wives at all. Learning their situations, Hong Sheng placed the most destitute and honest ones in his private residence.

There were many such soldiers in the Northwest Army, but on one hand, Hong Sheng’s capacity was limited. On the other, he feared being accused of buying people’s loyalty.

Officially, it was said these people signed death contracts, and they were only there to watch over the property and do some rough work. In reality, there was no contract, and they were free to leave whenever they wished.

Luckily, they were all honest and straightforward. Hong Sheng didn’t mind them being a burden and took them in. Those with families even took care of their own, and simply considered themselves servants.

Without a mistress in the house, and Hong Sheng not returning often, they were a bit clumsy and disorganized since they hadn’t been professionally trained.

Knowing that Hong Sheng was engaged and the household would soon welcome a mistress, they felt both excited and anxious.

However, anyone chosen by Households Commander Hong must be far better than that pretentious Miss Yue. (At that time, Hong Sheng was still a commander of many households.)

Not to mention, after officially meeting the mistress, they were so overwhelmed by the rewards they received that they couldn’t tell east from west.

Oh~ my~ goodness~!

Susu directly replicated the monthly salary system she originally set up for her dowry maids into the Hong Mansion.

The salary Susu set was considered high for servants even in the Capital, let alone in a small place like Hami.

Though Hami thrived due to the Silk Road, with a developed economy, its standard of living couldn’t compare to the Capital.

In the Capital, one Copper Coin could only buy a mantou, but in Hami, a Copper Coin could buy a meat bun.

Not to mention that they already felt guilty about eating and drinking for free at the Hong Mansion, they wouldn’t dare take Hong Sheng’s money. Even when Hong Sheng sent them silver monthly, they were frugal. They didn’t eat meat buns daily, let alone white flour mantou.

Susu was originally the mistress of this house, and with such aggressive financial tactics, even the original Hong Family servants who were already on her side became even more steadfast in their support.

So when Susu had people chat with them to gather information, before anyone could speak, these old soldiers rattled off information like a machine gun, leaving Zhao Youshen, who had seen the world, in a daze, with a sense of defeat from being unable to use his talents.

The old soldier who previously acted as the steward felt relieved when he met Zhao Youshen, "Brother, you’re finally here. Does the mistress have any plans for us? Commander Hong had me in charge of the household, and I’ve been on edge, worried about doing it poorly, losing my appetite, and sleep, the few pounds I gained after leaving the battlefield fell off in these two months. Please do us a favor and tell the young master and mistress, I’m not suited to be a steward!"

This time, Zhao Youshen was truly left speechless. Coming from a line of servants in a grand family, he had some skill in reading people’s expressions and could naturally tell when someone was insincere or if they were genuinely sincere.

After hearing Zhao Youshen’s report, Susu had already made arrangements for these soldiers in her mind.

Among them, not many could even write their own names, let alone manage external affairs. Doing some rough work or watching the door was fine, but as for the rules of a grand household, they didn’t understand any of it.

They were all older, and even if they were taught now, it would take time. Susu decided not to waste the effort and assigned them a task they could do well and that she could trust them with—being guards of the compound.

Even at their worst, they had fought on the battlefield. In terms of aura and alertness, none of Susu’s dowry servants could compare.

And those who survived the battlefield, even if they were sick or disabled, none were truly without cunning. They now acted like toothless tigers, but even toothless, they were still tigers, with a sense of intimidation.

Previously, there was no need for compound guards, but now with Susu’s arrival and Hong Sheng only returning every ten days to half a month, such a large manor without guards made her uneasy.

After consulting Hong Sheng and confirming these people were trustworthy, Susu finalized the arrangements.

The result was naturally a joyous one. These old, weak, and sickly individuals hadn’t expected that the mistress not only didn’t see them as burdens but valued them so highly, entrusting the safety of life and property to them. They were all moved to tears, feeling a bit of the "A soldier will die for their bosom friend" sentiment.

As for the inner residence side, it was even simpler. The few wives of the soldiers were naturally in accord with their husbands.

The arrival of Susu was warmly welcomed, and in their hearts, they slyly thought, let’s see how that little wench Yue shows off now?

She was but a rascal from a poor family living in shanties, even worse than them. So young yet flirting and enticing foolish soldiers to work for her family.

Who would have thought, with her elder brother gone, she’d transform from a sparrow to a phoenix, bossing them around, only because Mr. Hong was fair and kept his promises.

Previously, those maids had some concerns, worried Mr. Hong, being young, might fall for that little wench and cause some trouble. Fortunately, Mr. Hong wasn’t the type to lose his head over women.

Now having met the mistress, they felt even fairies weren’t more exquisite, and that little wench wasn’t fit to hold a candle to the mistress.

They too originated from humble backgrounds, and being a rough maid in the mistress’s courtyard was like striking gold.

Yue Baiyou never got a grip on the Hong family’s management rights, though she wanted to "relieve" Hong Sheng of his worries, even hinted at it. Perhaps too subtly, Hong Sheng pretended not to understand.

He was not joking. Aside from his wife, no other woman, "sworn sisters" included, would manage his household. This was a matter of principle.

Now Hong Sheng secretly pats himself on the back for his "steadfast loyalty" to his wife at the time. If he’d messed up then, no matter how many mouths he had, he wouldn’t be able to explain it now.