Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 28 - 12: Aftermath of Literacy Lessons (2)

Inside, it was warm and cozy, while the newly arrived maids outside were chattering away. "Is that Ning Cui’s mother? My goodness, with such attire and demeanor, I thought she was the mistress of a household, certainly not of maid origin.

"You should see which of the sisters in the Old Madam’s room looks like a maid? Whoever goes out isn’t addressed as ’miss’? I heard that Sister Agate, who was married off six months ago, besides her own accumulated dowry of boxes of clothes and hairpins, was also given additional dowry by the Old Madam. Apart from cloth, wool, and jewelry, she received five hundred taels of silver and two ten-tael gold ingots as savings." This was shared by a well-informed maid, causing the young maids to gasp in envy, each wishing to immediately become a head maid in the Old Madam’s room.

In the evening, the Old Madam had Ning Cui’s mother stay in her room and sleep with her, and also allowed Ning Cui to spend two days with her parents. After two days, Ning Cui returned, carrying numerous packages, but her eyes were red, as Ning Family’s uncle and auntie had already returned to the farmstead.

Susu hurried to fetch water for Ning Cui to wash her face, "Aren’t you making us sad along with you!" Ning Cui sniffled, embarrassed, and said, "Look at what my mom and dad brought for us. The Old Madam has already approved, for us to make jackets to wear during the New Year."

Upon untying the bundle, there were unexpectedly eight complete hides: six grey squirrel skins, one white fox skin, and one pearl-lamb skin.

"We’ve been in this house for three years and have two or three pieces of proper clothing already. I propose that each of us four gets a piece of grey squirrel skin, the pearl-lamb skin goes to Susu, and the remainder—a white fox skin and two more grey squirrel skins—will be made into hand warmers for the Old Madam and the sisters in the room." Ning Cui finished, saw Yang Liu and Bisi nodding, while Susu was about to refuse, she came over to tickle Susu, "I think you should just be my mother’s daughter, only seeing you once, she’s praised you to the skies. I’m curious if you are a little vixen, bewitching her to think less of her own daughter?"

Susu dodged while laughing, "Dear sister, please spare me. I’m just a white snake from the celestial mountains, here on earth to repay a debt." Hearing this, the other three paused before bursting into laughter and banter, "When we report to the Old Madam tomorrow, we must quickly rein in this little demon."

Not to mention Ning Cui and the others relayed this conversation to the head maids, who later narrated it to the Old Madam, amusing the Old Madam, who was very pleased with the tale of the white snake repaying a debt, rewarding Susu and the others with several plates of fruits and pastries.

Meanwhile, Susu and the other four privately discussed a matter and brought it to Zhen Zhu. Zhen Zhu, surprised, asked, "You want to teach the young maids in the courtyard to read?" Susu nodded, "Sister, the little maids are idle anyways. After finishing work, we’ll teach them some characters and some basic counting. We don’t need ink and paper; wooden boards and charcoal pencils will do. This way, people won’t look at us four like jealous hens."

Nowadays, even the maids and old maids outside Sui’an Hall know there’s an outsider bought in named Susu that, relying on the Old Madam’s favor and her own literacy, doesn’t regard others. Susu felt wronged by this perception.

Zhen Zhu said, "The four of you were allowed to study characters because the Old Madam saw your maturity and agreed. As for others, I’ll need to discuss it with the Old Madam first."

Ning Cui quickly said, "Of course, we need sister to report to the Old Madam." Whatever Zhen Zhu said to her, the Old Madam approved of it and even rewarded Susu and the girls each with a pair of golden gourd earrings, having Dong Qing, the most reliable among the second class maids, supervise. The maids could study character recognition for half an hour after dinner.

Upon hearing this, the maids rejoiced, kowtowing to thank the Old Madam, praising her kind heart! Even the most serious young maids finally gave Susu a smile, and conversations gradually became more common. Ning Cui, Bisi, and Yang Liu, being close at hand, benefited first, and with pressure, they worked even harder.

As the year-end approached, joyful laughter filled Sui’an Hall, making the maids from other courtyards envious. The three masters gathered some intel and relayed the same message to their wives: Time for the children to be closer to their grandmother.

Though Third Madam was a wife of a concubine’s son, she was indeed the Old Madam’s own niece, naturally close to the Old Madam. Eldest Madam and Second Madam learned to behave, outwardly agreeing to everything but privately telling their personal maids, "Just for a new maid, she’s placed on a pedestal, birds of a feather flock together! Wanting the young misses to be close? How revolting!"

On the eighteenth of the lunar month, Third Madam was found by the household doctor to be a month pregnant. However, since having Sixth Miss, Third Madam was weak, and after three years of recuperation, still not fully recovered, and her current pregnancy was not in good condition.

The Third Madam and Third Master discussed and wanted to have Fifth Miss and Sixth Miss raised in the Old Madam’s courtyard. At first, the Old Madam didn’t agree, but unable to resist the Third Master and Third Madam’s pleading, reluctantly agreed. She did not display much joy outwardly but privately instructed the maids to tidy up the small courtyard of Sui’an Hall and had Sister Amber pick many items from the storeroom to furnish the young misses’ rooms, reviewing every detail before feeling assured.

Afterward, inexplicably, Eldest Madam and Second Madam suddenly decided to send Fourth Miss, a daughter of the main house born of a concubine, and Third Miss, a daughter of a concubine from the Second Household, over as well. It later turned out that the masters had issued stern words, so the madams had no choice but to send the concubine-born daughters over while stubbornly refusing to send their own legitimate daughters over despite everything, prompting the Old Madam to coldly laugh, "Just watch and see."

The Song family is a merchant family, and the distinction between legitimate and concubine-born is not pronounced, and due to the Song family’s wealth, the maids and old maids serving the young misses are the same: each young miss has a nanny, two head maids, four second-class maids, six third-class ones, and six laborers.

With eighty individuals serving the four young misses, the Old Madam straightforwardly announced the conversion of Yayun Pavilion next to Sui’an Hall for the young misses to reside in.

Yayun Pavilion was originally where the aunts stayed before they married, and it is also the grandest and most scenic garden of Song family’s estates. Yayun Pavilion alone houses six small courtyards, all exquisite and well-designed, with all facilities—main, side, and back rooms—complete; once the rooms were allocated, the four young misses moved in.

The Old Madam further declared that the young misses’ monthly allowance would be drawn from the Sui’an Hall’s account, consolidating towards the public account at year-end, which made Third Miss and Fourth Miss overjoyed, unsure of what to express.

The Song family is a wealthy household, and on the surface, the allowance for the young misses appears the same, but Third Miss and Fourth Miss with their respective mothers silently suffered grievances.

For schooling, the legitimate daughters always excelled; yet, no matter how hard they, the concubine-born daughters, tried, the teacher’s comments remained unflattering, making their father constantly displeased with them.

Third Miss fared slightly better; while Second Madam limited her materially, Fourth Miss from the main house had her own struggles. From the tender age of seven, maids read to her tales of talented scholars and beautiful heroines. Not being foolish, her own mother, descended from a Yangzhou thin horse, always warned her—those fairy tales were for fools, never to become a concubine.

Eldest Madam often complained that the maids from the Old Madam’s lineage didn’t know their place, yet her own mother told her that even a second-class maid from the Old Madam’s house would be married as a head wife. The conduct and decorum of the senior maids matched that of the official family-born Eldest Madam. What did it matter if one came from a maid’s background! Didn’t Eldest Madam also end up marrying into an elder maid’s family?