Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 64 - 14: The Grand Mansion (Part 2)

"Is that Susu? After a few years of not seeing you, your attire has become so extravagant that I hardly recognized you. At first, I thought our family had gained another young lady!" Without waiting for the others to react, the First Madam continued, "Susu has grown even more beautiful now. Even to serve Qing He as a concubine, she would be more than qualified!"

Upon hearing this, except for the Second Madam, who remained unreadable, everyone else in the room had a change of expression. Only Susu, the person involved, maintained a calm demeanor when she heard these words.

Susu respectfully bowed to the First Madam and said, "My good looks are thanks to my parents, and I’m truly unworthy of your compliments, but I still appreciate Madam’s favor. It’s just that I have already petitioned the Old Madam to leave the mansion in the future, so now it would be inappropriate to change my mind. It’s my misfortune not to serve the Princely Heir and the Heir’s wife."

With her slippery words, Susu left the First Madam at a loss.

When it came to the Second Wife, three years had passed, yet the Second Madam had hardly changed. After greeting the Old Madam, she sat quietly to the side, not engaging with anyone. Even when the Third Miss paid her respects to her legitimate mother, she merely acknowledged it with a slight nod as if there had never been any enmity between them before.

If one didn’t understand her personality as Susu did, they might really think she was about to become a nun. Because she couldn’t bear to part with the title of the Earl Mansion, and to satisfy her vanity, she actually left Second Master, taking a concubine from a good family to follow him to his post at the East Sea. When Susu learned of this, she was truly speechless.

Nowadays, there are no Japanese pirates daring to intrude upon the sea territory of the Great Chu, especially since the Founding Saint Martial Emperor nearly invaded their homeland. Although the Second Master is only a Seventh Rank Maritime Transport Supervisor, it is a lucrative position. The annual gifts sent to the Old Madam were even more lavish than what the eldest master had prepared.

Hearing from the housekeeper gossiping with the older housewives in the mansion, they say Second Master is not a philanderer, and the concubine manages both major and minor matters in the household. Though she is termed a concubine, she essentially behaves as the lady of the house. Upon arrival, she became pregnant, bore a daughter who is the eighth amongst her siblings, and Second Master dotes on her intensely. The servants say that if she bears a son, she might become a concubine of equal standing.

Another concubine of equal standing emerging from the Shun’an Earl Mansion is an impossibility. The Song Family could not bear such disgrace.

Some say that the Second Madam is simply making trouble where there is none. The Second Wife has three housewives, yet she preferred to bring in a legitimate "Second Wife" rather than let the other two concubines follow along. It should be known that a concubine with a legitimate document cannot be traded.

The birth mother of the Second Young Master and Third Miss, despite having borne a son and a daughter, with the son being the eldest son of a concubine, had to wait many years to be elevated from concubine to noble concubine. Yet, her status still did not surpass that of the newly inducted concubine.

Thinking about this, Susu felt a bit of intrigue, realizing the Second Madam wasn’t without wit, having merely executed a mutually damaging act, injuring one thousand and losing eight hundred of her own, all to trouble the Second Young Master and Third Miss.

In the Second Wife’s domain, the Second Miss and Seventh Young Master were born of the legitimate wife. The Third Young Master’s concubine is a noble concubine; the newly inducted concubine also has legitimate documents. Only the Second Young Master and Third Miss’s concubine were originally maidservants, naturally of lower status, and despite being the eldest son of a concubine, how could the Third Miss ever become the wife of a legitimate son in a prominent family?

Realizing all this, seeing the "aloof" Second Madam again, Susu felt a chilling breeze, as if truly, a biting dog does not bark.

The Old Madam, with her advancing age, found her body and spirit overwhelmed from the many days of traveling by boat. After conversing with the grandchildren she had not seen in a while, she dismissed everyone, saying they’d gather in the evening to properly welcome her back.

Once everyone had left, it was already time for lunch. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

The Sui’an Hall in the capital also has a small kitchen. It features four proper chefs: a disciple taught by Nanny Xing in Yangzhou who can prepare the Old Madam’s favorite southern dishes, known as Sister-in-law Liu; her husband, Liu Da, manages purchasing for the Sui’an Hall kitchen, and both are household-born servants. Additionally, there’s Nanny Wan, skilled in capital cuisine, a pastry chef adept in various desserts, and Aunt Bai, once on duty at the palace’s Food Bureau, skilled in soups and medicinal dishes. The latter two were employed at great cost by the eldest master.

For the Old Madam, whether her daughters-in-law were good or not didn’t matter to her. She didn’t have high hopes, after all, her three sons were filial, and she had wealth and personnel. There was no need to indulge in unnecessary grievances.

Yang Liu personally relayed the message to serve the meal, and before long, there were sixteen dishes of eight bowls and eight plates, four staple dishes, and two soups laid out on the table. The Old Madam and the young ladies were very satisfied with the meal and immediately rewarded everyone in the kitchen.

After eating, the four young ladies departed, yet the meals for the large and small maids remained unseen. Nanny Qin then said, "Earlier, we avoided bringing it up to not disturb the Old Madam and the young ladies while eating. Now, each household has its own small kitchen for the masters, while the servants must collect their meals from the main kitchen. The First Madam said that expenses in the capital are high, and things cannot be as indulgent as they were in Yangzhou. Not only in terms of meals but also for the maids’ clothing, jewelry, and cosmetics, which are now purchased from the public funds."

The Old Madam’s expression remained unchanged, though her hand holding the teacup tightened slightly. She asked, "Who oversees purchasing for the main kitchen and the public funds?" Nanny Qin softly responded, "Purchasing for the main kitchen is overseen by Lin Hu, Second Madam’s maidservant, while the head of the main kitchen is Lady Yue’s wet nurse’s daughter-in-law. The public fund purchasing is managed by the First Madam’s steward, Xue Rui, and his wife is the most trusted by the First Madam."

After hearing this, the Old Madam coldly laughed, "Don’t bother with these matters for now; let someone go retrieve the meals for the maids and servants from the main kitchen. Upon my arrival, I saw this courtyard already had some clumsy maids and servants, and each one needs to be observed meticulously. The lazy and deceitful ones shall return whence they came. Yang Liu, after the meal, you go home for a visit."

Yang Liu laughed, "While it is necessary to check in at home, there’s no immediate hurry." Saying this, she then called in a young girl from outside who wore a goose-yellow top, green moiré pants, and a pomegranate-red sweat scarf around her waist, "Chun Feng, quickly come and pay respects to the Old Madam."

The little girl looked about seven or eight, appearing youthful but having excellent manners, knelt to greet the Old Madam, saying, "This servant pays respects to the Old Madam." The Old Madam smiled, "Get up, one can tell at a glance that she’s a smart one—is this girl from your family?"

Yang Liu replied, "She is the daughter of my second uncle’s family, just started serving this year. Her grandfather said that even this mischievous one working around the Old Madam has picked up some mannerisms befitting a young lady, so would the Old Madam please teach this one as well."

Ning Cui laughed upon hearing this, "I’ve seen people praise themselves, but not to this extent. Let me see, what does a young lady look like!"

Susu chimed in, "Yang Liu smiling in the spring breeze, truly of one family."

The young girl, who was initially nervous, relaxed when she saw the friendly elder sisters and the kind Old Madam. She said, "My grandfather said that after the Old Madam settled, he would have my eldest aunt and my mother come in to pay their respects. He also mentioned that the maids and servants in the yard were personally selected by the eldest master’s wife; even those bought from outside were carefully screened, so those chosen should be the most honest and well-mannered. But looking today, they can’t compare to the sisters who’ve been with the Old Madam for long."

The Old Madam laughed, "She has a sweet tongue, even better than your sister." Noticing the girl’s plainness, with hardly any adornments, she instructed Susu, "She’s a bit too plain; later, choose a couple of flowers bestowed by the palace for her to wear. As for the remaining spots in the third tier, let Chun Feng, Ning Xiang, and Wu Tong fill them."

Susu quickly called Ning Xiang and Wu Tong to come in and kneel with Chun Feng to thank the Old Madam for her grace.

The Old Madam wasn’t eager to meet anyone else, but both Yang Liu and Nanny Qin assessed the maids and servants prepared in this courtyard, making necessary promotions and filling vacancies. In total, that single Sui’an Hall had dozens of maids and servants. Including those serving the young ladies at the front, the commotion from moving residences couldn’t possibly go unnoticed. The Old Madam, feeling a headache coming, promptly instructed Nanny Qin to go out and take charge.