The cannon fodder of fast wear, she chooses to farm

Xu Yin was not surprised to receive this important task.

If the mother-in-law was a person who valued power, she would not have allowed the second wife to play around.

What's more, the Xue Mansion hasn't been divided yet. How many things in the East Courtyard need to be decided by oneself?

It's nothing more than the old lady's birthday. What gift should I give her? The second master has given birth to an heir again. What should I give him as a gift on the third full moon? The old lady's niece, Mrs. Ming, is ill and needs to visit and deliver some medicinal materials... In short, it is all about people and things in the house.

Externally, the old lady in charge must make the final decision.

After taking over the management of the East Courtyard from her mother-in-law, Xu Yin started to rectify it vigorously.

First of all, adjust the staff configuration in each courtyard, and all idle personnel will be assigned to the sweeping team - cleaning up withered flowers and plants, removing weeds around the lotus pond, and cleaning corridors and stone paths extending in all directions.

It was inevitable that the members of the cleaning team would blame each other, so she divided all the public areas in the east courtyard into contract areas, assigning duties and responsibilities to each person, and she would conduct random inspections from time to time.

Secondly, she asked her concubine and concubine if they were free: "You will come with me to conduct a comprehensive inspection of all the courtyards in the east courtyard. Youxin, you are responsible for recording the problems found during the inspection and making a list for them to be sent by the second lady to repair. People, please remember to make a copy for your records. When they complete the repairs, we will check them one by one according to the problems listed on the list to see if the repairs are in place."

Xue Youxin is Xue Zhaojin's younger brother. He is twelve years old and currently studying in a government school. He is taking a break today to pay his respects to his aunt.

After listening to Xu Yin's instructions, he was obviously stunned and couldn't believe that his sister-in-law would send him to do something.

Not to mention that he was not yet old enough to take on the job, even if he was old enough, as a concubine, he would be very grateful that his aunt would not deprive him of his basic necessities, food, clothing, housing, and transportation. He had several classmates and friends who had to make a living under his aunt, and it would be very difficult.

If we don’t talk about people from far away, let’s talk about Xue Yousheng and Xue Youwen in the West Courtyard. The second lady guards them as much as they guard against thieves. Although the eldest lady doesn't care much about their concubine children, at least she is not as defensive as the second lady. In his opinion, she is really good. How dare she expect to help the government?

Zhong Minhua also glanced at her daughter-in-law in surprise, but since she had given the management of the East Courtyard to her, no matter how puzzled she was, she wisely did not ask. On the contrary, she said: "Since your sister-in-law said so, she has her own reasons." Whatever her intentions are, just listen to her instructions."

"Yes! Mother!" Xue Youxin bowed in fear, "But I will be sent by my sister-in-law!"

Xu Yin just wanted them to participate. How can the eldest sister-in-law be so busy that her heels hit the back of her head, while the younger brother-in-law and younger sister-in-law don’t have to worry about anything?

Besides, with a sense of participation, you will have a sense of responsibility. If everyone considers Dongyuan as their home, the family will become better and better, right?

"Sister-in-law, what do you think Wenlan can do?"

Xue Zhaojin's concubine Xue Wenlan must have been pinched by her biological mother Liu Niang, so she mustered up the courage to ask in a low voice.

Speaking of her father-in-law's two concubines, they had no choice in appearance.

When a man takes a concubine, he usually looks at his face first, and his butt secondly. A good looking buttocks can not only arouse the man's interest in that aspect, but also allow for fertility, as long as these two conditions are met.

Unlike the head wife, it depends on family background, character, and ability to run the household. Of course, whether she can have children is also important. If she cannot have children, the final outcome will be retiring. Unless the natal family is of a prominent family and can firmly hold the position of head wife without leaving the court, she will be forced to agree to a man marrying a common wife or adopting an heir from his cousin's family.

To put it bluntly, the real purpose of men in this era in marrying wives and concubines is not for themselves, but for their families and to continue the family line. In the final analysis, he is still a tool man.

After the death of my mother-in-law's tool husband, his two-room concubine had no chance to live, for fear of ending up like the old lady who dealt with the few concubines left by the old lady - the old lady got rid of the old lady and turned over. After becoming the most authoritative master of the Xue Mansion, the first thing he did was to drive out the several concubines that were an eyesore.

Of course, it didn't say that they were driven out, it just said that they were placed in a village outside the city to let them take care of themselves.

But what are the living conditions in Zhuangzi? In addition to dry land, there are paddy fields. Chickens, ducks and geese start crowing and quacking early in the morning. The environment is dirty and messy, and the food is not meticulous. How can it compare with Xue Mansion?

Therefore, when the two concubines saw that the master was dead, they immediately became as quiet as quails. They huddled in their small courtyard and hardly left the house, for fear that the mistress would think of them and drive them to Zhuangzi to retire.

Xue Youxin's biological mother, Aunt Feng, had some careful thoughts after the eldest son fell from his horse and fell into coma:

The master died early and had few heirs. If the eldest son could not wake up from a long sleep, and the mistress had no other children, would her Xin'er have a chance to become the next male master of the East Courtyard?

However, this idea just popped up and she suppressed it hard.

The mistress's natal family are not ordinary people. Even the old lady has to treat her politely when she sees them. How can a little concubine like her dare to offend her? When the master was there, he was protecting her, but when the master was gone, if she dared to have the slightest intention of going against the mistress, she would definitely be left to fend for herself in Zhuangzi, and even harm Xin'er.

After Aunt Feng figured it out, she didn't make any noise.

Aunt Liu was the same, but just now she couldn't bear it anymore, so she pinched Xue Wenlan.

This girl didn't know who she was following, she was very timid and afraid of getting into trouble. If she didn't give her a push, with her cowardly temperament of hiding from strangers like a mouse from a cat, she would probably still be in the boudoir when she was sixteen. Wouldn't that be the end of it?

Although Xu Yin was not as far ahead as Aunt Liu, her younger brother was already dead and her younger sister couldn't even think about running away.

No, after the morning tea meeting, she took Xue Youxin and Xue Wenlan and walked around the courtyard.

Regardless of whether there are people living there or not, everything has been checked.

Almost every courtyard has problems. Some have rafters and columns that are infested with insects; some have dust on the walls, exposing blue bricks; snakes and rats have drilled in and out of the brick joints to create holes; and some guest courtyards have been damaged for a long time. No one lives in it, the roof leaks from rain, and the walls are moldy...

Xu Yin asked Xue Youxin to take a pen and paper and write them down one by one, while his book boy held an inkstone to polish the ink.

One piece of paper for each courtyard is not enough to write about, so it can be seen that there are many problems, big and small.

It took a full three hours to walk in such a circle, and lunch was delayed, but it also gave the younger brother and younger sister a more comprehensive understanding of their home.

Xu Yin stayed with them to eat together and said during the dinner: "This is just the first step. The next step is to come up with solutions to these problems, and then watch the craftsmen repair it. Considering that Youxin usually goes to school, he is not in the house At that time, Wenlan needs to pay more attention to you."

"Me, me?" Xue Wenlan stuttered, "I, I can't."

"Why not? You're very good!" Xu Yin praised the other party fiercely, "I forgot a lot of things just now, and you were the one who added them. Even Youxin praised you for your good memory. Besides, don't you still have me? I just want to I'm busy with other things and can't be there all the time to keep an eye on it, so I'm asking you. If you encounter any problems, you can come to me at any time."