The maid's road to success

Chen Luolan didn't understand how bad the houses in the north of the city were, but Chen Luoxi knew it. These young masters who spent their days walking cats and playing with dogs knew it very well.

The monthly salary in their hands was only ten taels of silver, and with the subsidy from their parents, how much more could they have? Some young masters kept some actors and prostitutes, and placed them in the north of the city.

One reason was that he was afraid of meeting the owner in the east and west of the city and telling his family.

Secondly, it is indeed too expensive. Renting a house costs one or two taels of silver a month, hiring two or three servants to serve her, and buying her new clothes and jewelry every month.

Even if I spent all my monthly allowance there, it was still not enough. I had to borrow from my brothers from time to time.

He had been borrowed many times, and if his mother had not given him thirty or fifty taels of silver every month, it would not have been enough for him to spend.

"How small can a house in the north of the city be? It's a house in the capital after all, so it can't be too bad."

Chen Luoxi found it funny when listening to what his third sister Chen Luolan said, seeing these ladies in the boudoir were so confused that they didn't know the difference between grains.

"Third sister, you are really bad. There are still many houses in the capital that are too small for people to live in. The one in the north of the city is relatively good. If you go around the city gate, you will see that many houses have been divided into small rooms. They are dilapidated and leaky, and they are crowded with several families."

Chen Luolan was stunned. The world was peaceful now, and there was such a thing happening under the feet of the emperor in the capital?

"The two girls are on leave that day, so I'm going to go out and play. Third sister, are you coming?"

Chen Luolan hesitated after hearing this. She was a member of the marquis's family and it was not easy for her to go out. If she followed a group of maids and old women to the place in the north of the city, her mother would definitely not allow her.

How could a female member of the family go to those places? Especially now that she is engaged, she is not even allowed to go to worship Buddha.

"Fourth Young Master, you are joking. The north of the city is a place full of good and bad people. The Third Miss must have been engaged. It is not good for her to go to such a place."

Of course Wen Niang would not let the third young lady go there.

The third young lady is the legitimate daughter of the marquis's mansion. There is only one such legitimate daughter in the mansion. The eldest lady looks at her very closely and would never let the third young lady go to a dangerous place.

If she really went and was offended, she and Bihe would be skinned alive by the eldest lady.

"Hehe, I knew Third Sister couldn't go. I'll go check for you."

The fourth young master Chen Luoxi seemed to have made up his mind to go and take a look at Wen Niang and her family's small house.

Bihe and Wenniang looked at each other, feeling somewhat helpless. How many exquisite mansions had the Fourth Young Master not seen? Why was he so interested in their little courtyard?

But they didn't have time to think about it. The eldest lady had been invited to the main house, and the third young lady and the fourth young master couldn't hide in the tea room all the time.

"Why are you still here? Luo Lan, have you finished embroidering your wedding dress? Luo Xi, aren't you going to the master's place?"

After just two sentences, the Third Miss and the Fourth Young Master fled in a hurry. Bihe and Wen Niang served hot tea. The Second Madam and the others might have finished their private conversation, so this time they were not asked to wait outside.

"When did Luo An meet Ms. Zhou San?"

The eldest lady looked at Bihe and Wen Niang with a smile, then picked up the newly delivered Yuqian Longjing tea and took small sips.

When he looked at Chen Luoan, there was no kindness in his eyes, but some disgust.

"I asked too. He said that he had seen her once at the Peach Blossom Banquet in March. Luo An kept talking about her. I thought the Zhou family was a relative of my eldest sister-in-law, so I wanted to ask my eldest sister-in-law about it."

The eldest lady thought about it carefully and her attitude towards Chen Luoan became even colder.

The Peach Blossom Banquet is held every year at Princess Fu'an's manor, and all the important people in the capital are invited to attend.

This has also become a good opportunity to meet daughters-in-law and sons-in-law in disguise, and many people will take this opportunity to meet them.

However, the men's and women's seats at such banquets were separate, and the mistresses of the house could only look at the young talents in the capital from the small building, but young men and women had no chance to meet each other.

What means did Chen Luoan use to see that lady Zhou San?

"The Zhou family is my second sister-in-law's family. I have only seen Miss Zhou San a few times. She is indeed good-looking. You also know that for a family like us, we cannot just look at the appearance when choosing a daughter-in-law. We have to look at her character and the housekeeper carefully, right?"

The second wife listened and nodded. She spoke up because her son had been pestering her and nagging her recently, and she had no choice but to speak up.

"Don't worry, sister-in-law. I'll go back and find out more and then come back to tell you."

The eldest lady sneered in her heart. After all, they were from a noble family. They were too particular about etiquette and were very rigid. Which mistress in the capital city didn't understand the affairs of a girl waiting to be married?

Her family, the Bai family, was a prosperous family. Her second brother was born out of wedlock, but he was able to marry a girl from the Zhou family. The second master and his wife didn't even think about the reason.

The Zhou family's legitimate daughter married the Bai family's illegitimate daughter. Outsiders thought it was because the Bai family had a Shangshu Ling of the second rank, who held real power, and it was not impossible for him to become a prince's tutor.

Even so, the Zhou family was also the residence of the Minister of Justice. If a legitimate daughter married a concubine's son, no matter how powerful the husband's family was, some families in the capital would not be willing to do so.

But the Zhou family was willing to do it, because there were some problems with the girls in the Zhou family, and the second wife didn't even bother to look at them, but dared to tell her son about such a family.

Before my father became the Minister of the Chancellery, he faced a strong enemy and the Zhou family helped him. Only then did my father agree to let my second sister-in-law join the family.

Because of this, my second brother is resentful and is not on good terms with his family.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, sister-in-law."

The eldest lady was in charge of the rear house. She had many things to deal with every day. She couldn't stay here for long and had to go back.

The second wife sat in the main hall of Fushou Hall, unable to sleep or eat. The first wife's words just now made her a little hesitant.

She specifically said that when choosing a daughter-in-law, one should not only look at her appearance, but also her character and so on. Could it be that she knows something about the third daughter of the Zhou family?

The Second Lady felt that she could not just sit there and wait for death, so she went back to her own yard after chatting for a while. The Second Master also looked angry.

The second young master doesn't realize the seriousness of the situation and is feeling complacent.

After lunch, the old ancestor would take a nap, but today he did not sleep. Wen Niang served him and chanted scriptures in the small Buddhist hall.

Wen Niang guessed that something bad was about to happen in the mansion again. Every time something bad happened or was about to happen, the old ancestor would go to the small Buddhist temple to chant sutras in person.

"Where is the ancestor in there?"

After copying the scriptures, Wen Niang handed them to Sister Yumei and went out to wait.

Bihe was free at this time, so she slipped over to talk to Wen Niang.

"Well, I'm not in a good mood."

Bihe curled her lips. It was strange that the old ancestor was in a good mood. The second young master made a mistake and let his roommate get pregnant. According to the rules of the mansion, he had to drink a bowl of safflower, and another life was lost.

"Just now I went to the tea house to get tea, and heard the maid there say that Chunzhu from the Second Young Master's courtyard was given medicine by the Second Madam, and he started bleeding right away. Chunzhu is only breathing his last breath now."

Wen Niang's eyes widened when she heard this. Didn't she say it's already five months old? Why is she still being given medicine?

"The Second Young Master didn't plead for mercy?"

Bihe shook her head, feeling sad.

"No, the Second Young Master was very happy when he found out that the First Madam had sent a letter to inquire about Miss Zhou. He couldn't care less about Chun Zhu. The Second Madam is angry now and wants to discipline the maids in the Second Young Master's courtyard."

The first person Wen Niang thought of was Chuncao, the most beauty-loving maid in Fu Shou Tang, who was afraid that she would be implicated this time.

"Sister Chuncao?"

Bihe clapped her hands and told her not to worry too much.

"At least they were sent out by Fushou Hall, so the Second Madam won't go too far. But the others are not so good. Mrs. Wang from the pharmacy, Chunzhu's biological mother, was also fired and her whole family was driven to the farm. As for Qiu Huan, don't look at her as she is only ten years old. I don't know where she learned these seductive tricks. She seduced the Second Young Master and drugged him. The Second Madam sold her directly."

After hearing this, Wen Niang didn't know whether she should feel sorry for those girls or hate the Second Young Master's ruthlessness.

When he coaxed those girls into following him, he made all kinds of promises and said nothing for free, but when the problem really came, he just gave up and didn't care about anything. He is just the unfeeling man often mentioned in operas.

The old ancestor calculated that it was time for him to come out. Bihe didn't dare to talk to Wen Niang anymore, so she went back with the little girl to change the teacups and teapots.

Yumei served the old ancestor to the inner room and asked Chunxiu to entertain the old ancestor.

I went to pack up clothes with Wen Niang. The weather was getting warmer, and we no longer needed Damao's clothes. It was time to change into some thinner skirts and dresses.

"This one is made of gray wolf skin, but the old ancestor disliked the dark color and put it in a big box to reward someone else with it. This one is made of small fox skin, but the old ancestor liked it very much, so he took it to the laundry and washed it carefully, and put it in the jade lotus box and stored it away."

Yumei had been in charge of Fu Shou Tang's things since her sister Bai Yang was still alive, and she handled them very efficiently.

"You are a cautious and steady person. I guess when I get old enough to leave, you will have to take over these things. You can follow me and take a look when you have nothing to do."

Wen Niang nodded and listened to Yumei's instructions more carefully.

Yumei will definitely have to get married when she reaches a certain age. The rules in the mansion are strict. Maids have to get married when they reach a certain age. Even if the master likes her very much, she has to find a husband first and can only stay for a year or two at most.

Sister Yumei is already seventeen years old. Her elder sister also got married before the age of nineteen according to the custom of our ancestors. She will arrange marriage next year and hand over the task to someone else, which will be very hasty.

It seems that Sister Yumei and Sister Yulan chose me to take over the financial affairs of Fu Shou Tang.

I am young, and after practicing for a year or two, I will be only 14, which is enough time for me to stay with the old woman for a few more years.

I just don’t know who will be chosen to take over Sister Yulan’s job.

But Sister Yulan is only 16, so she is not in a hurry.

Two days later, something was not right in the second house. When they came to pay their respects to the old ancestor, their faces all looked unhappy. The servants of the second house were all scolded, and even Chuncao came to Fushou Hall to cry twice.

Sister Yulan stopped me from entering and sent me back.

"Chunlu, you go to the big kitchen every day. Have you heard anything?"

While the old ancestor was taking a nap, several maids gathered together to talk.

"I heard some rumors in the kitchen. The second lady sent someone to inquire about the Zhou family. I don't know what she found out. She was very angry and firmly disagreed with the second young master marrying a girl from the Zhou family."

Chunlu heard a lot, sorted out his thoughts and continued speaking.

"But the Second Young Master is like a madman, he must have Miss Zhou San. When the Second Madam is furious, she takes it out on the concubines in his courtyard. She doesn't like anyone and the Second Young Master doesn't even come to the inner courtyard."

Bihe took a breath. What on earth was wrong with Miss Zhou that caused the Second Madam and the Second Young Master to be in a stalemate?

"The people in the kitchen said that Miss Zhou San is indeed very beautiful, and her father is the Minister of Justice. I don't know why the Second Madam despises her so much."

Wen Niang was so absorbed in listening that she forgot that it was time for the old ancestor to wake up. Fortunately, Bihe was smart and quickly brought tea as she watched the sun set in the west.

That night, the second wife came to see the old ancestor with red eyes, as if she had just cried.

Wen Niang and Chun Lu were originally in the right side room making purse handkerchiefs together. Chun Lu was helping her to draw the pattern and divide the lines.

The second wife came in suddenly and lay down in front of the old ancestor and started crying. Wen Niang and Chun Lu couldn't leave even if they wanted to.

"Grandfather, what should I do? The Zhou family has a bad reputation. A girl eloped with someone before, and the Zhou family suppressed the incident and said she died of illness."

"My sister-in-law from my mother's family asked someone to inquire for a few days before she found out about this matter. Luo An is determined to marry her. Who would dare to marry a girl from such a family?"