Chapter 9 Let’s do it first
That day, everyone in the house got up early and swept the house from the main gate to the second gate with water. All the servants were in high spirits. At about noon, several black painted carriages drove over from afar.
In the front was a dark-black horse, on which sat a young man in his twenties. Although he did not look like Pan An, he was handsome, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, a straight nose and a square mouth. His black hair was tied up with a mutton-fat jade hairpin, and he wore an indigo-colored Hangzhou silk gown with a round flower pattern, which was elegant and noble. This was Meng Shao, the eldest son of the Marquis of Huainan, and the eldest young master of the East Palace.
When approaching the second gate, Meng Shao dismounted and threw the whip behind him. The servant behind him took it swiftly. He turned around and walked towards the carriage following closely behind him. After the servant put the footstool in place, he personally lifted the curtain.
"Grandma, we're here, please be careful."
With a slight cough, a hand reached Meng Shao's hand, and an old lady with pearls and jade on her head got out of the sedan chair. The old lady was wearing a purple-red jacket with cloud patterns and a slightly lighter eight-panel Xiang skirt. Although she was well-maintained, the wrinkles on her face, especially around the corners of her eyes and around her neck, still revealed her age. This was Mrs. Song, the wife of the Marquis of Huainan.
"You don't have to listen to your father. You can go back after we settle down. It's not that far away. You can bring your two brothers to visit us in a few days."
"My grandson dare not. When I came here, my father and mother explained it to me for a long time. If it weren't for my grandmother's insistence, they would have sent you here."
"Who asked them to send you? I don't remember what Master Fang Zhi said. Just stay here. As long as your grandfather is safe this time, this little trouble doesn't matter."
As the two were talking, a pretty girl came down from another sedan. She had a double bun and a small butterfly hairpin on one side. The butterfly looked lifelike, and its wings seemed to spread as it moved. She had beautiful eyebrows and a slender figure. She was wearing a moon-white pleated skirt with a light green ribbon tied around her waist. Her eyes revealed mischief and cleverness.
After Song stood firm, she turned around and extended her hand to the girl, saying lovingly, "Come, Sister Qi, come to grandma."
This person is none other than the eldest son of the Huainan Marquis’s family, the fourth child, Meng Qi.
"Grandma, we are going to live here for a while, right?" Meng Qi held Song's arm and looked around.
"Yes, this is the old house of our Meng family. You have never been here before, and even I have not been here many times."
"This is too small and too old."
Meng Shao laughed when he heard this and said, "My mother had already had people clean up this a long time ago."
Song also smiled and said, "Of course it can't be compared with the mansion. The master doesn't live here, and there is no need to put a lot of effort into repairing and maintaining it. Fortunately, we haven't lived here for a long time, and this place is most in line with the matters instructed by Master Fang Zhi. We are all for your grandfather."
"Yes, I know. Mother taught me before I came here. She told me to stay here with my grandmother and wait for my grandfather's funeral to be completed. Then mother will come to serve my grandmother."
Song nodded when she heard this, and with one hand on Meng Shao and the other hand supported by Meng Qi, she walked into the second door of the west house.
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The masters of the Meng family were having dinner happily, but Su Qing was so tired that she sat on a small stool and didn't want to move. The mistress, the eldest young master and the fourth young lady were the only three masters in total. The eldest young master came to see the mistress off and didn't bring too many servants with him. Even so, there were more than 30 people accompanying them, including maids, servants, guards, horse drivers, cargo movers, and cart drivers. For this evening's meal alone, four pots of two-pound black pancakes were steamed, and the six-layer steamer was set up at noon, not to mention washing vegetables and cutting meat.
Shuiqin was obviously holding back. Whenever she was asked to do something dirty or tiring, such as carrying firewood or kneading dough, she pretended not to hear. When it was time to serve the dishes, she twisted her body and rushed up. Su Qing let her do what she wanted, just like watching a clown jumping around.
Of course, the masters did not eat from their kitchen, and even the maids and servants who were favored by the masters would take advantage of the masters. Therefore, the meals they had to cook were for the servants who followed them. There were a total of five people in the kitchen who were responsible for the food of more than 30 people, not counting the servants in the original house.
"Damn it, this evil feudal society, one person needs 10 people to serve him." Su Qing said in his heart. Looking at the three big bowls on the table, one bowl of cabbage stewed with tofu, one bowl of stir-fried eggplant shreds, and another bowl of four mixed flour buns, Su Qing thought they were bigger than his face.
Ma Wujia led everyone to sit down and said, "Hurry up and eat. After eating, clean up the stove. Although the meals for the Madam don't come from our side, it's better to be prepared in case of an emergency."
"Aren't you waiting for Shuiqin?" asked Mrs. Hong.
"Let's not wait any longer and eat our own food." Ma Wujia said this while glancing at Su Qing.
Su Qing sneered in her heart. The Ma Wu family was also good at currying favor. They knew that she had no ability or backing, so they assigned Shuiqin to do the work of delivering food and showing off. But Shuiqin also had no backing, she was just close to Wanxiang and Ruchun. Just now, it was Shuiqin who accompanied her to deliver food to the maids below the third rank in each courtyard.
No one spoke, and they slowly began to eat. After taking two bites, Ma Wujia seemed to have just remembered something and said, "Look at my memory. I forgot everything because I was so busy." He stood up and went back to the first stove, lifted the lid of the big pot, and brought out a plate of chicken. It looked like the chicken was not whole, and the meat was all chopped up.
Su Qing saw the chicken in the big pot, and Ma Wujia told her to keep it warm until dinner. Maybe it was because she had made it too obvious to ask Shuiqin to deliver the food, and Shuiqin was picky about the work today, which even made the other people unhappy, but Ma Wujia didn't say a word, so she made up her mind to take out the chicken that was originally going to be taken home.
Su Qing didn't bother to pay attention to Ma Wu's behavior. He stretched out his chopsticks and started eating with big mouthfuls.
By the time he finished washing the last bowl, the moon was already high in the sky. Su Qing straightened his body, stretched out his hands and did a radio gymnastics body twisting exercise before he felt a little more comfortable.
Mrs. Hong took off her apron and said to Su Qing, "I have soaked all the dried vegetables. You just need to change the water when you get up at night."
Another maid also packed up and came over to Ma Wu's family and said, "I was transferred here temporarily, so there are some things I shouldn't say, but I have to work for a few days. Aunt Wu, you can see how busy we are today. We were short of manpower, and Shuiqin didn't do any work today. She was not even seen delivering food in the evening. If this is the case, I would rather not earn the extra two taels of silver than get sick from working myself to death."
Ma Wujia was holding a small blue cloth bag in her hand, smiling: "Sister Feng'er, don't say that. I can't leave you. Shuiqin might have been tripped up by something in the yard, and must have been summoned. I'll talk to her tomorrow. I didn't expect so many people to come. I'll talk to Sister Yu tomorrow, and ask her to send us a handyman."
"Since you said so, let's do this first." The woman called Sister Feng'er by Ma Wu's family walked out. She stopped by Su Qing and said, "You are a good person and hardworking." Then she left.