Chapter 12 Clear Direction
Alas, that's why people shouldn't be too delicate. The Ruchun couple obviously picked on me, a weak persimmon. Cai'er was also bought with me, but they didn't set their sights on her. It was because Cai'er was not as timid as the original owner, she could work, had a sweet mouth, and more importantly, was in good health.
Until now she still didn't understand what disease the original owner had that caused her to travel through time. But it was not difficult to be sure that Ruchun and her daughter must have seen that the original owner was in poor health and thought that something unexpected would happen to her. Unexpectedly, she traveled through time and their wish was dashed, so they thought of other ideas.
With Cai'er in the kitchen, Su Qing felt that life was much more fulfilling, especially at night. A few days ago, she and Shuiqin were just staring at each other, but this time, she chatted with Cai'er and it was very interesting to listen to her talk about things at home.
They were busy like this for four days. On the fourth night, when they were about to finish their work, the eldest maid in the lady's room suddenly showed signs of spring. Two little maids with hairless heads followed behind her, one holding a food box and the other holding a tray.
After Chunyi came in, Ma Wujia was busy and looked flattered. Chunyi stopped Ma Wujia from pouring tea and said with a smile, "Don't be busy, madam. I will leave after a few words. The lady can't leave without someone by her side."
After hearing what she said, Ma Wujia stood aside obediently with everyone else.
"It's like this. Ever since the Madam brought the fourth young lady here, she has added a lot of work to the kitchen. Thank you for your hard work these past few days."
Ma Wujia was about to express his loyalty, but before he could say anything, Chunyi waved her hand and signaled the two maids who followed her to come forward and put everything in their hands on the table.
Chunyi went forward to open the food box and took out four plates of snacks, some yellow and some green, very beautiful. She lifted the red velvet cover on the tray and saw seven thin silver hairpins lined up inside. Although thin, they weighed about one tael, and the hairpins were finely carved with flowers of different patterns. The workmanship was extremely fine, and it was obvious that they were not made in ordinary gold shops.
After laying out the things, Chunyi said, "This snack is a gift from the Madam. It is made in the palace, very authentic. You can all try it. These hairpins are a gift from the Fourth Miss to each of you. Although they are not worth much, they are made in Defeng Tower. They are a token of our Fourth Miss's love."
Chunyi said this and led the two girls away in the stunned look of everyone. That momentum reminded Su Qing of the behavior of the HR manager of the company where he worked in his previous life.
Wow, she is just a maidservant beside the marquis’ wife, but she has such a strong aura. No wonder the girls in the books all like to be first-class maidservants beside their masters.
Watching Chunyi walk out of the yard, Su Qing became more determined to go to the East Palace. She always believed that a soldier who didn't want to be a good cook was not a good driver.
When Shuiqin saw Chunyi leave, she stretched out her hand towards the hairpin, but before she touched it, she saw that no one around her moved, so she retracted her hand. However, her eyes were fixed on the hairpin, and she kept saying how beautiful it was.
Ma Wujia only then realized, "Since it's given to us by the fourth lady, let's each take one." After saying that, she picked the one with the biggest flower head and took it in her hand. When the others saw her take it, they also picked out the ones they liked.
Shuiqin picked out one that she thought was bigger before Su Qing and Cai'er, and impatiently put it on her head. She turned her head to ask the people around her if it looked good. She found that it was Su Qing standing next to her, so she turned around and asked Mrs. Liu.
While they were talking excitedly, there were only two left. Cai'er took them all in her hand and asked Su Qing to choose. Su Qing pushed her to choose first, but Cai'er refused. After several rounds of arguing, Shuiqin said in a shrill voice, "Do you think the hairpin given by the fourth lady is not good enough? If you don't want it, just give it to me. I am grateful for the fourth lady's kindness!"
"How about this? If you dare to put on these three hairpins tomorrow and take a walk in the yard, I will give you these two. How about that?" Su Qing said to Shuiqin very seriously.
If I really put on three hairpins and walked around the garden, I would have a hard time explaining it. Chunyi just said clearly that each person gets one. After hearing what Su Qing said, Shuiqin rarely said anything back. She took a piece of dessert from each of the four plates on the table and turned around to go back to the house.
"This water celery was obviously bought from outside. Who is supporting it? Why does it act more arrogantly than a domestic child?" Mrs. Hong said in a low voice.
Ma Wujia felt embarrassed, so he arranged tomorrow's work and asked everyone to go back and rest.
Su Qing couldn't win over Cai'er, so she had to pick the one with plum blossom pattern from the two. Cai'er happily put the remaining lilac pattern on her head.
After everyone left, Su Qing fiddled with the hairpin while her feet were burned. Now she finally understood why Ruchun and her daughter were willing to throw dirty water on themselves to let their youngest daughter in. Even if she could not serve the master, she could still get such a reward, not to mention having enough food and warm clothes.
Look at Chaizi, she can get a reward of nearly one or two taels of silver just by working in the kitchen for a few days. Those who follow their masters can get much less than that.
She had inquired about the money a maid like her needed to redeem herself, but she found out that normally no servant in a marquis's mansion would redeem herself. The reason was simple: the marquis's mansion was large and powerful, so the conditions for working there were naturally better than elsewhere.
But if she really wanted to redeem herself, it was not forbidden. The minimum amount was 15 taels of silver. According to her current monthly allowance, she would have to save up 15 taels of silver for more than four years even if she didn't buy anything. Besides, how could she have no expenses at all? Therefore, she had to be the master's personal maid, so that she could ensure that she could earn enough money to support herself.
Haha, being a maid by the master's side, what a lofty ideal, Su Qing couldn't help but think with self-mockery.
Since the Song family moved in, many of the Meng family's relatives who lived near the west residence came to visit. There were people coming every day. Many of them were from the fifth degree of mourning of the Huainan Marquis Mansion, but they all had the surname Meng. Although they all lived in the capital, one was in the east and the other in the west. Even if there was something big or small in the Huainan Marquis Mansion, many of the relatives here were not qualified to visit.
Now that the Marquis's wife was staying here for a while, the Meng family members seized the opportunity and trampled down the threshold of the West House. Although Song was unhappy, there was nothing she could do. These people came under the banner of visiting and reminiscing about the past, but in fact they wanted to ask for help from the Huainan Marquis' Mansion for big or small matters and try to get close to them.