Chapter 37 Familiarity with the Situation
After a while, a little girl came in, poured a glass of water for Su Qing, and said with a smile, "Sister Qingrui asked me to tell you that after you finish telling the story, go to her room and wait for her. She will be back soon."
Su Qing nodded. This glass of water was thanks to Qingrui.
Looking up out the window, Meng Qi sat in the sedan chair. Thinking back to when she went out just now, Meng Qi asked the maid to tell Meng Xiu that she was going there. It seemed that the Huainan Marquis Mansion must be very big, otherwise why would she take a sedan chair to go to the Third Miss's place.
Su Qing was right. The Huainan Marquisate was very large. In the middle was Songhe Garden where the Song family lived. To the east was Changqing Garden where the prince and his wife lived. Wang lived in Shanzhi Hall, and Meng Shao and his wife lived in Canglang Courtyard. To the west was Shuanglin Courtyard, where the second master Meng Hao and his family lived.
There is a lake built by diverting water from the outer river at the back door of Shuanglin Courtyard. Going around the lake is Yafang Pavilion, where Meng Hai and his family now live. To the east of Yafang Pavilion is the back garden of Meng's house.
Qin Garden, where the fourth young lady lived, was in the east corner of Changqing Garden, separated from Wang's Shanzhi Hall by a flower wall. In addition, there was a garden between Songhe Garden and Shanzhi Hall, a little further back and close to the back garden, which was Meng Changfeng's study in the inner courtyard.
After the marriage, the servants of the Marquis' Mansion lived in the back street. There were two streets in total. The servants in the front lived in the mansion, and the servants in the back lived in the back. These people worked in the mansion. Except for those who were on duty at night, they had to go home when the keys were handed over. Except for those who served the master closely, such as Dongmei, Chunyi and Wu Mama.
Standing in Qingrui's room, Su Qing looked around. As a first-class maidservant beside the wife of the prince, Qingrui had her own room. Although it was not big, it was clean and quiet. The bed sheet, the hanging curtains and the curtains on the windows were all light pink with small florals. There was a bed, a table, two chairs, a pair of wooden boxes, and a rack for hanging clothes. It was quite complete.
Su Qing was lamenting that people were divided into different classes. Qing Rui pushed open the door and walked in, followed by a little girl supporting her. Su Qing hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Sister, what's wrong? You don't look very well."
"It's okay. I just twisted it accidentally when I was packing the boxes of the prince's wife yesterday." After saying that, he took Su Qing's hand, turned around and told the little girl to bring some food.
Su Qing helped Qing Rui lean on the bed, patted the quilt behind her, and found a comfortable angle for her. Then she went to pour a cup of tea and put it on the high table beside the bed. Then she went to get the towel on the face rack to soak it, but was stopped by Qing Rui.
"Don't worry about that. This is an old problem of mine. I've had it since I was a child. If I don't use my strength properly, it will come back. Now I'm much better. Come, while the wife of the prince is not back and the fourth lady is not in the yard, I want to talk to you for a few words."
After hearing what she said, Su Qing put the towel back on the shelf and sat on the small embroidery stool beside the bed.
"The fourth young lady has nominated Jiaolian as the first-class official. Did you know that?"
"Yes, Mrs. Liu said so last night."
"Well, Jiaolian is not like Jiaohong. She is a powerful person, and she has a big mind and a broad vision. Her father is a capable person beside the Marquis, and her elder brother also works for the prince. Even if there is no Jiaofeng incident, the prince's wife will still promote her."
Su Qing was thinking about the girl who stood next to Mother Liu yesterday with a serious face and no smile. She was not very pretty, nor was she white. She looked very mean and it was obvious that she was not easy to get along with.
"With your current status, you don't have many opportunities to talk to her or listen to her arrangements. If you have anything to do, just go find Jiaohong. I'm good friends with her, and I've already told her about your situation."
Su Qing nodded. From the fact that Jiaohong wiped her tears in front of Mother Liu, it could be seen that she either had a good relationship with Qingrui or had a connection with Mother Liu.
"The Baocheng family, who works for the Fourth Miss's back room, is a very nice person. Although she smiles at everyone, she actually has a lot of rules in her mind. You are working under her, as long as you work hard and don't talk nonsense, you will get the job done. Then there is that Chuan'er. I didn't know her very well before, and people asked a few more questions because of you going to the back room. She was also bought from outside and entered the mansion three years ago. Those who entered the mansion with her are doing better than her. Except for those who got married, the worst ones have achieved third-class status. Only she has been staying in the Fourth Miss's back room doing rough work.
"He's usually quiet and honest. I don't know what his personality is like. You can wait and see. If you can get along with him and have someone to talk to, that's good. If you can't agree with him, just don't offend him."
Su Qing nodded. Chuan'er was indeed strange. She was neither close nor distant to anyone. She should be able to sense the relationship between herself and Ruchun, but she acted as if she didn't see it. Last night, the most common exchange between the two of them was when she asked her if she had any boiled water.
"Also, Jiao Xing is also a maid, she has already been engaged and will be released in the fall. So she didn't even fight for the position of the first-class maid this time. As for Yuan Dong and Yuan Yue, they are also maids, and I can talk to them on weekdays. You will have more dealings with them in your future tasks, so remember to listen more and do more. Only Yuan Dong and Jiao Hong are better, but Yuan Yue is Jiao Lian's follower."
"As for the people in other courtyards, I don't think they will make things too difficult for you. I have asked Zhu'er, who was beside me and helped me in just now, to spread the word that you are my sister. I think they will give me some face."
"I'm so sorry to have caused you so much worry just after I arrived." Su Qing stood up and bowed to Qingrui. In such a complicated and wealthy family, it's hard to have no one to back you up. The reason why she dared to talk to Wanxiang and Ruchun like that yesterday was because she had the confidence of Qingrui.
"What are you talking about? Since you have accepted Aunt as your godmother, she is my biological sister. What happens outside has nothing to do with us, but you must pay more attention to the people and things in this mansion. You are a maid, and you will not have many opportunities to go in and out with the fourth lady on weekdays. You just need to sort out the people and things in Qinyuan. And then there is the matter of the Crown Prince's wife."
Su Qing nodded and sat back down. At least she knew who the people at the Song's were, but she had no idea about the Wang's and didn't recognize any of them.
"The place where the Crown Prince's wife lives is called Shanzhi Hall. The one who manages it is Madam Guo, who is the maidservant who came with the Crown Prince's wife as a dowry. There is also Madam Kong. You don't have to talk too much to them when you see them, but you must be respectful. The other big maidservant is Huarui, who is Madam Wu's niece. There are also two second-class servants, four third-class servants... Most of these servants are family-born children, and they are all relatives to each other, so you must be careful in what you say and do. I'm telling you too much now, and you can't remember it. If you need anything, just come find me. If I'm not here, you can find Zhu'er."
Su Qing nodded, thinking that there were more than a dozen servants in Meng Qi's courtyard alone, including personal attendants, cleaners, doormen, messengers, and even water boilers. In total, the number of servants for the prince's wife would be more, not less.
When Su Qing heard Qing Rui's words just now, he felt a headache, but now he thought it was nothing and just regarded them as classmates and teachers when he first entered college and he knew them one by one.
(I won’t write the girl’s name for now, as I’m afraid you may not remember it after reading so many stories. I’ll introduce her as the story progresses.)