Bondage

"Damn the old slave, it's really a blind old man who made such a mistake. Fortunately, Grandma's eyesight is as bright as a torch, and she found the reason."

The old woman slapped her mouth hard, and the slapping sound shook the others.

"Since the report was wrong, it is enough to make up the account, so why?"

Song Wan asked Heng Wu to help the woman up, and said to Zhang Changsheng's wife, "Are you the wife of the steward of the writing room in the outer court?"

"Back to grandma, that's right."

"Our Marquis Manor doesn't pay attention to women's lack of talent. It's virtue. Therefore, the ladies of all courts can read and write, and they also dabble in calligraphy and painting on weekdays. It's just that the daughters of the inner house don't study in the house during the day, and practice more homework at night."

"But I found that the girls spent more on the ink, paper and inkstone than the sum of the young masters in the mansion."

"Just the antique Xueyitang ink you reported this year has four ingots."

Zhang Changsheng's daughter-in-law smiled awkwardly: "Grandma used to be a widow and didn't know anything about the house. The ladies in our house are no better than other families in Shangjing. The girls in other houses usually like needlework and spinning, but the girls in the Hou's house are more fond of reading and painting." painting."

"Let's talk about the third lady in the second room of our house. She likes to draw fish, birds and animals the most. So this paper and ink are used more than the men?"

Seeing that Song Wan didn't answer, she raised her head even more: "Madam is benevolent, there is no distinction between the concubine and the concubine in the house, no matter the girls or boys are treated equally, these girls love calligraphy and painting and want some pens and ink from the old slave, so it's better not to give it to me." ?”

"Now that Grandma has something to say, I will definitely pay attention to it in the future, but I don't know if the ladies in the mansion will think that Grandma is acting a little crazy, after all, in the past when the wife was in charge of the house, she would not deduct the expenses of the concubine ladies in the mansion. "

Her voice became louder, and Song Wan only said indifferently: "Antique Xueyitang ink is of medium value, it is not the best in the mansion, but one ingot is worth three or forty taels of silver. You probably don't know, this Xueyitang ink It is made by burning tung oil and adding spices, and the characteristic of lampblack ink is that its luster is brighter but the ink color is slightly lighter."

"The paintings of the ladies in the mansion..."

Song Wan took out two landscape paintings from the white porcelain painting jar, opened them and handed them to the woman.

"The ink in these two paintings is deep but not charming, but because the gelatin is still light and lacks luster, this is a typical pine smoke ink."

"Although the two inks are neither sticky nor astringent, and are delicate and smooth, the difference between them is quite large."

"Perhaps... Xu is that the old slave made a mistake. The old slave will go back and check the receipt and the account."

Song Wan nodded: "Of course we have to check it out."

After she finished speaking, Liu Shun's family couldn't hold back anymore: "Grandma clearly checked, the accounts handed in by the old slave have never been flawed."

There are many slaves in the Hou's mansion, because the old lady suddenly lost her children and grandchildren six years ago, most of her body collapsed, and Mrs. Jiang is a big-hearted person, who usually seldom cares about such trivial matters.

One or two days, the old lady Yu Wei was there to guard her. After a long time, she found out the temperament of the eldest lady, and they naturally couldn't resist the temptation.

Even those who behaved safely, saw that the women in charge at the same level around them were all getting enough money, and had never had anything wrong with them, so their minds would naturally become more active after going back and forth.

It never occurred to me that I was caught by a young daughter-in-law today.

A few of them came to see the jokes, and they were thinking about watching Song Wan's inability to resist their embarrassment, and then made up a couple of right and wrong sentences, slandering one or two jokes to add some fun to the servants in the back house, but now their backs are sweating cold The obscene clothes were broken through.

"There is nothing wrong with it."

Song Wan smiled slightly at Liu Shun's family: "It's just that your receipt is really scribbled, and it's hard for me to recognize it."

"Back to grandma, this old slave will practice calligraphy more diligently in the future, and he will never be like this again."

"Success, you go back."

A group of people trembled and listened to Song Wan's order with their ears pricked up.

She looked at the two people who had problems with the previous accounts, and said softly: "One of you is responsible for the miscellaneous repairs of the outer courtyard, and the other is in charge of the various warehouses of the inner courtyard. I want to change to a lighter errand for the two of you."

"After the daughter-in-law of the Zhang family made up the bills, she was transferred to Jixiangyuan to be in charge, and Lin Lianggao's family went to work in the tea room. The former Jixiangyuan mother-in-law went to the big kitchen to be responsible for purchasing, and the grandson went to..."

Song Wan dispatched a few wives, and changed the main stewards of the inner courtyard of the Hou Mansion.

These women are always on duty in one place, and the house is well-founded, and the upper and lower staff are also well-managed, even if they are not all in the same boat, they are not far behind.

Now that the fight is a mess, it can also stop this unhealthy trend.

Zhang Changsheng's daughter-in-law wailed when she heard the words: "Grandma, this old slave made a mistake. This old slave was indeed a bit careless, but I can guarantee that there will never be a next time."

Where is Jixiangyuan?

That's where the servant girl in the mansion recuperates from illness, and the concubine Ji and the unborn Xiao Ding go to mourn. Not to mention the gloomy atmosphere all day long, there is still nothing to fish for.

Now she is in charge of the inner house treasury, although she dare not touch the things on the account, she usually asks her men to produce more of the four treasures of the study from the writing room, and hang them under the names of the ladies, and she can get dozens of taels of silver in a month, which is worth it at a time. It's been two years since she paid routine money, so how could she be willing?

"Grandma forgives Laonu this time, and Laonu will do her best to serve you in the future."

Zhang Changsheng's daughter-in-law couldn't stop crying: "This old slave is too old to go to Jixiang Garden. Since I have served the old lady and wife for many years, let me give this old slave a chance."

Song Wan frowned: "It's reasonable, but it's not easy for you to go to Jixiangyuan to take care of it when you are old."

"Yes yes yes..."

The woman was delighted that Song Wan was young, with a thin face and a soft heart, so she found a wooden box from the table, took out a deed of sale and handed it back to her.

"You are old, and it is time to let you go home to be raised. Today, I will let you go home for my grandmother."

"Grandma..."

"Grandmother and old slave are wrong. I went to Jixiang Garden. I don't want to go home... I beg you. The whole family of this old slave is in the mansion. For generations, the Hou family has children. You let the old man Where is the slave going?"

Song Wan nodded to Heng Wu, and Heng Wu pulled out another five or six sales deeds: "You are considered an old man in the Hou family, since you are so reluctant to leave your family, go home with your children and grandchildren."

A rich and well-behaved family has never sold someone else, even if they made a huge mistake, they just repaid the contract and let them go back with grace.It's just that this is more uncomfortable than killing them for the respectable servants who have lived in the Hou Mansion all their lives.

The Hou Mansion is tolerant and never criticizes the servants. Even if she is the lowest-ranking woman in charge, her food and clothing are much better than the wives of officials in remote villages.

Not to mention that their nephews are traveling outside, and relying on the Hou Mansion to benefit a lot.If one of them falls into the eyes of the Patriarch and rewards him with a half-job, it is not impossible to change his family to Guangzong Yaozu.

If the daughter's family becomes a first-class servant girl like Hengwu Hengzhi, then there will be green smoke from the ancestral grave, and she may turn over one day and become the master of the aunt.

Thinking of the bright little face of the youngest daughter, Zhang Changsheng's family burst into tears, and the mournful voice was much more sincere than before.

Seeing her being dragged away, all the women in the room trembled with fright in their calves, for fear that Song Wan's clear eyes would fall on him.