The maid's road to success

The next day, many people came to the Marquis' Mansion to give gifts. Everyone knew that the Mansion was not yet able to entertain guests, so only a few very close relatives did not mind and stayed to help, while the others just arrived with gifts first.

Many things were given to the ancestor. In the past, when the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion was still prosperous, the ancestor did not need strangers to serve him. All the maids who were close to him had to start from cleaning and sweeping before they could serve the ancestor.

After experiencing that incident, she no longer liked having people of unknown background around her. The other maids were redeemed by Princess Yong'an when the Huaiyuan Marquis' Mansion was rehabilitated, but they had been tortured for many years, and many of them died, and the rest had changed their personalities.

After all, not many people can be rescued in time like Bihe and the others, three or four years later.

Our ancestor was kind and settled all these people on the farm, and provided for them until the end of their lives as if they were the marquisate.

Knowing that the women of the Marquis' Mansion were coming back, the Bai family prepared a lot of manpower early on. The maids also taught them for a while and they were able to use them right away. However, the old ancestor still did not allow anyone to be sent to Fushou Hall. He only said that Yumei and the others should look after them for the time being, and it would not be too late to send some more after a while when they had a better understanding of the situation.

The eldest lady also knew the old ancestor's thoughts, but she was old and didn't like too many unfamiliar faces around her, so she could only select some good ones and give them to an old nanny to teach first.

According to the old ancestor's affection for these maids, I'm afraid they won't be allowed to do housework even if they stay. They're afraid they'd be wronged to be a housekeeper. The maids in Fu Shou Tang have too many shortcomings.

Yulan and Yumei got married in Liangzhou. Their marriages were all for the purpose of seeking some benefits for the Marquis' Mansion. The old ancestor always felt that they were wronged, and there were not many conditions in Liangzhou to give them a grand wedding.

When they arrive in Kyoto, I'm afraid they will have to make amends. Once the Marquis's Mansion is settled, they will help their husbands to move to Kyoto. Although they cannot become high-ranking officials, they can still be clerks in the yamen of the eighth or ninth rank.

Bihe, Chunlu and the others said that since they would not get married anyway, it would be better for them to follow the old ancestor and serve him, where they could talk to each other and not feel lonely.

But the three of them were not enough, and they were no longer girls, so they could only stay with the old ancestor and be housekeepers.

Princess Li saw that the Bai family was helping the eldest lady to run the farm and shop, and the inner house had been almost tidied up before they came back. Although there was a shortage of manpower, there were not many masters, so they could barely survive.

"Sister, it's great to have you back. I've been worried for so many years, and now it's finally here."

The old man took his sister's hand and comforted her.

The ancestor and the Princess of Li are not real sisters. The ancestor was born to the first wife, and the Princess of Li was the child of the second wife. However, the Princess of Li's biological mother was a kind person and treated the ancestor more attentively than her own children. It is almost possible to say that these two sisters are real sisters.

"I know you care about me. Although Prince Li misunderstood the Marquisate, he did not stop you from continuing to subsidize us. That's good."

Princess Li wiped her tears and asked her elder sister.

"Before, Luo Xi did not allow Brother Zong to return to the Marquis' Mansion. Could it be that he had been planning to let the prince take over the throne?"

The old ancestor nodded and felt very pleased when he saw Zong Ge playing games with the servants in the yard.

"Well, you know the old marquis's wish. Luo Xi is the most filial child. He will definitely fulfill the old marquis' wish. Besides, we also have selfish motives. If you two become the masters of this world, it will be the most beneficial to our mansion and the world. Brother Zong, I also have selfish motives. I want Luo Yuan's lineage to climb higher."

Seeing that her sister obviously cared more about the world but insisted on speaking like this, Princess Li patted her sister and felt relieved.

"Sister is really good at educating people. I have never told you about Zong Ge's affairs because I was afraid you would be angry. At the beginning, we insisted on taking Zong Ge out of the prison because we wanted to leave a legacy for the Marquisate. But those people were too vicious. They were afraid that Zong Ge would continue the Marquisate's offspring and would take revenge sooner or later, so they gave Zong Ge a sterilizing drug."

"At that time, I didn't know that you had sent Luo Xi out as well. I just thought that Brother Zong was the only one alive. I didn't dare to tell you, for fear that you would lose all hope. We also thought that even if we didn't have our own children, we could at most adopt one when Brother Zong came of age. But that group of people poisoned us several times. If it weren't for Wen Niang's alertness and bringing a famous doctor, Brother Zong would be..."

The old ancestor never expected that those people would not even let the children go, and he was even more angry. Seeing that Zong Ge was healthy and cheerful now, he felt a little calmer.

"But sister, it's not a big deal for Luo Xi to be under An Zizhong's identity now. He will eventually come back to inherit the title of the Marquis' Mansion. In terms of this identity..."

The old ancestor became a little more energetic when he mentioned this matter.

"We have discussed it. After all, if someone knew that An Zizhong disguised himself to take the imperial examination and was hovering between the Fourth and Sixth Princes, it would be a crime of deceiving the emperor. So An Zizhong will have to disappear naturally. I have already found an excuse for Luo Xi to be alive."

Princess Li nodded, as long as they could succeed.

"By the way, sister, after Prince Li ascends the throne, he plans to name the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion as the Huaiyuan Duke Mansion to raise its status and find a good in-law for Luo Xi."

The old ancestor became worried whenever he mentioned this matter. Although Luo Xi was sensible, he was very stubborn, just like the old marquis. No one could force them to do something they didn't want to do.

"Grandfather, the eldest lady said that someone from the Wang family has come and wants to visit you. Would you like to send someone over?"

When the ancestor of the Wang family heard this, his expression changed immediately. He frowned and looked at the person who passed the message outside with displeasure. He was not blaming the servants, but was in a bad mood when he mentioned the Wang family.

"Go ask the Second Madam. If she agrees, I'll see her. If she doesn't agree, I'll chase her away. What the hell."

The old ancestor seldom curses people, and she usually doesn’t get angry about anything, but the Wang family is really not like the right people.

I became so angry just thinking about it, but I couldn't just rush out and scold Wang Jia in the face.

"The Wang family is so shameless. When you got into trouble, they wanted to expel the Wang family and distance themselves from you. They never asked you a single question in all these years. When someone asked them about you, they pretended to be arrogant and said they would not be associated with you. Now that you have been vindicated, they are having a hard time and are trying to get close to you again."

Princess Li had nothing good to say about the Wang family. When something happened at the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion, anyone with a brain would know that there was something wrong.

Most of the relatives would secretly take care of the couple and send some money and gifts to Liangzhou as bribes, but the Wang family was so ruthless that they never did anything like it. They even slandered the Marquis' Mansion many times, saying that the Wang family was a noble family and it was impossible for them to have anything to do with such traitors.

The old ancestor was very angry when he mentioned the Wang family. He didn't care that he didn't like gossiping and took his sister's hand and started complaining.

"You don't know how wronged we were. When the second son fell in love with Wang and insisted on marrying her, we married her at great expense. Their family pretended to be a noble family and acted arrogant. They refused to do business and manage things. It was only because of the second son's support and management that the Wang family was able to move to a higher level."

"When our family was in trouble and their property was confiscated, the second branch actually had no money left. That old witch from the Wang family coaxed all of it away from the second son's wife. There were more than 50,000 taels of silver, which was enough to support three Wang families."

"When our family was in trouble, Wang wanted the Wang family to help us, but we didn't get a single silver ingot. They even asked Wang to save the Wang family's reputation with her own death, and forced the second son's wife to die. Tell me, are there any parents like this in the world? They drink their daughter's blood, despise their son-in-law for being mercenary, and when something happens, they still think it will affect their Wang family, so they want their daughter to die."

Princess Li did not know this, but after hearing it now, she was very angry. Most of the noble ladies in Kyoto care about their image. Although some of them are fake, they are still kind to their children.

Although there are those who want their daughters to marry into a wealthy family to subsidize their parents' family, there are very few people like the Wang family who take the money and still claim to be noble, and even disregard their daughters' lives for the sake of reputation.

"I will tell the prince about this matter myself. Such a shameless person is not worthy of being an official. There are many selfish people in this world, but none of them would plunder his daughter and son-in-law and look down on others, and even force his daughter to die."

Princess Li looked around to see if there was anyone unreliable outside, then lowered her head and whispered to the ancestor.

"Let me tell you, the old man of the Wang family has always claimed to be a clean person who doesn't touch money and refuses to curry favor with his superiors? That's all fake. The prince had a banquet a few years ago and saw with his own eyes that the old man was sixty years old and still had a mistress outside. She was a prostitute and was only seventeen years old."

The old ancestor's eyes widened with surprise. He didn't realize that the old man of the Wang family was such a person.

"You don't know how embarrassing it is, and you still say that woman is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. They are close friends, and you can't look at them with worldly and filthy eyes."

The old ancestor probably had no appetite for food today. A sixty-year-old man was supporting a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl and said she was his confidante.

As soon as he stopped talking, he saw the servant who had just reported the news coming over.

"Grandfather, the Second Madam told the Wang family to go back to where they came from and not to dirty the land of the Huaiyuan Marquis' Mansion."

The old ancestor was originally worried that Wang would forgive her parents after returning to Kyoto. After all, they had given birth to her and raised her. So he wanted to see Wang's opinion. If she accepted it, he would let Bai negotiate, and he would not meet her.

It would be even better if you don't admit it.

Unexpectedly, Wang's current temper was so much to his liking that he directly asked the Wang family to get out.

"Then go and ask the eldest lady to ask them to leave. We will not have such relatives in our family in the future."

The servant looked embarrassed and rubbed his hands and said awkwardly.

"When the Second Madam heard this, she immediately asked her maid to tell the Wang family and told them that not a single word of what she said could be changed."

Although such vulgar words caused everyone to talk about it, the ancestor thought it was very good. Now the first house has Luo Xi, Princess Yong'an and Zong Ge, and the second house has the second son's wife and the illegitimate child. They can't stand up without being tough.

"Forget it, let her decide. Go talk to the eldest lady and let her deal with it properly."

The servant rubbed his hands again.

"The Second Madam told the maid to tell the Wang family that if they shamelessly slandered the Marquis' Mansion, she would publish the letters they sent to Liangzhou. She also has the account books of the money she took from the Second House over the years, and she wants the Wang family to return it as soon as possible."

The old ancestor nodded, and was quite satisfied. At least he was not simply arrogant. At least he took the future matters into consideration and was able to take responsibility.

"Forget it. Since she has already planned it, let her do it. The Marquis' Mansion will naturally support her."

Princess Li quickly added another sentence.

"And Prince Li's Mansion also supports her and lets her go for it."

Upon seeing this, the old ancestor glanced at the excited Princess Li and knew that Wang's current appearance was just what the Princess Li wanted. This sister was a lawless and vengeful person when she was young.

"Sister, you don't know that I used to hate Wang's attitude of wearing gold and silver but pretending to think it was vulgar. Now I feel really relieved."

Mrs. Bai had been accompanying her daughter to deal with things. She was already feeling depressed when she saw the Wang family coming. How dare such a family come?

However, what Wang asked the maid to say immediately made the two of them feel better. They felt even more comfortable when they saw the Wang family members slipping away with red faces.

"Your brother's wife has become a better person. I'm really afraid that she will continue to drag down the Wang family, and it will be difficult for you to live in the end."

Bai shook her head and pulled her mother to sit down.

"Don't worry, mother. My sister-in-law is different now. Half of the reason we are living well in Liangzhou is because of her. The Wang family hurt her too badly. I'm afraid they will be enemies from now on."

Mrs. Bai thought about what her daughter had told her last night. Although she could not accept a woman remarrying, after all, the Wang family had done a lot for the Marquis' Mansion. She could only say no and help conceal it.

It’s just that the people in the Wang family are really infuriating. They are so selfish and yet they dare to call themselves noble?

Ah, where is the cleanliness? Where is the expensiveness?

In the past, because their daughter was the legitimate daughter-in-law of the marquis's mansion, everyone gave them some face. The Huaiyuan Marquis's mansion was wronged, but with their little family background, who would respect them?

It didn't take long for him to see the situation declining, but he still insisted on holding on. Now he can't even find 200 taels of silver in his house, and his children can't find wives, so he is worried.

Now that the Marquis's family has returned, he wants to bring this relative back again. He is really shameless.

Mrs. Bai complained for a while, then suddenly remembered something and looked worried.

"You said that Luo Xi, this kid, has been in Kyoto for so many years and has never contacted the Bai family. At least he has our help so that he doesn't have to suffer too much. And he is still involved with a woman like Baozhu."

Mrs. Bai didn't want to mention the matter of Princess Baozhu marrying her son, so she changed the subject. The two of them chatted and went out to see the shop that the Bai family had prepared.

If this marquisate wants to stay afloat, it may not be able to sustain itself for long relying on the wealth recovered by Prince Li. The Bai family helped to buy a lot of shops and farms, so it had better open for business as soon as possible.