The maid's road to success

After the Second Young Master got married, the Second Lady fell seriously ill. At first, she couldn't even get out of bed. The old lady was very distressed and asked the maids to visit her every day.

Wen Niang also sent some refreshing and appetizing food several times, such as the plum cake made by Chunlu, which was not too sweet and very refreshing. The Second Madam could even eat two pieces. The old ancestor often asked Chunlu to make it and send it to the Second Madam.

"Sister Wen Niang."

"I've met Miss Six."

Chunlu had to go and get the meal, Bihe had to make tea for the ancestors after they finished their meal, Yulan and Chunxiu had to serve, and Yumei went home, leaving Wen Niang alone with nothing to do.

"Sister Wen Niang is here to give me some plum cakes. Mother didn't have dinner today, so she's been thinking about it."

The Sixth Miss has been serving in the Second Madam's room for several days and has lost a lot of weight.

"The old ancestor is worried about the second wife, and asks us every day, how is she doing today?"

Miss Six's red eyes showed a smile.

"Much better now. I can get out of bed and walk around. I'll be able to go and pay my respects to my ancestors in a couple of days."

Wen Niang nodded and walked into the second lady's room.

"Greetings, Madam. The ancestor sent this servant to bring you plum cakes."

The Second Madam asked Yuyan to support her, leaned on the pillow, and picked up a piece of cake with a smile.

"My grandmother has been worried about me. I feel embarrassed. Today, the doctor said that I am much better now. You can go back and tell my grandmother so that she can rest assured."

Wen Niang nodded. She came here today with the words of her ancestors.

"The old ancestor asked me to tell you something. She has already sent a message to the Princess of Li, asking her to come forward and propose marriage to the Second Young Master in a grand manner, and then ask the Marquis to find a job for the Second Young Master, so that you can feel more at ease."

The Second Lady nodded with red eyes. The Second Master was angry with her and didn't care about anything and didn't even go home.

Luo An only knows how to hang out with those girls and never comes to see her.

The Sixth Miss was a concubine's daughter, and she had never liked her. However, the Fifth Young Master in the mansion moved to his own courtyard at the age of twelve and could not stay in the inner courtyard all the time. Several concubines were watching and laughing at the joke, so in the end only the Sixth Miss could stay to serve him.

Fortunately, the ancestor still thinks about me and sends people to visit me from time to time.

I didn't expect that the ancestor would find the Princess of Li for Luo An. She was the ancestor's sister, and he rarely asked the Princess of Li for help.

With the intervention of Princess Li, Luo An's marriage would not be so embarrassing. And with the help of the Marquis, his life would be much better in the future.

In two years, she will pick a concubine from her parents' family for Luo An.

After delivering the message, Wen Niang returned to Fushoutang. The Second Madam was happy and asked Yuyan to give Wen Niang a handful of silver melon seeds to play with.

When Bihe came back and saw it, she was very envious. A few days ago, when they went to the Second Madam's He'an Pavilion, they didn't receive so many rewards.

"I asked the maid at the corner gate to buy some braised food for us. After we wait for our ancestor to go to bed, how about having a drink?"

Only then did Bihe forgive her.

The next day, the second wife came happily to thank the old ancestor, and brought the sixth lady Chen Luoshu with her.

"Come, come to me."

The old ancestor held Chen Luoshu's hand, and it was heartbreaking to see him.

The child is only 10 years old, at the age when he needs to eat well and sleep well, but he has to take care of his stepmother when she is sick.

The Second Madam seemed to be in much better condition, but she had lost a lot of weight. After all, she was a young lady from a marquis's mansion, and she wore two pairs of thin red jade rings on her hands. The quality was not too bad, and the color looked very bright even from a distance.

There are four silver butterfly hairpins on her head, each inlaid with two rubies.

There were ruby ​​butterfly pendants on her ears. If it weren't for Miss Liu's snow-white skin, she would not have looked as bright as the maid in Fu Shou Tang when she went out.

"Good child, you have worked hard taking care of your mother recently. I will ask Sister Yumei to take you to pick out some jewelry later. Dress up beautifully at such a young age, and the old ancestor will be happy to see you."

The Second Lady understood that the old ancestor was really reminding her not to favor her own children and be harsh to her illegitimate children.

"Why would you spend money, old man? This child has been taking care of me sincerely recently. In the past, Luo An was always a worry, and I couldn't spare the time. Now he is getting engaged, and I can relax and educate Shu'er well in the future."

The old ancestor glanced at her, without showing it on his face, but in his heart he felt that the Second Madam was stingy. She was disappointed by Luo An this time. Luo Shu had been serving her all the time, so she was willing to take care of Luo Shu. Then how could she not care about the Fifth Young Master?

She learned some stingy tricks from her mother. The Marquis's Mansion gave a lot to the second wife throughout the year, and they wanted to spend it all on Luo An.

Thinking this in his heart but unable to show it, the old ancestor pulled Luo Shu and stroked her hair at the temples.

"You give yours, I give mine. My little Sixth should be filial, so I, as her father, should give her more jewelry. Later, I will make my second son pay for it."

The words were just naughty ones, but to the Second Lady, it was a warning. The ancestor had even contacted the Princess of Li for Luo An's sake this time, so there was no need to give her a warning, just asking her to behave herself would be enough.

"It all comes down to this. Luo Shu is getting bigger day by day. He should have his own yard in two years. While he is still by my side, save more for him."

The old ancestor was satisfied to see that she was not too cold-hearted. When they were about to leave, Yumei had already picked out the jewelry.

Twelve silver hairpins with twelve patterns of flowers, including apricot, plum, peach and lotus.

A pair of goldfish, dragonfly and bird hairpins.

A pair of green jade bracelets, a pair of twisted gold bracelets, and a pair of pearl chains.

There are also twelve pairs of earrings of various designs.

Such a generous gesture amazed the Sixth Miss and the Second Madam.

Chen Luoshu was very touched that his ancestor loved him so much.

The second wife was thinking, since the ancestor had given such a generous reward, how much should she, as the legitimate mother, give?

After the second lady left, Wen Niang, Chunlu, Chunxiu and Yulan always did some needlework and chatted with the old ancestor.

"The old ancestor honored the Sixth Miss today. She must be very happy."

The old ancestor usually doted on these girls, almost as much as his own grandchildren, and he didn't shy away from anything.

"Poor Sixth Lady, your Second Madam only cares about the child in her belly. She can't stand any of the illegitimate sons and daughters of the Second House. The young lady of a wealthy family worries every day about what jewelry to wear."

Yulan picked up a small hammer and hammered the old woman's leg and continued listening.

The grandmother can speak about the masters' affairs, but the maids can only listen but not speak.

"Luo An did something wrong this time, and she got so angry that she became ill. The concubines were gone, so she relied on this little girl to take care of her. According to her habit, she would be rewarded with two extra months' salary and a few words of praise, and that was it."

"If I, as an old man, don't try to save some money for her, who else will think about her?"

Yulan understood that the old ancestor mainly wanted to warn the second wife not to go too far. If the young masters and young ladies grew up and held a grudge, the brothers would be in discord and the family would be in unrest, which would be a disaster for the second wife.

"The old ancestor also has painstaking efforts. The second wife should understand it."

The old ancestor laughed sarcastically after hearing this. She would listen to him these days, but as long as she adjusted herself after a period of time, she would still hate illegitimate sons and daughters.

I'm afraid there will be some excesses by then, so I'd better save more for Sixth Lady every time.

Since she gave more, Chen Yuanxiang and his wife could also give more.

Chen Luoshu came to Aunt Fu's yard with the rewards given by the ancestors and the second master and his wife.

There was not even a pot of flowers in the small Green Pavilion. Aunt Fu was sitting in the yard making velvet flowers.

The second wife did not like the illegitimate children of the aunt and was harsh on their food and clothing. However, the aunt Lu gave birth to the fifth brother Chen Luochuan, and with the financial support from his father, she lived in the three rooms at the front of the Green Pavilion. The aunt could only live in the left wing.

Since I didn't have any jewelry to match my clothes, my aunt made a lot of velvet flowers to decorate myself.

"Auntie, I'm back."

Aunt Fu looked at Chen Luoshu and quickly pulled her over to look at her carefully.

"Sixth Miss has lost weight. She needs to take good care of herself these days."

Chen Luoshu nodded and pulled Aunt Fu into the left wing.

"Aunt, the old ancestor gave me a lot of jewelry, and asked my father and mother to give me some as well."

Aunt Fu looked at the box in Chunju's hand, opened it carefully, and tears flashed in her eyes.

"The old ancestor is worried about the sixth girl. You must respect the old ancestor well in the future."

Aunt Fu loves her daughter, but as a concubine, she has no control over anything. She can only be humble and try not to make the Second Lady angry. This way, she won't have to trouble the Sixth Miss in her marriage in the future.

Unexpectedly, although the ancestor had been staying in Fushou Hall, he knew everything about their situation.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, I gave Sixth Miss a lot of money, all of which are jewelry that she can use now.

"Aunt, now that I have so many things, you don't have to make velvet flowers anymore. Your eyesight is not good, so make less of these things."

Aunt Fu nodded, took the Sixth Girl and smoothed her messy hair.

Aunt Lu saw this in the main room, curled her lips, threw down the melon seeds in her hand, and went into the inner room.

A little girl really needs to be loved so much by the ancestor. Her fifth young master Luochuan is also very talented, but the ancestor has not rewarded him with so many things.

What happened in the second room soon spread to the first room. The first lady listened to Yuxiu's words and glanced at the seventh lady Chen Luoyin who was practicing calligraphy nearby.

"My second sister-in-law is just too petty. She thinks she is noble and elegant in the palace, and refuses to do business to earn some money. She doesn't even care about the food and clothing for her family. She spends all day writing and pretending to be good."

"They love money the most. When my second brother's wife married into the mansion, not to mention how much wealth my second brother had, the public treasury also allocated more than 100 taels to the second house every month. But she held it in her own hands and only allowed them to spend it."

"My second brother is so tired that he has to give his children and aunt a monthly allowance. A good lady from a wealthy family, when she goes out, she either wears a pair of butterfly silver hairpins or a set of jade jewelry. She looks so shabby."

Yuxiu ordered the tea and handed it to the eldest lady.

"The Second Madam is far inferior to you. The Seventh Miss is in the main house, and she is always provided with monthly allowances, clothes and jewelry for all four seasons, and tea and snacks."

A trace of sadness flashed across the eldest lady's eyes, but no one saw it except Yuxiu.

"She is the legitimate mother, and she is given food and drink. When she gets married, the Marquis's Mansion can afford the dowry. But she is so petty, and she dare not point fingers at the culprit."

Yuxiu lowered her eyes and remained silent. The eldest lady still resented the Marquis.

It’s no wonder that the first lady is not virtuous. The Bai family and the Marquis’s family were married when the Marquis was a child, but the Marquis was particularly fond of a maidservant. The lady only found out about this after she got married.

At the beginning, he was young and hot-tempered, and quarreled with the Marquis every day because of the concubine.

She refused to agree to the Marquis's making that woman his concubine, and a rift developed between the Marquis and his wife because of this.

The concubine got pregnant first, and the old ancestor found out about it. He was furious and rewarded the concubine with a bowl of safflower soup.

The Marquis was very sad, and he and his wife became cold to each other, and he hadn't entered Zixi Garden for almost a year.

If the ancestor had not thrown the evidence of the concubine's scheming and framing the lady in the Marquis' face, the eldest master, the third lady, and the fourth master would never have been born.

Even though the Marquis refused to take any more concubines except the one bestowed by the ancestors in order to compensate his wife, his wife still resented him.

However, the first lady was much more virtuous than the second and third ladies. She only blamed men for these things. She would not allow her concubine to pay her respects unless she liked to see her. She would also raise the concubine's daughter together with the legitimate daughter.