I was a queen in ancient times, no, a maid!

Zhang Sanjia and Wu's mother had no time to listen to Cheng Yu's words. They picked up their bowls and ate the fried rice.

Cheng Yu also made fried pork with chili peppers, which was delicious.

The fried rice was delicious to begin with, and now it was paired with a dish. The two mothers already had big appetites, so they just focused on eating.

Cheng Yu turned around and left the kitchen, heading towards the Cheng family's servants' quarters.

The Cheng family's yard is not big, it is just a large compound with several families living in it.

Cheng Yu still had some impression of the Cheng family's house, which was located in the corner near the east. When she walked into the house, someone just came out.

This person was none other than Cheng Yu's cousin Cheng Mei.

"Yu Jie'er, is it really you who has returned? Some servants I know in the outer courtyard said that the maidservant who came with the eldest lady's dowry has returned to the palace to see the prince. I wondered who it was and asked out of curiosity. They said, it's you, Yu Jie'er."

"Why did you come back? Did the eldest lady chase you back because you failed to serve the uncle? Your looks are really wasted."

Cheng Mei has always wanted to be a mistress to her master since she was a child.

Because of his outstanding appearance, Cheng Yu was verbally molested by the servants in the mansion.

She was afraid to look people in the eye, and she would never joke with others like Cheng Mei did.

Even if she is a piece of wood, she is a well-grown piece of wood and will still attract people's attention.

Therefore, Cheng Mei was jealous of Cheng Yu.

At first, she was thinking of becoming the eldest lady's maid as part of her dowry.

Because the maid who served the princess at that time came to find their grandmother, Nanny Cheng.

That is to say, Cheng Yu would be a maidservant during the dowry, and when the eldest daughter became pregnant, she would be given a face-saving treatment and sent to the brother-in-law's house to be a concubine.

Before Cheng Yu's mother gave birth to her, she arranged a marriage for her with a close friend who was also a government official in the mansion.

Cheng Yu didn't dare to disobey, but the princess consort was attracted by Cheng Yu's good looks.

If you are not pretty, you can't seduce a man's heart.

Naturally, the choice is Cheng Yu, who has a more outstanding appearance.

But Cheng Mei, who wanted to be a prostitute but had no means to do so, went to ask her grandmother, Madam Cheng, for help.

Nanny Cheng didn't dare to do anything wrong, so she had to send the reluctant Cheng Yu to be a dowry maid.

However, Cheng Mei, who was willing to do so, was stopped by Nanny Cheng.

Seeing Cheng Yu coming back now, still looking like a little maid, and her clothes and appearance looking worse than when she was in the palace, Cheng Mei naturally felt a little gloating.

Cheng Yu stared at Cheng Mei.

"Are you so into being someone's mistress? Several young ladies were beaten to death in the backyard. Don't you know what's going on?"

"Is grandma at home? I came back this time to visit the young master on behalf of the eldest lady. I will stay in the palace for a few days before leaving."

Cheng Mei said, "I had a fight with Mrs. Wang from the sewing room yesterday afternoon, and now I'm lying in bed in the room."

"They are all useless. I told grandma to work for the princess, but she refused to go. She also had a fight with the needlework woman in the princess's courtyard. How can I work in the princess's courtyard in the future? Grandma's mind is getting more and more confused. It's just right that you're back. Go and persuade her. Why not do something else, such as taking care of night fragrance?"

Cheng Mei looked at her grandmother with disdain at the job she did in the palace.

Cheng Yu ignored her and walked into the house.

There are three rooms in the east wing, which was where Nanny Cheng and Old Cheng lived with their children.

The couple lived in one room, their two sons lived in another room, and their daughters squeezed together when they were young.

When the children grow up and are able to work, they will be assigned to different courtyards so they don't have to live together.

That is, after the two sons got married, they lived here with their daughters-in-law. Later, when they had grandchildren, the older ones went out to work.

Cheng Da took his wife to the farm and worked as the second steward.

Cheng Er went to the farm where his eldest brother lived. He was responsible for delivering things from the farm to the palace. He came back two or three times a year.

I will definitely come back during the Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival.

The next time it’s wheat harvest or autumn harvest, he or someone else will come along.

Cheng Yu's father went out to work on the farm, and when Cheng Yu's brother was twelve years old, he went to work in the prince's courtyard. He was asked to do odd jobs and never came back to live.

Cheng Mei's parents were both hard laborers on the farm, and they obviously didn't want their youngest daughter to suffer there, so they left her in the palace to be raised by Nanny Cheng.

Cheng Yu lost his mother at a young age and grew up with Nanny Cheng.

Therefore, only Nanny Cheng, Cheng Mei and Cheng Yu lived in the Cheng family.

The two of them shared one room, and the other room was empty, so whoever came back could stay there temporarily.

Nanny Cheng lives in a room of her own.

The house is about 60 square meters, with three rooms and a main room.

To cook, we would set up a small stove in the yard, and eat from a big pot when it was windy or rainy.

Instead of eating from a big pot in a big kitchen, each person received a few cents a day in subsidies.

Of course, for those who have reached the level of a nanny like Nanny Cheng, the subsidy will naturally be a little more.

Once you reach the level of a nanny, there is no need to eat those tasteless big pot meals.

Cooking your own meals at home after receiving the subsidy is not as delicious as eating from a big pot.

Nanny Cheng has been working as a nanny, and now her monthly salary is three taels of silver. Her food, clothing, housing and transportation are all provided by the palace.

The clothes they wore were made by a tailor shop. They were working in the palace, so how could the material of their clothes be bad?

It is of course much better than them spending money to buy materials outside and then bringing them back for making.

However, when the former princess was still alive, the family was wealthy and the servants in the palace were treated well.

Each person can make clothes twice a year.

Today, the Princess Consort is in charge of the palace's inner household affairs. She comes from a noble family and brought little dowry with her, so she relies entirely on the palace's accounting staff.

The princess's successor's housekeeper is particular about saving money.

It is to reduce the expenses on servants.

Changed cutting clothes twice a year to once a year.

For example, we make spring and autumn clothes this year, cotton-padded clothes next year, and summer clothes after that, and we do it in turn, once a year.

Some people do light work and have enough clothes to wear, while others do heavy work and inevitably have insufficient clothes.

But even so, they would rather work in the palace than go anywhere else.

People like Madam Cheng who have reached the level of a madam all have some savings.

On the contrary, a little maid like Cheng Yu wouldn't have any money saved.

The money given every month is used to buy a few things, or if the clothes are not enough, I would buy myself a new set of clothes, and that would be all gone.

She strode over to the bed inside the room.

Nanny Cheng had her back facing outwards and her face facing inwards.

"Grandma, are you okay? If you're hurt anywhere, I'll find a doctor to check you out..."

The original owner was very filial to her grandmother, and gave all the monthly allowance to Nanny Cheng for saving.

But Nanny Cheng was not at a disadvantage in using her granddaughter's money. When Cheng Yu followed Zhao Rulan to the Lu family as a dowry maid, Nanny Cheng even gave her some silver money.

Let her buy some rouge and powder to dress herself up.

Nanny Cheng turned around and rolled her eyes.

"What can I do? I'm old now. When I was young, I would have hit her head with a dung basket."