Shengjing Noble

Liu Ruyan raised her eyebrows: "The lowest-ranking maid? As far as I know, you were a second-rank maid in Suiyuexuan before, right? It would be better to go back there instead of staying here."

Liwen had thought about going back, but didn't she betray Su Lanyin and leave Suiyuexuan just to become a first-class maid and marry her beloved?

If she goes back now in disgrace, not only will they not take her in, but even if they do, she will not have a good ending.

Therefore, even if she had to swallow her teeth, she would stay in Mingzhu Pavilion.

Thinking of this, she raised her head and said flatteringly, "I admire the Madam and the Fifth Miss as much as a chrysanthemum, and I hate concubines like Aunt Lu who are so calculating and unpresentable. So, it would be better for me to die than to go back and serve them! Even if I have to be a foot-washing maid for the Madam, I will be happy!"

This flattery hit the mark exactly what Liu Ruyan wanted. She laughed a few times immediately, with a look of pride in her eyes that could not be concealed.

"You are quite clever, girl. In that case, you can stay in Mingzhu Pavilion and be a lowly maid. If you serve well, I will naturally use you."

"Thank you, madam!"

Liwen breathed a sigh of relief and quickly fell to the ground to kowtow to express her gratitude, but she felt extremely humiliated.

If she had known this would happen, she would not have left Suiyuexuan. Not only could she get the monthly salary and rewards from Aunt Lu and Su Lanyin, but she could also get some benefits from Mingzhu Pavilion.

Thinking of this, she felt extremely regretful, but it was of no avail.

……

The servants in the mansion had a hard time, but the masters' lives were not as comfortable as before either.

The number of servants around the old lady has been reduced by half, and on weekdays, she needs seven or eight maids to serve her by serving tea, pouring water, massaging her waist and legs.

Now, there is so much work to be done in Wanshou Pavilion alone, where can we find so many people to serve me personally?

But before she could make any move, the second wife couldn't sit still and came over to complain.

Li Lanxiang said angrily: "Mother-in-law, look at Yaozu, his tongue was burned by the porridge he drank this morning."

The old lady's eyes were immediately filled with distress, and she hugged her fat grandson and expressed her concern.

"Oh, please let grandma see what happened to my grandson. How did the servants serve him? Why did he burn his tongue?"

Li Lanxiang said immediately: "My sister-in-law suddenly dismissed a large number of servants. There was not even a maid to feed Yaozu in the morning. Yaozu burned his tongue when he took a mouthful of porridge. I was so angry!"

"Mother-in-law, tell me what my sister-in-law is going to do? She cut back on supplements like bird's nests before, and then she cut back on our spending on clothes and jewelry. Now she's even going to lay off the servants!"

"If this continues, how are we going to live? If we had known this would happen, we should have let Lu Wanjun continue to be the head of the family. After all, she has a generous dowry to subsidize us. But Liu Ruyan is so stingy!"

Listening to her chatter, the old lady felt that it made sense, and her resentment grew even more.

"This Liu Ruyan is really something! Someone, go and ask the Madam to come over!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Ruyan walked in.

"Mother-in-law, your daughter-in-law was just about to come over to pay her respects to you."

Seeing her come in, the expressions of the two people in the room immediately relaxed and they no longer dared to look gloomy.

Lu Wanjun comes from a merchant family, so naturally they can act superior and boss people around.

But Liu Ruyan was born into a noble family, so they naturally didn't dare to be presumptuous. Even if they wanted to control her, they had to be careful about the methods and means.

The old lady leaned on the couch, her eyes full of worry.

"Ruyan, you are finally here. Why did so many people in this mansion get laid off?"

If it was Lu Wanjun who did it, she would definitely get furious first, then scold her, and then order her to buy the servant back.

But the other person was Liu Ruyan, and she didn't have the confidence. She could only suppress her anger and ask patiently.

Even Li Lanxiang, who was always a shrew, sat obediently in the chair and did not dare to speak casually.

Liu Ruyan sat on the chair by herself, with a calm look and a peaceful expression.

"Mother-in-law, I must have my reasons for reducing the number of servants. Why do you have to ask so much?"

Li Lanxiang frowned, clenched her fists and wanted to stand up and question, but she still endured it.

"Sister-in-law, you suddenly sent all the servants away. We are short of manpower. How can we live like this?"

Liu Ruyan said disdainfully: "Why can't you live? Didn't you have no one to serve you in the countryside before? Didn't you live well? Now you just have a few less people, it shouldn't be a big deal, right?"

Li Lanxiang gnashed her teeth in hatred. What she hated most was people saying that she was from the country, so now she wore gold and silver and wanted to show off her nobility wherever she went.

Hearing Liu Ruyan say this, he was immediately furious and stood up immediately without caring about the other party's identity.

"Sister-in-law, what do you mean by this? You've only been the housekeeper for a month and you already despise us for being from the countryside? Don't forget that my elder brother is also from the countryside. Do you even despise your own husband?"

Liu Ruyan frowned: "When did I dislike you? I was just telling the truth."

"I'll tell you the truth, mother-in-law, look at my sister-in-law, she clearly despises us! Although Lu Wanjun had a bad temper when she was the housekeeper, she still provided us with good food and drink, and bought enough servants to serve us wholeheartedly!"

"Now it's her turn to be the housekeeper, and she thinks she's better than Lu Wanjun! What's the result? Not only did she cut back on food, clothing, and other expenses and cut down on the number of servants, but she also looked down on our backgrounds. Mother-in-law, look at what my sister-in-law has done. It's really disheartening!"

The old lady frowned and her face turned cold: "Ruyan, it's your fault for talking like that!"

Liu Ruyan clenched her fists, her mind full of the money she had spent on the Su family these days, and she was immediately furious!

"Sister-in-law, how can you say that to me? Earlier, Lu Wanjun said that you were an ungrateful person and I helped you refute it, but I didn't expect that you would bully me like this now!"

"Who bullied you? It's obviously you who are stingy and unwilling to work hard for the Su family. Who knows if you have second thoughts about your eldest brother and mother-in-law!"

"you……"

There were constant quarrels in Wanshou Pavilion, and the old lady had no choice but to ask someone to call her two sons to come and persuade them to stop.

As a result, Su Yongcheng and Su Yongcai arrived and joined the dispute. The group of people quarreled until the old lady almost fainted due to the pain in her heart.

After calming down, everyone finally stopped arguing and discussed it. In the end, they decided that it would be best to return the housekeeper power to Lu Wanjun.

So, before noon, Su Yongcheng took the key to the treasury and went to Suiyuexuan.

As soon as I entered the door, I saw Lu Wanjun distributing monthly wages to the servants.

Compared to Liu Ruyan's stinginess and cutting, she seems much more calm and generous.

Those loyal servants who had stayed behind not only had their monthly silver doubled, but also received various gifts and rewards. Those who had newly bought into Suiyuexuan also received more monthly silver than ordinary families.

All the servants went back to busy themselves after receiving the silver ingots. Only A'mo looked down at the white silver ingots with a stern face and was stunned for a moment.

"too much."

He spoke suddenly, which made Su Lanyin a little confused.

"It's not much, but you deserve it."