I'm a humble concubine. My acting skills are off the charts. You can check my performance.

Meng Yanzhen replied to the letter on the same day. Zhao Fangyu did not know the content of the letter, but she never heard from Meng Yangjiang again.

I was sick for two days, and my sisters at home came to visit me. But I recovered in two or three days.

When paying her respects, she brought two cans of tea paste with her, one for the eldest lady and the other hung in a net bag she wove and took to the chess hall.

"Come when you're well. There's no need to rush. If Fang Wei goes to Fang Yun, she'll just be delayed."

Zhao Fangyu handed the tea paste to Xunyue, Zhao Fangjin's personal maid, and Xunyue smiled as she took it.

There was a map on the table. Zhao Fangjin pointed to a spot on it and said, "For grandma's birthday banquet, Fangwei picked out a few places for us to choose from."

"The green of spring is in the peach forest, the endless summer is opposite the lotus pond, and there is also a Liubo Pavilion. When the time comes, I can set up a stage in the yard for my grandmother to watch a play."

Zhao Fangyu looked at all three places and finally asked Zhao Fangjin which one he liked.

Zhao Fangjin pointed at Liubo Pavilion and said, "I think this place is good. It's close to Endless Summer. When the guests arrive, they can go to Endless Summer first. There's water and many flowers there. We can put some insect repellent sachets and ice, as well as some pot-throwing toys, in advance to save the girls from being bored."

Zhao Fangyu nodded. In fact, she had her eyes on Liubo Pavilion. After all, it was the old lady's birthday party and there were many people of her age coming. If they didn't watch the show, she couldn't let the grandmothers come and play the game of tossing pots and appreciate the flowers with the little girls.

He doesn't look like a decent family.

No matter how rare the flowers are, they are not worth it for an elderly person to come here from so far away.

"The venue has been decided to be Liubo Pavilion. Have you decided on the people you invited?"

Zhao Fangjin said it had been decided and the eldest lady helped to draw up the list.

"The furnishings in the mansion, the tea plates, bowls and chopsticks, wine and dishes for the banquet, all need to be ordered in advance. We have not yet figured out which family has dietary restrictions, where to place the food, which family's eldest lady has a bad relationship with which family's eldest lady, how to arrange the seating, and how to arrange the rooms."

"Mother means that I should take care of the dishes, Fangwei should take care of the seating and carriage arrangements, you should take care of the tea plates and bowls, and Fangyun should prepare the room."

Zhao Fangyu nodded. Tea plates, bowls and chopsticks were inseparable from Zhao Fangjin, and the eldest lady was also afraid of causing trouble by bringing Fangyun over.

Everyone in the mansion knows that Zhao Fangyun is not smart. Whoever's sister is affected will suffer. The eldest lady is unwilling to care about the brainless Fangyun, so Zhao Fangwei can only hold her nose and rush forward.

"Okay, tomorrow I'll ask the mother who's in charge of furnishings to come over, and take out all the things in advance, clean them, prepare what needs to be prepared, and arrange the people who need to be arranged in advance."

Tea plates, bowls and chopsticks may seem like just little gadgets, but that’s not entirely true.

How much to prepare, are there any taboos, how much to take out, how much to take back, who will send and receive, who to hand over to, what candles to place, what candlesticks to use, what curtains to hang, what table to set, in fact, all of these are in the first lady's words about tea plates, bowls and chopsticks.

She doesn't panic when encountering such things. She is now roughly equivalent to a warehouse manager and planner.

As long as the inventory management, internal control of employees and prior investigation are done well, this task can basically be completed well.

It is neither difficult nor easy. After all, large banquets are an opportunity for masters to show off, but also a great opportunity for servants to embezzle.

The Zhao family’s cups, plates, bowls and dishes are not cheap, and they always use Ru kiln porcelain when entertaining guests.

These things would have to be thrown away if one set was broken. If a dozen sets of tea sets and tableware were missing from a banquet, the housekeeper could earn at least several dozen taels!

In previous years, when the eldest lady hosted a banquet, these housekeepers would be more restrained. But now that it is her turn, I am afraid they will not be able to control it without using some means.

Chunshao was sent ahead to greet the housekeepers. The next day, after greeting them and having breakfast, the housekeepers lined up in a row in the courtyard.

Chunshao and Xiangyao were both taught by her to recognize words little by little. Now Chunshao was sitting at the table on the left, picking up a pen and dipping it in ink, ready to go.

Zhao Fangyu first asked the mothers to introduce themselves, clearly state who they are, their names, and what they are currently in charge of.

The housekeepers stared at each other in amazement. One of them, who was wearing a purple belt, gave her a look and the other maids all lowered their heads.

Zhao Fangyu saw it clearly, and when she started to introduce herself, he secretly wrote down her name.

Guo Sanniang.

After everyone had introduced themselves, Zhao Fangyu put down his teacup and looked at everyone one by one.

She was looking at the mothers in charge, and the mothers in charge were also secretly looking at her.

People say that the fourth girl is the best person, but today, it seems that is not the case.

The nine-year-old girl was wearing a sky-blue pleated skirt and a half-sleeve embroidered with Hai Tianxia. She had a white jade longevity lock around her neck, two red bean agate and white jade beads on her ears, and a pair of clear peach blossom eyes. At a glance, it seemed as if she understood everything.

The mothers below all glanced at him out of the corner of their eyes and then ran away, not daring to look Zhao Fangyu in the eye.

Everyone secretly complained in their hearts, how could a nine-year-old girl have such great power? Those who didn't know would think that the person sitting above was the eldest lady's legitimate daughter.

Seeing Chunshao stop writing, Zhao Fangyu slowly said, "As you know, mothers, I called you here for my grandmother's birthday banquet. Mother entrusted me with the task of preparing the dishes and bowls for the banquet. In the past, mothers were in charge of the banquet and furnishings. They know the rules and taboos better than I do."

"I just took over and I'm afraid of making mistakes, so I called the mothers over first and asked them how many things there are in the warehouse so that I can have a rough idea."

After saying that, Zhao Fangyu pointed to a few people in the crowd.

Those people took a step forward hesitantly, unable to say anything, and the man with the purple belt who stood out from the crowd just now stood out.

He was quite tall and strong, and even when he tied a belt of the same length, it was shorter than others. He tried his best to suppress the fierce look on his face, but there was still a hint of meanness.

She took a step forward and smiled cautiously, but her words were different: "The fourth young lady helps the eldest lady manage the household, so she is naturally a very capable person, much better than us rough old ladies."

"The young lady is kind and willing to understand us servants who are doing hard labor. She also asked us in a gentle voice. She is really kind-hearted. However, there are old rules for everything. I wonder if the young lady intends to follow the old rules. If not, you should tell the purchasing manager in advance so that we can prepare in advance to avoid the Madam blaming you if something goes wrong."

"If we follow the old rules, it will be easy. You can rest assured, young lady. We are used to doing this and will never let you lose face at the banquet."

Guo Sanniang interrupted the conversation and said a lot of things, first using courtesy and then force, and she started by praising Zhao Fangyu, using the idea of a sugar-coated bullet.

The words "yes" at first and "no" later, what she meant was nothing more than that, if she followed the old rules, she shouldn't ask so many questions and just delegate the power, there would be plenty of people to help her share the worry. But if she didn't follow the old rules, once something went wrong, this old mother would be the first one to pass the buck and say it was her fault.

A slave bullies his master, and this really happened. Zhao Fangyu couldn't help laughing when he thought of what Zhao Fangjin said.