High-class maid

That evening, Shan Tao and Shen Xing'er returned to their room and ate and talked together.

As they were talking, Shan Tao seemed to remember something and asked, "Xing'er, are you and Xi Yun close? I've never heard you mention her. Mother said she came to the small kitchen to ask you about her today."

Shen Xing'er thought to herself, "She really is a persistent ghost. That makes sense. Someone with Xiyun's personality wouldn't be Xiyun if she didn't bother her."

"What did she ask me?" Shen Xing'er asked.

“Mother said she asked you how you were doing, and that she didn’t know what was wrong with you, but you’re ignoring her. Oh, right, Zhou Mama’s apprentice Chunyun heard this and went over to comfort Xiyun. My mother said that the two of them seem to have a lot to talk about and appreciate each other.”

"She really is a green tea b*tch," Shen Xing'er thought to herself.

Chunyun is also a charming character in the book. Because her name is similar to Xiyun's and they share similar values, they are as close as sisters.

However, Chunyun later became the second master's concubine and even caused Xiyun to leave the mansion. Neither of them were good people.

The two of them should have met after the original owner was kicked out of the manor. How come it happened a year earlier? Maybe it's because the original owner came to the tea room. The butterfly effect. It seems that Xiyun is not far from framing her.

"Shantao, this Xiyun is very jealous of me. When I used to sweep the yard, she tried to sow discord between me and my mother. After I saw through her, she broke off all ties with me."

"Now my mother is afraid she'll frame me, so she sent me to the tea room, but she still comes to inquire about my whereabouts! When she sees me, she turns her head away and doesn't speak to me," Shen Xing'er said.

"Of course I know your character. Anyone who can be friends with me, Shan Tao, must be a good person. I felt uncomfortable the moment I saw Xi Yun."

She always looked down at me with her eyes raised, giving off a creepy vibe. "Don't worry, I'll have my mother keep an eye on her and see what kind of trouble she can cause," Shan Tao assured me, patting her chest.

"My dear Shantao, you are truly my sister. Wait, next time I'll have my dad bring you a few more boxes of Qianshansu's osmanthus cakes," Shen Xing'er said, hugging Shantao.

Shan Tao jumped up excitedly, "Oh, really? I always have to queue up whenever I want to eat Qianshan Su's stuff. Uncle is so good to you. His pastries are expensive and hard to buy, but Uncle buys several boxes at a time."

Shen Xing'er said, "Yes, my father has always been very good to me, so I can't afford to get into trouble. I also need to take care of him in the future."

The next day, when the small kitchen and tea room weren't too busy, Chen Shan's wife was talking to Granny Zhou about the second master again.

"Did you hear? This morning, Zhang Shi was carried in in a sedan chair. The nanny next to the Second Madam was overjoyed. Didn't you see how green the Second Madam's face turned?" Zhou Nanny said excitedly.

"How could the Second Madam not be green with envy? Being betrayed by her own dowry maid is actually quite pitiful. However, I've heard that the Second Madam has always been harsh on the servants, so I guess the servants have long been fed up with her," Chen Shan's wife sighed.

"Then the Second Madam can't be that stupid, can she? She's harsh to the maids in the courtyard, so would she be harsh to her own personal maids as well?"

However, my sister told me that she saw the Second Madam's head maid several times, her face red and swollen, crying as she came out of the room. Perhaps the rumors are true," said Granny Zhou.

"Then why doesn't the old lady care about the Second Madam and the Second Master, who act so ostentatiously? What if they make a big fuss?" Shan Tao couldn't help but interject, and Shen Xing'er quickly nodded in agreement with Shan Tao.

Granny Zhou and Chen Shan's wife exchanged a glance. "Alright, alright, it's better to tell you about this old story, so that you two maids won't offend important people in the future."

"But as always, you're not allowed to talk about it outside, and you're not allowed to ask anyone else. Just listen to it as a story," said Granny Zhou.

It turns out that the second master was not the old lady's biological son, but the son of a concubine in the mansion. This concubine was originally specially chosen by the old lady for the master. She was a woman from an official family who had fallen on hard times, but the old lady was pregnant at the time and could not serve the old minister.

However, the old lady was not a mean person. She told her aunt that once the child in the stepmother's womb was born, if it was a boy, she would stop the aunt's contraceptive medicine. If it was a girl, the aunt would have to continue taking the contraceptive medicine.

If the legitimate son of the household is not born, the concubines are not allowed to have children.

But this concubine, relying on her favor with the household, secretly bribed the servants to replace the contraceptive medicine with a health-preserving medicine. She also proved to be fertile, becoming pregnant within two months of entering the household. By the time the old lady found out, she was already three months pregnant.

When the old lady found out, she said, "Never mind, never mind. To accumulate good karma for the child in my womb, I won't harm her womb."

I'm not a harsh person, but she's too self-righteous. Any intelligent person knows that in the inner courtyard, you must obey the mistress. Someone as foolish as her doesn't need my intervention.

The old lady was absolutely right. Ever since that concubine gave birth to the second young master of the manor, she has become increasingly arrogant. Not only does the old lady not stop her, but she also instructs the servants to keep their distance from her and give way to her.

Later, this concubine said in her own courtyard that she had also given birth to a son of the family, and that if her family hadn't fallen on hard times, she wouldn't have become a concubine; she was also a lady of the household.

These words reached the master's ears. Although he doted on her, he wouldn't allow her to speak so recklessly. If someone with ulterior motives were to use this to their advantage, accusing him of favoring his concubine over his wife, it wouldn't be as simple as discord in the inner quarters.

So the master made a tough decision and sent this concubine to a nunnery, ostensibly to pray for his son's well-being, but everyone in the mansion knew that she had been driven away.

Later, she caught a cold at the nunnery, and the old lady ordered her to be left to fend for herself. Who would have thought she would so tragically die? This is why the second master now resents her, always going against the old lady in everything.

The old lady is getting old and doesn't want to interfere in the affairs of the younger generation anymore. As long as the matter doesn't escalate outside the mansion, she always turns a blind eye.

So that's another reason. No wonder the Second Master behaved so badly. But the Second Master's actions were understandable. So why was the Second Madam acting this way?

Aside from being stupid, Shen Xing'er couldn't understand why the Second Madam would do such a thing.

"Second Master doesn't understand that a family's prosperity and decline are intertwined. He may feel angry with the Old Madam, but he should also think about his daughter. With a father who has such an open private life, how will his daughter find a husband in the future?" Shen Xing'er couldn't help but say with emotion.

"Yes, Xing'er has a more comprehensive view of things, unlike our Shan Tao girl, who only knows how to listen to stories," Chen Shan's wife said with a smile.

"Mom, why are you dragging me into this? Don't worry, I'll follow Xing'er. I'll say whatever she says and do whatever she does. That way, nothing will go wrong!" Shan Tao said angrily.

"You, you," Chen Shan's wife said with a helpless laugh.