The 116th time
Gu Tingyan's expression was full of satisfaction, his robust arms embracing Minglan along with the quilt. He kissed her warm and soft face, and Minglan's tired eyes couldn't open, she murmured vaguely twice, and then buried her head in the quilt. Gu Tingyan found it amusing, called someone to change into formal attire, and then went out. Outside, the ground was still wet, after a night of torrential rain, it stopped gradually at dawn. The weather in early April was refreshing and pleasant, the rainwater flowed along the window sill, drawing a transparent arc, and under the eaves, there was a light and cheerful sound of dripping water.
Another half an hour passed before Dan Ju came in, and with a strong effort, she pulled out the small body that was curled up in the quilt, helped her bathe and change clothes, and tried not to look at the overlapping bruises on Ming Lan's snow-white waist and legs, as well as the red and purple marks of kisses all over half of her body. She also opened the window to disperse the ambiguous atmosphere in the room.
Ming Lan endured her burning face, deliberately ignoring Dan Ju's sympathetic gaze. As the saying goes, labor is most glorious, and both physical and mental labor are equally glorious!
After roughly sorting out personnel matters yesterday, it's time to assign tasks within the government now.
The staff of the Governor's mansion, if only serving the couple Minglan and her husband would be more than enough, but to manage this vast mansion is not sufficient. Just the flowers, trees, and ponds in the back garden, as well as the large forest, at least a dozen people are needed to take care of them. The entire mansion, including the main courtyard, side courtyards, and guest rooms, has many houses, even if there's no master living here, some young maids need to be found to watch over the house, lest it becomes empty and desolate.
Later, when Rong's sister-in-law and her mother came to the mansion, they would also need a group of servants, including a housekeeper, night watchmen, seamstresses, laundry women, purchasing agents, cooks for the large and small kitchens, senior and junior maids, miscellaneous helpers, rough-handed servant women, inner courtyard managers, outer courtyard managers, stable hands, gatekeepers, and errand boys... Minglan counted on her fingers twice, but still couldn't get enough, so she had sent a letter to Hai's family yesterday asking them to recommend a reliable person.
Madam Wang was about to give birth and couldn't move around much, she was already anxious, as soon as she received Minglan's letter, she immediately took action; on this day early in the morning, two servants held Madam Wang's name card, leading a large group of people to the door. Minglan ordered someone to open the side hall of the outer courtyard and let them wait in the main hall, while she walked over slowly.
These two women were both in their thirties or forties, dressed neatly and cleanly, speaking politely and respectfully. They were accustomed to dealing with noble and official families every day, so they had a good sense of propriety in their speech, neither shouting nor casting sidelong glances about. Behind them stood two or three rows of boys and girls, big and small, most of whom were between ten and thirteen years old, all standing respectfully with bowed heads.
Minglan felt quite satisfied, she knew that for a high-ranking family like the Hai's in the capital, the steward beside Madam Hai could recommend some good candidates.
It is said that the profession of matchmaker can produce top scholars, but in ancient times, this profession was also divided into three six nine grades. The lower-grade ones were only doing shady businesses such as running brothels and even kidnapping and selling children from good families (like the unfortunate Ms. Zeng Yinglian). Children sold by these matchmakers often had unclear backgrounds and unclear pasts, and if things went wrong, they would get into trouble (like the even more unfortunate Mr. Feng Gongzi).
The real wealthy families who want to buy people usually have fixed matchmakers to take care of it, requiring a clean source, simple procedures, and no worries afterwards. The more advanced matchmakers will even pre-train the boys and girls bought from disaster-stricken areas, teaching them some discipline before selling them out; among the children standing here now, basically none of them are particularly mischievous or wild.
So little swallow can only go and perform, she's probably not even worthy of being a person's concubine.
Mrs. Choi pursed her lips tightly, her eyes scanning the boys and girls sternly, asking a few questions. She didn't want those who were too glib or too pretty, nor did she want those who were timid or sneaky. What she wanted were those with clear speech, quick hands and feet, decent needlework, and most importantly, honesty and diligence. As long as they weren't too stupid, that was good enough. She chose nine girls and five boys in one breath.
Minglan smiled and looked on from the side, pretending not to see the gazes of flattery, fawning, or probing directed at her. Although she quite liked a few of the gentle and obedient ones, she still had to follow the rules and ordered Cui Mama to take them away. Along with the original children in the mansion, whether born into the family or brought in from outside, they would start from the outer courtyard and be trained first before being assigned to various places later on.
After finishing this matter, Minglan gathered a group of women and assigned tasks to them in the backyard. The tasks were of varying importance, and theoretically, the important ones should be left to "one's own people". However, Minglan did not agree with this idea. She thought that what was truly crucial was to grasp the key departments tightly. Moreover, what is meant by "one's own people"? He Shen was loyal to Qianlong, but this did not prevent him from embezzling large sums of money; it can be seen that loyalty and corruption do not have an absolute relationship.
Let's talk with facts, after all, which people can be used or try first, and then assign them according to their expertise.
Minglan sat in a sedan chair carried by two men, accompanied by Danju leading two young maids carrying ledgers, surrounded by a large crowd. As they walked through the boundaries of the estate, they began to disperse. She had done her homework the day before and clearly divided the gardens and ponds into separate areas, then assigned people to manage and maintain each section.
Those who used to raise bamboo continue to manage the bamboo forest, which should be tall and elegant. It's best to create a shaded area, which can be used to build a small pavilion to avoid the heat in the future. Those who used to raise flowers are also asked to continue managing the flower garden, not only providing seasonal flowers for each household but also keeping the garden looking good. Except for winter days, every day should be filled with fragrance and colorful flowers... The rest, such as the pond, plum forest, and back house, have all been assigned personnel. Next is the guarding of empty houses, warehouses, night watchmen, inner and outer courtyards, and other important places.
After this one by one allocation, not only were those who received the gifts greatly surprised, but also the people of Lai Hua Tian's four houses were secretly shocked and anxious.
To be honest, Minglan's appearance doesn't seem to have anything to do with words like 'shrewd' or 'capable' - after all, the formidable mistress of the house starts dealing with matters before dawn breaks, distributing name cards, checking accounts, handing over silver money, inspecting various affairs and so on.
Minglan, on the other hand, had an air of a wealthy and leisurely person. She was a beautiful woman with a gentle and elegant demeanor, speaking slowly and softly, treating others with kindness and courtesy. Even in her daily life, she had a slightly lazy and idle attitude, sleeping for five hours every day, taking a half-hour stroll after meals, and having different opinions on seasonal soups and stews, emphasizing the importance of eating and resting to maintain good health; she spent all day taking care of herself, making sure her skin was smooth and white with a hint of red, feeling comfortable and relaxed at all times, while other matters were left for later.
Facing such a "lazy" mistress, the maids and servants didn't have any contemptuous thoughts, but rather had some lazy intentions. Some even had cunning and deceitful ideas. However, on that day, Minglan made her appearance and carefully investigated each person's background, immediately dealing with Lai Mama on the spot. Only then did everyone quietly realize that this mistress was not easy to deceive.
By now, Minglan has assigned tasks to everyone, each according to their strengths, reasonable and fair, without any bias due to personal relationships. Only Liu Man'gui, who came with the dowry, was put in charge of some external affairs, such as managing the gardens, and even had a surplus left over for motivation.
Miss Lin clearly reiterated the family rule that 'the inner and outer courts cannot have two heads'. Since Aunt Cui was in charge of the inner court, Old Cui's family was still in charge of managing Minglan's dowry, including the fields, mountains, and forests. As Gu Tingye was honest and dull, he helped manage the carriages and stables.
Everyone was impressed at the time.
"It's said that time reveals people's hearts, and everyone's abilities will eventually be known." Minglan leaned on the carved flower corridor, smiling lazily. "I'm young, and perhaps my assignment isn't entirely suitable, so let me try it out for a year first. If it doesn't work out, I can still switch to a different task or... otherwise, you can just tell me..."
The group of wives and daughters-in-law were shocked, no longer daring to underestimate Minglan, and even more so, they developed a few points of reverence in their hearts. Each took their assigned tasks, patted their chests and guaranteed them fiercely, then retreated respectfully.
However, the ones who were most shocked should be Lai Hua Tian's four wives. They had thought that Minglan was young and tender-faced, and since there wasn't a senior member in the household who could keep her in check, those slaves from the families of convicted criminals might not be reliable, and the newly bought ones hadn't been used yet. It seemed obvious that they didn't have enough manpower at their disposal, so they thought they could firmly occupy the key positions with benefits. Who knew that although Minglan looked very "decorative" and useless, she wasn't flustered or panicked, but had already made plans in her heart, and calmly and systematically assigned tasks to everyone, from start to finish, without ever showing any signs of fear or panic.
If you don't understand, ask; after asking, verify; after verifying, it takes only a day to have a complete plan. There's no need for them to intervene and help. Seeing Minglan gradually clearing up the household chores, each person doing their own job, they saw the servants bustling about, the huge Gu Manor being managed in an orderly manner, they began to panic.
All the good positions have been taken, what are these old women to do? Especially Lai Mama and Diao Mama, who deeply regret having offended Minglan from the start. Now Hua Mama is in charge of preparing the Xiangxiang Garden for Rong'er's future residence, and Tian Mama has also received a moderately important task. Only they two are left, one idle and the other 'resting', what can be done about this?
Minlan didn't bother with their grievances and directly took the people to open the warehouse. First, they made an inventory of all the items inside, categorizing and arranging them neatly, and after completing the registration, they took out a long list of items according to the previously prepared list, such as tripods, stoves, porcelain, goldware, jade, enamel, bronze, screens, and stone carvings. They also took 20-30 pieces of high-quality fabric and handed them over to the needlework room to make two new summer clothes for everyone. As soon as this news spread, all the servants in the mansion were overjoyed. Poorly made clothes from outside shops had been their only option last year, with inferior materials that didn't fit well - ready-made clothing was not yet widespread at that time.
When it comes to the warehouse, Minglan was again furious. Yesterday, when she opened the warehouse for inspection, she smelled a faint medicinal smell. After passing by several large rooms, she finally found a large pile of precious medicines in a remote corner: ginseng, angelica, rhinoceros horn, bezoar, musk, deer antler, cordyceps, tiger bone, leopard bone, macaque fruit, sea dog kidney, bear gall... and so on. It was like a general store, filling up half of the room.
Minglan's eyes widened in shock, some of the medicinal materials had lost their potency due to improper storage. She indignantly questioned Gu Tingye, but unexpectedly he replied cheerfully: "Are there still tiger bones and bear gall? Excellent! Cheng Qian brothers are about to go to Miaojiang for garrison duty, his knee injury has not fully recovered, and the south is humid and poisonous, I was just thinking of preparing two doses of high-quality tiger bone paste for him to take along, you can help me find them tomorrow!"
Minglan was speechless, this guy completely missed the point of his own words, wonder if he listened to the emperor's words like that too.
Sighing and shaking her head, she sorted out the medicinal herbs, carefully recording them in a book. Although exhausted, it wasn't all for nothing - Minglan found several thick and sturdy old ginseng roots, sending the largest one to Old Lady Sheng. She also found some medicinal herbs and supplements for postpartum women and newborns, distributing them to Hai Shi and Hua Lan.
It was almost time for beheading, Minglan suddenly realized that today's lunch would be late, which greatly violated her own health regimen and would also affect her afternoon nap. She couldn't help but feel deep resentment, and immediately declared: Today's work is over, if there are any matters, they will be dealt with next time.
After tidying herself up, Minglan sat down at the small round table and looked at the full spread of dishes. She took a sip of soup and felt slightly more relaxed. Putting down her spoon, Xiaotao led in an old woman carrying a food box.
The old woman was about forty years old, tall and sturdy, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, plump and oily skin, her clothes were clean and tidy, and she looked straightforward. She came in nervously to greet Minglan, then took out a dish from the food box and placed it on the table, an eight-sided round plate made of Qinghua white porcelain, covered with green lotus leaves. As soon as the lotus leaf was lifted, the room was filled with fragrance.
"Madam, the steamed pork ribs with glutinous rice and lotus leaves are done. I followed your instructions, first scalding them in ginger water to remove the blood and fishy smell, then marinating them for an hour with seasonings, next lightly stir-frying them in hot oil, and finally steaming them together with the softened glutinous rice and lotus leaves that had been soaked in rice wine for an hour. I've just taken them out of the steamer." The old woman's voice was hoarse but she deliberately lowered it to sound especially ingratiating.
Minglan first looked at the color and shape, nodded slightly, and the old woman seemed to have a slight relaxation in her expression. Then Minglan picked up her chopsticks and took a light bite, and a satisfied smile slowly appeared on her face. The old woman finally relaxed her shoulders.
"Mother Ge, you've worked hard." Minglan put down her chopsticks and smiled, "This dish is all about the word 'transparent'. The glutinous rice should be infused with the meat fragrance, the meat should be infused with the rice fragrance, and the whole dish should be infused with the lotus leaf fragrance. You have to marinate the seasonings thoroughly, steam the pork ribs and glutinous rice until they're cooked through, so that it's tender and flavorful. If done well, when the pork ribs are served, the glutinous rice on top will slowly collapse together with the meat."
Ge's mother smiled all over her face: "Thank you, madam, for your guidance. I'm just a rough woman, and I only hope that you won't despise me."
"It doesn't matter if you're rough or not." Minglan handed over the tea bowl and took a light sip, rinsing the taste in her mouth. Her movements were elegant and refined to the extreme. "The place where food is prepared is a crucial one. Now that I've entrusted my personal kitchen to you, I only hope you can be diligent and not take it lightly."
Madam Gao smiled and bowed repeatedly, and Minglan continued: "I have nothing else to say, just one thing - cleanliness. Food must be clean, hands must be clean, accounts must be clean; especially the food for me and Master, if there's anything wrong with it, don't come to me with excuses, I'll take you down first!"
Ming Lan's face was cold and solemn, while Ge Mama's face was full of loyalty and dedication, loudly guaranteeing with a loud voice that almost shook the door frame.
"Alright, I'll arrange for a few maids to help you later. You can go now. This dish is not bad, I'll make another serving for Master to try tonight." Minglan waved her hand and Ge Baba hurriedly bowed and left.
After watching Gu Pozi walk away, Xiao Tao came forward to give Minglan the dish, whispering: "She's really getting fat." Minglan smiled wryly: "All self-taught cooks are like this, even if they don't eat fatty food, the kitchen smoke will fatten them up."
However, the craftsmanship is quite good. Xiaotao looked at the glutinous rice ribs and was somewhat moved, "Miss Ji said what dish, she can make it **not off by much."
Minglan glanced around and saw no one, then changed into a pair of chopsticks and stuffed a piece of glutinous rice ribs into Xiaotao's mouth. She smiled and said: "The abandoned Lord Guo Gongfu was originally famous for its extravagance and luxury, and her temperament is straightforward, not patient with people who are blacklisted, so she was squeezed out to the lower kitchen; now I don't have anyone better at hand, so I'll use her first, and besides, her whole family is in my hands."
Xiao Tao ate with a mouthful of fragrance, and muttered in her mouth: "Don't worry, madam, it won't be long before Cui Wei's sister comes from Jinling. At that time, you will have someone to rely on, and you won't have to listen to those old things nonsense!"
"Time flies, it seems like she got married just yesterday, and now she's a mother herself." Minglan thought of Cuiwei and couldn't help but feel nostalgic. She then composed herself and said: "Where did we leave off last time? You continue the story."
As soon as this was mentioned, Xiao Tao immediately became spirited. She had always been a straightforward and honest person, so many people were willing to talk to her, and often spoke without reserve, which meant she could gather a lot of gossip; if you wanted to know about gathering information, no one was better than her. These past two days, she had frequent contact with the Fourth House, and got quite a bit of news from the Ningyuan Marquis's estate.
"Hua Mama is a native of the Gu family, she has a straightforward temper, but when I ask her, she will still say something, although she says very little and doesn't like to gossip about the master's family behind their backs; Tian Mama is very talkative, before I even open my mouth, she chats away and says everything, though also with some reserve; but the other two are not very willing to speak." Xiaotao reported, Minglan held her chopsticks and slowly ate her rice, listening attentively.
"It doesn't matter, I've already assigned tasks for today, let's wait and see in a few days, there may be more to say; you just tell me about the things I asked you."
"Oh, okay." Xiaotao hurriedly began to recall, "First, there was that Auntie Gong. She wasn't just an ordinary maid, originally the daughter of a scholar, and had some distant relatives with Madam Yu's family. After her family fell on hard times, she came to the Yu household, saying that she and Madam Yu were like sisters, even sharing the same character in their names; later, Madam Yu took charge and promoted Auntie Gong - these words were spoken by Flower Mama."
"What did Mama Tian say?" Minglan was very interested and picked up her chopsticks to eat.
Xiao Tao's retelling was absolutely authentic, and she laughed excitedly: "Auntie Tian said that apart from this, she didn't know anything else. All she knew was that after Yu Furen made a scene outside, when the young master returned to the manor, he yelled about wanting to divorce his wife, and only after Old Master Hou intervened did Gong Niangniang become the new mistress."
Ming Lan hummed in agreement - Yu Yanhong was going to sell off Man Niang and her son, Gu Tingye got angry, so Yu Yanhong took out a red silk handkerchief as compensation.
Xiaotao's legs were sore, and Minglan kindly pulled her to sit down beside her. She continued: "Later, the young master left Beijing, and Yu Furen passed away too. The people in the house all dispersed, leaving only this Gong Niang and a woman named Qiuniang guarding the place, saying they wanted to wait for the young master's return; so the old lady allocated a small courtyard for them to live in."
Minglan listened quietly, her eyes flickering slightly; she had noticed long ago that those women who were taken in by the masters but failed to achieve a proper outcome would ultimately end up with what fate.
Generally speaking, if the master is kind, he will give a large dowry and choose a reliable remarriage. However, it's not possible to marry well, either as a servant in the mansion or as a farmer or merchant outside, of course, there are also actors (Jiang Yuhua).
If the master is very cold and heartless, or if she was actually driven out for being a troublemaker, then her fate is sealed.
Hongxiang is a clever person, as for Qiuniang, perhaps it's deep affection — Minglan smiled slightly.
"It's still Rong Jie'er's business." Xiaotao looked at Minglan with a calm expression and continued, "She was sent to the Ningyuan Marquis' residence about three years ago. At that time, the old marquis had just passed away, and the young master had left the capital. The marchioness and the dowager were kind-hearted, so they kept her by their side. Originally, she was serving under the marchioness, saying it was to accompany Yan Jie'er. About a year ago, the dowager suddenly ordered Gong Niangniang and Qiu Nian to bring Rong Jie'er over, with all the food, clothing, and expenses following the same standard as Yan Jie'er's. These are all things that Hua Mami said."
Minglan smiled again, this flower mother is a wonderful person, her words are very interesting.
"Oh, there's something else about the other rooms." Xiaotao said with a parched mouth, Minglan smiled and ladled out a bowl of soup for her to encourage her. "That old lady indeed doesn't like Da Ye's wife. This daughter-in-law was originally betrothed from childhood, she was the daughter of a fellow villager of Old Master Wu, also a young mistress who managed the household. But more than ten years ago, her father got into trouble, lost his official position and wasn't allowed to hold public office again, not to mention being fined and losing a lot of family property. So Old Lady Wu didn't want to marry off this daughter-in-law."
Minglan took back the empty bowl and smiled: "I understand, it must be that Old Master Wu insisted on keeping his promise, so this marriage was settled."
Xiao Tao gave a thumbs up: "Madam is really clever!"
Minglan pursed her lips and shook her head. This kind of marriage was also not easy, even if she entered the door and gave birth to a son, Old Lady Five would still not treat her well.
"The old master Wu valued Madame Yang highly, and several times when Master Yang got into trouble outside, it was only through Madame Yang's pleading with Old Master Wu that he was let off; however, although Master Yang was not impressive, his elder brother was a good person, well-read and knowledgeable, and received praise from several gentlemen." Little Peach squeezed out the last bit of memory.
Minglan held her rice bowl and smiled with a mouthful of chopsticks - in front of every damn old man, there's usually a successful son; Ah Mi tofu, I hope the reverse of this law doesn't hold true.
