Gu Tingye looked satisfied. He picked up Minglan with his strong arms and Jin quilt, and kissed her warm and soft little face. Minglan was so tired that she couldn't open her eyes. She mumbled twice and put her head towards the quilt.
Shrinking inside; Gu Tingye looked at it funny, called someone to change into court clothes, and then went out. (·~) The ground outside was still wet, and the heavy rain fell all night, and the dawn gradually stopped. The weather in early April was refreshing and comfortable.
The rainwater drew a transparent arc along the window sill, and there was a brisk sound of water dripping under the eaves.
After another hour and a half, Danju came in. Kong Wu forcefully dug out the petite body curled up in the brocade quilt, helped her bathe and change clothes, and tried not to look at the bruises and fingerprints on Minglan's snow-white waist and legs.
, and there were green and red kiss and bite marks covering half of her body. She only opened the window to disperse the ambiguous smell in the house.
Minglan endured her burning face and tried her best to ignore the pity in Danju's eyes. As the so-called labor is the most glorious, physical labor is as glorious as mental labor!
After roughly sorting out the personnel yesterday, it was time to allocate the affairs of the mansion.
The manpower of the Gu Mansion is more than enough to serve Minglan and his wife alone, but it is not enough to take care of such a large Dudu Mansion. The flowers, plants, ponds, and the large forest in the back garden alone are enough to at least
It requires about ten people to look after and take care of it. There are many houses in the whole house, including the main courtyard, side courtyards and side rooms and guest rooms. Even if there is no owner, you have to find some little girls to look at the houses.
, lest it become empty and desolate.
In the future, if Sister Rong and Aunt Gong are to return the girl to Hong Kong, they will also need to be equipped with a number of servants, as well as warehouses, night watch, needlework, washing, purchasing, six or seven large and small kitchens, and servant girls such as first, second and third, etc.
Courtyard maid, miscellaneous boy, rough lady, inner court steward, outer court steward, stable, concierge, office, boy... Minglan counted it twice with her fingers, but it was not enough, so she said yesterday
I sent a letter of revision to Haishi and asked her to recommend a reliable person.
Heidegger was about to give birth and couldn't move much. She was feeling depressed and panicked, so she took action immediately after receiving Minglan's letter. Early that morning, two people held Heidegger's name card and led a large number of people.
Minglan came to the door. Minglan asked someone to open the side hall of the outer courtyard and asked them to wait in the hall, while she walked slowly over.
These two women are both women in their thirties or forties. They are neatly dressed and speak politely and respectfully. They are used to dealing with dignitaries and officials, so their conversation is very measured, neither shouting nor shouting too much.
I glanced around, and behind me stood two or three rows of boys and girls, of various sizes, most of them between ten and thirteen or fourteen years old, all standing with their heads bowed.
Minglan was quite satisfied. She knew that for a high-ranking family like the Hai family in the capital, the stewards around the Hai family could recommend some good people.
The so-called top scholar in a profession, in ancient times, people in this profession were also divided into three, six and nine grades. The low-level ones specialized in the shady prostitution business. The more sinister ones also abducted and trafficked lost children from good families (the unlucky Ms. Zeng Yinglian). This
The children sold by this kind of people often have unclear procedures and unknown past, and if they are not handled correctly, they will cause trouble (the even more unlucky Mr. Feng).
When real wealthy families want to buy people, they are recruited by a fixed group of people, who are required to ensure that the source of goods is clean, the procedures are simple, and there are no worries; more advanced people will also purchase boys and girls from the wastelands of the disaster area.
They will be trained and taught in advance, and then they will be sold after they are taught some rules. Among the children standing here today, there are basically no particularly naughty and wild ones.
So Xiaoyan really has no choice but to perform as a performer, and I'm afraid she won't even look down on people.
Cui's mother pursed her lips tightly and glanced at the boys and girls one by one sternly. She asked a few questions. She didn't want those who were too articulate, those who were too enchanting and beautiful, those who were shy and sneaky, and those who were clear-spoken and nimble with their hands and feet.
, good at needlework, and the most important thing is honest and diligent, as long as they are not too crooked, I picked nine girls and five boys at once.
Minglan looked on with a smile, pretending not to notice the flattering, fawning, or inquiring looks directed at her. Although she liked a few of the delicate and docile ones, she still had to act according to the rules.
Ask Mother Cui to take the people down, along with all the children or family members in the courtyard, starting from the outside. They will be trained and taught first, and then they will be distributed to various places.
After finishing this matter, Minglan gathered a group of mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law and went to the back garden to assign errands. There were fat and thin errands. In theory, the fat errands should be left to 'their own people', but Minglan did not agree.
She felt that what really mattered was that the key departments were blocked. What's more, what is "one's own people"? Heshen was naturally loyal to Qianlong, but this did not prevent him from making a lot of money; it can be seen that loyalty and corruption are not the same.
There is no absolute relationship.
Let's talk about the facts. Let's try it out first and assign them according to their strengths.
Minglan was sitting in an open bamboo sedan carried by two people. Danju on the side led two little girls to hold the book and accompanied them. There was a large group of people. They walked through the boundaries of the courtyard and divided them up. She had been there yesterday.
After doing enough homework, I clearly divided the garden pond into lump sum areas according to what I had planned in advance, and then assigned manpower to manage each area.
In the past, those who raised bamboos continued to cultivate bamboo forests. The bamboo forests should be tall and elegant, and some fresh bamboo shoots and mushrooms could be turned in. It is best to create a shady place, and bamboos could be used to build a summer courtyard in the future. In the past, those who cultivated flowers were still called to continue.
To manage a garden, in addition to allocating it to each homeowner in the four seasons, it is also necessary to keep the garden beautiful. Except for winter, the garden should be filled with fragrant flowers and colorful flowers on other days... The rest, such as ponds, plum groves, and backyards are also the same.
First, manpower was assigned; then there were guards in various vacant rooms, warehouses, inner courtyards, outer courtyards and other places where important people were kept at night.
After being assigned one by one in this way, not only those who were given the gift were shocked, but even the people in Lai Huatian Diao Si Fang were secretly panicked.
To be honest, Minglan's appearance and behavior seem to have nothing to do with adjectives such as 'shrewd and capable' - you know, their powerful mistress starts managing the affairs before dawn, handing out cards, checking accounts, handing over money, and inspecting
Various affairs, etc.
Minglan, on the other hand, showed off the appearance of a wealthy and idle person, a charming and elegant flower-like beauty, who spoke slowly and calmly, was pleasant to others, and even had a bit of languor and laziness in her daily life. She had to sleep for five hours every day and eat.
After that, I took a walk for half an hour. I had different opinions on the seasonal soups and stews, and I also paid attention to eating, resting and other health-preserving methods. After a whole day of conditioning, my skin was smooth, my flesh was smooth, white and rosy, and I felt refreshed all the time. All other things depended on
More to come later.
Faced with such a 'not diligent' mistress, all the servants were not just negligent, but a bit lazy, and there were even those who were interested in cheating and cheating, but that day Minglan came forward.
After carefully checking the personal details, Lai's mother was found guilty on the spot, and everyone was slightly shocked to realize that this lady was not easy to fool.
Today, I heard that Minglan assigned matters in a clear and logical manner, according to their own strengths, and was reasonable. There was no bias due to close relationships. Liu Mangui, who came with only one dowry, became a branch manager of the outer courtyard, doing errands such as taking care of the garden.
They even set aside a surplus of profit in advance as an incentive.
Minglan clearly reiterated the family rule that "the inner and outer courtyards cannot be both large". Since Cui's mother was in charge of the inner courtyard, Old Cui and his family were still taking care of Minglan's dowry farm and forest outside. Ji Qiang, who was honest and dull by nature, helped.
There is a cooking cart and a carriage house.
Everyone admired him for a while.
"As time goes by, you will see people's hearts, and you will gradually know what everyone is capable of." Minglan leaned on the carved flower gallery, smiling lazily, "I am young, and the promises assigned are not always appropriate.
Yes, let’s do it for a year and see. If something doesn’t suit you, you can change the job. Otherwise, you can talk to me..."
The wives and mothers-in-law were shocked. They no longer dared to look down on Minglan, and they felt a little more in awe. They each received their errands, patted their chests and made strong promises before retreating respectfully.
But the biggest impact should be on Lai Huatian Diao and the four-bedroom people. They originally thought that Minglan was young and tender, and there was no elder in the house who could control him. Those criminal servants might not be reliable, and the new ones they bought were not available yet.
, when it was obvious that there were not enough manpower, they should be able to firmly occupy the important position. Who knows, although Minglan looks very 'decorative', useless and delicate, but she is not in a hurry, she has a plan in her heart, and she manages it in an orderly manner.
Everything was well planned and arranged, and there was no timidity or panic from the beginning to the end.
If you don't understand, just ask, ask and then verify. After verification, you will have a complete plan a day later. There is no need for them to step in to help. Watching Minglan gradually sort out the affairs of the government, everyone performs their duties, and the servants and wives are busy coming and going.
, the huge Gu Mansion was taken care of in an orderly manner, and they began to panic.
Now that all the pits have been occupied, what should they do? Especially Lai’s mother and Diao’s mother, they deeply regret that they offended Minglan from the very beginning. Now Hua’s mother is responsible for organizing the Kouxiang Garden where Sister Rong will live in the future. Tian’s mother
I also got a job that was neither big nor small. It was just the two of them, one had no leisure and the other was "taking care of herself". This was not a good situation.
Minglan ignored their grievances and took people to open the warehouse. She first made a list of the items one by one, placed them in categories, and after registering them, she took out a long list of items according to the pre-made list.
, such as tripods, furnaces, porcelain, gold, jade, enamel, bronze, screens, jade basin carvings and other furnishings, and took twenty or thirty pieces of good materials to the sewing room to make two new summer clothes for everyone.
As soon as the news came out, the servants in the mansion were overjoyed. Unfortunately, their four-season clothes last year were all bought from outside garment shops. Not to mention the quality of materials, they didn't fit well - the garment industry was not very popular these days.
Speaking of the warehouse, Minglan was furious again. When she opened the warehouse to check yesterday, she smelled a faint smell of medicine. After going around several large rooms, she found a large pile of valuable medicinal materials in a remote corner.
Ginseng, angelica, rhinoceros horn, bezoar, musk, deer antlers, cordyceps, tiger bones, leopard bones, monkey dates, fur seal kidneys, bear bile... there were so many items, it was like a grocery store, filling up half a room.
Minglan's eyes widened as she saw that some medicinal materials had lost their medicinal properties due to improper placement. Faced with such waste, she angrily questioned Gu Tingye, but Gu Tingye actually said happily: "...are there still tiger bones and bear bile?
?Excellent! Brother Cheng Qian is about to go to the Miao border to defend. He has been injured in the knee and has not fully recovered. There is a miasma in the south. I am planning to prepare two doses of good tiger bone ointment for him. You can bring it to him tomorrow.
Come find it with me!"
Minglan was speechless. This guy completely missed the point of his words. I wonder if he felt the same way when listening to the emperor's words.
While sighing and shaking his head, he sorted out all the medicinal materials and recorded them in detail in the book. Even though he was exhausted, it was not without gain. Minglan found a few fat and strong old wild ginseng, and gave the largest one to Mr. Sheng.
Madam, I also found some medicinal materials and supplements for mothers and newborns and distributed them to Haishi and Hualan.
At this time, it was time to behead her head. Minglan was shocked to realize that she would have to eat late for lunch today, which greatly violated her health regimen. It would also affect her subsequent nap. She couldn't help but hate it, and immediately solemnly announced: Today's office work
It’s done, I’ll break it down next time if I have something to do.
After freshening up, she sat at the small round table and looked at the dishes on the table. After taking a sip of soup, Minglan felt a little relieved. She put down the spoon and Xiao Tao led a woman in with a food box.
The woman was about forty years old. She was tall, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and her skin was fat and greasy. Her clothes were clean and tidy, and she was straightforward. She came in cautiously, greeted Minglan, and then left the restaurant.
A dish was brought out of the box and placed on the table. The thin octagonal disk made of blue and white porcelain was covered with green lotus leaves. As soon as the lotus leaves were uncovered, a strong aroma filled the room.
"Madam, this lotus-flavored glutinous rice steamed pork ribs is ready. Following the lady's instructions, I first used boiling water with ginger soup to remove the blood and fishy smell, then marinated it with seasonings for an hour, then lightly fried it with boiling oil, and finally
Put it in a big steamer together with the soaked glutinous rice and lotus leaves soaked in rice wine, steam it for an hour, put it in the steamer to heat, and just took it out now." The woman had a thick voice, but lowered her voice.
It seemed very pleasing.
Minglan first looked at the color and shape, nodded slightly, and the old lady seemed to be slightly relieved, then Minglan took down her chopsticks and took a sip, a satisfied smile slowly appeared on her face, and the old lady finally relaxed her shoulders.
"Thank you for your hard work, Mama Ge." Minglan put down her chopsticks and said with a smile, "The most important thing about this dish is the word 'transparent'. The glutinous rice must have the fragrance of meat, the meat must have the fragrance of rice, and the whole dish must have the fragrance of lotus leaves.
The seasonings must be marinated thoroughly, and the ribs and glutinous rice must be steamed thoroughly so that they are soft and flavourful. When the ribs are really cooked, soon after the ribs are served, the glutinous rice on top will slowly collapse together with the meat."
Mother Ge was smiling all over her face: "Thank you madam for the advice. My wife is a rough person. I just want to look at madam and don't dislike her."
"It doesn't matter if you are rough or not." Minglan took the tea bowl and took a sip, rinsing the taste out of her mouth, her movements were gentle and elegant, "The place for eating is an important place, and now I entrust the kitchen for my own use.
I only hope that you can do your best, so don’t ignore it.”
Granny Ge smiled and bent down to answer. Minglan added: "I have nothing else to say, only one thing, clean. The food must be clean, the hands must be clean, and the accounts must be clean; especially the food of me and the master, if there is any
What's wrong, don't come and talk to me about this or that, I'll do it to you first!"
Minglan's face was cold and solemn, while Mama Ge's face was fiercely loyal, and she made her pledge loudly, so loud that it almost shook the porch.
"That's all, I'll assign a few wives and girls to help you later. You can go down. This dish is good. I'll make another one for you to try tonight." Minglan waved her hand, and Granny Ge bowed and left.
After watching Mrs. Ge go away, Xiao Tao stepped forward to serve Minglan and whispered: "She has grown so fat." Minglan laughed: "This is what all the chefs do, they just won't eat.
Fat, also called fattened by oil smoke."
"However, the craftsmanship is pretty good." Xiao Tao looked at the glutinous rice ribs and was quite moved. "No matter what dish you say, miss, she can make it to perfection."
Minglan saw that there was no one around, so she changed her chopsticks, stuffed a piece of glutinous rice ribs into Xiaotao's mouth, and said with a smile: "The retired Lingguo Gongfu was famous for her arrogance and extravagant enjoyment.
I couldn't bear to argue with others, so I was pushed to the kitchen; now I don't have any better people, so I'll just use her first, I have her and her family in my hands."
Xiaotao's mouth was full of delicious food, and she said vaguely: "Madam, don't worry, Sister Cuiwei will be coming up from Jinling in a short time. By then, you will have someone on hand, so you won't have to talk nonsense to those old people!"
"The days are coming so fast. It seems like it was only yesterday that she got married, and now she has become a mother." Minglan thought of Cui Wei and couldn't help but think about it for a long time, and then she said again: "Where did those people talk about last time? You
Go on."
Talking about this Xiaotao immediately got excited. She was born with an honest and honest look, so many people were willing to talk to her, and they were often unguarded when talking, so she could often collect a lot of gossip; if you want to say it,
Her ability to inquire about information is truly unparalleled. In the past two days, she had frequent contacts with the people in the fourth house and got a lot of information about Ningyuan Hou Mansion.
"Mother Hua is a daughter of the Gu family. She has a straight temper, but she was willing to talk when I asked her, but she said very little and refused to gossip about the family behind her back. Mother Tian was very talkative, and she started chatting before I even opened my mouth.
They seemed to have said everything, but they were also very... measured; but the other two were reluctant to say anything." Xiao Tao reported, and Minglan ate slowly with her chopsticks, listening carefully.
"It doesn't matter, I have assigned some errands today. I'll check it out later. I'm afraid there may be more to say. Just tell me the few things I asked you to ask."
"Oh, okay." Xiao Tao quickly began to recall, "First there was Aunt Gong. She was not an ordinary girl. She was originally a scholar's daughter, and she had a close relationship with Mrs. Yu's mother's family. Later, the family suffered
Then she went to the Yu Mansion, saying that the girl who was Mrs. Yu was actually a sister, and even had the same name. Later, it was Mrs. Yu who took the initiative to lift the aunt - these words were said by Mother Hua."
"What did Tian's mother say?" Minglan was very interested, holding her chopsticks in the bowl.
Xiaotao's retelling was absolutely authentic, and she laughed very excitedly: "Mother Tian said that she didn't know what was going on. She only knew that after Mrs. Yu went out to make a fuss, my uncle came back and shouted that he wanted to divorce his wife and called Lao Hou
After I pressed him down, Aunt Gong lifted me up."
Minglan said oh - Yu Yanhong wanted to sell Man Niang's mother, Gu Tingye was angry, so Yu Yanhong took Gong Hongxiao to compensate.
Xiao Tao's legs were sore from standing, and Minglan kindly pulled her to sit next to her. She continued: "Later, my uncle left Beijing, Mrs. Yu disappeared, and everyone in the room dispersed. There were only Aunt Gong and one
The one named Qiuniang kept watch and said she would wait for my uncle to come back; so the Madam set aside a small courtyard for the two of them to live in."
Minglan listened quietly, her eyes flickering slightly; she had noticed a long time ago what would happen to those women who were taken over by men but failed to achieve positive results.
Generally speaking, if the Lord is kind, he will give a large dowry and choose an honest and reliable person to marry. But if you can't marry, it's not a good idea. It's either a servant in the house, a farmer or a person from the market outside the house, of course.
There is also a play (Jiang Yuhan).
If the Lord is cold and cruel, or if she was kicked out because she caused trouble with a suspect, then her fate will be unpredictable.
Gong Hongxiao is a smart person, but as for Qiuniang, maybe she is deeply affectionate - Minglan smiled slightly.
"Now it's about Sister Rong." Xiao Tao looked at Minglan with a calm expression, and then continued, "She was sent to Ningyuan Marquis' Mansion nearly three years ago. At that time, the old Marquis had just passed away, and my uncle left again.
After arriving in the capital, Mrs. Hou and Mrs. Tai were kind-hearted, so they stayed here. It was originally brought with Mrs. Hou, saying that she was keeping company with Sister Xian. About a year ago, Mrs. Hou suddenly called her Aunt Gong and Qiuniang.
I brought Sister Rong with me, and all the food and clothing provisions were made according to Sister Xian. These are what Mother Hua said."
Minglan laughed again. This flower mother is a wonderful person and speaks very interestingly.
"Oh, there are other things about the other rooms." Xiao Tao said that she was thirsty, and Minglan smiled and served her a bowl of soup to encourage her, "The fifth old lady really doesn't like Mrs. Yang, and the daughter-in-law here is originally
They were married on the fingertips to a daughter of the same age as Mr. Wu. She was originally a housekeeper, but more than ten years ago, her mother-in-law's family always committed crimes. Not only did she lose her hat, but she also had a lot of property confiscated. As a result, Wu
The old lady is unwilling to enter into this marriage."
Minglan took back the empty soup bowl and said with a smile: "I know, it must be the Fifth Old Master who insists on keeping his word, and that is why we got married."
Xiao Tao raised her thumbs up: "Madam is so smart!"
Minglan pursed her lips and shook her head. This kind of marriage was not easy. Even if she became a protégé and had a son, the fifth old lady still didn't want to see her.
"The Fifth Old Master really values the eldest Mrs. Yang. Several times when the eldest Mr. Yang got into trouble outside, it was only because the eldest Mrs. Yang begged the Fifth Old Mrs. Yang to spare her life. However, although Uncle Yang did not live up to expectations, the eldest young master of the eldest Mrs. Yang
But he is very good at reading and reasoning, and is highly praised by several gentlemen." Xiao Tao squeezed out the last bit of memory.
Minglan held her rice bowl and smiled with her chopsticks - every bastard has a successful son in front of his boss; Ami Tofu, I hope the reverse of this law will not hold true.