C14

The room suddenly quietened down. Anyone could tell that Concubine Shao had set her sights on the two capable maids beside Madame SHen. However, since she was in charge of the house and also had to rely on the customs of the past, even Madame SHen would not be able to say much.

She had suspected Man Ping and Hui Xiu from the start, so it would be a good thing if she could use the Concubine Shao's power to get rid of the two of them from Madame SHen's side. However, the Concubine Shao would definitely not be so kind, maybe there was some hidden trick behind them. She secretly paid attention, afraid that the Madame SHen would accidentally suffer a loss.

Without leaving a trace, Concubine Ning retracted her slender arm, wishing that she could turn into a small Wooden Pellet and disappear from everyone's sight. Even the usually lively and lively Ye Jinxian was shivering, as she calmly sat on her chair, no longer making noise and wanting to eat snacks.

Madame SHen's face was calm, no emotions could be seen on her face, her body leaned on a thread of golden thread embroidered on her back, her eyes slightly closed, as though she had fallen into a deep sleep.

Following everyone's silence, a strange atmosphere pervaded the room. This time, it was unknown whether Ye Jinwei got instructed beforehand, but she did not speak carelessly. Only, from time to time, she would glance at Madame SHen and Jin Lan who were on the bed. Occasionally, he would glance at Ye Jinxian and the Concubine Ning and reveal her naked loathing for them.

"If we follow the rules of the past, we will release Man Ping and Hui Xiu by the end of the year..."

Before he could finish speaking, a crisp sound of something hitting the floor came from outside, followed by the sound of a bowl falling to the ground.

Everyone was shocked, they raised their heads to look, only to see Hui Xiu opening the crystal curtain and rushing in, in a few steps she went to Madame SHen's bed, with a plop, her knees struck the ground heavily, his face was filled with nervousness and fear, "Madam, Madam, did I do something wrong? Your servant will definitely be changed. I just hope that my wife doesn't kick me out. "This servant has lost both his parents since childhood, and uncle and aunt are like that as well. If I didn't meet my wife, this servant would have …" Then, as if he had thought of something, he kneeled down and kowtowed towards Madame SHen. He raised his tear-stained face and said as if he was swearing an oath, "My wife treats this servant as if I were a mountain, this servant is willing to never marry, and will serve Madam for the rest of my life!"

Jin Lan looked at the touch of purple on Hui Xiu's forehead and couldn't help but be moved. Hui Xiu's actions did not seem to be intentional, the sorrow and determination in her eyes was not something that could be easily feigned. Her white and tender fingers slightly curled up, slowly forming a ball.

Madame SHen looked distracted, the figures of Hui Xiu loyally serving the bed appeared in her mind, the little girl had followed him for many years, her thoughts were exquisite and her work was straightforward, if he really were to let her go …

Thinking about it, Madame SHen's heart was filled with melancholy, she looked at Hui Xiu who was covered in tears, and sighed: "Forget it, you can get up first, it's still far from the end of the year, even if I have to let you out, I will carefully find a good family for you, and I will not let you down, but …." While speaking, the Madame SHen swept a glance at the Concubine Shao who was sitting steadily beside him, "If you are unwilling, then let this matter rest for now. We can discuss this further in the future."

When Hui Xiu heard this, her tears turned into smiles, she kowtowed respectfully to Madame SHen and got up, but when she got up, she swayed a little, afraid that she had used too much strength to kneel and injured her knees. However, she gritted her teeth and endured the pain as she retreated to the outer room to clear away the toppled pastries and broken plates.

Concubine Shao was not angry that Hui Xiu actually rushed out and ruined her plans. She just sat there quietly, as if everything was as she had expected. It was only until Hui Xiu had walked out of the room that she smiled and said: "Hui Xiu is definitely a good person. Not to mention that my wife is unwilling, even if it were me, I would definitely be unwilling as well."

Jin Lan was secretly surprised at how the Concubine Shao had become so easy to talk to. Who knew that her tone would change immediately, "It's just that Madam only has Hui Xiu and Man Ping, I'm afraid that the servants there are too weak, according to tradition, there are four of them."

He had originally planned to first let the servants out, and then, when he was short on manpower, he used custom and rules for everything, and openly extended his hand towards the Shuixie Pavilion. Concubine Shao had calculated that his mother would definitely leave Hui Xiu and Man Ping behind. She had dug a trap waiting for his mother to jump. However, even she could see that something was off. How could her mother not know?

Madame SHen held her forehead, her face darkened, "All these years I have been recuperating in the courtyard, the more people there are, the more noisy it would be, having Hui Xiu and Man Ping to accompany me is enough."

The Concubine Shao did not argue, but instead went along with the words of the Madame SHen: "Madam, you have a point, but if there is something, I am afraid the maids are too busy, and it would not be good if they are careless." He then looked at the teacup beside Concubine Ning and swept his eyes across the shiny table on her right hand, "Furthermore, this is the order from the old master. He wants to take advantage of this situation to buy a new batch of maids and Attendant servants to replenish the manpower in the areas that are lacking."

Hearing Ye Lin's intentions, the Madame SHen became silent. When Jin Lan saw him, he could not help but feel anxious, but before she could think of a way, the Madame SHen had already slowly said: "Since it's Master's intentions, then let's do it this way." There was a hint of helplessness in his tone.

Jin Lan's eyes were filled with anxiety. He bit his lips and tried his best not to make a sound. At this time, if she were to say anything, even a casual word would likely be taken advantage of by Concubine Shao, and thrown onto Madame SHen's body.

Seeing that he had finally achieved his goal, the Concubine Shao's face showed a smile that was hard to conceal. "Then in two days, I will find someone to let Madam personally choose the maid she wants."

Even if he picked them himself, they might not be easy to use! Madame SHen rubbed between her brows, and said: "Alright, that's enough for today. You can all go back now, I'm also tired."

Just as Madame SHen finished speaking, Concubine Ning was the first to stand up, bowing respectfully, "This servant will be going first then." After that, Ye Jinxian also stood up and obediently said: "Mother, take care of your body. Daughter will take her leave."

Concubine Shao and Ye Jinwei naturally left one after the other.

When only the Madame SHen and the Mama Tang were left in the house, Jin Lan asked worriedly, "Mother, why did you let go of me so easily?"

"If that's not the case, I'm afraid that if we get into trouble with the lord, it will be even more difficult to deal with." The Madame SHen sighed. She glanced at Jin Lan, who was frowning, and patted her slightly cold hands, "This child has a lot of thoughts. Since she wants to do this, what does it matter if I let her have her way? Could it be that two maidservants could overturn the heavens? Furthermore, this person is better kept under my nose. "

Jin Lan wanted to say more, but he realized that Madame SHen's face was paler than before, her eyes were slightly out of focus. She must have worked so hard just now, to the point of panic. He swallowed down the words in his mouth, coaxed Madame SHen to sleep, and then took him away from the Shuixie Pavilion.

Hui Xiu escorted Jin Lan out of the courtyard and saw her off into the Lan Garden. Then, she turned and returned to the Madame SHen's hut.

When the sleeping Madame SHen heard the rustling footsteps, she knew that Hui Xiu had returned. She slowly opened her eyes.

Hui Xiu nodded, "Yes, Second Miss went to the Lan Garden and did not go elsewhere."

"Lan Er, this child is very close to me …" Madame SHen sighed, his eyebrows filled with sadness, "I don't know if this is a blessing or a disaster."

Hui Xiu quickly consoled her, "Madam, you think too much. And this time, if not for Second Miss, I wonder how much more I would have to suffer. " She tried to persuade him on the surface, but in her heart, she was extremely resentful.

Although Man Ping and her were concubines who were by her wife's side, outsiders could see that they were from an extremely glorious family. Concubine Shao's butler, there are many servants and wives who are very respectful on the surface, but on the ground, they are disobedient, so there is no telling how they are arranged. She still needed to spend some money every time she left the mansion. Otherwise, she would have to make all sorts of excuses. She might not even be able to leave even if her legs were sore. They didn't have to wait very long, for fear of delaying his wife's illness. Now that the Second Miss was close to his wife, the snobbery in her heart had naturally been retracted by quite a bit.

The corner of Madame SHen's mouth curled into a cold smile, "Old master would never confuse Inner Court with the matters of the outer courtyard, furthermore, I have always been lucky enough to pass on the message, how did it suddenly change to Chun Xiao? Forget about, just based on the background of Chun Xiao's servant, the old master would definitely not let her enter the Inner Court! That person has probably been seeing me sick for a long time and has treated me like a fool. "

Hui Xiu stepped forward and tucked Madame SHen in, "Madam, what should we do with Chun Xiao then?"

Madame SHen waved her hand, looking tired, "Just lock her up. I don't have the mind to care about her right now, not to mention, Master needs time, right? "It's fine to have the old woman in charge pay attention. She's in the courtyard anyway, so she can't run far."

"Yes." Hui Xiu understood that her wife was making a long line to catch big fish.