Chapter 113 The Purpose of Being Hypocritical
The servant trader came soon on the second day. Because they needed to pick girl servants, Old Grandma asked them to go to Xinning Courtyard.
When Qin Wanru came over, it was still early. In the yard, only Shui Ruolan accompanied Old Grandma. After making a salute, she sat down next to Old Grandma with her eyes fixed on the girls brought by the servant trader.
All the people brought by the servant trader were girls, and there were more than one hundred of them. They lowered their heads and stood in the yard without making any sound. Old Grandma was very satisfied with them as a whole.
“Ruolan, Zhuozhuo, since you’ve come, just pick your girl servants first!” Old Grandma picked up the teacup and took a sip, and her face darkened. Madam Di and Qin Yuru had not shown up at this moment, which indicated that they didn’t respect her at all.
The residences of Madam Di’s and Shui Ruolan’s were obviously the closest.
“Wanru, pick your girl servants first.” Shui Ruolan said softly.
Qin Wanru nodded and stood up. She really had to pick a few girl servants first, lest Qin Yuru and Madam Di arranged girl servants in her place as scouts. A girl servant arranged by Madam Di was enough.
“Mother, you should pick a few more girl servants with me. If another servant trader comes here next time, you may not be able to pick agreeable girl servants!” Qin Wanru said.
Her words were quite meaningful. Shui Ruolan smiled and understood.
Qin Wanru had picked not a few girl servants this time, but most of them were second-class and third-class girl servants. After finishing picking, she was still worried. Thus, she specially asked Nanny Duan to have a look at them and kept those whom Nanny Duan considered not bad.
Shui Ruolan also picked not a few girl servants. She didn’t mean to pick so many girl servants. But at the thought of Qin Wanru’s words, she felt that she was more reassured to pick them now.
Old Grandma didn’t care about that much. She just picked two girl servants to work in her yard.
Old Grandma told Nanny Duan to gather these girl servants they picked to train them and tell them the rules of the General’s Mansion. After these girl servants were taken away, Madam Di finally showed up with Qin Yuru.
After making a salute separately, Madam Di and Qin Yuru also sat aside.
“Mother, why are there so few girl servants?” Looking at the remaining girl servants in the yard, Madam Di asked disdainfully with an arrogant sneer on her face, “Mother, let’s change a servant trader. The capital is different from Jiangzhou. This servant trader brought a few girls indeed, which makes our Qin’s mansion look petty.”
“Grandma, this servant trader brought too few girls indeed. Last time I saw my grandma from my mother’s family pick girl servants, and there were at least 50 of them. See, there are only a few girls. How can I choose from them?” Glancing over the girls’ faces, Qin Yuru became increasingly dissatisfied.
They had just arrived in the capital, Madam Di and her daughter Qin Yuru had already become extremely pretentious. They did not forget to talk about the Duke Yong’s Mansion even in this case. There was a hint of sarcasm across Qin Wanru’s slightly drooping eyes.
Madam Di thought that she could do whatever she wanted with the support of the Duke Yong’s Mansion! She was even suppressing Old Grandma with the power of the Duke Yong’s Mansion.
They meant to suppress everyone with the power and put on airs in front of everyone by coming late!
She would slowly tear off this so-called guarantee from the Duke Yong’s Mansion…
“You are late, and we have picked!” Old Grandma said with a blank face which enabled no one to tell her mood.
“Mother, why did Wanru and younger sister pick before me? We should respect for seniority. It’s irrational!” As Madam Di’s face darkened, the smile on her face became slightly stiff.
“Why is it irrational? We’ve waited for so long, but you didn’t come. Can’t they pick girl servants without you? Besides, I asked them to pick first. Do you have any problem with that?” Old Grandma said while frowning, “I asked someone to tell you to come over, but you haven’t come for so long. What were you doing?”
“I… I didn’t sleep well last night because I first arrived in the capital last night. So I got up late. The servant sent by you saw me still asleep and didn’t wake me up. I just don’t have a satisfactory servant upon arrival in the capital.” Madam Di secretly hated Old Grandma for her partiality but had to explain.
She originally intended to put on airs in front of the old lady, but unexpectedly she didn’t buy it.
“Pick on your own!” Old Grandma waved her hand impatiently, pointing at the girl servants in the yard.
“Grandma, I don’t want them. All… of them are leftover girls and must be not good.” Qin Yuru was so aggrieved that her eyes turned red. She turned her head and wiped her tears with a handkerchief, as if she had been bullied.
“Yuru, don’t cry. If… you don’t like them, you can pick next time. After all, you should pick some satisfactory girl servants to serve you.” Madam Di stood up to appease Qin Yuru, and then turned her head, “Mother, since they are leftover girls, we can ask the servant trader to bring another bunch of girls next time, and Yuru can pick her girl servants then. We can’t let her pick the girl servants left by her sister!”
“Suit yourself!” Old Grandma stood up and turned back into the house. She really didn’t like Madam Di’s arrogant look. Besides, Qin Yuru reminded her of the former concubines in the mansion. As a decent Young Lady, she just cried with grievance after saying a few words, which was really disappointing.
Qin Wanru and Shui Ruolan followed Old Grandma into the house.
After appeasing Qin Yuru, Madam Di also walked into the house, seemingly intending to stay and have a talk. “Mother, we are now in the capital city, so we must follow some rules in the capital city. Otherwise, we’ll be ridiculed by others, and even be separated from the aristocratic families circle of the entire capital and be ridiculed everywhere.”
“What do you mean?” Upon arrival in the capital, Madam Di dared to play tricks on the strength of the Duke Yong’s Mansion. Old Grandma was not in a good mood. She looked up at her and said.
“I naturally mean that our mansion should integrate into the circle of the capital sooner. This is also good for the general’s career. Mother, do you think that it makes sense?” With a bit of pride on her face, Madam Di said, “We should strictly observe the rules in our mansion. First of all, it’s the rules of the servants. To take what happened today as an example, if the servant from your courtyard observed the rules, she must wake me up today and I could come over early. How could she let me sleep unconsciously for so long?”
“Madam mean to accuse grandma’s servant of not observing the rules?” Qin Wanru blinked her watery eyes and asked in puzzlement with a trace of coldness across her eyes. Madam Di seemingly intended to start from grandma and then inevitably speak of her and her mother. Did Madam Di really still consider herself the Madam with overwhelming power in the backyard of the General’s Mansion? She had no idea of her current status at all!
Although Madam Di meant it, she expressed it in a tactful way. Unexpectedly, Qin Wanru directly pointed out what she meant. She moaned in her heart and looked up to see Old Grandma. As expected, she saw Old Grandma’s gaze seemed to be a bit gloomy. She was alarmed and hurriedly glared at Qin Wanru and said, “Wanru, what are you talking about? How can I blame Mother’s servant? I just started the topic with this matter and meant that Mother’s servants also need to be trained!”
“Second sister, it is the capital here, not Jiangzhou. You can’t act absurdly. You and Aunt Shui are disrespectful by picking servants before us. Now you dared to talk nonsense to my mother. Who gave you the courage?” Qin Yuru sneered and involuntarily became tough at the thought that she had caught Qin Wanru tripping.
“Big sister, I just take the matter on its merits. Why did you say that I took advantage of someone’s power? I don’t have anyone to take advantage of, which disappoints you. However, whose support makes you dare to be so impolite in front of grandma? Do people act according to these rules in the capital?”
Qin Wanru looked up slightly and said coldly to Qin Yuru.
Qin Wanru had no one to rely on indeed, but Qin Yuru and Madam Di were different. Now they were obviously putting on airs with the support of the Duke Yong’s Mansion, and everyone in the house knew that.
On hearing Qin Wanru’s words, Qin Yuru blushed and glared at Qin Wanru with her pretty eyes, wishing she could stand up and slap Qin Wanru to vent her anger.
“Wanru, talk to your Big Sister politely. You should be close to each other both outside and in the mansion. We cannot make people think that our Qin’s mansion lacks rules and rituals.” Madam Di rebuked Qin Wanru with a smile. She didn’t say that very seriously, plus the smile on her face and the meaning in her words, so she sounded kind to Qin Wanru.
Although Old Grandma did not speak, she looked slightly relieved.
“I used to misjudge what happened in Jiangzhou. Now we are in the capital, and those things are no longer important. I hope that you and your Big Sister can be close to each other from now on. You are the only two Young Madams in the Qin’s Mansion, unlike those aristocratic families each of which has nearly 10 Young Madams. Sisters are related by blood. You can establish yourselves in the capital only with the mutual help between you.”
Seeing her words have an influence, she talked in an increasingly earnest tone. She even “frankly” mentioned what had happened before and looked regretful. She then picked up the teacup at hand, stood up and walked to Qin Wanru.
“Wanru, I only hope that you and Yuru can be close to each other. Your Big Sister and I are to be blamed for what happened before. I hope you can be generous enough to forgive us. I will definitely think of a way to compensate you!”
After finishing her words, she handed the teacup to Qin Wanru. She actually came over to apologize.
At the sight of Madam Di’s hypocritical look, Qin Wan suddenly stood up, passed by Qin Yuru and made a respectful and alienated salute to Madam Di. “Madam, you talked so seriously!”
After finishing her words, she turned to walk to Old Grandma’s back without looking at Madam Di and motioned for the girl servant, who was pounding Old Grandma’s back, to step back. She went over and began to gently pound Old Grandma’s back with her cheeks bulging, seeming to be vigilant and unwilling to talk more with Madam Di.
After being framed so many times, no one could have no grudge. Besides, she was still a child.
“Mother, I want to take both of them out for the banquet in the Marquises’ Mansion of Fengyang. We’ve just arrived in the capital, and I should take them out and show them around, lest they exposed their ignorance and lose dignity.” Madam Di, who had been ignored, suppressed her irritation, held the teacup and returned to her seat with a hollow smile.
Therefore, this was Madam Di’s main purpose. However, when had Madam Di been so enthusiastic? Qin Wanru reached out to rub her forehead. She didn’t remember something clearly. Some memories of the last life lack details, such as how the marriage between her and the self-indulgent guy was arranged. They seemed to have met each other at a banquet. Could it be this banquet?
She should attend the banquet as soon as possible, but not with Madam Di who was scheming. She had a better choice!
“Grandma, I don’t want to go to the banquet. I want to go to worship the Buddha with Aunt Shui tomorrow. The master of Jingxin Monastery said that Huaguang Temple is the most prosperous in the capital. Can Aunt Shui and I go to have a look tomorrow?”
Tomorrow was the third day of this month!