Chapter 422: Residence Feed
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Big Sister, there are so many things happening in the residence. It makes me dizzy and dazzled,” Gu Yanfei said frankly. She imitated a cat and shook Gu Yunzhen’s arm coqucttishly. “Big Sister, please help me.”
Facing her, Gu Yanfei wasn’t embarrassed at all. Her big eyes were clear, bright, and sincere.
Gu Yunzhen:
Usually, Gu Yanfei was always calm and confident. Gu Yunzhen had always admired this sister for her daring actions. Now that she was behaving coqucttishly, her heart couldn’t help but soften.
Her Eldest Sister was like a mother. As the Eldest Sister, she naturally had to help her sister support the internal affairs of the residence so that her Big Brother could work outside without any distractions.
In an instant, Gu Yunzhen felt a sense of mission.
“Alright, leave the matters to me.” Gu Yunzhen agreed with a smile. Her smile was gentle and moving. She rubbed the soft top of Gu Yanfei’s head and thought to herself: Everything has its regulations. I’ll help Second Sister sort out the personnel and rules first and hand them over to her bit by bit in the future.
The only things she could do for her Eldest Brother and Second Sister were these trivial matters.
“Big Sister, you’re so good.” Gu Yanfei smiled sweetly. Her fair face was as beautiful as a summer flower. She thought happily in her heart: As expected, the oldest in the family is the most reliable! Be it Eldest Senior Sister or Big Sister, they’re all reliable. They’re much more reliable than that stupid cat!
Gu Yanfei instructed Juan Bi to open the wooden box in her hand.
She took out a booklet and handed it to Gu Yunzhen impatiently. “Big Sister, this is the residence’s roster.”
The names recorded in this roster were all servants of the Gu family, excluding the accompanying rooms of the Madams. The deeds of the accompanying rooms were in the hands of the respective rooms.
Gu Yunzhen looked down at the roster, while Gu Yanfei leisurely picked up the teacup.
She had just taken a sip of tea when the door curtain was opened from the outside. A delicate-looking maid in blue came in with a red-painted wooden food box. She smiled and said, “Eldest Miss, Second Lady, Third Madam asked me to send over the golden-threaded date soup she made herself.”
Gu Yunzhen turned a deaf ear and buried her head in the roster.
The maid in blue slowly put down the food box and slowly took out two bowls of golden date soup. One was for Gu Yunzhen, and the other was for Gu Yanfei.
Gu Yunzhen had grown up in the Marquis Mansion and was very familiar with most of the names in the account book. As soon as she saw the names, she could recognize them and knew most of the twists and turns in the relationship between these servants.
Gu Yunzhen focused on the roster, her fingers occasionally tapping on it.
The maid in blue took out three or four plates of pastries and candied plums from the food box and placed them on the coffee table beside her.
A moment later, Gu Yunzhen waved at Gu Yanfei and gestured at the names on the roster. “Second Sister, what do you plan to do with these people?”
Gu Yanfei leaned over to look at the roster and rested her chin naturally on Gu Yunzhen’s slender shoulder.
The few names Gu Yunzhen had written on the roster were either people who had worked in Benevolent Harmony Hall and the second branch’s courtyard in the past, or people who had come from Madam Wang’s family to accompany the second branch. There were also people who had relatives working in the second branch who were distributed to the second branch when they split up…
“What do you say?” Gu Yanfei smiled and let Gu Yunzhen make the decision.
Gu Yunzhen said gently, “There are few people in the residence now. Let the people from the various branches take them away.”
The servants of the Gu family were all sons of the family, and their indentures belonged to the public. Yesterday, the patriarch presided over the separation of the family, and roughly distributed the servants who were in charge of the various rooms to the various rooms. Their indentures were also handed over to the various rooms in front of the patriarch and elders.
The roster in Gu Yunzhen’s hand was the one that had been updated yesterday.
Just now, Gu Yunzhen had sorted out the relatives of these servants on the register again and pointed out all the inappropriate names.
After all, there were few people in the residence now and there was no shortage of servants. It was better to distribute these servants who were inextricably linked to each house. Only then would the residence be quiet in the future.
Yes.” Gu Yanfei nodded with a smile. She thought so too.
When the blue-robed servant girl beside her heard this, she silently left with the empty food box. Her footsteps were silent.
Gu Yun was really focused on the roster and didn’t notice when Madam Yan’s maidservant left. Gu Yanfei noticed, but she didn’t care at all.
Because Third Aunt, Madam Yan, was a widow, she had been careful with her words and actions in the residence all these years. She had always given in and never dared to compete with the other families. Now that such an accident has happened in the residence, she must be feeling uneasy.
Letting Gu Yunzhen preside over the media would put Madam Yan at ease.
This was killing two birds with one stone.
Seeing that Gu Yanfei had agreed, Gu Yun became even more interested. He instructed Fei Cui to prepare a pen and ink, and he excitedly wrote a list of names on the roster.
The sisters were business-minded. It took them an hour to sort out the personnel first.
Gu Yunzhen compared it to a piece of silk paper that was filled with words and had been repeatedly edited. She picked up her pen and copied the final list again. The calligraphy was beautiful and neat.
Second Sister, take a look again.” Gu Yunzhen blew dry the ink on the paper and personally handed it to Gu Yanfei. Her gentle eyes were energetic.
The two sisters gathered together, chatting and laughing.
Seeing this scene, Gu Yunzhen’s maid, Fei Cui, smiled and silently made new tea for the sisters. She was also happy for her lady.
Ever since her lady broke off the engagement with the Murong family before the new year, although she had never said anything, Fei Cui had served her day and night. It was obvious that her lady was a little listless and depressed.
This kind of “dejectedness” wasn’t because her lady felt sad, nor was it because she was reluctant to part with the marriage… It should be said that she was confused, just like how she didn’t know why she should work hard in her life.
But now, her lady was energetic again.
That’s great!
Fei Cui was extremely happy. One moment, she was serving Gu Yunzhen with a brush and ink. The next moment, she was pouring tea and water. The next moment, she followed the sisters to the Hall for Cultivating Virtues at the front of the inner courtyard.
In the Hall for Cultivating Virtues, seven or eight housekeepers and wives had been waiting inside for a long time. All of them were looking forward to it. Occasionally, they would whisper to each other and look out from time to time.
When these housekeepers saw that Gu Yunzhen had also come with Gu Yanfei, they were all shocked. A few of them secretly exchanged glances.
The mammy’s mood was a little solemn. Everyone knew that the situation in the residence had changed. In the future, this Second Lady, who had only been found back in the residence last year, would have the final say.
It was really a change that is the only constant, the wheel of fortune turns!
If this was a few months ago, no one would believe that there would be such a scene today.
All the voices in the main hall suddenly disappeared. It was silent, and the atmosphere became solemn.
In contrast, Gu Yanfei’s mood was very relaxed and happy. Her footsteps were so light that he was about to fly.
Her idea was too good!
Before her sister got married, she could easily live a life without caring about anything.
When Big Sister got married…
Gu Yanfei wasn’t worried at all. She thought happily, “When the time comes, I might even have a sister-in-law.”
Fortunately, she was a younger sister. It was better to be a younger sister!
As she thought about it, the smile on her lips deepened. She held Gu Yunzhen’s arm and entered the main hall. At the same time, she glanced at the housekeepers in the hall.
There were only about half of the housekeepers present.
It had been almost two hours since she instructed Juan Bi. The housekeepers who hadn’t arrived yet had clearly done it on purpose.
Gu Yanfei and Gu Yunzhen sat down on the two rosewood armchairs at the head of the table. The solemn and imposing armchairs were more suitable for men like Gu Jian and Gu Yuan to sit on, making the two girls’ figures look even more slender and thin.
These housekeepers greeted the two girls in unison.
“Granny He,” Gu Yanfei called out calmly.
A woman in her 50s wearing a brown ganoderma pattern robe took a step forward from the crowd and stood on standby. “I wonder what instructions Second Lady has?”
Gu Yanfei went straight to the point and asked, “How many people haven’t arrived?”
Granny He could answer them one by one without looking. “Zhou Li’s, Granny
Qian, Granny Lai, Granny Xu…”
The Zhou Li family was the daughter-in-law of the head butler of the outer courtyard, Zhou Li. She was in charge of the entrance and exit of the inner courtyard. Granny Qian was in charge of the storeroom of the inner courtyard, and Granny Lai was in charge of the purchase of the inner courtyard… Every one of them was a famous housekeeper in charge of the inner residence of the Marquis Mansion.
Granny He called out six or seven names in a row before stopping. In the end, she added, “Only these few didn’t come.”
Gu Yanfei turned around and instructed Juan Bi, “Find the deeds of these people and hand them to Second Madam.”
Gu Jian’s title had been taken away, which meant that Madam Wang had lost her title as Duchess. The current Madam Wang could only be called the Second Madam, just like eight years ago.
Granny He was sighing in her heart when she heard Gu Yanfei continue casually, “Tell Second Madam that if she wants to take these people away, she can take them all away, but only by buying them with silver.”
“If the second branch doesn’t want them, then find a broker and sell them all.
Gu Yanfei didn’t lower her voice. Everyone present heard her clearly.
Even the two little maidservants guarding under the eaves outside and the old woman sweeping the courtyard pricked up their ears and listened attentively to the commotion inside..