Chapter 291: Moving Day (II)
Translator: Ning LL
Bisi and Ruomei had been disciplined by Cuiwei since their childhood. Thinking of how stern she had been, Bisi shrank her neck. Ruomei goggled and scolded, “I’ve already told you not to listen to that bitch. If you listen to her words and make mistakes in the future, do not come to me to cry!” Bisi laughed awkwardly and kept apologizing.
After Ruomei felt much comfortable now, she then continued, “Let me ask you this, even though you don’t work for Madam as long as Danju and Xiaotao, but what about Lvzhi? You are older than her, but she is able to serve in Madam’s room and you still have to wait in line to serve Madam. Even Qinsang and Xiahe are called more often to serve Madam than you. You always think that you are a capable girl, how do you end up like this?”
Bisi, face turning red, lowered her head and said, “Sister, please give me some advice.”
Ruomei was glad to see the humble look of Bisi. Only when she felt comfortable did she start to give instructions, “What kind of people are we? We are the personal maids of Madam Ningyuan! None of the Mamas in charge would dare to punish us unless Madam tells them to do so! There’s no need to be afraid of them!” Ruomei was trying to imply that as long as they did a good job in serving their Madam, they didn’t need to worry about other things.
Bisi was quite enlightened. Then she sat by the bed and held Ruomei’s arm, saying fawningly, “Sister, you are so right! I just fell for that wicked girl’s nonsense and thought that we still have to act cautiously the whole time like we did in the House of Clear Dusk.
Ruomei, with a proud smile on her face, straightened her back and said, “I’m telling you, don’t underestimate Xiaotao. She’s a very smart girl but only appears slow-witted! Everything she hears or sees, no matter whether it’s good or bad, she would tell Madam without holding anything back. She always acts freely in front of Madam, which also shows that she doesn’t have any evil thoughts inside of her head. She is really a loyal girl.”
Bisi was not fully convinced, “She’s just a silly girl who couldn’t even make her own decisions. Also, she seems quite ignorant once she’s not with Madam and is still not tactful enough. What kind of things would she be capable of? No wonder she couldn’t become the leader of the maids!”’
“So what? Madam likes her and trusts her a lot!” Ruomei poked Bisi’s forehead hard, “After Madam finds Xiaotao a competent husband, she will enjoy a wealthy and decent life for sure no matter whether she continues working in the mansion or runs the estates or stores! Fortune favors fools.” Saying this, she started to think of the past, “When I was young, I heard from my father that the stewards in the Marquises or Dukes’ families are very respected outside. There are lots of officials with rankings scrambling to flatter those stewards…”
Bisi was totally entranced. She had heard of the same thing when she was in the Sheng’s mansion, but never had she heard a straightforward statement like this.
Suddenly, Ruomei seemed to remember something and said in a stern voice, “You always have so many things in your head, that is your biggest problem! Do not forget about what has happened to Yancao!” Bisi had still been hesitating. Hearing that name, she suddenly felt a tightness inside of her.
“Yancao is gentler and more capable than you, but she also has too many thoughts. At that time, our Madam hasn’t been engaged, but Yancao already got anxious about her own future. She asked someone to send a message to her parents to tell them that she wanted to stay in the Sheng’s family.” Ruomei despised someone like that most, so her words were quite harsh, “Madam knows everything but only said ‘Everyone has his own ambition, just let her go.’ Although Madam didn’t lose her temper to Yancao in ordinary times, what Yancao did already destroyed the little bond she had with Madam. After that, no matter how miserably Yancao cried or begged, Madam didn’t even bother to talk to her. You cannot follow her road. Though Madam is kind and generous, she’s not easy to fool with.”
“… Madam truly is cruel. Yancao only made one mistake, but Madam still showed her no mercy.” Bisi felt her heart beating very fast.
Every time Minglan went back to the Sheng’s mansion, Yancao always tried to find a chance to meet her, wishing that Minglan could remember the good old days with her. Minglan did have presented silvers and silks to Yancao, but refused to see the latter, not even for a short moment. What was that supposed to mean? Everyone was clear about that.
“What do you mean by she’s cruel? If a maid is disloyal to her Madam, why should the Madam treat her sincerely?” Ruomei snorted, “Our Madam, if you have to say that she’s hard to serve, it does make sense because she always has a clear mind and none of her maids could hide anything from her. However, we can also say that she’s easy to serve because she will never mistreat you as long as you treat her sincerely. Danju and Xiaotao devote their heart and soul to Madam, then Madam would definitely plan for their future. As for the ones like you and Yancao who always have your own intentions... Sister Bisi, since you are so clever and good at calculating, then Madam will let you plan for your future all by yourself.”
Bisi stammered something in a daze. It was hard to tell if she had taken in those words or not.
Since the quarrels and arguments hadn’t worked, the Fifth family moved out of Marquis Ningyuan’s mansion very soon. After three or four days, the Fourth family also left. Before Fourth Old Master left, he also snorted to the stone lions in front of the mansion.
As a result, the people of the Ministry of Penalty also stopped mentioning the new charge toward Gu Tingbing. If someone else argued that the charge was too light, the officials in the Ministry of Penalty could retort with confidence, “There is a very promising man in the Gu’s family. He has made contributions to the country and His Majesty relies heavily on his service. The merits offset faults. What’s so wrong about giving Gu Tingbing a light sentence?”
However, Gu Tingye was still wondering if he should send Gu Tingbing farther after hearing Fourth Old Master’s snort.
“Don’t go too far. He’s your cousin after all.” Minglan didn’t think that Gu Tingye really wanted Gu Tingbing to be dead.
However, Gu Tingye said, “The evils always live a long life. It’s hard for him to die.” When he went to the Ministry of Penalty yesterday, he found Gu Tingbing crying about his treatment to his eldest brother in great spirits. Then Gu Tingye turned around and left right away. In the meantime, he still heard Gu Tingbing asking to have two maids and one old servant on the road.
With Gu Tingye’s forehead throbbing fiercely, he suddenly remembered the past grudges, thinking, ‘Gu Tingbing, you think you are going on a spring trip?”
Seeing that half of the people in the mansion had gone, Minglan remembered her verbal promise right away. Then she looked for a group of masons to start the repairing work in the mansion. After all, she knew that she should stop putting on airs at the right time in order to build a great public image.
“Fourth Uncle hasn’t returned our property and the ancestral property also hasn’t been presented to you, are you really willing to let this go?” Gu Tingye looked at her with a meaningful look, “You are truly trustable.”
“Even the thieves have their own principles. One should always keep his word.”
“You keep your word to unreliable people?” Gu Tingye chuckled.
Minglan blushed and explained bashfully, “If I always keep my word, then my occasional dishonesty would be very useful.”
Gu Tingye, having burst into laughter, leaned back and prasied her, “Excellent! You have taken in the essence of the cunning schemes in the military strategy books.”
The girl who had just been praised raised her chin high like a complacent fat frog and said breezily, “Anything which could be solved with money means nothing.”
The man raised his eyebrows and said in a teasing tone, “Minister Chen in the Ministry of Revenue would definitely agree with your words if he is here. Unfortunately, the national treasury doesn’t allow him to do so.”
Minglan was speechless. The lines in the Hong Kong movies truly were not suitable in the ancient times.
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