Union

Chapter 66 Different ways

Yunying calmly explained her purpose for coming, and the Second Master smiled as he looked at her.

Yunying was bewildered by the Second Master's smile. "Do you think my arrangement is a bit unnecessary?"

Second Master clicked his tongue. “It’s not superfluous at all. It’s more than meticulous and thorough. No wonder Aunt Ding has been speaking highly of you to me and was determined to make you the steward. It turns out that you are indeed more meticulous and thoughtful as the steward. Compared to how thoughtful you are as the steward, Suiyun and the others were really just perfunctory when they were in charge. I didn’t punish them, which shows my magnanimity as their master.”

Yunying was dumbfounded. Was the Second Master praising her?

But while praising her, why did you also have to put down Suiyun?

Isn't this just blatantly trying to make her the target of hatred?

Yunying looked at Suiyun, who looked at the Second Master with a complicated expression. "I didn't want to manage the household either, but you insisted that I do it. Before, you said that as long as there were no major mistakes, it would be fine. Now you've changed your tune. Second Master, you're the one who's 'crossing the river and then burning the bridge'."

Yunying burst out laughing, while the Second Master glanced sideways at Suiyun.

Sui Yun, however, seemed completely unafraid. He simply cupped his hands in greeting to the Second Master and said, "Second Master is a magnanimous man. He shouldn't mind if I speak the truth."

Yunying quickly turned her head away, pursed her lips, but her smile became even brighter.

She never expected that the usually taciturn Suiyun would behave like this in front of the Second Master.

However, it's not too hard to imagine. After all, judging from Sui Yu's previous outburst of laughter in front of the Second Master, it's clear that the Second Master is only stern on the surface, and quite amiable towards his close subordinates. So, Sui Yun's "boldness" in front of the Second Master doesn't seem too surprising.

The Second Master gazed at Sui Yun with a deep look, then at Yun Ying with a similar deep look. Yun Ying, not wanting to be blamed, quickly took her leave before the Second Master could speak.

Second Master had intended to say that he had also finished his morning exercise and that they could walk together. But before he could speak, he suddenly remembered that Yunying was going to the carriage and horse courtyard, and that they were going in different directions. So he could only stop talking, nod, and let Yunying go about her business.

Yunying was busy for half a day.

After arranging for the vehicles to pick up the guests to depart, she checked how the guest rooms had been cleaned.

Qiu Ning took on this task and did it diligently. When Yun Ying came to inspect, she put on a look as if she were facing a formidable enemy.

Fortunately, Qiu Ning was a very good supervisor, and the prepared courtyard was swept and cleaned under her supervision.

The bedding and other items were all brand new, and even the teapot and teacups were all provided.

Seeing that there were no major problems overall, Yunying praised Qiuning repeatedly. It was fortunate that Qiuning wasn't a small animal, otherwise, she might have wagged her tail with joy after being praised by Yunying.

After leaving the guest courtyard, Yunying went to the kitchen to check on the preparation of the dishes.

Today is not a day for a banquet, but the kitchen is bustling with activity.

The master chef chosen by Yunying, along with several apprentices, was busy running around in the kitchen.

When they saw Yunying approaching, they quickly came over to greet her. Yunying told them to get up and go about their business.

The chefs also had a heavy workload. In addition to making preliminary preparations for tomorrow's banquet, they also had to prepare meals for the old man and gentry who had arrived today.

Fortunately, they were all very experienced chefs, and although they were extremely busy, they managed to keep things in order.

Yunying looked at the dishes and saw that they were all clean and well prepared, then left and went to the open space on the west side of the mansion.

That open space used to be a garden, but after Second Master came, he became too lazy to take care of it, and coupled with the drought, most of the flowers in the garden died.

When Aunt Ding was still alive, she wanted to tidy up the garden again.

Second Master said there was no need for that trouble; just fill in the garden and hold banquets there when the weather is fine.

Aunt Ding had also whispered to Yunying that the garden was so big that it could easily accommodate thirty or forty tables. The county government office certainly didn't have a banquet hall that could hold forty or fifty tables at once, but who would usually host so many guests?
Aunt Ding's words were still ringing in my ears, yet now this banquet hall was being used.

It's worth mentioning that the venue was large, so naturally, many people came to the banquet.

Yungui County has quite a few towns and villages under its jurisdiction—there are about one or two towns, and each town has about fifteen villages. The total number of local gentry and elders is nearly three hundred.

This is only because in this day and age, food and clothing are scarce, and most people don't live long. It's rare to find an elderly person over sixty in every three to five villages. Otherwise, if life were better, there would definitely be more people attending this banquet today.

Let's not get into idle talk. Let's just say that when Yunying went to the banquet, she saw Mujin there.

She wore a pale yellow padded jacket over a moon-white horse-face skirt. Her dark hair was styled in a low bun, adorned only with a single pearl hairpin.

This outfit is simple and understated, but upon closer inspection, it has a certain charm.

However, Mu Jin's expression was very serious. She acted like a head mistress, which frightened the maids and servants who were doing the work into not daring to utter a sound.

When Mu Jin saw Yun Ying approaching, she simply nodded slightly to her without saying anything else. Yun Ying didn't seem to mind.

She glanced around and saw that the area had been simply arranged.

It was just an open space, hardly needing any decorations. But Mu Jin had a clever idea: she had some small red lanterns hung on the treetops nearby. This added a touch of festive cheer and liveliness, warming everyone's hearts.

Then, on those cleaned tables and chairs, Mu Jin was having people put tablecloths and cushions on them.

When Yunying asked where these things came from, Mujin replied reservedly, "Ruizhu and the Qi family used to have some dealings."

Mu Jin spoke cryptically, but with just a hint, Yun Ying guessed the truth pretty accurately.

The Qi family gave Ruizhu money, which led her to develop the idea of ​​"making money." After that, whenever someone came to them for help, Ruizhu would accept it without hesitation. This led to her "poisoning" and the subsequent incident of Ruizhu being taken back to the capital.

Ruizhu didn't fare well, and it's reasonable to assume that the Qi family will also find it difficult to escape unscathed.

But what truly heinous things did the Qi family do?

not at all.

They were just like any other business people, desperately trying to gain the favor of influential people so they could climb the ladder more easily.

This cannot be said to be wrong. In addition, although the Qi family members are a bit slick, they are still honest in doing business, and the things sent to the capital through Ruizhu are indeed of good quality.

Therefore, the Second Master only exempted the Qi family from continuing to send dried goods to the county government.

However, considering that the Qi family's dried goods were barely acceptable, and that the Qi family were residents of Yun Gui County, their good business would bring the county more tax revenue. Therefore, the Second Master gave the Qi family a way to collect dried goods and deliver them to a certain place in the Northwest. As long as the goods could be delivered, the people there would accept any quantity.

The Qi family was grateful to Second Master, so they spread his benevolence throughout the county.

Knowing that Second Master was going to host a banquet for the local gentry and elders, the Qi family wanted to do everything they could to help.

They dared not send food to the county government office anymore, but they found out that the county government office had bought many tables and chairs, but had not prepared tablecloths and chair cushions.

When the Qi family found out about this, they hurriedly made arrangements. And so, the scene before us came to be.

Yunying only guessed the first half; Mujin filled in the second half.

Yunying immediately frowned, and Mujin said, "They brought these things to us, it's not like I sent anyone to ask for them. Besides, they've already brought them, so if we don't use them, they'll just sit there doing nothing. We might as well keep these things for a while, and then return them after the banquet, and give them some rent money along with them."

Mu Jin spoke as if to say, "We'll just consider this a rental; we've paid the rent, and we're even after that." Seeing this, Yun Ying frowned even more, but she didn't say anything more to Mu Jin. After greeting Mu Jin, she turned and left.

After Yunying left, Ruzhu, the maidservant who served Mujin, came up to Mujin and said, "Miss, Miss Yunying is probably not very happy."

"She's always been aloof and doesn't like to take advantage of others. But when an opportunity is offered to her, it would be foolish not to take it," Mu Jin said dejectedly. "It's just that Qiu Ning and I were unlucky enough to get poisoned together, otherwise, would she have ended up as the housekeeper?"

Mu Jin thought Yun Ying was stubborn, pedantic, inflexible, and unsophisticated. She still wanted to manage things, which was only because the manor was in dire need of people. Otherwise, Yun Ying would never have been able to rise to a position.

Mu Jin wanted to gossip about Yun Ying, but she was used to being cautious, and there were people coming and going. She was afraid that the gossip would reach Yun Ying's or the Second Master's ears. She wasn't afraid of Yun Ying, but she was afraid of ruining her image with the Second Master.

Mu Jin was secretly plotting how to bump into the Second Master and boast about her achievements to him.

As Yunying walked, she said to Sui'er, "When the banquet is over, remember to remind me to buy those tablecloths and chair cushions that the Qi family sent."

Sui'er nodded, "Miss, I've got it."

She guessed that the girl wouldn't take advantage of the Qi family, but she only thought that the girl would pay a generous rent to the Qi family. She never expected that the girl would come up with such a "drastic" solution.

However, it's good to buy it. In the future, the county government will inevitably hold banquets again, and then we won't have to worry about this matter.

Moreover, this method is not only fair, but it will also serve as a warning to the Qi family, preventing them from currying favor with the county government in the future. It is indeed a taboo subject; this time it's a minor matter that their master doesn't mind, but if they continue to scheme in other important matters, they might lose their lives one day.

Yunying and Sui'er returned to the courtyard, but before they could even rest for a moment, a maid ran over and said that there were more New Year's gifts sent from the capital and the Northwest.

The New Year's gifts this year were few; the total gifts from both places amounted to only three horse-drawn carriages.

Lei Ting instructed his maid to tell Yun Ying that one of the cartloads of New Year's gifts was from the Second Master's senior brother, while the other two cartloads came from the Second Master's friends in the capital.

The maid also brought Yunying two gift lists. When Yunying saw that they included many things related to food, clothing, and shelter, she was stunned for a moment, and then couldn't help but sigh: It seems that the Second Master is quite popular!

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(End of this chapter)