concubines are respected

Chapter 12
"Mama Chen is well." In the front yard, Mama Chen, who is in charge, is busy back and forth in the dining room. Say hello first.

"Second Miss?" Chen's mother was instructing the maid to move a bag of white flour to the storeroom. The brown cotton gown was washed neatly, and her gray hair was neatly combed back into a round bun. Makes the whole person look extraordinarily shrewd and capable.A pea-sized agate bead hangs from a plain silver hairpin, which is well decorated.

Seeing Suxian coming to the door of the dining room, Chen's mother was a little surprised, then put on a forced smile, and said, "Second miss, the dining room is very chaotic, if you have something to tell me Huan just come here, so as not to stain the dress."

Even though she spoke like this, Mother Chen couldn't hide her contempt when she looked at Su Xian's clothing.

"Hey, that's all, these maids are becoming more and more useless, and even a little thing makes people worry." Suxian felt helpless on her face, casually caressing the double buns without any hairpins or decorations, and walked with her feet He kept stepping over the threshold and entered the dining room.

"..." Chen's mother didn't understand what Suxian meant, she patted the white flour stained on the corner of her clothes, but didn't answer the question.

"Mother Chen, Cui Ya came to collect the order yesterday. I think you have been so busy with your father's birthday banquet recently that the ingredients you gave her may not even be enough for half of it?" Su Xian didn't mention the silk flowers, Straight to the point.

"Yesterday...the order..." Chen's mother stuttered a little, and a glimmer of cloud flashed in her eyes, "Yesterday, Cui Ya did come, but..."

Speaking of this, Mother Chen suddenly fell silent, looking at the simple silk rope tied on Suxian's head, and thinking of the silk flowers sent by Cui Ya yesterday, she couldn't help but be surprised: Could it be that the girl couldn't get the order several times? , I didn't have anything to say to the master, so I secretly moved the silk flowers and sent them in exchange?In this way, the secret delivery of silk flowers yesterday was done behind Miss Second's back?
"But what?" Suxian asked softly, blinking her big innocent eyes with a calm demeanor, "Cui Ya didn't come here yesterday to collect her share, but it's not right, she clearly brought some millet and flour back yesterday , but the amount is pitifully small. I thought, maybe Chen’s mother has been too busy recently, so I temporarily withdraw some. Today, I simply have nothing to do, so I walked to the front yard at random, so I stopped by to take a look If Mother Chen is empty, it is better to make up the rest of the case, so as not to run back and forth."

"This... this..." A trace of sweat appeared on Chen's forehead.She would not dare to take the portion of Suxian that Rick deducted on weekdays. In addition to taking out a part to honor Mama Hu in the eldest lady's room, she also allocated a small part to stop the mouths of the older women. The rest is hers.If you eat alone, even if the eldest lady doesn't care about these things, the maids and mother-in-law below will not be fair.

But Suxian, who never walked around the front yard today, not only came to the door in person, but also asked for all the orders.This month, she had been dispatched to the branch of Queyuan. If she was given to Suxian according to the original amount at this time, wouldn't it be poaching her raw meat?

Chen's mother could only plot against others, how could she be at a disadvantage in front of Suxian, a yellow-haired girl at this time, she thought to herself: If Cuiya took silk flowers in private to please herself, she would not dare to say anything.What's more, although the girl in front of me bears the name of the second young lady, everyone in the house knows how much the eldest lady hates her.If I simply refuse to admit it, what can she do to me!

While thinking, Mother Chen gritted her teeth, raised her head slightly, and said in a deep voice, "Second Miss thinks it's a misunderstanding. The old slave gave out your bird garden early. As for yesterday, Cui Ya just came to Helping in the dining room. The old slave was still thinking, maybe she got your order, and she came here specially because she was busy in the dining room recently."

"Really?" There was a hint of chill in Suxian's voice, but the smile on her brows grew stronger, "That's strange, Cui Ya clearly brought back some ingredients yesterday, so it's possible that this girl is very hungry, bad How dare you steal the ingredients from the dining room. Hmph! Seeing that I'm not going back to my mother, punish this unworthy girl!"

While talking, Suxian looked around the dining room, not far away was a rough maid who was choosing the tops of vegetables by the vegetable table, perhaps she heard their conversation, and looked up from time to time.On the other side, a woman walked towards the stove with a large amount of firewood, and it seemed that she was planning to cook tonic for the master in the main courtyard.

Suxian's voice was deliberately raised by three points, "Mother Chen, you are an old man in the house, tell me, how to punish slaves with unclean hands and feet according to the family rules set by the old master back then?"

"This..." Although Suxian's words were referring to Cuiya, but Mother Chen always felt that she seemed to be referring to something else. Suxian's spiritual eyes stared at her for a while, and a chill appeared on her back, and she said very reluctantly. Said, "The old master set the family rules back then, if the slaves' hands and feet are not clean, according to the value of the property, their fingers will be cut off, and then sold to a child, and they will never be allowed to return to the house."

Mother Chen spoke in a low voice, the maids and mother-in-law working in the dining room obviously heard what the two said, and they all looked up curiously.

Mother Chen's expression became extremely worried, she turned her head and said to the girl and mother-in-law, "Let's put down what you're doing first, and go to tidy up the firewood in the back room, it's cloudy today, it won't be good if you get damp. "

The maid and the mother-in-law immediately put down what they were doing and walked to the back room.

Seeing the back of the two leaving, a smile flashed in Suxian's eyes, and she said, "Mother Chen said very well, yesterday Cui Ya brought back two buckets of glutinous rice, two buckets of white flour and some millet, plus a bag of sugar , although the price is not less than one or two taels of silver, but it is a violation of the rules of the mansion, and if there is a punishment, it is justified to have a broken tail finger."

While talking, Suxian unfolded her fingers like green onions, played with them casually, and said in an extremely helpless tone, "Although Cui Ya has served me for many years, the rules can't be broken. What's more, she even took the share in the Bird Garden For example, it is even more unforgivable!"

After finishing speaking, Suxian didn't say any more, she got up and walked out of the dining room.

"Hey...Second Miss, maybe there is a misunderstanding..." Seeing Suxian's seriousness, Chen's mother became a little anxious.After serving in the mansion for many years, Suxian can be regarded as the one she watched growing up. This person has been timid and cowardly since she was a child. When she said these words today, although Chen's mother felt that something was wrong, she still believed it.

If she was really stubborn and went to the Da Furen and complained about Cui Ya's 'clean hands and feet', wouldn't she make things worse instead!
"Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding? Didn't Ms. Chen say just now that the branch in Queyuan has long been a branch, and she didn't give her ingredients yesterday. In this way, how can there be a misunderstanding when that girl lied to me?" Suxian turned around and spoke calmly, her eyes as deep as ancient wells could not see anything strange.

At this moment, the sound of footsteps came from outside the room, and Cui Ya's voice sounded from a distance, "Second Miss, so you are here so that the servants can easily find you."

"Good time, I was just looking for you." Seeing Cui Ya coming, Su Xian straightened her dress, and sat down on the thick wooden stool at the door of the room slowly, "The ingredients you brought back yesterday are How did you get it, explain it clearly in front of Mother Chen today."

"This..." Cui Ya showed a strange expression on her face, she took a peek at Chen's mother from the corner of her eye, and said timidly, "Didn't the maidservant say that yesterday's ingredients were distributed by Chen's mother..."

"Nonsense, Mother Chen said that's not the case at all!" Suxian shouted angrily, "You still dare to lie when confronted today, but you also think that my second young lady can't cure people!"

Although Suxian's words were aimed at Cuiya, but to Chen's mother, it felt strangely harsh, her face changed slightly, but she couldn't pick out the difference.

"Hehe..." Mother Chen laughed dryly, "I remember, Cuiya came to help in the dining room yesterday, and before leaving, this old slave did bring her some food. It's over. Second Miss, don't blame her..." Ms. Chen said very reluctantly, worried that things would get worse.

"Is it a bonus or an extra gift?" Suxian chased after her.

"Example!"

"Extra gift!"

Cuiya and Chen's mother replied in unison.

"Hehe, that's weird..." Suxian smiled lightly, her eyes looked at the two people in front of her inexplicably, as if she could see through their thoughts.

At this moment, a voice like a silver bell came from outside the door, presumably the visitor was in a good mood, "Mother, Miss San gave my daughter two pieces of lotus paste cake today, please try it while it's fresh!"

The visitor was Mama Chen's daughter, Yu'er.Yu'er was fifteen years old, her skin was white, and her appearance was extremely delicate, coupled with the shiny silk flowers in her hair, she was even more cute. When she saw Su Xian and Cui Ya were also in the room, Yu'er smiled slightly. Dazed, he cracked his mouth and said to Cui Ya with a light smile, "Cui Ya, you are here too, you are right, this lotus paste cake really tastes good while it is fresh, if it is left at night, it will lose its flavor , I took a sip just now, and it's really soft."

Yu'er didn't salute Suxian. It seems that under the influence of Lin Yinglu on weekdays, she didn't treat Suxian as her master from the bottom of her heart.

Suxian didn't care about it, but looked at the silk flower trembling on Yu'er's head with great interest, and murmured, "Why is this silk flower so familiar..."

Chen's mother's face changed when she heard the words, and she quickly blocked Yu'er who didn't know why, and said with a sneer, "In this case, the old slave will not smooth things over for Cui Ya. The ingredients yesterday were neither a recipe nor a recipe. As an extra gift, Cui Ya took the silk flower back in exchange. If Cui Ya had done this without telling the second lady, the old slave would have returned the silk flower, and there was no need to send back the ingredients yesterday. Second lady If you want to punish the servant girl, it has nothing to do with the old slave."

As she said that, Mother Chen raised her hand to pick off the silk flowers that Yu'er had tucked into her hair, and handed them over regardless of Yu'er's reluctance.

Suxian glanced at the silent Cuiya in surprise, but did not take the silk flower, "Forget it, the servant girl stole the things in the house because of my lax discipline. Since I gave the silk flower to you Mother Chen, there is no reason to go back. It's just..." As she said that, Suxian paused for a while, and said to Cuiya angrily, "It's just where did you get your daily allowance? How much money did you spend, and now you are fooling me by stealing silk flowers in exchange for ingredients! Explain it clearly to your mother later, or see how I treat you!"

Cui Ya was startled immediately, and knelt on the ground immediately, tears streaming down, "Second miss, this servant has been wronged. No matter how courageous this servant is, I don't dare to fill my pockets. It's true that there have been nearly three months in the front yard." There is no such thing as excessive allocation, and seeing that the servant could not open the pot, I had to bravely take silk flowers and come to Mother Chen to exchange some ingredients. The servant is wronged!"

"What a joke, my dignified second lady, it's a matter of course to receive living expenses on a monthly basis. Where can I get it, I can exchange it with my own belongings!" Suxian's face was sullen, and her tone became more serious. "Don't you speak like that? It's too far-fetched. You have stayed in the mansion for a long time, and you understand the rules of the mansion. This silk flower is worth five taels of silver. If you use family law, I'm afraid your hand will be useless!"

Cui Ya's face turned ashen when she heard the words, she shook her hands tightly, looked at Chen's mother and Yu'er with blank eyes, bit her lower lip lightly with her white teeth, as if she had made a lot of determination, and said with a stiff neck, "Two Miss, just now, the servant was just talking nonsense. How dare the servant take the things in your room privately. This silk flower was not given to Chen’s mother by the servant. It must have been in the garden yesterday. There were so many people in the garden. People pick it up."

"You! You are talking nonsense!" Yu'er shouted anxiously, her cheeks flushed red.

"Well, this is somewhat true. I don't think you have the guts to steal my personal belongings." Suxian obviously believed Cuiya's words, nodded slightly, and then said to Chen's mother, "Chen's mother, although the silk flower It was picked up, but according to the rules of the mansion, knowing that it is the master's property, if you pick it up and fail to hand it over, you will be expelled from the mansion!"

At this time, Mother Chen finally understood that the two master and servant in front of her were obviously singing a big show, but there was no other person in the room to prove it, and the origin of the silk flower was up to them, "Cui Ya, You! Aren’t you intentionally harming our mother and daughter! To be a human being, you must have a conscience!”

Mother Chen's throat was dry, she swallowed with difficulty, and shouted in a hoarse voice.

(End of this chapter)