A good omen for a good person

  The big girl left after lunch in the afternoon, without even waiting for the old master to return home. Chun Jing followed her with a package, only bowing three times in front of the madam's courtyard before leaving. The mother didn't mention anything about the clothes, but told Xian Yi about them when she got home, looking worried and preoccupied. Xian Yi sensed that something was amiss, but her mother refused to talk about it, leaving her puzzled. From then on, the madam rarely called Xian Yi to attend to her, which made Xian Yi connect this strange behavior with the big girl's visit earlier. Moreover, as Xian Yi's 14th birthday approached, her mother started arranging a marriage for her in secret, which was unusual since most girls from good families didn't get married until they were 17 or 18. Although Xian Yi didn't have any particular opinions about who she would marry, the underlying reasons behind this decision were hard for her to accept.

  The weather is about to turn cool, Xianyi's birthday is on the day of the autumnal equinox. As usual, her mother, Chen Shi, accompanied her in eating a bowl of longevity noodles, which was a simple way to spend it. Xianyi didn't care, anyway, she didn't have anyone to celebrate her birthday with in her past life, and when she crossed over, her father, Yao Guanshi, had already passed away. Over the years, it has always been just her mother and her together. The thick chicken soup, thin dragon beard noodles, thinly sliced bamboo shoots paired with a few pieces of chicken meat, plus some small green vegetables, and finally topped with an egg with a sweet yolk, was so delicious that she could almost swallow her tongue.

  After the beginning of autumn, many things in each house need to be prepared, so Mother Chen has become busier than usual. Especially after Spring Scene was taken away by Eldest Miss from the main house, even though Cui Zhu took over as the head maid, there is still one less second-class maid. Moreover, with more maids turning eighteen this year, another batch needs to be let go. Therefore, Zhang Mama from the outer house has found a use for those maids who had signed death contracts.

  That afternoon, the lady had a good rest after lunch and let people bring in the girls selected by Zhang Mama into the main courtyard. This time, they were all brought under Zhang Mama's leadership, with the most disciplined and well-behaved girls, who looked decent, aged between 11 and 15 or 16. Among them, there were those whose families had suffered difficulties and were sold here, as well as those who were originally born into other people's households but were sold cheaply after their masters committed crimes. In short, although Zhang Mama had some shortcomings in her character, her eye for selecting girls was not bad. Looking at the rows of young girls, even the lady's mood improved a lot. In the end, the lady chose three girls who were about 13 or 14 years old to be kept as third-class maids, and left a few older ones to do miscellaneous chores in the courtyard. The rest were taken back by Zhang Mama, along with the remaining girls, to be allocated to other places in the backyard.

  "From now on, you will stay in my courtyard and remember your duties clearly. You must know what to do and what not to do, and think carefully about it in your heart. This is Chen Ayi, the housekeeper of my courtyard, and the other one is Zeng Ayi." The madam put down her teacup and looked at the new little maids, continuing: "In my room, there are two first-class maids, Cui Zhu will be renamed Dong Jing from now on, and she will work with Qiu Jing to take care of the trivial matters in my room."

  Cui Zhu took a few steps forward and knelt down to pay her respects.

  "The rest......" The madam looked at Xian Yi's clothes again and then glanced at the new maids, pointing with her hand: "You few, come here and let me take a look."

  The old lady beside her immediately brought the maid who was called out to take a step forward. The madam nodded and smiled, saying: "I've gotten used to calling you Xianxian, so let's not change it. Now that you're one year older, you can come serve by my side. You can go wait in the side room with your sister Xiuzhu from now on."

  Xian Yi immediately understood that her identity as the second concubine was settled, and from then on, she could no longer be called Xian Yi, but would have to change her name to Xian Xian according to the madam's habit. She didn't feel much resistance, directly stepped forward and paid her respects, smiling and saying: "Your servant obeys, I hope Madam won't despise Xian Xian from now on."

  The madam smiled, waved her hand a couple of times, and then pulled Chen's nurse to say a few words with a smile. Only then did she look at the three maidservants who had come forward, thought for a moment, and said: "Let's just call them Yun Shuang, Yu Shuang, Lu Shuang, it's just right that Zhang's little daughter in the kitchen is also coming this year, her name is Xue Shuang, you four will make a fresh group."

  Those three who were given names, a wave of excitement on their faces, being given these names meant that the madam had taken a liking to them, from now on they would be third-grade maids in the main courtyard, this was much better than what they had imagined before, originally thinking that even if they entered the main courtyard they would only be sweeping and planting flowers, but unexpectedly they could serve by the madam's side.

  The madam also told Chen Ayi about the changes in the mansion after Liqiu, as well as the maids over 18 years old who would be married off from each courtyard. Finally, she smiled and said: "You send someone to check on each of the concubines' courtyards, see if they need any maids. As long as it doesn't break the rules, we can't let outsiders gossip."

  Aunt Xing noticed that Madame Wang was not very pleased and said: "Those concubines are a small matter, it's just the old lady..."

  "Didn't she say the other day that she didn't need so many people to serve her? Just don't bother, if she's willing to let go, just remember and assign them elsewhere. If not, it's not our fault anyway." Thinking of that stingy old woman, Madame was about to choke with rage. Whose family's old lady wouldn't even provide enough maidservants, but she thought it was a waste of money, pointing at a single servant girl, and bringing along an elderly maid who was older than the old lady herself into the courtyard, while the others were only doing chores like sweeping and cleaning. Now that the servant girl is already eighteen years old, that old maid can barely move anymore, let's see how long she can keep being stingy."

  Madam Chen also felt that Old Lady Jin was too petty, having been in the capital for so many years. She rarely had the opportunity to drink tea with others, and when she went out, her clothes and jewelry were no different from those of a rural servant girl. The wife of the Duke's family looked down on this relative, and as a result, the two families had less and less contact. Everyone in the capital knew that Golden Guard Jin had an embarrassing old lady, which also led to the ridicule of Madam. However, Old Master was a filial son, and although Madam would occasionally argue with Old Lady Jin, she didn't dare do anything excessive. As for Madam's daily behavior of not being frugal with money, Old Lady Jin also looked down on her, thinking that her son had married a spendthrift who would squander the family's wealth. However, she was unaware that her daughter-in-law brought a dowry and family property that could surpass several families like theirs. Moreover, over the years, all the expenses of the Golden family were managed by Madam, not to mention the shops in her dowry, but just looking at the reputation of the Minister's mansion, the annual gifts from the rural gentry who came to rely on Old Master were unimaginable for a small landowner like the Golden family.

  After handing over the matters, Mrs. Xue thought of her youngest daughter and waved her hand to let everyone retreat, leaving only Qiu Jing, Dong Jing, and Chen Mama, while Zeng Mama had to run errands for Mrs. Xue's decision just now.

  Thus, Yao Xianyi, who was fourteen years old, had a formal job and became a second-class maid in the main house. She changed from being called "Xian Xian" by the third-class maids to being called "Sister Xian Xian".

  In the main courtyard, Chen Ayi was in charge of all administrative work, such as punishing the maids, making decisions for the mistress, and managing all the property and assets of the household. She was second only to the mistress and above all the other servants. Zeng Ayi, on the other hand, was much inferior, despite being a first-class ayi. The mistress did not trust her, so she could only do peripheral work, such as flattering people, running errands between courtyards, or delivering messages to other estates. She was not even as capable as two senior maids.

  Qiu Jing originally worked with Chun Jing as a pair. Chun Jing was in charge of the mistress's clothes and travel arrangements, including seasonal clothing, accessories, and preparations for outings, as well as tasks such as correspondence and errands on behalf of the mistress. Qiu Jing, although not particularly beautiful, had a meticulous mind and was in charge of the mistress's food and accommodations, from the water she drank to her medicinal supplements and tonics. She also oversaw the arrangement of furniture and decorations in the mistress's quarters, as well as the flowers and plants, ensuring that everything was perfect and without error.

  Now Cui Zhu has become Dong Jing, and naturally she has taken over the work of Chun Jing. Fortunately, in her daily life, Er Tong had been assisting Yi Tong, so she had learned a lot naturally and it was easy for her to fill in. However, Xian Yi had to start learning from scratch, but fortunately, she had a good mother who would remind her every day, and she had also been secretly observing the lady of the house all these years, so it's not certain that she would be worse than Xiu Zhu. The thing is, Xiu Zhu used to follow Chun Jing around, so when Chun Jing left and Cui Zhu took over, Xiu Zhu was very unhappy, and now she had to continue following Dong Jing around, which made her feel resentful and sulky.

  As everyone dispersed, Xian Yi, not wanting to offend her superior, walked up and called out to Qiu Jing: "Sister Qiu Jing, in the future, I hope you can give me more guidance while I'm in this main courtyard."

  Autumn scenery didn't expect Xian Yi to be so humble, and looking at this soft little servant girl again, she couldn't help but lower her voice and smile: "That's natural, from now on we'll serve the lady together."

  Xian Yi got along well with Qiu Jing, but Xiuzhu couldn't bear to look at Dong Jing. Even though Dong Jing was now one level higher than her, she still couldn't help but say: "This is like a sparrow flying onto a branch, little sister will need big sister's care from now on."

  Dong Jing glanced at Xiu Zhu and replied woodenly, "You don't have to be like this, from now on we'll still serve together, nothing has changed."

  Xiu Zhu's eyes widened, while Xian Yi almost burst out laughing. If she hadn't seen Dong Jing's cold and hard face, Xian Yi would have thought Dong Jing was being sarcastic towards Xiu Zhu. Although they were in the same place, a first-class maid earned one or two silver coins per month, but a second-class maid only got half that amount - how could they be the same?