A good omen for a good person

  Four new third-grade maidservants, Yun Shuang being the oldest, Yu Shuang and Lu Shuang roughly the same age, Xue Shuang being the youngest, not even ten years old. She is a house-born daughter of the mansion, her mother being Xie Nu in the kitchen, and her father Zhang Guan Shi who takes care of the carriages in the outer courtyard. The whole family lives on Back Street. Although Xue Shuang is young, she's very clever, and with her relationship to the second-grade stewardess in the rear courtyard, she took this opportunity to be sent in, also earning a salary. In the future, it will add up to more silver money to support their household expenses. The people in the large kitchen have all seen Xian Yi before; sometimes they even go to swindle food and drink from them. The masters in the kitchen always have leftover good things, and Xian Yi is of this identity, with a beautiful appearance, and a mouth full of honey. She herself hasn't missed out on any benefits, which can also be considered as one of the privileges of being a second-generation servant.

  The four fairy clothes had also been in contact with each other during the days when they were not on duty. Yun Shuang was gentle and looked kind, while Yu Shuang was weak and mostly just did her work without speaking much, similar to Dong Jing. However, Xian Yi seemed more outgoing, while Yu Shuang was truly timid and inexperienced. Dong Jing, on the other hand, seemed to lean towards being aloof and had his own thoughts. Lu Shuang and Xue Shuang were both lively, but Lu Shuang was more passionate and girly, while Xue Shuang still had a childlike heart. With these individuals, plus the eccentric Xiuzhu and older sister Qiu Jing, the main house was quite lively. Although there were many people before, Xian Yi didn't have much contact with them since she wasn't on duty often, mostly staying in the side house with Xiuzhu and Dong Jing, or just lounging at home without wanting to go out. Therefore, she wasn't as familiar with everyone as she was now due to her work relationships.

  Newcomers always need to adapt, and Autumn Scene Winter Scene is considered an old hand. The fairy clothes are also a practical task, mainly helping to check the medicine or going to the large kitchen to urge the meal. When there's nothing to do, you can learn about ordinary medical skills from the chef or Autumn Scene. Life isn't hard, but those four third-rate maids, being new and inexperienced, always make small mistakes that are caught by Autumn Scene or Winter Scene. Autumn Scene is okay, with a soft temper, just scolding them a few times, making them stand in place as punishment, and it's over. But Winter Scene has a short temper, if she catches an error, the maids will definitely be beaten, sometimes even missing dinner is considered light punishment. The maids naturally have complaints among themselves.

  These fairy clothes only watch, neither stopping nor fueling the fire. In her opinion, Winter Scene's method is more effective. If servants can't even get their attitude right and are sloppy with everything, how can their masters trust them in the future? Take the incident of sending laundry last time, for example. Clearly, Winter Scene told Lu Er to send the washed clothes of the madam's lotus leaf skirt, but Lu Er sent Cui Zhi Xi Yue's instead. As a result, on the second day, when Madam was preparing to attend someone's birthday banquet, Cui Zhi Xi Yue wore new clothes, and Winter Scene only discovered that the clothes were still wet and not dry during preparation. At that time, Madam scolded them severely, and both Winter Scene and Autumn Scene were punished together with her. As for Lu Er, she was fined a month's wages, knelt for an entire afternoon, and didn't even get to eat dinner.

  From then on, even if Xian Yi had her mother to rely on, she became even more cautious.

  After the beginning of autumn, the weather in Pei Guo was as if it had been fixed by the rain god. One heavy rain followed another, and the whole house was made gloomy and chilly by the heavy rain. Not only were the servants' quarters affected, but even the main house where the mistress slept had a musty smell. The mistress and all the slaves were in low spirits, spending their days listlessly gazing out at the rain and the dark sky, hoping that heaven would open its eyes and let up on the rain for a while.

  "Although the rain after the beginning of autumn is beneficial to farming, it's coming down too heavily and I'm afraid it will damage the crops." Madam Chen closed the window and personally went over to the tea table to refill the tea for Madame.

  The mistress took a sip of hot tea and relaxed her brow, saying: "Isn't this exactly what I said? Not to mention our own village, but even the fields around the capital, if it keeps raining like this, water will overflow and fill everything, fearing that something bad will happen."

  "The mistress said that it's still okay here, but the farther south you go, the heavier the rain is, and I'm afraid... it'll be a disaster." Chen Ayi sighed, this old heaven doesn't let people live in peace, it's just a matter of waving one's hand, but those farmers who rely on their land for food, and the people living by the river, are pitiful.

  "Our family may not be in a situation where we can't afford to eat, but just in case something unexpected happens, you should find someone from outside the household to take care of things for the next few days. In addition to our own estate, let's add two more years according to the usual practice of the mansion." The madam took a sip of tea and absent-mindedly put it aside.

  Old Lady Chen hastily agreed.

  "Oh, right, was the stuff delivered to your mother's place yesterday?" The madam asked after catching her breath and straightening up.

  Chen Ayi smiled and replied: "Yesterday, I personally went there and saw Old Lady and the two madams. However, I returned late and didn't get to talk to you, madam."

  "Is my mother's body still well?" The madam couldn't help but reveal a hint of a smile.

  "Look at what the lady said, the lady just went back a few days ago, and in a few days, the old lady is naturally healthy as usual." Chen's mother covered her mouth and smiled, mentioning the Shangshu Mansion, Chen's mother also showed a rare spirit.

  "It's just like that, and Second Sister shouldn't make fun of me like this." Madame glared at Chen Mama, and suddenly started chatting and laughing with her as if she had never left the boudoir.

  It turns out that although Chen Ayi is called Ayi, she is only a few years older than the big madam. Before getting married, she had been serving in the old lady's room at the Chen residence. Later, when she was 18, the old lady arranged for her to marry a small steward named Yao from the outer courtyard. After that, she followed the big madam as a dowry to the Jin residence. From being called "niangzi" (young lady) in the beginning, she has now become an Ayi too.

  "How dare I laugh at you, madam? You're now different from when you were a maiden!" said Chen Mama half-jokingly and half-seriously.

  The madam also put away her smile, and said with a sigh: "Isn't it different now? We've all grown old, and looking at Lin Ge, he's going to get married too. I'm going to be a mother-in-law."

  "The lady should also enjoy the blessings of her children." Chen Ayi placed a gold-embroidered incense burner on the table, and from a red wooden box, she took out two pinkish incense balls and carefully put them into the burner. Gradually, a dry fragrance wafted out of the burner's holes, and the dampness in the room finally began to dissipate.

  "How is that old thing doing?" The madam suddenly asked with a hint of disdain in her eyes.

  "What else can be done? It's just waiting for death in the courtyard, her son is still in the hands of the Shangshu lord, and there's no way to stir up any waves again." Chen's tone wasn't very good as she thought of the old madam's step-grandmother, who had been served by Chen in the old lady's house back then, but hadn't received much kindness from this younger woman who always acted like a mistress.

  In the past, the Chen family was a well-known family in Beijing, but the father of the Secretary was limited in his natural ability and was only a fifth-grade official in a local area. He died early, leaving behind only one son, the Secretary, who was born to his first wife. The old man had been widowed for many years and had not remarried, but when his son grew up and got married, he suddenly took a fancy to a young widow and brought her home as his new wife, despite his son's strong opposition. At that time, the Secretary was still a low-ranking official in Beijing, and his colleagues almost laughed him to death when they heard about his father's remarriage to a woman younger than his own wife. Moreover, this stepmother gave birth to a younger brother who was even younger than the Secretary himself. After she entered the Chen household, the originally harmonious family was completely disrupted. The stepmother and the Secretary's wife were always quarreling, and when the old man was alive, the stepmother seemed to have the upper hand, which also made the Secretary's first wife suffer. However, people are bound to get older, and the Secretary's father was already quite old at that time. After marrying such a young and troublesome woman, he passed away not long after the Secretary's first wife gave birth to their child. From then on, the Secretary's parents finally regained control of the Chen family, and the family gradually restored its former glory.

  "Have you seen Yan's sister?" After hearing this, Madame recovered her composure and remembered the purpose of her gift-giving, so she hastily said.

  "It's a pleasure to see you, but don't say it out loud, Yan sister is even more beautiful than when she was young. I heard from Fan aunt that this second lady has great talent, and in the future, Chen's family will have good fortune." Madam Chen looked at the expression of the big madam and kept saying good things, making her eyes and eyebrows show uncontrollable pride.

  "It goes without saying that the girl my mother has brought up can't be bad in any way!" At this point, Madame Wang couldn't help but sigh and say: "If Ling's luck hadn't been so poor, our family would have had a share of good fortune too."

  "Madam said that again, now Ling's husband and wife are in harmony, you will soon have a grandson, isn't this also good fortune?" Chen Ayi advised again, she knew that the eldest daughter Jin Qiaoling's experience of being selected for the imperial harem and falling ill was not only a heartache for the eldest daughter but also a heartache for Madam.

  "It's not, is it? As long as Yan Jie gets better, we'll be fine too. We can send some gifts over next year if things work out. If she enters the palace, she'll be the imperial concubine's aunt, and from then on, whether it's the old master of the Jin family or her second son in officialdom, they will all be much smoother than now."

  "By the way, the old lady also asked me to pass on a message..." Chen's nurse carefully looked outside the door and then glanced out the window before leaning in close to Madame and saying: "About Master's affair, you've already had someone ask about it."

  "Really! What did my father say?" The big madam's eyes sparkled with a mixture of tension and surprise.

  "Although I don't know how Old Master knew about that matter, but what Big Sister said is indeed true. Our Old Master will make a move after the new year, still in the Ministry of Justice. A Langzhong can't escape." Chen's wife also thought it was good to be promoted, although it was only from junior fifth rank to senior fifth rank, many people haven't made this step in their lifetime.

  "Oh dear, Bodhisattva bless Bodhisattva bless!" The madam was overjoyed and immediately stood up from her seat, pacing back and forth.

  "Should this matter be told to Master?" Chen's wife stood behind the chair and hesitated.

  The lady slowly calmed down and thought of her husband's virtues, shaking her head gently: "Let's talk about it when the New Year is approaching, so as to avoid more trouble."