Preparations for 61

  After seeing off Li Shuizhen from the kitchen, Yang Lan began to take notes and summarize the guests who were about to arrive, which families' wives got along with each other, whose daughters and sons were in what positions, and where they should sit. This was a bit of an academic pursuit.

  Yang Lan carefully listed them out, including the number of families with good relationships with the girls in the boudoir, how to arrange the order, what entertainment activities to plan, what activities the men can participate in, requiring novelty and interest, cannot offend taboos, and try to take care of everyone, so a set of alternative plans is needed.

  There are also banquets on the same day, and the dishes should be arranged in a certain way. For example, cold dishes should be placed in front of the guests, while soup dishes should be placed further back so that even if they spill, they won't scald the guests. It's better to keep them at a distance than to risk scalding someone. Many of the women present are delicate and refined, and if they get burned, it will leave scars. The mistress of the house would not let this pass, and it could lead to trouble and grudges being formed. Although this is a small matter, it's still necessary to take precautions.

  There were also tea snacks, Yang Lan planned to make them into small pastries like a mouthful of flaky pastry, each one could be eaten in one bite, various types of pastries were prepared, all made into small flower shapes, looking delicate and exquisite, and wouldn't mess up everyone's lip color, eating too much and getting crumbs all over was too unsightly.

  Also, prepare several types of tea for guests to choose from. Some girls like to play with tea ceremonies and invite a few good friends to taste tea and chat, which is also an activity that needs to be prepared.

  There are also two old ladies from the outer courtyard who need to guard the gate, in case some of those careless young misses rush out to see the handsome guy, and the princess's mansion loses all its face, who knows what people will say about how lax the rules are.

  There are also theater troupes to be invited, and the princess has already invited two theater troupes back a few days ago. One of them is an acrobatic troupe with many new and interesting acrobatic performances to watch. There is also a theater troupe that can sing opera, giving the noblewomen some opera to cater to everyone's interests as much as possible.

  These people also need to be specially arranged in a courtyard. Wait until the time comes and then let them out, so that many people can pay attention to it. On the day of the banquet, there are many people and it's very chaotic, and collisions are not good things.

  Yang Lan wrote down all the things she could think of, and even made a special list of the relationships between the women of each family, including the relationships between Zhang's family and Li's family, as well as the positions held by their husbands in the imperial court.

  Yang Lan finished writing and looked at it for a while before putting down her pen. She said to Bi Yun, who was standing beside her: "Go call Zhang Yiniang over to take a look. See if there's anything I've missed, let her remind me."

  "Yes!" Biyun responded and immediately went to invite someone.

  Before long, Zhang Mama came over and respectfully curtsied to Yang Lan, "Master, you called for me?"

  Yang Lan smiled sweetly and raised her hand slightly, saying: "Auntie, please sit down and talk! I especially found you to ask for your advice on the banquet. Auntie is a respected elder loved by my mother, with eyesight much stronger than mine. As I'm younger, if there's anything I don't understand, you must point it out to me!"

  The old nurse immediately stood up, bowed and smiled: "This is the duty of the old slave, and it's not worth the young master's praise. You can just let go and do it, but if there's anything improper, the old slave will tell you at the first time." The voice was warm and gentle, with a kind look in her eyes.

  Yang Lan nodded and handed over the list she had written, "This is some of the things I can think of, you help me take a look. Is there anything I missed or did not do properly?"

  Zhang Yini took the list from Biyun's hand and looked at it seriously. After a long while, she nodded with a smile: "It's rare for young master to think of everything so thoroughly on his first try, but there's one thing that this old slave wants to ask. Who do you plan to put in charge of each place? Is there anyone suitable?"

  "I thought everything had a general overview, just like the manager of a store is responsible for the people below him. I only need to find the manager and ask for responsibility, so I thought this banquet would be the same. I left the kitchen matters to Li Shu, she's the kitchen manager. The activities in the outer courtyard I plan to hand over to Yang Da and my brother Chang Fu, let him learn from them. The inner courtyard is handed over to Auntie to take charge of, the warehouse will still follow the original management, if there's a problem in the outer courtyard I'll ask Yang Da for responsibility, if there's a problem in the inner courtyard I'll ask you, and if there's a problem with the warehouse I'll ask the warehouse manager. What do you think?" She planned to divide responsibilities, delegate them level by level, have each person take charge of their own duties, and when asking for responsibility, there won't be a situation where they push the blame onto each other.

  Zhang Niangniang smiled and let out a sigh of relief, her eyes showing approval. She thought the young master's approach was correct. Initially, she had been worried that the young master would be at a loss when managing the household for the first time, grasping at everything blindly and giving random orders. But now it seemed that he had some of the bearing of a princess from years ago, which wasn't bad at all!

  It's not that Yang Lan has a lot of experience, she just borrowed some methods from later generations and thought that the person in charge is similar to the supervisors of all levels in later generations. If something goes wrong, the first person to be held accountable is naturally the supervisor. I know who you assigned the task to!

  I can see that you are the one in charge, so I won't look for anyone else. As for who is responsible for punishing whom, that's their business. I give you a certain degree of freedom and rights, but correspondingly, you also need to take responsibility for the work assigned to you by me.

  If everything is managed and asked, it will definitely be chaotic. What's the difference between this and a running errand wife?

  "The old slave thinks it's proper, remembering to call them tomorrow and let them assign tasks ahead of time, so they can prepare early?" Zhang's heart felt at ease, as long as the master didn't give random orders and could keep his temper, the people below wouldn't dare to have any wild ideas.

  Yang Lan nodded, her face filled with joyful and grateful expression, "Then I'll rely on Auntie to take extra care! Remember to remind the people below to check the fake mountains by the lake and other dangerous areas a few more times. Losing face is secondary, but getting into trouble that can't be shaken off is the real misfortune!"

  The old nun's heart skipped a beat, and she nodded in agreement. "I understand, Master," she replied immediately. "You can rest assured!"

  Yang Lan said a few more words to Zhang Ya before letting her go, sat down in the chair and stretched her waist. It's not easy being a housekeeper, no wonder Feng Jie was exhausted after managing the household for a few years in the Red Chamber. If she had encountered some uncooperative slaves, it would have been even more miserable!

  Bi Yun presented a bowl of hot almond mutton milk and asked considerately, "You haven't taken a breath since morning, Miss. Why not drink a bowl of mutton milk to rest for a bit? You still have to learn etiquette this afternoon!"

  Yang Lan finished the warm goat's milk in one breath, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and said: "Go get that 'Ben Cao Gang Mu' for me to recite again. This afternoon I'll identify the medicinal materials and have a rough idea."

  "Miss, why not take a rest and recite later? There's no rush at this moment!" Biyun felt some sympathy for her master, who had gotten up early to practice writing for an hour, then attended classes, and still had to assign tasks to the servants, without a single moment of leisure.

  Yang Lan shook her head, "It's nothing, I slept well last night and can still take a nap for half an hour in the afternoon, it doesn't matter! As long as I sleep well, no matter how tired I am during the day, it's fine!"

  Biyun thought for a moment and then went to fetch the book. Yang Lan leaned against the high-backed chair, flipping through the pages, silently reciting to herself. She was currently studying herbal knowledge, learning to identify basic common herbs, familiarizing herself with their medicinal properties and pharmacology. This was also essential for studying medicine and cuisine. As a future inner courtyard lady, this was a required subject.

  Yang Lan herself thought that learning more skills wouldn't hurt, so she was very serious and brought out 120% of her spirit to study. When she had nothing to do, she would hold a book and recite mnemonics, and even asked the maid beside her to test her by asking questions from the book, with a very serious attitude. Seeing this, Zhang Mama taught her even more carefully and meticulously.