Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 111 Matters of the Marquis's Residence

It was also because of the Tang family's subsidies over the years that the appetites of some people in the Marquis's mansion had grown too big. The second young lady of the Marquis's mansion was someone who was used to taking advantage of others. If they knew that the hot spring estate was under the second young lady's name, who knows what she might do.

Since the Tang family was new to the area, they naturally had to visit both the Yun and Marquis mansions. The Yun mansion was merely Madam Yun's maternal family, so when it came to the Marquis mansion's turn, they specifically chose a day when Tang Lin was on leave. All the masters of the Tang mansion came forward, with the old lady preparing gifts and personally leading her entire family to pay a visit.

The Huai'an Marquis's Mansion was a residence bestowed upon him by Emperor Gaozu. It was located in Yongpingfang, west of the imperial city, not far from Shunyi Gate.

Hua Yan and the others followed behind their masters. Meng Zhu couldn't help but secretly sigh. As expected of a Marquis's mansion, it occupied a considerable area, almost comparable to the Tang Mansion in Lin'an. The buildings in the mansion were extremely regulated and spacious, but the scenery in the garden was sparse and unremarkable. However, just by looking at the etiquette and manners of the maids and servants, one could glimpse the profound heritage of a Marquis's mansion that had lasted for over a hundred years.

For a noble family like the Marquis's mansion, most of the servants, from the stewards, guards, and servants in the front courtyard to the stewards, wet nurses, nannies, and maids in the back courtyard, were born into hereditary servant families. For them, the indenture was not a constraint, but rather something to be proud of.

Their entire families, even their entire clans, were dependent on the Marquis's mansion, and they usually began working there around the age of ten. Thus, through generations of oral and physical instruction, etiquette, manners, interpersonal skills, and even mannerisms were taught first and foremost, becoming ingrained in their very being.

Everything has two sides. While hereditary servants are certainly more loyal and useful than purchased servants, their numbers become enormous as they are assigned by their masters. Maintaining these people naturally incurs considerable expenses over time, a common problem for large families. Unless faced with the threat of confiscation of property and extermination of the clan, they are rarely dismissed or sold off to maintain the family's dignity.

Tang Xian's branch of the family was troubled by the fact that they didn't have such problems. The Yun family couldn't be considered a prominent family, so the couple focused on cultivating manpower. This was one of the most important plans for the prosperity of the family. Therefore, it was not surprising that they favored people like Zheng Shan Zhou Niangzi and Hua Yan Mingyue.

Enough of the small talk, let's get back to the main topic.

After everyone entered the mansion, the Marquis (the current Marquis of Huai'an, Tang De, Tang Xian's cousin) was already waiting at the hanging flower gate in the front courtyard. According to etiquette, they should first go to the Shou'an Hall in the back courtyard to pay their respects to the Dowager Madam Tang. The Dowager Madam and the old lady were sisters-in-law of the same generation. Although they were not related by blood, they had long been very close due to the continuous exchange of New Year's greetings over the years.

(Note: The former Marquis of Huai'an lived to be over seventy years old before passing away. His eldest son had also died young. The current Marquis of Huai'an is the grandson of the former Marquis of Huai'an and Tang Xian's cousin of the same generation.)

Madam Wei, being old and shrewd, once revealed to Hua Yan that the previous two marquises of the Marquis's mansion were mediocre in talent. Now, this marquis is single-mindedly focused on continuing the glory of the Marquis's mansion and needs the financial support of the Tang family. Now is the perfect time for them to be all lovey-dovey.

Hua Yan privately speculated that it was probably not only because of the Tang family's wealth, but also because Tang Lin's career prospects were a reason for the Marquis's mansion to win him over. In secret, Tang Xian and the Marquis should have reached a consensus on the second young lady's marriage.

Upon arriving at Shou'an Hall, Tang Xian and Tang Lin greeted Madam Tang and exchanged a few pleasantries. Then, the Marquis's children and grandchildren came forward to pay their respects, and the Marquis led them to the front courtyard.

The remaining people in the flower hall were all the mistresses of each household, and the older ones were all the second young lady's elders. The second young lady led her younger sisters forward and addressed them with various titles such as "great-grandmother," "aunt," "aunt," "cousin," "cousin sister-in-law," "cousin sister," and so on, as introduced by their grandmother.

Hua Yan and the other three followed behind the Second Miss, kowtowing and bowing many times over the course of half a day. Naturally, the Second Miss received countless purses in return.

However, compared to what the old lady and Madam Yun gave away, its value was significantly reduced.

Ruizhu, that clever little devil, was secretly watching. Just the few maids around the old lady, like Suwen, had already handed her seven or eight purses in such a short time, not to mention the maids behind her carrying many pieces of jewelry and writing implements.

That was a gift given to the eldest sons of the Marquis's household according to their preferences.

Hua Yan clutched the purse the second young lady had received. Inside were at most some gilded hairpins and ordinary pearl flowers. The old lady and madam, on the other hand, gave the younger generation of the Marquis's household gleaming little goldfish and pigs. As Mingyue put it, 'These purses are enough to buy the four of us more than a hundred times over.'

As an aside, after returning home, the Fifth Miss, holding a small golden abacus, fiddled with it for a few moments before complaining to the Second Miss, "What a loss! I didn't even realize I had seventeen or eighteen cousins! Luckily, due to the rule of 'not sitting together after the age of seven,' my male cousins ​​didn't all come out to greet me at once. I prepared Mother's purses with my maids; each one contained two pairs of little golden pigs!"

As the eldest daughter of the Marquis's family, Tang Yu'er and Tang Ling'er, the second daughter, paid their respects to the matriarch according to custom and each received a pair of silver-inlaid pink hibiscus jade bracelets from her. Hearing that Tang Yu'er was being considered for marriage, Madam Yun presented her with a red gold filigree double phoenix hairpin inlaid with rubies, and gave Tang Ling'er a red gold filigree agate hairpin.

These two pieces of jewelry were extremely valuable. Madam Yun, being shrewd and worldly-wise, would naturally store them in a lacquered wooden box to avoid arousing jealousy among her concubine daughters.

When the old lady (the second young lady's grandmother) saw that neither the eldest nor the second branch of her family had come, she knew that her sister-in-law had been very thoughtful and hadn't let any unrelated people come and get in the way. She felt much more at ease and spoke to her more affectionately.

The elders chatted amongst themselves, and the younger generation, after exchanging greetings, took their leave and followed the steward from the flower hall to Lady Hou (the principal wife of Marquis Huai'an, Lady Feng).

To be fair, Tang Ling'er did indeed do her job after receiving the benefits, but she didn't seem to consider whether her actions met the other party's expectations. At this moment, she enthusiastically led the second young lady and the others to her courtyard.

"I've been looking forward to it, my cousin has finally arrived. Because of my great-grandfather's passing, my brother missed the imperial examination that year due to mourning, and unexpectedly, my cousin also missed it, leaving me to wait for you for three years in vain."

Three years had passed, and Tang Ling'er had changed a lot. Not only had her eyebrows and eyes gradually opened up, but she had also become more lively. She wasn't as enthusiastic with the Second Miss in the past.

Hua Yan secretly observed the eldest daughter of the Marquis's mansion, Tang Yu'er, who was slender and dressed in a thin satin gauze shirt embroidered with long green branches and flowers. Her appearance was seven or eight parts beautiful, and her solemn and serious demeanor made her difficult to approach, yet strangely, she was not disliked.

As time went on, the second young lady also noticed that her eldest cousin was very polite and never looked down on people. She was neither too distant nor too intimate with them, and this distance made the second young lady feel comfortable.

On the other hand, Tang Ling'er is now beaming as she says she wants to help the Second Miss integrate into the circle of young ladies in the capital, as if she's about to hold an elegant gathering and send out invitations to introduce the Second Miss to the ladies.

"Sister Yuhe from Minister Liu's residence is very curious and wants to see what the daughter of the big boss behind Yongbaolou in the capital looks like. Since Cousin Wan has just arrived in the capital, why not hold a banquet at home?"

Firstly, I invited the sisters of my cousin's close friend from the same year; secondly, I also invited several young ladies from the capital. They come from good families and are of good character, making them good acquaintances for my cousin.

The second young lady and Tang Yu'er frowned slightly upon hearing the first sentence. Tang Yu'er said with a cold and stern face, "Sister, what you said is inappropriate. It makes your cousin lose her dignity."

Such vulgar language as "the daughter of the head of the household" is acceptable for outsiders to say, but it should never come from the mouth of a member of the same clan.

Moreover, after Tang Lin took office, the Tang family's social standing would rise accordingly. Tang Qingwan would naturally not and could not be labeled as a 'merchant's daughter' when she traveled in the capital.