Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 81 Sincere Advice

Time always leaves people behind, and it takes weathering storms to truly understand people's hearts. Now that Miss is married to another, far from the capital in Lin'an, I wonder if she is happy in her life amidst the flowing days.

Fang Daren felt quite sorry for his master, so he composed himself and began to explain the procedures of the banquet at the Tang residence in detail.

Meng Shu and the other two listened attentively. The young lady's birthday banquet was mostly for inviting young ladies of the same generation and their elders. But as the second aunt had mentioned, there would also be uninvited guests. As a personal maid, one had to be observant and consider the mistress's thoughts about who to welcome and who not to enter. It was also possible for the mistress to step in and stop people.

Anticipating that this would be a tricky point, Meng Shu hurriedly opened her notebook and wrote it down.

Later, as she listened, Meng Shu noticed that the banquet at the Tang residence was somewhat different. On that day, female guests from the owners' homes of Yongbaolou, Yongxiu Cloth Shop, Incense Shop, and Cosmetics Shop would also visit. Meng Shu privately thought that in addition to congratulating them, it must also have a sales purpose.

"In addition to the guest list and sending out invitations, the overall arrangement of the banquet is also very important."

The banquet setup that the lady mentioned earlier refers to choosing a location in the mansion to set up the banquet. The tablecloths, mats, curtains, screens, embroidered banners, and painted curtains must all be arranged properly according to the room or terrain. Even the patterns of the tablecloths and tablecloths must match the style of the banquet.

The kitchen will be managed by Steward An. Donggua, you need to learn carefully. Your master worked as a steward in the small kitchen for over ten years without ever making a mistake. Steward An will work with the master to draft the menu for the banquet. After that, it will involve purchasing vegetables, fruits, and candied meats. The kitchen manager will be in charge of the raw and cooked dishes on the table, including preparing ingredients, slicing, cooking, and serving. Of course, we need to find out about the guests' tastes from the sidelines.

Furthermore, as the Second Miss's capable maids, you will be responsible for welcoming and seeing off her relatives and friends, serving tea and wine, and relaying messages and gifts on the day of the banquet. Most importantly, you must be quick-witted.

At a banquet, with all sorts of people, unexpected things are bound to happen. How to handle it depends entirely on improvisation. We must neither offend the guests nor damage the reputation of our household...

The house owner clearly put a lot of effort into the project. In addition to the meticulous process and layout mentioned above, he also considered several unexpected situations.

"What if a guest accidentally soils their dress at the banquet? What if a dispute arises among the guests? Where in the manor would be most suitable for our Second Miss to hold a banquet? How should we arrange seating if a young lady brings her elder brother or younger brother to the banquet? What should the seating arrangement be? What adjustments should be made if the weather is inappropriate? And how should we respond if a guest says something inappropriate or taboo..."

The question left Donggua completely bewildered. Even squeezing the pomegranate seeds into a pomegranate dumpling wasn't this difficult. His big eyes were filled with confusion, somewhat resembling the Second Miss's recent occasional daze.

Mengzhu became more and more nervous as she listened. In the past, she had served the second young lady at dozens of banquets, big and small. The only time that could be considered an accident was when the eldest young lady tried to cause trouble at the poetry gathering, but Mengshu saw through her plan and stopped her. Only then did she realize that she... had never thought that there were so many intricacies involved in organizing a banquet.

Such opportunities for face-to-face instruction were rare, and Meng Shu listened intently, silently noting down these points in her mind to think of ways to deal with them later. She had only been a maid for a short time and had almost no experience in this kind of job, having only attended two boring poetry gatherings with her mistress.

The head of the Fang family was tired from his explanations, so Donggua quickly poured himself a cup of melon seed tea during a break and brought out some snacks from the food box. The head of the Fang family nodded slightly, took a sip of tea, and then waved his hand, saying, "There's no need to rush to answer. The Second Miss will start drafting the guest list tomorrow. There's plenty of time, so you can think it over carefully."

She then shifted her tone to offer sincere advice, based on the gift: "But then again, even with everything prepared, mistakes are inevitable. As servants, we must avoid panicking. Just remember that the most important thing is to prioritize our master, and then strive for thoroughness."

Meng Shu agreed wholeheartedly, stood up and took the lead in performing a deep bow to show respect, and thanked Master Fang for her guidance.

The next day, Mr. Lin had not yet returned to Lin'an, so there was no need for him to go to Muyunzhai for his studies. After paying her respects early in the morning, the second young lady returned to Yunyi Courtyard and went to the study to draft a list. She must have thought about it last night, and within half an hour, she summoned Meng Shu to her side.

"Send this list to Yun Gui Yuan for Mother to review and approve. If there are no omissions, immediately hand it over to the general affairs office to make invitations as soon as possible, in the form of 'folded invitations', sealed with bright red gold-embroidered paper and written on cloud-patterned paper."

Meng Shu bent down and took it. The list on the thin piece of paper was not long, with only a dozen or so names of mansions. After glancing at it, she felt that something seemed amiss.

Just last night, the steward mentioned that banquets, social gatherings, and exchanges of poems are excellent opportunities for different households to build relationships. Therefore, the invitation list should be carefully considered, taking into account relatives, friends, guests, and business associates.

Looking at the list of residences listed by the second young lady, they were all the residences of young ladies she had befriended at the poetry gathering and a few relatives by marriage. Meng Shu wanted to remind her, but seeing that Qin Mama was serving her nearby, she had no choice but to carefully tuck the list into her sleeve, take a step back, and then bow and take her leave.

Just as they stepped out of the gate of Yunyi Courtyard, they saw Suwen and Steward An somehow coming together, followed by a dozen or so old women and servants, carrying chests, lacquer boxes, and books and paintings. The most eye-catching thing was the four nanmu wood primrose-colored carved glass screen carried by six or seven old women at the end of the line.

Meng Shu hurriedly asked the gatekeeper to fetch Meng Zhu to come and help. Only when Su Wen and the other woman approached did she step aside and bow, saying, "Greetings to Sister Su Wen and Steward An."

Suwen nodded slightly in return and said, "Go ahead and attend to your business. The Second Miss's birthday is approaching, and there have been quite a few new people in the courtyard. The Old Madam asked us to open the storeroom and bring over some useful furnishings."

Meng Shu nodded in agreement. She vaguely remembered that Ruizhu had mentioned the glass screen, which was brought back from the capital by the eldest master years ago. It was extremely valuable. She didn't expect that the old lady would send it to the second young lady today. It also shows how much the master attaches importance to birthday gifts.

Mengzhu came out to greet them with several second-class maids, while Suwen led the old women into the courtyard. Steward An was not in a hurry and took Meng Shu's hand to talk to her. Because of Donggua, Meng Shu also respected Steward An very much and hurriedly said, "Steward An, you can rest assured. Donggua is very favored in our courtyard. This morning, the Second Miss even praised her osmanthus shortbread for being delicious."

Manager An chuckled and said, "I thought I could keep her by my side for a few more years, but I never expected the old lady to make arrangements earlier than planned. You and she are the best of friends, so please advise her not to try anything new, so that this old woman won't have to worry about me."

Steward An probably has some psychological trauma, which is why he said that. Meng Shu felt warm inside. As a servant, Donggua is indeed lucky to have someone care about her like this.

"Yes, but the hospital has been busy these days, and Donggua hasn't had time to think about it."

"We're very experienced in preparing banquets, and you young folks don't need to worry about the kitchen work," Manager An said with a wave of his hand, reassuring Meng Shu.

After saying goodbye to Steward An, Meng Shu arrived at Yun Gui Courtyard. She thought that Dong Gua's return would fill the last vacancy for head maid, but Madam Yun had other arrangements.