Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 22 Council

June 15th, Langya Academy.

Early in the morning, Manager Cao personally came to Langya Courtyard to inspect the houses and the arrangements in various places. He found that the courtyard was exceptionally clean and tidy, and the main house had been decorated according to the managers' preferences. The room of the pawnshop's second uncle was particularly well-maintained.

The two second-class maids initially sent were Xia Zhu, who was in charge of the main house and the daily life of the managers, and Luo Mei, who was in charge of the inner courtyard and the outer garden. There were also two servants who did some errands.

Xia Zhu must have received instructions these past few days, as she has become a hands-off manager, leaving all the furnishings and cleaning of the main room to Meng Shu.

Everything went unusually smoothly.

It was this smooth sailing that made Meng Shu keenly aware of the subtle changes happening around her. Ever since An Mama took the initiative to befriend her, the fabric purse business, her contact with the peddler, and especially the final use of the small kitchen to develop tea pastries.

It's not too easy for a lowly, third-class maid like myself to get things done in the mansion.

While introducing the room's furnishings to Steward Cao, Meng Shu pondered to herself. After Steward Cao left satisfied, she slowly began to appreciate the details.

All these events combined ultimately pointed to the master's instructions. Whether it was doing business with the older sisters and stewardesses in the mansion or using the convenience of the small kitchen, it wouldn't have been so smooth without the master's authorization.

However, since entering the mansion, Meng Shu has been assigned to Steward Cao. The Langya Courtyard she was assigned to has no master, and she has never met any member of the Tang family. Meng Shu guessed that if someone gave the order, it should be the Tang family matriarch who is currently in charge of the household affairs.

Perhaps it was Zheng Dongjia's letter that made him known to the old lady.

Recalling that when she was working at the brokerage firm, Master Zheng had mentioned the needlework room in the mansion and said that the maid Wei in the needlework room was gentle and easy to get along with, this was already a blatant hint. Meng Shu initially thought that she would be able to get a job in the needlework room smoothly.

As a result, she ended up being resold to a brothel.

When Meng Shu arrived at the Tang Mansion from Chunfeng Tower, she was not allowed to enter the needlework room. Meng Shu naturally assumed that she had been rejected by her masters because of her experience at Chunfeng Tower, and that the Tang Mansion had only brought her into the mansion to protect its reputation.

That's not the case now.

However, this was enough to make Meng Shu realize why Old Madam Tang would secretly give such an instruction. What was there about a ten-year-old girl like herself that was worth valuing?

Could it be... that they want me to do something? So I went to the toilet while observing my every move.

Thinking of this, Meng Shu couldn't help but touch her cheek, then immediately rolled her eyes inwardly and mocked herself. There are so many beautiful women in the world, and she was just too narcissistic.

If she couldn't figure it out, she stopped thinking about it and focused on her work. The council meeting would be held in the front courtyard for five days, but the managers would stay in the guest courtyard for about ten days. During these ten days, she needed to put in a lot of effort to gather information.

Around noon, Manager Gong of Yongbaolou, accompanied by a front-court steward, arrived at Langya Courtyard first, where Xia Zhu and her men waited under the corridor.

Manager Gong was about forty years old, with a smiling face. He was dressed in a well-fitting long gown, followed by a servant and several Yongbaolou employees. Two of them were carrying a large, seemingly heavy, trunk. Behind them, four employees each carried a tray covered with an embroidered cloth bearing the words "Yongbaolou" and "Tang," from which glimpses of exquisite jewelry, gleaming with jewels, could be vaguely seen.

Manager Gong entered the room, and the steward exchanged a few polite words with him before bowing and leaving.

Xia Zhu, along with Meng Shu and Lü Liu, carried toiletries into the room one by one. A servant from Langya Courtyard then led the Yongbaolou staff to their lodgings.

Manager Gong seemed unaccustomed to being served. He asked Meng Shu to put down the basin of water and instructed Xia Zhu, who was standing to the side, "Please go to Fu'an Residence and inform the old lady that I will pay my respects to her and Madam Yun this afternoon."

Xia Zhu nodded in agreement, gave Meng Shu a wink, curtsied, and headed towards Fu An Ju.

Seeing that Manager Gong had wiped his face and gone to the inner room to change, Meng Shu smiled kindly at Meng Shu and her companion, and asked them to help pack their belongings.

The box was sealed, so it must be Yongbaolou's account book for this season.

The headquarters was Yongbaolou in Lin'an, and there were eighty-four branches throughout the Great Zhou Dynasty. The account books for each quarter alone filled a whole box.

The tray must contain gifts for the masters of the mansion. Lifting the cover, the jewelry, jade, gold hairpins, hair ornaments, and jade pendants were all dazzling and magnificent. Several boxes were also sealed, clearly indicating their extreme value. Meng Shu followed the instructions of her attendant to categorize the remaining jewelry.

Although Meng Shu had read many books and considered herself knowledgeable, none of the books mentioned that so many pieces of jewelry displayed together could be so dazzling and attractive, which made Meng Shu feel extremely tormented.

After a while, Luo Mei and her men brought back food from the main kitchen of the public school and placed it on the octagonal table in the main hall.

Manager Gong also changed into plain clothes and came out. He had a smiling face from beginning to end, happily accepting tips from his servant, and then sat down at the table to eat heartily, looking like he had a very good appetite.

In the guest courtyard, the managers were taken care of by their own staff after they settled in, so Meng Shu and the others bowed and thanked them for the gifts before dispersing.

When Huanhuan returned to her room, she opened her purse and found a pair of pure gold beaded earrings and a small pure gold ring. Although they were delicate, they were still a pleasant surprise.

The tips that Green Willow received were the same as Meng Shu's, obviously prepared by Manager Gong for the maids during this council meeting. Indeed, the silver shop was very wealthy. The two maids happily rolled around on the bed.

"I've been at Langya Academy for two years, and this is the first time I've received the manager of Yongbaolou. In the past, it was Manager Lu of Yongchun Tea Shop, Manager Qian of the Money Shop, and Manager Tang of the Pawnshop. They weren't as generous as Manager Gong; they used to give him tens or hundreds of coins as a reward."

After muttering her complaints in a low voice, Green Willow told Meng Shu to rest while she went to the canteen to get her food.

Meng Shu touched the small earring, lost in thought. She used to own several pieces of jewelry, which her maternal grandfather and uncle had given her as birthday gifts every year. But since her mother passed away, Meng Chengwen had collected them all and sold them off.

Meng Shu had naturally inquired about the tea business that Green Willow had mentioned. The Tang family owned many businesses, including several tea gardens in Lin'an. However, a year ago, the tea trees in these gardens were inexplicably infected with a disease. Initially, it only affected one or two trees, but it quickly spread to the entire tea garden, causing a sharp decline in tea production. In addition, due to breaches of previous orders, they had to pay more than a dozen high breach of contract fees. To this day, the Tang family's tea business has not yet recovered.

It was said that the head manager of the tea shop would not attend the council meeting, so Meng Shu could only set her sights on her second uncle, who was good at making tea.

After noon, Manager Gong followed Steward Cao to Fu'an Residence. The shop assistants in the inner courtyard stopped, and Manager Gong randomly pointed to four maids carrying gifts. Unfortunately, Meng Shu was not among them, but Green Willow was.

As Green Willow was leaving, she winked at Meng Shu and happily went to the old lady's courtyard to broaden her horizons.

Meng Shu was very disappointed. She had been at the Tang residence for over a month and had never seen the old lady of the mansion even once!

Not long after Manager Gong and his party left, Tang Hanjing, the manager of Yongzheng Shop, arrived at Langya Courtyard with several servants. As usual, two people carried a large box, and several others carried several smaller boxes.

Xia Zhu, along with Meng Shu and the others, assisted in settling in. Manager Tang was stern and unsmiling, and the servants he brought also had solemn faces.

"Second Uncle is entertaining the head of the household with tea. Please make sure he has a room to stay in."

Tang Sili looked very respectful to the Second Uncle Chaofeng, and pointed to someone beside him to follow Meng Shu to check if the room was in order.