Chapter 1220: Chapter 1219: In a Cold Sweat
She was about to assign her most trusted Sister to Old Granny Zhang, also planning to give her the personal maid by her side.
Old Granny Zhang hurriedly refused, “Mother, I don’t need so many people to serve . I have lived through decades without anyone serving . Now, thanks to my daughter Zhuzhu’s good fortune, you want to buy a maid for . Having just one is enough; why would I need so many people to serve ?”
“In the Duke’s Mansion, there is also a large group of maids and old won, one person is surrounded by seven or eight people, watched by a dozen pairs of eyes. The mont you move, they swarm around you. Anyone who doesn’t know might think it’s a robbery!”
“They say they want to help dress and wash my face. It’s not like I’m without hands and feet. Even if I need soone to assist, one person can manage it. Why would I need so many people? Each one does just a bit of work but dresses like the young mistresses, and there are even young maids serving them below.”
“They eat no worse than the masters, each one more imposing than the masters, and they are given monthly wages and rewards on holidays. Is this asking servants to serve , or is it repaying a debt from the past life? Because of this, I sent back as many people as I could from the Duke’s Mansion, and those who couldn’t be sent away, I made sweep the yard, chop wood, and plant vegetables. At least they couldn’t just eat for free!”
“That’s just my temperant. Even if Mother gives people, I have no place to use them; wouldn’t that be wasteful? Besides, these are people Mother is used to commanding. If they’re given to , then finding replacents for Mother wouldn’t be easy.”
“I just returned ho; there’s no need to leave Mother without a single maid or old servant she likes. Mother doesn’t have to worry about either; since we live in the sa courtyard, if there’s really sothing needed, just give a command, surely they wouldn’t dare defy ?”
“So there’s really no need to arrange servants for ; I’ll just make use of Mother’s courtyard staff!”
Upon hearing these words, Old Lady Gu felt amused yet sympathetic to her daughter for having suffered. Seeing her daughter’s reluctance, she didn’t want to go against her wishes.
Lady of the Gu Family, however, showed a change in expression. The speaker said it unintentionally, but the listener took it to heart.
Growing up, in her environnt, everyone was served by maids and old helpers, and the higher the family status, the more people served around the master.
That’s how it always was growing up, with her close friends living such lives. After marrying into the Gu Family, it was even more so.
Especially in recent years, the Gu Family had been quite prosperous. Except for so limited progeny in the third house, both the main and second houses had several descendants in the next generation.
Now, they’re all getting older. The three young masters are married, two daughters have been married off, and there are two more young masters without wives, and two unmarried daughters at ho.
These years, the expenses increased year by year. With a larger household, there were more people to serve, plus the daughters-in-law brought their own maids. Over generations, even the servants had families of their own.
The children of the servants, grown up, prefer the benefits of being in the mansion rather than leaving, trying every ans to let their kids co into the mansion for jobs.
Originally, there were just so many positions, but there were too many people waiting for jobs. She was not soone indifferent, and those asking for favors were old companions by her side, so it wasn’t easy to turn them down.
Over the years, in order to accommodate the children of these servants, she added many new positions in the mansion.
Not to ntion each master had more people to serve them, not to ntion those who cleaned or did heavy work.
The annual cost of servant wages and other expenditures was not a small amount.
In the past, she didn’t really feel it because she had a generous dowry and was quite adept at managing finances. The Gu Family’s assets were substantial, so even though expenses seed to increase each year, she didn’t think much of it.
But hearing Old Granny Zhang speak today, the Lady of the Gu Family considered the implication, realizing that perhaps the n of the Gu Family were working hard outside, and she, as the head mistress, was diligently managing affairs, while the earnings were supporting the servants?
Thinking about it, the two unmarried daughters each had four primary maids, six second-class maids, and eight third-class little maids, not counting the cleaning won, wetnurses, and etiquette instructors.
In a small courtyard, for one master, there are twenty or thirty people serving.
And for the married masters, besides these setups, there were the wife’s companions, especially for the sons, each with four young servants and outside runners.
Adding it all up, it truly was surprising. The Lady of the Gu Family couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat.
Nevertheless, Lady of the Gu Family was calm and composed. Despite the turmoil in her heart, her face showed no change as she smiled and said, “Since that’s the case, we’ll go along with Sister’s preference. It’s just that having only one person to serve might be a bit inconvenient.”
“If Sister doesn’t mind, I’ll send over a Sister who once raised . Since she has no one at ho, I’ve promised to support her. She is very nice, she can co over and guide the old maid brought over by Sister. Once that maid is familiar with our household, I’ll have her return to my side. How about that?”
This was to prevent misunderstandings if the servants brought by Old Granny Zhang were unfamiliar with the Gu Family, and also to prevent any oversight from the servants in the old Lady’s courtyard that might lead to grievances.
Sending soone to guide Old Granny Wu, and once she’s familiar with the Gu Family, having her return was a way of showing that she had no intention of inserting people into Old Granny Zhang and Old Lady Gu’s courtyard.
Everyone understood this well, and Old Granny Zhang readily accepted, “Sister-in-law’s arrangents couldn’t be better! Thank you in advance, Sister-in-law!”
After chatting for a while, Lady of the Gu Family ordered the al to be served and asked soone to invite over Lady Lou, Lady An, and two nieces to join them.
The one sent to invite them hadn’t arrived yet, but instead, there was a commotion at the entrance of the courtyard, as if soone was arguing.
With sharp hearing, Wang Yongzhu heard a piercing female voice, “You lowly servants looking down on people, what’s the point of sitting at the door? Move aside! I want to see the Old Lady! I want to ask, there’s a guest in this house, why keep it hidden from our third house? Are you ashad of sothing?”
“Oh, you’re all bullying us because the third house has no one, right? Husband, listen to this! Look at them, those are your Gu Family people! They all talk sweetly, saying everything is for the family! But they don’t treat us as family! They hide everything from us like we’d never find out!”
“Today, I must see what kind of freeloading guest has co. Are they shaless or what? They ca here yesterday, must’ve seen the wealth of the Gu Family, and today they brought family and bags, moving all their luggage in. Are they planning to stay permanently in our Gu Family?”
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