Tianliangyuan

Chapter 287 Jinxiu Garden

With just a few words, Xu Zhaozhao won over Granny Lin, and naturally learned more about the affairs of Jinxiu Garden.

Over the years, there have always been very few maids in Jinxiu Garden, mainly because when Xie Zheng was young, the Duke had instructed that no maids should serve him here.

Later, when Xie Zheng got older, he went directly to Jizhou, so there was even less need to hire a maid.

Until Xie Zheng returned to Beijing last year, three batches of maids entered Jinxiu Garden.

The first batch of maids were personally selected by Granny Lin from among the women who had given birth at home, on the instructions of the old lady. Only six were chosen in total, and before they entered Jinxiu Garden to serve, Granny Lin gave them a thorough lesson on etiquette.

The second batch of maids was arranged by Madam Yu.

More accurately, it should be said that it was arranged by Ms. Song through Ms. Yu.

There weren't many people, just four.

The third batch of maids was proposed to the old lady by the fourth wife before the marriage.

After all, he is the heir of the Duke's mansion. It's outrageous that there are too few servants serving him in his courtyard.

And so, Jinxiu Garden now has more than twenty maids, including some maids who do rough work such as sweeping and cleaning, as well as some senior maids and second-class maids who only do needlework or serve tea and snacks.

After learning about the origins of these people, Xu Zhaozhao decided to wait and see how things unfolded.

After all, you've just entered the door, so you can't just send all these people away right away. If you do that, you'll offend people and ruin your reputation.

It's not worth it!

But Xu Zhaozhao was still somewhat puzzled: "Doesn't the Duke's mansion have a special sewing room?"

"Yes, Madam. However, the young master's personal clothing needs to be made, and occasional mending also requires skilled embroiderers. Therefore, the old lady instructed me to specifically select two maids with excellent needlework skills during the first round of selection."

"You mean, the young master's personal clothing was all made by them?"

After a moment's hesitation, Granny Lin shook her head and said, "That was the plan at the time, but in reality, the young master never gave any instructions. They had tried to make a few things before, but the young master didn't want any of them."

Xu Zhaozhao's expression was somewhat indescribable. Where did Xie Zheng get those clothes from?

Granny Lin chuckled twice: "It must have been made by Miss Song Qing."

"Ok?"

"Miss Song Qing was part of the late lady's dowry. Because of her excellent embroidery skills, she was always favored by the lady. Later, some of the Duke's clothes were also sewn by her. After the lady passed away, the young master's clothes were all made by Miss Song Qing."

Xu Zhaozhao's mind raced for a moment before she remembered who this Song Qing was.

Xie Zheng addressed her as "Auntie".

Song Qing is over thirty years old this year and has never married.

And after the lady passed away, she vowed never to marry and to serve the young master for the rest of her life.

“I know her; Sanlang has mentioned her to me many times. But why have I never met this Aunt Song Qing?”

"Your Highness, Miss Song Qing is not in the manor at the moment, mainly because I was afraid she might offend you."

"What do you mean by this?"

"Song Qing was originally a servant of the Song family. He was quite handsome. When the madam was alive, she had thought of elevating his status, but Song Qing refused. After the madam passed away, Song Qing was heartbroken. Rumors circulated in the mansion that Song Qing wanted to use his beauty and the late madam's affection to climb into her bed. Song Qing was a man of strong character. In front of the Duke, he cut his own face to prove that he had no intention of currying favor."

Xu Zhaozhao suddenly realized that Aunt Song Qing was too ruthless.

If someone hits their own face, they really intend to never get married.

“After that, Song Qing was left with a scar on her face, which was quite frightening. So after the Duke’s Mansion began to prepare for the wedding, she went into hiding. Until a few days before the young master’s wedding, she moved to a manor outside the city, thinking that she would return to the manor to serve him next year.”

Xu Zhaozhao smiled and said, "There's no need. You can have someone pass on a message to her later, saying that I want to see her and that the young master misses her a bit."

"Yes, I will take care of it today."

Lin Mama's words were actually similar to what Xu Zhaozhao had heard from Xie Zheng, so it can be concluded that Lin Mama would not dare to deceive her master.

However, Xu Zhaozhao still had some respect for this Aunt Song Qing.

It's truly rare to be able to be so ruthless to oneself, simply out of loyalty to one's master.

"Let's not talk about Song Qing for now. Since these two are good at needlework, they can continue to stay in the garden to serve. However, since the young master doesn't like it, they should no longer be allowed to sew clothes for him."

"Yes."

Xu Zhaozhao then thought of the stewards outside and mentioned it to Granny Lin.

"Some of my managers outside will come to pay their respects tomorrow. You can get to know them then."

"Yes, I have remembered it."

In the afternoon, after Xu Zhaozhao took a short nap, Dingxiang whispered, "Granny Lin and her second daughter-in-law have brought you pear soup."

"Yes, let them in."

"Yes."

Lin Mama's second daughter-in-law is named Chunxiang. Just by hearing this name, you can tell which master gave her the name.

"This servant greets the Lady of the Heir Apparent. This is a pear soup that I simmered for over an hour this afternoon, and I brought it here especially to soothe the Lady of the Heir Apparent's throat."

Xu Zhaozhao nodded: "You're very thoughtful."

"It is my blessing to serve my master."

That's quite an attitude of surrender.

Xu Zhaozhao saw that the other party had specially brought over a plate of pastries, which were cloud cakes sprinkled with icing sugar. Looking at these thin cake slices, she knew that Chunxiang's cooking skills were indeed quite good.

"Your soup is quite good. Did you learn how to make it from someone?"

"Your Majesty, I have been working for an old cook since I was a child. She taught me some things, but I never really learned them properly."

"Well, that shows you're talented."

Chunxiang's face lit up with joy: "Thank you for the compliment, Master."

"I have two recipes here. Take them and see if you can make them yourself. If you can, then I'll open a small kitchen here and you can come and be the manager. If you can't, then I'll arrange for someone to come in and teach you."

Chunxiang was overjoyed: "Thank you, Master. I will do my best."

The recipe Xu Zhaozhao gave wasn't particularly valuable, and her people already owned restaurants outside the area.

Even so, it was enough for Chun-hyang to be grateful.

In fact, each house and courtyard has a small kitchen, but it is just a simple kitchen, used to occasionally cook soup or porridge.

But the small kitchen that Xu Zhaozhao wanted to open was a proper kitchen, a complete kitchen that could boil, stew, and steam.

If it were someone else, it might not work; they wouldn't be able to get past the old lady.

But Xu Zhaozhao is no ordinary person!

To be honest, she is the future mistress of this Duke's mansion, so who dares to say anything if she wants to do something?