Chapter 344: Chapter 322, Acting_1
With so many people gone at once, Daohua Pavilion didn’t care in the least, and turned to whisper a few words to Wang Manman.
Wang Manman left quickly.
It was then that Daohua Pavilion spoke up, “There’s a senior maid beside my mother whom I find very annoying. In a moment, my maids will call her over, and when they do, you go up and slap her for me.”
As soon as these words were uttered, everyone in the courtyard was shocked.
Wide-mouthed with astonishment, Yan Yihuan and her two sisters hadn’t recovered when Wang Manman had already brought Ping Xiao over.
Madam’s two most trusted senior maids were Ping Tong and Ping Xiao, a fact known to all.
“Eldest Miss, I’m busy. If you have something to say, say it quickly, I don’t have time to waste!”
Coming up directly, Ping Xiao spoke to Daohua Pavilion with impatience.
Daohua Pavilion glanced at the maid standing quietly below and spoke indifferently, “So, is nobody going to do it?”
Almost the moment she finished, someone in the crowd made a move.
“Slap!”
A loud noise echoed in the courtyard, followed by several sounds of people falling.
Daohua Pavilion stood up at once and looked at Ping Xiao and her fallen group, asking anxiously, “Manman, why didn’t you stop them?”
She just wanted to see if she could find a maid among all these people who would follow her orders completely—she hadn’t actually intended for someone to strike Ping Xiao.
“Miss, it wasn’t Sister Ping Xiao who got hit.”
Wang Manman quickly helped the group that had fallen together get up.
Only then did Daohua Pavilion realize that someone had rushed forward to strike another, but another had rushed to intervene, and the slap had landed squarely on the face of the person trying to stop it.
“Explain yourselves. Why did you strike, and why did you try to stop it?”
The one who struck was a maid about Daohua Pavilion’s age, “One should do whatever the master orders, regardless of who the other person is.”
The one who tried to stop it was a maid about fifteen years old, “The person Miss wanted to hit is one of Madam’s close attendants. This act goes against filial piety. Even if Miss is displeased, she should report it to Madam and let Madam deal with it.”
Daohua Pavilion smiled, “I’ll take both of them.” She finished speaking and winked at Ping Xiao.
Seeing this, Ping Xiao patted her skirt and left with a smile.
The selection continued.
Daohua Pavilion looked at the remaining maids, “Come forward and say something, each of you.”
A maid boldly asked, “Please tell me, Eldest Miss, what should we say?”
Daohua Pavilion smiled, “Whatever you like.”
Afterward, the maids came forward one by one, and Daohua Pavilion listened silently, eventually choosing five who exhibited composure, could do needlework, were literate, spoke well, and were good at abacus.
Daohua Pavilion turned to the three Yan sisters, “Alright, I’m done making my choices. Now it’s your turn, sisters.”
Daohua Pavilion wasn’t particularly interested in how the three sisters would choose, but she still watched patiently.
From the selection process, one could still discern the three sisters’ styles.
Yan Yihuan might not talk much, but she was thoughtful. When picking maids, she was overly meticulous, hence appearing somewhat slow and indecisive.
Yan Yile might have been spoiled by her uncle and aunt, selecting maids entirely based on her own preferences.
To Daohua Pavilion’s surprise, Yan Yishuang was very calm and rational during her selection.
By noontime, all four sisters had made their selections.
Afterward, Ping Tong brought over another batch of aged maids.
The selection of the aged maids was much simpler. Yan Yihuan chose two who were strong-bodied, appeared not easily provoked, and not inclined to chatter, before leading the group back to Daohua Pavilion in high spirits.
Fortunately, the courtyard at the Governor’s Office was spacious enough that even with ten more people, it didn’t feel crowded.
“Manman, you will be responsible for training them from now on. Inform them of the rules in my courtyard,” said Yan Yihuan before she prepared to return to her room.
Wang Manman quickly called out, “Miss, you haven’t given them names yet.”
Yan Yihuan had intended to tell them to keep their original names, but Wang Manman informed her that among them, one was called Taohua, another Xinghua, and yet another Cuihua. Yan Yihuan was left speechless.
With so many ‘flowers,’ her courtyard was practically turning into a garden.
After pondering for a moment, Yan Yihuan turned to the maid who had struck someone earlier: “From now on, you’ll be called Bi Shi.” Then, looking at the maid who had blocked others, she said, “And you will be Bi Zhu.”
“As for the others, Bi Yun, Bi Feng, Bi Shuang, Bi Yu, Bi Lu. Alright, that will do.”
Bi Shi and the others were a bit stunned as Yan Yihuan simply walked away.
Wasn’t the miss going to give them a dressing-down on their first day?
“Sisters, follow me to see where you will be staying.”
Knowing that her miss preferred quietness, Wang Manman quickly led the group away, while telling them, “The miss likes peace, so you mustn’t speak loudly in the courtyard.”
“As for the miss’s room, unless you have her permission, you may not enter. Even if you have something to report, you must first stand at the doorway and ask…”
After entering her room, Yan Yihuan began to think about the Dragon Boat Festival and the visit to the provincial capital.
“If we are to go to the provincial capital, we’ll surely stay at my uncle’s house. It seems I won’t need to send someone else to deliver the Dragon Boat Festival gifts this year.”
In the main courtyard’s rear hall.
After dealing with the household affairs, Ping Xiao vividly recounted the scene of the four young ladies selecting their servants that day.
Hearing that Yan Yihuan had asked Wang Manman to call Ping Xiao over for a bit of play-acting, Madam Li couldn’t help but laugh, her eyes full of indulgence: “This girl, she loves to mess around.”
Ping Tong joined in with a smile, “I think the method used by the eldest young lady was quite good. She really did pick out a couple of decent maids.”
“Yan Yihuan…” Madam Li suddenly paused, “We can’t keep using her nickname anymore; from now on, we must call her Yiyi.”
The daughter was thirteen now, and to continue using a nickname was improper. If overheard by other families’ ladies, it might even become a subject of ridicule.
“Yiyi, although some of her actions are somewhat unconventional, she manages to achieve unexpected results. As long as she can control the extent properly, we’ll let her be,” Madam Li concluded.
Ping Xiao then commented, “The other three young ladies, in my opinion, also made… pretty good choices.”
Madam Li’s expression grew slightly reserved, “Good or bad, it was their own choice. If problems arise in the future, they cannot blame me.”
Ping Tong and Ping Xiao both kept quiet and refrained from continuing the topic.
This selection of maids, according to Madam’s original plan, besides allotting four senior maids, four second-tier maids, four cleaning maids, and four aged maids to the eldest young lady, the number of attendants for the other three young ladies was halved.
After all, the third young lady was a concubine’s daughter, and the second and fourth young ladies were daughters of a commoner second master; the number of attendants they required was certainly not that many.
However, knowing this, the second wife complained both openly and insinuated that the Madam was biased. She even spoke of this in front of the master, infuriating Madam to the point where she washed her hands of it and stopped interfering.
Madam Li flipped through the list of servants’ names, noticing the marks beside the maids chosen by her daughter and Yan Yihuan.
Seeing the same number of attendants allocated to Yan Yihuan as to her daughter, she smirked inwardly.
The second sister-in-law only thought that having more servants was prestigious. But she failed to consider whether she had the status to match such luxury.