The beauty of the lady

Chapter 69 Entering Beijing (10)
The front hall, after half a month of repairs, has already glowed with publicity and vitality, and the fresh and mellow fragrance after repainting is everywhere.

Zhou Mei sat in the first place, wearing a bright red brocade embroidered double-breasted feather gauze top, gold silk white pattern epiphyllum rain silk brocade skirt, which made her jade-like complexion more fair and lustrous, and her facial features were as bright as begonias, with a stunning charm And elegant, the red lips gently evoked a brilliant arc, setting off the whole person like fireworks.

She glanced at the dozens of people standing below who were nodding in order, and raised her hand to pick up the bone china teacup on the small table carved with gold silk nanmu, her snow-white wrist, and a jade bracelet that was about to drip down her arm. .

"Slaves (servants) see the eldest lady."

These are the sixty servants she personally selected, thirty men and thirty each. Even so, it is still very compact to take care of the mansion, but Zhou Mei only wants these at present, and the rest will be discussed when the mother comes over.

Zhou Mei waved her hand to get them all up, and then looked at the booklet prepared by Manager Yun, which recorded the basic information of these people, what they were good at, or what they used to do in which family, including any relatives in the family Children, etc. are clearly recorded.

"Xia Qi, you first pick four second-class maids, four rough envoys, and four servants in our yard. The rest will be placed in the mansion first, and the specific arrangements will be made when my mother comes. After they are done, I will take them to find a room I like, share a room with them, and send out new bedding and clothes."

"Yes, miss, the servant girl knows."

She cast her eyes among the crowd, and then she pointed out a woman who was dressed plainly but was quite decent, and said, "Nurse Qiu, were you released from the palace?"

"Miss Hui, it is true that this old slave has been in the palace for more than 20 years." The old woman, who is about fifty years old, replied with a blessing.

"If this is the case, the maids in the mansion should be trained by Madam Qiu first. There are more rules than those in the palace, but we don't keep slaves in our mansion." This Madam Qiu was bought by Guanshi Yun through an acquaintance. Yes, it is said that she used to be the aunt in charge of a concubine next to Emperor Hongyuan in the previous dynasty. Later that concubine passed away, and Mother Qiu was also released from the palace. In the Zhou Mansion, she could do as long as she could put her heart into it.

"I'm sorry, old slave. Thank you, Miss, for your kindness." Mother Qiu thanked her again. She was entrusted with a heavy responsibility when she first came to the new owner's house. For Mother Qiu, it was unexpected but also reasonable. among.

But she will not have any crooked thoughts. If she has been a slave for most of her life, if she can't see clearly, she will be dead by now.

"Which one is Qian Hong?"

"Miss, this old slave is Qian Hong." A man who was slightly younger than Nanny Qiu stepped forward and saluted.

She flipped through the brochure without raising her head and said, "I used to be a housekeeper at the home of the former Minister of Dali Temple?"

"Yes, old slaves are not talented."

"Then continue to be the housekeeper in the Zhou Mansion." She said lightly, and then stopped Qian Hong from thanking her.

"Zhou's house doesn't have such cumbersome rules as other houses. As long as you do your own thing well, you can have enough food, clothing, and savings. I will be responsible for you, but in the same way, you can't do things that are sorry for the Zhou family. If I found out that our Zhou family will not accommodate you, not even once, unless you think you can find a better place than here after leaving the Zhou family, then let you." After she finished speaking, she stood up and looked at Everyone said: "Remember, you only have one chance."

After handling the affairs of the servants, the next step is to renovate the mansion, because the area is too large, it is impossible within two months.

By the time Zhou Zhou Zhuang and Mrs. Zhao came over with Zhou Tang, it was already August. At this time, several thick osmanthus trees were blooming in the back garden of the Zhou mansion, and the strong fragrance filled most of the mansion, infecting everyone. They all carry that scent.

Zhou Mei had been standing in front of the mansion and waiting for more than two quarters of an hour. Seeing that Suya's carriage finally arrived, she hurriedly stopped to catch Zhao Shi who came down from the curtain.

"Mother, it's two days later than scheduled, but was it delayed on the way?"

But before Mrs. Zhao could speak, Zhou Tang sprang out of the carriage like a little monkey, squatted on the side of the carriage, hugged Zhou Mei's neck and smiled happily.

"Sister, Tang'er misses you."

"Brother Tang, don't pester your elder sister just now." Zhou Zhuang jumped out of the car, reached out to lift Zhou Tang off, and then looked at the overly large mansion door in front of him, and it took a long time to recover, "Sister Mei , this house belongs to our family?"

"Does Dad still like it?" Zhou Mei smiled.

Zhuang Zhuang swallowed his saliva on Wednesday, "It's too big, we can't live there anymore."

"Even if it can't be finished, it's our own business. Besides, my younger brother will live here in the future. If you get married and have children, how can you live here forever?" Go, "Father, you don't want to take over the old man and the old lady at home, do you?"

"Father doesn't think so." Zhou Zhuang shook his head bluntly, "Our family is living a very good life now, and Dad will not make trouble for himself."

Although sometimes he would feel guilty in his heart, but he did not regret it, just because the current life made him feel very comfortable.

Zhou Mei glanced at Zhao's gentle eyes, lowered her eyes and pursed her lips and smiled slightly, and then said to Zhao: "Mother, I will take you to the back house first, the yard has been prepared for you, look at the mother Do you like it? If there is something missing, let Qiu Momo prepare it. In the future, Qiu Momo will stay with Mother. She is now the chief steward of our backyard, and Qian Hong in the front yard will stay with Dad. Yes, I just wait for my mother to rest and re-divide, I don't quite understand this kind of thing."

"You!" Zhao nodded her smooth forehead in relief, and said with a smile, "You have taken care of everything very well, and Mother hasn't changed much. Are you tired these days?"

"It's okay, the senior brother has helped a lot. If the second senior brother hadn't been in the palace all the time, I probably wouldn't have to do anything. Why don't you wait around the Mid-Autumn Festival and invite the two senior brothers to come over and have a sit down. At that time, our manor will Everything is packed, and we can have a banquet in the front hall."

"Okay, it's up to you."

In the backyard, under the cover of green trees, green bamboos, flowers and plants, there are seven or eight exquisite courtyard houses. Zhou Mei left the Tourmaline Courtyard for herself, while the Sandalwood Courtyard was prepared for the Zhao couple. Because Zhou Tang was still young, At that time, according to his own ideas, it doesn't matter where he lives in the front and back yards. Anyway, there are no outsiders in the family, so there is no such thing as avoiding suspicion.

Now the backyard has been cleaned up a long time ago. Standing on the second floor of the Nuan Pavilion in the middle of the lake and looking around, there are beautiful flowers everywhere, and there is a large rockery cave in the distance. From a certain angle, you can see the wonders of the stone stream. In the middle of the rockery, it will look extraordinarily wonderful.

(End of this chapter)