Tianliangyuan

Chapter 329 Why should I support you?

The head maidservant would be dismissed, and she might even be expelled from the mansion; these are all major issues.

Although Xu Zhaozhao was the wife of the heir apparent, she still had to consult the old lady because the person to be dealt with was not someone close to her.

At that time, Mr. Yu was also present.

Xie Chan and Xie Juan were also there, but their complexions were clearly not good, possibly because they were frightened.

After hearing the whole story, Yu was naturally furious.

"Eating the food of our Duke's mansion, yet daring to corrupt our young ladies! Such a wicked servant should be beaten to death as a warning to others!"

The old lady was also angry. She never expected that her two granddaughters would have such treacherous people around them.

This wicked servant is stirring up discord between the young lady and the Duke's mansion. If she marries in the future, she will likely harbor even more resentment towards her family. He truly deserves to be executed!

However, with the old lady's birthday approaching, it is not advisable to have any unlucky events at this time.

So the old lady ordered that all of them be taken to the front yard and given twenty strokes of the cane, and then sent to the estate outside the city to do hard labor.

The head maid of the Duke's daughter, regardless of how much her monthly salary was, simply followed her mistress and did not have to do hard work. Even when walking in the servants' courtyard, she held her head high.

Now, however, he has been directly demoted to hard labor, which shows that he has gone from heaven to hell in one step.

As for selecting personnel again, Xu Zhaozhao did not take it upon herself, for fear that Xiao Songshi and Jiashi would cause trouble again.

Therefore, this matter was arranged by the Yu family.

They were all servants born into the household, with impeccable family backgrounds, so naturally they had no designs on other people.

This incident made both Madam Song and Madam Jia wary. They never expected that there would be such an impure person around their daughter.

You should know that these head maids will all be accompanying their mistress as part of her dowry.

Generally speaking, if the mistress becomes pregnant or needs to compete for the husband's favor, the usefulness of these head maids becomes very obvious.

Because she was originally a maid, even if she was given a second wife, she would only be a concubine unless she could give birth to a child.

The mistress would promote her head maids because they were loyal, and the mistress held their indentures, so they had no choice but to obey.

But judging from the current situation, it's clear that this maid has other ideas. If she can't help her master in the future, she might even collude with her husband's family to harm him. That would be a real disaster!

This incident also allowed everyone in the Duke's mansion to see Xu Zhaozhao's abilities.

The servants who had harbored ulterior motives immediately abandoned their thoughts and dared not underestimate the future mistress, much less challenge her authority.

Soon, the old lady's birthday will arrive.

Madam Yu began to order people to purchase some daily necessities, because relatives who lived far away would arrive a day or two in advance, and she needed to make appropriate arrangements for their reception.

Xu Zhaozhao didn't care much about these things and didn't even have any intention of showing up.

It wasn't that she was overly arrogant, but rather that in this rigidly hierarchical society, there were very few people she would personally greet.

In the small courtyard on the other side, Zhang Yan was throwing a tantrum.

This is just a rented courtyard, and only for a month. Zhang Wu also knows that they will be able to move into their new home soon. The Crown Prince's wife is kind-hearted; she not only built a house for them but also paid for the furniture.

This immense kindness had already deeply moved him.

“Yan Yan, I went to see our new home yesterday. The courtyard walls are all up now. The clan chief even asked me if I wanted to keep a dog to guard the house. I was thinking that if I go out to do things in the future, it would be really inconvenient to leave you alone at home, so I agreed.”

"What do you mean I'm all alone? Don't you even have a servant?"

Zhang Wu choked, glanced at the old woman busy in the kitchen with a hint of difficulty, and then pulled his sister into the house to talk.

"The two servants here were arranged by the Crown Prince's wife. If we go back to our own home, these two servants will naturally have to return to their mistress's side as well."

Zhang Yan's eyes widened: "How can this be? I can't do rough work. What will I do then, chopping wood and carrying water? Are you going to make me do these things, brother?"

Zhang Wu immediately reassured them, "No, no. The clansmen will help too. Besides, I'll earn some money, and I can give some of the boys a reward, and they'll help me gather firewood."

"But I'm not a good cook either."

Zhang Wu couldn't hold back any longer.

"Yan Yan, can't you be more sensible? Our father is just an ordinary commoner, and our mother is just an ordinary village woman. Where did you get servants when you were young? Just because you were taken care of by the general for a few years, you can't stand the life of ordinary people?"

“So what if I can’t get used to it? What’s wrong with wanting to be waited on?” Zhang Yan argued.

Zhang Wu shook his head, looking helpless: "But Yan Yan, we are just ordinary people! Even if Father later became a squad leader, he was still a low-ranking official, not even an official. Why should we be allowed to have the Duke's mansion send servants to serve us?"

Zhang Yan was furious, tears welling up in her eyes: "Why can't we be ordered around? Don't we have our own money? What about Father's pension? And the General just kicked us out like this, he can't just not give us a single penny, can he?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wu took a step back and looked at her with disbelief.

Is this still my well-behaved and adorable little sister?

How did it become like this?

What obligation does the general have to take care of them like this?

The reason I agreed in the first place was simply because I felt sorry for the young siblings.

But now, from what my sister is saying, it sounds like a great general should take care of them.

Who told her this?!

"Yan Yan, I never thought you would turn out like this. You are just an ordinary girl, a girl from the countryside. Why should the general pay to support you?"

Zhang Wu practically shouted this.

Zhang Yan was instantly frozen in place by those words.

Yes, why should we?

Zhang Yan thought about how she and Madam Song had often talked and done needlework together over the past few years. Madam Song was very satisfied with her and liked her very much. She even said that she was beautiful, smart and sensible, and would definitely win the favor of the young master.

Zhang Yan bit her lip. She wanted to go back to the Duke's mansion to find the young master and ask him to take her as a concubine, but she couldn't get in at all.

She's not a member of the Duke's mansion, so how could she come and go as she pleases?

Zhang Yan was unwilling to accept this, even though Aunt Song was willing to help her!

“But Aunt Song clearly said that I was a good person and that she would help me find a good marriage.”