When Bai Yu Yan and Xiao Fan returned from the garden, they heard several servants gossiping idly. Aware of how big this Autumn courtyard is, Yu Yan knew that servants could not have so much free time. That too, right before the dinner.
"Poor Madame Bai, she had not even consummated her marriage with the young master and he left her alone on the night of their marriage,'' a young maid with two cute buns spoke with a sigh.
"What do you mean by poor? Have you ever heard of a 7th ranking official's daughter being married to the Prime Minister as the main wife? She married our young master in order to climb her way up in society. She should consider herself fortunate that she even got inside the family", another middle-aged servant cut her off impatiently.
"Gui Momo is absolutely right. Our master deserves much better than this miss from the Bai family. He could even marry an imperial princess and it wouldn't be out of place. Don't you think the master left so soon after marriage because he was not satisfied with her?"
Unaware of the people standing outside, the maids were letting their mouth run loose, carrying on with their unconstrained gossip. Standing outside, it gave Bai Yu Yan the perfect opportunity to get to know the real thought of these servants. Now that she is the owner of the Shui Xian Garden, she has to at least know just what kind of people she is surrounded with every day.
"Do the servants here get paid for gossiping? Or are you waiting for my miss to do your work for you?", finally reaching her limit, Xiao Fan could not contain her anger anymore.
They had been right outside when these maids started talking about her miss and the young master. Since when was it their authority to say anything about the affairs of the masters of the house? She had been observing how these servants were not respectful to her miss after they first arrived at Huang manor. But now it is too much that they even dare to neglect their duty and act as the master of the house.
As soon as Xiao Fan's cold voice traveled to their ears, all the servants hurriedly got to their feet before greeting Bai Yu Yan. Few young maids were actually scared while others didn't look like they were bothered even if they heard them.
"Fan jiejie, we were just talking about when the young master will come back from the south. You see, His Excellency has been gone for quite some time now," the maid with cute buns spoke meekly with her head lowered.
Bai Yu Yan calmly observed everyone's expressions. She might be new to this world, but she was definitely not stupid. Servants can be quite troublesome if they don't know their place. And the ones before her definitely need to be put into their proper place.
She slowly walked towards one of the maids. While others were thinking of her misfortune, Gui Momo was looking if this newly brought Madame dared to bully the maids in her first week at the Huang manor. Under everybody's curious gaze, Yu Yan slowly lifted the maid's hanfu, feeling the touch of cloth between her fingers.
"Hmm, so this is what the maids wear here".
'Here? What did she mean by here?'
Hearing the Madame's remark, the maids let out an arrogant smirk. They thought she was comparing Lu servants' clothes to that of the Bai.
Seeing Madame Bai lost in thought, Gui Momo puffed her chest proudly and said as a matter-of-factly, "Madame Bai, I've told Madame Lu not to spoil these servants with such expensive clothes, but she is just too generous. See, even these lowly maid's hanfu is made of such quality clothes and careful embroidery." Her meaning- even the servants of Lu live a better life than those of yours.
But upon hearing Madame Bai's next sentence, it left her completely speechless.
"Don't you get rashes from embroidery in such an awkward place?"
Now it was all the servant's turn to look at Madame Bai with a stupefied expression. What did she just say? Rashes? Awkward?
Gui Momo wanted to burst out and say 'It's still better than what the servants of the Bai wear' but sadly, what Madame Bai told was not completely wrong. They did feel uncomfortable by the embroidery in these nylon clothes, however, it was still the most expensive among the low-grade cloth materials meant for the servants. Wearing it gave them a face in front of others. However, they had some pride as the servants of the Prime Minister's manor and refused to believe that there was anything wrong with their dress.
Seeing through their mind, Yu Yan chose not to comment. After all, in ancient times, there were not many experts regarding clothing, and even if there were, they focused mainly on how to make flashy dresses rather than how comfortable they were to wear. So she turned around and entered her room, not before leaving the order, "If I find anyone having dinner before all the work has been finished, I'll cut off their allowance for three months. You all better know who is now the master of this courtyard."
Although Madame Bai did not talk loudly, her serious expression let everyone know that she meant every word she said. Some maids had their mouths slightly open while some had already run to finish off whatever duty they had left behind. It looks like Madame Bai is not the one to be bullied.
Before Bai Yu Yan even closed the door, she didn't miss the silent communication between Gui Momo and the little maid that she had interrogated, what was her name again? Ah, Fan Lu.
Seeing her miss suddenly become so cool, Xiao Fan nearly squealed in admiration but hurriedly calmed down and proudly raised her head while following her to the room, leaving behind the instruction, "Bring in dinner when it's time."