Previously, Sister Yue Yuan had spoken. Now that Qu Fulan had prescribed the medicine for the old lady, she no longer did any other odd jobs and stayed in the house to learn needlework from Hai Xia.
Qu Fulan didn't want to learn. She wasn't interested in needlework, but last time, Sister Yue Yuan told her to learn more when she was free and to stop doing odd jobs. She also said that the old lady valued maidservants who were good at needlework.
Old Lady Pei naturally did not lack for clothes to wear, but some forehead scarves, shoes, and socks still had to be tailored by her personal maidservants. It was more comfortable to sew them personally.
Old Lady Pei had asked Yue Yuan to guide Qu Fulan, and Yue Yuan was also very attentive and had given her all the guidance she needed.
Qu Fulan didn't let Yue Yuan down. Since it wasn't a problem to have more skills, she learned from Hai Xia.
Hai Xia might have a carefree personality, but she was not bad at needlework. It was common for women in this era to know how to sew. After all, many people sewed their wedding dresses by themselves.
While she was learning needlework, a voice came from the tea room next door.
It was Hai Xing's voice. "The old lady wants to drink tea. Send it to her quickly. Remember to say something nice to her and make her happy."
Then, Hai Chun's excited voice sounded, "I'll go now!"
Then, there was a series of movements. It was the sound of Hai Chun's footsteps leaving the tea room.
Hai Xing was now sparing no effort to support her sister.
Hai Xia could tell.
"If she had worked hard and relied on her real ability to gain face in front of the master, I would not have said anything. Look at what she has done. Because of her sister, she doesn't do any other work except for the work in the tea room. Even the chopping of wood and making fire in the tea room is done by another servant girl. When the tea is ready, she takes the ready-made tea to sell her face in front of the master. She is really shameless."
"It's just a job of delivering tea. It's not certain if you can get close to the master. Unlike Sister Hai Tang, you send medicine to the old lady every day, so you can get close to her every day. In my opinion, in the end, it's not certain who will replace that position."
It was true that the person who delivered the tea might not be able to get close to the master. Otherwise, why would the old lady need those first-rank maidservants?
A third-rank servant girl would at most bring the teapot over and put it down before coming out. Serving tea and pouring water was something that only a first-rank servant girl could do.
Hai Xia did not know that the old lady had asked Yue Yuan to take care of Qu Fulan. She had only guessed based on what she had seen.
Qu Fulan didn't intend to go around talking about it. After all, the matter hadn't been settled yet. She only said, "Let's just do what we're supposed to do. Whether it's good or bad, the masters have their own considerations."
Hai Xia nodded in agreement with Hai Tang's point of view.
After two days of embroidery, Qu Fulan finally finished a purse. Although the needlework was awkward and the shape was strange, it was still her first work and had a lot of sentimental value.
Hai Xia did not try to discourage her. It was good enough that she could embroider something like this on her first try.
"When I first embroidered it, my family couldn't even tell what it was."
"It's because you've taught me well," Qu Fulan said humbly.
Hai Xia smiled in embarrassment.
Then, they talked about the latest developments in the manor.
"Today, the first and second household let out a few maidservants and they were all crying so badly. They are very reluctant."
"What are they crying about? What are they reluctant to part with?" Qu Fulan was puzzled.
"They can't bear to give up the treatment in the residence," Hai Xia said. After that, she looked around and whispered when she saw that no one was around, "Look at that Hai Xing. It's time for her to get married, but she can't bear to give up the good job in the residence, so she let her sister take over. This way, the family's life is still good. It can be seen how many people don't want to go out when their time is up."
Hai Xia had said so much, but Qu Fulan had only heard one sentence: "How many people don't want to go out when their time is up?"
She was so hurt that she wanted to vomit blood.
There was a saying that the things you desperately wanted, others could easily get them without caring.
But perhaps people had long yearned for more.
If those maidservants who didn't want to go out were to really sign a death contract, they might not be happy.
Who didn't know that maidservants with a death contract wouldn't be free for life, and their marriage was all decided by their masters?
There were only two final outcomes for a death contract maidservant. One was to be picked by the master to be a concubine, and the other was to be assigned to a manservant at home.
'I can't think about it anymore, I'm going to suffocate.'
Qu Fulan was even more determined to be promoted and accumulate merit so that she could achieve her goal of selling herself.
On the other hand, the Second Miss of the Pei family's third branch had returned home for a few days. Other than paying respects to the old lady, she rarely left the third branch's door.
It wasn't that the Second Miss was introverted and didn't like to go out. The Second Miss wasn't like this before she got married. At that time, she had ideas and could even help the Second Madam to take care of the household. She was very powerful at home for a period of time.
She had only been married for half a year, but her spirit was different from before. She looked haggard and was not willing to go out.
The third wife had been holding it in for several days, and now she couldn't help but ask, "Lan'er, did you suffer in your husband's house?"
Otherwise, why would she look so haggard?
Pei Lan had come home to complain anyway, so she did not hold it in. It was not her character to keep it a secret either. She said, "Your daughter has no other choice. I came back this time to find a helper."
The Third Madam knew that the situation was serious and immediately said, "What's so serious?"
With Pei Lan's explanation, the Third Madam finally knew the whole story.
It turned out that Pei Lan's husband seemed to be a good man back then. It was said that his family style was also strict, and there was a saying that he would not take in concubines within three years of marriage.
In the end, not long after she was married, her husband had an affair with a servant girl.
What could Pei Lan do? It was normal for a man to have three wives and four concubines. How could she stop her husband from taking in concubines? In order to show her magnanimity, she took the initiative to offer to marry a concubine for her husband.
She had thought that her husband would be grateful for her generosity and treat her well, but in the end, he brought back a woman from outside.
"That is a foxy woman who keeps sowing discord between my relationship with my husband. If I don't think of a way, I'm afraid that there will be no place for me in the residence in the future."
When the Third Madam heard this, her heart ached for her daughter and she blamed the husband's family for not keeping their word. They had agreed not to take in concubines for three years. This wife had just entered the family not long ago and he had already taken in two concubines. Wasn't this a slap to the face of the first wife?
"Although the Liu family isn't very kind, what's done is done. What else can we do?" the Third Madam said.
She had also been through this. Before her husband married her, he had an ambiguous relationship with a few servant girls. However, after the incident, the old lady dealt with it strictly and directly sent those servant girls to be sold to the traffickers. It could be considered as giving face to the new daughter-in-law.
The Pei family had a rule that the sons of the concubines could not be born before the legitimate sons, so before the wife gave birth to the legitimate sons, they were not allowed to take concubines.
Later, when she got pregnant and the doctor diagnosed that it was a son, her husband immediately looked for someone else. The Third Madam was pregnant and could not serve her husband, so she turned a blind eye.
The Second Miss was not like her mother, who would only sit and wait for death. She was used to taking the initiative in her own hands.
"It's just some concubines and tongfang who can't be put on the table. I won't object to him taking concubines, but I can't see that cheap person being so arrogant. If she gives birth to a child before me, it will be extremely disadvantageous to me."
"But now that you've returned, aren't you giving her a chance?" The Third Madam didn't understand.
The Second Miss said, "I'm not afraid of that. My husband was injured in the past and has been taking medicine. That medicine is not conducive to childbirth. Now that the medicine has stopped, it will take half a year to return to normal. It is enough for me to plan."
"What do you want to do?" the Third Madam asked.
The Second Miss said, "I came back this time to pick a servant girl to be my husband's concubine. She has to be outstanding in appearance. She has to be a servant girl with a death contract. Only then will I be able to control her for the rest of my life."