Why would the old lady care?
She had not been optimistic about this marriage in the beginning. The Pei family's status in the capital was high, but that was the credit of the first branch. As for the second and third branches, it would be an honor to be able to follow.
Those with a conscience should be grateful. Don't think about something trivial. But there are always some who wanted to use other people's credit for their own benefits, which was very abominable.
Just take the third household's marriage as an example. What official position did the Third Madam's father have, what official position did Third Master have? In the beginning, Old Madam Pei had suggested that they find a family of equal social status so that they could get along easily in the future. In the end, Third Madam was very unhappy and insisted on her own opinion. Now that such a thing had happened, she felt embarrassed and wanted to ask Old Madam Pei for help to vent her anger.
The first branch's merit points and glory were not used for this kind of thing.
The old lady immediately served them tea to send them off.
The Third Madam was terrified and did not dare to say anything in front of her. She returned to her room and complained to the old lady.
"Madam, the Yao family..." Granny Fang carefully opened her mouth.
"What's wrong with the Yao family?" the Third Madam said in a very bad mood.
"They said that the food in the third concubine's room wasn't good, so they asked the kitchen to make it again."
"Then let the kitchen do it. Why are you asking me about such a small matter?"
"They also said that it's too hot and that they need to add ice to the room, or else they won't be able to sleep well at night."
Ice in the summer was very precious. The masters of the Pei Residence had a fixed rule of using ice in the summer. Now that they had to send more ice to the people of the Yao Residence, it was all taken from the hands of the third branch's master. The Third Madam was very angry in her heart, but she still had to treat the Yao family like ancestors.
Two days passed just like that.
When Qu Fulan was delivering the medicine to the old lady that day, Prince Pei's letter happened to reach the old lady's room.
In the letter, he said that he had received the news of his Third Brother's marriage and had already returned. He also asked people to prepare a wedding gift for his Third Brother. At the same time, he took care of the old lady's health in his heart and said that he had brought her many things to nourish her body. Finally, he asked about the situation in the residence. It could be said that he had come to every face.
The old lady held the letter and grinned from ear to ear. "Second has always been thoughtful and filial."
Because the first household's husband and wife were always outside, they gave birth later than the second household.
As a result, the Prince was ranked second in the family, and the eldest came from the second branch.
Eldest Young Master Pei had been married for a long time and had a five or six-year-old child. However, his wife had passed away early due to dystocia. His family had always wanted him to remarry, but Eldest Young Master Pei had rejected them.
It sounded very devoted, at least in the eyes of outsiders.
Qu Fulan did not think so.
This was because she had heard from Hai Xia that although Eldest Young Master Pei was not going to remarry, he had two tongfang in his room.
The so-called 'tongfang' was a maidservant used to solve the physiological needs, not even a concubine.
Even so, there were still many maidservants in the manor who wanted to become the Eldest Young Master's tongfang. After all, a tongfang maidservant had the highest status among all the maidservants. They did not have to do any other work except serving their master.
Even Hai Xia thought that the Eldest Young Master was not bad, but it was a pity that she did not have the fate to be the Eldest Young Master's servant.
Although Qu Fulan didn't agree with this view, she wouldn't try to persuade her. In this era, it was common for women of low status to have such thoughts.
"Actually, the Prince is the best." Hai Xia added, "If it weren't for the fact that some work could only be done by meticulous maidservants, I'm afraid that Prince Pei wouldn't want to keep a single maidservant, let alone a tongfang maidservant. Most of the maidservants in the manor want to be the Prince's maidservant. That's a unique existence, and it's even more dignified than working for the old lady."
Only then did Qu Fulan know that Prince Pei was so popular in the residence, and that so many maidservants wanted to be his maidservant.
Was Hai Yue one of them?
"But I don't want to be the Prince's maid," Hai Xia added.
"Why?" Qu Fulan was very curious.
It was reasonable to say that water flowed to the lower places, while people moved to the higher places.
"You don't know, but Prince Pei is really good. That figure and appearance really makes people unable to move. Now, you see that the Eldest Young Master in the residence is handsome enough, but he is still inferior to the Prince."
Qu Fulan had indeed seen the Pei family's Eldest Young Master from a distance. Even in modern times, he would still be one of the most handsome people in the entertainment industry. Prince Pei was even more outstanding than him. She couldn't imagine what kind of face he had.
"Logically speaking, since the Prince is so good, I should also want to work by his side. But I'm afraid of the Prince from the bottom of my heart. Every time I face the Prince, I don't even dare to breathe loudly. How would I have the courage to work by his side?"
"Why? Is Prince Pei that scary?"
"You can't say that. In fact, the Prince is very good to his servants, but there is a premise that no one can break his rules."
Hai Xia leaned close to Hai Tang's ear and whispered, "I saw it with my own eyes once. A servant who didn't know the rules spoiled the Prince's plans. The Prince directly ordered people to kill that person. When the Prince said to kill that person, he was still smiling."
At that time, Hai Xia had been so scared that her legs had gone soft. The Prince had also seen her but did not make things difficult for her. However, ever since she saw the Prince, she had been afraid and wanted to hide far away.
Qu Fulan understood. This was just like in the novels, where they could kill someone while talking and laughing.
Hai Xia was wise not to provoke such a person. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing if they could tell that Hai Xia had a bad intention.
Qu Fulan's boss in the modern world could also see through people's hearts with a glance, so every time she faced the boss, she would feel particularly pressured and would want to stay away from him.
People who liked to scheme didn't like to be seen through. One of the reasons was that they didn't feel a sense of accomplishment, but the key was that they felt too insecure.
The days passed by like a wheel.
It was rumored that the Pei family was strict, but the Yao family's young lady did not believe it. She was afraid that there would be some vixens with evil intentions in her future husband's courtyard, so she had to deal with them in advance.
After some inquiries, the third household actually did not have any foxy women.
This was all thanks to the Third Madam. In order to prevent the Third Master from taking in concubines, she had chosen servant girls who were as ugly as melons. This was also the reason why Second Miss could not choose a servant girl with good looks from the third branch.
"Although there are no vixens in the third household, there are many vixens in the courtyard of the old lady of the Pei Residence. When this servant went to pay her respects, I saw them all. Aiyo, that courtyard is full of maidservants, each one is more beautiful than the other."
The elderly woman came back to report the situation to her young lady.
"Why did Old Lady Pei place so many pretty servant girls in the courtyard?" Miss Yao frowned.
"Old Lady Pei really likes to let some beautiful young ladies into her own courtyard, saying that it is pleasing to the eye."
"It's clearly a headache." Miss Yao was a little annoyed. Although there were no foxy women in the third branch, there were some in the old lady's courtyard. This could not guarantee that some servant girls with evil intentions would want to look up to them in the future.
"Yeah? One of them is called Hai Yue and the other is called Hai Tang. They are as beautiful as sisters, far more beautiful than the others."
"Hai Yue, Hai Tang?"
"Yes, especially that Hai Tang girl. You haven't seen her, Miss. She's even more beautiful than the Su family's girl."
The girl of the Su family was one of the five beauties of the capital.
It was said to be one of them because everyone's appearance was equal, and it was impossible to tell who was the best.
Miss Su was the most famous among the five beauties because she had both talent and beauty.
Now that this old woman said that Hai Tang was even more beautiful than the Su family's girl, didn't that mean that she had surpassed all the five beauties of the capital?
Wouldn't raising such a maid in the house bring chaos to the rear residence?
Miss Yao's face darkened.