Time Travel: The Noble Family
Chapter 287 - Chapter 287 Chapter 108 Events Fall and Rise_4

Chapter 287: Chapter 108: Events Fall and Rise_4 Chapter 287: Chapter 108: Events Fall and Rise_4 Lady Mo did not speak to Yueyao about the staff cuts; instead, the repercussions of offending her began to emerge. In the past, when the Old Madam was alive, not only was the food delivered of good quality, but also in abundance; however, after the Old Madam passed away, the main kitchen started to slack off.

Nanny Hao mentioned to Yueyao more than once that the food was getting worse, and Yueyao responded to Nanny Hao with three words: “I know.” And then there was no further discussion.

Nanny Hao did not say anything more. She knew that Third Young Lady was not a pushover, and if she did not make a fuss now, it was certainly because Third Young Lady believed the time was not right. To go to the Madam over the present troubles would only result in the Madam brushing it off lightly with a few words. They had to find an issue with some weight to it.

The food sent from the main kitchen was still passable; by being picky, they managed to cope. This was also thanks to the fact that people from Ma’s Mansion visited from time to time. The main kitchen was afraid that if people from Ma’s Mansion came to make trouble again, they would have to bear the consequences, so they dared not go too far.

Not daring to go too far with Yueyao did not mean that the servants of Lanxi Courtyard were spared. All the maids and old nannies in Lanxi Courtyard were now in trouble, the food that was sent over was getting harder to swallow; first, it was cold rice and dishes, then leftovers, and in the meals, there was neither a slice of meat to be seen nor a drop of oil.

At mealtime, the people of Lanxi Courtyard were full of complaints, but, unfortunately, even though everyone voiced their grievances to Yueyao, she did not take up their cause.

Yueyao not standing up for them led other stewards in the mansion to follow suit. The monthly allowance was delayed; clothing that was due to be distributed was not given out anymore. Anything meant for the maids and old nannies of Lanxi Courtyard was postponed.

Yueyao said to Nanny Hao, “This is a good opportunity to see which people in the courtyard are of use and which are not. Note down all of those who are of no use.” Once this matter was over, she would have those people sent away. Those who could only share the good times but not the bad were not to be kept around; such people were most likely to betray their masters.

One day, Xi Yu went to the sewing room to ask for threads and needles; they refused to provide them, which led to a big argument. The next morning, the food for the maids had a strange taste.

Hua Lei ran to Yueyao, who was in the midst of breakfast, to complain, “Miss, these people are too bullying. The steamed buns and stuffed buns they sent over are stale; how can we eat such things? Even pigs wouldn’t eat this.” What frustrated Hua Lei was that the young lady seemed unfazed after hearing it.

Yueyao was not angry, but rather asked Hua Lei to bring her a steamed bun, “Take a bite and see if it’s really stale.”

The taste of bitter disappointment washed over Hua Lei, all bitterness from inside out. Seeing Yueyao’s calm eyes, her heart quivered. Hua Lei might have appeared carefree and thoughtless on other days, but she was actually very afraid of Yueyao. She did not dare to fake it, and obediently took a small bite of the steamed bun as Yueyao had ordered, chewing twice before swallowing hard.

Yueyao looked at the steamed bun with teeth marks and instructed, “Put it on the plate.”

Hua Lei, greatly alarmed, thought Yueyao intended to eat it, “Miss, you mustn’t eat it, you’ll get sick.”

Xi Yu was so frightened that she knelt on the ground, “Miss, it’s all my fault. I should not have argued with them.” The food they had eaten before had at least not tasted off, but this time, it was clearly retaliation for her causing an uproar. Nanny Hao had already said that the steward of the sewing room and the steward of the main kitchen were relatives.

What Yueyao ate was different from the others; her morning meal consisted of an egg, a serving of Varicolored Vegetarian Stew, a bowl of millet porridge, and a cup of Sheep Milk. These were prepared by the Kitchen Maid, who did not rely on the main kitchen’s supplies. Of course, even if Yueyao’s food came from the main kitchen, none of the staff dared to offer her steamed buns that had gone off.

Bullying the lower maids and nannies was one thing, but offending the master was another. The people in the mansion were also careful not to overstep the mark.

As Yueyao peeled the egg, she said, “Put it on the table!” When she said to put it on the table, she did not mean for her own consumption; she wasn’t insane to go eat spoiled steamed buns out of the blue. These girls were overthinking.

Nanny Hao laughed and scolded beside her, “Even if the young lady wanted to eat, she would never eat something you’ve bitten into. Where has all your usual cleverness gone?”

Yueyao also felt that Hua Lei had become rather dense lately; after being tormented to such an extent, one had to understand that her mind might not be at its best: “All rise! Let me finish this breakfast in peace.”

After breakfast, Yueyao went to the study to practice her calligraphy.

Hua Lei and Qiao Lan had thought that Yueyao would stand up for them over this matter, but to their dismay, the young lady had withdrawn again. Alas, they could no longer rely on the young lady; they would have to endure it.

Nanny Hao, after inspecting the vegetables delivered that day, entered the study with an ugly expression: “Young Lady, the produce sent from the main kitchen is not fresh at all. I have stopped the person for now.”

Yueyao put down the brush in her hand and went out. She saw the delivered vegetables were wilting, yellowed, and filled with many small holes.

Yueyao saw several caterpillars and looked at them very carefully.

The kitchen maid directly stated she couldn’t use them. The kitchen maid was a servant of the estate, and Yueyao had the deed to her service; moreover, although her monthly allowance of silver had been reduced, Yueyao still made up the difference for her, so the kitchen maid had no complaints.

Yueyao couldn’t help but laugh: “The kitchen staff’s purchasing skills are getting better and better. Such fine vegetables they have bought. Such vegetables would even be scorned as pig feed.”

Nanny Hao, seeing Yueyao’s demeanor, knew that the young lady was truly ready to take action. She always knew that the Third Young Lady wouldn’t just sit back and swallow her grievances, but she hadn’t realized that the Third Young Lady’s Endurance Skill was so good that she was only preparing to act out today.

The old nanny who delivered the vegetables felt a little scared when she saw Yueyao’s attitude. Everyone knew about Yueyao having the maids beat up the gatekeeper old nanny; the steward in charge of the kitchen sending her for this task was truly setting her up, but there was no help for it–she had to face the anger of the Third Young Lady.

The old nanny plucked up her courage and said: “Young Lady, the vegetables are very expensive outside now. It’s already good that we could buy these.”

However, Yueyao didn’t pay any attention to the old nanny who delivered the vegetables; she turned and went back to the room. She asked Nanny Hao, who had followed inside: “How many people in the mansion have redeemed themselves?” The so-called downsizing was actually letting these people buy out their servitude; if they were all sold outright, it wouldn’t sound good for the family’s reputation.

Nanny Hao had a clear grasp of the situation in the mansion: “Eleven families have redeemed themselves; the Madam voluntarily let go of sixteen families, granting them a grace by not requiring their manumission fee; additionally, more than ten people were sent off to work in the manor. In the mansion now, all the servants added up to around a hundred or so.” She paused for a moment then added: “Young Lady, this number doesn’t include those from Lanxi Courtyard.”

In the mansion, aside from the Great Master and the people from Lanxi Courtyard who were untouched, everyone else understood that even Lady family had reduced her staff by nearly half.

Yueyao chuckled lightly: “Most of these people who were let go were the Old Madam’s people, weren’t they?” Those old servants, relying on having served the Old Madam, hadn’t been stingy in giving Lady family a hard time. With the emperor comes a new court; the clever ones saw the opportunity to redeem themselves and hurriedly did so, while those less shrewd were kicked out by Lady family at the first opportunity.

Nanny Hao nodded: “Young Lady, most of these people were servants of the Old Madam. There were also some who had no particular skills and were just idling around.”

After speaking with Nanny Hao for a good while, Yueyao went back to her bedroom to change into a new set of clothes. To the bewildered Hua Lei and Qiao Lan, she said: “Go to the main house.” She also instructed Hua Lei and Qiao Lan to take the spoiled buns and the rotten vegetable leaves with them.

Hua Lei and Qiao Lan exchanged a glance and saw the happiness in each other’s eyes. In unison they said: “All right.” Their own young lady was about to assert herself.

Thinking about their young lady taking charge, Hua Lei was not even afraid of those disgusting caterpillars anymore.

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