Chapter 640 Taking Office (Part 1)
Because she lost her innocence and thus proved her own innocence, Qingwen temporarily received a "compensation" of an increase of one tael and five cents in her monthly salary, thus surpassing Shiliu and Furong and becoming the most senior maid in the mansion, second only to Yuanyang in treatment.
Of course, this was only an apparent improvement. Ruan Rong had already made up for the gap secretly, so as to prevent Shi Liu and Furong from feeling resentful due to their failure in the face competition.
As for Caixia, who was proven guilty and then lost her innocence, she was once again demoted to a menial job - she seemed to have some resentment, and who could feel at ease if she continued to stay in the small kitchen?
In short, this kind of thing, which was commonplace among wealthy families, did not cause any waves in the Sun Mansion, and the level of attention it received was even far less than that of the news that Sun Shaozong was about to take office.
October 1st, cloudy.
“Gululu, gurulu…poof!”
Sun Shaozong spat out the white foam in his mouth and threw the toothpaste aside. Immediately, a little maid took it with both hands and took it aside to wash it carefully.
Furong handed him the tea at the right time. He took it in his hand, tilted his head back and drank half a cup, gulped it in his mouth for a while, and then spurted it out far away with a "puff".
After repeated requests, Sun Shaozong returned the teacup to Furong, and took a towel from the tray held by another maid to wash his hands and face while asking, "Has our family changed their tooth powder recently?"
"Just changed."
Furong said hurriedly, "It is said that this is a new recipe from Zhishunzhai. The nobles in the palace all said it was good after using it, so we changed to it as well."
"Switch it back to the original one."
Sun Shaozong threw the towel onto the tray and instructed without even turning his head: "This refined salt is ground too finely, and I don't know what's mixed in it, so it's a bit sticky when I brush my teeth."
When he entered the main hall, he saw several women comparing the jade pendant with the official uniform, and he could not help but wonder, "Didn't we already decide yesterday? Why are you fussing with it?"
"Yesterday was yesterday!"
Ruan Rong held the three jade pendants side by side in her hands, first comparing their shapes, then sticking them against the bright red official robe to compare their colors, and said crisply, "It's cloudy today, so the one I picked yesterday doesn't seem to be translucent enough."
This is definitely idle time!
Sun Shaozong was speechless and went straight to sit in the main seat.
Ruan Rong took a break from her busy schedule and first asked Shi Liu to go to the small kitchen to serve the dishes. She also discussed it with Xiangling and You Erjie. In the end, she felt that the curtain was too thick and light was not translucent, so she simply asked the two women to hold the official robe and go outside to sweep and measure it together.
Not until the food was almost served did the three girls come back from outside and sit down at the table.
"Look at you guys mobilizing so many troops."
Sun Shaozong said helplessly: "I am going to be an official, not to work part-time at Xianggu Mansion. Who dares to get close to take a closer look?"
Ruan Rong burst out laughing when she heard this, and said with her hands covering her mouth, "If Master really goes to work part-time at Xianggu House, the business will definitely be good ."
As he said this, he looked at You Erjie teasingly: "Don't you think this is true?"
How could You Erjie dare to respond to such a question?
She laughed at first, then took the opportunity to defend Ruan Rong, saying, "After all, this is the first day that the master has taken office, and Sister also wants to prepare as carefully as possible."
"I think this is just idle."
Taking up the ivory chopsticks from the rhino horn chopstick pillow, Sun Shaozong first picked up the rare green leafy vegetables at that time, picked up a chopstick and placed it on Ruan Rong's plate: "Spend half of the day, go and see your godsister, or go and enjoy the maple leaves and autumn chrysanthemums or something - and also let the child relax his muscles and bones."
The first part was fine, but the latter part made Ruan Rong curl her lips. She thought that the little bastard was so naughty all the time, why did he need to exercise his muscles?
As she spoke, she was the second one to pick up the chopsticks, and Xiangling and You Erjie followed suit.
Because dozens of autumn crabs were steamed today, seven or eight maids were prepared nearby, each holding a gold needle, silver scissors, and bamboo tweezers, and they used the same method as "cutting the tender meat from the legs of a heron and scraping the fat from the belly of a mosquito" to desperately search the shells.
The family was enjoying the meal when they heard the maid outside come in to report that Young Master Liu from Dongsi Pailou had arrived and was waiting in the front living room.
Liu Xianglian is here?
Although it had been agreed that he would serve as his advisor, it had not been asked that he come early in the morning to accompany him to take up the post.
Considering his usually lazy nature, he is able to be so self-aware, which shows that he really puts his heart into it.
After finding out that Liu Xianglian had come after dinner, Sun Shaozong asked the maid to go back and tell Liu Xianglian to wait in the front hall for the time being - although they were close friends, this guy's looks were too lethal, so it was better not to provoke him in the backyard.
He used chopsticks as a spoon and took a few more mouthfuls. Then he heard his son in the inner room chattering.
Sun Shaozong hurriedly got up, changed into his official robe, and went forward to look for Liu Xianglian - if he really got entangled by his son, it would be uncertain when he would be able to leave.
As he walked to the front hall with his sleeves fluttering, he saw that Liu Xianglian had changed his usual style and exchanged his tight heroic cloak for a scholar's long gown, which made him look... even more androgynous.
Tsk~
With such a mentor around, no one will misunderstand my sexual orientation, right?
Sun Shaozong secretly complained in his heart, but he didn't say anything out loud. After all, the fact that a boy has a feminine appearance is Liu Xianglian's Achilles' heel - besides, it was given by his parents, not like the head-changing monsters in later generations.
"Second brother."
After Liu Xianglian stood up, he did not rush to salute. Instead, he picked up a small box from the table and presented it with both hands, saying: "This gift is too much, I..."
"What's the problem?"
Sun Shaozong threw his hand away and said unhappily, "If I hadn't sent someone to pick you up the night before yesterday, I wouldn't have known that you had actually sold the shop. My sister-in-law is the same. She often visits my family but she never let anyone know."
Liu Xianglian blushed, making his skin look even smoother and his face look more like jade. He muttered, "I originally wanted to calm down and take charge of the shop, but I ended up losing a large sum of money..."
This is a classic case of high aspirations but low performance.
Originally the Liu family's shop had been in business for more than twenty years. Although the business had its ups and downs, at least there had always been some income. But now, Liu Xianglian took over and within less than a year, he had directly lost all the money in the shop.
Today, Liu Xianglian and his wife are living beyond their means, and this is the biggest reason why he is in a hurry to find a job - it's just that the boy is too embarrassed to speak up.
Sun Shaozong spread his hands and said, "I originally wanted to buy the shop back and put it under your name again, but then I checked and found out that it was bought by Prince Zhongshun's Mansion. You also know that I had a rift with the prince back then, so someone else bought the shop, but I couldn't."
As he spoke, he pushed the box into Liu Xianglian's arms and said, "You can use this hundred taels of gold to buy another shop, or a farm or something - remember to ask someone to take care of it, so that you won't mess it up again."
"Second brother..."
Liu Xianglian was both moved and ashamed. When he was about to say a few more words, Sun Shaozong had already turned around and called him to go straight to the stable.
