Volume 2: Eagle vs. Dragon Chapter 54 Daily Life after Marriage
Ye Youyu just stayed in Wujiayuan.
She was smart, and Wu Chengjian told her very clearly the boundaries of her actions, what she should and should not interfere with. After she understood, she neither flinched nor became obstinate, especially after she and Chunrui clarified the rights and responsibilities, she became more comfortable and calm in handling matters.
Seeing that she was able to manage people and affairs in an orderly manner, Wu Chengjian called all the maids from other courtyards in Wujiayuan and asked her to manage them together.
Dozens of stewards, old women, maids, and servants all came to the courtyard of Ritianju and said in unison: "Greetings to Officer Hao, greetings to the Third Young Lady."
Wu Chengjian was sitting on a lounge chair nearby, basking in the sun, just watching without saying a word.
Ye Youyu looked at the servants who were all bowing their heads in the courtyard. He was neither hurried nor panicked. He went through the courtyard and called on the leaders to question them one by one. He asked more questions and listened more. He did not comment himself. Finally, he said, "Let's do things according to the rules set by the eldest young lady. If there is anything specific that you don't understand, come back and talk to me in private."
Wu Dacheng came out and said, "Third Young Lady, everything else is easy to deal with, except for the Ye Family Garden. All the people from the Ye Family have crossed the river today. They only left behind about 20 servants and maids to look after the gardens and yards. I don't know what to do with these people, and how to manage these yards."
Ye Youyu glanced at Wu Chengjian and saw that he had no intention of intervening, so he said, "There will be no Ye Garden in the future. That will be the South Garden of our Wu Garden. I will discuss this with my sister-in-law and find a capable master carpenter to redesign it, tear down the wall, and make a big garden. All the servants and maids of the Ye family will be sent back without leaving a single one."
Wu Dacheng said: "We won't have enough manpower in that case."
Ye Youyu said, "Let's go find a human trafficker to pick some new ones. When the people are sent here, Wu Qi will choose the servants, Chun Rui will choose the maids and servants, and Uncle Dacheng will choose the gardeners and the menial workers."
Wu Dacheng was overjoyed. Ye Youyu said, "Once you've chosen the person, ask the broker to calculate the price for Chunrui. After Chunrui has calculated the price, let me know. I'll send it to my sister-in-law for review."
Seeing that Wu Chengjian did not stop her, Chunrui said, "Yes."
Ye Youyu asked, "Officer Hao, is there anything else you want to tell me?"
Wu Chengjian said: "I don't care about these things, just do as you say."
When he said this, the servants' heads and waists bent even more.
Ye Youyu said, "Then let's all go."
The servants all left.
Wu Chengjian then stood up and said with a smile, "This is how we'll do things from now on." He then said to Wu Qi, "Prepare the boat, take Xia Qing with you, and we'll go out."
Ye Youyu saw that the sun was already setting, and didn't know where he was going. When he wanted to ask, he swallowed the words back and thought, "He asked me to help manage the household, but he didn't ask me to manage himself." So he changed the topic and said, "You have to come back for dinner tonight?"
Wu Chengjian said, "It shouldn't be necessary. If I don't come back tonight, remember to greet my father on my behalf tomorrow morning."
Ye Youyu thought to himself, "Are we going to spend the night at Huachahao?" But he just said, "Okay."
Wu Chengjian took Wu Qi and Xia Qing away, and indeed, he did not come back that night.
Dongxue couldn't help but say when no one was around: "Miss, you are newly married, and Haoguan is not at home..."
Before he could finish, Ye Youyu glared at him and choked him. Ye Youyu said, "If that's the case, don't mention it again in the future, no matter in front of others or behind their backs."
Dongxue lowered her head and said, "Yes."
Seeing Dongxue's aggrieved look, he knew that this was his confidant from the Ye family. They would have to rely on each other for many years to come, so he had to tell her the truth. He pulled her closer and whispered, "My marriage with Hao Guan... is actually a business deal. It's an agreement between Hao Guan and me. I've told you this clearly today. You have to keep it in your heart, but you also have to keep it to yourself."
Dongxue let out a cry. She had actually guessed this. After all, Wu Chengjian suddenly agreed to marry Ye Youyu, a concubine's daughter. This was very strange. However, he whispered, "I know that... but you are... the third young lady of the main house after all."
"The third young lady of the main house..." Ye Youyu smiled faintly and said, "Those who are well matched, such as Pan Qiguan's wife, are the real main wife. Or those who are in love with their husbands, such as Haoguan's sister-in-law, are also the main wife with a clear conscience. What am I? In terms of family background, I am marrying up, and in terms of the relationship between the two sides, he has someone in his heart - these things, we knew in our hearts before getting married. So this marriage is just a business deal. In the future, I will do my duty as the 'third young lady', and he will give me the decent momentum I need. Besides, we will not entangle with each other, and we will not owe each other anything. This is what we agreed. Dongxue, since you know what to do in the future, right?"
Dongxue nodded somewhat stiffly, but still said: "I just...feel a little sorry for the girl..."
"How can it not be worth it..." Ye Youyu said, "Don't you think about it? There are people all over Guangzhou who want to be the third wife of the Wu family, lining up from Xiguan all the way to the foot of Xiqiao Mountain. But he is the only one who can help me and is willing to help. So I have no choice in this deal, but he has many choices. But why is he willing to choose me?"
Dongxue shook her head, expressing her confusion.
"Because I know my limits." Ye Youyu said, "So, you also have to know your limits, do you understand?"
Ye Youyu said this, but the big bed that the two of them slept in last night suddenly seemed empty tonight.
"There are fish, there are fish," she said to herself, facing the empty ceiling of the bed, " What are you thinking about? Everything is good now, better than you expected, isn't it? Think about when you were under house arrest, think about when you played with the toilet, compared to now, it's like heaven... There are fish... Go to sleep, go to sleep."
She closed her eyes, but the corners of her eyes were a little wet.
Wu Chengjian hadn't come back for two days, and no one knew where he had gone. Ye Youyu was able to order all the servants in Wu Garden around because Wu Chengjian had delegated his power, but she didn't ask anyone to find out.
Dongxue thought to herself, "I have to do what the girl finds difficult to do for her." So she wanted to ask Changzi to find out, but unexpectedly Changzi fell ill - he had been running back and forth by the water and fire during the two days of the wedding, and he was holding on at the time, but when everything was settled, he relaxed and fell ill.
Ye Youyu quickly asked someone to call a doctor. The illness was serious, but fortunately he was young and had strong vitality. Although the illness was serious, it was not dangerous. He just needed some time to rest.
After settling Changzi, Chunrui and the others also selected the people and presented the price quoted by the human traffickers. Ye Youyu said, "Let's go to Shanggong Garden to see if Master Chuan Longci is here. If he is, invite him over."
Shanggong Garden is an enlarged version of the account office of the old house in Xiguan, and is the office of Wujiayuan. Soon, Chuanlongci came. After greeting, Ye Youyu got straight to the point and gave him the price of the human trafficker. Chuanlongci glanced at it and smiled, "It's too expensive. This price..."
Ye Youyu interrupted and said, "I don't want to know what's going on here. I just want to ask Master Ci to squeeze out the water in here. Our Wu family won't be a sucker, but we'll let the dental clinic make the money, as long as it's a fair price in the market."
Master Chuan Longci smiled and said, "I understand. I'll go negotiate the price with the other party."
Several brokers from the dental firm were waiting outside. After Master Chuan Longci had gone out for a meal, he returned with a scribbled quotation sheet and told Ye Youyu the total price. Ye Youyu said, "Okay, just rewrite it for me at this price."
When this matter spread out, all the servants in the house knew that although the Third Young Madam looked young, she was not easy to fool. But the way she handled things made others not lose their temper.
This matter reached the old house. After hearing about it, Cai Qiaozhu nodded slightly and said, "I didn't expect that he would be such a clever person."
Wu Chengjian still didn't come back that night. The next morning, when Ye Youyu went to the nursing home, she happened to see Cai Qiaozhu coming. After the two sisters-in-law greeted Wu Guoying good morning , Ye Youyu said, "What a coincidence. I was planning to go to the old house in Xiguan later. I have a few things to ask my sister-in-law."
Wu Guoying waved her hand and said, "I have some important things to do at home, so you guys go and take care of them first."
The two sisters-in-law excused themselves and sat down in the yard. Ye Youyu patiently told them everything from beginning to end about his plans to demolish the wall, merge the gardens, send servants, and hire people. Finally, he took out the copied price list.
Cai Qiaozhu read it carefully, put it down and said, "Okay, let's do it." She glanced at Ye Youyu again and suddenly said, "Hao Guan has been to Mr. He's place in Nanhai these days."
Ye Youyu was somewhat stunned by this sudden remark: "Ah?"
Cai Qiaozhu said, "You haven't been to the Xiguan mansion yet, and you haven't seen your uncle, but you probably have heard about his health. The two brothers have a deep affection for each other. Recently, Haoguan has personally taken care of your uncle's doctor and medication. Chengjun's main doctor is Mr. Er He from Nanhai, and Haoguan goes to see him every month, sometimes staying for two or three days."
Ye Youyu said "oh" and lowered his head.
Cai Qiaozhu said, "Okay, go and do your work first, I'll go back inside and ask after the master."
Ye Youyu agreed and took Dongxue back.
Cai Qiaozhu watched her leave before returning to her room, determined to tell her father-in-law about what had happened to Ye Youyu in the past two days.
Wu Guoying was very satisfied: "It seems that this Xijiasao is also a virtuous woman, capable of managing affairs, and knows how to behave. Haoguan has a good eye, really good!"
Cai Qiaozhu said: "I also think this sister-in-law is good. But..."
Wu Guoying asked: "What?"
Cai Qiaozhu said, "Hao Guan hasn't come back for two nights, didn't the master notice?"
Because Wu Chengjian often stayed out all night before, his family was used to it, so Wu Guoying didn't pay much attention to it. At this time, she frowned and asked, "Isn't it for work?"
"It's the end of the year now, how can there be any official business?" Cai Qiaozhu said, "He has been in Xichi Hall in the South China Sea these two days, but before going to the South China Sea, he went to the Huacha Ship. After getting off the Huacha Ship, he went to Shenxian Island to drink alone. I'm afraid he had a quarrel with the person on the ship."
Wu Guoying frowned even more.
Cai Qiaozhu said, "The girl on the Huachai must be a good person, considering she stayed with our Wu family when they were in trouble. It's a pity that she is not suitable to be a good match for Hao Guan because of her background. Hao Guan is the head of our Yihehang and the top-ranking merchant in the Thirteen Hongs! Having a mistress is not a big deal, but it's not right for him to go on the ship again after only a few days of marriage. We have to distinguish the difference between inside and outside, and between the primary and the secondary. Otherwise, there will be trouble in the future."
Wu Guoying nodded slightly.
Cai Qiaozhu added, "Just now, I helped to cover up in front of Third Aunt. I really didn't want the young couple to have a quarrel just after their wedding. But if it keeps on like this, with Youyu's intelligence, she will always be able to guess it. Master, you know that I have never cared much about Third Uncle's romantic affairs, but I think Youyu's behavior these days is satisfactory. She is a good daughter-in-law for our Wu family. I also think that Haoguan's behavior these two days is not quite appropriate. So I think, if it is convenient, Master should persuade her to go to Huachahao less often if possible."
Wu Guoying agreed to Cai Qiaozhu's request, but he never did it.
