"Sister Yang, it's so good to meet you."
"Yes," Mama Yang hadn't expected that by following the young madam to the Qi family, she would encounter the Ji family of four. They had all been servants of the Wei family before and were companions of Madam Yao.
They had all been imprisoned in the criminal slave quarters due to the Wei family's treason. Thinking back to the hellish days there, the adults still had lingering fear.
However, they now had new hope, especially the Ji couple. For their two sons and their future, they had to serve their new masters well.
Since they were all acquaintances, Mama Yang had no reservations in her actions.
She first led the Ji family of four to their living quarters, which was the gatehouse of the Qi family.
When building this gatehouse, Qi He had borrowed features from the Meng family's gatehouse and built two rooms for his own.
At the time, he hadn't thought of buying servants, but rather just thought it would be convenient to have an extra room to store things.
Today, it had turned out to be a great use, with the inner and outer rooms of the gatehouse, it was just right for the Ji family of four to live in.
After Mama Yang took the Ji family of four to see the gatehouse, Da Hu and Er Hu, without needing their parents to remind them, immediately got to work.
Mama Yang then took Madam Bai to the storeroom, got fabric, cotton, and needles and thread for her, and asked her to make bedding and change of clothes for the four of them when she had time.
After Mama Yang had settled the Ji family of four, she returned to the backyard to report to the young madam.
Fu Xin Ci was very satisfied with Mama Yang's arrangements, thinking: As expected of a steward who was trained in a prominent household, she handles things in an orderly fashion and doesn't require any of my worry.
"Young madam, that Old Third Ji is quite decent. As I was coming to report to you, he was with his eldest son searching the courtyard for work."
"Mm, that's good."
Fu Xin Ci gave Mama Yang some more instructions, then saw Qi He making small movements beside her, creating small, unobtrusive sounds.
Fu Xin Ci's questioning gaze turned towards him, meaning: What do you want?
Qi He: Can he say he just wants to be alone with his wife? Can't Mama Yang and the others have some sense and find a place where they won't disturb the young couple, and stay quietly?
Noticing the young master's displeased look, Mama Yang quickly reacted and immediately excused herself, retreating as if chased by a dog.
Fu Xin Ci: Is it that necessary?
Qi He: That's right.
"Wife..."
After a night of conjugal bliss, when Fu Xin Ci woke up the next day, Qi He had already gone to the seaside.
"Young master also instructed us not to disturb the young madam. When you wake up, we will come in to serve you."
After listening to Chun Yu's chatter, Fu Xin Ci mused again, if her mother-in-law had not passed away so early, how could a new bride sleep until past noon.
Alas, she muttered to herself in shame, and put on her clothes with Chun Yu's help.
Combing hair was always Chun Yu's task. Mama Yang instructed from the side, asking Chun Yu to style a new hairdo for the young madam.
Finally, Mama Yang also reminded Chun Yu: "From now on, when you comb the young madam's hair, you can no longer leave bangs."
Chun Yu then remembered that married women were not allowed to wear hairstyles with bangs; that was a style for unmarried girls.
Fortunately, her forehead was full and round, and she didn't mind exposing her smooth forehead.
Mama Yang couldn't help but exclaim, "The young madam is truly beautiful, just, just..."
Mama Yang had wanted to say she was more beautiful than so-and-so, but after consideration, she immediately shut her mouth.
She was now a servant of the Qi family. What was in the past was in the past, like a breeze blowing past, she should not mention it again.
Otherwise, if the young madam didn't like it, she would regret it deeply.
After breakfast, Fu Xin Ci was basking in the sun in the courtyard when she heard someone knocking at the front door. She knew without asking that it was Madam Fang.
So she walked to the front courtyard, with Chun Yu and Li Chun following closely behind.
"Mother, you're here, please come inside and sit."
"Mother won't come in to sit," Madam Fang looked at her daughter dressed as a new bride, and felt more comfort than worry. She said, "Mother came over because she wanted to ask you if the grapevines and pomegranates at our place have sprouted new shoots. Do you want to dig up a few to plant?"
"Yes, I was contemplating this yesterday. The courtyard looks so bare, not as pleasing to the eye as our own courtyard."
After Fu Xin Ci finished talking with Madam Fang, she asked Chun Yu to take Old Third Ji to dig up saplings outside the back wall of the Meng family's large courtyard.
"You," hearing her daughter utter those inexplicable words, "pleasing to the eye," again, Madam Fang feigned displeasure and said, "You are already married and a wife of the Qi family. You are not allowed to speak carelessly, lest others laugh at you."
Fu Xin Ci didn't care if she had listened, agreeing first was the right thing to do.
Madam Fang saw her daughter nodding repeatedly and said no more.
Her daughter was already married, and in front of the servants, there were some things her mother could only hint at.
Fu Xin Ci also understood Madam Fang's nature and knew she had come because she was worried about her.
Alas, a parent's heart.
She wanted to ask Madam Fang to come in and sit for a while, but Madam Fang refused, insisting that she still had chores to finish at home.
After seeing Madam Fang off, Fu Xin Ci walked around the courtyard and silently thought about going up the mountain to see if there were any unexpected surprises.
Before the young madam got married, she had liked going up the mountain. Mama Yang and the maids all knew this.
So when Fu Xin Ci announced that she was going up the mountain, Mama Yang and the others were not surprised and did not stop her.
Of course, they couldn't stop her anyway.
After Fu Xin Ci changed into a set of casual clothes, she walked towards the hillside.
The mother and daughter on the other side of the small river were so shocked that their jaws almost dropped.
"Mother, Mother,"
Jiang Yu Zan tugged at Deng Shi's sleeve, speaking incoherently.
Deng Shi quickly rescued her sleeve from her daughter's grasp, muttering, "My little ancestor, this is a new set of clothes mother made. If you don't let go, this sleeve will be pulled off by you."
"But Mother..."
"You don't need to say any more, Mother has seen it."
Jiang Yu Zan thought of what she had just seen, the new bride of the Qi family, who had gone up the hillside in the blink of an eye. Her hands unconsciously reached for Deng Shi's arm again, "Mother, aren't you afraid?"
"What is there to be afraid of?" Deng Shi answered, then she thoughtfully considered her daughter's question.
"Yu Zan, you need to remember that Miss Fu is not without her capabilities. How else could she have eliminated the Tatars and the Japanese pirates?"
Deng Shi, afraid her daughter would overthink, continued to chide her, "Didn't you hear what the people in town said? This time the Japanese pirates invaded Liaodong, and there were over a thousand people who came to our side."
"Mother, daughter heard." Thinking of this matter, Jiang Yu Zan's heart pounded. "What if those Japanese pirates really charged in? Mother, let's go back to the city."