Little Shen shi chuckled cheerfully with her face turning animated, “Today Empress Dowager was also there, wasn’t it? If there was only our Empress, your face wouldn’t be in this color now. My sister is such a generous woman and would never discipline you.” Then she turned to Minglan and said smilingly, “I saw them so exhausted standing there for more than an hour, so I have brought them to your place. Don’t be angry at me.”

Hearing that, Minglan gave out a wry smile, “Second Madam Zheng, thanks for your appreciation for my mansion. My humble house is honored by your presence. Please feel free to come, you are very ‘welcome.” Little Shen shi didn’t say anything but only gave out a complacent smile.

Then, a few maids carried basins of water and towels into the waterside pavilion.

Madam Duan took over a warm towel from the little maid and handed it to Madam Geng, saying with a gentle look, “Wipe your neck now. You sweated a lot and even got your makeup messed up. Others might laugh at you. Why don’t you wash your face now?”

“Thanks a lot. You should wash your face too.” Madam Geng took over the towel casually and rubbed her shoulders and neck. After that, she told the maid to put a handkerchief in front of her chest. Some maids carried the basin and the mirror while others helped Madam Geng wash her face and do make-up.

After Madam Duan thought for a while, she said, “All right.” Then she bent down to let the maids help her wash her face too.

Those maids gave out attentive service with a reverent attitude and soft movement. When they walked into the pavilion, they didn’t make any sound and only their clothes were rustling. Seeing that, Madam Zhong attached the wet towel on her forehead while turning around to say to Minglan, “Last time when I was here, I already wanted to say that your maids of the low class were even better than my private maids.” She glanced at those submissive girls with a smile on her long face, “Pretty, capable and well-behaved.”

Minglan chuckled softly and pretended to be satisfied with a smile, “Sister Zhong, you are so sweet, so are your words. I have a few baskets of bamboos which were sent from the mountain area just now. Please take some back home to have a taste.”

Madam Zhong burst into a laughter right away. Before she could say anything, Little Shen shi said ahead of her, “You’re such a pushover. The one who gave you compliments could have presents, what about us who are clumsy of speech?”

“Of course, it’s for everyone. Now are you satisfied?” Minglan waved her hand and begged for mercy as if she had been robbed. Little Shen shi and Madam Zhong both laughed happily.

Madam Geng had already finished cleaning her face and was tilting her head to let the maids put on hairpins and earrings for her. After she could finally speak, she said in a hurry, “A few days ago, I asked a few traders to find me a few great maids like these ones but only made a fool of myself. They told me that the maids of the first glass in the big families have been disciplined since they were little. After being observed for a few years, the decent maids would be sent to serve the young masters and the ladies. Alas… now I only wish that I could find a few tough old Mama who know well about the rules to discipline my maids!”

Her words amused everyone. Little Shen shi, the one who laughed the hardest, rested on the arm of the chair with her shoulders trembling. Madam Duan tried hard to stop laughing and teased, “There’s no need to find one, you are already the toughest woman!”

Duan Chengqian and his wife were both from prestigious families of the Shu State. Although they were of the collateral branches, they were well educated and discipled. Madam Duan had followed his husband to the capital this time. Her life here had only become better after some maids had been sent to her from her husband’s parents’ family and her own parents’ family.

After those women laughed for a while, Madam Geng frowned and sighed, “Everything’s fine in the capital except that I always feel short of hand. Then I also started to purchase maids. However, the elders ones would either be too clever or too stupid. As the for little ones, they are not good at serving at all. I have been troubled by those rules in the capital. Last time when I gave a banquet, I made so many mistakes and almost made a fool of myself.”

“Sister, you set the standard too high. I knew that you have bought and sold the maids five or six times in one month. How could choosing maids be so hard for you? Even if they are not good enough, you should still make do.” Madam Zhong looked at the water surface and said in a tender voice.

Madam Geng curled her lips and snorted, “How can I let those scheming and coquettish girls seduce the men in my family!”

“It’s normal for men to have concubines. Sister, you are about to have your daughter-in-law, how can you still be stubborn about this?” Madam Zhong gave out a fake smile.

General Zhong and General Geng were as close as brother. After they both got married, General Zhong always felt uncomfortable to see his great friend being disciplined strictly by a woman. As a result, Madam Zhong who was influenced by her husband also sneered at Madam Geng from time to time.

“All right, all right, here it goes again!” Seeing that Madam Geng was about to fly into a rage, Madam Duan tried to ease the tension right away, “A woman always knows the things her husband would accept the things he would not. Every couple has their own way of getting along, stop quarrelling about this!”

This topic was not suitable for the young madam to talk due to the generation gap, so Minglan and Little Shen shi both covered their faces with the teacup while drinking tea quietly. After Minglan played dumb for a long while, she finally remembered she couldn’t keep doing this as the hostess today, then she cleared her throat and changed the subject, “Why did it take you so long to express your gratitude?”

Last time, it had only taken Minglan half an hour to finish expressing her thanks and that included the time of resting and other incidents.

There were rules for expressing thanks to the Royal Family. Except for the huge ceremony in the year, it was forbidden for a bunch of people to enter into the Imperial Palace since that would ruin the solemnness of the Palace. Thus the people who needed to express their gratitude to the Royal Family could only go to the Palace in batches. As the new Madam of the First Class who had received extra gifts, Minglan had the honor to go to the Palace in the first batch and feel the grace of the royal family and also played as a walk-on actor in that show in the meantime.

She should be called to the Palace the next day. However… Eh, there had been, a, small, accident.

“What kind of reason do you think it will be?! That lady in the Palace of Tranquility must have got upset!” Madam Geng, a straightforward woman as she was, said bluntly, “Our Empress and Empress Dowagers are in a stalemate, how could we dare to move a bit? That’s why we have been standing there for a long time.”

Madam Zhong blew her tea gracefully and said, “Sister Geng, careful with your words.”

“Careful the hell! When we got out of the Palace, your face was even longer than the horse in front of our coach!” Madam Geng snorted.

Madam Zhong’s face turned deadly red while Madam Duan kept coughing.

Minglan almost started to sigh. Then she turned to Little Shen shi and asked, “How is it going? I seldom go out lately and know nothing… Is it convenient for you to talk about it right now?” She lowered her voice on purpose when uttering the last sentence.

Little Shen shi was in a great mood these days. Hearing that, she said vigorously, “There’s nothing inconvenient to say. This morning, His Majesty has decreed an imperial edict. It was decided that there would be two thousand imperial maids being sent out of the Palace.”

“That’s a great thing that benefits both the country and the people.” Minglan chuckled gladly. A large amount of expenses could be reduced after half of the maids were sent away.

Madam Duan nodded gently and said in a tender voice, “It is indeed a good thing. Those imperial maids of low rankings can never get married even if they get aged. The ones who could depend on their families could still live better lives, but the rest which is also the majority of them will only stay lonely in their late years. Our emperor, empress dowager and empress are all generous and kind. That’s a bless from God and the fortune for our country.”

“But this time not only the maids of the low rankings have been sent out.” Madam Geng lowered her voice with her eyes flickering excited light.

Minglan chuckled with two of her white teeth exposed, “Of course, there aren’t two thousand maids of the low rankings in the Palace after all. Even if there are, we still cannot let all of them out cause the heavy manual labor in the Palace still needed someone to do.” The reasonable way to lay staffs off should be reducing employees of each level.

Madam Zhong burst into laughter right away, being amused by the smile on Minglan’s face because she always saw that kind of artful smile on her five-year-old daughter’s face. Then, she said smilingly, “Our empress said that now that money is needed in expanding the army and building the canals. Not only should the number of the maids of the low ranking be reduced, our emperor and empress as well as the imperial consorts, the princes and the princesses could only keep a certain number of their personal maids, and the rest would be eliminated. Of course, the two empress dowagers are no exception.”