10 A More Important Task On Hand

Consort Song's face stiffened at her counterpart's insult, but she pretended she did not hear it and did nothing more.

The three of them chatted a while longer before the first lady announced, "We'll push back the morning ritual by an hour. Besides that, you need only to come over on the first and the fifteenth day of the lunar month, and on other important occasions. I'll send a message if there is an important matter."

Although the morning ritual has to be resumed, there is no need to see their faces every day, right?

"Understood," the two concubines replied in the same breath.

Consort Li might be feeling slighted by their earlier exchange, but she knew she could not make a show of it. After all, the Lord had shown preferential treatment to the Fujin recently and she did not want to step on the wrong toe.

"That's all for today." She waved her hand at them.

The two consorts stood up, bowed, and took their leave. Consort Li led the way with Consort Song following behind.

After they left, Ruoyin lined up her servants before her.

She sent half of them away the last time. As such, there were only a dozen or so left.

Her opinion had not changed still: it did not matter how many maids she had, it mattered how good they were.

Too many of them would only lead to conflict. It would be easier for her to manage with the smart and obedient ones alone.

Sitting on the high seat with Nanny Liu and Qiao Feng standing by her, side by side, she stared down at the three rows of servants kneeling before her. Tensing her lips, she said, "Those of you who don't want to work here anymore, you can tell me now. I'll round up the monthly payment with twice the payout and you can leave after that."

"No! Your humble servant here wants to serve Fujin!" The ones kneeling on the floor shook their head, one by one, to indicate their loyalty.

Some of them were horrified after hearing reports of those who were threshed by the master after being sent away. Two had been beaten to death.

The lady could guess what was on their mind from the expression on their faces. Since the master had stood up for her, every servant inside the clan had been respectful toward her. Some even tried to flatter her ostentatiously.

She knew very well that credit had to go to his authoritative and ruthless reputation. As a prince from the royal family, he had instantly tamed the bunch of workers.

"Since all of you are willing to stay behind, then, make sure you do your work well. You can approach Nanny Liu and Qiao Feng if you have any questions. For those with good performance, you can look forward to a pay raise every half a year. For those overall good performers, I'll pick one or two to become the supervisor."

All the servants looked at her adoringly after she'd said that. They were the lowest of the low in the first place. The reason they came here was that they needed the money to support their poor families back home.

However, all the ladies here already had their capable maids with them. Their measly presence in this extensive household bore no consequence. There was no way they could make a name for themselves.

Now that a rare opportunity was presented to them, how could they let it slip? One by one, they started to kowtow to her, knocking their foreheads hard on the floor as they uttered readily, "Thank you for your generosity!"

Looking at how they were trying to outdo each other with their kowtows, she continued, "That's enough. My instruction is for you to prove your capability to me, not to show how good you are in bowing."

They stopped bowing when they heard her words. By then, all of them were looking at her as if she was their savior.

"Let me make this clear once and for all. When there are rewards, there will be punishments, too. I'll reward the capable ones. But if I were to catch any traitors, I wouldn't punish these folks personally. I don't like to see blood on my hands, so I'll just hand them over to Lord Fourth," she casually explained as if she was merely narrating a daily house rule.

"Yes, yes, yes!" All of them gasped in fear when they heard the man's title.

After settling the house affair, she got Nanny Liu to disburse some money to them and got them busy.

In the afternoon, she occupied herself with flower arrangements. Before that, she had got her maids to throw away all scented materials and aromatherapy.

As the saying went: Once bitten, twice shy. She had to do that due to her phobia now.

Just as she was leisurely going about her business, she heard the eunuch reporting: "The lord is here!"

She put her work away and walked to the entrance to see the man already standing at the front yard. She quickly approached.

The prince saw her from afar. Her snow-white, flawless skin was giving off a translucent glow in her flaming-red, traditional costume, while her painted, thin lips looked soft and delicate like rose petals.

Before she could complete the usual formality, the man hastily walked up to her and said, "You don't have to go through the formality with me in the future. You're my wife, after all."

Oh? She searched her memory. Well, this was what she had learned from the former Fujin's memory. This was how the lady used to greet him, rain or shine.

Does Lord Fourth want to be considerate because I have just recuperated from a major illness?

With a look of pleasant surprise, she turned to him and said, "Thank you for your kind consideration."

Since the man was known to be straightforward and someone who spoke his mind, she would take his words as they were.

The two of them went into the house, and he could catch a whiff of a faint floral smell. He'd been snubbed for a while. His eyes scanned the room and finally landed on the assortment of flowers in vases on the large, square table.

His face sank as he commented, "Were you busy with these over the last few days?" He was feeling displeased that she would rather spend time with the flowers than with him!

She could detect his dissatisfaction in his tone. Sneaking a peek at him, she replied, "I ordered the maids to throw away the aromatic essences. But sensing something was amiss inside here, I decided to do up some floral decorations. The scent from the real flowers is much better than the aromatherapy." She walked to the table and pointed to a few branches of flowering plum that had been neatly arranged in a vase.

His temperament is so unpredictable, like the weather!

I have to be careful around him!

He peered at the plant that she was pointing at. The branches inside the pot were of uneven heights, but they did not seem to be haphazardly arranged. The bouquet looked pleasant on the whole, and he could not pinpoint what made it look so amazing.

When he approached for a closer look, he could see that some were secured in place by wire and dark-colored ropes.

Even though he was a man of calm temperament, he was wowed by the beautiful floral arrangement nevertheless. His temper simmered after the initial wonderment.

He knew very well that she was afraid of being poisoned again, but she dared not admit to that. That was why she used the excuse of wanting a floral smell inside the house.

His heart softened at this thought. "You can get the servants to do this in the future. You're my wife, and you have more important stuff to attend to."

What he meant to tell her was: You can get the servants to do these chores. You're my wife, and you only need to be busy with my affairs!

She pondered over what he had said before she finally caught on to his sublimity. Tilting her head quizzically, it seemed to her that his expression had mellowed somewhat. Did this mean that he was not angry anymore?

At this point, he turned to look at her at the same time. With his dark orbs staring squarely into her innocent eyes, he could not help waving her over to him. "Come over."

She walked over in acquiescence. Her harried steps only seemed to add to the innocent charm on her pretty face.

He could bear her childlike presence no longer. Her silent obedience was more powerful than a petulant protest. He reached over for her hands to caress them lovingly with his palms.

Oh, well, she hardly throws a whim anyway. Besides, she's my wife and spoiling her is not a big deal.

Pursing his lips, he added, "As you enjoy the activity, you can continue with what you've been doing. You can also take this as a chance for self-improvement. You mustn't tire yourself, though."

"Don't worry, my Lord. I'll take care of myself." She was so pleased to hear him relenting that she jumped on him and sat her butt down on his lap.