Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 52 Renaming

The second aunt downstairs had never received so much attention from the women. Her vanity soared, and she immediately led a group of people to the third floor. Fortunately, Manager Qi was indeed very shrewd. After receiving the news from Meng Shu, he calmly said a few polite words to the second aunt. In other words, the cloud silk was still under development and the weaving process was very difficult. The shop did not have any at the moment and would not sell or accept any pre-orders.

She then directed several waiters to entertain the women. The second aunt felt she had lost face and looked very embarrassed. Seeing that her niece was not standing up for her, she ordered her to return to the mansion with her.

While it's perfectly fine for someone living in Lin'an to return to their maternal home, it's quite inappropriate for them to act so arrogantly towards their own niece, the legitimate daughter of the Tang family, in front of the shopkeeper.

Not wanting to offend her elders in front of outsiders, the second young lady went downstairs with her aunt. Since the second aunt's carriage was not as luxurious as the Tang family's, she went directly into the second young lady's carriage.

Meng Shu knew the seriousness of the matter and began to think that she probably hadn't checked the almanac before going out today. When she arrived at the gate of the Tang family mansion, she saw that her eldest aunt and eldest son-in-law had also happened to be returning to their parents' home. She felt that she had witnessed the diversity of poor relatives in a wealthy family.

The two great-aunts had very different personalities, but they were equally difficult to deal with.

The eldest aunt was timid by nature and was indeed raised by the old lady to be the most like a lady from a prominent family. She thoroughly implemented the spirit of "taking the husband as the head of the household" for women. Before marrying the eldest aunt, the eldest son-in-law was just a minor official. Later, with the help of the Tang family's money, he bribed and schemed his way up and down the ranks. Now he is a clerk in the prefectural government of Lin'an. He is extremely greedy by nature. After the eldest aunt's dowry was squandered, he often sent his wife back to her parents' home to beg for money.

After exchanging greetings, everyone entered the mansion together. Naturally, the steward had already heard the news and came out to greet the eldest son-in-law. The second young lady followed her two aunts directly to Fu'an Residence, with Meng Shumengzhu accompanying them. The second young lady sent Ruizhu back to Yunyi Courtyard.

Fu An Ju.

After hastily completing the ceremony, the second aunt immediately buried her face in the old lady's lap and cried, "Mother, you must stand up for your daughter! Manager Qi insulted me in public. It's just a piece of cloud-like silk. What's wrong with showing it off to those country bumpkins who have never seen the world?"

Although the old lady did not know the specifics of the matter, her face darkened when she saw her daughter acting like this in public. Fortunately, Suwen had received a message from the gatekeeper beforehand and had already sent out several second-class maids who served in Fu'an Residence.

The second young lady was aloof and disliked crying and wailing. Out of respect for her elders, she didn't say anything. Only when the old lady asked what had happened did she speak calmly and explain in a few words.

"Second Aunt should not have mentioned it today. The sudden appearance of Yunwu Silk has attracted a lot of attention. Father has not yet discussed the follow-up with Manager Qi. It is really inappropriate for you to announce it so publicly."

Meng Shu lowered her head and made a vase. She had been startled on the second floor just now because a few days ago, Madam Yun had specially sent someone to remind her that Yunwuxiao and the clothes made from it should not be shown to others. Even the half bolt that the young lady had asked for was taken back.

Meng Shu had been pondering this for the past few days. Perhaps the head of the family was planning to present this fabric as tribute to the palace. If this were to succeed, the cloud-mist silk would become a tribute exclusively for the emperor's harem, and ordinary people would naturally no longer be able to use it.

The old lady noticed the second aunt's glare at the second young lady and said in a deep voice, "What Wan'er said is right. Your brother is currently planning a major event for the business, which concerns Yun Wuxiao. I sent someone to deliver a message to you a few days ago, and you dared to do it in public..."

“Mother, it’s just a piece of fabric. Is my reputation less important than a piece of fabric?” Second Aunt was on the verge of tears, and this time the tears really fell.

“You’re a mother now, yet you’ve lost all your composure. You’re becoming more and more… out of line.”

Meng Shu intuitively felt that the old lady's words should be "stupid," but she didn't want to embarrass her second aunt because the younger generation was present.

The old lady didn't want to look at her anymore, so she turned to her eldest daughter and said softly, "Rou'er hasn't come for two days. I heard from the gatekeeper that her husband has come too. Let Xian'er bring him to Fu'anju for a meal later."

The eldest aunt nodded gratefully, then looked up with a worried expression and said hesitantly, "Mother, the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, and my husband has to make arrangements for the higher-ups..."

"Didn't we just send you a thousand taels of silver half a month ago?"

The eldest aunt's mouth seemed to be glued shut, and it took her a while to manage to say, "It's not about money. My husband heard that his grandfather is about to have a big birthday banquet, and he's currently worried about the birthday gift. He happened to hear that my younger brother brought my mother two 500-year-old ginseng roots last year..." At this point, perhaps knowing that she was being unfilial, she couldn't continue.

Meng Shumengzhu tried her best to minimize her presence, and the old lady probably regretted not letting the second young lady leave before asking her questions.

Ginseng is already hard to come by, and a hundred-year-old ginseng is extremely precious. Noble families would always try to keep a few pieces on hand, but a five-hundred-year-old ginseng is something you can only dream of. Even the medicine stores of kings and nobles probably don't have any. It's no exaggeration to say that it's a life-saving treasure. My aunt's request is truly despicable.

Meng Shu lowered her head, not daring to look at the old lady's face. The second young lady stood up directly, apologized to the old lady, and said that she was tired from patrolling the shops and needed to go back to rest. The old lady went along with it and asked Suwen to see her out.

Thus, only the mother and her two daughters remained in the flower hall.

Suwen lifted the curtain to see the Second Miss out of the flower hall. They walked straight along the winding path and out of the moon gate. The Second Miss walked ahead, and Suwen deliberately slowed down a few steps. Meng Shu, naturally obedient, quickly whispered that she and Mengzhu hadn't heard anything today.

Suwen nodded slightly in satisfaction.

The three returned to Yunyi Courtyard. The second young lady was upset and irritable. Just now on the third floor, Manager Qi was talking to her about the important points of Yunwu Silk, but unexpectedly, her second aunt caused this trouble.

Meng Shu offered the second young lady a cup of tea to help her catch her breath, and casually said to Ruizhu, "Today, while strolling around the first floor of Yongxiu Cloth Shop, I saw a young boy next to a woman. His appearance startled me."

Ruizhu, being the most supportive, immediately asked, "What's going on?"

Meng Shu smiled and said, "That person looks a lot like someone I met at the brokerage. It's quite interesting. When I asked him what his name was, he said it was 'Wood.' Can you believe someone would have such a name?"

Mengzhu said matter-of-factly, "What's so strange about that? A humble name makes a child easier to raise."

Meng Shu was taken aback and secretly rolled her eyes. "Sister Mengzhu is right, but since he will be serving his master from now on, calling him 'wooden blockhead' is not appropriate. So I had the idea to change his name."

"What's your name?"

“I told him that a single tree cannot make a forest, so why not use the character ‘林’ (forest) instead.”

Ruizhu clapped her hands, "What a good name! Two 'wood' characters, it doesn't look lonely. He will definitely remember your kindness."

Mengzhu: "Then why not just call it 'Sen'? Three 'wood' characters would sound more lively."

Meng Shu sighed, speechless. Fortunately, the second young lady slowly realized, "That's right, just change the name!"