Although she went to bed late last night, Qi Yue still woke up on time in the morning. When she was having breakfast and saw the stewardesses coming in, Qi Yue was somewhat surprised.
“Oh my, why are there more people today?” she said quietly to A’Ru while wiping her mouth and laughing.
Through the soft silk curtains, she could see that there were many more women standing in the room than in previous days. They weren’t gathered together whispering and laughing quietly before Qi Yue came out as they had in the past, but were respectfully standing with hands lowered, waiting.
Que Zhi walked in from outside, and the stewardesses all smiled and greeted her. This was treatment Que Zhi had never received before. Before entering Qi Yue’s courtyard, these stewardesses wouldn’t even look at her properly. After entering Qi Yue’s courtyard, they only finally deigned to give her a proper look, and that was all.
Today they actually took the initiative to smile and greet her, which immediately made Que Zhi beam with joy. She instinctively wanted to bow and say a few pleasing words following their lead, but suddenly remembered her current status and thought of those past scenes…
You finally have your day too!
Que Zhi raised her head a bit higher, imitating the manner of these stewardesses from the past, gave an indifferent “mm,” and leisurely lifted the curtain to enter Qi Yue’s room without saying another word, leaving the stewardesses behind her pursing their lips in annoyance.
Seeing Que Zhi like this, A’Ru shook her head while Qi Yue laughed.
“Young Mistress, Young Mistress, your going out yesterday was so wonderful!” Que Zhi immediately dropped her pretentious aloofness upon entering, taking three steps in two as she rushed over cheerfully, lowering her voice excitedly. “It was too good!”
“How was it good? Didn’t you say it scared you all to death?” Qi Yue laughed.
“At first it did scare us to death, but who knew you actually went out with the Prince…” Que Zhi’s eyes were smiling so much they almost disappeared, shaking her head while glancing at the outer room. “Now let’s see how they can keep saying the Prince doesn’t favor you, Young Mistress…”
This wasn’t really their false talk either – this Prince really did seem to not favor her much…
Qi Yue smiled without speaking. However, it seemed this Prince was quite useful. Just by entering the door together with him, her status had immediately risen another big step. What if she and he lived together?
What was she thinking! Qi Yue quickly shook her head, dismissing this disgusting thought.
“I’m going out again today,” Qi Yue stood up and said to Que Zhi. “There are some things later that you’ll handle for me.”
“Go ahead, go ahead! Young Mistress, you and the Prince have a good time. This servant will definitely handle the household matters properly…” Que Zhi said with a smile.
Qi Yue smiled and patted her shoulder with her fan.
“How strange,” she said, looking at Que Zhi with raised eyebrows.
“What’s wrong with this servant?” Que Zhi felt somewhat uneasy under her gaze and asked anxiously. Although she had some selfish thoughts, she had really been working wholeheartedly these days.
“A smart, beautiful, and capable girl like you – how come no one wanted to use you before, leaving you for me to benefit from?” Qi Yue laughed.
No master had ever spoken to a servant like this before. If it were another girl, like Lan’er or the other second-class maids, hearing such words they would either be stunned not knowing how to respond, or think Qi Yue was speaking sarcastically. But Que Zhi immediately beamed with smiles.
“That’s because they were blind,” she said with a toss of her head, making her jade water-drop earrings trace beautiful arcs.
A’Ru was stunned, then turned away, really not wanting to say another word.
Qi Yue laughed heartily.
“Right, exactly,” she laughed. “They were blind.”
The laughter here naturally reached the ears of the stewardesses outside, making their expressions even more colorful. Only Nanny Su remained as calm as always.
A’Ru and Que Zhi lifted the curtain, and Qi Yue walked out with a smile.
The stewardesses all smiled and greeted her.
“Young Mistress looks so well today,” one woman even personally stepped forward to support Qi Yue, saying flatteringly.
Qi Yue recognized this woman, surnamed Tang, ranked fourth in her husband’s family, called Sister Tangsi. She managed the flowers, plants, and trees in the inner courtyard, belonging to the property and gardening supervisor at the very end of the logistics department.
“Then I must thank Sister Tangsi,” Qi Yue smiled, placing her hand on the woman’s. “The flowers and plants in the courtyard have been even better these past few days, and the flowers the little girls bring daily are all very good. Opening my eyes first thing in the morning to see freshly bloomed tender flowers naturally puts me in a very good mood.”
“Oh my lady…” Miss Tangsi felt itchy all over from these words, not knowing how to smile, just repeatedly saying this was what this old servant should do.
“Should do is should do, but there’s doing well and doing poorly even for things that should be done,” Qi Yue sat down while holding her hand.
Que Zhi personally served tea and then stood beside Qi Yue.
A’Ru, who had been about to come over, stopped when she saw this.
Hearing her words, all the stewardesses present looked up at her in surprise.
“Young Mistress, what I need to do today is also simple. Since the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, for good luck, this month’s wages will be distributed early, so I plan to distribute wages today…” Nanny Su seemed not to have heard Qi Yue’s words and began her daily routine reporting with a smile.
“Young Mistress, our storeroom needs to dispose of some damaged tables and chairs and get out the tables and chairs to be used for the Mid-Autumn Festival…”
“Young Mistress, the three sacrificial animals and some fresh fruits we procured for the kitchen all arrived today…”
Once Nanny Su started speaking, the other stewardesses also began talking.
Qi Yue didn’t speak further, drinking tea while listening to them finish. Only after the last stewardess closed her mouth did she slowly put down her teacup.
“The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon,” she smiled. “How fast.”
Half the women in the room smiled and agreed “yes, yes,” while the other half stood like wooden posts. But this was much better than yesterday’s cold reception.
“The wages, let’s wait a bit,” Qi Yue looked at Nanny Su with a smile.
Nanny Su was stunned.
“Young Mistress, this is… established practice. If we wait, I’m afraid everyone will feel… especially with the festival coming up…”
“It’s fine, tomorrow at the latest,” Qi Yue smiled.
Nanny Su’s expression wasn’t good.
“Whatever Young Mistress says goes,” she said, then said no more.
The atmosphere became somewhat cold, and the stewardesses couldn’t help but lower their heads and exchange glances.