On the day of Laba, Baochai brought Ying 'er, Bai Lu, and a few maids to the kitchen and asked them to put the porridge that had been boiled for a whole night into food boxes and some chestnut cakes and snacks. He ordered the maids to bring the boxes to Mrs. Xue.

When the maids came back and said that Mrs. Xue nodded, they wrote lots for each family according to the old rules and put them in the boxes. A few maids dressed in plain clothes were sent to each family.

After the maids went to run the errands, she said to the maids who were still busy in the kitchen, "Don't neglect the master and the old lady. Send the porridge to them early. I'm going to eat with my mother.

When you're done, take turns to eat. I have something important to do later. "

After Laba, it would be the New Year, and it was not suitable to dig the ground during the New Year. Therefore, Master Xue's coffin was only stored in the family temple after the Ming period. They would choose an auspicious day to bury her in the ancestral grave next year. Therefore, the first year of worship was especially important.

Baochai first went to the main courtyard to eat a bowl of Laba porridge with his mother. After eating some dishes, he said that he was full and put down his bowl and chopsticks. He then picked a few important things to do and went back to his mother. Soon, some elders from the side branch of the family came to visit.

The family temple was located in the old house of the Xue family. Every year, the family members from all branches of the family would gather here to worship.

Mrs. Xue led Baochai and a few other maids behind her to pass the sacrificial tray. On the other side of the screen, the maids and maids gradually worshipped according to the ritual officer's singing.

After all, it was a family of businessmen, so it was not as strict as the Rong family and the Ning family. All the family members just kowtowed according to the etiquette, and then distributed the offerings.

They all knew that the head of the family had died this year, and there was only a widow with a son and a daughter living in the family. No one wanted to stay and cause trouble. They only said that they would send their wives to visit on the auspicious day, and then they all left.

This winter, no one in the Xue family had a good time. Firstly, it was because they had to observe the mourning period. Secondly, the only person who knew how to cause trouble was also controlled by his wife. Without this leader, the whole Jin Ling city was very quiet.

As time went by, the rumors about Xue Pan's unfilial deeds gradually faded away. It was only said that the Xue Family was doing good deeds, restraining themselves and living a simple life. Although they were merchants, they were not arrogant in the slightest. For a time, they could be mentioned in the same breath as the Confucian merchants in the southeast.

Since Bao Chai took over the kitchen, she slowly found a reason to get rid of all the troublesome dishes, leaving only those with exquisite craftsmanship and not too greedy. Although there were fewer people, things were getting smoother and smoother.

Every month, there was a surplus of money from the public purse that was not returned to the account house. She only made the decision to award this surplus money to those who worked hard or were clever enough to come up with new food. For a moment, the servants were deeply grateful. Even Madame Xue found that there were several dishes on her family's dining table that could be stuffed into the dowry to add color, so she went to ask her daughter about it.

Baochai was in the yard watching Bai Lu calculate the amount of money that needed to be spent in the kitchen during the New Year festival. Suddenly, she heard the young maid outside say, "Miss, Mrs. Xue is here to see you."

She quickly got up and walked out of the door. Ying 'er and Bai Lu followed her to greet Mrs. Xue. Hua Mei took away the cup of tea on the table and replaced it with a new cup of fragrant osmanthus tea.

"You're always racking your brains to think of food and drink, but you don't eat well. You're like a kitten."

Mrs. Xue came in and smelled the osmanthus tea. She knew that it was her daughter's new recipe for the tea. She sat down and took a sip. Sure enough, the fragrance left on her teeth and cheeks. She smiled and nodded her head, "I'm here to tell you that the nannies you asked for have been found.

This time, I asked my maternal family, which is the rich Zhen family in Jin Ling city.

They said that they were old nannies from the palace. It wasn't easy for them to come to our family just to have someone to take care of them.

You have one, and your brother has one in his yard. I'll leave it to you.

Secondly, I vaguely heard people complaining that there was a lot of work in the kitchen. "

Baochai knew that the second thing was the main thing, so he didn't panic. He slowly took a sip of tea and explained, "According to the old rules, our kitchen has a red table and a white table, and there are a group of women and maids below.

But I've been watching for a while. Who doesn't have both red and white tables at the same time?

They can't just eat and not eat, or eat and not eat. Therefore, I picked two women who are good at cooking to be in charge. They each have their own red and white tables, so they have time to catch their breath.

Because of this, I found that a lot of people didn't know what they were doing in the kitchen, so I told them to go back and rest.

After getting rid of this task, I immediately felt a lot more relaxed. The two groups of people stared at each other, trying to find each other's shortcomings. It saved me a lot of effort.

Reasonably speaking, it's a bit tiring to have so much work, but I still give them the money left over every month as an incentive. Isn't that giving them the money that they didn't understand before?

It's better than sneaking it into their pockets. Therefore, the eyes of the people who went back to rest want to spit fire. "

She pursed her lips and smiled, two dimples appearing on her tender face, "I thought that since father just left, only mother, older brother, and I are left to guard the house, we can't afford to have greedy servants. Therefore, in the old year, I said that if anyone was found to be involved in gambling, they would all be chased out.

Now that I think about it, I found that the number of servants is a hundred times more than the number of masters. I don't know whether it's the masters or the servants who live in this house. Therefore, I thought of letting a group of people out to accumulate good karma.

What do you think, mother? "

Hearing her say this, Mrs. Xue's heart skipped a beat.

Her son was young and showed signs of not making progress. She and her daughter were weak women and children. If there were wicked servants with bad intentions, wouldn't they be in trouble?

Previously, there were wet nurses and maidservants who worked together to seduce her son. If she didn't clean them up, she was afraid that they would become even more deviant. It was clear that the head of the household had foresight when he asked her daughter to make decisions in the household.

She immediately organized her thoughts and said, "For people like us, we only buy people and never sell people. It's good to set them free. In the end, they won't be scolded by others."

Once the mother and daughter finished their discussion, they asked the housekeeper to bring the servant's name list and went through it one by one. Whenever they found out that the household was full of people who swindled food and drink, or that the children did not learn well, they would pick out the names. Then, they sent two housekeepers and Old Madam Ding to catch them.

Occasionally, they would find a lot of things from the Xue family's private storehouse. Because the family was an imperial merchant, many of these things were used or needed to be sent to the palace. Fortunately, the higher-ups didn't have any intention of copying them. Otherwise, this would be enough to make them lose their jobs.

Mrs. Xue was so angry that her chest hurt and she couldn't breathe. Baochai hurriedly helped her to rest and asked the head maidservant to boil a bowl of water with knotweed and drink it. Then, they went to find a doctor.

She only said to Mrs. Xue, "Mother, if you don't have to worry, you can leave the rest to the two housekeepers. I'll also help to keep an eye on things. If there's anything I can't make up my mind, I'll come back."

Mrs. Xue didn't want to hear about this matter. She hurriedly nodded and went to bed, letting her daughter do as she pleased.

Baochai obtained power and ordered the housekeeper to return these people's contracts. She tidied up the confiscated items and sent the chain that was hindering her family's future to the Jinling prefectural magistrate. Then, she said to the servants, "In the past, you only thought that it was easy to take advantage of your master's wealth, but you didn't know that some things can be fatal.

Now, we have a mister who has been to the throne room. Why don't you secretly ask him what the crime of 'overstepping' is?

Since it's your first offense, I'll give you ten days. I ordered people to put two wooden boxes in a secluded place in the southeast corner. In the middle of the night, when no one is looking, put the things you shouldn't touch in the boxes. I'll just pretend that I don't know.

If something happens to the warehouse after ten days, don't blame my Xue family. The people who were sent to the officials were sentenced to hard labor. Who can come down from the salt mountain? "

The servants secretly took the food and asked Mr. Wan. Mr. Wan wasn't angry. He took the opportunity to tell Xue Pan the "Law" again. This devil incarnate was so scared that she broke out in a cold sweat. If it weren't for her young age and the fact that no one investigated thoroughly, her whole family would have been sent to prison several times. The law was not to be trifled with.

Baochai also ordered Hua Mei to secretly take a piece of two-colored silk and put it in the box when no one was looking. Sure enough, the big box was full the next morning.

There were also some gold, jade, and pearl toys piled up outside the box. The old maidservants picked up the broken pieces of jade and returned them to Baochai. Baochai only said, "Go to our shop and get some apprentices who can work on their own to come here. Give these broken pieces of jade to them to process.

Don't bother the masters with this kind of small matter. Just tell the workers that if they can sell them, they'll split the money according to the number of pieces. "

It was only until March when the peach blossoms bloomed that the servants in the family felt refreshed.

When the housekeeper held the account book and checked the monthly payment, his hands were shaking. There was no other reason. The expenses that couldn't be saved even if he racked his brains every year suddenly decreased by more than half. There was no delay in the family's work. He couldn't help but praise the young lady for being a born expert in managing the household.

When everything was done, Baochai ordered people to take the directory and the account book back to Mrs. Xue and bring back more account books.

It turned out that Mrs. Xue wasn't good at managing money. When she saw that her daughter had unexpectedly revived the family business, she didn't care about her daughter's age and simply pushed all the chores out of the shop. She only focused on taking care of the backyard and keeping in touch with her brothers and sisters. She happily became the "old lord".

After all, she was the daughter of the Wang family. Needless to say, her brother was not her brother. Her eldest sister married the legitimate son of the second branch in Rongguo Province. She was actually married to a merchant. In the end, it was hard for her to be reconciled.

So what if he was an imperial merchant?

During the New Year's Festival, they couldn't even wear ceremonial robes; they could only wear a jacket over their home clothes. It was so boring that they didn't want to touch anything that had anything to do with the word 'business' anymore.

Baochai had already thought it through.

In his previous life, he and his mother had worked hard to get rid of the word "merchant". First, he entered the palace to participate in the election. After failing to choose a concubine, he followed his aunt's plan and set his sights on the position of the second young mistress of the Bao family.

Then, step by step, he fell into a quagmire. It looked like he had won, but who knew that he was also the loser.

Now that he had to start all over again, what did it matter if he was a merchant or not?

The current dynasty didn't prohibit merchant children from taking the imperial examinations. As long as his family had a good life, he didn't care whether they were high or low.

If he had money in his pocket, even those poor officials would have to beg for it!

However, he couldn't say all this to Mrs. Xue. He didn't want her to be scared and angry.

Therefore, Baochai only smiled and didn't say anything. In any case, he just needed to "reduce expenses" for now. He would slowly take over the management of the household and then think about "increasing income". He had to support the family business.

She heard that her uncle had recommended a strict teacher to her brother. She didn't know how his studies were, but at least she had something to look forward to. She had to restrain her brother all day and stop him from going out to play with cats and dogs. Hopefully, he would be able to change his old habits.

She kept talking about this Xue Pan, and there was a big joke on the other side.

It turned out that Mr. Wan really had some tricks up his sleeve. He closed the door of the courtyard and left a servant outside the study. He reached out and took the Xue Pan, who was late on the first day of school and didn't even bow when he saw the teacher. He quickly covered his mouth and raised his hand to give him a good beating.

He didn't hit his stomach or face. He only hit the places with the thickest meat. He kept hitting until the student begged for mercy. Then, he picked him up and said, "I'll let you go. You can come and see if you bow like a disciple again."

The Xue Pan was already scared of being beaten. He hugged his butt with both hands and lowered his back like a listless cat.

Mr. Wan reached out and he was so scared that he quickly covered his face and closed his eyes. However, he heard the teacher laugh loudly, "I thought you were a person with a temper. Why are you scared?

Again! "

"I won't, I won't, sir. I was wrong." He was obedient. When he met someone who was more unreasonable than him, he just kept begging for mercy.

Mr. Wan saw this and shook his head, "How can you be like this?

I heard that you have a sister?

If your sister is wronged in the future, can you get justice for her like this? "The Xue Pan smacked his lips," My sister is smarter than me. I'm afraid she will be the one to get justice for me. "

Mr. Wan couldn't help but spit out the water in his mouth, "Where is your future?!

Your family is counting on you to be the head of the family. How can you push it to a girl?

If you keep talking nonsense like this, I'll beat you up! "

"Don't beat me up, don't beat me up. I'm just joking."

The Xue Pan hugged his head again. Mr. Wan was angry and amused at the same time, "I'll only say this once. You're not studying for yourself.

You're studying for your mother and sister. You're studying for your entire Xue Clan. Do you understand?! "

The Xue Pan didn't think about this, but he didn't dare to talk back to Mr. Wan. He immediately softened his attitude and listened to him obediently. He also learned a page of the Three Character Classic.

Except for a few words, all the teachers who came to the library before were driven away by anger. Therefore, the Xue Pan didn't read as much as his sister did.

After asking a few simple questions, Mr. Wan knew that this was a person who did not have a single drop of ink in his stomach. He had no choice but to brace himself and start from the beginning. Children of serious reading families would begin to talk about poems and books by the age of eleven or twelve.

He didn't even know all the words yet!

Seeing that the student started to look around, Mr. Wan put down the book in his hand and said, "Go out and play for a while. Come back in ten minutes. If you don't come back, I'll see!"

The Xue Pan jumped out of the study room as if he was being chased by a dog. He called a servant and ran to the main courtyard to complain to Mrs. Xue. When he arrived, he didn't see her. The servants said that the master went to see the girl. He then ran to his sister's courtyard in a hurry.

This time, he stood there for a while. When the servant announced, he lifted the curtain and ran straight to his mother's arms. He rubbed his face against her as if he was twisting candy.

"Oh, my dear mother!

That teacher is so powerful. He beat me up on the first day we met. My face is swollen! "

When Mrs. Xue heard this, she was shocked. She hurriedly looked under the light … There were no scars. She then asked the old maid to go to the side room to check under his clothes … There were no scars either. For a moment, her face turned black with anger. She pointed at her son and scolded, "You bastard, you don't learn good things. You make a fuss again and again. Your clever mind is all used in crooked ways. You don't even prepare a back-up for lying?

You said that the teacher beat you up, but there's not even a finger mark on your face. You're thinking that I'm stupid!

“

Xue Pan was dumbfounded. He was as listless as a leaky urinal. Crestfallen, he returned to the study with his errand boy. When he looked up, he saw that Mr. Wan was looking at him with a faint smile. "Is it fun to play outside?

He didn't dare to say much. He sat on the stool and learned another page. He didn't let him go until his head was swollen and his neck was swollen.

Mr. Wan took his time to write down the notes and memorize homework. He then raised his hand to rub his head and said, "Your head is not a pumpkin. Today is the first day and you've already learned two pages. Tomorrow you'll learn two more pages.

There are only so many sayings of the saints. Mourning for three years, you can finish learning and memorize them in more than a thousand days. When the time comes, you can write a few articles. If you can pass the exam and become a scholar, I'll let you go.

What do you think? "" Anyway, when the time comes, you'll want to go further. There's no need for anyone to urge you. "

This was what Xue Pan was thinking in his heart. He would first be honest and deceive his own mother and teacher. After enduring for a few years, as long as he had enough money, there was nothing he couldn't get. When the time came, he would quickly ask this teacher to leave. That would be the most satisfying.

Therefore, he nodded quickly. He didn't know how strict the examination of the imperial examination was.

It wasn't that his family couldn't do something evil. Unfortunately, his sister, Baochai, would be the one in charge in the future. How could she be willing to leave such a big evidence for others to use against her?

Both of them thought wrongly. They didn't know whether to laugh or cry and made such a "gentleman's agreement."

From that day onwards, the Xue Pan didn't come late or leave early. He learned two pages from Mr. Wan every day and then went back to do his homework. He didn't cause a lot of trouble.

Mrs. Xue was so happy that she didn't know how to feel happy. She ordered the servants to eat and drink well. She gave the clothes to Mr. Wan and his mother. For a time, the master and the teacher were happy. Only the Xue Pan suffered and counted the days until the mourning period ended.

This year passed by very quickly. Because they were in mourning period, it was not convenient for them to hold any festive banquet. The family of three, together with Mr. Wan and Old Lady Wan, ate a reunion dinner together. They also changed their clothes according to the season. Suddenly, buds began to appear on the branches of the winter jasmine below the window.