Chapter 167: Dividing the Yard_l
Lady Yun has already allocated the courtyard. Apart from the main house, the rest of the back courtyards is divided into two halves by a wall, with a small door in the middle.
The men and women of the house live on the east and west sides respectively. The female members live on the west side of the wall and the male members on the east side, conforming to the norms within a large family.
Now that her husband has been promoted and moved to the government city,
it is necessary to establish these rules.
In the future, there will inevitably be ladies and girls invited to visit our house, and it is only right if we adhere to correct etiquette.
The largest and most spacious room on the east side is given to Wei Yichen, and the largest and most spacious room on the west side is given to Wei Ruo. They, being the eldest son and eldest daughter of the main lineage, are entitled to better treatment than their siblings.
Then there were the courtyards of Wei Yilin and Wei Qingwan.
As for the only illegitimate son, Wei Jinyi, Lady Yun dare not make her own decision. She did not want to bear the blame of mistreating the illegitimate son after all the efforts, so she specifically asked Wei Mingting for his opinion.
Wei Mingting took a look at the blueprint of the house and pointed to a room
on the east side of the wall, saying, “That room will do.”
Wei Mingting didn’t choose the largest courtyard for Wei Jinyi either, as it would be inappropriate for an illegitimate son to live in better conditions than the legitimate son.
The first room on the west side of the wall is the one Lady Yun arranged for
Wei Ruo.
Although this allocation was unintentional, the residences of Wei Ruo and Wei Jinyi ended up next to each other, now separated by two additional walls than before.
Lady Yun agreed saying, “Alright, that room is for Jinyi, and the names of the courtyards will remain the same as before, without any changes.
Wei Mingting nodded, “Madam can make these decisions.
With her husband’s approval, Lady Yun looked at the arrangements on the blueprint again, and felt very satisfied.
The only thing that fell short was that Qingwan was assigned to the farthest southwest corner.
She didn’t arrange it deliberately. There are only three courtyards on the west side. Apart from the largest one occupied by the eldest daughter, the remaining two are not very good, and the one in the southwest corner is slightly larger, while the remaining one is even smaller.
It was only after entering the courtyard that Wei Qingwan found out that she had been assigned the worst location in the entire house, located in the farthest corner of the southwest of the new Military Prefecture.
The sudden change made Wei Qingwan feel immense pain in her heart.
Didn’t this arrangement imply that she held the lowest status in her parents’ hearts?
in the past, she was the only daughter of the family. Everything good from her parents was given to her first and when they first arrived in Xingshan County and chose the courtyards, her mother had allowed her to choose first.
Wei Qingwan was so upset that she had trouble sleeping all night.
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Wei Ruo didn’t have time to worry about whether her courtyard was good or not. It was already late on the day that she arrived, so after tidying up a little, she went to bed.
The next morning when she got up, she and Xiumei were busy moving things from the carts and organizing them.
The courtyard here is much larger, and there is even a room specifically for her to use as a warehouse.
Xiumei joked, “Miss, you now can accommodate even more rewards.
Wei Ruo laughed, “Do you think these rewards are just given for the asking? You would be better off hoping that your mistress becomes a wealthy landlord soon!”
Xiumei replied, “My mistress is certain to become a big landlord, so there’s no need to hope for that in particular.”
Wei Ruo sighed, “I must hurry things along. My father’s promotion is good for the Wei family, but not necessarily for me. The higher his rank, the more restrictions on me.”
“Stop tidying up for now. Follow me to the estate.” said Wei Ruo. Anyway, the big boxes transported by the cart do not contain valuables. Wei Ruo has sequestered all valuable items into her space.
As such, she wasn’t worried about leaving them in the courtyard for now. “Miss, is it alright for us to go out like this? Now that we are in the government city, won’t it be more inconvenient than before?” Xiumei worriedly asked. “It’s okay. I’ll say that I’m going to see Madam Yuan. Didn’t I mention that Mr. Wang would be teaching at Madam Yuan’s house afterwards? It’s reasonable and justifiable for me to go out for studying purposes. After going to the estate, I also have to make a trip to Madam Yuan’s.”
Later, when Wei Ruo was stopped by servants while leaving the house, she followed standard protocol and visited Lady Yun to explain her reasons. After hearing her reasons, Lady Yun agreed to Wei Ruo going out without further thought, but warned her that the government city was different to the county town and told her to be careful. When she was in public places, she had to wear her veil and hood properly, keep her distance from strangers, and not talk to
strange men,
Wei Ruo made these promises and Lady Yun let her go.
She then went to the estate and inspected the situation of the one thousand mu of fertile land where wheat seeds had already been sown. She also followed up on the progress of the improvement of the additional land purchased and the work situation of the new permanent hired laborers with Manager Yu.
Indeed, occasional troubles had arisen, but they were all small disagreements and frictions that were resolved quickly without needing Manager Yu to intervene.
During these times, being able to eat your fill and having prospects for the future were already the best choices for them. Most people were grateful and didn’t resort to opportunism or deception.
Afterwards, Wei Ruo went to the prefecture’s office. The guards at the prefecture all recognized Wei Ruo and reported her presence immediately, with Madam Yuan’s personal maid, Qianyi, personally welcoming her at the door. Upon seeing each other again, Madam Yuan was full of happiness, “You girl are really lucky. When you left last time, I was thinking that I didn’t know when I would be able to see you again. But here we are, you have moved to the prefecture within just ten days.”
Wei Ruo also did not expect it to be this soon, if it had not been for the urgency of resisting the Japanese pirates that the Court had demanded her father to respond to so quickly, they would not have had to move in such a hurry.
Madam Yuan continued, “This is great, now that you are in the prefecture, my son, Sheng, and I can see you often, and I am most relieved when you are around to take care of me.”
Madam Yuan’s vitality had greatly improved since Wei Ruo first met her again, all thanks to the medical prescription Wei Ruo had given her.
Wei Ruo then confessed the situation concerning Mr. Wang Caiwei to Madam Yuan.
“I’m sorry, Madam Yuan, I took the liberty of using your name without your permission as I was in Xingshan County at the time.” Wei Ruo apologized. “What could it be? You just used my name, it’s not a big deal at all. It’s not worth apologizing over. Didn’t I tell you before when I let you stay at Tianqin Garden that if you need anything, come find me? In the future, if there’s anything like this, feel free to use my name.” Madam Yuan laughed.
Wei Ruo was conscientious in her actions, something Madam Yuan trusted her with. She knew Wei Ruo wouldn’t use her name to deceive others or do anything unreasonable.
This kind of expedience was not a big deal, and it was okay to use it in any way. Additionally, even if Wei Ruo acted arrogant using her name in Taizhou Prefecture it wouldn’t be a big deal.. As the noble Commandery Princess Jingmin, what’s wrong with her life-saving beneficence feigning power under her name?