22 - Taking control

Chapter 22 – Taking Control

The day after Shui Shufei was summoned into the palace by Consort De, two days later, Lan Shufei was also summoned into the palace by her paternal aunt, Consort De.

It was said that when the two Shufei came out of the palace, both of them carried gifts rewarded by Consort De. It seemed that Consort De love the two Shufei equally and did not show any preference for either of them.

However, something strange happened. A few days after Lan Shufei returned to the royal mansion, she refused to see visitors with the excuse that she did not feel well. After falling ill for a short period, she came up with an excuse that she was unable to manage the rear courtyard as she needed to revive her health. Citing a lack of strength, she begged the Wangye for forgiveness.

The Wangye empathized with Lan Shufei ’s hard work and was afraid she would be exhausted, so he handed the management of the rear courtyard to Shui Shufei .

Of course, this version was made known to the outside world and it was just to give Lan Shufei face. The real truth was that Lan Shufei had happily gone to see her paternal aunt, Consort De. When she came out of the palace, her face had turned pale and she looked like her soul had left her. After returning to the royal mansion, she hid inside Huancui Pavilion and cried miserably. She broke everything in the house because her paternal aunt summoned her into the palace with the sole purpose of asking her to take the initiative to relinquish her control of the rear courtyard.

Since her paternal aunt had spoken, can she disobey?

She was unable to defy her paternal aunt’s order despite her anger, resentment, and sadness. Therefore, her only choice was to say she was ill and not venture out of her courtyard.

After taking over control of the rear courtyard, Bai Yuxiao began to clean up the servants. She conducted swift and decisive investigations on everyone in the rear courtyard including the manservants, the mamas, and the maidservants. Investigations were done on their background, wealth, and everything related to them. Although it was said that servants trained in the residence were easier to control, they tend to exhibit a patronizing attitude because of their seniority or old age and were divided into many different factions. Although the servants bought from brokers did not pose any faction problems, the strength of their loyalty was insufficient.

Following that, Bai Yuxiao summoned each servant and talked to them individually. She questioned them carefully and to prevent conspiracies, she used the cross-examination and comparison method. She also drew a chart and hung it up on the wall of Yaorong Pavilion’s reception hall. Several large circles were drawn on the chart and many names were written in each circle. The people whose names appeared in the same circle indicated that they were from the same clique and generally, these people were either related to each other or shared common interests.

In addition, lines were drawn to link up one name with another name to indicate the connection, and the lines were marked to show who and who shared ambiguous relationships or who and who were incompatible. Text notes were then written under some of the names and eventually, a complicated and clear network of relationships of the servants was formed. Then according to the information revealed by the relationship network chart, the positions of the servants and the courtyards they served, were reshuffled.

Since she had made such a huge change to the deployment of servants in the rear courtyard, she was certain there would be complaints. However, she was not afraid as she had the Wangye to back her. If any servant did not adhere to the arrangement, she would sell off the servant directly. At this critical time, she must stand firm and not give in.

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As for those who were obedient and willing to cooperate, she would write down their names first and in the following month’s wages, she would give the servants some extra silver as their reward. In this way, it could buy their hearts and at the same time, let the servants know that as long as they were serious, willing to work hard and be loyal, their master would treat them well.

The appeasement and coercion method showed a quick result which allowed Bai Yuxiao to reintegrate the servants into the rear courtyard in a short time. Her simple and neat method was not only successful, but it also gained her power and allowed the servants to witness their Mistress’s ability. Not only were her rewards and punishments distinct, but her abilities also proved to be stronger than the abilities of Lan Shufei .

In just two short months, the atmosphere in the rear courtyard had a fresh change. The servants who had been taking advantage and oppressing others were either sold or replaced and those servants who had always been working silently and did not play tricks were suddenly valued. It felt like they were seeing the sky after the rain.

The servants who had served beside Liu Ji , Xie Ji, and Zhang Ji were all transferred. Since Lan Shufei did not venture out of her courtyard due to her ‘illness’, the three Ji concubines were unable to make any plans or scheme and became obedient. As for the other concubines whose positions were not as high as Bai Yuxiao’s and were unable to gain the favor of the Wangye , they could only be contented with what they have.

The factions in the rear courtyard were broken up and everyone from the different courtyards no longer dared to go around to cause trouble or gossip. The rear courtyard became orderly and more disciplined than the time when Lan Shufei was in charge.

After listening to the reports from his subordinates, Si Liujing smiled gently and knew he did not make a mistake in his judgment. As expected, Shui’er proved to be extremely competent and it was unnecessary for him to be worried.

In reality, he did not know the actual reason why Bai Yuxiao actively took control of the rear courtyard.

The truth was that in addition to gaining more favor from her husband, Bai Yuxiao was also able to pave a way for herself to sneak out of the mansion.

Now that the mansion is under her control, isn’t it easy for her to slip out of the mansion?

In the day, Si Liujing was always busy with government affairs and would usually return for dinner. So, she calculated the schedule and decided to leave the mansion during the day to investigate cases and rush back to the mansion in time for dinner.

She deliberately developed the habit of taking a nap in the afternoon, so no one dared to disturb her during this period. Zhaolu and Shuang’er both took turns to change their appearance to look like her and pretended to take a nap in the room while she slipped out of the mansion to work.

Si Liujing maybe busy but she is even busier than him!

***☆☆☆***

On this day, Si Liujing was resting in Bai Yuxiao’s bedchamber and as he gazed at the tired look on his beloved concubine’s face, he could not help but feel distressed.

“Shui’er worked so hard for me and is always so busy. At the same time, Shui’er also taught me to love and feel happy.” He hugged her and stroked her hair. On seeing her so tired, he could not bear to toss her around.

Bai Yuxiao who was snuggled in his arms could feel his pity for her and felt gratified in her heart.

In fact, a wife has to share the burden of her husband. Which wife isn’t like this?

She does not feel it is something difficult to do, let alone her husband loves her. She feels it is worthy to do it and truly thinks so. Compared to those little concubines who had to stay alone as they waited for their husband to show concern, she feels very lucky.

Although Si Liujing seems to be cold-hearted and devoid of emotions, it is actually because he does not give his love easily. But once he puts his heart into it, he will give all his heart and affection without reservation.

If she does not cherish him, then she is truly a fool!

However, at this time, if she is to say some grateful words like other women, then it would not be something new.

She is Bai Yuxiao and has a special place in his heart, so she must not be like other women.

“That’s right, Wangye . This concubine is very busy, so Wangye must remember the goodness of this concubine. If Wangye is to forget, this concubine will surely bite you to vent my anger.”

Si Liujing laughed aloud after hearing her words and he laughed so much that his chest was shaking. With her eyes still closed, the corners of her mouth curled, and even without opening her pair of eyes, she knew how happy he felt after listening to her.

“Only you dare to act so presumptuously in front of me. Do you want to bite me? Whoever harms the hair or skin of a member of the royal family will be beheaded.” The threatening laughter was full of pampering.

“Anyway, this concubine belongs to you and naturally, this head is also yours. If you want to chop it off, so be it.”

Only she had the guts to speak such rebellious words and the way she said them was so funny that he could not hold back his laughter.

He is a man of few words but he likes to talk to her. The two of them talked about the affairs of the imperial court, then the matters of the rear courtyard, and then they started to bicker flirtatiously. The joy in the boudoir accumulated bit by bit, drop by drop and it made Si Liujing love her more and more.

The involvement of powers in the imperial court is complicated and the relationships between the officials’ families are intertwined. He likes to talk and listen to her but it is not only because of her high perception, her powerful memory, or she has her own views. Some of her opinions would often trigger him to think differently and have different views, so whenever he talks to her, his mood would become better.

Although Bai Yuxiao felt very sleepy, she still kept her spirits up to listen to him. She also knew that it was difficult for him during this period and besides, he had to worry over small and major issues, so she accompanied him and talked to him to help him relax.

During this time, other than overseeing the rear courtyard, she also frequently left the mansion to hold secret discussions with her Third Senior Sister and secretly investigated the enemy behind the attack on Si Liujing. Although it was said that the Emperor continued to send people to investigate this matter thoroughly and Si Liujing was also conducting his own investigations, she felt all these were apparently within expectation. The enemy would inevitably hide the clues even more deeply since the enemy was aware of the movements of the Emperor and Ling Wang .

However, she and her Third Senior Sister were different. Both of them were working in the shadows, and Second Senior Sister and Eldest Senior Sister were also helping her in secret. It was difficult for the enemy to guess the movements of secret constables which benefited them in handling this case.

Her consciousness gradually dimmed as the thoughts drifted through her mind and she seemed to be falling asleep……..

Beside her, Si Liujing was hugging her in his arms as he continued to speak.

“Oh right, the picture you drew is very good. It is like a spider web, one loop hooking to another and it is clear with a glance but it looks like a constable investigating a case. Where did you learn it from?”

When she did not answer, he looked down and could not help but smile. It turned out that his concubine could not hold on any longer and had fallen asleep.

These days she had been very exhausted and his eyes revealed the heartache he felt. He lowered his head and kissed her lips lightly. He did not dare to deepen the kiss so as not to disturb her dreams and it was also to avoid ‘getting accidentally shot while polishing a gun’.

With his fingers, he flicked out the candle and let down the bed netting. Then he gently gathered her in his arms and lay down together with her to fall into a deep sleep.