Sang Wan heard her excuse and found it hard to say anything further, thus she rebuked: "This is your duty, how could you forget it so easily? If you have a poor memory, you might as well resign from this job! Moreover, it was your own mistake, why did you try to blame it on the people around the third wife? When you saw the dirt, you should have taken the initiative to replace it, and when someone kindly reminded you, instead, you twisted the story and complained about them!"
"This slave misspoke, this slave misspoke!" Mrs. Zhang gently slapped her own mouth twice, pleading, "This slave misspoke, Madam is right to reprimand me! From now on, I will diligently fulfill my duties, please Madam forgive this fault just this once!"
Although it was unintentional, and considering her age, Sang Wan initially planned to simply scold her for a warning, at most deduct her salary for two months. But Shi Fengju spoke indifferently, "A mistake is a mistake; if after making mistakes everyone begs for forgiveness, what discipline remains?" As he spoke, he called Hong Ye to inquire about how the three maids had been handled, and Hong Ye earnestly replied.
Shi Fengju then said, "Considering this elderly woman’s age, give her ten flogs, and for the rest, do the same as for those three maids, take her away!"
"Young Master, this servant—" Mrs. Zhang was shocked.
"What? Do you have more to say?" Shi Fengju stared at her coldly.
Mrs. Zhang’s lips quivered, and facing Shi Fengju’s icy gaze, all her words were frightened back. If it were only Sang Wan here, she might have had the courage to make a fuss, to make a scene, but with Shi Fengju present, this young master, although usually unconcerned with matters of the inner courtyard, was feared by everyone in the house. Mrs. Zhang’s face turned ashen, she knocked her head on the ground and silently got up and followed the little maid out.
Did she have more to say? Of course, she did! Mrs. Zhang inwardly cried out about the injustice, but she could only shout it within herself, unable to vocalize it.
Yesterday, just before dinner, Lan Xiang went over to the guest room to ingratiate herself with the maids of the third wife. While walking over the carpet, one of them accidentally stumbled, dropping the hand stove onto the carpet, staining and scorching an area. Lan Xiang exclaimed out of goodwill, "How can this be acceptable? How will the third wife walk here!"
The maid, also frightened, quickly joked and asked her to replace it with a new one. Seeing that it was almost dinner time, Mrs. Zhang initially didn’t want to agree, thinking of excusing herself to replace it the next day, but Lan Xiang also smilingly chimed in. It was one thing to cajole a newly arrived maid, but Lan Xiang? She had no choice but to agree!
Who knew, she had not gone far with the rolled carpet when Lan Xiang chased after her, laughing, saying she was on her way to the warehouse on an errand and could conveniently help her exchange it, so as not to delay her dinner. Mrs. Zhang was happy and agreed. Who would have thought, after the incident this morning, that deceptive maid came running in a panic apologizing profusely for having forgotten it amidst the busyness last night! And she kept stomping her feet and sighing, "How could this have happened just by coincidence!"
Mrs. Zhang was aggrieved beyond words, though everyone meant well, it was not appropriate for her to bring someone out and accuse. Moreover, knowing Miss Lan Xiang is the personal favorite of the young mistress and is protected by her, she dared not provoke further. She had no choice but to curse her luck, blaming herself for being lazy.
Watching Mrs. Zhang being taken away, Shi Fengju said to Sang Wan with a light smile, "Do you think I’m being heartless?"
Sang Wan did feel this way a bit, but how could she admit that in front of Shi Fengju? Smiling, she shook her head and said, "You took care of the situation for me, I can’t thank you enough!"
Shi Fengju sighed lightly, "You’re still too soft-hearted. I know you considered her age and her sincere attitude in admitting her mistake, hence you couldn’t bear to punish her. But think about it, if we are to seriously assess the situation, this old woman is the real instigator. You harshly punished those three maids yet lightly let this old woman off; how would the servants think of this? Once those three maids find out, they might feel even more resentful and keep harboring grudges. Although you set them to do miscellaneous work in the garden, they are still within the house, who can guarantee they won’t speak out and spread words? It would have been better to decisively settle the matter once and for all, leaving no room for comments!"
After hearing this speech, Sang Wan’s face turned pale, and she broke out in a cold sweat.
Shi Fengju was right; she had been too soft-hearted and had almost made a mistake! If she had really let the old woman go this time, who knows what the servants would have said!
Sang Wan looked up blankly at Shi Fengju, momentarily at a loss for words.