118 Stick and Carrot Approach
Zhou Yongchang thought that although planting trees was hard labor, not only would it save his life, but he would also have a job in the future, so that he could live his life well.
For servants like them who had made mistakes, if it was serious, they would be punished like First Madam and sent to the government. If they were beaten and exiled, their lives would be in danger.
Even the lightest mistakes would cause them to be chased out. Such an experience could easily be found out by others. In the future, they wouldn’t be able to find any work outside. Soon, their days would be numbered.
Even though Eldest Miss dealt with the servants, she was still sincere and righteous. Zhou Yongchang also kowtowed gratefully like Mother Yang.
After thinking about it carefully, Yu Zongzheng could tell that Yao Yao had put in a lot of effort to deal with this matter. It was indeed a show of kindness. “Alright, we’ll do as you say.”
The other servants also felt that Eldest Miss was benevolent and looked at her with admiration.
Yang Shuwan watched helplessly as Yu Youyao tried to win others over. She was so angry that she was trembling, but she had no choice but to laugh. “Yao Yao, you handled this very well. Just now, Mother was so angry that she said some harsh words. Mother Yang and Zhou Yongchang are both old servants in the residence, so we have a strong relationship with them. Naturally, we can’t really send them to the government. Otherwise, others will think that our family treats the servants harshly.”
Yu Youyao pursed her lips and chuckled. “I’ve only learned a little from watching you manage the household. I hope you don’t blame me for crossing the line.”
How was this learning from her? It was obvious that someone was guiding her from behind.
Yang Shuwan felt a stab in her heart and quickly said, “Of course not. I’m sick now. If Yao Yao can help manage the household, I can also recuperate in peace. I can’t thank you enough, so how could I blame you?”
Yu Youyao felt relieved. “Mother, you don’t look too good. You must be tired. I’ll get someone to find a doctor to take a look at you. Mother, you can rest!”
Yang Shuwan was stunned for a moment before she realized what she had meant. Her expression froze again, and she couldn’t refuse even if she wanted to. “Thank you, Yao Yao.”
Previously, she had deliberately used her illness to hand over the butler’s key. Now, Yu Youyao’s words made it clear that she wanted to use this illness to let her continue recuperating.
At this moment, it would be difficult for her to take over the position of butler from Yu Youyao.
Yu Zongzheng patted Yu Youyao’s small shoulder and praised, “Yao Yao, you’re really thorough. I was right about you. From now on, you’ll have to spend more effort in this family.”
These words undoubtedly affirmed Yu Youyao’s ability as a household manager. Even if Yang Shuwan recovered in the future, she probably wouldn’t take back all the authority as a manager easily.
At the thought of this, the blood drained from Yang Shuwan’s face. She held Yu Youyao’s hand and said gently, “Yao Yao, it’s already very tiring for you to have to go to school every day and learn from Nanny Xu. You also have to help manage the household because of Mother’s illness. It’s been hard on you during this period. When Mother recovers, I’ll definitely thank you.”
Yu Youyao said softly, “Mother, you’re too polite. It’s only right.”
Yu Zongzheng also realized that it wasn’t appropriate to keep letting Yao Yao manage the household, so he said to Madam Yang, “Take good care of yourself and recover as soon as possible. You can’t let Yao Yao manage the residence alone. It will affect her studies.”
At first, Yang Shuwan was delighted when she heard this, but when she heard the rest, her face stiffened. What did Master mean? Even if she recovered, he still wanted Yu Youyao to continue managing the house with her?
How could that be?
Yang Shuwan couldn’t help but want to speak.
However, Yu Zongzheng had never liked to deal with these matters in the residence. Now that everything had been settled, how could he stay any longer? “I still have something to do in the study, so I’ll leave first.”
With that, he strode away without waiting for Yang Shuwan to react.
Yang Shuwan almost fell over in anger. She had to ask Nanny Li for help to prevent herself from losing her composure.
Yu Youyao pursed her lips and bowed to Yang Shuwan. “If Mother isn’t feeling well, you should rest well. There are still some matters in the front yard that haven’t been settled. I’ll go over now.”
With that, without waiting for Yang Shuwan to react, she had already led the maidservants to the front courtyard.
Yang Shuwan watched helplessly as Yu Youyao was escorted away by the servants of the residence. This scene was so piercing that her eyes hurt, and she even tore the handkerchief in her hand. “She’s rebelling. This little b*tch is rebelling. Look at her, she’s pretending so well in front of her father. Those who don’t know better would think that she came from my stomach. Once her father leaves, she’ll ignore me completely…”
Nanny Li felt her scalp go numb. “Madam, lower your voice. We’re still outside the main courtyard…”
Yang Shuwan reacted and looked around. Her head hurt again and again. If she had known earlier, she would have stayed in the main courtyard and waited for Yu Youyao to bring Zhou Yongchang and Mother Yang over. In her own courtyard, she could have covered it up no matter what.
But now, it was really embarrassing. She had lost all her face.
Yang Shuwan complained to Nanny Li, “How did you hear the news? I was reprimanded by Master for no reason.”
When Nanny Li heard this, she was so frightened that she bent down and trembled. “I-I panicked when I saw Master. I was afraid that Eldest Miss would gossip about it in front of Master, so I wanted to hurry back and report it to Madam so that you could react in time. Who knew…”
Yang Shuwan gritted her teeth in anger. “Why don’t you use your brain to think about it? You’ve spent a lot of time here and there. It’s time for that b*tch Yu Youyao to be humiliated.”
Nanny Li felt very wronged, but she apologized in a panic. “It’s all my fault.”
However, she thought to herself, “How could I have known that Master would actually come to the main courtyard with Eldest Miss? Master usually doesn’t care about the affairs of the household.”
Even First Madam herself had not expected this. Otherwise, why would she be so panicked?
After Yu Youyao returned to the front courtyard, she ordered someone to call Zhou Yongtian and the other three over. “Although you have nothing to do with Zhou Yongchang and Mother Yang’s greed for money in the residence, it’s also a fact that your Zhouzhuang has been fooling the main family. It’s also a fact that you didn’t manage the crops well. Go back and make things clear to the people in the residence. In the future, there will be an increase of 30 copper coins per mu. The harvest this season has to be 15% more than in previous years. If you can’t do it, don’t farm on the land of the residence in the future.”
On the other hand, Zhou Yongtian and the others were deeply grateful. What Eldest Miss meant was that they could continue to rent farmland in Zhouzhuang. This was more worth it than anything else.
In other words, the Yu Residence was still very kind.
Even after such a thing happened, the rent did not increase much. It was only about the same as the other residences in the capital. In the past few years, the situation had been going well, so they had to take good care of the crops. These rentals were considered light to them. If they could eat their fill and save some money, they could still live well and have some hope.