CHAPTER 426: CHAPTER 426 REWARD

Su Jin rubbed her forehead.

Xingxing looked eagerly at her.

"Miss?" she called out.

"Isn’t this stab a bit too sharp?" Su Jin said kindly.

"..."

"How about this, after all, Princess Nanzhang is the master of the house, I shouldn’t overstep her," Su Jin said.

"Maidservants outside the Agarwood Pavilion get half a year’s monthly salary, and those inside get a full year."

Xingxing’s eyebrows danced with joy.

This was for the best.

The maidservants inside Agarwood Pavilion were all happy, while those outside were envious, jealous, and resentful.

"I’ll go give them the bonus right away," Xingxing said eagerly.

She ran off to get the silver note, and Su Jin chuckled, "What’s the rush?"

Xingxing looked at her.

"Take five thousand taels to Manager Li," Su Jin instructed.

"Let Manager Li distribute the bonus on my behalf after Old Madam and Princess Nanzhang have given theirs."

Xingxing, "..."

Just now she said her stab was sharp.

Turns out, the young lady herself wields a mace.

One with each spike sharply honed.

The Princely Heir position fell into her husband’s hands; how could Princess Nanzhang have the heart to reward the servants?

If she doesn’t reward, surely no one else would dare mention it.

The matter of rewards would naturally fade into oblivion.

With this move, Princess Nanzhang can’t possibly hold back her monthly salary reward, can she?

The young lady was never this crafty before.

Must be her husband’s bad influence!

A certain someone, "..."

However, even though Xingxing felt the young lady had become much craftier than before.

She particularly liked this craftiness.

Taking five thousand taels, Xingxing gleefully trotted off to deliver it to Manager Li in the front yard.

The silver note wasn’t heavy, too light to find words to describe.

But surely this was the biggest hot potato Manager Li had ever received in his life.

He’d never met anyone as clever as the Eldest Young Madam.

Clearly giving Old Madam and Princess Nanzhang a heavy blow, yet no fault could be found in her action.

Everything has an order of precedence.

It was Old Madam and Princess Nanzhang who first mentioned rewarding the Duke Mansion servants, she only rewards after they do, out of respect for them.

Yet doing so inevitably led to suspicions that she wasn’t willing to reward the servants at all, using Old Madam and Princess Nanzhang as a shield.

However, the Eldest Young Madam directly sent the maidservant to bring the silver note to him.

This alone was enough to tell everyone that the Eldest Young Madam wasn’t just saying it, she really intended to reward everyone.

The money was right there.

When Old Madam’s and Princess Nanzhang’s rewards were in hand, they would be distributed.

This was pressuring the whole Duke Zhen Country Mansion on Old Madam and Princess Nanzhang.

Outside Agarwood Pavilion, it was handed over to Manager Li.

Inside Agarwood Pavilion, Xingxing distributed it.

A whole year’s monthly salary.

It felt like a pie fell from the sky, thudding right onto their heads, making the maidservants and elderly women in Agarwood Pavilion beam with joy.

What made them happiest was that they got six more months of bonus than others.

Now that the poison in the Eldest Young Master was cured, and he was named the Princely Heir.

These maidservants and elderly women serving in Agarwood Pavilion walked out with an air of pride.

The matter of Su Jin rewarding the servants spread around the Duke Zhen Country Mansion like wildfire.

Upon hearing this, Old Madam choked with anger, almost suffocating.

She made such a move.

Money mostly came from her and Princess Nanzhang, yet the servants of the Duke Zhen Country Mansion still owed gratitude to her!

If it weren’t for the Eldest Young Madam, Old Madam and Princess Nanzhang definitely wouldn’t have rewarded them!

Thinking about spending money without gaining any favor, Old Madam’s face turned livid with fury.

"Distribute the rewards!"

Those words were squeezed out from Old Madam’s clenched teeth.

As the Old Madam of the Duke Zhen Country Mansion, having spoken out, failing to follow through would undermine her authority.

Besides, Duke Zhen Country Mansion’s elevation to princedom was a great joy.

Over here, Old Madam trembled with rage all the way back to her room.

Over there, Princess Nanzhang lay on the bed in pain, her heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys all aching.

Happy for just two quarts of an hour, then she got a slap in the face.

Choked until now, she still hadn’t caught her breath.

Mrs. Zhao spent a long time trying to persuade her, and only barely managed to ease her mood a bit.

Then out of nowhere, Su Jin pulled this trick—

Directly riling Princess Nanzhang to an unprecedented level of rage.

As Princess Nanzhang seethed with anger that made her want to kill, Mrs. Zhao had to muster the courage to advise her to reward the servants.

Mrs. Zhao felt incredibly desperate.

Those who tugged at Princess Nanzhang’s whiskers were fine, but her loyal self nearly lost her life.

Princess Nanzhang’s glance at Mrs. Zhao made Mrs. Zhao suspect if she was actually on the Eldest Young Madam’s side.

There were quite a number of people in the Duke Mansion, half a year’s reward would cost at least four thousand taels.

Besides being furious, she had to put in the money.

But this money couldn’t be saved, the longer it dragged on, the more grateful the Duke Mansion’s servants would be towards the Eldest Young Madam.

Swallowing this anger wasn’t rational at all.

Princess Nanzhang took a deep breath, loosened her clenched teeth, and closed her eyes, "Distribute the bonus!"

The servants of the Duke Mansion were overjoyed.

Even during New Year, they hadn’t been this happy.

But not all maidservants were so delighted.

The ones serving Xie Jinyu were rather unfortunate.

In a rush to return to Zilan Pavilion for the bonus, they forgot to attend to Xie Jinyu.

Overjoyed, they didn’t manage to wipe the smiles off their faces before entering the room, which angered Xie Jinyu.

Originally, Old Master Xie’s princely title made her very happy.

The County Princess position that she had in hand was ruined by Su Jin, a thorn in her heart.

Now that her father had been named a Prince, she, the eldest legitimate daughter, naturally became a Commandery Princess.

Although it wasn’t an actual title, it was somewhat a pity.

But oh, the splendor of a Commandery Princess!

Just as she was enjoying her moment, she and her mother got a splash of cold water.

Even if she was made a Commandery Princess, the other was the Heir’s wife, a match for her in every way.

This feeling of futility, where no matter how much effort she put in she couldn’t gain the upper hand, nearly drove Xie Jinyu mad.

The maidservant’s happiness was based on her pain.

Because that bonus was originally meant to buy her a Purple Jade head ornament!

The Purple Jade head ornament in hand was suddenly gone.

How could Xie Jinyu bear this?

If a maid showed any delight, Xie Jinyu couldn’t help but vent her anger on them.

Agarwood Pavilion, in the backyard.

In front of the bamboo house.

Xingxing sat on the steps, gleefully counting her bonus.

She received ten taels of silver a month.

With the Duke Mansion raised to a princedom and her master made the Princely Heir.

Her purse suddenly swelled with two hundred and ten taels.

While counting the silver, Xingxing felt that many foods on the street were calling out to her.

Next time she went out shopping, she would eat from one end of the street to the other, and then have herself a set of silver jewelry made...

Having money felt really good.

Seeing Xingxing’s beaming face, Su Jin couldn’t help but knock on her head, "Is it worth being that happy?"

"Your young lady here spent way more than you did," Su Jin said.

Xingxing held her money pouch and squinted with a smile, "But that’s different."

"The Marquis said, the money that needs to be spent shouldn’t be saved."

At the mention of Marquis Dongxiang, Xingxing got excited, "I wonder if the Emperor would also make the Marquis a Prince?"

"Wishful thinking," Su Jin replied.