After a while, the maid came outside to report, "My Lady, Madam Park, Aunt Zhou, and Aunt Chen are waiting outside the door."
"Let them in." The toffee raised his voice.
Three women dressed as women came in with the maid.
The leading woman was in her twenties, wearing an apricot-red embroidered jacket. She had a plump figure and a quiet appearance, and was dressed more luxuriously than the other two.
Her identity is about to be revealed.
Princess Park's half-sister, Lady Park, the sixth-rank lady of the Prince of Jin's Mansion.
The two at the back were concubines, without rank, wearing ginger-colored jackets. The taller one was Zhou, and the one wearing a pink jacket and with a baby face was Liu.
The three concubines of King Jin are of three different types, some are plump and some are thin, some are petite and lovely.
"I'm here to see Her Majesty the Dowager. I pay my respects to Her Majesty the Dowager." The three of them bowed gracefully to the Dowager.
"No need to be polite. Go and serve tea to your mistress," said the concubine.
As soon as the three of them came in, they saw the beautiful young woman sitting on the right hand side of the concubine, and they knew that it was their new mistress, Jiang.
In the past two days, they have learned from the maids that Jiang is as beautiful as a fairy. After seeing her today, they found that she is indeed a rare beauty.
Her skin is whiter than snow and her eyes are as picturesque as paintings, making them pale in comparison.
The maid came over with tea. Park picked up the teacup and knelt down respectfully. "I, Park, pay my respects to the princess. May the princess be blessed. Please have some tea."
Jiang Changning glanced at Qiao who was waiting to watch the show beside her, and curled her lips. She would never make things difficult for these concubines.
She took the teacup, took a sip, put it aside, and took off a gold hairpin inlaid with sapphires from her head with a smile, and inserted it into Park's bun, "Serve the prince well in the future."
Seeing Jiang Changning treating his concubine calmly, the concubine nodded slightly with satisfaction.
As the principal wife, you should have such magnanimity.
Recalling the expressions on Mrs. Qiao's and Mrs. Park's faces when they were offered tea by their concubines, the Queen Mother felt more and more that daughters of aristocratic families were better than daughters of noble families.
"Thank you for the reward, Princess." Park said with a smile.
When they first met, the new princess seemed much kinder than her elder sister. Of course, whether they could get along well remained to be seen in the future.
After Zhou and Liu offered tea to Jiang Changning, Jiang Changning rewarded each of them with a gold bracelet.
Fortunately, Jiang Changning had anticipated that Qiao would do something naughty, so he wore several more pieces of jewelry that were of moderate value and novel in style, just to reward people.
According to previous investigations, the Prince of Jin should have had two maids who served him as concubines, but they did not come to offer tea to her. It was probably because their status was not high enough.
The concubine wants to save face and is also very particular about rules.
A maidservant is indeed not someone who can be seen in public.
"Go wait outside," said the Toffee.
The three concubines bowed and left.
Jiang Changning did not wait for the concubine to speak, and took the initiative to say: "Mother, I am a new wife, and I am not too sure how to arrange things in the house. Please help me make a decision."
The concubine heard this and smiled a little deeper. "The matters in the prince's room should be decided by you, the wife, but you just got married and you are still young. I won't make it difficult for you. I will make an arrangement for you. What do you think?"
"Please speak, mother." Jiang Changning bowed.
"Park is the lady, and she is scheduled for four days every month. Zhou and Liu each have two days, and there are two concubines, who each get one day." said the concubine.
"My daughter-in-law will ask the maid about their daily life, and then arrange the specific date, and then report to mother later." Jiang Changning said.
Jiang Changning was so understanding that the Concubine Dowager became more and more satisfied with her daughter-in-law. She couldn't help but say, "The room will not be empty for the first month after the wedding. Starting from next month, your daily schedule will be staggered. You are the mistress, and it is most important for you to give birth to a baby boy as soon as possible."
Mrs. Qiao suddenly turned to look at the concubine, her eyes full of disbelief.
"Mother, if everything is fine, your daughter-in-law will go back to the yard first." Jiang Changning stood up and took her leave.
"Go." The concubine did not keep her any longer.
When they went out, they saw three concubines standing in the corridor. Before Jiang Changning could say anything, Qiao came out and said, "County Lady, you are all here to serve the prince. You must get along well with each other and don't embarrass them."
"The Concubine Dao supports you so much, and she is afraid that I, as the mistress, will bully you. Why don't you thank her quickly?" Jiang Changning said with a smile.
The three concubines did not expect that the sisters-in-law would confront each other. Concubine Dao was the one in power, and Jiang Changning was the mistress, so no one could offend them.
After a moment's hesitation, Park made up her mind and bowed, "Thank you, Queen Dao."
It seems that the east wind is stronger now, but this is the Prince of Jin's Mansion, and Jiang Changning is the Princess of Jin. The west wind will eventually overwhelm the east wind.
Zhou and Liu followed behind Park and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Queen Dao."
"Sister-in-law, do you know that there is an animal called a gibbon?" Jiang Changning paused, and continued as he walked out, "It looks like a human but is not a human. It imitates humans but is not like a human."
Mrs. Qiao's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. The three concubines hurriedly bowed to her and said, "I'll take my leave." They hurriedly chased after Jiang Changning.
Back at Rujingyuan, Jiang Changning asked Jin Ya to ask the three about their reunion.
The three concubines' periods were in the second half of each month, and Jiang Changning's period was also in the second half of the month.
On the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month, the prince must stay in the main wife's room.
Jiang Changning thought about it and made the arrangements. "Starting from next month, the seventh to the tenth will be Madam Park, the eleventh and twelfth will be Aunt Zhou, the thirteenth and fourteenth will be Aunt Liu, and the fifteenth and sixteenth will be the two concubines. This will be the case for now. We will make further arrangements after Chen comes in."
Jin Ya wrote down the date and came out to tell her three concubines.
The three concubines all looked very happy, as they could finally serve the prince!
"Don't you know how to address your sister?" Mrs. Park asked politely.
Jiang Changning has only been married for three days. Jin Ya cannot be a maid. She can only be Jiang Changning's wife.
"My name is Jin Ya, and I am the princess's chambermaid. Madam may also ask me to come to Wang's house." Jin Ya said with a smile.
"Hello, Sister Jin Ya. I have something to ask you." Park took Jin Ya's hand and stuffed a purse into her hand.
Jin Ya did not refuse, pinching her purse, she smiled and said, "I am sorry to hear that Madam, what do you want me to do?"
"When should we come to serve the princess tomorrow?" asked Mrs. Park.
"Princess, please come from the third quarter of the morning hour, and Madam can come from the first quarter of the morning hour." Jin Ya told the truth.
"Thank you, Sister Jinya." Park said with a smile.
"There's nothing to do now. Madam and the two concubines should go back to the yard and rest first." Jin Ya sent them away.
After Park and the other two left, Jin Ya entered the warm room and presented the purse Park gave her, "Princess, this is a reward from Madam Park."
There was a small silver coin weighing a few coins in the purse.
As a sixth-rank lady, Park was a bit stingy, but she was a concubine and a bastard, so the Park family could not give her much in return. It was already good enough for her to be rewarded with a silver cake.
Jiang Changning took out a silver peanut from his purse and threw it to her, "Give the silver peanuts to the little girls to buy candy, this is a reward for you."
"Thank you for the reward, Princess." Jin Ya retreated happily.
(End of this chapter)