Chapter 5: The First Show Of Teeth

Qing Zhi did not respond to Yun Xiang.

They were both senior maids serving at Lu Zijin’s side, and their status in the residence was far higher than that of ordinary servants.

She headed toward Lu Zijin’s study, lightly knocked on the door, and only entered after receiving permission.

Qing Zhi bowed to Lu Zijin and said, “Miss, the Consort has come to see you.”

Lu Zijin’s brows knit slightly.

She had deliberately arranged for Wei Lan to live far away precisely because she did not want to see her, so why had she come again after just one night?

Despite her displeasure, Lu Zijin still nodded and said, “Bring her over.”

“Yes.”

Qing Zhi bowed again and quickly exited, heading to the front hall to escort Wei Lan over.

Wei Lan followed Qing Zhi into the study.

Once Wei Lan entered, Qing Zhi closed the door and stood guard outside.

“Is there something you need?”

Lu Zijin lifted her gaze to look at her.

Wei Lan nodded.

“I forgot to ask about my monthly allowance yesterday.

You can rest assured, I won’t come bother you without reason, but when I leave the residence, I’m not restricted, right?”

“Monthly allowance?”

Lu Zijin truly had not considered this issue before.

Her brows furrowed slightly as she worried that giving Wei Lan too much silver might foster greed, and also that she might damage the Lu Residence’s reputation while out.

After pondering for a moment, Lu Zijin said, “This way then.

You’ll receive fifty taels a month.

I’ll have someone deliver it to you at the beginning of each month.

You may freely leave the residence, but there’s one condition.

Don’t do anything outside that would damage the Lu Residence’s reputation, and you are absolutely forbidden from places like brothels.”

Wei Lan nodded.

“Of course, Madam.

Then about this month’s allowance…”

“I’ll have Qing Zhi send it to you shortly.

Is there anything else?”

Lu Zijin raised her eyes toward Wei Lan.

“No, thank you, Madam.”

Thinking about having silver to buy rough jade stones, Wei Lan smiled at Lu Zijin.

Fifty taels was equivalent to a monthly salary of fifty thousand, and since she only planned to use it for buying jade, it was more than enough.

Lu Zijin had not expected Wei Lan to smile at her.

After all, Wei Lan had always appeared rather indifferent.

Was this simply delight at seeing money?

“Mhm.

I still have matters to attend to, so you may return now,” Lu Zijin said.

She still had many account books to review and had no time to chat with Wei Lan.

“Alright, then I’ll head back.”

Wei Lan left the study in high spirits.

As expected of a rich lady, she was generous.

Just by behaving obediently and living off support, she earned fifty taels a month.

Seeing the smile on Wei Lan’s face, Yun Xiang was furious.

She spat in Wei Lan’s direction and muttered under her breath, “A petty nobody drunk on sudden success.

Just wait to be kicked out of the Lu Residence by the miss.”

Wei Lan, however, had no idea what others were thinking.

She was already heading toward Fuqu Pavilion, planning to lie down and rest for a while and wait for her fifty taels of silver.

When she returned, the servants were all busy with their tasks.

Although Wei Lan was not favored, before they fully understood her temperament, none of the servants dared to provoke her directly.

Wei Lan went back and drank a cup of tea.

Her monthly allowance was delivered very quickly.

The person who came was not the steward himself, but a young servant sent by him.

The servant bowed to Wei Lan and said, “Consort, the silver you requested has been delivered.

From now on, on the first day of each month, I’ll personally bring it over.”

Wei Lan nodded.

She opened the money pouch and then waved her hand at the servant, signaling that he could leave.

The servant was named Wang Wu.

He smiled and bowed once more before turning and leaving.

Wang Wu walked back from Fuqu Pavilion to the front courtyard, where the steward handled the residence’s daily affairs.

Seeing Wang Wu return, the steward asked, “How did it go?

Was the silver delivered?”

“It was delivered.

The Consort seemed quite happy,” Wang Wu replied promptly.

The steward nodded and waved Wang Wu away.

He himself sneered disdainfully.

This newly arrived Consort truly came from a small household.

Just fifty taels made her this happy.

If their miss truly cared about this Consort, then as one of the Lu Residence’s masters, she could freely withdraw silver from the household.

But from the looks of it, the miss clearly did not take this Consort to heart.

A mere fifty taels a month was enough to dismiss her.

In that case, there was no need for the servants to place much importance on this Consort either.

The steward stopped thinking about it and returned to his own work.

Wei Lan, for her part, did not concern herself with any of this.

She summoned Matron Li inside.

Matron Li soon arrived at Wei Lan’s bedroom.

Since she was still observing Wei Lan’s temperament, her outward manner remained fairly respectful.

“Does the Consort have any instructions?”

Matron Li bowed and asked with a smile.

Wei Lan nodded and said, “Have someone clear out a room in the courtyard for me.

I want a larger room, preferably empty.”

Matron Li’s expression stiffened.

In her heart, she had already cursed Wei Lan hundreds of times, but on the surface she still replied, “Alright, Consort.

I’ll have someone handle it shortly.”

Wei Lan lifted her eyes to look at her.

“Not shortly.

Go now.

I’ll need it soon.”

Matron Li disliked being ordered around like this.

After all, this was a Consort not favored by the miss, someone who would be dispensable in the residence sooner or later.

She stalled and said, “All the rooms are filled with quite a lot of items.

It’ll be difficult to clear one out in such a short time, and our courtyard is short-handed as well.

There’s really no way to free up a room immediately.”

Wei Lan’s gaze fell on Matron Li, and she suddenly smiled.

As a jade carving artist, she had no interest in household power struggles.

But whether in ancient times or the modern era, wherever there were people, there would be scheming minds.

Wei Lan did not wish to bother with such trivialities, but she would not allow anyone to trample over her either.

Her smile faded.

She lowered her gaze and said to Matron Li, “Four young servants, six maids, and two nannies.

Twelve people, yet you can’t even clear out one empty room.

What right do you have to stay in the Lu Residence?

Though my relationship with Madam isn’t particularly close, I’m still not someone you people can toy with at will.

If you can’t do it, I’ll go find Madam myself and have her sell all of you off.

Useless people are nothing but a waste of silver.”

Matron Li had not expected Wei Lan to speak so bluntly.

Her expression changed repeatedly.

She had thought Wei Lan would be easy to bully, but clearly that was not the case.

The Lu Residence had strict rules.

If this truly reached the miss’s ears, they might genuinely all be driven out.

With that thought, Matron Li immediately dropped to her knees before Wei Lan.

“Oh my, Consort, you’re joking.

That’s not what this old servant meant.

We’ll clear out a room for you right away.

Please don’t be angry.”

Wei Lan coldly stared at Li Zhufeng for a long while without speaking, until Matron Li felt her scalp go numb.

“Next time, I don’t want to hear any more excuses.

If you don’t want to work, then get out of the Lu Residence early.

The Lu Residence spends silver to raise servants, not ancestors,” Wei Lan said coldly.

“Yes, yes, this old servant wouldn’t dare.

I wouldn’t dare.”

After being scolded, Matron Li immediately became much more obedient, at least on the surface.

Wei Lan waved her hand, signaling her to leave.

Matron Li hurriedly scrambled up from the ground and fled.

As soon as she stepped outside, Matron Zhao grabbed her hand.

“What happened?

Did she call you over for something?”

Matron Li nodded.

“She wants us to clear out an empty room.

I only made a couple of excuses and got scolded badly.

She even said the Lu Residence raises servants, not ancestors, and that if we couldn’t do it, we might as well be sold off.”

“She really said that?”

Zhao Linghui had thought Wei Lan would be easy to handle.

Now it seemed they couldn’t provoke her head-on.

“Exactly.

Stop chatting.

Quickly call everyone over and clear out the room next to the Consort’s bedroom.

Move the furniture into the courtyard storage room first,” Matron Li said after some thought.

Seeing Matron Li speak so decisively, Matron Zhao quickly began directing the servants in the courtyard to start moving things.

Wei Lan sat by the round table and took a sip of tea, finding it all rather amusing.

Some people simply couldn’t be shown kindness.

Give them a pleasant face, and they would think you were a soft persimmon easy to squeeze.

She stopped paying attention to the courtyard affairs and stood up to head outside the residence.

Since the back gate was closer, she left her small courtyard and walked straight toward it.

The four guards at the back gate all recognized Wei Lan, so she left the Lu Residence smoothly.

While strolling around the streets that day, Wei Lan had already learned that the people of Great Zhou were particularly fond of jade.

As a result, jade carvers held a very high status in Great Zhou, at least the top-tier ones.

She bought a cup of fruit drink by the roadside and casually asked the vendor about it, learning that both the East Market and West Market sold jade carving tools.

Wei Lan chose the closer East Market.

When it came to jade carving tools, ancient tools were far more cumbersome than modern ones.

In modern times, grinding and carving tools could be powered by electricity, but in ancient times, cutting, grinding, and polishing all relied on manual labor.

It was extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive.

In modern times, Wei Lan could carve a display piece in one or two days.

In ancient times, carving a finished piece would take at least three to five days.

Fortunately, Wei Lan was not only skilled with modern tools.

She was also familiar with the tools used by ancient craftsmen.

That was because her teacher, in order to temper their patience, had specially commissioned a complete set of tools based on ancient jade-making techniques.

They were required to use that set of tools to complete a finished work.

Wei Lan remembered that experience vividly.

She recalled starting from cutting the jade, working day and night, and spending a total of twenty-seven days to complete a phoenix ornament that truly satisfied her.

During that time, she was filthy every day, her hands covered in blisters from grinding.

Her senior sisters and brothers were no better.

None of them looked like refined jade artists.

They looked more like laborers hauling bricks at a construction site.

Thinking back on those days, a smile appeared on Wei Lan’s face.

Only when she thought about jade carving did her heart truly stir.