When Shuning heard Tong ask her to pick up a maid ring, she understood that this was also part of the housekeeping course. Picking a ring is not pleasing to the eye, but also depends on whether you can do the work, whether it is suitable for you, and you also need to take into account interpersonal relationships, social background, etc. This is also a kind of knowledge, Tong has taught her more or less, and now it is time for practice tests.

Shuning first counted the number of people she needed to pick. I also need to add a close and a rough girl in my room. The fan official has reached the age of matching, and the housekeeper has already registered with her, and she will be married before the Chinese New Year. However, it is rude to let the housekeeper in the house pick a family to have a child, trained and reliable, so only one person needs to be picked today.

Then there are two people in the Duanning room. The original scholarly fragrance and ink fragrance, when they were originally arranged, there was some kind of consideration, but Duanning had a good character, and never thought about them otherwise, and Xiaomei was responsible for the work of waiting closely. Now they are quite old, since Duanning returned to Beijing, they have been a little nervous, if it weren't for the mourning, and the example of Cuilian in front of them, I don't know what they would do, so the Tong family took this opportunity to get rid of these two restless.

In fact, according to the practice of the house, the eldest girls in the young masters' houses are usually born in the family, one is reliable, and the other is familiar with the rules, but the Tong family hates this. Many of the family members in the Earl's Court are proud of being accepted by their masters, and they also like to compete with each other and be jealous, and the atmosphere is corrupt, and more than one fifth-generation descendant died because of this. Tong has always believed that Qingning's lustful and unstable backyard are all caused by those restless girls. She has high expectations for Duan Ning, and she can't tolerate her son following in her cousin's footsteps, so she has a plan. I want to buy two honest maids for my son to wait, and then slowly find a place to guide adults, and wait for my son to get married in the future. I asked him for his opinion, and she would arrange a good family for the woman.

The meaning of Tong's. Shuning generally knows the place, so now the picker only chooses the honest one.

As for the virtuous and peaceful Yahuan, it is better to be sensible, careful and steady.

Ya Po brought a dozen girls, ranging in age from twelve to eighteen. Shuning looked at it and felt that one of the fifteen or sixteen-year-old maids was quite suitable for serving Xianning. He asked her what her name was. The Ya Po hurriedly replied: "It's called idle songs, leisurely leisure, poems and songs, this is the name of the place only given by an old showman, and it is said to be chic." ”

Shuning and Tong listened and looked at each other. The tooth woman saw that something was wrong, and hurriedly asked, "But what's wrong?" The second sister-in-law scolded on the side: "This is rushing our little master, why don't you change it soon?" ”

Tong waved his hand and asked the girl, "What is your real name?" "The little girl was a little timid. But he never flinched, but he was blessed, and replied: "When I am at home, I call it Xiaoyu." Tong nodded: "That's it." It's just a little dirty. ”

Shuning said: "According to me, that song is also quite chic." Just change the idle words. Her real name is Xiaoyu, why don't you change her name to Yuge? When it rains, the raindrops are like singing. It's also very good. Tong smiled: "Okay, let's call it Yuge." She was very satisfied when she saw that this girl was gentle and steady.

Shuning picked two more girls with medium appearance, honest duties and neat hands and feet, and asked Tong's opinion to let them wait for their brother. Tong followed the name of the book and ink, and named them Chaxiang and Yanxiang respectively. When it was her turn, Shuning was a little difficult, and there were two candidates who were very good, and she hesitated and didn't know which one to choose.

One of them is named Fleur (Shuning: Me! ), about fourteen or fifteen years old, is the most outstanding one among so many girls, looks better than Qiaoyun back then, describes the manners polite and moderate, speaks in an orderly manner, has read a few books, and the needle and thread are also passable. When Shuning saw her, she didn't feel like she was a slave, and after asking Ya Po, she learned that she was also the daughter of a good family, but her family was in the middle of the road, and in order to support her widow and brother, she had to sell herself as a slave, but she refused to sign the death deed.

Shuning still has some admiration for this Furong girl's backbone, but after all, she wants to choose a girl for herself, hoping to find a safe place, this Furong does not sign a death deed, and she doesn't know when she will be ransomed, which is always uneasy to use. Moreover, perhaps because she is better than others in everything, this girl faintly exudes an aura of superiority, as if she is superior to others. This attitude made Shuning feel a little uncomfortable. If you stay and serve, I don't know if you can get along with other maids.

The other candidate, named Holly, was only fourteen years old, and his appearance was only delicate, and he was dressed neatly and neatly. Compared with the other handsome girls who are beautiful or good at female popularity, she does not stand out in everything, except for one thing that no one else has the advantage of: she has served in the study. She has been a little girl in the study since she was ten years old, and it was not until she was thirteen years old that the old master committed a crime and raided her house, and she was re-sold. Shuning remembered that the maids and servants around her were all illiterate, and when she practiced calligraphy, painting, painting and piano, she had to do many things by herself, which was very inconvenient. If there was someone in charge of the pen, she would be much more relaxed.

She thought for a while, then pulled Ya Po and quietly asked for some details, and learned that Holly's old owner was affected by his relatives before he lost his official position and raided his home, and the whole family went back to his hometown, and before leaving, he resold the insignificant servant, and Holly would be reduced to this. Shuning heard from her second sister-in-law that Dafang had not picked anyone, so she had a plan in her heart.

She ended up choosing Holly. Holly was of course very happy, but that Fleur probably didn't expect that she would lose the election, and her expression was a little unhappy. Shuning glanced at her a few times, and felt more and more that her choice was correct.

After picking people, Ya Po took the rest of the girls away, and the four girls who were left behind were all taken down by the second sister-in-law for family rule education.

Tong beckoned, called Shuning to the house and sat down, and asked, "E-Niang looked at how many talented and good-looking people there were, why didn't you pick them, but picked a few second-class ones?" ”

Shuning said: "The eldest uncle and aunt's family haven't picked it yet, how can I, as a niece, pick all the good ones." Didn't E-Niang teach her daughter just the day before yesterday? ”

Tong pursed his lips and smiled: "You just have to tell outsiders these high-sounding words, I want to listen to the truth." ”

Shuning smiled: "Actually, I think that Furong thinks very highly of herself, and I'm afraid that she won't get along with Su Xin and them, won't she add to her own blockage when the time comes?" As for the others. Although they look good, looking at their slender fingers, they are a little more delicate than me. It really doesn't seem like they can live on the ground, so I don't choose them. ”

"Then why don't you pick a few needlework skills? I picked this one. ”

"Most of the girls in the family are good at female celebrities. But there wasn't a single one waiting for Wen Modi, and I was trying to find someone to do some of the 5,200 things in this realm. E-niang, how did I pick it? Shuning looked at her mother and wondered what the results of today's test were.

Tong smiled happily: "You did a good job today." Remember to choose servants later. It's not just that you look good, or you like it, you should be able to live on the ground, and that's what you need. When picking people, you can't ignore the people who were waiting for you. ”

That's a rule of thumb, right? Shuning silently wrote it down. Thinking of the beautiful girls just now, she was a little strange: "The hibiscus and those who are good-looking don't seem to be people who can do work, why did Ya Po bring them?" ”

Tong Shi said lightly: "It's not a person who does rough work in the first place, those few are of other uses." Shuning's eyes widened: Could it be that she is a concubine candidate?

Tong asked: "Do you know why E-Niang asked you to pick someone." Instead of letting your brother choose? Shuning thought for a while: "Because this is an internal affair?" Tong shook his head and said, "Youth Mu Shaoai." I trusted my son, but I didn't want to take any chances. That Hibiscus. Unlike the others, who only have one face stronger than a person. She is good-looking and understands the rules. Look at it, there is also a bit of insight. If it is an ordinary son, it is difficult to guarantee that he will not be fascinated. For E-Niang. No matter who your brother marries in the future, it will be our own family. What woman doesn't want her husband to be single-minded about herself? I don't want to do that superfluous thing, so that your sister-in-law will not be happy in the future. To govern a family properly, you can't just rely on thunderous means and that off-the-beaten-path method. ”

When Shuning heard this, she felt full of admiration, she really deserved to be her mother!

In the evening, a deacon, at the behest of the steward, sent a rough maid and several young servants to summon the master of the third room. That rough girl, whose name is Guan'er, is seventeen or eighteen years old, and she has strength and can do work, and Shuning and Tong are very satisfied.

The deacon revealed the follow-up news of the selection of Xinyahuandi, and the two young grandmothers of the Nala clan and Wanning, the Li clan and the Xitara clan, each picked one person, among which Wanning picked the hibiscus. The others picked the girls, most of them were mediocre-looking, but Nala picked one with a bit of grace.

When Shuning heard about it, she was very surprised, that Sister Furong was clearly not a person who kept to herself, Ya Po sent her over, most of them for the location of the concubine's premises, why did she actually follow a young lady instead of a young master? But thinking that it was her cousin who picked people instead of her cousin, she understood a little.

It's just that Wan Ning picked such a person, which is really uneasy, if something happens to that Furong, this eldest sister is afraid that she will be uncomfortable again. Shuning was worried for a while, but she couldn't help but laugh at herself: Could it be that because she saw Wanning's sad and sad pitiful appearance, she had become more intimate in recent days, and she began to worry about this eldest sister? They are people with completely different personalities, and their worldview and way of doing things are also different, Wanning has suffered a few losses, and she will definitely learn a lesson, what kind of heart is she here?

After thinking about it, she remembered that two days ago, Wan Ning asked herself to make a satchel, and she had already made half of it, so she quickly turned it out and continued to do the rest of the work.

On the first watch, she finally made the satchel, and it looked very late, but her father didn't seem to have come back, so she went to ask Tong what was going on. Tong just said that he went to Fangshan to run errands and wanted to spend the night outside, so he didn't have to wait for him. Shuning relieved herself and went back to her room to sleep.

The next day, she took the satchel, thought about it, and took a newly made satin pencil bag and went to the bamboo courtyard. I sat down in Fang Ning's house first, gave her the pen bag, and said a few words before going to Wanning's small courtyard.

Wanning welcomed Shuning's visit very much, and when she looked at the satchel, she was even more pleased: "You are so amazing!" I didn't expect you to make it! It's this secret fold and this hidden bag, I told them several times, but they couldn't figure it out, and they didn't expect the third sister to make it instead. ”

Well, I've never eaten pork, and I've seen pigs run, this kind of common technique in modern handbags, even if she doesn't know it, she has an impression, and it's not difficult to make a general appearance. The ancient maids had never seen the real thing, so they couldn't imagine what it looked like Shu Ning smiled slightly: "This is nothing, I have seen others make it, but it is made of leather instead of silk." Wan Ning said: "Leather? Did you see it when you were outside the gates? It turns out that the Mongolians also sew in this way. ”

Knowing that she had misunderstood, Shuning didn't correct it, and saw that there was a mess on the case, and there were a few books on the side, and the one on the surface seemed to be what "A Brief View of Song History", so she asked, "What is this?" Is my sister copying books? Wan Ning hurriedly put down her satchel and walked over to clean it up: "To make you laugh, I felt that I couldn't concentrate on reading those history books, so I simply copied the books from beginning to end, both practiced calligraphy and read books, killing two birds with one stone." She paused, and her voice gradually lowered: "The more I read, the longer I see, the world ...... It's amazing......

Shuning didn't hear the last few words, but only vaguely guessed that she probably realized how different the world was from the Qing Dynasty they knew. But this should have been discovered a long time ago, right? Could it be that Wan Ning has only now truly understood the world?

Just as he was thinking, a girl came in, carrying two cups of tea and a few biscuit-like snacks. Shuning accidentally looked at it and found that it was the hibiscus she had seen yesterday.

Wan Ning saw her and said with a smile: "Yuehe is here?" It's good that I can drink the good tea you made again. She turned her head to Shu Ning and said, "This is the new Yuehe who came yesterday, she is so smart, she can do anything, and the tea she brews is very delicious, can you taste it?" ”

Shuning smiled, took a sip of tea, and praised: "It's really delicious!" But I remember that her original name was Fleur, how did she change it? ”

Wan Ning smiled and said, "I don't think her name is good, so I changed her name to Yuehe, isn't the lotus a hibiscus?" She turned her head to look at Yuehe: "She really knows a lot of things, and my original girl has been compared to her." That Yuehe smiled, but there was a pretty voice outside the door: "It's really sad for the girl to say this." "Yes, it's been a waste of all these years that we've been waiting for the girl." As soon as the curtain was lifted, Qiaoyun walked in: "Since the girl likes Yuehe and dislikes us, let's leave and let Yuehe wait for you alone." As he spoke, he took a handkerchief to wipe his tears, pretending to be a resentful woman.

Wan Ning laughed: "Okay, okay, what are you pretending to be pitiful?" The third sister didn't know, and thought you were really crying. She explained to Shuning: "Don't believe them, in fact, there are such capable people, they can still be lazy, but they are just pretending to be pitiful and teasing others." ”

Shuning smiled, catching a glimpse of Qiaoyun looking at Yuehe, a trace of fierceness flashed in her eyes, and she was a little disapproving. If you just bury your head in work, of course there will be no problem, but obviously you, the master, have begun to look at the new girl ring differently, one mountain does not allow two tigers, and Qiaoyun, who has been a big girl for a few years, will really be so open-minded?