"Oh? Let's hear it. With a lazy smile on her lips, Meng Xuan bowed her head slightly, encouraging He Angelica to go on.

Originally, he didn't plan to reward people with food, first, this table of dishes had his mind in it, and if he didn't feed He Angelica to eat a belly, he wouldn't feel at ease when he left. The second is that all his subordinates here live in other places, and half of them do not stay in the main garden, and the subordinates who serve are "part-time workers", and they will leave when they are done; The people who went to night were "dogs in front of the door", and they wouldn't even come in at the gate of the garden - the seventh prince was cool enough to practice martial arts and practice sword archery in the garden, which was a well-known thing in the Meng family, and who was tired of being crooked to be his arrow target. Therefore, if he wants to be happy alone with his meal, he has to go to the garden next door to call people.

He Angelica took it very seriously, and said: "Listening to what you said about the seventh master, the concubine body roughly understands the Tao here, and thinks that this rule is not good, so it is better to get rid of it." ”

"In addition to the old practice of appreciating food?" Meng Xuan didn't expect her to say this, and she was also puzzled in her heart, and asked, "The master's unfinished meals are rewarded to his subordinates, and Qing'er thinks there is a problem with this?" Can't you eat it but eat it, or throw it out? ”

He Angelica shook his head and said, "I don't mean that, I just think it's wasteful and disadvantageous." It's not realistic to want the entire Meng family to stop doing this, it's better to start with us, and gradually a good atmosphere has formed, and others will come to learn from us. ”

Suddenly, Meng Xuan's expression changed slightly, and he opened his hand in the direction of the wardrobe, and took a honey-colored crepe skirt and a cocoon silk blouse of the same color in the air, and quickly asked why Angelica was wearing it on his body. He Angelica was surprised at first, and thought that Meng Xuan would only help people take off their clothes, but not the kindness to help people get dressed. What's the matter, the sky is not dark, and the night wind is not blowing, he is ......

Soon, He Angelica found the answer. About the time of tea passed, a series of footsteps of different shades came from far and near, jumping in her ears. Who is coming......

Meng Xuan hurriedly tidied up her collar and sideburns, grabbed all the green silk she was wearing loose into a woman's moon-falling bun, and took a clean ivory chopstick and inserted it. A pretty and charming little lady was instantly dressed up as a dignified beauty with a bit of a woman's style, and all this happened only in a moment.

He leaned close to her small and delicate ear and whispered to her: "It sounds like my grandmother, the soles of her shoes often grind the floor, and the six girls around my grandmother are all hairpins and golden sands, and they are very good at distinguishing their voices." You don't need to be nervous, let's continue to talk about what we should say, if you are bold enough to say it, grandmother will not blame you. Everything has me. ”

He Angelica was stunned, he was about to ask Meng Xuan, but when he heard that his grandmother was coming, why didn't he open the door immediately to greet him, but continued to eat, drink and chat in the house, pretending not to know anything? After thinking about it, I understood what Meng Xuan meant, which was to let her make some constructive remarks, or sing praises and praises, to express her admiration for the Meng family's ancestors, which was like a surging river, and specially told the old ladies and them. Perhaps, the old lady came to listen to this.

Although Meng Xuan's garden did not have people who looked at the wind and spread the word, the old lady walked straight to the door of his house with a group of maids. But they didn't do it, and there were some suspicions of listening to the corners and grasping the bad habits.

It's no wonder that Meng Xuan has been reluctant to come out since he entered the cave room yesterday, and his grandmother, who loves him, can't help but worry about him. When the old man is old, he will inevitably wonder if her good grandson will overindulge in lust and die. Alas, it is said that a daughter-in-law has become a mother-in-law for many years, but she can be a grandmother, and she has a basket of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and she still has endless troubles. Even the performance of the bed room behind the grandson's cave room has to be cared for.

Since the old lady wants to hear it, then she will continue.

He Angelica cleared his throat and said eloquently: "The seventh master is good, the concubine said that the meal reward system is not good, there is a reason for this. There is no problem with appreciating rice, and it is still a thrifty practice, but I heard you just now say that the master in the Meng Mansion appreciates the rice, which almost solves the daily food of six to seventy percent of the people in the back house, which is a big problem. ”

"Oh? Madame, may you tell me, what is the problem? Meng Xuan's voice was also pretended, with the tone of an old pedant who studied the eight-strand text segmentation with his colleagues.

The two sang together, with a smile in their eyes, but their voices were serious. He Angelica asked him rhetorically: "Excuse me, in the master's regular meal, are pork, beef and mutton, as well as chicken, duck, fish, shrimp and crab extremely commonplace?" Are the delicacies of the mountains and seas more expensive than these often appear on the master's table? ”

Meng Xuan said in a natural tone: "This is natural, Meng's is not luxurious, but humps, bear's paws, bird's nests, preserved meats, deer tendons, shark fins, white fungus, fish lips, skirts, sea cucumbers, dried scallops, oyster yellow, mullet eggs and other delicacies are also common." Our family's expenses, in the prince's mansion in the capital, are probably only ranked in the middle and lower reaches, because the family motto requires 'frugality'. He felt that his grandmother thought that his cave house was too long before she came to supervise it herself, so he said some "safety topics" to let his grandmother know that although their young couple did not go out all day after the door was closed, they definitely did not fail to do their job!

"Then in the usual meal, pork or whole chicken, is it also commonly eaten?" Angelica Ho continued the questionnaire survey.

Meng Xuan didn't know much about these housework, but he still gave the answer: "People with rank in the army don't have fine chicken or meat, and I think it's even more impossible for the people in the family." Ten meals of meat in a month, I guess. ”

At this time, Meng Xuan and He Angelica, two people with strong ears, heard that the group of uninvited guests who were descending from the cold house were tiptoeing close to the doors and windows, eavesdropping with bated breath.

"Yes, it's similar to the regular meal distributed by my family." He Angelica nodded and smiled, "That means that the Meng Mansion often makes expensive top-notch dishes, but since the old lady and below, all the masters can't finish it, and most of them are rewarded to their subordinates in the end?" ”

Meng Xuan's big hand held He Angelica's small hand under the table, wrapped her warmly, and grinned: "That's right, 'kindness to others' is also our family motto, and Mrs. can slowly get it back in the future." At the same time, I am very satisfied with the progress of their topic, grandmother, your old man heard it, and his grandson and his studious and intelligent granddaughter-in-law are studying the Meng family's family motto in the room.

He Angelica said disapprovingly: "The concubine thinks that this so-called 'benevolence' is just wishful thinking of the nobles such as the king, and even the 'frugality' is fake." The concubine didn't know how long Meng Fu had done such a thing under the instructions of the family motto, so she could only sigh, spending money like running water, wine and meat through the intestines, and in the end, because of the gentleman's out-of-context, he abandoned the essence of the family motto and let it go, which is a pity. ”

Meng Xuan's head sweated when she heard this, and she resisted the urge to block her babbling mouth with her mouth. Does she know what it means to be taboo? How could she attack the Meng family's family motto head-on? Although he encouraged her to speak boldly, she also had to choose something that would sound good to her ears and tell it to her grandmother who was eavesdropping on her grandchildren's conversation for the first time, girl.

He Angelica said fearlessly: "Qilang doesn't know, the concubine is also a master who cherishes slaves and maids very much, in addition to giving them more monthly money, the bird's nest porridge and ginseng soup I eat are often rewarded to them. But after they finished eating, they learned that the casual small bowl just now was worth more than ten taels of silver, not only were they not happy, but when there was a next time, they refused to eat it. Does Shichiro know why? ”

"They are caring and know how to save for their masters." Meng Xuan guessed with a casual smile.

"No, it's because after they ate it, they felt guilty." He Angelica recalled, "Take Cicada Yi as an example, I didn't let her become a slave, but followed me in the form of a helper, and the monthly money was also paid to her by myself, which was four or five times that of the first-class maid in the family." She felt that her needlework skills were not good, and she was not worth the wages, and she often felt ashamed of taking money. Shame on the other, that is, her old son eats bran at home, and only spends two taels of silver for a whole year, and Cicada Yi is holding a bowl of ten taels of silver ginseng soup, can she still drink it? ”

Meng Xuan thought for a while and said, "Didn't she receive a lot of silver from you?" As long as you give your father and mother the money, and serve you with more care, neither problem will exist. ”

Miss's personal maids, most of whom grew up with Miss, sometimes have a much better relationship than their sisters, and they have almost the same food and clothing.

He Angelica smiled and said: "This is not bad, it can be regarded as a bystander." However, Qilang may not know that their farmer's heart is simple, and he has long been thrifty, and how the father and mother of the cicada clothes live when they have a silver tael of silver, which is no different from having fifty taels of food. The money that Cicada Yi sent to her home, her mother saved it up as a dowry, and she didn't spend it no matter how she persuaded her, and in the end Cicada Yi had to buy fish and meat to bring home. ”

Meng Xuan knew that she must be missing her maidservant, and comforted: "The girl in the cicada clothes has a round face and a good heart, she will have her own creation." "The last trip to Qingzhou was in a hurry, they all forgot about the cicada clothes, and they didn't follow Duan Xiaolou's instructions to go to Chang Nuo to ask if he had abducted underage girls with his rumors. In hindsight, Zai Nuo was no longer there, so he had to continue to wait.

He Angelica concluded: "Therefore, the ideas of the high-class nobles and ordinary people are completely different, especially the subordinates who sell themselves into the mansion, the reason why they do not become commoners and slaves is to take the opportunity to earn a few more taels of silver." The master's fine clothes and jade food are rewarded to them for consumption, but it is more affordable to reward them with a few taels of silver. A momentary blessing is not as good as the money around you, eating more or less is not a sure thing, and it is still a small number of people who benefit, and equal rewards and punishments can benefit more people. ”

Meng Xuan listened more seriously, and seconded: "Yes, the master's routine meal is too extravagant, and it is also a good way to cut a part of it a little and reward it to a good slave." ”

"It's not just extravagance," He Angelica pointed out sharply, "Since there is a 'rice appreciation system' there, the meals are evenly layered, and the further down they go, the less they are." Those cooks are placed on the first level of reward? Will they increase the cost of meals more and more in order to get more rewards, or use food as bait to get their masters to spend more money and use more kitchens in each courtyard? And the master eats two bites on his head, and the rest will be rewarded, and who will benefit? Meng Fu has a special procurement department, and there is no shortage of vegetables, fish and meat, why are the morning markets at the side gate so prosperous? Whose business are they doing? As far as I know, people don't have much money to spare, and they don't know how to spend it. ”

"So what do you mean...... Over the years, Meng Fu has been empty and extravagant, extravagant and wasteful, and everyone is secretly cheating the master's money? ”

Suddenly, (and not suddenly) the voice of a majestic old woman sounded outside the door, and with this word, the door was slowly pushed open.

Meng Xuan turned his head to look, but was taken aback: "Father? What are you doing here? ”