The noble girl is beautiful.

In the evening, several girls gathered in Shen Yourong’s room, each dressed in casual clothes, working under a lamplight. Having met guests during the day, they now engaged in idle chatter.
“I found out today that the person I saw was actually the Fourth Prince,” Shen Qingyan said while helping Du juan with the thread. She glanced at Shen Yourong sitting on the couch and continued, “I was startled when I saw him in the hall, fearing he might report me to his father.”
Shen Yourong chuckled, “He’s not someone who doesn’t know the severity of matters.”
Shen Qinghan held up a fish playing among lotus leaves pendant and compared it with the thread, saying, “If he had reported to his father, you’d be kneeling in the ancestral hall by now.”
“I know, I know. Let’s not dwell on it,” Shen Qingyan replied, slightly exasperated.
Shen Qinghan snorted, relieved to see Shen Yourong’s calm demeanor, indicating she wasn’t taking their earlier argument to heart.
Shen Yourong skillfully worked with her hands, forming the beginnings of a plum blossom knot.
“In the future, we’ll be attending school with the Fourth Prince. You should find an opportunity to apologize to him and get your handkerchief back. Otherwise, you’ll keep feeling awkward,” Shen Yourong suggested.
“What’s awkward for me?” Shen Qingyan retorted. “He should be the one returning my handkerchief.”
Shen Yourong shook her head. “You’re just being stubborn.”
A maid entered, holding the curtain, and said, “Lady Yang requests the young ladies to come to the main hall.”
“We’ll be there,” Shen Yourong replied. She got up from the couch, and along with Shen Qinghan and Shen Qingyan, headed to the main hall.
The main hall belonged to Lady Yang, Duke Qi’s wife. The main hall for Shen Yourong should have been in the East Garden. Originally, it belonged to Shen Yourong’s mother, but after her mother’s passing, Duke Qi allocated it to Shen Yourong. The other girls, like Shen Qinghan, still resided in Lady Yang’s quarters, while Shen Qingyan lived with her aunt in the East Wing.
With two maids carrying lanterns, the girls followed them into the main hall.
Shen Yourong and her sisters paid their respects to Lady Yang. Lady Yang, still in her daytime attire, held a string of prayer beads and instructed, “Have a seat, girls.”
After they all sat down, she spoke, “We’ve renovated the East Garden, freeing up several beautiful courtyards. You girls are getting older and should have your own quarters. I’ve decided to allocate the main courtyard in the East Garden to the eldest daughter.
Duke Qi suggested not to disturb the arrangements for the eldest daughter, but to allocate courtyards for the second and third daughters. According to the eldest daughter’s example, you’ll each have two wet nurses, two first-grade maids, four second-grade maids, and a number of other maids and servants. Choose your attendants and report back to me.”
“Yes,” Shen Qinghan and Shen Qingyan answered together.
Lady Yang continued, “Another matter… I’ve been thinking, since you girls are all living in the garden, and the two younger ones are inexperienced and I’m busy, for a while, the garden’s affairs will be overseen by the eldest daughter.”
Shen Yourong hesitated for a moment before saying, “I’m afraid I might not be up to the task.”
Lady Yang waved her hand, “You were taught by the old lady herself. If you can’t handle it, no one else can.”
Shen Yourong reluctantly agreed. Lady Yang lifted a teacup, suddenly remembering something. “Duke Qi told me today that to look after the Fourth Prince, His Highness Prince Duan will also be staying in the garden. Eldest daughter, you’ll have to work a bit harder and take care of that side too.”
Shen Yourong pursed her lips and asked, “Has father mentioned how to accommodate His Highness Prince Duan and the Fourth Prince?” Lady Yang replied, “The Fourth Prince brings his people, and expenses for food, clothing, and other needs will be covered by the palace. We only need to provide some basic servants. He has a separate small kitchen, so we don’t need to worry about his meals. As for Prince Duan, he only brought a few people with him.
Your father said he is kind-hearted and won’t cause trouble. Just follow the example of the eldest son. However, the people brought by Prince Duan must be treated with respect and not be treated lightly.”
Shen Yourong nodded in response.
After finishing the instructions, Shen Yourong left with Shen Qingyan, leaving Shen Qinghan sitting beside Lady Yang. Perplexed, she asked, “Mother, why did you put the responsibility of overseeing the garden on elder sister? Didn’t you delegate your household authority?”
Lady Yang stroked her daughter’s hair and explained, “You don’t understand. I’ve seen your father worry about the matters concerning Prince Duan for a long time. You know, this is a delicate situation, and one misstep could lead to trouble. I already tiptoe around in the mansion, and this is something we should avoid getting involved in.”
Shen Qinghan nodded obediently.
Lady Yang continued, “You don’t need to worry about these matters. Just go back and pack your things. Learn from your elder sister’s actions in the garden and listen and observe more.”
Shen Qinghan acknowledged and took her leave.
Shen Yourong was now in charge of the entire garden, with particular attention to be paid to Prince Duan’s courtyard. She reviewed the accounts from the eldest son’s courtyard, and Du Juan brought tea, saying, “It was said that Prince Duan’s status is special, and it’s not easy to handle him. Now, this difficult task has fallen to the eldest miss.”
Shen Yourong flipped through the account book, saying, “There’s no need to rush. We’ll take it step by step. She mentioned doubling the expenses compared to the eldest brother’s, so there won’t be much to worry about regarding food and clothing.
She allowed Du Juan to personally select several maids and servants and take them to the courtyard.
The courtyard was called Dongzhai. Prince Duan had not yet moved in, so there were only a few cleaners in the courtyard. As Shen Yourong entered the courtyard, she saw an old soapberry tree, with lush foliage casting shade over half of the courtyard.
“I heard that Prince Duan personally chose this courtyard,” Hua Mei remarked. “He even chose one with a soapberry tree.”
Shen Yourong’s own courtyard also had a soapberry tree, under which a swing was placed.
“There are many soapberry trees in the capital, nothing special,” Shen Yourong replied.
Apart from the soapberry tree, there was nothing remarkable about this courtyard. However, there were many bamboo trees outside the walls, enclosing the courtyard and creating a serene atmosphere.
Suddenly, there was a commotion outside, and Shen Yourong saw that Prince Duan’s people were moving things in. They brought in more than a dozen large boxes, filling up the courtyard.
The leader was an old man with a white beard, Prince Duan’s steward, Xue Gonggong, who had come from the palace.
She went forward to greet him, “Greetings, Eunuch Xue.”
Xue Gonggong’s voice was sharp, but he was very approachable. “Is this Miss Shen from the Shen family? Truly a refined lady.”
She smiled and said, ” Prince Duan has just moved here and may be short of manpower for a while, so I brought some people to assist you.”
Xue Gonggong looked at the people standing in the courtyard and said with a smile, “I enjoy peace and quiet, so I won’t need so many people.”
Shen Yourong said, “Eunuch Xue, please don’t be polite. Pick a few that catch your eye to help with some chores.”
Xue Gonggong then selected a few servants and beckoned a young man dressed as a guard, saying, “Changsu, these people will follow you for now.”
The young man in the guard’s attire replied, “Yes.”
Shen Yourong knew that this was one of Prince Duan’s attendants.
Xue Gonggong then called two young ladies, who appeared to be dressed lavishly and behaved differently from ordinary maidservants.
These two were named Bai Yan and Bai Yue, Prince Duan’s personal maidservants. They came forward to greet Shen Yourong and each picked a few maidservants.
After they finished selecting, Shen Yourong said, “My father knows that Prince Duan loves poetry and literature, so he instructed me to find some ancient books and a sheep-fat jade lamp as a gift for his temporary residence.”
While Xue Gonggong had someone take the items, he smiled and said, “The Prince will appreciate it.”
Shen Yourong saw that they were busy packing up, so she knew it was inconvenient for her to stay here and said, “If there is anything missing or lacking, Eunuch Xue, please send someone to inform me. If any of the servants below fail to serve you well, you can handle it yourself or inform me, and I will take care of it.”
Xue Gonggong agreed and sent her away with a smile.
She returned to her own courtyard, crossed out the names of those not needed at Dongzhai on the list, and handed it to Du Juan.
These people will all move over there in the next few days to serve. Once they are divided into classes, they will receive their monthly allowance according to the rules,” Shen Yourong said as she nibbled on a piece of plum.
“Those who follow the Prince, each will receive two taels of silver as their monthly allowance, while the rest of the maids brought in will receive the standard allowance for second-class maids. Whatever rules they used to follow in the royal palace have nothing to do with us; we’ll just follow our own rules.”
Du Juan asked, “Even the head maid in the eldest son’s room only gets one tael per month. If we give too much, the people in the mansion might not be happy.”
“In the eldest brother’s room, there are four first-class maids, but Prince Duan doesn’t have that many people around him, so it’s okay to give a little more,” Shen Yourong said. “Just now, Eunuch Xue told me that he oversees the affairs of the royal mansion and won’t stay here for long.
The matters in Prince Duan’s courtyard will be overseen by Miss Bai Yan and Bai Yue. When you go there later, make sure to clarify the matter of the monthly allowance with them.”
Du Juan agreed and then asked quietly, “I noticed that those two young ladies are very beautiful and refined. Could they be his personal maidservants?”
Shen Yourong paused for a moment. “I’m not sure about that.”
Prince Duan Ji Zhuo is currently twenty-four years old, but there is neither a wife nor concubine in the mansion. Outsiders say that Ji Zhuo is fond of Buddhism and indifferent to worldly matters.
However, according to Shen Yourong’s speculation, it’s because he doesn’t dare to marry a high-born principal wife, and a concubine can’t enter the mansion before the principal wife, which is why there is no mistress in the mansion. At this time, it’s quite reasonable to have some personal maidservants around.
Shen Yourong thought for a moment and said, “Regardless of whether they are personal maidservants or not, it’s always good to show respect when you meet them.”
Du Juan acknowledged.
Just then, Sun, the steward from Shen Ying’s side, came to report that the ladies had been allocated separate courtyards, and each was given twenty taels of silver for expenses.
Eunuch Xue had also taken silver from his private funds, giving each lady one hundred taels. Although Shen Yourong didn’t move to another courtyard, to treat everyone equally, she also gave one hundred taels.
She had Hua Mei take the silver, then took out some spare silver from the drawer under the dressing table and handed it to Sun, saying, “It’s lunchtime, so take this silver and have a drink on me.”
Sun bowed gratefully. “Thank you, Miss.”
“Hua Mei put away that hundred taels,” Du Juan said. “When the young ladies moved here earlier, Eunuch Xue gave them silver, and now he’s giving them more. The main mansion will start gossiping again.”
“Let them gossip,” Hua Mei replied. ” Eunuch Xue’s money, he can give it to whichever lady he wants. Who can stop him? He could even refuse to give pocket money to his own daughter.”
Shen Yourong chuckled and shook her head. “Let’s not talk about it anymore.”
She picked up her tea and instructed Du Juan, “Send someone to ask the second and third ladies if they need help with moving to their new courtyards.”
Du Juan acknowledged and left.