Fierce Consort

Chapter 43

Yan Yan's days have been very peaceful recently, without any turbulence.

Matron Zou was a very capable person. Not only did she take charge of everything, big or small, within the Ningxiang Chambers, she also didn't neglect what was happening on the outside.

The Ningxiang Chambers had several grannies and maids who have been serving there since the beginning. When Yan Yan expelled a bunch of people, she had gotten rid of all the sneaks with backing. Those who remained were all honest and played their part well. These people all grew up within the Weiyuan Marquis Estate, and were innately honest. However, this didn't mean they were useless. Matron Zou collected these people and after their daily chores were done, she would have them network with others in the estate. They targeted people that didn't have much to do with the Rongan Hall or the Ziyu Pavilion, and made a few connections.

Yan Yan was generous and since Matron Zou was trusted by her, everything was left to her. After all the incentives and rewards were handed out, they ended up with quite a few useful people. The Ningxiang Chambers was no longer blind to things happening within the estate.

Matron Zou would always use real world examples when teaching Yan Yan to navigate household affairs. Although Matron Zou kept things simple and concise when discussing the gathering of news, her words were all to the point.

"Miss's status is high enough that you don't have to carefully plan and behave like those concubine borne children. However, nothing is out of the question within the household. Miss has a resolute nature and is very direct, but this is rarely seen in a girl. Girls are normally weak in nature, and can only rely on various schemes and tricks. Examples include tripping someone up, making false accusations and so on. These actions aren't obvious, but they often make one have to suffer in silence, or perhaps remain oblivious. Being able to obtain some information in advance in such cases makes it possible to avoid, hence the saying "battles are won on intel."

Yan Yan didn't enjoy reading the books other girls liked to read. She never read those folk tales and poem collections. The only books she could bear to read had to do with military strategy. Actually there wasn't much use for girls to read such books, but Yan Yan liked them and the Zhenguo Duke liked them as well. No one dared to say anything about it.

The so called plots and schemes were all ideas people used to deal with their enemies. There wasn't much difference whether it were two opposing armies or two opposing people. Yan Yan didn't understand collecting people to gather intelligence, but she knew that armies would send out scouts prior to battle. The meaning wasn't too different.

Matron Zou had studied up on the third miss's personality prior to coming, and would always give examples that were easy for her to understand. Compared to the military books, Yan Yan felt that women in the household were too senseless. They fought like cocks in the ring every day, just for the sake of money, clothes and some jewelry?

The saying was correct: those not involved couldn't understand the thoughts of those who were. Matron Zou's words made a lot of sense. They could choose not to get involved, but they couldn't remain ignorant.

Yan Yan had already eaten several losses in the past, and deeply understood.

Matron Zou's actions were also very useful. Information came in from all sides these days. Events that happened in the Rongan Hall and the Ziyu Pavilion seemed to be transmitted to her immediately after the fact.

Every time the maids came to report, Matron Zou would listen together with Yan Yan. After listening, she would let Yan Yan analyze things herself before filling things in when necessary. After a few rounds of this, the two got quite into their discussions. The only thing they forgot was little Ah Mo who was still sitting on the side.