That year, in the first few months, Yin Hui was so focused on preparing for Wen Ruyue’s arrival that she failed to prepare for the two maids.
But she had already decided that by the end of the year at the latest, she must make a marriage arrangement for Jinzhan and Yinzhan, and there should be no further delay.
With that said, the two maids were so shy that they didn’t dare to make fun of their master anymore, and they expressed that they would stay by Yin Hui’s side to serve her all the time.
Yin Hui smiled and said, “If you get married, you can still serve me. Doesn’t the wet nurse in charge of the Shu Mansion sound more imposing?”
Jinzhan went all out and muttered, “Princess, go take a bath; you will be tired later. It’s time for lunch!”
The master and servants stopped joking.
After washing off the sweat all over her body, Yin Hui was refreshed. Just as she was about to have breakfast, a decree came from the palace.
Yin Hui had no choice but to go to receive the order. Xiao Ning and Wen Ruyue followed her to kneel in the front yard.
Eunuch Xuanzhi unfolded the Imperial Decree with a smile and began to read it.
Yin Hui was surprised to find that it was actually the will of her father-in-law to confer Wen Ruyue the title of Princess. The Emperor praised Wen Ruyue. Because Wen Ruyue had so many good qualities, she became the adopted daughter of Concubine Shun. The Emperor then specially gave her the title of County Princess and also rewarded her with a mansion.
“Princess, this is the map of the County Princess Mansion. Please look at it first. There will be officials from the Ministry of Industry to explain it to you. If you have any changes you want to make, you can ask the officials of the Ministry of Industry.”
The Imperial Decree and a map were handed over to Wen Ruyue.
Wen Ruyue burst into tears with gratitude and choked up crying.
Yin Hui gave Eunuch Xuanzhi a purse and asked An Shun’er to take him to drink tea.
“Mother, what is a County Princess ?” Xiao Ning asked curiously.
Yin Hui smiled and said, “Princess and County Princess are all titles of royal women. Let’s go to congratulate her first, and Mother will explain to you carefully later.”
Xiao Ning understood and went with her mother with a smile to help the cousin who was still crying.
“Cousin, look, I’ve already said that there will be good days waiting for you,” Yin Hui helped Wen Ruyue up, congratulating her softly.
Wen Ruyue was also very pleased.
She was a Princess and had her own mansion, so she no longer had to stay in the Shu Mansion and depend on others.
If her cousin treated her tenderly and took care of her, she would have stayed, but he was so cold and didn’t give her any hope. Why should she stay here anymore?
The two entered the hall, and Yin Hui asked Wen Ruyue to unfold the map of the mansion to have a look. She was also curious about Wen Ruyue’s mansion, such as where it was located and how big it was.
Wen Ruyue was also looking forward to it. She put the Imperial Decree aside, placed the map in the middle of the table, and slowly unfolded it.
The first thing that caught the eye was the mansion.
It was a three-entry house. Compared with other three-entry houses, it was not very spacious, and there was a small garden behind it.
Wen Ruyue was dumbfounded at the composition of the mansion.
When she first heard about the County Princess Mansion, she imagined a magnificent house like the Shu Mansion. Although she knew that the mansion must be worse, she didn’t expect it to be so bad.
What was the difference between the three-entry mansion and the ordinary rich families’?
When Yin Hui saw the map, she suddenly remembered.
The Emperor’s daughters were named princesses, and their mansions had less space than the princes’, and the same must be for a County Prince Mansion.
The princes’ daughters were princesses, and the regulation of the mansion was lower than that of the County Prince Mansion. It was a five-entry mansion.
The princes’ granddaughters were county princesses, and the residence was lower than the previous mansion, directly becoming a third courtyard.
The great-granddaughter of the princes were also county princesses. The difference from the previous one was the food and salary.
After all, Wen Ruyue was not of royal blood. Even if she was adopted by Concubine Shun, it would be an honor to be named County Lord.
As for the County Princess’ treatment…
The County Princess would only be given a mansion and enjoy the annual salary after leaving the palace. The married County Princess and her husband add up to three hundred taels of food for a year.
Since Wen Ruyue had already been bestowed the mansion, the yearly salary would probably be calculated according to the post-marriage. That was to say, Wen Ruyue would receive three hundred taels of silver every year in the future, converted to twenty-five taels per month.
That was to say, if Wen Ruyue was not married, she could receive twenty-five taels of silver every month. If she was married, the couple and their future children would still receive twenty-five taels of silver.
Compared with famous nobles and even wealthy businessmen, twenty-five taels seemed a little. It took more than half of the monthly expenses for the servants, as well as for the family’s food and clothing, to maintain the house. If one lived a little extravagantly, survival became challenging. To save money, one had to be frugal and plan carefully when purchasing silk and satin.
But compared with ordinary people, receiving twenty-five taels of silver a month was too much, a good thing that one couldn’t even dream of.
Yin Hui looked at the location of Wen Ruyue’s mansion again. It was not far from the noble circle around the Imperial City, and it was worth three or four hundred taels in silver.
Therefore, that reward given to Wen Ruyue by Emperor Yongping was actually very good; some newly-appointed officials had to rent houses to live in.
Of course, Wen Ruyue, the princess title was bought with the lives of her family, and by virtue of her blood relationship with Concubine Shun and His Highness Prince Shu.
Xiao Ning squeezed over at some point, tiptoed to observe the map on the table, and murmured, “Mother, this mansion is so…”
“It’s so good, isn’t it?” Yin Hui gave her daughter a wink, afraid that the little girl might say something mistakenly.
Xiao Ning blinked and nodded, “Yes, so good.”
Yin Hui looked at Wen Ruyue again and found that she was trying to force a smile.
After all, she was also a cousin who lived in the Shu Mansion for a few days and even lived in the majestic Yan Palace for more than ten years.
Facing a mansion that was only bigger than Zhufeng Hall, Wen Ruyue, the new Princess, would inevitably not be happy.