Resourceful Tanchun Promotes Profit and Abolishes Old Abuses; Seasonable Baochai’s Small Favors Preserve the General Order

Ping’er had eaten with Xifeng and attended her while she washed and rinsed, then went to Tanchun’s rooms. The courtyard was quiet; only the maids and old women of the inner household waited outside the windows. Ping’er entered the hall. The three sisters were discussing household matters—how, at the New Year, the Lai family had invited them to drink, and what had happened in the Lai family’s garden. Seeing Ping’er, Tanchun told her to sit on the footstool and said, “The matter I have in mind is nothing else. I was thinking that besides our two taels of monthly silver, the maids have their own monthly allowance. The other day someone reported that for the hair oil and face powder we use each month, each of us is again to have two taels. This is just like the eight taels for the school—layer upon layer. The matter is small and the money limited, but it does not look right. Why has your mistress never thought of this?” Ping’er smiled. “There is a reason. The things you young ladies use naturally have their allotted allowance. Each month the purchasing agent buys them......