These are mostly the concubines and chambermaids of those officials, who, having little experience of the world, know nothing of what goes on outside.
Usually not very favored, they found themselves travelling to the frigid northern frontier, a place the favored ones had no wish to follow.
This allowed the chance for their mistress to have them accompany their master, and without the mistress around, they basked in indulgence all the way, forgetting themselves, merely thinking their master's official rank was high. They recalled stories of concubines who accompanied their masters on external assignments, behaving with much grandeur in the absence of the mistress.
Some even wanted to imitate those stories.
But Jian Huaifeng and the people at the county yamen couldn't care less about what they thought.
After clearly giving instructions and inspecting each yard to ensure hot water was indeed being boiled in the kitchen, they felt reassured.
