six in the morning
All that could be seen about amounted to a few small pieces of furniture just sufficient for them to make themselves comfortable with . Over this hall was likewise affixed a placard , with the inscription in four characters : `` Perfected philanthropy , published virtue ! '' Yet the place was generally known among the domestics as ` the discuss-matters-hall . ' To this hall , -LRB- Li Wan and T'an Ch ` un -RRB- would daily adjourn at six in the morning , and leave it at noon , and the wives of the managers and other servants , who had any matters to lay before them , came and went in incessant strings . When the domestics heard that Li Wan would assume sole control , each and all felt secretly elated ; for as Li Wan had always been considerate , forbearing and loth to inflict penalties , she would be , of course , they thought , easier to put off than lady Feng . Even when T'an Ch ` un was added , they again remembered that she was only a youthful unmarried girl and that she too had ever shown herself goodnatured and kindly to a degree , so none of them worried their minds about her , and they became considerably more indolent than when they had to deal with lady Feng . But after the expiry of three or four days several concerns passed through her hands , which gave them an opportunity to gradually find out that T'an Ch ` un did not , in smartness and thoroughness , yield to lady Feng , and that the only difference between them was that she was soft in speech and gentle in disposition .