Yu Shu got a big house on Baochang Street from Liu Tan after the Double Suns Festival in March. It took her three months to build it. Finally, at the end of July, it became the happy house she expected.
The house had four entrances and the gate faced south. The two small gardens in the east and west of the central axis were connected with a veranda. Looking down from the sky, it looked like a fish jumping in the air. It was full of geomancy.
The flowers and trees in the garden were transplanted from the Ministry of Works. The water from the pond was drained and the koi fish were fished from the center of Jade Lion Lake. She did not know how Pei Jing managed to smuggle a bunch of birds and beasts into the garden for her. There were mandarin ducks, white ducks, lark thrushes, sika deer, squirrels, macaques, and the rarest of them all was a pair of white cranes. For this reason, he even found an experienced bird breeder for her.
Most of the furniture in the house was ready-made, but there were a few rare top-grade ones. It was like the big four-season bed made of rosewood in Yu Shu's bedroom. The four pillars were engraved with the scenes of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The four corners of the bed were hung with hollowed lampshades in the shape of bird's nest. At night, she lit the candles and lay on her back in the mosquito net. When she opened her eyes, she could see the changing of the four seasons. It was such a beautiful scene.
This large bed was originally kept in the treasury of the Southern Cyanwood Forest Lumber Company, and it wasn't for sale. Xue Rui sent it over to Yu Shu with a note, and Yu Shu was extremely fond of it the moment she saw it, so she directly placed it in her room and used it as a bed.
After the construction of the luxurious house was completed, the money flowed out like water. Yu Shu was distressed. But after looking around, she felt that it was worth it. It was really a good idea to spend money anywhere.
Yu Shu took Zhao Hui and He Fangzhi to see the house first. After discussing with them, she started to pack up her belongings and luggage. Old Madame He was a little reluctant to live with her son and daughter-in-law, Yu Shu, a "foreigner". But when she came to Baochang Street in person, she got rid of the grudge.
Zhao Hui persuaded the old lady in private, "It's our family's blessing that Xiao Yu is so promising. But she and her brother are lonely and her mother is unreliable, so she is really close to us. Mother, you just need to treat her as your own granddaughter. What's wrong? Besides, Xiaochuan has sisters and brothers like Xiao Yu and Xiaoxiu. Isn't it good to live together?"
Old Madame He was open-minded after all. She had to think for He Xiaochuan, the only son of the He Family.
.....
Yu Shu asked Jing Chen for leave in advance. On the day of the end of the month, she didn't go to the Celestial Commissioner's office. She got up early in the morning and was busy moving her belongings and luggage.
The furniture on Baochang Street was complete. The family had started packing clothes and personal belongings a few days ago. After packing wooden boxes, they rented three horse carriages and were escorted by Lu Hong and Xu Qing to move to the new house.
Not to mention that it was a waste of talent to be guarded by a seventh-class bodyguard. Just the box of money that Yu Shu had saved for half a year was worth more than ten thousand taels of silver.
The three horse carriages went back and forth three times before they finished moving the things. Half of them were gifts that Yu Shu had received in the past two months. There were all kinds of gifts, some of which hadn't even been opened yet. Along with them, there was a basket full of visiting cards.
It wasn't the first time that Yu Shu was fed up with receiving gifts. The last time was when she showed off her skill at the Gentlemen's Hibiscus Banquet. This time, it was because she was in the limelight at the Water and Land Conference.
Yu Shu followed them into the last carriage. She sat cross-legged in the carriage and casually flipped through the basket of cards by her feet. After the Gentlemen's Hibiscus Banquet, she had taken the time to organize the list. This time, because the Celestial Commissioner had taken office, she didn't have the time to organize it. As a result, it was piled up in a mess. She was even more unwilling to look at it in detail.
Yu Shu knew that it wasn't a good idea for her to always turn a blind eye and only accept gifts while ignoring people. She still had to sort out these cards. She would reply to those that needed to be replied to, invite those that needed to be invited, and throw those that needed to be thrown away. It would be best if she could find someone to do it so that it wouldn't delay her business.
Right now, she only had one maidservant by her side, Yun Dou. Yun Dou was illiterate, so she couldn't count on her. She had to go to the Provision Institute as soon as possible and buy a few capable servants to order around.
Yu Shu asked Xue Rui for advice. It wasn't easy to set up one's own house. Having a house and money couldn't be spared. The most important thing was to choose and buy servants. She divided them into men and women, inner and outer courtyards, each with their own duties, so that it wouldn't be a mess.
According to the number of people in her family and the size of the house, she had to get at least two gatekeepers, two servants to clean the outer courtyard, and two maidservants to serve tea and pour water. Then there was the inner courtyard. Zhao Hui and her husband would have one courtyard. There would be guards, cleaners, servants, and servants. There would be at least four people. Old Madam He's courtyard would also need four people.
Adding on the kitchen staff, coachmen, and gardeners, all of which were indispensable, there would need to be twenty to thirty servants in this big house, and this didn't include the number of guards.
.....
It took three days to tidy up the whole family. During this time, Yu Shu went to the Provision Institute twice and spent a few hundred taels of silver to buy more than a dozen people in one breath and stuffed them into the new house.
There was no need to go to the Provision Institute to choose those rough servants. They could just find a woman broker, and a slave contract would only cost three to five taels of silver. However, Yu Shu would rather spend a few more money to buy people who "knew everything" in the Provision Institute.
She didn't spend the few hundred taels of silver in vain. When the steward of the Provision Institute saw her identity, he couldn't wait to curry favor with her. How could he dare to take advantage of her?
Yu Shu didn't go alone. Instead, she took Zhao Hui with her. When it came to housework, Yu Shu was ashamed to admit that she couldn't compare with Zhao Hui, who used to be a merchant's miss and was now a mother.
Sitting in the heavenly room, there were a few teenage girls standing in a row in front of them. On the chair above, Zhao Hui turned her head and whispered to Yu Shu, "You have to choose a room to serve. You have to be smart, and the most important thing is to know your place. You can't tell whether it's good or bad. First, you have to choose the one you like. After coming in, you can't choose the second one on the left or the first one on the right."
This was to choose a maidservant for Yu Shu to accompany Yun Dou. In any case, she was a fifth-ranked female official. Compared to the example of a noble family, two maidservants were already shabby. Even Xin Liu, the daughter of a noble family, had four or five maidservants in the front and back of the house.
Yu Shu still had the independent thoughts of a modern person. She didn't like others interfering in her private territory, but she had no choice. She became an official, so there were many chores that needed to be taken care of. If there was only Yun Dou, that little maidservant would be exhausted to death.
After looking around, Yu Shu asked two girls who were more pleasing to the eye if they could read. The two girls rushed to answer yes, so she asked them to write a few words. When she took the words in her hands, she saw that their handwriting was even worse than her beginner's. She frowned and turned to the steward standing at the side and said,
"I asked you to find me a few literate people, but you let me see these inferior ones?"
The steward could hear the dissatisfaction in her tone. He quickly smiled apologetically and explained, "Lady daren doesn't know, but there aren't many literate maidservants. They are all here. It's not that this lowly one is being perfunctory, but if there are servants who can write and draw, they wouldn't just be sold for the price of a maidservant. "
Those were all women that rich men would pay a high price to buy to play with.
"If I want you to find them, just find them for me. Are you afraid that I can't afford the money?" She mainly wanted to find someone to be her private secretary, so her requirements were naturally high.
"Lady daren is joking, hehe," The steward laughed dryly twice, "Then please wait a moment, this lowly one will be back soon."
Saying that, he took a group of girls out. Some of them saw that they couldn't follow such a good master like Yu Shu, so their eyes showed disappointment. When they walked to the door, they couldn't help but look back at Yu Shu pitifully.
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