In just half a month, the luxurious residence on Baochang Street had purchased dozens of people. From the ones who swept the floor in front of the door to the ones who guarded the door, not a single one of them wasn't a sinner that Yu Shu had carefully selected from the Supply House. In total, she had spent nearly a thousand taels of silver. Even those wealthy officials, eunuchs, and gentry families weren't as extravagant as her, willing to waste money on a few slaves.
Xin Liu heard that Yu Shu's big house had been tidied up. She didn't wait for Yu Shu to send someone to invite her. She felt a little puzzled from the moment she entered the door. The gatekeeper ran an errand and led her to the living room. Two maids came in to serve tea and cold dishes and then quietly left. When the servant from the front yard ran to the backyard to invite Yu Shu over, she suddenly realized what was strange.
The servants in the lotus house were too well-behaved. They did not have the shyness of a small family, nor did they have the timidity of a newly bought servant. They treated people and received guests in an orderly manner. It really made people mistakenly think that they had entered an old mansion.
Xin Liu was surprised by Yu Shu, and then she knew why.
"You mean that all the servants in your mansion were bought from the Conferred Courtyard, that black-hearted place?" Xin Liu was surprised, "How much money did you spend?"
For a family like the Xin Family, every year they had to replace the servants, buy new ones and sweep away the old ones. It was always the housemaid who brought people to the mansion to choose for them. They never went to the Conferred Courtyard to be slaughtered. It was only when her younger brother added a page boy last year that he made a special trip to the Conferred Courtyard. He spent the price of four or five pages to buy a boy who could read and write.
Yu Shu calculated the total and roughly told her the number.
"Who gave you this bad idea? You can't waste money like this, right? If you had told me earlier, I would have asked my mother to find you a few housemaids for officials. If you bought too many maids, they would have given you some rough ones! " Xin Liu bitterly lectured Yu Shu. Every month, she could get money from her parents and grandfather, so she had her own little treasury. Seeing Yu Shu spending so much money, he was worried for her.
It would be wrong to say that Yu Shu was wasteful. At the end of the day, it was because they had different ideas. Other families usually bought slaves to train them, but she was willing to buy slaves that had been trained well.
This mentality was similar to the hiring of most modern companies. They were more willing to hire people with qualifications and experience than those who had just entered society.
For the sake of efficiency, spending a little more money was worth nothing.
What's more, she was not short of money at this time. Not counting the debt she won from the Cui Family's Big Gambling House, she still had tens of thousands of taels of profit from the crystal business in Jubaozhai.
"That's not how the accounts are calculated," Yu Shu explained to Xin Liu, "I used to be a poor commoner. How would I know how to discipline my servants? Instead of buying an ignorant one to give me a headache, it's better to buy a ready-made one."
Xin Liu thought that this was reasonable, so he did not complain about her anymore. He continued to ask about her housewarming banquet.
"Grandfather asked me yesterday. Have you picked a good day?"
Ever since the Water and Land Conference, Yu Shu had not appeared at Taishi Library. The invitation sent to her residence did not receive a reply. The Celestial Commissioner was not a place where people could be stationed. Many people wanted to see her, but there was no way to do so. Many people came to Xin Liu to ask about her. They were all waiting to see when she would open the door to the banquet.
"I have chosen the day. It's on the twelfth of this month. I'm just afraid that everyone will be too busy since it's close to the Mid-Autumn Festival. If I don't invite them and leave an empty banquet, it will be a joke."
Hearing her words, Xin Liu rolled his eyes and said, "As long as you invite them, no one will dare to not give you face."
Yu Shu laughed and did not mention it. She planned to put on a big show this time and put the housewarming banquet and the thank-you banquet together. The Ministry of Rites had already stamped the golden seal. Emperor Zhao Qing wanted to use her title to make a fuss, so she should cooperate and publicize it.
Next, Yu Shu proposed to bring Xin Liu to see her large garden. Xin Liu was dragged along by her, thinking that there was nothing much to see. It was nothing more than fake mountains and rivers, red flowers and green trees. However, after passing through a moon gate, there was only green mist in front of them. After a dozen steps, a plum blossom deer raised its horn and took small steps, stepping on the fallen flowers on the ground. It passed in front of them, glanced at them, and continued to stroll, not the least bit afraid of strangers.
Xin Liu widened her eyes and walked forward. She saw monkeys squatting on the mountain wall, big-tailed squirrels shuttling between the branches, and a row of exquisite bird cages hanging at the bottom of the corridor. Inside were thrushes, skylarks, and wrens. Everything was there. What attracted her attention the most was a pair of white jade canaries. They had the same white feathers and red eyes, and their cries were melodious. Her grandfather liked to play with birds. She would occasionally hear him recite a few lines from the Bird Scriptures, so she knew that these canaries were not ordinary rare.
Xin Liu had seen her fair share of gardens. She had even been to the Imperial Garden in the Imperial Palace. However, she had never seen someone like Yu Shu, who made her garden look like a wild mountain garden and raised a group of intelligent and adorable birds and beasts. This was the first time she had seen such a thing.
Because of this, Xin Liu's interest in touring the garden increased. She dragged Yu Shu, walking here and there, picking flowers and weeds, playing with birds, and chasing foxes. She had a lot of fun.
Before leaving, Xin Liu hugged a fluffy little rabbit that she had picked up in the grass nest. She was reluctant to let it go, so Yu Shu simply asked someone to go to the garden and catch another rabbit, making up an even number for her to carry away.
.....
In the evening, when Yu Xiaoxiu came back from school, he went straight to his room. There were several independent small courtyards in the mansion, so everyone didn't need to squeeze under the same roof. Yu Shu had asked for Yu Xiaoxiu's opinion. She gave him a separate courtyard. Aside from Bai Ran, a book attendant, she also assigned a manservant named Chun Er to serve him.
There were many benefits to being a sinful slave who came out of the Consecrated People's Courtyard. The first one was his duty. The sky hadn't darkened yet, and Chun Er was already guarding the grass path at the second gate. When she saw Yu Xiaoxiu coming from afar, she called him Second Young Master and ran over to take the bag of books from Yu Xiaoxiu's shoulder.
Now that the two families had come together, in order to avoid a mess, Yu Shu and Zhao Hui had discussed it and set up a new rule. They had the servants call her Eldest Young Miss, Yu Xiaoxiu was the Second Young Master, He Xiaochuan was the Third Young Master, Old Madam He was the Old Madam, and Aunt Cui was no longer someone else's concubine. She called her Madam Yu.
"Second Young Master came back early today. You didn't go to the medical center?" Although Chun Er was one year younger than Yu Xiaoxiu, he was like a bamboo pole. He was half a head taller than Yu Xiaoxiu. He held the bag of books with both hands and followed behind Yu Xiaoxiu with his back bent. He looked like a shrimp, which was quite comical.
Yu Xiaoxiu wanted to laugh when he saw him, but he didn't tell him to straighten his back and walk. "I didn't go. Today, Master gave me a lot of homework to do."
A few days ago, many servants were bought into the mansion. On the second day Chun Er came, his sister called him in alone to give him a lesson, making him truly realize that his identity was different from before.
His biological sister became a high-ranking official of the Celestial Commissioner, and even the emperor bestowed her a title. The family lived in a mansion that was even grander than the Ji family's old residence. Dozens of servants obediently called him Young Master. They lived a life where they could stretch their hands and open their mouths to eat. Although Yu Xiaoxiu hadn't adapted yet, he clearly knew that he was no longer the burden of sleeping on a wooden bed in the servants' room of the Ji family's compound in Yiyang City, eating leftovers. Instead, he had changed from a half-servant to a master.
The master and servant followed into the small courtyard. Bai Ran, who was wearing a brand-new silk gown, came out of Yu Xiaoxiu's study with a stack of red paper dotted with gold. When she saw them, she stopped to greet them.
"Second Young Master, school is over."
Yu Xiaoxiu nodded and walked over to pick up the top invitation in his hand. He looked at it and asked, "Have you finished copying the name list my sister gave you?"
Yu Shu had already sorted out the guest list for the 12th of August. Because all the servants in the mansion thought that Bai Ran's handwriting was the most pleasing to the eye, she gave him the task of copying the invitations. As a result, Bai Ran didn't follow Yu Xiaoxiu to Baichuan Academy to accompany him in his studies. Instead, he woke up early in the morning and stayed in Yu Xiaoxiu's small study to copy the invitations. He wanted to finish the task Eldest Miss had given him as soon as possible.
"I've finished copying. I'll send it to Eldest Miss." Bai Ran had grown a lot darker than when he was first bought. His originally weak little pretty face had a bit more heroic spirit.
"Then go quickly and come back quickly. Don't delay dinner." Yu Xiaoxiu affectionately patted him on the shoulder. Even if there were many servants in the family, Bai Ran was different to him. This youth was smarter than him and was also a good scholar. He had once been a young master of a wealthy family, so there was no way he could order him around like a servant.
Bai Ran softly snorted. He glanced at Chun 'er, who was following behind Yu Xiaoxiu with a hunched back. She was wearing the same short-sleeved shirt that the mansion had just given to the servants. His heart was slightly bitter. He lowered his head and quickly left.
Not long after Yu Shu sent Xin Liu away, Bai Ran sent over the invitations. She randomly picked a few and was very satisfied with the neat and beautiful writing. She called Yun Dou, who was at the side, to give Bai Ran a piece of silver.
"Well done. In the future, I will add another set of paper and ink to Xiaoxiu's room. You should practice more when you have time. Don't delay it."
A trace of happiness appeared on Bai Ran's slightly reserved face, and she quickly thanked Yu Shu. After receiving the reward, she withdrew and didn't stay for even a moment longer.
It was dark outside. Lanterns were hung under the eaves of the courtyard. Bai Ran walked along the porch. He saw two people coming out from the opposite corner of the door. He recognized the one in front. She was the new maid of Eldest Miss. Her name was Lin 'er. The one behind had her head hanging down. He could only see half of her white neck. Bai Ran looked at her and quickly withdrew his gaze. He silently said in his heart, "Don't look at indecent things" and hurriedly went out of the courtyard.
Xin 'er led the recovered Akiko to see Yu Shu. She didn't pay attention to where Bai Ran went out. Akiko was more sensitive. She was walking when she suddenly stopped. She turned her head and stared at the direction of the empty courtyard. There was some doubt in her eyes.
"What's wrong?" Xin 'er saw her stop and look around. She pulled her and called her back to reality.
Akiko quickly shook her head and timidly said: "Nothing."
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