(Friendly Tip: Bai Ran is the Foreign Minister)
In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the year again, and it was time to give gifts. Outside the Yu Residence, there were two long lines of people giving gifts that could stretch from one end of Baochang Street to the other. Sometimes, they had to wait for a day before they could set foot on the steps of the Yu Residence, but no one dared to complain. They had to smile obsequiously and wholeheartedly carry the gifts inside.
It was said that the Prime Minister's doorstep was a seventh-ranked official. Zhou Hu finally understood the meaning of this sentence today. Last year, at this time, he was the one who brought people to carry gifts to other people's residences to look at their faces. This year, it was a group of people fighting to look at his face. Now, many people had to politely call him Chief Steward Zhou when they saw him. Who said that a servant couldn't have a day of freedom? It depended on what kind of master they followed.
As the sun set, the main gate of the Yu Residence was closed. No matter how many people were outside, they were all turned away after five in the afternoon. This was a rule set by Yu Shu, and no one in the entire residence dared to disobey it on the surface.
Zhou Hu had a stack of scattered banknotes in his sleeves. There were about three to five hundred taels, which was almost equivalent to ten years of his monthly allowance. They were all secretly given to him by the people who gave gifts. For the first two days, he was so scared that he didn't dare to reach out to take it. Then, somehow, his master found out. Miss Xin 'er from the north came to pass on a message and said —
"Master said to take what is given to you. Later, when you go to the accounts room and report it, you can keep the other half."
Zhou Hu's steps were light. Ever since he came out of his mother's womb, he had never had so much money on hand. After ten days, he could find a place in An Ling City to settle down in a spacious house.
On his way to the accountant's office, he was thinking that later on he would give a share to his brothers who were guarding the courtyard. Even if he didn't say much, he would at least give each of them a few taels of silver. He would at least have enough to eat and drink. It should be known that the guards in the residence, in addition to food and clothing, two sets of clothes per season, and an extra three taels a month. Not to mention, they would get rewards from their masters from time to time. If they spent it frugally, after three to five years, they would be able to save enough for a wife and wouldn't need to be single.
When Zhou Hu arrived at the accounting room, he saw Bai Ran sitting in the room, fiddling with the abacus and checking the accounts. He came forward and warmly said: "Little Brother Bai, why are you alone today? Where is Sixth Uncle?"
Originally, only Uncle Qian Liu was in charge of the accounts in the accounting room. A few months ago, Yu Shu transferred Bai Ran over, saying that she wanted him to learn accounting. But how could Zhou Hu not understand? Although Bai Ran looked fair and clean like a little girl, he was literate and sensible. Their family's adults were tempering this kid. They felt that it was a waste for him to be a study companion and had the intention to promote him. Because of this, Zhou Hu did not rely on his position as the front yard's chief steward to be arrogant in front of Bai Ran. He was still as amiable as before.
Bai Ran put down the account book, stood up, and said to Zhou Hu: "Sixth Uncle has a stomachache. He will go back and rest first. Brother Zhou, are you here to pay the accounts? I will write it down for you." As he said this, he turned around and took out a red leather account book from the cupboard. He sat back down at the table.
Zhou Hu took out the banknotes and silver ingots that he had received in private today. Bai Ran checked them twice before she lifted the brush and dipped it in the ink. She wrote it down neatly and then had Zhou Hu write his name at the back and put his fingerprint on it. The servants in the fu, at the very least, had to learn how to write their own name. Every month, when they received their monthly allowance, they had to sign it before they could receive it.
Zhou Hu received almost two hundred taels of silver. He was grinning from ear to ear. He immediately took out a small ingot and put it on the table. He generously said: "Take it and buy something delicious."
Bai Ran quickly refused: "I can't accept it. The day before yesterday, you gave me two silver ingots. I have nowhere to spend them. How can I accept your money?" He knew that Zhou Hu received this money openly. Other people wouldn't be jealous. Moreover, Zhou Hu wasn't stingy at all. Every time he received money, he would give it to the people in the front courtyard.
"Take it, take it. Everyone who sees it has a share. If you don't take it, then you don't put your brother in your eyes." Zhou Hu put on a serious face and forcefully gave it to him. Without waiting for him to push it back, he let go and ran away.
Bai Ran didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he looked at the round silver ingot in his hand. His pair of bright eyes gradually became confused.
He thought to himself, when did it start? His life seemed to be different. Oh, yes, it should be from the day he met Yu Shu in the Provided People's Home, his life changed into another shape.
He clearly remembered that in his previous life, his grandfather was defeated. After the Bai family's property was confiscated, he was sent to the Elders Courtyard. Because he was beautiful and literate, he was not in a hurry to be sold. Instead, he was carefully trained so that he could be sent to a high ranking family to be a spy. Who would have thought that the Elders Courtyard was actually a place where spies were placed.
He was carefully nurtured for two years before he was sent to Prime Minister Xue fu. In the beginning, he was just a small servant in the Eldest Young Master's courtyard who was drying books. He had only seen his master a few times. By chance, he showed his face in front of the Eldest Young Master and was recognized by him. He was made a follower and from then on, he had the opportunity to get close to his master and secretly pass some unimportant news to the Senior Courtyard.
Later, Emperor Zhao Qing became seriously ill. Ning Wang Liu Hao became the Regent of the State. But he didn't have a few days of pride before someone exposed a scandal and he staggered into prison. What everyone didn't expect was that before the old emperor died, he passed the throne to Xiang Wang, who was born from the same mother as him. This caused a lot of opposition. Among them, the Celestial Commissioner was the most vocal. But in the end, it was still Xiang Wang who sat on the throne and became the Emperor Zhao Yang.
After Zhao Yang Emperor ascended the throne, he started to suppress the Celestial Commissioner. He demoted the Great Commissioner to third-rank and all the other officials were demoted. Then he investigated the aristocratic families of the twelve prefectures of the capital and imprisoned all the descendants of the previous emperor. Then, Prince Dongjing rebelled and fought against the imperial court. The imperial court sent troops to suppress him but failed. Someone in the capital reported that the eldest son of the Xue family had colluded with Prince Dongjing. There were letters as proof. Prime Minister Xue fell ill in anger and the Xue family never recovered. Not long after, Zhao Yang Emperor charged the Xue family with colluding with the enemy and exiled seventeen males of the Xue family, including the collateral branches. The females were sent to the army to serve as JIIs.
As a servant, Bai Ran was lucky to escape and returned to the Residential Compound. At that time, he didn't know that during the Xue family's exile, Prime Minister Xue died of illness and Xue Rui disappeared mysteriously.
Seven years later, the world was in turmoil. Prince Dongjing allied with the Mongols and advanced triumphantly. He attacked Anling City and ousted Zhao Yang Emperor from the throne. He supported the son of the late Empress' Imperial Concubine Xue, the Nineteenth Prince Liu Ling, as the young emperor. At the same time, the eldest son of the Xue family, who should have died on the way to exile, became the Imperial Preceptor of the imperial court and held all the power.
After Imperial Preceptor Xue became the most powerful minister, he first cleared the Xue family's name and cleared their name. Then he asked Zhao Yang Emperor to be executed by a thousand cuts and usurped the throne with 81 crimes. His methods were so cruel that even the Residential Compound couldn't escape. More than two hundred spies were beheaded and the rest of the sinful slaves had their tongues cut off and were exiled to the Bitter Land.
Bai Ran, who had once worked as an informer in the Xue family, had personally experienced the Avici Hell and stepped on the road to death with fear. The last image left in his mind was Grand Preceptor Xue sitting on the eight-bearer palanquin and watching the execution with cold eyes, and his pair of pitch-black eyes.
"Hiss," Bai Ran fell into his memories and couldn't help but shiver. The ingot in his hand was wet with sweat. He took it and knocked on his forehead, using the pain to wake himself up. He said silently over and over again,
"God, if you let me live again, I will cherish my life."
From the moment he came back to life and returned to the Bai family, he kept reminding himself like this. Therefore, although he entered the Residential Compound, he would rather be beaten and starved than learn to be a spy. Because he didn't want to go to the side of that evil man in his life. Although there were many differences between this life and his previous life, such as Prince Xiang's failure, the Ninth Prince Liu Tan inheriting the throne, and the Xue family didn't end so tragically, but all these differences made him most confused and confused because of his current master —
In his previous life, he had never heard of Yu Shu.
"… Brother Ran, Brother Ran?"
A small hand waved in front of him, Bai Ran suddenly came back to his senses, he saw Abe Kuizi came in, opened a pair of big round eyes, looked at him with a worried face.
"Why are you in a daze? It's dark."
Bai Ran slowly smiled, and his face regained its spirit. "I seem to have made a mistake just now. I'm afraid that Sixth Uncle will scold me when he comes tomorrow."
Abe Kuizo nervously said: "Will Sixth Uncle scold you? Do you want me to plead with Master?"
Bai Ran shook his head and couldn't help but touch her head. He took the basket from her hand and said: "No, Sixth Uncle scolds me for my own good. What delicious food did you send me today? "
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