Chapter 51

"Chunxiao has scars on his face; they're extremely ugly."

Xue Lingyu raised her head, blinked, and obediently made a move to remove her veil.

Xin Yan knew something was wrong and quickly stepped forward to stop Xue Lingyu's actions. He was quick-witted and, before Manager Qiao could get angry, he gave Manager Qiao a good explanation.

“Manager Qiao, Chunxiao has scars on his face, they look terrible. If he accidentally frightens the master, that would be a serious offense. Besides, the opportunity to enter the inner courtyard is so rare, it should be given to the brothers with clean-shaven faces.” Xin Yan said, nudging Xue Lingyu to show her support.

Everyone present wanted to seize this opportunity. What if Xue Lingyu's face was so ugly that it offended the master? What if the master got angry and didn't want to choose anyone? Where would they go to complain? So when Xin Yan said this, many people echoed her.

Those who can serve in front of their masters must naturally be good-looking. Xue Lingyu couldn't even pass this first test, so why would she bother to look at him?

Xue Lingyu had no idea what these people were up to. He could remove the veil or not; he would listen to them as long as they didn't take away his money.

He nodded to Manager Qiao and said "yes" several times, sounding a bit silly, which made Manager Qiao give up on the idea.

Masters prefer clever and quick-witted servants. Even if the requirements are lowered, it would be impossible to find someone as dull and dull as her in eight hundred years.

Manager Qiao waved his hand impatiently: "Fine, fine. When the lord arrives, you can go somewhere else. You won't be selected anyway, so don't get in the way."

Xin Yan smiled when she saw that she had saved Xue Lingyu.

If the master were to see Chunxiao's appearance, he would surely be amazed and snatch him away to be the young lady's concubine. As Chunxiao's future brother, I must protect him well.

Even if Chunxiao stays in the outer courtyard, given his relationship with the steward, he certainly won't suffer much. Once his younger sister gets into high school, Chunxiao's good days will begin!

The thought of having a brother-in-law as beautiful as an angel made Xin Yan smile.

When Father Jiang came to select servants, Steward Qiao had already picked out some clever-looking maids and placed them at the front, saving Father Jiang the trouble of selecting them one by one.

Manager Qiao prepared the roster and respectfully handed it to Ruiming, the first-class servant beside Father Jiang.

Father Jiang glanced at the newly bought maids. Most of them were from the countryside and looked honest and kind, like they were good at manual labor. If they were placed in the courtyard, they would not be respectable. After a while, he lost interest in them.

Father Jiang patiently looked a few more times and finally found a few with slightly fair and tender skin. One of them was very pleasing to the eye, with a round face and a plump appearance. He looked quite well-behaved. Father Jiang glanced at Ruiming, who immediately understood and found the person's name in the register.

“My lord, this man is called Xinyan. He is from the outskirts of the capital. His family has been farmers for three generations and has a clean financial situation. He got in through Steward Wang’s connections.”

Manager Wang was the most capable person under Father Jiang and was highly trusted by him. Upon hearing that it was someone he had handled, Father Jiang felt much more at ease.

Seeing that he couldn't find any more gold, Father Jiang simply said, "I'll take this Xinyan, and those two decent-looking ones in front. They can come to my courtyard as cleaning servants."

It's only because they urgently need people now that spring is here that Mr. Jiang would have chosen from among these people.

The women in Jiang He's courtyard naturally needed to be carefully selected, but now they could only wait a while. Jiang's father also thought that it would be a good idea to send them to Liushui Xiaozhu after he had properly prepared them.

After exchanging a few words with Steward Qiao, Jiang's father left, and Ruiming took charge of the selected maids.

When Xin Yan heard her name from her master, she was overjoyed. She knew that even a lowly servant who was sweeping and cleaning was still part of the inner court. If she performed well, she might become a first-class servant like Rui Ming, which would be like a phoenix soaring to the top.

Manager Qiao kept smiling at Ruiming, with a hint of flattery in his expression. "These people are all in your hands. They were destined to be lowly servants, but they'll get to enjoy some good fortune under your care. They've had the luck to survive for generations."

Ruiming ignored him and carefully examined the roster, then noticed something was wrong. "It says there are fifty people, but only forty-nine have come?"

Manager Qiao was stunned for a moment, scratching his head and unable to say anything for a long time. He was getting old and would forget what he said in the morning by evening, which was quite a challenge for him.

He vaguely remembered that it seemed to be related to Xinyan, so he looked at Xinyan.

Xin Yan stepped forward, first bowing to Rui Ming, and then began to help Steward Qiao out of the predicament, "Brother Rui Ming, Chun Xiao is my good friend. Because she was injured on the face, she felt that she was ugly and dared not offend the master, so she did not come."

His voice was also very clear and crisp, like that of an honest and upright person, which immediately won Ruiming's favor.

Ruiming returned the roster to Manager Qiao, looked Xinyan up and down, and nodded, saying, "So that's how it is. You must be Xinyan. Your words are not vulgar. You have a promising future."

Xin Yan was not arrogant or impatient when she received the praise. She just smiled and said, "Thank you for the praise, Brother Ruiming. Because my little sister is a scholar, I also have the opportunity to know a few words."

It turned out he was literate. Ruiming noted this down, thinking to himself that he was a promising talent and that he could be trained well, as he might come in handy.

The few people who were chosen to go to the main courtyard packed their bags that day, and were to report to the main courtyard the next day. Xin Yan wanted to take Xue Lingyu with her, but the inner courtyard had many rules and was not as comfortable as the outer courtyard.

Fortunately, he received some praise from Ruiming, and Manager Qiao did not dare to offend him easily. In addition, with the help of Manager Wang, he was given a leisurely job, which was to sweep the plum blossoms and fallen leaves in the outer courtyard.

However, once all the plum blossoms have fallen, we'll have to do other work, which won't require much physical exertion.

This made many people envious of Xue Lingyu, who was a fool, and wondered how he had managed to gain such a powerful backer.

However, due to the presence of Xin Yan and Steward Wang, the people in the outer courtyard dared not play any tricks.

Jiang He went to the shop to handle business, but unexpectedly, she did not return home for several days and instead stayed at the shop.

Business in the North Ward had long been in trouble. Many shops, for the sake of meager profits, had secretly stocked goods from the South Ward, causing chaos in the North Ward. Some shops that adhered to the rules suffered continuous losses, and if it weren't for the Jiang family supporting them, they would have closed down long ago.

Jiang He didn't take it seriously at first, thinking that a little restraint would suffice. The four major workshops had always relied on their unique characteristics, so things had been peaceful until today.

The He family's land workshop is no match for the Jiang family's water workshop, and the Jiang family's northern workshop is no match for the He family's southern workshop. The Jiang and He families have been at odds for many years, keeping to themselves.

However, Beifang's losses far exceeded Jiang He's expectations. Such a large sum of money must be used to cover the losses before Beifang can resume operations.

The Jiang family doesn't have that much cash on hand. If they sell their property, rumors will definitely spread, and the situation will only get worse.

After deliberating for many days, Jiang He finally decided to sell Ruyi Restaurant.

Many people in the capital city do not know that Ruyi Restaurant is owned by the Jiang family. If it is sold, it will not cause any waves for a while. Moreover, Ruyi Restaurant is located on Jinghua Street, a prime location, so there is no worry about finding a buyer.

Speaking of Jinghua Street, Jiang He suddenly remembered that she had a private residence there. If she sold it, it might be worth more than the price of Ruyi Restaurant.

That private residence was originally intended for Xue Lingyu to live in.

Her confidants all advised her to sell her private residence, since it would take at least ten years to run another Ruyi Restaurant.

Jiang He hesitated once again.

As Jiang Wanyi's due date drew closer, the Emperor issued an edict allowing Jiang's family to visit her at any time.

She received her brother's letter in the morning and entered the palace. Although she was no longer listless, her slightly red eyes betrayed her. Jiang Wanyi could see the bitterness in her heart at a glance.

Physician Yang is currently imprisoned in the Jingzhao government office, so Ji Weinian has taken charge of Jiang Wanyi's pregnancy. She judged that Jiang Wanyi was at risk of premature birth, and in the last few days she would not be able to move around and could only lie in bed.

Upon seeing her younger sister, Jiang Wanyi couldn't help but get out of bed despite her large pregnant belly. Her personal attendant helped her up, her heart pounding with fear.

It took Jiang He a long time to persuade Jiang Wanyi before she finally lay back down on the bed.

Because he was pregnant with twins, his belly was unusually high and his face was pale. He held Jiang He's hand as if he was using all his strength. "He'er, I know you haven't been doing well these days. Don't worry, your brother is here. He will definitely help you. Cough cough."

Jiang Wanyi covered her mouth and coughed lightly, her eyes and brows looking weak.

He heard rumors that the Jiang family's business hadn't been doing well lately, so he thought he'd do his part.

Jiang He squeezed Jiang Wanyi's hand back and said with heartache, "Brother, I'm fine. Just focus on giving birth to the baby and take good care of yourself. I'll handle the rest."

Jiang He said many comforting words to Jiang Wanyi, without mentioning a word about the crisis the Jiang family was facing, for fear of frightening him.

Jiang Wanyi soon became tired, and the servants helped him to bed. Jiang He also came out from the inner room.

Jiang Wanyi's personal attendant, Juqi, followed her out. He had been instructed by Jiang Wanyi beforehand to hand a black box to Jiang He, which contained Jiang Wanyi's savings accumulated over the years.

Jiang He naturally refused to accept it, and walked out of the hall, saying, "I brought an old ginseng root to help my brother recover. I still have things to take care of at the business, so I'll be going now."

As soon as Yuange left the palace, she could clearly sense that Jiang He was in a bad mood. She sat in the carriage for a long time without telling the driver where to go. Only after Yuange asked did she say that she wanted to go back to the Jiang family.

The voice was cold and abrupt, startling Yuan Ge, who thought something had happened.

After visiting the palace, Jiang He finally decided to sell her private residence on Jinghua Street to cover the losses of her shop in Beifang.

She can earn more money and buy another house, but she must have enough strength to be a source of confidence for her family.

Jiang He returned home suddenly without informing anyone in the manor beforehand.

She returned quietly, perhaps because she wanted to be alone.

The Flowing Water Cottage had been uninhabited for several days and was quite messy. Jiang He was about to ask a question when she suddenly remembered that she had sold off a lot of maids some time ago, and now the entire inner courtyard was short-handed.

Seeing the object brought back painful memories. Clutching the green jade pendant, she instructed Yuange, "The plum blossoms are falling; send someone to clean them up."

Yuange glanced out the window and saw that there were indeed many fallen flowers. She agreed, "We don't have enough people in the courtyard. There are also plum trees in the outer courtyard. I'll go and call them over to clean them up."

Jiang He stared at the plum tree, remaining silent.

A note from the author:

Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2022-02-02 22:38:54 and 2022-02-03 21:00:02!

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: a happy dieter with 3 bottles; my dear dad wjj with 2 bottles;

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!

◎Latest Comments:

【Here it comes! Here it comes! Here it comes!】

[I read up to chapter 52, then it disappeared again.]

The fact that Yu Yu hasn't gotten pregnant yet suggests that the time for them to meet hasn't come yet, and the story should continue for a while longer.

[Update! Aa ...

[Ugh! What a worry, so the price of double updates is no updates the next day... You're such a worry, sigh.]

Can we meet now?!

[I can't miss the next chapter, author! We've already reached over 50 chapters, I'm begging you!]

Will we see you in the next chapter?

[What are those four mouths? Does anyone know? lol]

[Let's meet! Let's meet!]

When will we be able to meet?

【Please let them meet quickly, Madam!!】

Let's meet soon!

[Is there a second update tonight? Please, madam, let them meet!]

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