Chapter 100 "The rest is..."

Chapter 100 "The rest is..."

"I'll leave the rest to you. Once the indenture and other matters are settled, Eunuch Liang, please take those managers, the estate manager, and their families to my house in the south of the city. Also, please have a doctor examine them and treat any injuries that need treatment or allow them to recuperate."

These former servants of the Zhou family, the headmen are alright, just a bit mentally exhausted, but those managers have clearly suffered some hardships, and if they aren't given some time to recover, they probably won't be able to be used.

"Yes, Master. You can rest assured to entrust them to me. I will definitely take good care of everyone for you. I guarantee they will all be in good spirits when you need them." Qian Liang smiled like a sunflower, speaking with great confidence, clearly indicating that this task was indeed a piece of cake for him.

Xiao Yan nodded and said to Granny Wang, "Granny, I'll leave those two women who are good at growing flowers and those who are good at combing hair to you. Take them both back to the Prince's Mansion and see if they're suitable for your use. Their families... send them to the south of the city as well, and then we'll arrange their jobs."

When they arrived, they originally only intended to buy a few shopkeepers, but they heard that the two women were once very useful people in Madam Zhou's courtyard.

One is in charge of tending the flowers; she's very skilled at planting, arranging flowers for all four seasons, and maintaining the room. The other is especially adept at hairstyling, makeup, and clothing and accessory coordination.

Since they were already there, Xiao Yan decided to take both of them with her.

However, since these people were once trusted confidants of other families, they all need to be thoroughly investigated after being brought back.

Wang Mama naturally nodded in agreement to Xiao Yan Hui's instructions. In fact, she had always felt that the Princess Consort had too few servants. Apart from the second and third-class maids who took care of the rooms and did chores, the only people who served her personally were two young girls, Mao'er and Zhu Yue.

I heard there were two older maids, but one of them got married and her whole family was in Jiangzuo helping the princess manage her business. She was sent out to be a manager and could no longer be considered a personal maid. The other one was also temporarily left in Jiangzuo by the princess. As for why she was left in Jiangzuo, the two personal maids only answered "I have something to do" now. She had just arrived at the princess's side and it was not appropriate for her to ask in detail.

This has resulted in the current situation where the princess's personal servants are quite inadequate. What kind of princess is so lacking in pomp and circumstance? However, the princess doesn't seem to care about these things. She has subtly mentioned it twice, but the princess only said that she would add more people if there were suitable ones later, showing that she doesn't care much.

Now there's a suggestion to put the two newly bought people in the yard, but they're clearly meant to stay in the yard to work, not to go out with us.

"Sigh," Wang Mama sighed inwardly. "No wonder they say birds of a feather flock together. The two masters of the Chengjun Prince's Mansion are both the type who don't like to have servants around them for long."

Seeing Wang Mama's expression, Mao'er knew that she wanted to add more people to her master's side again. She secretly rolled her eyes at Wang Mama, feeling a little smug: "What a pity, the master just isn't the type to like being surrounded by people and needing someone to flatter him all the time. The master just trusts and favors these old acquaintances, hehe!"

With a hint of ulterior motive, the cat deliberately moved closer to Xiao Yan and asked, "Master, shall we go back to the manor or wander around some more? You mentioned before that you wanted to try the cyclamen from the capital. Shall we go today?"

After asking the question, she quickly glanced at Granny Wang, as if eager to show that she, the cat, was the most intimate and useful person by her master's side.

"Let's not go today. Let's find a shop and buy some candies, dried fruits, candied fruits, and snacks." Xiao Yan smiled slightly. Someone was still looking forward to having some new sweet treats after taking the medicine. If they went back late, they would probably complain again.

“Indeed, we should go back soon, Your Highness. This afternoon, I need to go over the etiquette with you in more detail; I reckon you'll need it in the next couple of days.” Because they were currently traveling, Wang Mama didn't spell it out very clearly. However, judging from the Princess's eyes, Wang Mama knew that she had understood the implication in her words.

As for the little provocation from the cat earlier, it was just a little maid, and Granny Wang didn't care about it at all. However, she might need to find an opportunity to give her a warning later, so as not to let these little maids lead their master astray.

In Wang Mama's view, the mistress had many important things to do and many proper etiquettes to learn during this period. However, the prince was injured and bedridden, and the mistress was serving him at his bedside. Of course, nothing was more important than serving her husband, so Wang Mama didn't say much. All the teaching plans she had in mind were forced to be postponed.

But now that the master can come out and buy people, he must have time to learn what he should learn.

For example, the most important etiquette today is the ceremony of entering the palace for an audience.

His Majesty met with the Prince a few days ago, and the Prince's actions showed that he had made up his mind. The woman in front of him was the Princess Consort, as he was certain.

Based on Wang Mama's experience, the Empress's decree summoning her should arrive in the next couple of days.

Wang Mama was mentally planning how to arrange etiquette lessons for the princess when she was distracted and almost walked right up to the princess. Wang Mama quickly stopped and looked at the princess.

Then they saw that it was that little cat girl causing trouble again. She was looking across the street at something, and then she tugged at the princess's sleeve, stopping the princess in her tracks.

Granny Wang's eyes twitched uncontrollably. This girl's behavior was utterly rude! What kind of maid would tug at her master's sleeve like that? How did she learn such manners?

The princess stopped abruptly when she was pulled, and asked gently, "Cat, what's wrong? Why did you suddenly stop?"

She gritted her teeth, forcibly suppressing the words she wanted to say, but Wang Mama's lips still twitched slightly.

Although Qian Liang, who still wore his usual smile, witnessed this subtle exchange, he remained completely unmoved. He pretended not to have seen anything. He was serving the princess, and since the princess had stopped, he would stop as well.

Sometimes, a lackey needs to be clever and know how to read people's expressions, but most of the time, it's better to be a little foolish. Pretend not to see what you see, pretend not to hear what you hear, and pretend not to understand what you understand.

"Master, I think I just saw someone hiding on the other side spying on us."

"Could someone be following us again?" Upon hearing Mao'er's words, Xiao Yan immediately recalled the incident when they were followed when they went to the silk shop last time.

Unfortunately, no matter whether Xiao Yan looked at Qian Liang or the guards protecting her, they all gave her blank stares, clearly indicating that none of them had noticed anything unusual.

Cat scratched her head a little embarrassedly and said, "It doesn't seem like anyone was spying on us. I just felt like there was a very familiar figure flashing by across the street just now, and she seemed to glance at us. The main thing is that the figure really looked familiar, but I just can't remember where I've seen her before."

Following the cat's pointing finger, Xiao Yan looked around carefully again, but found nothing. Earlier, the cat had mentioned someone might be following them, and one of the guards had quickly gone to check across the street; he returned to report that nothing was amiss.

"I'm sorry, Master, I must have misread it," the cat said softly to Xiao Yan Hui, her head bowed.

"What's the big deal? If you misread it, you misread it. Let's go back." Xiao Yan Hui naturally wouldn't hold a grudge over such a small incident in life.

Since she found nothing wrong during the inspection, she stopped worrying about the little incident.

But actually, as Xiao Yan and the others boarded the carriage and slowly drove away, not far from where Mao'er had just seen, Su Jinyue, who was huddled in a corner between two walls and blocked by some debris, finally let go of her mouth and began to breathe heavily.

At this moment, her face still showed lingering confusion and fear.

Su Jinyue had been waiting here, hoping to see if she could sneak into the brokerage firm and have a word with Manager Li.

If all else fails, take a look at who's around here today. Maybe later I can spend some money to find an opportunity to ask the people in the brokerage firm if Manager Li has been bought, and if so, by whom.

But before she knew it, she saw a very familiar figure—the third daughter of the Xiao family, whom she had met twice in Jiangzuo. She wondered why this Miss Xiao had come to the capital, and she seemed even more impressive after her marriage.

Su Jinyue was thinking that it would be better if Manager Li had been bought by Miss Xiao. After all, they had some connection, and Miss Xiao was kind and might be able to offer her some help.

For example, buying Manager Li's property for oneself.

At that time, Su Jinyue, who was filled with great hope, almost walked towards Xiao Yanhui and his group.

Thinking back to the perilous situation she had just faced, Su Jinyue's heart was still pounding. If she hadn't seen a very familiar face behind Miss Xiao, she would have almost walked right into the trap.

The man she just saw was clearly the Second Prince's guard. Why was he following behind Miss Xiao? Could it be that Miss Xiao's appearance in the capital was because she had some connection with the Second Prince?

For a moment, Su Jinyue felt her mind was completely in a mess.

The first thought that popped into her mind was that Miss Xiao had left her husband's family for some reason and become the concubine of the Second Prince. This thought was like a bombshell to Su Jinyue's heart, and afterwards, hiding when people came to check was an instinct she had developed over the years.

To be honest, her brain still doesn't function properly even now.

Xiao Yan Hui had no idea that she had just passed by Su Jin Yue, whom she had been searching for, today, nor did she know that Su Jin Yue would misunderstand that she now had a close relationship with the Second Prince, and she was even more unaware that someone from the Second Prince's residence had infiltrated her guards.

At this moment, she was only worried about Wang Mama's lessons. That's right, as soon as she got on the carriage, Wang Mama listed out the lessons she had arranged and hinted to Xiao Yan that she should at least learn the basics within two days. It was practically a direct instruction: "At least cram before the exam."

As it turned out, Wang Mama's prediction that the Empress would summon Xiao Yanhui soon was entirely correct.

Inside the fragrant Luanfeng Palace, the Empress was talking to those around her about the recently famous Princess Consort of Chengjun.