Chapter 46: Sheng Hualan Selects a Maid

"Grandmother, with the ground frozen so hard, if it weren't for the Department Magistrate's daughter taking charge and hosting this gathering, I certainly wouldn't have gone."

Sheng Hualan handed her cape to Room Mama, set down the hand warmer she had been holding, and went to her grandmother's side.

Lady Sheng touched Sheng Hualan's clothes and said,

"How is it? Is this garment filled with white cotton fleece warm enough?"

Sheng Hualan's eyes sparkled as she nodded vigorously several times.

"Grandmother, it is very warm indeed.

Several of my sisters in Yang Zhou were asking me what filling it uses, marveling that it could be so warm."

"And what did you tell them?"

"Hehe, Grandmother, your granddaughter told them this was a novel item sent by relatives in Bianjing.

It certainly saved face for your granddaughter."

"You, oh you, truly..."

With that, the grandmother and granddaughter burst into laughter.

Ordinarily, Sheng Hualan was not the type to stick her neck out against the wind.

The Old Lady would also teach her to discern the purpose behind such gatherings.

Some were merely pastimes for noble ladies with nothing better to do,

where naturally one must compete for superiority

and steal the spotlight for a while.

But gatherings with a specific purpose might be some noble lady's attempt to craft a particular persona.

In such cases, Sheng Hualan naturally needed to rein in her brilliance and keep a low profile, giving others face.

The next day,

in Lin Qi Pavilion,

Lin Lin Qinshuang listened to the words of her personal maid, Zhou Xueniang, and her expression turned somewhat ugly.

She slammed the teacup in her hand onto the table, the anger in her eyes growing fiercer by the moment,

"That old... My Mo'er is also the Lord's daughter!

How can these rare treasures sent to us be so biased as to be given only to Sheng Hualan!

Back then she was so stubborn about severing ties with the Hou Fu, yet now she has practically glued herself to them."

"Wei Xiaoniang, please watch your words."

Nearby, Mo Lan was diligently copying calligraphy models; hearing her mother's words, a look of confusion appeared in her eyes.

"Have you found out exactly what items were sent from the old home in Youyang?"

Zhou Xueniang, standing nearby, shook her head and said,

"Wei Xiaoniang, the old women and maids of Shou An Tang are notoriously tight-lipped; I could not find anything out.

We only guessed because we saw Eldest Master Sheng carrying things inside.

However, the Eldest Miss did say a few things while attending the gathering hosted by the Department Magistrate's legitimate daughter."

Lin Wei Xiaoniang glanced at her.

"When I was young, I was also part of an official's family in Bianjing; speak, for there are very few things I do not know."

"She said it was fleece made from white cotton flowers."

Lin Lin Qinshuang looked completely bewildered.

"Ah?"

Early morning,

in Bianjing,

on Qu Yuan Street,

within the Marquis Marquis Yongyi's Hou Fu, Xu Xu Zaijing summoned immense willpower to force himself out of his warm bed.

After dressing, Brother Qingyun had already brought hot water from the stove; after washing his face, Xu Xu Zaijing and Brother Qingyun went together to the horse racing ground.

The sky was not yet bright; a few lanterns glowed in the stables, where the horses were feeding at their troughs, snorting loudly and exhaling clouds of white vapor.

Xu Xu Zaijing looked up at the high-hanging moon in the sky and gently exhaled a puff of white breath.

Having been in this world for so long, what he loved watching most was the bright moon in the heavens.

A close second was the blue sky and white clouds.

These were the two things most similar to his previous life on Earth.

As a young man who had received compulsory education, seeing the moon naturally brought to mind that line:

"When will the bright moon appear? I raise my wine cup to ask the blue sky."

And in the air of early morning, after rain, or on snowy days,

the scent was exactly the same as in his previous life.

Over these years, Xu Xu Zaijing had silently tested his own strength.

As a boy not yet ten years old, his power was somewhat astonishing.

The reason he still disciplined himself so strictly in physical exercise and martial arts

was, on one hand, to strengthen his body and improve his immunity,

and on the other, to ensure he possessed skills for self-preservation.

Killing techniques are always about being steady, accurate, and ruthless, striking directly at vital points.

The requirement for being steady, accurate, and ruthless was for Xu Xu Zaijing to better control his own body.

With astonishing and enduring strength, combined with outstanding control, one can lightly extinguish life.

Xu Xu Zaijing remembered someone saying in a movie from his previous life,

Having a sword but not using it is an entirely different matter from having no sword at all.

Walking on the racecourse, Brother Qingyun asked from behind:

"Young Master, what shall we practice this morning?"

"Blade and shield."

"Yes."

Brother Qingyun, four or five years older than Xu Xu Zaijing, had already started shooting up in height; fortunately, the meals at Hou Fu were decent, so he had not become excessively thin.

A sparring session between the two was, by the standards of the Great Zhou Dynasty, an adult fighting a child.

While Xu Xu Zaijing warmed up on the side, Brother Qingyun fetched a set of blade and shield and brought them over.

Yet there was a hint of apprehension on Brother Qingyun's face.

During one practice session before, his Young Master had held nothing back, using merely thirty percent of his strength,

and Brother Qingyun, bracing against the shield, felt as though a horse had rammed into him;

the shattered shield and he himself were sent flying more than two zhang away.

Although the haystacks provided some cushioning,

Brother Qingyun still felt a sweet taste in his throat, and his chest and back ached from the impact.

Fortunately, he wore leather armor that blocked the shield's splinters;

otherwise, Brother Qingyun would have had to lie in the medical hall for who knows how long.

Thus, in subsequent practices, Brother Qingyun would stand at a distance and shoot arrows at Xu Xu Zaijing with a bow drawn with adult strength,

as well as throw short spears, flying knives, flying axes, and the like.

What Xu Xu Zaijing practiced was rapidly discerning the direction of force and deflecting it with even greater efficiency.

Just as they were practicing with gusto, Xu Xu Zaijing's ear twitched, and he immediately rolled across the ground to dodge.

"Master, that's not fair!" Xu Xu Zaijing shouted.

The stablehand shook his head boredly from a short distance away.

The sneak attack with a hidden arrow had failed.

As for this disciple of his, even if he faced his own healthy self from years past, he would still be utterly crushed by him.

He hoped that Marquis Yongyi, Xu Minghua, would not suddenly decide to spar with his son,

or else he feared he would be thoroughly devastated by his own child.

Xu Xu Zaijing broke into a slight sweat, while Brother Qingyun was already so exhausted he was sticking out his tongue.

After finishing their training, the two left the racecourse;

beside the kitchen of Hou Fu, a stove connected to an adjacent room.

The flue passed underground through that neighboring room, making it quite warm inside.

There was a bathing tub in the room; after Xu Xu Zaijing washed himself, Brother Qingyun also washed up nearby.

Afterwards, Xu Xu Zaijing's family ate breakfast,

preparing to go together with his two elder brothers to the schoolhouse in the courtyard,

when at that moment a young gatekeeper servant arrived at the courtyard entrance.

"Da Da Niangzi, there is a woman from a brokerage firm at the gate, saying she was introduced by Wu Wu Daniang."

"Invite her to the outer courtyard."

Si hour (before eleven in the morning)

The three Xu brothers returned from the schoolhouse to the inner courtyard for lunch,

and in Sun Shi's courtyard, eight or nine maids of varying ages had appeared, all standing solemnly in the yard.

A young household servant said these girls had just been redeemed from the brokerage firm.

Brokerage firms were similar to modern agencies; most girls obtained through deception and fraud were sold to brothels and pleasure houses.

But those with clear backgrounds whose origins could be 'traced',

such as those whose families had suffered disasters and could no longer afford to raise them,

would be offered to noble and official households to sign contracts, with the master's family providing monthly silver.

In previous years, the Xu family had declined somewhat and lacked substantial business profits,

so only Sun Shi had four senior maids;

back when Hou Fu was at its most illustrious, how many did that legitimate daughter, the only daughter of Marquis Marquis Yongyi, have in her courtyard?

Roughly calculated, it was more than fifty people; this was what the old servants of the marquisate said.

As for Xu Xu Zaiduan and his other five siblings,

except for the youngest, Xu Xu Zaijing,

each had only one personal maid.

Over the past two or three years, the Xu family's finances had improved,

and as Xu Xu Zaijing gradually grew older, Sun Shi decided it was time to buy him a personal attendant.

For the other four children, they also needed some servants and maids for cleaning, laundry, and to prepare as part of their dowries.

Training them from childhood was always better than buying them outright from outside.

Xu Xu Zaijing's young servant, Brother Qingyun, was already fifteen or sixteen years old,

and for certain matters, a personal female attendant would be more convenient.

The brokerage woman introduced by Wu Wu Daniang was well accustomed to this kind of business.

Hearing from the steward of Yongchang Marquisate that it was another marquisate,

Those brought were naturally girls who had undergone training and had clear backgrounds,

among whom were five beautiful embryos of seven or eight years old with delicate features.

As expected, out of the twenty brought, the Xu family kept nine,

three of whom possessed delicate features.

Sun Shi looked at her own three sons,

lifted her chin slightly, and said:

"These are the new servants just arrived at our manor. Duan-ge'er, you are the eldest; you choose first.

Xiao Zhu, have them lift their heads."

"Yes, Mother."

"Yes, Wu Da Da Niangzi."

Xu Xu Zaijing naturally would not oppose such behavior.

Because under the productivity conditions of this era,

any natural disaster or man-made calamity would be a catastrophic disaster for an ordinary family.

Even without a natural disaster, simply having an extra child in the family might mean they could not be raised.

That Wei Wei Xiaoniang's family merely had someone fall seriously ill, yet it drove them to sell themselves to save their father.

For impoverished families, selling oneself into servitude was also a path to survival.

After Xu Xu Zaijing's older brothers and sisters finished choosing, surprisingly two of the three beautiful embryos with delicate features remained.

Clearly, his older brothers and sisters were yielding to Xu Xu Zaijing.

Xu Xu Zaijing stood before the courtyard, looking at the little maids in the yard below the steps, feeling somewhat uncomfortable in his heart.

"I am selecting company subordinates, company subordinates," Xu Xu Zaijing muttered silently in his heart.

Indeed, newcomers always become flustered because they care too much about the data.

I haven't polished several chapters myself for reading.

The majority of readers who do not speak will come silently, vote silently, support silently, and if the impression is bad, will leave silently.

I was wrong! I apologize!

The data I could see these past few days feels ominous. Thank you to all readers for your tips and support.

Jia Geng Yi Zhang.

Continuing to store drafts!

Muttering silently in his heart, "I won't make it to this third round of recommendations."

Mo Lan's tone: I want to go.

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(End of Chapter)