Chapter 469: The Pay-to-Win Palace Intrigue System (4)

If you ask whether there are any, there certainly are.

She was responsible for purchasing the servants, so naturally, she got to pick first.

The servants of Lao San's household were habitually lazy; every time they were assigned a task, they would always make excuses, so gradually, they simply stopped calling on them.

The servants allocated to the Third Branch were naturally the ones left over after the First and Second Branches had made their picks.

But could she admit to that?

"Mother, this is truly a grievance against your daughter-in-law! The servants in the mansion were all purchased after I discussed it with my sisters-in-law, but the Third Sister-in-law was often unable to come due to matters. Perhaps because of this, the Third Brother assumed that the Second Sister-in-law and I had allocated inferior servants to their Third Branch."

Upon hearing this, the Old Matriarch guessed what was going on.

She glared at her youngest son with annoyance: "When it comes down to it, you blame your wife for being lazy and not working. Now you come to complain about your sisters-in-law."

Xie San snorted: "Regardless of whatever tricks were played before, from now on our Third Branch will purchase our own servants. Mother, give your son a sum of Silver right now; before the sky turns dark, I will go to the agency to buy a few clever and capable servants to bring back."

"Lao San, this is not in accordance with the rules!" The First Master Xie frowned in opposition.

"Not in accordance with the rules?" Xie San raised his eyebrows, "My daughter was abducted because the maid allocated by the First Sister-in-law was not attentive in her service. You should be counting your blessings that I haven't come to settle accounts with you. I am only asking you to take back that bunch of useless trash so I can pick a few attentive ones myself—this is called not in accordance with the rules? Is it that you don't feel the pain unless the fire burns you? If that's the case, then I'll say it again: call out your daughters, and let you all taste the feeling of losing a daughter!"

"..."

What a scoundrel!

The Old Matriarch was so angered by her youngest son's rogue-like behavior that she could not speak.

The First and Second Branches also had no way to deal with him.

In the end, the Old Matriarch took out the warehouse key and waved her hand powerlessly, letting her trusted head maid take two hundred taels of Silver to allocate to the Third Branch for changing servants.

The Second Madam Xie looked on, itching to act, and stopped herself several times, only to be restrained by a look from the Second Master Xie.

"Why did the Master stop me just now?"

Returning to the East Courtyard, the Second Madam washed her hands and poured a cup of tea for the Master, her words filled with a hint of resentment:

"If the Third Brother can draw Silver to buy servants, why can't our Second Branch?"

"Didn't you see that Mother was very unhappy today? The reason she agreed to the Third Brother was because she didn't want him to continue making a scene."

That may be so, but the Second Madam felt that since the Third Branch was able to secure Silver to purchase their own servants, the Second Branch should be able to as well, otherwise they would be at a disadvantage.

Besides, how could one branch of servants possibly need as much as two hundred taels of Silver?

The remaining Silver after the purchase would surely go into the Third Branch's own private treasury.

"The Third Brother really knows how to hoard wealth."

The Second Madam Xie muttered sullenly.

The Third Branch lived in the Xi Kuayuan.

Its location was not as good as the East Courtyard; it was far from the mansion gate, and entering or leaving the mansion was not as convenient as it was for the First and Second Branches.

But it had the advantage of being large; besides a standard three-section courtyard, the garden behind the rockery at the koi pond in the northwest corner was also included in the Third Branch's domain as compensation.

Xie San had ordered a side gate to be opened in the northwest corner of the garden, which led directly to the Tan Hua Alley adjacent to the Xie family's private school, making entering and leaving the mansion much more convenient.

At this moment, he had returned from Ju'an Tang, hitched up his robes, strode over the threshold into the Main Courtyard, placed the heavy bundle in his hand onto the table, picked up the teapot and gulped down a few mouthfuls of tea, before laughing heartily:

"Wife! I followed the instructions of Yang Er's master and returned all the servants arranged by the First Sister-in-law. I also drew two hundred taels of Silver from Mother, and I am about to go to the agency to select a batch of loyal servants who will protect their masters."

The Third Madam Xie came out from the inner room, followed by the wet nurse and her dowry maid.

The rest of the servants were indeed nowhere to be seen.

She gave Xie San his first smile in ten days: "Did you really manage it?"

"Of course! When has your husband ever failed to keep a promise?"

The Third Madam spat at him with a coquettish glare. If she weren't worried about her daughter, she would have been too lazy to bicker with him and would have definitely had a good argument.

Having said that, it was a good thing that her daughter had been located, but how did she get chosen by a martial arts heroine to be taken as a disciple?

Not only did she leave a note on the carriage at the city gate, but that very night she also shot a letter into their Third Branch's study.

The signature was "Thousand-Faced Saintess," which was her daughter's freshly minted master.

The letter stated that she had already taken Yang Er as a disciple and would teach her martial arts well, telling the family not to worry.

Additionally, she instructed the couple to replace their servants as soon as possible.

As for the reason, the Saintess did not say.

But whether she said it or not did not affect the Third Branch's actions.

Even if the Saintess hadn't mentioned it, they had intended to kill the chicken to warn the monkey this time and properly discipline the servants serving in the courtyard.

Now that their daughter's savior and master had spoken, they naturally had to implement this matter even more thoroughly.

And so, the previous scene occurred.

After Xie San drank his tea and rested for a while, he tucked the Silver away and went to the agency.

With him personally taking charge, how would the agency manager dare to fob him off with those useless, inferior servants?

Moreover, what happened at the city gate had spread throughout the streets and alleys of Jingcheng within half a day. The agency manager had already heard the news from who knows how many sources, and now that the father of the main subject had arrived, he enthusiastically welcomed him into the main hall and ordered tea and snacks to be served.

"Third Master, it is rumored that your noble daughter has been taken as a disciple by the martial arts heroine known as the 'Thousand-Faced Saintess'; is this true?"

"It is indeed true."

Xie San knew this could not be hidden, and he did not intend to find excuses to conceal it, saying bluntly:

"It is all because the servants in the house were not attentive. You see, I want to replace the people serving us, so help me pick them carefully. Do not send anyone who is lazy or slippery to me."

"Certainly, certainly!"

The agency manager hurriedly ordered his servant to handle it, ensuring they followed Xie San's requirements to pick people who were smart and clever but diligent and honest, and who would not be lazy or slippery.

In the interval while waiting, he filled Xie San's tea and added: "I heard that the throwing knife and rice paper left behind by the 'Thousand-Faced Saintess' are both top-tier items of extraordinary value. Has the Third Master seen them?"

Xie San had, of course, seen them.

The "Thousand-Faced Saintess" had even ghost-like shot a letter into his study.

The throwing knife that pinned the letter shone with a dazzling silver light; the handle was made of some unknown material, light and exquisite, while the blade was sharper than the precious saber treasured in the Duke Mansion's warehouse, which had once accompanied the Old Duke as he fought across the land.

That letter paper was not like the common rice paper found in bookstores; it was as thin as a cicada's wing yet did not bleed ink in the slightest.

It was indeed of extraordinary value.

It is often said that "the scholarly are poor while the martial are rich," for one must have money and leisure to roam the pugilistic world.

Why not try it without money?

To say nothing of anything else, merely maintaining weapons is a huge expense.

Looking at it this way, has his daughter apprenticed herself to a wealthy master?

That is good, that is good! At least she will not suffer when it comes to food and lodging.

But at the thought of his little girl Xiao Ya, who had just turned three, previously knowing only how to sleep when full and play when rested, but now being woken up by her master before dawn every day to hold horse stances and practice martial arts, even if she would not suffer in food or lodging, Third Master Xie could not help but feel his heart ache.

He was in no mood for idle chatter then; he selected the servants, paid the Silver, and headed back home.