Jiang Xingyan looked coldly at the hunched figure prostrating at her feet. Who else could it be but Yin Zhu?
She seemed to have aged many years overnight.
Jiang Xingyan truly wanted to ask her: So, this is what it feels like to lose those dear to you, isn’t it?
“Nanny Yin Zhu, there’s no need to blame yourself. Weren’t your crimes all paid for clearly by your elder sister, Jin Zhu?”
Yin Zhu’s body jolted violently. Remembering her sister, a sob caught in her throat and her eyes stung.
When they were young, their mother had given birth to four sisters. The eldest and second eldest had been sold by their father to a brothel before they even came of age.
To their masters, he claimed they had succumbed to an incurable disease and died young.
The young general’s grandfather, kind-hearted, had given their family a considerable sum of silver.
Their parents, having gotten money from both sides, used it to buy their youngest brother nice treats and new clothes.
All the heavy and tedious chores at home fell to her and her sister, who often went hungry.
Whenever their father resorted to beatings and scoldings, it was always her sister who shielded her.
When the Old Madam married into the manor, she arrived with little to her name and no personal maids to attend to her.
The Old General Huo’s father thus selected a maid from the household-born servants to accompany the Old Madam as her personal attendant.
They had chosen her sister back then, not her.
It was her sister who knelt before the masters, begging them to give this position to her younger sister instead.
Touched by their deep sisterly bond, the Old Madam took both of them out of that pit of despair.
To repay the Old Madam for saving them, her sister strived desperately to prove her worth, always rushing to be the first to carry out any order.
Who could have known that in the end, she wouldn’t even be left with a whole corpse?
Her body had been carelessly discarded in the backyard, nearly decomposed.
It was impossible to piece it back together now.
Her youngest brother, having accepted silver from the Old Madam, sent word to her, telling her to know her limits and to never mention the matter of the corpse again.
She hated that she couldn’t have died in her sister’s place, and she hated the Old Madam for showing so little regard for their past ties.
She thought of the young mistress confined by the Old Madam in the side courtyard.
Perhaps they could join forces and do something.
Jiang Xingyan, of course, knew Yin Zhu’s intention.
When two people with a common enemy get together, surely they aren’t just going to confess their regrets to each other, right?
“Since you are determined to do this, then go ahead.
Just know, that should you wish to return, it will be impossible.”
Yin Zhu, effusive with gratitude, left the main courtyard without looking back.
Jiang Xingyan sneered inwardly.
Putting on the act of a loyal servant, borrowing authority to bully and do wicked deeds, and in the end, harboring resentment towards the master?
Why not admit that they brought all of this upon themselves?
Jiang Xingyan paid her no more mind.
No matter what schemes they might devise, all she needed to do was ensure they paid in blood for the blood debts of her past life.
She reined in her thoughts and returned to the main hall.
Several slave traders had already sorted the people into groups and were fawningly crowding around, spouting flattery.
Jiang Xingyan kept the few rough matrons who had tormented her most severely in her previous life, halved their monthly pay, and sent them all to the side courtyard.
“If I find out you’ve suddenly grown benevolent in the side courtyard and taken up Buddhism, don’t blame me for settling the total score with you.”
The matrons knelt on the ground, trembling like sieves.
None of the arrogance they had once shown towards Jiang Xingyan remained.
Disgusted, Jiang Xingyan waved them away, and they scurried off as if fleeing for their lives.
The carriage driver bowed respectfully. “Young General, these slave traders have many sturdy young men on hand. I’ve heard they all know some martial skills and can guard the household. There are also quite a few dead soldiers acquired through trades with Great Xia. They are highly skilled in martial arts and could be used to ensure the Young Madam’s safety. This is a preliminary list I’ve drawn up. Please take a look, Young General.”
Jiang Xingyan’s eyes lit up.
To think this driver, whom she had randomly picked from the carriage house, was so capable?
“What’s your name?”
Right, she still didn’t even know his name.
The driver showed no displeasure or annoyance, answering respectfully as before. “This lowly one is named Wang Qi.”
Jiang Xingyan smiled. “Are you married?”
Wang Qi was puzzled: Why did both the Young General and the State Preceptor ask the same question after learning his name?
“Replying to the Young General, I am not.”
Jiang Xingyan rubbed her chin. “With how much fortune you bring to your wife, that really shouldn’t be the case.”
Wang Qi spread his hands inwardly: Well now, the second line was identical too!
“This lowly one is so bold as to ask the Young General to keep an eye out for me. If there’s a suitable daughter from any family, I’d trouble the Young General to help arrange a match.”
Jiang Xingyan was amused. “Easy enough, easy enough.”
Wang Qi inwardly clicked his tongue: Alright! The third sentence was also exactly the same, word for word!
“Wang Qi, I wish to appoint you as the steward of my General’s manor. Are you willing?”
Wang Qi lifted the hem of his robe and knelt before Jiang Xingyan.
“Although this lowly one is dull, I beg to be allowed to try.”
Jiang Xingyan nodded. She pointed at the new servants the slave traders had brought in for her selection and asked him with an inscrutable expression, “I order you to give that young maid a severe whipping before I will allow you to take the steward position. What would you do?”
Wang Qi frowned slightly and asked tentatively, “Has she done something to offend the Young General?”
Jiang Xingyan shook her head. “No. I simply find her irritating to look at.”
Wang Qi prostrated himself on the ground. “If the Young General dislikes her, it would be better to just drive her out.”
“And if I insist that you do it?”
Wang Qi kowtowed heavily, his head touching the floor. “Then I beg your forgiveness, but I truly cannot obey. I am unable to fill the steward position. Please seek out a more suitable candidate, Young General.”
Jiang Xingyan sighed inwardly: It seems there are still people with a conscience left.
She slapped Wang Qi on the shoulder. “Good man! You’re definitely going to be the steward.”
Wang Qi was dazed for a moment before realizing the Young General had been testing him.
Overjoyed, he hurriedly kowtowed his thanks.
“Ah, don’t be so quick to kowtow. I do have one requirement.
Your letter of appointment must be given to the State Preceptor for safekeeping. From now on, you must recognize only the State Preceptor as your sole master. If the State Preceptor assigns you to work in the General’s manor, you work here. If he sends you to work elsewhere, you are not to cling to this place. My orders won’t hold sway either. Understood?”
Wang Qi nodded solemnly.
The State Preceptor had already explained this to him.
Ever since the day he barged into the Imperial Hospital to fetch the General out, he had been the State Preceptor’s man—ahem, servant.
Jiang Xingyan was extremely satisfied.
Once she and Huo Ci switched back, she would immediately reveal herself to Yun-ge’er.
Then, Yun-ge’er would just wave his sleeve, and the entire staff of the Young General’s manor—all the maids and servants—would collectively vanish.
They’d leave a complete mess for Huo Ci to deal with.
Just thinking about him running around in a fluster made her happy.
“Wang Qi, now that you’re the steward, don’t handle the carriage driving yourself anymore. Go back and gather any capable brothers or sisters from your family. I’ll pay them the same monthly rate as you.”
Wang Qi was moved to tears, sniffling and crying.
The State Preceptor was truly his great benefactor in life!
Jiang Xingyan: ?
He had an older brother at the carriage house who took on odd jobs daily, barely making ends meet.
The two brothers lost their father in childhood, their mother remarried and abandoned them to fend for themselves.
His elder brother, like a father, had worked hard to raise him.
He never thought he would have a day where he could repay his elder brother.
He immediately explained his elder brother’s situation to Jiang Xingyan in detail.
“Excellent. Redeem your elder brother’s carriage as well. Have him go to the military camp to bring the Young Madam back.”
Wang Qi assented and ran off, skipping and jumping all the way.
Jiang Xingyan laughed in amusement. Turning back, she saw Yun Chunfeng sitting in his plain wheelchair, holding Little Ya and smiling as he watched her.
She was taken aback.
This feeling… why did it so resemble a family?
Half an hour later, the moment Huo Ci stepped through the gate, he saw Jiang Xingyan in the courtyard inspecting the newly purchased maids and servants. Yun Chunfeng sat quietly beside her, holding a babbling Little Ya, who was happily clutching a tooth plaque and giggling extremely happily.
Huo Ci: ?
Why do I feel so superfluous!