The main courtyard of Zhulan was also empty, with only Zhulan herself. Zhulan had drawn the blueprint of the courtyard and calculated how many servants were needed before Boss Zhou came to the main courtyard.

Boss Zhou’s forehead was sweating, and it was not good to have a large house. He ran all the way over and said, “Mom, I was not at home just now. I went to the city for a walk and just came back.”

Zhulan said, “Xuehan already told me, you should first take a breather and drink a few cups of water before speaking.”

Look at his sweaty forehead; he ran over as soon as he got the news.

Boss Zhou sat down and took a deep breath, “Mom, you asked me to go to the yáháng. Is there anything else?”

Zhulan, “Nothing else. You just went out for a walk. Tell me about the situation in the city.”

Boss Zhou was still frightened. “The streets are full of people going to the government office to collect food. The queue is so long that you can’t see the end. The shops on the street are closed today. I went to the market, and there was no one there.”

Boss Zhou sighed. No matter whether it was a natural disaster or a man-made disaster, the people were always the ones who suffered the most. Fortunately, his family had a powerful father, and the Zhou family was no longer a people who were at the mercy of others.

Zhulan sighed and no longer had the desire to ask. “Go to the yáháng. Our family needs twenty servants, preferably from a family. Go ask the yázi which one has a family of servants for sale, and then have the yázi come to our house.”

Boss Zhou stood up and said, “Mom, I’m leaving.”

“Okay.”

Boss Zhou walked along thinking that a few years ago, when he saw the servants of wealthy families, he had never dared to hope for such a thing, let alone feel envious. Now he had become Master Zhou, and buying servants was no longer a big deal. With steady bow-legged steps, Boss Zhou carried himself with the bearing of a family patriarch.

After more than half an hour, Boss Zhou brought the yázi. Lizhou City now had the most pawnbrokers, from all walks of life. Boss Zhou hired the yázi according to his mother’s request.

The yázi was a man in his forties, well-informed in his line of work. They were just waiting for a big deal from the new prefectural governor. The yázi said respectfully, “Greetings, Madam.”

Zhulan said without further ado, “The boss has told you what we want. Do you have any suitable candidates?”

The yázi knew what was going on and said with a smile, “Madam, you want servants for the whole family. I have four suitable families. Coincidentally, two of them are the servants of this house. They owed gambling debts, sold the house, and the servants were all sold off, so they are all in our hands now.”

Zhulan thought to herself, “What a coincidence! Why didn’t you get rid of them?”

The trafficker didn’t hide it either, “Madam, one of these servants is a housekeeper. We had planned to send him to Jiangnan to resell him, but since we knew the prefectural governor was arriving soon, we kept him for a few more days to see if he would please Madam.”

Zhulan was silent. This yázi and others were well-informed about all sorts of things. They all knew how many servants their family had brought with them. “You are quite honest. “

Yazi smiled and said, “Madam, if you like it, I will go back and bring people over.”

Zhulan said, “Don’t worry, first tell me who the people are from both families.”

The yázi took out the notebook and said, “The housekeeper’s family is surnamed Ding. There are ten people in this family. Housekeeper Ding was originally a servant, but later gained trust and became the housekeeper. He is thirty-eight this year. His wife was a maid and later became the housekeeper in the backyard. He has three sons. The eldest and second sons are already married. The youngest son is twelve. There are also two grandsons, the older one is four years old and the younger one is three years old.”

Zhulan raised an eyebrow. This family is all young, and they have served as housekeepers. Such servants were the most popular. If they hadn’t received the news that they would come, this family would have been sold in Jiangnan long ago.

The yázi continued, “There’s another family named Wan, with four members. The servant and the maid are married, and they have two children, a boy and a girl. The older girl is twelve, and the younger boy is eight.”

Zhulan thought to herself that the servants from these two families were indeed of high quality. “Bring the people over for me to see, and then bring some maids and footmen as well. As for maids and footmen, I don’t need any who have been resold.”

The yázi knew the mistress had taken a liking to these two families. “I understand. I’ll bring them over right away.”

The yázi returned quickly, bringing ten maids and five servants in addition to the two families.

Nearly thirty servants filled the courtyard. Zhulan, along with Li Shi and Xuehan, examined the people. She first looked at the servants and maids. These were children sold by their families, and the ones the yázi sent were all well-proportioned.

Zhulan narrowed her eyes. Some of the girls were fifteen or sixteen years old and looked quite good, not like they came from peasant families. She touched the bracelet on her wrist and sneered inwardly: “Were they for Zhou Shuren?”

Yazi’s heart was also pounding, but then he remembered that Master Zhou only had one legal wife, and his heart was at ease. The maids he had brought were well-trained, and to avoid revealing his intentions, he had chosen girls of delicate appearance.

But Yazi was frustrated. He had assumed Master Zhou was forty, and his wife, who was about the same age, would be old. Unexpectedly, the young woman looked only in her thirties, and looked better than the girls he had chosen. Fortunately, the young woman’s youth reassured him.

Zhulan glanced past the older ones, focusing more on those between six and ten. The six-year-old was reserved for Yushuang and Yulu, the ten-year-old for Xuehan. The servants were older, and since the household was short of staff, Zhulan paid more attention to those between thirteen and fifteen.

Zhulan called out three maids and then three servants. Her peripheral vision never missed the Ding and Wan families. Despite a brief excitement upon arriving at the house, the two families quickly calmed down and stood quietly, their eyes never glancing around. They were indeed high-quality servants.

After Zhulan had chosen the people, she said to the yázi, “The Ding and Wan families, as well as the six maids and servants I selected, take the rest back!”

She then said to Boss Zhou, “Take the money and go with the yázi to fetch new contracts of servitude.”

The yázi was stunned, “Madam, won’t you choose a few older maids to serve you?”

Zhulan smiled, “If you leave them behind, will they serve me or my master? This is the first and last time for a deal. Okay, take the people away!”

Yázi’s heart skipped a beat. They had already been very subtle, yet they hadn’t expected it to be noticed. The records clearly stated that Lord Zhou came from a scholarly farming family, but the matron of the Zhou household actually had such discernment. Yázi felt flustered. This was the last transaction—they only tried to curry favor with the magistrate in Lizhou City, not to offend anyone. He hurriedly bowed, “I meant no offense, Madam. You have misunderstood me.”

Zhulan didn’t bother to listen to the explanation and said to Xinghua, “Take them to the back room to wash and change clothes, and come see me again this afternoon.”

Xinghua felt a strong sense of crisis. Although her family was the first batch of servants, she knew the abilities of her family members. She now hoped to complete the tasks assigned by her mistress as much as possible. She trusted the Ma family more for their obedience and honesty. “Yes.”

After giving her instructions, Zhulan stood up. That chicken had to be killed today—she didn’t know how many people outside were trying to send someone to Zhou Shuren. If she didn’t deal with it now, the lingering thoughts outside would only disgust her later.

(End of this chapter)

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