The ones I bought yesterday, plus Ah Qiao, make a total of eleven people, four women and seven men.
The girls mainly did some light work. Shen Lansui said a few words and asked Liu Yan to take them to familiarize themselves with the yard. The man took over the work of Li Sheng and the others, and they were soon assigned to their corresponding positions.
The remaining two martial arts masters were named Meng Cheng and Ban Chao. Shen Lansui asked them to compete.
Meng Chengqiu is tall and powerful, with dark complexion. He looks a bit fierce when he is not talking or smiling, but when he opens his mouth and exposes his white teeth, he looks a bit naive.
Ban Chao was nineteen, lean and taciturn, much whiter than Meng Cheng, so he looked younger than him. He had a delicate face and two dimples when he smiled.
The two of them stood together, and Shen Lansui unexpectedly thought of a combination - black and white.
She was shocked by her thoughts and quickly shook her head.
Meng Cheng touched the back of his head honestly, "Does Madam think our kung fu is not good enough?"
Ban Chao was also a little nervous when he heard this.
Shen Lansui: "No, your martial arts are very good. I am very satisfied. You will stay with me as guards from now on."
"Thank you, madam!"
Meng Cheng and Ban Chao knelt down and kowtowed excitedly.
"Get up, Guan Chun, go and introduce the situation in the house to them, recognize the people, and don't make any mistakes."
"Yes." Guanchun turned to the two of them and said, "Follow me."
"Thank you, girl."
Meng Cheng and Ban Chao got up and followed Guan Chun out. Ah Qiao was the only one left in the hall who had no whereabouts. She looked at Shen Lansui uneasily.
When she heard Shen Lansui say that she was not afraid of Master Li last night, she knew that she had an unusual identity. But at that time, she thought that Shen Lansui might be a young lady from a small official family, but she did not expect that she turned out to be the third young lady of the Duke's mansion. !
Ah Qiao stood in this magnificent hall, still in a dream.
"Ah Qiao." Shen Lansui called out.
She immediately stepped out and knelt down, "My slave is here."
"Don't be nervous." Shen Lansui asked her to get up and said with a smile, "I just want to see your ability to settle accounts." She gave Shang Xia a look, and Shang Xia immediately took out the account book prepared in advance and gave it to her. "Take a look at this account book and see if there's anything wrong with it."
Ah Qiao took the account book and read it carefully. Shangyia put the abacus in her hand. She turned over two pages before starting to dial the beads on the abacus.
For a moment, the only sound left in the hall was the clicking sound of abacus beads, which Shen Lansui thought was quite pleasant.
After about a cup of tea, Ah Qiao finished flipping through it. She closed the account book with a serious look on her face. She didn’t ask any more questions and just told what she saw, “Madam, there are many discrepancies in the account book. There are cases of fraud, and some expenditure records are unclear, which may lead to suspicion of embezzlement.”
She hesitated and said, "I made a rough estimate and found that the loss was at least three hundred taels of silver."
Shen Lansui and Shang Xia looked at each other, and Shang Xia said in admiration: "Miss Ah Qiao is really amazing. She read through such a thick account book so quickly and calculated it so clearly."
Ah Qiao lowered her head shyly, "I'm pretty good at this little skill. Of course, practice makes perfect."
"You are very good at calculations, but you have no management experience. Let's start as a steward of Pinglan Academy. You can manage people comprehensively and you can manage money. If you do well in the future, I will hand over other properties to you. reason."
Shen Lansui thought of something and asked, "Is your name Ah Qiao?"
Unexpectedly, she would trust him so much. Ah Qiao's eyes widened in surprise, and then he nodded excitedly, "Yes, my name is Ah Qiao. I was sold by my parents since I was a child and I don't want to take their surname anymore."
"Ah Qiao is fine as a nickname, but it will be inconvenient to go out in the future. Since you don't want to take your parents' last name, how about you take my last name?"
Ah Qiao knelt down, tears streaming down her face, and choked with sobs: "Please give me my name, madam!"
"Xianyun makes a trick, the flying star spreads hatred, and the silver man is far away in darkness. As soon as the golden wind and jade dew meet, they will defeat countless people in the world. (1)" Shen Lansui's eyes lit up, "Why don't we call her Shen Xianyun? Or Shen Flying star?"
"Flying stars are fleeting and not as common as Xianyun. I prefer Xianyun." Ah Qiao kowtowed, "Shen Xianyun, thank you, madam!"
"As long as you like it, get up first. I just have something for you to do." Shen Lansui said, "I intend to build a small kitchen in Pinglan Courtyard. From now on, food will not be kept in the public account. Counting it as our own, the purchase expenses must be recorded again, and this job will be left to you."
"Yes, this slave must remember it clearly, and there won't be any confusion!"
Shen Xianyun was full of energy, and his eyes were filled with the light of rebirth.
After everyone was settled, Shen Lansui leaned on the back of the chair and rested for a while. Although the food in the big kitchen was not delicious, it had to take care of everyone's tastes, so the cooking was quite satisfactory. You had to pay for whatever you wanted to eat. It is better to build a small kitchen yourself.
Shang Xia changed tea for her and said worriedly: "Madam is buying new people and building a small kitchen. If the eldest lady knows about it, I'm afraid she will make trouble again."
"If she wants to find trouble, let her do it. She is unhappy for a moment, and I am unhappy for a lifetime. In this case, why should I accommodate her? What's more, they are just a few servants. They are at fault in the first place. As Pinglan As the master of the courtyard, it is my right to deal with them, so what am I afraid of?"
Shen Lansui picked up the tea and blew on it. After taking a sip, her body and mind were warmed up. The white mist blurred her eyebrows, adding a bit of hazy beauty.
"As for the small kitchen, eating and drinking are all that matters in a person's life. If eating doesn't make you happy, what's the point of living?"
Lu Xingyue, who had walked into the courtyard, paused slightly when he heard these words. He raised his eyes and stared at her, his lake-green eyes a little confused.
Zhou Quan asked curiously: "Master, won't you go in?"
Lu Xingyue was silent for a moment, then turned and left, "You will go to the main courtyard later and tell me that I want to add a small kitchen to Pinglan Courtyard."
Zhou Quan glanced into the hall. They were standing in the corner, and Shen Lansui obviously couldn't see them.
He clicked his tongue and sighed, "Your Majesty, you said you wanted to be good to your wife, why didn't you let her know? Didn't you do it in vain?"
Lu Xingyue glanced at him and said, "I do this because it is good for me and has nothing to do with her."
Zhou Quan raised his eyebrows, "Oh."
Lu Xingyue: "..."
He narrowed his eyes slightly, "You have neglected to exercise during this period, and your martial arts must have deteriorated a lot. After you come out of the main courtyard, you go directly to Jinyiwei and replace Mulang."
Zhou Quan: "Huh?"
No, what did he do wrong? ? ?
…
However, some things have the same effect no matter who says them.
The next day Duke Rong was away, so the eldest lady called Shen Lansui over.
Shen Lansui followed the maid who led the way into the eldest lady's yard, sharing flowers and willows.
This courtyard is much larger than Pinglan Courtyard. In addition to the main house, there is also a bedroom at the back, where the eldest lady met Shen Lansui.
There was some incense burning in the bedroom, and the smell was very mellow, but not offensive. The floor was covered with thick mats, and there was no sound at all when walking on it.
The maids asked Shen Lansui to wait outside. They whispered through the bead curtain: "Madam, the Third Young Madam is here."
