Chapter 474 Kneel down
When Manager Lu came, Zeng's face softened a bit and said, "I know about the little fool, just send him out and sell him."
"Old madam, I've already beaten him ten times and sent someone to take him to his place." Manager Lu looked ashamed and knelt down again, asking for punishment. "The little fool was bought by a slave. Now, he This slave has done something that betrays his master, and he is also responsible for his poor supervision. Please punish me.”
"If you kneel down, I will punish you for whatever reason." Mrs. Zeng said with a straight face and an unhappy look on her face, and hurriedly ordered the maid, "Why don't you help Mr. Lu up and bring him a chair?"
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Qingya hurried over and helped Manager Lu up. The little maid also quickly moved a chair over. Seeing Manager Lu sit down, Mrs. Zeng continued, "You only have one pair of eyes to take care of the front yard." so many You are in charge of so many things in the house, and you are so busy all day that you can’t even eat. If the people below make mistakes, how can I blame you? You will not be allowed to kneel to me again in the future." br>
"You have been in the Chu family for decades. It is all your credit that the Chu family's house has been so stable over the past few decades, especially after the death of Mr. Ge... If it weren't for you to help me, this house would not be as stable as before. I know how messy it will be.”
Then, he mentioned the new boys, "Those boys are all newly bought. They were not raised by the Chu family since they were young. They are inevitably less loyal to the master. Mr. Lu, you We need to thoroughly investigate those boys. If there is any hint of disloyalty, we should not use it, especially the two around Brother Xi.”
"Those who are loyal will be kept, and those who are not loyal will be sold out." Speaking of this, Mrs. Zeng thought of the individuals arranged by Xia Zihan again, and she asked Xia Zihan, "Will the people you arranged Nothing will go wrong?”
"Grandma, I guarantee that they will never betray the Lord."
Then he explained the origins of those people to Zeng and Manager Lu, "They were all beggars who used to beg for food on the streets of Beijing. They were all homeless and made a living by begging. Later, they were subdued by Chu Lin and sent to Zhuangzi has been training for two years. Now, he Each of us has good skills and can do rough and fine work at home, and can endure hardships better than ordinary servants. Grandma and Manager Lu, you can feel free to use them. You can also ask them to do some secret things. ”
"Also, the four boys beside my brother are particularly good at martial arts. I have already told my brother to take them with him when he goes out. As for Qingzhu and the other two, if they are loyal enough, then arrange for them to take care of my brother. For things around the house, I just stay home to take care of my brother’s yard and help with running errands.”
After Chu Yuexi was attacked last time, Xia Zihan was very worried about his safety, so she asked the four servants she arranged to go there. They should protect Chu Yuexi every step of the way when he was not in the palace.
In addition, He Donglin also personally led more than ten guards to follow Chu Yuexi every time, as well as ten secret guards specially transferred by Chu Jingqi to follow. This time, Chu Yuexi did not encounter any more attacks. Perhaps the person behind the scenes has given up, or perhaps he is planning a bigger assassination.
In short, Xia Zihan, Chu Jingqi, and Chu Yuexi themselves did not relax their protection of Chu Yuexi.
"There are still a few people in my brother's yard." Xia Zihan added, "After my brother gets married, I will arrange for another group of people to come in, and also add a group of guards to the house. These people are all prostitutes. The contract was with a group of orphans and street children that Chu Fei bought from Jiangnan last year. He is not very old, and is currently being trained by Fox at Zhuangzi. If he wants to work as an errand, it will take two years anyway. In these two years, Mr. Lu should not add people to the house. If there are not enough people, tell me. , I will move a group of people over first.”
Chu Fei bought three to four hundred people this time, and less than half of them had no talent for martial arts. She invited Master Lin to Zhuangzi to teach those people how to learn calligraphy, arithmetic, and management skills.
Master Lin alone was not enough, so she also asked and dispatched two shopkeepers from the shop. When they left, they happened to be in charge of Chu Yuexi and Chu Jingqi.
There are also some stupid people who can't even learn calligraphy and arithmetic, so they can only serve as rough messengers and do menial jobs in the house. However, she also wants the stupidest dozen or so people to learn some life-saving skills before coming over to work as errands. , so that like last time, the killer would break in and hack him to death with one knife.
"The people arranged by the princess must be good, and I will definitely do what the princess says." Manager Lu said cheerfully.
He was worried that there were far fewer guards in the mansion, with only a dozen people left. Ten people had to be sent to follow He Donglin every day to protect the eldest young master, so the guards in the mansion were almost exposed.
But a guard is no better than a servant. You can have one if you buy one.
The guards of each family are the foundation for the family's survival. They must be confidants and loyal to the master's family without any extraneous intentions.
The guards of the Chu family were all trained when Mr. Chu Ge was still alive. In the past two days, he was planning to discuss with He Donglin to buy a group of children and let him train them to guard the house and protect the eldest young master.
Unexpectedly, the princess took a step ahead of him.
This saves him from worrying. Moreover, Fox, that is the leader of the secret guards who trained Chu Xuanyu. The guards he trained must be much more powerful than those trained by He Donglin.
It's strange that Manager Lu is unhappy.
Manager Lu said goodbye to the old man and Xia Zihan, and went to investigate the other five new servants he had bought. Xia Zihan also said goodbye to the old lady and went to the hall to meet the lady in charge of the mansion.
There are a lot of things going on in the house recently, including preparations for Zeng Jing's marriage and Chu Yuexi's marriage. Both of these weddings have to be held next year, which is only a few months away.
Fortunately, Zeng Jing's dowry does not need to be purchased by the Chu government. When the three Zeng brothers and sisters came, the Zeng family's letter said that the family had already prepared the dowries and betrothal gifts for these three brothers and sisters. As long as Mrs. Chu helped them Make love to your husband's family and be optimistic about the target. When the time comes, someone from the Zeng family will come and bring Zeng Jing and Zeng Ning's dowry.
The day after Zeng Jing's marriage was arranged, Mrs. Zeng wrote a letter and sent someone to send it to Zeng's house day and night. According to the distance, the Zeng family should have come here ten days ago.
"Princess, the eldest young master's betrothal gift, except for some calligraphy and painting antiques purchased by Mr. Lu himself, the rest of the small things were all completed yesterday. Please take a look, Princess."
The lady in charge of the purchase in the house handed a list to Xia Zihan.
Xia Zihan took it and looked at the things on it carefully. She said, "This is the eldest young master's betrothal gift. The eldest young lady married by the eldest young master is such a delicate and precious person. The things above are There can't be any mistakes. If it is sent to the Second Prince's Mansion and someone makes a mistake, it will be our Chu family who will be embarrassed."
The lady in charge smiled and said, "I don't dare. I have personally inspected the contents inside, and there is nothing wrong with them."
Xia Zihan still looked worried. She stood up and said to the lady in charge, "I'd better go over and have a look in person. Only then can I rest assured. You can lead the way for me."
The lady in charge said with a smile on her face, "It's just right. Even if the princess doesn't say anything, I have to ask the princess to go and have a look. I'm worried that I'll miss something. If there are multiple people with eyes, I can rest assured."< br>
If something goes wrong, even if she is the wife in charge and has been an errand boy in the Chu family for twenty years, she will probably be punished.
Xia Zihan followed the lady in charge to the warehouse, took the list, and compared the items one by one.
Princess Qinghui's wedding ceremony will be in March next year, and her wedding, she guessed, will probably be arranged in June next year.
There are only eight months left before now. The betrothal gift that will be sent to the Second Prince's Mansion must be purchased in advance.
Betrothal gift is different from dowry. A woman's dowry is to purchase all the things that a woman can use in her life.
For example, furniture, tea bowls, smokers, quilts, pillows, basins, and... even the bed was purchased by the woman, as well as all kinds of fabrics and materials for the clothes that the woman will wear in the next ten years.
If conditions are good, a dowry shop and village will be purchased for the daughter, in case the daughter marries into her husband's family and has no pocket money to spend.
Some of the betrothal gifts for men are jewelry, cloth, antiques, jade, and betrothal silver. These things... they all have ready-made.
There are antique jades in Zeng's warehouse, jewelry in her jade pavilion, and cloth in the jade gauze pavilion, and they are all of the best quality, worthy of the status of Princess Qinghui.
The rest are all kinds of "dried fruits" and snacks that represent auspiciousness. The snacks need to be bought in advance and made fresh one day in advance. The dried fruits... have to be bought in advance at this time.
Peanuts, walnuts, red dates, wolfberries, etc. are also available in baskets. This season is also the time when new dried fruits are coming, so you can buy this year’s new dried fruits.
Xia Zihan entered the warehouse and saw dozens of sacks neatly arranged inside. The lady in charge quickly opened the mouth of a sack on the far side and asked Xia Zihan to check it, "Princess Princess, This is jujube and ancient river The specialty over there is big, red-skinned, and the meat is sweet and cottony. The old lady ordered the slave's husband to buy it on a special trip to Guhe. They are all newly picked this year and freshly dried. You can try it. Try it.”
With that said, he picked out the largest and reddest red date and handed it to Xia Zihan.
Xia Zihan didn't eat it, but just held it in his hand and observed it carefully. He saw that the jujube skin was brightly colored. When he opened it and looked at it, he smelled a faint jujube fragrance.
"They are new dates this year. They are a good purchase." She put down the dates and motioned to the lady in charge to tie the mouth of the pocket, "Don't let the wind get in."
She looked at the other dried fruits. Except for the peanuts sent from Zhuangzi that were not dried, the other dried fruits were all very good. They were all new products this year.
As for the six bags full of peanuts...
Xia Zihan looked at the gloomy weather outside and told the lady in charge, "In this weather, we can't bask in the sun outside. You can burn it on the kang first. Once the water is dry, just put it into bags."
"Hey, I listen to the princess. If the princess doesn't say anything, I plan to wait for the weather to clear up and take it outside to dry in the sun. Otherwise, within ten days, the peanuts will become moldy. However, the princess's method "Okay, it's better than drying it in the sun." The lady in charge laughed, and at the end, she didn't forget to flatter Xia Zihan.
(End of chapter)