Early morning.
The official who welcomed them yesterday, Little He, brought over a large stack of slave contracts.
Giving people without giving slave contracts, that's looking down on someone.
Little He went back last night and had a nightmare.
Although he had experienced rebels breaking into the city and had seen people killed in the Provincial Capital,
He had never seen such a beautiful woman killed right in front of him.
Generally, men, whether rebels or not, shouldn't think of killing such a beautiful girl at first sight.
The Jiang Family was somewhat abnormal, a bit too terrifying.
Little He thought about it all night, and the first thing he did when he woke up early was to hurry over to deliver the slave contracts.
Other rebels might not care, but Commander Jiang should care about this.
He had also deliberately observed yesterday.
He was specifically responsible for welcoming and entertaining the rebels who had surrendered, so he was quite experienced in this matter.
When other rebel families saw these grand mansions with deep courtyards, they were all excited, their voices raised, unable to hide their joy.
But in Commander Jiang's family, not to mention his family members, even a maidservant was very calm, seemingly complaining about the courtyard.
It's said that to observe a family's most genuine reaction, you should look at the family's infant.
Because infants are too young to hide their feelings, children's reactions are usually the most authentic in a family.
As a result, that child appeared the calmest, and judging by the look in his eyes, he even seemed quite critical.
This made Little He uneasy, wondering if the background check had been wrong.
The Jiang family couldn't be ordinary, just looking at Jiang Er's face, it was impossible to be ordinary.
Looking at Commander Jiang's face, one could understand why his family didn't even glance at Little Phoenix Fairy before killing her with one sword.
Little Phoenix Fairy wasn't as good-looking as Commander Jiang.
Of course, Little He didn't dare to look too much.
Anyway, judging from the behavior of the youngest infant in the Jiang family, they weren't only unimpressed by this mansion but also found quite a few faults with it.
Only the Jiang family's eldest daughter seemed a bit inexperienced, but that must have been an act. She was the only daughter-in-law of the Meng Family in the Capital City, the only heir of the Meng Family. Everyone in the Provincial Capital knew this backstory.
A while ago, someone came to the Provincial Capital to buy a mansion, wasn't it the Meng Family? That mansion wasn't much smaller than this one.
Thinking about it this way, it felt like they had even less to offer, using this little to test Commander Jiang as an official. What's there to test? It's not even comparable to what they already owned.
Early in the morning, he brought the slave contracts, and was received by the same nanny who was holding Commander Jiang's young daughter yesterday.
Commander Jiang didn't come, but Little He didn't feel slighted, rather he felt relieved.
However, this nanny took the slave contracts, looked them over, and sat there with a kindly face asking him: "Officer He, where are the slave contracts for the family members of the maids Liuyue, Qinghe, and Lvcao? You've only brought one person's contract. If they were to be manipulated, we wouldn't dare to accept them. Either send them all back, or bring the contracts for the whole family neatly. What do you think?"
Officer He, who had just felt relieved, was questioned in this way, and his forehead inexplicably started sweating again.
...Why was he being manipulated by an old nanny?
Why did the phrase "the whole family neatly" sound so unsettling in this context?
Little He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said: "Yes, yes, you're absolutely right. I'll bring their family members and contracts right away."
Little He, having received a new task, trotted back quickly.
Aunt Yin looked at this man and felt he was unreliable, only looking at the immediate without considering the consequences, and had no future.
Even Little Huang from Ming County was better at handling matters than him, at least he was thorough and considered things more comprehensively.
In the morning, there were no unfamiliar maids approaching to help her dress and wash up, it was still her great-aunt doing it.
Breakfast was also made by Mom and Elder Sister.
Except for the place being bigger, it felt just like being at home, not much different.
Except that her brother-in-law seemed to have a bump on his forehead.
Her brother-in-law's head was a bit soft and often got bumps.
Jiang Mianmian leisurely finished her breakfast, eating a bowl of small noodles, a bowl of small wontons, and even sucked on a green vegetable, spitting out half the stem, clearly being picky about her food.
After the meal,
Great-aunt led Mom, Elder Sister, and her to organize the maids and servants in the mansion.
Brother-in-law, elder brother, and father all went out together.
The people were all gathered by Great-aunt.
Last night, being newly arrived, they weren't allowed to wander around.
Now all these people were gathered in the central courtyard, which was like a big playground or square.
Jiang Mianmian, Mom, Great-aunt, and Elder Sister were all in the room, able to see outside.
There were men and women, old and very young, even some wearing theatrical costumes. Roughly counting, there were over a hundred people.
You don't realize until you see it, it's really shocking.
Jiang Mianmian thought about how few people were in their own family, you could count them on one hand.
But here, there were over a hundred people to serve them, isn't this too many?
Qin Luoxia also felt it was too many.
In the village, everyone took care of their own business, and the people her husband had gathered were all able to work and produce.
She scanned the crowd, one hundred and forty-seven people.
If they all lived in this mansion, they would have to be paid wages every month. Where would her husband get enough money? She couldn't possibly go hunting to sell for money herself, could she?
As the wife of Commander Jiang, Qin Luoxia was having trouble adjusting her mindset.
Jiang Yu also felt a lot of pressure seeing so many people.
How much food would it take to feed so many people for one meal? How much would be enough?
This morning, when she went to the kitchen with Mom, she saw warehouses next to the kitchen containing several pecks of coarse and fine grains, and a room full of vegetables and meat. She thought the people in the Provincial Capital were quite generous, preparing so much good food.
Now seeing so many people, how long would it last?
And in the bedroom area, there were many pieces of fabric prepared, all new, enough to make clothes for the whole family for a year.
But with so many people, there wouldn't be enough to give one piece to each person.
Worrying.
Aunt Yin listened to the mother and daughters chattering and felt speechless.
The younger girl was fine, she hadn't spoken.
Jiang Mianmian looked at the dense crowd below, the sea of black heads, thinking about when she and her classmates went to the hospital for internship, wondering if the chief doctor felt the same way looking at all those interns.
While waiting for the servants below to gather and line up quietly, Great-aunt wasn't idle.
"Madam, here are the slave contracts for these people. In a while, you can choose some suitable people to keep, and for those who are not suitable, I can have the agency people take them away directly."
Seeing Madam Qin's expression, Aunt Yin added: "The agency people will pay silver for them."
"Among those below are maids who serve in the house, rough work maids, errand boys, workers in the courtyard, those for the inner and outer courts. Generally, they are from families, so if you want to sell them, it's best to sell them by family. There are also some who sing and perform in plays, these people are of a lower status, they are usually single and don't have families."
Aunt Yin explained.
Jiang Mianmian sat obediently, listening attentively.
She would have to adapt to living in the mansion eventually.
Thinking about having people to serve her, fanning her in summer, swatting mosquitoes, warming her hands in winter, clothes ready when she stretches out her arms, food ready when she opens her mouth - this kind of life seemed quite nice.
Mianmian shifted her little bottom, getting comfortable, and continued to listen to Great-aunt's teachings. She felt she was adapting well to the life of the ruling class.
Then she heard Great-aunt say: "Regarding the maids and servants, if there's anything unsatisfactory or disliked, never beat or scold them. It's not that you can't beat or scold them, but if they're injured, they can't work. They are family assets, just like your own livestock. If you damage them and they can't work, you're the one who loses out."
"Moreover, if the beating and scolding is excessive, even after they recover, they'll harbor resentment, and you'll feel uncomfortable and won't dare to use them. If you see someone unsuitable, we should just sell them directly. No need to learn those mansion feuding tricks! When teaching maids and old women, with the slave contracts in hand, we hold the power of life and death."
Seeing the three mothers and daughters listening obediently, Aunt Yin continued:
"As for some who know too much, see too much, are disloyal, and you're worried they might spread rumors if sold, those can be beaten to death, leaving no loose ends."
