Tianliangyuan

Chapter 304 Slaveship

Xie Zheng, who was standing to the side, was also a little curious.

It's obviously not worthwhile to grow crops on such a large area of ​​wasteland. The input and output are too far outweighed. Even if Xie Zheng doesn't know how to farm, he understands this simple principle.

Xu Zhaozhao smiled but remained silent.

She wanted this land, of course not for farming. Xu Zhaozhao wasn't sure why the Emperor had chosen this place for his fiefdom at first, but now she was completely certain.

She is a chosen working woman, and that "chosen one" is His Majesty.

His Majesty recognized her Midas touch, which is why he wanted her to create a new Lantian.

If it weren't for the fact that she was a woman and therefore ineligible for an official position, the Emperor might have directly appointed her as the magistrate of Lantian County.

It's not bad as it is now. Xu Zhaozhao thinks this place will be a good place for her to relax in the future.

"These are the blueprints. After the New Year, you can arrange for people to start building the houses. Remember, I want houses with blue bricks and tiles, not wooden houses."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Yan Shu never doubted how much money the county magistrate would spend building so many houses, after all, the county magistrate was a well-known rich person.

The two of them couldn't stay here for very long. Even if His Majesty gave Xie Zheng a leave of absence, it wouldn't be more than ten days.

Moreover, Xie Zheng received an order from the palace midway and was called back halfway.

Helpless, Xu Zhaozhao had no choice but to go back with him.

Xu Zhaozhao had just returned to the manor when she saw several maids gathered together, seemingly arguing.

Dingxiang snapped, "Why are you making such a racket here?"

The maids were visibly flustered, and two of them quickly stepped forward to bow, saying, "Greetings, Lady of the Heir Apparent."

The people behind them looked unfamiliar, and they must have just learned that the person in front of them was the proper young mistress, so they also bowed and greeted her.

Xu Zhaozhao naturally wouldn't argue with a few maids, but after glancing at the two unfamiliar pretty girls, she still asked one more question.

"Who are you? You look unfamiliar to me."

"Reporting to the Lady of the Heir Apparent, this servant is Cai Die."

"Reporting to the Lady of the Heir Apparent, this servant is Caijuan."

Xu Zhaozhao remained silent, and the maid who was the first to bow quickly explained, "Reporting to the young master's wife, these two people just entered the manor a few days ago."

"Well, since you're new here, you should learn the rules properly. This is the Duke's mansion; you must not make loud noises here unless absolutely necessary."

"Yes."

Xu Zhaozhao gave Dingxiang a wink and then went back to Jinxiu Garden first.

Before dinner, Dingxiang came to report.

“I have found out that Cai Die and Cai Juan were both brought back to the manor by the Fourth Madam. I heard that the Fourth Madam bought them from outside. After further questioning, I learned that these two are the children of disgraced officials who were demoted to slaves.”

Xu Zhaozhao roughly understood.

This case has implicated quite a few people.

It is said that nearly twenty officials of the fifth rank and below in the court were involved, and some merchants and common people were also implicated.

Therefore, these two must be the daughters of some official.

"Have you inquired about their specific backgrounds?"

“I have investigated everything. Their father was a former official of the Court of Judicial Review. I heard that he was also implicated in the case of Prince Qing and has been ordered to be beheaded. His male family members have been exiled three thousand miles away and will never be allowed to return to the capital. All the female family members have been enslaved.”

Xu Zhaozhao nodded. It seemed that this fourth aunt was a kind-hearted person.

"Being bought into slavery is better than being sent to a brothel. I think the two of them are quite young; are they sisters?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, they are sisters, one legitimate and one illegitimate, but their current status is the same."

Of course, they were all slaves, so naturally they were the same.

"We haven't had any new hires at Jinxiuyuan, have we?"

"Rest assured, Master, no one will dare to send anyone into the garden without your orders."

"That's good."

The next day, Xu Zhaozhao took the opportunity to pay her respects to Madam Yu.

"I heard you just got back yesterday, why don't you stay inside and rest properly?"

"I wasn't really tired. When I came back yesterday, I saw some unfamiliar faces in the manor, so I asked a question and found out that Fourth Aunt had brought people back. Today I came to pay my respects to Second Aunt and thought I'd also like to ask if adding people to my Jinxiu Garden would affect the affairs of the manor?"

Ms. Yu was taken aback, but then she understood her intention.

"It doesn't matter. You are the wife of the heir apparent and a county princess. Adding a few more servants to serve you is not the same as having soldiers."

The imperial court imposed various restrictions on dukes, marquises, and officials of all ranks.

For example, there are explicit regulations regarding what kind of residence a Duke's mansion should have, how many personal guards it should have, and how many servants it should bring when traveling.

If one oversteps the bounds, at best one will be impeached by the censor, and at worst one one may be suspected by superiors of having disloyal intentions.

Xu Zhaozhao was a noblewoman from a marquis's family, so she naturally knew about these things. That's why she came to ask, so as not to add too many people to her Jinxiu Garden and affect the personnel arrangements of the entire Duke's Mansion.

In fact, Xu Zhaozhao didn't need to come and ask at all. After all, although Madam Yu was in charge of the household affairs, in terms of status, she was far less noble than Xu Zhaozhao. She was just barely holding the title of elder.

But Xu Zhaozhao was still willing to make this trip, which also showed her respect for this aunt.

Ms. Yu naturally received her sentiments.

“In that case, I am relieved. Since I married into the Xie family, I have not yet become fully familiar with this Duke’s mansion. Moreover, I have heard that there are quite a few women in our Xie family. In addition, the third and fifth branches do not live here, so it is inevitable that I am unfamiliar with some things. So I came here today to ask my second aunt for advice. I wonder if it would be appropriate for me to find an excuse to hold a banquet?”

Madam Yu understood her meaning: she only invited Xie's relatives to gather, so that they could get to know each other better.

“There’s nothing wrong with it. I was thinking the same thing. There aren’t many people living in our Duke’s mansion, but there are quite a few Xie clan members in the capital. As for the others, you really should acknowledge the female relatives within the five degrees of kinship.”

"I'll have to trouble you, Second Aunt. In your opinion, would it be more appropriate to hold this banquet at my Jinxiu Garden, or would you like to choose another location?"

Ms. Yu felt that anywhere was fine.

Xu Zhaozhao thought that Jinxiu Garden had changed a lot, and she should interact more with these relatives and friends, otherwise, they might have opinions about her.

"If that's the case, why don't we settle on Jinxiu Garden?"

"Sure. Just tell me what you need me to arrange."

"Of course, we'll need to trouble Second Aunt to host a banquet. But I've heard that Fourth Aunt is still under house arrest. We'll have to trouble you to come with me to the Old Madam to ask for her help so that Fourth Aunt can come out and join in the fun."

Madam Yu understood her meaning; she didn't want her relatives to laugh at the Duke's mansion.

"Okay, as you wish."