Tianliangyuan

Chapter 47 The New Steward Gao Da Kui

Neither a guard nor a servant was enough to warrant the father's personal attention.

Unless there is some special reason.

Wang Ruolan sighed, looking somewhat troubled.

"He was not disabled. He was discharged from the army because he was seriously injured and his strength was depleted, making him unsuitable for fighting on the front lines. Although he was under your father's command at the time, he did not get any official position. He only received some money after being injured and then returned to his hometown."

His hometown suffered a disaster a few years ago. His family originally relied on a meager ten-odd acres of land to make a living. The large family, which originally numbered over ten, was reduced to only six by the time they fled to the capital. Later, all the refugees were kept outside the city, but he happened to see your father's personal guards, which allowed him to eventually reach your father.

Xu Zhaozhao listened quietly. It was normal for a naive young girl like her to be unaware of what had happened a few years ago.

“Your father, mindful of his past military achievements, was unwilling to let him become a servant, but he insisted on joining the Marquis’s household. The main reason was that his wife and young son were both unconscious at the time, and your father immediately called a doctor to examine them, administering acupuncture and medicine, which saved their lives.”

"This is a good thing. Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda."

"Your father later inquired further and learned that he had another daughter who had been forced to be sold during the escape. He was willing to sell his whole family into servitude, only hoping that your father could help him find his daughter."

Xu Zhaozhao's pupils dilated instantly. What might a little girl who has been sold have to endure?

At this moment, Xu Zhaozhao felt both sympathy and anger towards this family.

Why is it that when difficulties arise, women are the first to be abandoned?

Why not sell the young child?

Xu Zhaozhao knew that at this moment, in this world, no one could empathize with her.

Preferring sons to daughters, or rather, male superiority and female inferiority, is the normal logic in this world. And if she were to speak out about the things in her mind, she would probably be regarded as a heretic's doctrine!

Wang Ruolan didn't know what her daughter was thinking, but her tone became heavy again: "His eldest son was pushed into the river during the escape, and his fate is unknown. His daughter was already able to cook and do laundry at that time, so she thought of selling her to a wealthy family to work. As for his other two sons, they were too young, and even if he wanted to sell them, no one would want them."

The two skinny boys wouldn't be able to work for long after we bought them, and the price offered by the slave trader was too low, so we had no choice but to sell our daughter instead.

Xu Zhaozhao took a deep breath: "Mother, what happened next?"

"Later, your father still sent someone to redeem his daughter. Fortunately, it didn't take long, only a few months. The child was doing rough work in the mansion, and because she was pale and thin, she was never valued by her master."

The rest was left unsaid, but Xu Zhaozhao understood.

If a young woman working for someone is too beautiful, that's really not a good thing.

Fortunately, we were fleeing there, so it wouldn't be easy to raise her in a short time. Besides, she does rough work, so she probably wouldn't think about dressing up.

Could this be considered a lucky accident?

"Your father wanted to train his two sons to join the army, so he wanted to return their indenture, but he refused, saying that even if his two sons joined the army, they would only join the Marquis's personal guards, which is why your father was in a difficult position."

Xu Zhaozhao couldn't quite understand this person's stubbornness.

Perhaps because I'm not from here, I can't understand their stubborn insistence on serving others.

"Mother, why don't you assign this person to me? What's this uncle's name?"

"His surname is Gao, and his name is Gao Da Kui. He is as good as his name, tall and robust, and looks somewhat like your father."

"When can I see him? By the way, does his wife also work in the household?"

"No, not at all. After all, there are still children to take care of, so after he entered the manor, only Gao Da Kui worked there. Later, when his daughter was found, we arranged for her to work in the sewing room. The idea was to let her learn some skills so that she could make a living when she left the manor in the future. Who knew that he would not appreciate it at all."

"This shows that my father is a kind and compassionate person. Otherwise, Uncle Gao would not have been so eager to follow him."

Wang Ruolan smiled and shook her head, but the agreement in her eyes was obvious.

And so, Gao Da Kui was successfully taken over by Xu Zhao Zhao.

“Uncle Gao, my mother has told me about your family’s situation. Now I’m giving you another chance. I’ll let your whole family leave the manor and arrange a job for each of you. Once you’re free, your two sons will be able to make a living outside. What do you think?”

“Miss, I would not dare. I was saved by the general back then. Later, my family fled to seek refuge here, and the general took us in. I would never do anything to be ungrateful.”

Sure enough, this person is stubborn and can't be reasoned with.

"Uncle Gao, you have good intentions, but you should also think about your children."

"Miss, there's no need to persuade me any further. My wife and children at home are grateful for the General's kindness and will definitely not leave."

Xu Zhaozhao sighed. Sure enough, talking to them took some effort.

"Very well, since that's the case, if I were to transfer Uncle Gao to work for me, would Uncle Gao be willing?"

Gao Da Kui didn't seem very surprised, probably because Wang Ruolan had already told him the whole story.

"I will obey your orders, Miss."

“Alright, I also run some businesses outside. Zhu Zi has always been helping me run errands. He works hard all by himself, and he's still young, so sometimes he can't keep up with the situation. That's why I thought of asking Uncle Gao to come and help. I know you've been to the battlefield, so ordinary people shouldn't be able to intimidate you.”

"Thank you for your kind words, Miss. I will obey your orders."

"Okay. Do you have any other requests?"

Gao Da Kui shook his head. He was just a servant. He had food and drink here, and new clothes were given to him all year round. How could he dare to make any demands?

This is so much better than when they were in their hometown, how could they possibly push their luck any further?

Xu Zhaozhao had already obtained all the information about Gao Da Kui's family from Wang Ruolan. Of course, she had also specifically asked her father to confirm that Gao Da Kui was usable before she thought of letting him take over the two Xiangpiaopiao stores to try it out.

When Zhu Zi learned that he no longer needed to make regular inspections of Xiang Piaopiao's place, he was naturally somewhat surprised. Later, when he learned that his master had added a new person to his ranks, someone who had been favored by the Marquis, he became even more flustered.

Zhu Zi wasn't stupid. He tested Ding Xiang twice to make sure his master didn't intend to abandon him. Only then did he secretly think about how to make a good impression on his master. After reflecting on his actions for a few more days, he went to apologize to his master.

"Dingxiang, send someone to collect all this money, and also count out another hundred strings of cash to send to Father."

"Yes, ma'am."

Zhu Zi knelt down tremblingly: "Master, I know I was wrong, please punish me!"