Hongji and his wife and children felt that if they really needed a maid and an old woman, it would also be possible to recruit them from outside, and there was no need to prevent the workers from reuniting with their families.
The housekeeper then told them that the old won and maids, even the little boys bought from outside, were not entirely safe, not to ntion whether they would be loyal.
They were also preventing others from sending spies into their ho, as their family had always been a target watched by many, especially by those in positions of power.
The owner sold the house, and it was sold to soone surnad Ye, possibly a distant relative, which had already alerted so people and created concerns that it might lead to major events.
The old housekeeper couldn’t just tell the new owners about these issues right away, after all, they ca from the countryside and didn’t know how complex Capital City was.
He was also doing it to protect the new owners.
"Young Master, the young ladies are all like flowers and jade, so how can we allow new people to serve them? The people I’ve arranged, Madam, are all trustworthy, and they have also been trained. When they accompany the young ladies on their outings, it’s as if there are female guards with them!"
Hongji... what was said was quite right. In his hotown, even a small village had its troubles, and he must find soone to escort his daughters.
The housekeeper’s arrangent was indeed thoughtful and would allow him to be more at ease when he returned to the countryside.
After all, his brother-in-law, a grown man, couldn’t always be by his daughters’ sides. He could only leave a few of the drivers and guards who had previously accompanied his daughters on their outings.
With them around, he could be a bit more at ease.
Hongji and Mrs. Li ca to the courtyard and, seeing such a vast space with only themselves living there, felt as if they were dreaming.
"Wife, pinch , am I dreaming?"
Mrs. Li actually pinched her husband’s arm and, as he winced from the pain, she too felt that she had entered reality and was not dreaming.
"Husband, I never thought this day would co, it feels like a dream!"
"Yes, it’s like a dream. If our eldest daughter hadn’t sought marriage here in Capital City and bought property, we would never have known that we picked a bargain and also t our relatives."
"Husband, the old housekeeper keeps calling you young master, were you born to your mother-in-law?"
Mrs. Li always felt it strange how her husband’s parents treated him compared to their daughters, favoring the daughters over their son.
If it was because she had only daughters and they looked down on her, but by the fifth daughter, the attitude of her mother-in-law and father-in-law beca too strange. They once consulted fortunetellers who said this pregnancy would result in a son.
Then why was her childbirth so difficult, and why did her husband hesitate to pay the midwife?
Mrs. Li, giving birth to her fifth daughter, rembered that dark period vividly. The deliveries of the older daughters weren’t much better, yet she endured it all!
She thought it was because her in-laws didn’t treat her well, as if there was no fate between them. Despite all her humility for her children, for her husband, she always strived to be a good daughter-in-law.
At that mont, it also made her think if her husband wasn’t their biological child, it could explain so things, like why her mother-in-law wouldn’t help her with the kids but expects such a small child to work outside while her own daughter acted like a pampered Lady.
Her mother-in-law’s actions were seemingly supported by her father-in-law, and this mystery always lingered in her heart.
Hongji too once doubted, as his parents didn’t treat him as well as his sisters, often quarreling with him over his sisters.
But without evidence, he couldn’t just make accusations; perhaps the older generation really had so associations.
Hongji, hearing that the housekeeper wanted to return to the countryside with them, also suspected that Housekeeper Ye must have been investigating sothing; it surely wasn’t for his sake that he wanted to accompany them ho.
After all, what was left in Capital City were daughters. If the old housekeeper truly cared that much, he wouldn’t leave Capital City unless there was sothing more important to tend to.
The five sisters of the Ye family, including Ye Wenjie, all felt their courtyard was too large.
Being a little boy, he was sowhat comfortable, with his cousin Li Anning staying in the guest room and so workers from the countryside staying in his courtyard.
The workers staying with him were also temporary; in a couple of days, they would move on to new workplaces.
They would be assigned to various shops, not because he distrusted the original employees but because a new master had rearranged the shops, estates, even warehouses, introducing so new products.
So jobs were their specialty, allowing them to lead the old employees in their work.
Ye Fengqi, a young girl living alone in a courtyard, felt very lonely, fondly recalling the days she shared a room with her sister.
She thought of her eventual return to her hotown where her elder and younger sisters would not be around, which would make her even lonelier!
Thinking of living in the new courtyard, she didn’t feel much happiness—it felt like a traveler staying at an inn, luxurious as it might be, she was not the permanent resident here.
The next morning, Ye Shiqi was awakened by the noise in the courtyard, just as dawn was breaking. Why were people working in her courtyard so early?
She was alone in a room, with the door locked from the inside, staying in a new room without entering the "space." She needed to adapt to this environnt.
Like entering this courtyard and feeling a sense of security, she had slept well all night without waking even once.
She felt more at peace here than at ho—she thought it was a mindset problem, having paid respects to her ancestors and knowing they were relatives.
When she opened the door, she found a strange little girl, about eleven or twelve years old, standing at her doorway.
"Lady, you’re awake? This is the washing water I’ve prepared for you,"
Ye Shiqi... recognized the maid’s respectful attitude and affectionate expression, which seed unusual for soone new.
"Who are you?"
"Lady, I am one of the maids assigned to assist you by the old housekeeper. Other ladies have also been assigned help, and there are old won to help with other tasks around the courtyard!"
Ye Shiqi... More than one maid? Was this truly the treatnt of a Miss with significant wealth?
I have incurred so much debt; can I afford to keep so many people at my side?
She only thought about this in her heart; with her sisters absent, and so people at ho, she indeed needed to manage such a large household.
Another house was also left to be managed by others.
"Alright, bring it in!"
After the maid brought in the water and she freshened up,
a new maid brought her breakfast.
"Lady, this is the hurriedly prepared breakfast from the kitchen this morning; we ca late, it was made simply, hope the Lady likes it!"
Ye Shiqi... found it considerate that breakfast was prepared so early; surely not every courtyard had its own kitchen staff?
"Is this breakfast made in our own courtyard?"
"No, Lady, this breakfast was prepared in the big kitchen, I just went to fetch it. If you’d like breakfast made in the small kitchen, we can prepare that for you in the future!"
The maid was not the least bit shy, communicating fluently with her new master.
And she inford the new lady that their courtyard had four main maids, two second-class maids, and two little maids.
This arrangent was according to the master’s age, the maids of the Lady’s elder sisters were a bit older.
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