The next day, the county guard sent someone to send Zhao Yu's Yulu to the mansion Zhoufu.

Strictly speaking, Zhao Yu has only been an official for less than four months, among them, he has been the lieutenant of Kunyang County for two months, the lieutenant of the ministry for half a month, the captain of the upper department for half a month, and the lieutenant of the upper department for half a month.

In just four months, he jumped three levels in a row, and was promoted from a county lieutenant all the way to a county lieutenant.

Again, thanks to the 'assist' of the rebels and the foil of the former Captain Cao Suo.

And Zhao Yu has not received the monthly salary for nearly four months, after all, he was not short of money when he was in Kunyang, so he naturally would not think of going to the county government to receive the money, and the county guard of Xuchang was managed by the former county Cheng Song Shu some time ago, seeing that Zhao Yu did not mention it, Song Shu naturally did not take the initiative to give it, so the matter was delayed.

And now, Chen Lang, who was promoted to the rank of county, guessed that the Zhou Mansion might be short of money, so he thought of it very wittily.

With a wave of his hand in the county guard's mansion, he ordered his officials to pay Zhao Yu four months' salary according to the monthly salary standard of the lieutenant, and also make up for the previous arrears.

Because Zhao Yu's reply was 'half a grain and half a penny', the county guard sent someone to send 200 stone millet to the Zhou Mansion the next day, and the other 200 stone millet was regarded as two-thirds of the amount of rice according to the standard of 'husking', and at the current price of 350 yuan per stone of rice, it was converted into money, which was about 50,000 yuan.

With this money and food, Duwei Zhou's Mansion is enough to sustain itself for a while.

Now that she has the money, Jing Nu plans to dismiss the original servants in the house, she summons He Shun and instructs: "Gather the servants in the house to the front yard......

Hearing this, the three maids standing in the house, except for Bi'er, couldn't help but feel a little flustered.

The other two maids, one is two years older than Bi'er, the same age as Jingnu, and the other is the same age as Bi'er, the former is changed to Qing'er, and the latter is changed to Yao'er, this kind of name can be seen everywhere in big households.

Among the three maids, the best impression of the quiet girl is naturally Bi'er, although this girl is clumsy, her personality is frizzy, and she is not quiet at all, but this girl is very courageous, and she is the first of the three maids to muster the courage to contact her, and her mouth is very sweet, so the quiet girl does not refuse to take her with her.

The maid named Qing'er is much calmer, but a bit like the former Jing Nu is quiet, but this girl is not as bold as Bi'er, and she doesn't dare to breathe in front of Jing Nu, but seeing that she is careful, Jing Nu decided to let her be in charge of some specific affairs in the future.

As for Yao'er, the last little girl who was a few months younger than Bi'er, she was the most afraid of Jing Nu among the three, as long as Jing Nu's eyes swept over, her face immediately turned pale, and she even trembled with fright, which made Jing Nu a little speechless - she was just wearing a mask, as for being scared like this?

Later, Jingnu learned that these three maids were not actually afraid of the mask on her face, but afraid of her eyes.

Afterwards, Jing Nu looked at the bronze mirror in private for a long time, and then she vaguely felt that her eyes were indeed a little indifferent, probably because she had experienced too many things over the years and seen too much life and death, so her eyes were no longer as innocent as the three girls of Bi'er, and became a little indifferent.

Although she regrets this, Shizunu does not regret it.

Just like the right hand that often holds the sword, there are a few places that unconsciously grind out a layer of cocoons, although as a woman's nature, she hates it to death, but she does not intend to give up swordsmanship.

She knew very well that a woman who only knew how to pamper herself would not be able to help her young master.

She will be his shield, his sword, and a woman with whom he will be through thick and thin.

Around the end of the day, the original servants in the Zhou Mansion were all summoned to the front yard, and there were about twenty people.

According to Bi'er, there were originally one hundred and fifty people in the mansion, but now, there are only these people left, and even the original six or seven maids in the inner courtyard have run away, and only three of them remain.

It may be that the two dozen or so people also had a premonition, and they were panicked when they were summoned to one place.

When the Silent Girl appeared in front of them all, one of the women fell to her knees and cried, "Madam, please don't drive us away......

Before the words fell, the remaining 20 or so people knelt down and begged.

Some people may not understand that these people were originally servants in the Cao Mansion, and some even signed a deed of sale, but now, the new Mrs. Zhou allows them to be restored to freedom, and even has to pay a severance payment, what is there not to be satisfied with?

But in fact, these people are really willing to stay in Duwei Zhou's Mansion, even if they sign a deed of sale, it doesn't matter.

You must know that this is not a peaceful time, and the rebels everywhere are in trouble, even in Yingchuan County today, the rebels still occupy nearly one-third of the territory.

To make matters worse, due to the wars in various places, the price of rice soared, even under the deliberate suppression of the county guard, the price of rice in Xuchang City soared to a high price of 350 yuan a stone, compared with Kunyang seven years ago, the price of rice almost doubled.

In a Jin country that 'emphasizes agriculture and suppresses commerce', this is not a normal phenomenon, it stands to reason that the price of rice in this era will hardly fluctuate too much, and the price of rice will be steadily maintained for ten or twenty years, which is the basis of the so-called prosperous era.

And in the face of the current price of rice in Xuchang, not to mention that Jingnu is ready to give one stone of rice and five hundred yuan as severance money, even if it is doubled, these people are unwilling to leave.

After all, they could eat enough in this mansion and not starve.

"Madam, please don't drive us away......"

"Madame......"

"Madame......"

More than 20 people knelt on the ground and kowtowed, begging bitterly.

From the side, the three maids Qing'er, Bi'er, and Yao'er also seemed to be a little frightened, so frightened that their little faces turned white, and they didn't dare to breathe.

Only He Shun and the Black Tigers were not used, waiting for Jing Nu's order.

As long as Jingnu gives an order, even if these people refuse to leave, they will expel them.

Seeing He Shun's frequent gazes asking for instructions, Jing Nu couldn't help but hesitate a little in her heart.

After a long time, she slowly raised her right hand, and after everyone gradually quieted down, she slowly spoke: "In this way, those who want to leave can receive two stone grains from He Weichang, five hundred yuan, and those who don't want to leave...... Then let's stay, but in the future, I need to follow the rules of my Zhou Mansion......"

When they heard this, the hearts of the twenty or so slaves were overjoyed, and none of them wanted to leave, and they thanked one after another.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Thank you, Madame, for your kindness."

"Madame's great kindness, I will not be unforgettable, and I will serve well in the future."

Jing Nu nodded slightly, and turned around and walked towards the inner courtyard with the three maids.

Seeing this, He Shun immediately rushed up, clenched his fists and said, "Madam, is this appropriate?" ”

Jing Nu stopped, glanced back at the relieved servants, and said calmly: "To feed these people, it is no more than 100 stone meters a year, even if you count meat, vegetables, and other needs, it will not cost more than 200 stone meters. …… These people are willing to stay, and probably there is no other way out. Besides, the house needs some people anyway, so you can't be asked to do chores, right? ”

Several black tigers behind He Shun laughed.

Indeed, they don't want to do all that kind of stuff.

"Then I'll send a few people to watch them." He Shun was still a little uneasy: "After all, he is an old servant of the Cao family." ”

Although Jing Nu felt that there might not be any servants loyal to the Cao family among the twenty or so, she did not object to He Shun's proposal, after all, He Shun was in charge of this matter.

"You can do it."

"Yes." He Shun clenched his fists and retreated.

Watching He Shun's fierce black tigers walk away, Bi'er and a few other maids secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

At this time, Bi'er once again played the characteristics of her sweet mouth, and when she opened her mouth to compliment Jingnu, she said, "Madam, you are so kind......"

Jing Nu smiled faintly.

Is it merciful?

In her opinion, if this was kindness, then kindness would be too cheap—it was just a surplus of mercy.

Or, as she said, accumulate yin virtue in order to ask God to protect him Zhao.

The problem of the mansion is solved, and the problem of the old servants of the Cao family is also solved, so what should we do next?

Next, you need to take an inventory of the furnishings of each house in the house.

But all large households need someone to be in charge of this matter, and check the furnishings of each room every day.

For example, in the study, there are many valuable furnishings in the house, such as jade paperweights, books, etc., most of the time the master is not there, only the servants in the house are responsible for cleaning, if there is something missing, the master may not be able to find it in time.

This requires a faithful servant to take charge of the matter, and to take a daily count, so as to avoid the appearance of 'house thieves' who do not know - such unclean hands and feet are common among the servants of large families, although these people may not dare to steal anything conspicuous and valuable, and will not cause much harm to the master's house, but if the master and the master and the mistress let it go, it will inevitably ruin the doorway.

Therefore, this must be put an end to.

This kind of thing, if it weren't for Jingnu following Zhou's side back then, she would not have known about it.

Even Zhao Yu may not know it - because with his identity as the second son, it is unlikely that he will come into contact with these trivialities.

And now, there are no trustworthy domestic servants for the time being, and the loyal He Shun's group is illiterate, so Jingnu can only take three maids to do it herself.

Admittedly, this is a lot of hard work.

And just when Jingnu was busy, He Shun suddenly came to say: "Madam, Chen Juncheng's wife Zhang, came to visit with gifts. ”

Jingnu immediately instructed Qing'er to invite her to the main hall of the main house in the inner courtyard.

"Yesterday, Mrs. sent a heavy gift, which is really unexpected......"

In the main hall of the main house, Zhang expressed his gratitude, and at the same time took out the pastries he brought and tasted them with Jingnu.

In officialdom, as long as the status difference between the male owners of two families is not very strong, it is also very common for their wives to move around each other and get closer.

Even this kind of 'women's diplomacy' can affect her husband's official career to a certain extent.

Just like right now, the Zhang family enthusiastically hopes to get closer to Jingnu: "Your mansion has moved newly, presumably Mrs. Zhou has been working hard these days, right?" ”

"It's nothing." Jingnu replied calmly and politely: "It's just to clean up the old things of the Cao family and count the things left in the house......"

As the hostess of the Chen Mansion, of course the Zhang family understood what was going on, and was secretly surprised in his heart.

After all, this kind of thing is not from a big family, so you may not know about it.

Of course, this is a good thing, Zhang is afraid that Mrs. Zhou does not understand the rules and is difficult to get along with, and finally makes each other embarrassed, but now, seeing that this Mrs. Zhou seems to be very familiar with these things, she is surprised and secretly relieved.

That night, after falling in love with Zhao Yu, Jingnu said a little depressedly: "Today, the wife of the Chen Mansion, Zhang, came to visit the mansion and asked me to get together in a few days to drink tea together, and it is said that there will be ...... of the wives of other families."

"Haha."

Zhao Yu understood what was going on as soon as he heard it, and looked at the depressed Jing Nu and smiled.

Yes, the mistress of a mansion not only needs to take care of the interior of the mansion, but also to deal with the relationship between the wife of the person close to her husband, and it is better to form a reliable relationship.

"Madame Masamu isn't that easy to be, is she?" Zhao Yu hugged Jingnu and teased.

The quiet girl who is calm and steady in front of outsiders is full of coquettishness in front of her beloved at the moment.

Of course, she knew that Mrs. Masamuro was not so easy to be, but even so, she wanted to be.

"I can handle it."

Her confident assurance made Zhao Yu a little surprised.