5 A new day, misty and rainy, Xiao Nan hoped that this was a dream, maybe he woke up and returned to modern times, but no.

He accepted the service of a maid like a young master, and ate a fine breakfast made by the private cook in the mansion. His mother, a certain aunt, had died a long time ago, otherwise he would have had to dine with his own mother according to filial piety. And the eldest lord, the legendary giant businessman, has a strange personality, except for the New Year's holidays, he never eats with his own children, unless it is his favorite wives and concubines or sons who are qualified to live a real family life with him.

He, the thirteenth young master, although he is dressed in fine clothes and food, is equivalent to being beaten into the cold palace, in addition to taking some family money as living expenses every month, he is actually an isolated marginal person.

These were all things he had learned through his own observations and skillful inquiries into the servants.

It's good for him, and it saves him a lot of trouble in relationships.

Although this young master seems to be drunk and dreaming of self-abandonment, he also has a bill, pressed on the desk, which scribbles his monthly income and expenses and some resentful words.

It turned out that the living expenses that the thirteenth young master received from his family every month were much less than those of other young masters, and the monthly income of the favored young masters was ten times more than what he earned, and the arbitrary withdrawal was not limited to accounts.

Interestingly, even if the Thirteenth Young Master is despised in this big family, his monthly living expenses are still beyond the reach of ordinary people, and it is even enough to support him to go to a slightly more upscale place to spend all day drinking.

That is, the starving camel is bigger than the horse, and there are even two maids, two old mothers, and a small servant in his room.

However, except for a fast-mouthed maid named Xiaoci, the other servants seemed to ignore him, probably because this thirteen young man had no oil and water in the yard, and he only cared about paralyzing himself with alcohol every day, doing nothing, and didn't care about the life or death of his subordinates at all.

And that Xiao Ci seems to have a quick mouth, but in fact she doesn't have many eyes, not long after she came to the house, she wanted to stammer with the master, and she was very attentive to him.

"Young master, are you going out to play today?" Xiao Ci asked when he finished eating.

"yes, go out for a walk." Xiao Nan was not in a hurry to explore this labyrinthine mansion, because he knew that in this era, there were many rules in the big family, and it was best not to go to other courtyards to hang around, and somehow offended other people's territory.

"I heard that the eldest master is coming back from other places, and it will be the eldest master's birthday in another month, and the other young masters are trying their best to please the eldest master, but you are not in a hurry at all." Xiao Ci nagged, she is a maid, if she is smarter, she should not talk about the master's affairs, but she is worried about Xiao Nan, which shows that she is a tenacious person.

"What am I anxious about, anyway, my brothers and sisters have all sharpened their heads, and I can't reach their sycophants when I catch up." Xiao Nan stood up from the round table, propped a pair of solid wood carved crutches under his armpits, and moved to his desk.

Xiao Ci was still talking non-stop: "Young Master, you are also a beautiful man in a million, why don't you hurry up and start a family?" Look at the fourth young master, the sixth young master still has ......"

"Okay, you don't need to say anything, go and do a few things for me." Xiao Nan opened the drawer and took out a few pieces of change, "Go buy me a map, and go to the bookstore to buy a few local customs and county records." ”

"Young master, I can't read! I don't understand if you ask me to buy a book! ”

"Then just buy the map. There are also local newspapers. Xiao Nan sat on the chair in front of his desk and said, "Go quickly, I have a reward for you if you run fast." ”

He rummaged through the drawers and found the best cigars in a silver box, so he followed the example of the actors in the movie, sharpened the cigars with a knife, struck a match and smoked them.

This young master's life is quite comfortable to be honest.

"Young Master, why do I think you're a little different from before?" Xiaoci asked.

"Less nonsense, go quickly!" He dismissed.

Xiao Ci's legs and feet were very fast, and he quickly bought what he wanted, so he took a few more dollars and gave her a vacation, and told her to go shopping, and he wanted to study the layout of the city quietly by himself, and the newspaper was used to find out what was going on at this point in time.

Before he could flip through the newspaper a few times, the little guy who was sweeping the yard in his yard ran in a panic and said, "Young master! Oh no! The third young master has come to see you! ”

"Third Young Master?" Xiao Nan was confused, in fact, he didn't know any of the young masters in this family, and it seemed that he had to observe words and emotions again, and he would adapt to the situation.

"The third young master is very mean, he never came to us, why did he suddenly remember it, he must have bad intentions!" Xiao Ci chatted more on the side.

"I see, I'll go out to meet him." Xiao Nan stood up with a cane and came to the courtyard. I saw a young man dressed very neatly walked into the door, probably as Xiao Ci said, this person has always been mean, although his facial features are not bad, but he also exudes an uncomfortable domineering, with a nose facing the sky, looking very fierce.

"Third brother, why do you have time to come to me today?" Xiao Nan could only greet him with a polite smile.

"Why can't I come to you to have a look?" As soon as the third young master opened his mouth, it made people feel domineering, Xiao Nan guessed that this person's status in the Xiao family must be very high, so he couldn't do anything with him, so he could only laugh and say: "Third brother, come into the house and sit." ”

"I don't go into the house of your medicine jar, it's full of medicinal smells, I can't get used to it." The third young master said in the courtyard, he glanced at the little man who came with him, and the man drove all the servants in the courtyard out, and soon, Xiao Nan and the third young master were left in the courtyard.

The third young master then said: "Thirteen, let me ask you, you have to tell me the truth, when Fourteen had a good time with you, he took you to the back garden, did you see what was in the back garden?" ”

"I really didn't see anything, I didn't even get close to the door and left." Xiao Nan realized that he was talking about one of the Xiao family tragedies that Xiao Tianyou told him.

"If I had seen anything, would I have survived until now?" Xiao Nan added.

"You'd better tell the truth." The third young master said with a gloomy face, "If I ask you today, you don't say anything, otherwise you will know the consequences." If you don't want your other leg to be on you, it's best to keep your mouth shut. ”

So saying, he turned and left.

Xiao Nan was relieved to see him go out, he returned to the house on crutches, Xiao Ci quickly came in from outside, and asked curiously: "Young master, what did the third young master tell you?" ”

She's a real gossip.

"Nothing." Xiao Nan picked up the teacup on the desk and took a sip of tea, and tasted this tea in general, if the thirteenth young master had status, maybe he would not drink such inferior tea.

He thought for a moment before asking, "What is the third young master in charge of?" ”

"Young Master, why did you even forget this?" Xiao Ci was surprised, "Who in the mansion doesn't know the name of the third young master." ”

"Of course I know his name, I just can't remember what he's responsible for. For so many years, he ignored me, and who remembers what he did. Xiao Nan prevaricated.

Xiao Ci snapped his fingers and counted for him: "The third young master is very capable, and the eldest master asked him to take care of salt transportation, cloth villages, and accounts...... Oh, when you say that, I don't know what he's in charge of, in short, he manages a lot, how can we maids know so much about these things. ”

"So does he have any 'news'? I mean, privately, you know that. Xiao Nan said.

"Then you're asking the right person." Xiao Ci smiled confidently and began to gush about it, "The third young master looks very serious on the surface, but in fact he is as lustful as the eldest master, and likes to torture women, fortunately I was not assigned to him back then, otherwise such a beautiful girl as me would definitely not be able to escape his clutches."

However, the third young master is lustful, but he did not get married, because the marriages of the favored young masters are all designated by the eldest master, and without the order of the eldest master, he cannot marry casually.

It seems that I heard that he has some quirks, that is, he likes to put women to death, sometimes he takes women to spend the night in his house, and the screams of women make the people outside the courtyard afraid when they hear it, as for what happened to those women, who dares to ask?

The eldest master is not at home, and the third young master has become the big supervisor of this family, except for a few young masters who are studying abroad, no one in the family dares to disobey him, and even this year's eldest master's birthday is also presided over by him. He also deliberately asked people to release words, saying that the eldest master wanted him to be the heir in the future.

Actually, the eldest master has not said which young master he wants to inherit the family business until now. The eldest young master is a fool, and he will definitely not inherit the family business. No one dared to ask about it. I think the third young master is too domineering. ”

"You girl, if you say these words to others, your little life will be explained." Xiao Nan said.

"Didn't I know that you were a good person, young master?" Xiao Ci smiled, "If you don't go to the restaurant today, then I'll arrange a lunch for you." ”

Perhaps because of the reward, she seemed extraordinarily enthusiastic.

Xiao Nan waved her away and began to study maps and newspapers.

The layout of the city today is less than a tenth of what it was a hundred years ago, but it is still an extremely prosperous city in today's era. There is even a foreigner street in the city, the railway is being built, and almost all the shops in the city are the property of the Xiao family. The railway bureau was also opened by the Xiao family.

But the Xiao family is not only the only big force in this city, in this era, there is another force that breeds like maggots on tarsal bones, and that is warlords.

The Xiao family can have a foothold in this troubled era, of course, it also depends on the power of the warlords. The local warlord is more like a protective umbrella funded by the Xiao family, and the head of the warlord is called Lin Dashuai, a big-bellied, unique warlord-like guy, and his portrait photo occupies almost half of the newspaper. Thanks to these reports, he learned a little more about the local situation.

For example, this Lin Dashuai, and the eldest lord is a world friend, when the eldest lord was developed, he also brought up this former bandit leader, so that he turned into a local "marshal", his guns and weapons are all bought by the eldest master, because of the protection of Lin Dashuai, the eldest lord can run rampant in the local three provinces.

And Lin Dashuai's daughter was also destined to marry the third young master. The wedding is coming next year.