Chapter 21: Taking Servants

Tang Zhao smiled very kindly.

"Since you have sincerely pleaded for help, then this County Mistress shall show great mercy and tell you."

"There are two paths laid out before you now. First, whoever holds your identity contracts is responsible for your life and death. Second, if you choose to commit yourselves to this County Mistress, then you must return your identity contracts to me, and I shall make arrangements for you accordingly."

Tang Zhao took a sip of tea to moisten her mouth. "Choose for yourselves."

Manager An looked around. "Please, Your Ladyship, give us a little time to think."

Tang Zhao was easy to deal with. She had her guards lead the group to the rear courtyard, where charcoal fires were lit to provide hot water, and she even "kindly" provided hot meals and dishes, allowing them to deliberate inside at their leisure.

"Manager An, what do you think we should do?" The middle-aged man, having eaten and drunk his fill, had regained a bit of vitality.

"She says she's giving us two paths, but neither of them is a way to live!"

"Why is that?" He felt the second path sounded decent.

They could pretend to defect to the County Mistress while actually continuing to work for the Madam.

If the County Mistress was young and easy to control, they might even be able to use this opportunity to control the Prince Xuan's Manor...

Manager An coldly interrupted his daydream. "How suspicious is the Madam? If our identity contracts were not in her hands, how would she trust us? Furthermore, if we hand our contracts over to Tang, to the County Mistress, then all our lives will depend on a single word from her!"

Manager An cast a sidelong glance at the pale-faced man. "Do you think that after you've worked for the Madam for so many years, the County Mistress will let you off?"

"A servant of two masters—how can we speak of loyalty!"

The middle-aged man turned pale and slumped to the ground.

Zhao Sheng—no, Song Sheng—gave the middle-aged man a look of disdain. If he had managed to endure working under the stepmother for several years, this old dog had practically licked her like a lapdog the moment she was officially installed. To please the stepmother, he had relentlessly tormented the people of the Song family. Forget the County Mistress; even Song Sheng looked down on him!

What kind of dream was he dreaming!

"Then what should we do?" the others asked one after another. They had committed many misdeeds over the years relying on the stepmother's authority; if they fell into the County Mistress's hands, then...

"We should return to the Duke of Wei's Manor."

Even if it meant being the lowest class of servant, it was better than losing their lives.

Manager An lowered his head. He truly had not expected that Tang Zhao, despite her young age, would possess such seasoned methods, striking at their vital weakness in one move. "Let's go back."

In just the time it took to finish a meal, the people who had previously been wailing and refusing to leave, insisting she save them, had changed their minds and were all requesting to depart.

Tang Zhao smiled and had people escort them out.

Gradually, only three families remained in the courtyard.

One was Song Sheng, who had defected from the An clan to serve Tang Zhao early on; the other two were those who had dared to meet her gaze just now.

"Old servant Song Kai greets the County Mistress," a white-haired man said, kneeling in front, with seven people behind him kowtowing in unison.

Tang Zhao looked toward Nanny Song.

Nanny Song was old and her eyesight was not what it used to be, and since she hadn't seen them in over ten years, she didn't recognize them immediately. Upon hearing the name, she said excitedly, "Song Kai? Are you Song Kai?"

She lifted her skirts and ran closer, inspecting him carefully for a long while before saying with reddened eyes, "Song Kai, it really is you! How have you grown so old!"

Song Kai was a hereditary servant of the Protector General's Manor; he was exceptionally clever and skilled in farming. Old Madam Song had specifically chosen his family to accompany the Eldest Miss when she married, tasking them with managing the estates.

Seeing that Nanny Song still remembered him, Song Kai's eyes also reddened. "Nanny, your memory is excellent. I... I have failed the Eldest Miss."

Seeing the family of eight shivering in the cold wind, with one toddler's face flushed bright red, Tang Zhao immediately interrupted their reunion and arranged for them to go down and rest.

Song Kai's family departed, filled with gratitude.

Tang Zhao turned her gaze to the other side.

After waiting anxiously for a long time, a middle-aged woman crawled on her knees past her husband, kneeling and forcing herself to remain calm. "This servant, Yun Niang, greets the County Mistress. May Your Ladyship be blessed with peace and longevity."

She certainly knew the etiquette. "You are not a member of the Song family."

"This servant was originally a hereditary servant of the Duke of Wei's Manor. After the late Madam married into the manor, I had the honor of serving her for two years. Later, the late Madam took charge and bestowed me upon a servant in the outer courtyard. Later, I was released by the stepmother to become a farm manager."

Tang Zhao looked at the thin man beside her, who seemed desperate to shrink behind the woman, and asked curiously, "How did he manage to become a farm manager?"

"My husband is named Qian Wu. He is timid in nature but extremely skilled at soil cultivation. The land on the estate was barren, but thanks to Qian Wu's use of fertilizer to nourish the soil, we have had harvests every year."

"In that case, he is quite a talent," Tang Zhao said, feeling a bit interested. "Why did you choose to stay?"

Yun Niang weighed her words. "This servant was born to be a servant, but I also wished to choose a good master to serve in hopes of a better life. I had the honor of serving the late Madam, and only then did I realize that there are indeed masters as benevolent as her in this world. The County Mistress was born of the late Madam, so naturally, she is like her."

"I don't want to hear this nonsense," Tang Zhao said, her smile vanishing.

"This servant wouldn't dare! Although I am at the farm, I have heard of the stepmother's way of doing things. When things do not go her way while she is using us, she does not stop the beatings and scoldings; how much more so now?" Yun Niang said honestly. "Since the County Mistress donated the shops, the life in the Duke of Wei's Manor has not been what it used to be. While the masters can always maintain their dignity, the servants struggle to survive. I heard that even winter clothes were not distributed this winter!"

"If even the hereditary servants in the manor are like this, how much more so for outsiders like me! I just want to find a good master, work hard, and have enough to eat and stay warm."

"What can you do?" Tang Zhao asked.

"This servant can do accounts!" Yun Niang's eyes lit up. "My father was once a manager; he taught me accounting since I was a child."

"Give her an abacus."

Chun Feng lent her her own personal abacus.

"I will say it, and you calculate," Tang Zhao said, closing her eyes. "What is 15,369 plus 36,852 plus 365,289 plus 123,456?"

Almost as soon as the words fell, Yun Niang said, "540,966."

"35 times 653."

"22,855."

"Enough. Stay," Tang Zhao ordered, having the woman led away.

Yun Niang's family departed, thanking her profusely.

It truly was easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality. In her past life, she had worked overtime until one or two in the morning every day and never felt such back and leg aches; in this life, she had only sat on a hard bench for two hours, and yet her waist and legs were sore.

Tang Zhao lay on her chaise longue. "Qiu Yu!"

"Yes!" Qiu Yu ran over eagerly.

"Take those three in the western corner back to the Duke's Manor. Return them, and then get the identity contracts for the three families: Song Sheng, Song Kai, and Yun Niang."

Qiu Yu's eyes darted around. "What if the stepmother refuses to give them?"

"She won't dare."

What was in An's womb was not just a trump card, but also a shackle.

As long as she wanted the child in her womb to become the heir to the Duke of Wei, she would not be able to throw away her dignity.

Tang Zhao liked dealing with people who cared about their reputation.

Qiu Yu took her orders and rushed off. Leading seven or eight guards from the manor, she stormed into the western corner's rear courtyard, tied up Nanny An and the three women—Coral, Jade, and Emerald—gagged them, stuffed them into a carriage, and made a grand, noisy procession toward the Duke of Wei's Manor.