After watching Xiu Niang enter the study, Wang Xu approached the maid in the east courtyard.
There are four maids in the east courtyard, namely Dongmei, Dongju, Dongzhu, and Dongxing.
In the past, there were many concubines and aunts in the east courtyard, and there were even more people to serve them.
Ever since the childless Mr. Wang gave birth to Wang Xu by Mrs. Wang, the mother was more valuable than her son, so Mrs. Wang sent those aunts away.
Over the years, Mr. Wang has only gone to this building or that courtyard to secretly pick up fish, and he has not received any at home.
"Master, the embroiderer comes every day, and she is very diligent."
After hearing Wang Xu's words, Dongmei said, a gloating smile flashed in her eyes.
Although Mr. Wang is in his fifties, he is old enough to be the father of these maids, but you cannot deny the attraction of successful men to young girls.
Over the years, Mrs. Wang has fought continuously and driven away all the concubines of Mr. Wang, relying on the fact that she had the only bloodline left in the Wang family.
The maids saw it in their eyes and remembered it in their hearts. If they said they had no ideas, it would be absolutely false.
In the past, Mrs. Wang kept a tight watch on her at home, and Mr. Wang went out all day long to have fun, so the maids had to accept their fate.
Fortunately, now, before they even get close to the water tower, the embroidery girl from the west courtyard has come close to them. How can she not become a thorn in everyone's eyes and a thorn in the flesh.
"I see"
Wang Xu turned around and left. In the past, the embroiderer would not see anyone for three days or so, which could only be regarded as neglect of work, not a big mistake.
But things are different now. The young master's maid actually wants to climb into the master's bed. This is a huge scandal.
Even though Wang Xu is just nine years old this year, Mr. Wang has no intention of taking the embroiderer as a concubine. However, if the incident spreads, it will still have an impact on his reputation. At the worst, he will be accused of having a bad family tradition.
After walking out of the east courtyard, Wang Xu stopped a boy carrying water and said, "Ask Liu Quan to come to the west courtyard to meet me."
"Yes, Master."
The boy put down the bucket and trotted away.
Wang Xu returned to the study in the west courtyard, sat on a chair, and waited patiently for Liu Quan's arrival.
After waiting for about half a cup of tea, Liu Quan, who had gone out to inspect the shop, ran in sweating profusely: "Master, did you call me?"
"Is there anyone with teeth in our town?"
The dentist Wang Xu was talking about was not a dentist, but someone who specialized in human trafficking.
After hearing this, Liu Quan thought that Wang Xu wanted to buy maids and servants, so he said: "Yes, but we don't need to buy people. Among the tenant farmers below, there are many sons and daughters, and they are all eager to send them to the mansion to enjoy their blessings!"
"
The tenant farmers had no land and worked for the landlord's family, leaving little money at the end of the year.
If you can send your children to the landlord's house to work, that is a good thing that no tenant farmer can ask for. Whenever there are vacancies for servants and slaves in the Wang family, if you don't give gifts, your name will not be included in the selection list.
Some people may ask, why are there people rushing to sell themselves into slavery?
This is about the ancient system. Here, buying and selling people is legal and has official endorsement.
Selling yourself into slavery can be divided into three-year contract, five-year contract, ten-year contract, twenty-year contract and death contract.
Those who are under a death contract are domestic slaves who can live and die, while others can only be regarded as long-term workers. They receive monthly payments and rewards for good work. If they are said to be long-term workers, they are more prestigious than those who cultivate the land.
The Wang family is a large family in Jiuquan Town. There are many farms, shops, restaurants, and rice shops below.
If you work here as a long-term worker, as long as you work well, you can become a nurse, or be transferred out to become an apprentice or assistant in a shop, and then climb up to become a shopkeeper, or the head of a farm below.
Take Liu Quan as an example. He is a domestic slave who has signed a long-term contract. Don't look at it in the Wang family. If Wang Xu calls him, he will come and go.
When you get down there, they are also decent people from all over the country. Whoever you see is not allowed to call you Mr. Liu or Mr. Liu.
Liu Quan is forty-eight years old this year. He has two sons and one daughter. The eldest son works as a shopkeeper in a restaurant, and the younger son works as the owner of a restaurant.
When the Liu family marries a daughter, the bride price includes twelve cars, which is no worse than that of the gentry in the countryside.
Counting further, Liu Quan has served the Wang family cautiously over the years, and the farmland he was awarded is three to five hundred acres. If he doesn't hire people for spring plowing, the land can't be cultivated. If he leaves it in the countryside, he won't be like a young master.
Therefore, working for a wealthy family is not only not a shame, but an enviable job.
If a house has a shopkeeper or village head who works for a wealthy family, it will serve a lot more meat during festivals than other houses. The smell of meat will make the children next door cry with greed.
"It's not about buying people, it's about selling people. Stop talking nonsense and invite the people from the town."
"Master, should you tell the master and madam about this matter?"
Liu Quan asked subconsciously.
Wang Xu raised his head dissatisfied and said softly: "Why, such a trivial matter has to alarm the master and madam. Can't I make the decision?"
"It's done, it's done." Seeing Wang Xu's unkind expression, Liu Quan didn't dare to ask any more questions.
After a while, Yaren was invited.
The tooth man's name is Pan Po. She looks about fifty, wears a gold bracelet on her hand, and is followed by two thugs. She is used to looking at people from the bottom up.
During this period, many victims of the disaster settled in Jiuquan Town. With the number of people there, naturally some had no choice but to sell themselves into slavery.
Needless to say, Mrs. Pan is doing very well recently, with a happy face on her face, and she can tell that she has made a lot of money.
"Master Wang, are you planning to sell me out?"
The gouache smell on Mrs. Pan's body was very strong, the smell of low-quality gouache, which made Wang Xu lean back.
"No need to come over, just stand there and talk."
Wang Xu waved his hand to prevent Granny Pan from getting closer, and then said: "There is a dishonest maid in my house. I plan to hand her over to you. You can sell her as far as you want. I don't want to be in Jinshan."
Is there any problem if the government sees her?"
"Are you leaving Jinshan Mansion?"
Granny Pan rubbed her hands and whispered: "It can be done, but if you want to send people out of Jinshan Mansion, I don't have to give you money, but you have to give me money."
"How much?"
"No matter what"
Granny Pan gritted her teeth and gestured with her finger: "One hundred taels!"
"You really dare to ask for it. One hundred taels of silver can buy you twenty acres of good land. That's all. It's up to you. When people come over in a while, you can send it away before dark. But I agree to the price. If you pay
If something goes wrong, I can only ask you."
Faced with Wang Xu's questions, Pan Po nodded repeatedly: "I know, I know."
In response to this, Pan Poqian smiled and said: "Master Wang, I wonder if this maid signed a death contract or a long-term contract?"
"What's the point?"
Wang Xu didn't understand these things. Thinking about it, the embroiderer should have signed a three-year or five-year contract before she entered the house.
"A death contract is easy to handle. If you are a slave or a maid, it is in the hands of the master to deal with it. You can sell it to a brothel. If it is a long-term contract, it will be more difficult. This kind of person can redeem his life, even if he does not.
, you can regain your freedom after a certain period of time. The master can beat and scold you, but you can't hurt your life.
In addition, if a maid who has signed a long-term contract is bought or sold again, she must report to the government, and the government will not release her without a reasonable reason."
When Granny Pan said this, Wang Xu was convinced.
Regardless of whether the embroiderer signed a death deed or a long-term deed, she will be sold today. Even if there is no legitimate reason, Magistrate Song will give a reasonable explanation.
It's just that according to Granny Pan, a maid who doesn't sign a death contract cannot be sold to a brothel.
Well, although Wang Xu is dissatisfied with the embroiderer's restlessness, he also knows that it is natural for people to go to higher places and water to flow to lower places.
To say that he sold people to brothels because of this restlessness, Wang Xu is not so wicked.
"Liu Quan, go and get the embroiderer's deed of prostitution."
When Wang Xu said this to Liu Quan, Liu Quan was stunned for a moment, never expecting that the person who was going to be sold was the embroiderer.
"go!"
Only after the second call did Liu Quan react and trotted to get the deed of betrayal.
After getting the deed of sale back, Wang Xu opened it and saw that the embroiderer had signed a three-year contract with the Wang family for fifteen taels of silver.
Seeing this amount, Wang Xu frowned.
A strong tenant farmer sold himself into the government and could not get fifteen taels of silver in three years.
For a maid like Xiu Niang, a three-year long-term contract of five taels is considered high. After all, if you buy a little maid, the death contract is only thirty taels. There is no reason why a three-year living contract can give fifteen taels.
"Master, the embroiderer said that she had to repay the kindness of the Ning family and send some money. The master was soft-hearted, so he gave more. It's not me who did this!"
Meeting Wang Xu's gaze, Liu Quan quickly swore to heaven that he had never taken any kickbacks.
Wang Xu nodded slightly. Such an eye-catching amount was certainly not something Liu Quan could come up with. If Liu Quan had been so bold, there would have been errors in the accounts.
"Master, I cooked some white fungus porridge for you. You can drink some."
While they were discussing here, the embroiderer came to the door by herself.
Wang Xu nodded to Granny Pan, pushed the bond of sale forward in his hand, and said, "That's her, take her away."
"Master, what happened? Oh, why are you arresting me? Who are you? Master, Master, please help me."
Pan Po waved her hand, and two healthy servants rushed forward and tied up the embroiderer with ropes.
The embroiderer was so frightened that her face turned pale, and she cried: "Master, what's going on? Did the embroiderer do something wrong? Do you think I can't change it?"
"It's late!"
Wang Xu shook his head slightly and stood up from the chair: "I told you when I entered the house that you should be a peaceful person. After a few years, I will make the decision to marry you off to a good family. But what about you?
, I’m restless, why, you can’t bear the suffering of a maid, and you want to be my stepmother?”
After hearing Wang Xu's words, the embroiderer's face turned pale and she even forgot to call for help.
She didn't come into the Wang family to be a maid, but because someone said that the young master of the Wang family had a bright future and wanted to climb high.
Who would have thought that when they came in, they would realize that the idea of the young master of the Wang family was not an ordinary one, but to treat her as a maid.
If you just work as a maid, there is still hope. Isn't there a saying that love grows over time, and childhood sweethearts do it?
But for some reason, Wang Xu never had a good look towards her. In addition, the more he saw her, the more he realized that he was not worthy of this young master of the Wang family, and the embroiderer couldn't help but have other thoughts.
What's on her mind? The young master of the Wang family doesn't like her, but there is still a master in the Wang family.
Wang Dafa is always a bit old, but he is rich, and Mr. Wang has no other concubines around him, so isn't this her chance?
When Xiu Niang was young, her mother taught her that the most important thing for a woman in her life is to find a good man.
The embroiderer took this very seriously. If her father hadn't been a gambler, her mother wouldn't have had to be a broken shoe.
That's why, on the way to escape, she refused Zhang Qing's hint. She knew that Zhang Qing was a good person and would definitely be obedient to her if she followed him, but she also knew that Zhang Qing could not give her the future she wanted.
What she wants is not a warm home, but a life without worries about food and clothing, with plenty of clothes to stretch out her hands and food to open her mouth.
It's a pity that despite all the calculations, I didn't realize that I hadn't succeeded yet and would be sold in the blink of an eye.
"Master, listen to my explanation, woo woo woo!!"
The embroiderer wanted to speak, but Po Pan blocked her mouth.
As a Yaren, Mrs. Pan travels all over the country. She has seen this kind of thing a lot. Without this cruelty, Yaren's business would not be able to continue.
Wang Xu looked at Xiu Niang who was struggling desperately and still wanted to speak, and said softly: "Save your strength, no matter what you want to say, intentional or unintentional, I will definitely sell you today. When you get to the new owner's house, please
When you do things, you have the body of a young lady and the life of a maid!"