Chapter 858: Siblings

Translator: Atlas Studios    Editor: Atlas Studios

After all, the North was not as peaceful as the capital. There were powerful enemies on the outside and n.o.bles on the inside. Yu Youyao nodded. “We’ll do as Butler Wen says.”

Butler Wen smiled and nodded. “In addition, the Princess has just arrived and there’s not enough manpower in the residence. I’m afraid it’ll be unfair to you. I brought a group of people over today and taught them the rules in the Yue Fei King’s Residence. It’s convenient to use them. Why don’t you use them first? You can choose a suitable servant after settling down.”

From the capital to Xiangping, the people who served Yu Youyao were all arranged by Old Madam Yu in the Jade Courtyard.

Most of them were born into the family and had served them for generations.

For example, when Liu’er and Xia Tao signed the death contract, she had also made it clear that if they did not want to follow, they could take the return contract for free. However, there were a few people who were determined to serve her.

The Yu Residence was a little bigger than the Xie Residence. Although there was only was three-way house, it occupied three to four fields (each field occupies 666 square meters, resulting in a total area of 2,000 square meters) and required a lot of servants.

Butler Wen had thought it through. Since he had already made preparations, this group of people would definitely be trustworthy.

Yu Youyao had no need to decline. “Thank you, Butler Wen.”

Butler Wen quickly took the name list and handed it to Yu Youyao.

After Yu Youyao took a closer look at the list, she couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. Butler Wen was really meticulous. The details of these servants were written in detail on the list.

She would decide how to arrange the manpower in the Yu Garden herself.

The actual number of people on the list only guaranteed the basic operations of the Yu Garden. If they wanted to improve their manpower, the Yu Garden would need to find another brokerage house, choose suitable people, and train them themselves.

Moreover, Yu Youyao had also seen some familiar people on the list. They had served in the Qingqu Courtyard earlier.

Among them was Nanny Lu.

Yu Youyao thought for a moment and understood Butler Wen’s painstaking efforts.

In the past, when she lived in a small courtyard, only the third branch lived in the courtyard. The people who were previously serving them was enough.

After all, the Yu Garden was a little bigger. It was a little difficult for the third branch to manage an entire residence. Nanny Lu was familiar with her. Not only could she help Yu Youyao familiarize herself with Xiangping and integrate into life here, but she could also help manage the matters in the residence. It was more appropriate than going out to look for someone herself.

Seeing that Yu Youyao had no objections, the butler took out another box. “His Highness ordered me to teach them. When I was teaching them, he also made it clear that he wanted to send them to the Yu Garden to serve the Princess. Their contracts are all here. Since the Princess has accepted them, they’ll be the people of the Yu Garden in the future. They’ll listen to the Princess’s orders.”

Wherever the contract was, the servants would be loyal to whoever the owner of the contracts was. It also further showed her position that the butler had not interfered in the inner residence of the Yu Garden.

Butler Wen was magnanimous, so Yu Youyao was naturally not dissatisfied. This matter was settled just like that.

Butler Wen had also brought a lot of specialties of Xiangping City and expensive medicinal herbs and spices. Before he left, he said, “The Yu Garden and the Yue Fei Residence are only separated by a street. There’s a shortcut in the middle. You’ll reach there in half an hour at most. Princess, when you’re free, you have to come to the residence to play.”

Yu Youyao nodded to show agreement.

Uncle Sun still refused to give up. “Remember to consider what I just said. When you change your mind, come to the pharmacy school to look for me…”

Yu Youyao sent Uncle Sun and Butler Wen off with a helpless expression. She turned around and handed the name list to Auntie Xu. “I’ll leave all the matters in the outer courtyard to Nanny Lu. Arrange the matters in the inner courtyard in the same way that the inner courtyard of the Jade Courtyard. I’ll have to trouble Auntie to take care of the matters in my residence. Dong Mei will arrange the rest.”

She had handed the authority of the outer courtyard manager to Nanny Lu.

Although the outer courtyard was important, the people from the third branch around Yu Youyao were all close to her. It was not appropriate to let anyone into the outer courtyard. Nanny Lu had been in charge of managing the entire Jade Courtyard in the past and was familiar with this. There was naturally no need to mention her ability. Everyone would be convinced by this arrangement.

The group of people that Butler Wen had brought were all arranged to serve in the outer courtyard. Auntie Xu brought Old Madam Sun, Auntie Tao, and Auntie Zhao to the outer courtyard to pick people.

After a long afternoon, the guards were arranged and managed by Third Commander Yin.

The people from the Yu Garden had also been put in place, and they had already started planning.

The next day, Yu Youyao got up at dawn. After breakfast, she went to the connecting buildings in the inner and outer courtyards. There were more than a hundred servants, each male and female, standing in the courtyard obediently.

Yu Youyao knew that ever since King Li of Zhou set a precedent, there had been arrangements to accommodate the orphans of martyrs. Some had been nurtured into secret guards, some had been sent to the army, some had been sent to work in the manor, and some had learned a skill and continued to work for the residence. Those who were unwilling to accept the above arrangements were also released from the residence to live.

These servants were more or less related to the You army.

Xia Tao took out the name list. When they heard her name, the servants would come forward and kowtow to Yu Youyao. They would also briefly tell her about their family background, what they were good at, and where they were on duty.

This was the first time they had seen their master. A smart person knew how to perform in front of her and leave a good impression on her. They would also have a better future. An honest person would naturally do their job.

From a young age, Yu Youyao could almost tell their general personalities.

Yu Youyao recognized the servants one by one and gave them a few more words of advice before returning to the Jiushao Courtyard.

At this moment, Xia Tao came over to report, “Young Miss, Fourth Young Master is here.”

Yu Youyao quickly said, “Please come in!”

Not long after, Xia Tao led Yu Shansi into the house.

Yu Shansi was already ten years old and had grown a lot taller. He was wearing a set of green stone patterns. After not seeing him for a long time, his eyes had widened a little, and his every move was calm and generous.

Yu Youyao still remembered that on the day Madam Yang was sent back to her maiden home, Yu Shansi had a timid expression. He had taken an expensive jade pendant and a bag of broken silver and asked her to pa.s.s it to Bi Tao.

This action made Yu Youyao think highly of her. “Sheep have the grace of kneeling in front of their mother’s b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and crows have the righteousness of nourishing their parents. If he advanced by his own, it would be good for his mother-son relationship.”

At the very least, she still had her grandmother’s protection. Yu Shansi was neither a legitimate son nor the son of a concubine, and he was hated by Yu Zongzheng. In the future, he would only be another “Little Youyao” in the residence.

In the end, Yu Youyao couldn’t bear to see him like this. She decided to bring Yu Shansi away from the Yu Residence. A man’s ambition was to travel in all directions. His future fate would depend on him.

Now, it seemed that Yu Shansi had not let her down.

Yu Shansi looked happy, but he suppressed it and bowed respectfully to Yu Youyao. “h.e.l.lo, Eldest Sister.”

Yu Youyao smiled and said, “Sit down and talk.”

Yu Shansi moved over and sat beside Yu Youyao. “As soon as my Eldest Sister entered the city yesterday, I received the news. I originally wanted to come over to visit you, but I thought that you had worked hard along the way, so I waited for the entire night before coming over today.”

He looked at his Eldest Sister with joy and admiration.