Two days later, the village chief and his team will be able to take over the soy sauce brewing business.

In about five or six more days, all the soy sauce will be brewed, and then it will be a long wait.

In order to fill all one hundred soy sauce vats with soybeans, Su Luo contributed another twenty taels of silver.

The villagers are all hoping that the soy sauce can fetch a good price and that they can recoup their investment.

...

At noon that day, Nangong Qing's carriage stopped in front of the Chen residence, followed by another carriage.

A capable and shrewd man, who looked to be in his fifties, stepped down from the carriage behind.

Following closely behind him were three other people: a couple in their thirties and an eight-year-old child.

"Young master, have we arrived?"

Butler Shi looked at the courtyard in front of him. The two characters "Chen Mansion" were written in a vigorous and powerful style.

In a small village, such a luxurious courtyard is truly exceptional.

"We've arrived. From now on, you'll live here. Trust me, you won't regret coming here."

Butler Shi chuckled. His family were all slaves; their destination was entirely up to their master.

But the Third Prince said that coming here would allow his grandson to be his study companion, while his son, Shi Shuang, would not have such an opportunity.

He taught them all the characters they knew. Only with education could their family one day escape slavery. Now, the only way for them to learn was through tutoring.

"Young master, I would be content as long as Brother He can be my study companion."

"Don't worry, you'll know once you meet Su Luo."

Nangong Qing led the Shi family of four into the Chen residence.

Su Luo was about to go to the Wayaoyao. On the dry land of Wayaoyao, turnips and rapeseed were being cultivated, and they were in full bloom.

This is the perfect time to pollinate them; if we miss it, the breeding process may fail.

“Su Luo,…”

Su Luo stopped and saw that Nangong Qing was followed by several people, three adults and a child, who were coming through the door.

"Nangong Qing, these people are perhaps..."

“That’s right, this is the Butler Shi and his family that I told you about.”

Nangong Qing smiled broadly, then introduced Butler Shi and his family to Su Luo.

"Su Luo, this is Steward Shi. He is an invaluable talent, whether in managing the courtyard or the estate."

Butler Shi was stern and thin, but shrewd. He stepped forward, bowed, and clasped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Su Luo.

"This humble man, Shi Hongyi, greets Madam."

Su Luo was really not used to being called "Madam," so she raised her hand to let Butler Shi stand properly.

"Steward Shi, you can still call me Madam Su, just like everyone else."

My family is very casual; I don't need to bow every time we see each other.

Butler Shi frowned deeply, and his heart trembled.

This Lady Su said there was no need to bow to her. Was it something he did wrong when he came over?

Having served as a butler for so many years, the first thing Shi Hongyi remembered was etiquette, and absolute respect for the master.

"Lady Su, I..."

Seeing the puzzled look on his face, Su Luo smiled and explained.

"Don't worry, Steward Shi. I'm just not used to people bowing to me every day. You just need to do your own thing and don't need to care about these formalities."

"yes!"

Hearing Su Luo say this, Butler Shi's brows finally relaxed.

Seeing Su Luo looking at him, Nangong Qing continued.

"This is Shi Shuang, the son of Steward Shi, and his wife, Aunt Dong."

Then he pointed to the child that Aunt Dong was holding: "This is Brother He."

It was rare for Nangong Qing to be in such a good mood, so he said so much.

"Greetings, Madam Su..."

Su Luo nodded, "Since you're here, let's make the best of it. I'll take you to settle in first. We can talk about anything else after you've rested."

Su Luo walked ahead, but no footsteps followed behind her. She turned around and looked back.

Butler Shi and Shi Shuang both lowered their heads towards Nangong Qing, as if they had some unspeakable secret.

"What's wrong?"

Nangong Qing knew what Steward Shi was worried about, and replied to Su Luo.

"Su Luo, it's about that matter..."

It turns out that the Shi family hadn't mentioned the tutoring arrangement, and they had been worried about it all along.

It was just past noon, and Yan Chuan and Yi Huan hadn't yet gone up to the embroidery tower to study with Xie Wanwan; the two children were still playing in the west courtyard.

Su Luo walked to the edge of the fish pond and shouted towards the backyard.

"Chuan Chuan, Huan Huan, come here."

The two children who were playing immediately ran to the front yard when they heard Su Luo call them.

"Mother, mother!"

"Chuan Chuan, Huan Huan, this is Brother He. You'll have a new friend from now on."

"Especially Chuan Chuan, Brother He will be your study companion from now on. Starting today, he will live in your East Courtyard and will accompany you to school."

"Take Brother He to see the room now, and later the three of you will go to the embroidered tower to listen to Master Xie's lesson."

"Don't worry, Mother, leave Brother He to me."

Yan Chuan ran up to Brother He and grabbed his wrist.

"Your name is Brother He? My mom told me she would find me a friend to study with. Oh, it's you! Come on, I'll take you to the East Campus. It's so much fun there."

Yi Huan wasn't about to be outdone, and jumped up, saying, "Brother He, my west courtyard is also a lot of fun! We can swing on swings, and there are lots and lots of flowers and plants..."

He Ge was very shy and was not yet familiar with the new environment.

Although he was eight years old, he inherited his height from Butler Shi and was not very tall; Yan Chuan was already up to his ears.

“Young master, young lady, my name is Shi He, and I can walk by myself.”

"Young master and young lady"—no one had ever called Yan Chuan and Yi Huan that before; they had only heard the storyteller mention those two terms.

"Brother He, my name is Chen Yanchuan, and this is my sister Chen Yihuan. You can call us by our names from now on, there's no need to call us 'Young Master' or 'Miss'."

Yi Huan nodded seriously and responded with a smile.

"Yes, no one in our village ever calls someone that. Brother He, you can just call me Yi Huan."

Brother He lowered his head even further: "Young master and young lady, I dare not."

Having grown up in a large mansion in the capital, He Ge was used to the fate of servants like them.

Even at a young age, he knew how to be careful and cautious; he had personally witnessed servants being beaten to death for making mistakes.

There were adults and children his age, so he was very scared.

Yan Chuan and Yi Huan felt that He Ge was not familiar with the place yet, so they didn't force him. They simply took him to the East Courtyard.

A few days ago, Su Luo cleaned up He Ge's room, which was in the side room of the main courtyard of the East Courtyard, separated from Yan Chuan by only one wall.

Su Luo turned around and looked at Butler Shi and the others, saying, "Butler Shi, you can go and rest now."

Shi Hongyi pulled his son and daughter-in-law to kneel in front of Su Luo and kowtow to her.

"My family and I are so honored. I thank you, Madam Su."

"Get up, you don't need to kneel in our house."

When Shi Hongyi was at the Prince's Mansion, he was very worried. What would become of his family if Su Luo was a difficult master to deal with?

Seeing you today has finally put my mind at ease.