Chapter 42 Chapter 42 Not long after Shen Xuan returned from the palace, he...
Not long after Shen Xuan returned from the palace, he received an imperial edict from the Queen Mother.
He was granted a house in Yangliu Lane, three streets in Dongcheng, as well as a set of imperial red sandalwood furniture, a set of blue and white porcelain vases, a set of blue and white bowls and plates, a set of palace gauze bed curtains, and one hundred taels of gold.
There was also a carriage, two top-quality horses, bedding, clothes, and jewelry given by the Queen. It was really generous!
Of course I have to live in the house bestowed by the Empress Dowager!
Shen Xuan was overjoyed and immediately accepted the order to express his gratitude.
This made Bai Shi so angry that she could only watch Shen Xuan move out of the Xue family.
How could she not understand who was behind this?
The Empress Dowager's talk of being nostalgic is just an excuse.
The Shen family has been in decline for more than ten years, but the empress dowager has never even glanced at the orphan of the Shen family. However, as soon as Shen Xuan came back, the Queen Mother rewarded him with a house. In the end, it was just to make Shen Xuan move out of the Xue family.
The Queen is the biological mother of the Second Prince, and the Ye family has always been very close to him.
I think the Queen Mother summoned Shen Xuan this time because of the Second Prince's efforts behind the scenes.
However, Xue Fenglin has never been close to the Second Prince, but he can get his help this time. Could it be that they have formed an alliance behind the scenes?
Thinking of this, Bai immediately asked someone to invite her brother Bai Yan.
As for Shen Xuan, he simply packed up his belongings and moved out impatiently.
Although he moved out of the Marquis's Mansion, he still needed servants to serve him.
After thinking about it, Bai forced Mother You to go with him in the name of taking care of Shen Xuan.
Shen Xuan couldn't refuse, so after thinking about it, he asked for Jin Gui and Jin Zhi again.
The two of them have been trained by him these days, and now they put him first in everything. Besides, they are all elders in the mansion and know Mother You quite well, so it would be a good idea for them to help him deal with Mother You.
But after they moved there, someone from the Ye family suddenly came.
Shen Xuan went out to receive the visitor, only to find that it was the old woman who came with Madam Ye that day, named Mother Han, who should also be her confidant.
Mother Han brought some gifts, including bedding, cloth, snacks and candies. There were two attendants following behind him.
The two brothers looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, just the right age for being useful. They were both very handsome, and their behavior seemed quite smart and capable.
"My wife heard that Brother Chen had moved and was worried that there would be a lack of people to serve him, so she specially sent two caring servants over." Mother Han said, "This pair of servants are called Suyun and Suyue, and they were trained by the Ye family. They used to serve my eldest brother who was already married, and they were both first-class servants in the family."
"Let's put them here for Brother Shen to use, and the monthly allowance will still come from the Ye family."
Shen Xuan: “…”
I didn't expect that not only did the Bai family send someone like You to his side, but even the Ye family wanted to send someone over...
He is just a single man, why does he need so many personal servants?
But Mrs. Ye said that their monthly allowance came from the Ye family, and as a junior, it was difficult for me to refuse.
In desperation, Shen Xuan could only accept the person first.
After sending Mother Han away, Shen Xuan gathered all the servants in the house and held a meeting in the main hall.
He said to them, "I have just arrived in Beijing and know very little about the city. I need your guidance."
"There are so many people, and I don't know how to arrange them. Why don't you introduce yourselves one by one and see what you are good at, so that I can place you in the appropriate tasks?"
After hearing this, Madam You immediately stepped forward and said, "Shen Ge'er, I have always been with Madam Xue. I usually help her manage all the personnel in the mansion. I arrange all the errands in the Xue mansion."
Bai specially sent her to monitor Shen Xuan, so she wanted to rely on her seniority to control the overall situation of the family.
Afterwards, Su Yue and Su Yun also stepped forward and said together: "We are the first-class attendants in the Ye Mansion. In the past, we took care of the food, clothing and daily life of the eldest brother of the Ye family."
Suyun: "I am best at making tea, and I can also make some snacks and sweet soups."
Su Yue: "I can write and keep accounts. I used to manage the things in my eldest brother's room."
After they had finished speaking, Jin Zhi and Jin Gui stepped forward and said hesitantly, "When we were in Xue's house, we did everything from cleaning to serving."
After they finished speaking, the two looked at Shen Xuan eagerly. Instead, he hoped that Shen Xuan would keep them in the room because they had served him for a while in the Xue family.
Regardless of whether they are servants sent by the Bai family or the Ye family, they all have some real skills.
Only Jinzhi and Jingui, whom Shen Xuan had asked for from the Xue family, were just third-class attendants who had just been promoted from menial servants.
Not only were they younger, but they also had no other skills except helping Shen Xuan with his clothes, meals, and cleaning the room. If it was a fair competition, I would only be able to sweep the outer courtyard.
One is Mrs. Bai and the other is Madam Ye. They are both elders, and Shen Xuan can't afford to offend either of them now.
After thinking about it, he said to Mother You, "Since you are always good at managing personnel matters, you will be in charge of the personnel affairs in my house. Can you also help me arrange their errands?"
Mother You was delighted when she heard this, and immediately said, "Then I will help you, Brother Shen, with some advice?"
"Suyun and Suyue are both first-class attendants sent by Madam Ye. Logically, they should be sent to your room to serve you personally. But they have just arrived and are not familiar with your habits. Why not assign them other tasks and let Jinzhi and Jingui serve you in your room?"
Suyun and Suyue are both spies sent by the Ye family. The Bai family and the Ye family are not on good terms. Mother You naturally couldn't let them squeeze into Shen Xuan's room.
Jinzhi and Jingui used to be from the Xue family and always obeyed her orders. Mother You felt that the two of them were easier to control, so she arranged them to be next to Shen Xuan.
Sure enough, as soon as Mother You said this, Suyun and Suyue looked at each other and looked quite unhappy.
Shen Xuan deliberately said at this time: "But they are the first-class attendants of the Ye family. If they are not in the room, what task should they be put on?"
Mother You thought for a moment and said, "Since Su Yue can write, she can go and take care of the gate. Su Yun can make snacks, so she can go to the kitchen."
She wished to send these two members of the Ye family away, regardless of whether the task was honorable or not.
Su Yue and Su Yun's faces turned pale when they heard this, as they were also orphans in the Ye family. Even when he was a third-class attendant in the courtyard, he had never done such an undignified job before.
At this time, Shen Xuan came out and said, "Isn't this bad? After all, he is the first-class attendant of the Ye family. Isn't it a waste of talent to do these chores?"
"How about this, since Su Yue can keep accounts, she can help me manage the purchase of daily necessities and the warehouse at home. Su Yun is good at cooking, and she must know a lot about kitchen ingredients and other things, so she can help me manage the purchase of kitchen supplies and tea."
The handling of daily necessities, the warehouse, and the kitchen are all lucrative jobs as long as there is money flowing into the family.
Originally, Mother You wanted to control all of these in her own hands, but they were all divided up by Shen Xuan in an instant.
Although she was still in charge of personnel affairs, she did not have any real responsibilities, so she was naturally unwilling. She wanted to say something else, but Su Yue and Su Yun stepped forward together in tacit understanding and thanked Shen Xuan for the arrangement.
He swore again sincerely that he would do his best to complete the task, leaving Mother You unable to refute him.
Just after arranging the arrangements for several people at home, Wuxin suddenly came with a cook and a coachman.
The cook and the coachman were both given to Shen Xuan by Xue Fenglin, and their indentures were also given to him, saving Mother You the trouble of going out to buy people.
"I just live alone, and having so many people serving me in the mansion is more than enough." Shen Xuan said.
He asked Mother You to arrange food, clothing and daily life for all the servants in the mansion, and then he went back to his room alone.
After he left, Mother You arranged accommodation for everyone.
This small courtyard with three entrances is not too big, and the servants' rooms are in the back house on the east side of the main entrance.
One side of the back house is close to the road, and the other side is next to the kitchen. Both rooms are noisy and not very good.
Mother You naturally wanted to arrange herself in the best room in the middle. In order to win over the golden branches and golden laurels, she arranged the two of them to sit next to her own room.
The cook had to work in the kitchen every day, but she took the initiative to ask to live in the room closest to the kitchen.
As for the room closer to the road, after thinking it over, Mother You deliberately gave it to Suyun and Suyue. I hope they will give up sooner.
Suyun and Suyue were furious, but there was nothing they could do because Mother You was in charge of personnel matters.
It was only after they returned to the house that they began to discuss quietly, "That woman surnamed You is so abominable. She relied on her seniority to deliberately make things difficult for us."
"Yeah, luckily Brother Chen is easy to talk to. He couldn't stand what she did, so he asked us to take care of the important task."
"I heard that the old woman was sent by the current wife of the Xue family, Bai. She must have been sent here on purpose to suppress Brother Shen."
"Brother Chen is a young man who has just arrived in Beijing. It is not easy for him to openly disobey his future mother-in-law. What can he do? Look, he wants to hand over the purchasing task to us, and that old lady You still wants to refute it!"
After the two discussed it for a while, they felt a little more sympathy for Shen Xuan, and a little more disgust towards Mother You.
He just thought that he must keep an eye on Mrs. You in the future. Once she revealed her handle, he would find a way to make a big deal out of it and drive him out of the Shen family.
At this time, Shen Xuan was very satisfied with the personnel allocation this time.
The main thing is that Jin Gui and Jin Zhi, two of his close people, are still by his side. However, Mother You and Su Yun and Su Yue were checking and balancing each other, keeping an eye on each other, so they had no time to monitor themselves.
He called Jinzhi and Jingui into the room and gave each of them half of the snacks sent by the Ye family.
He closed the door and said to them, "Although you are only the third-class attendants of the Xue family, I personally asked Madam Xue to come here."
"I am very happy that you can stay in my room and serve me this time. But the rules here are still the same as when you were in the Xue family. Everything comes first for me. You should know that, right?"
"Yes, we will follow Brother Shen's arrangements in everything."
"If you have anything to ask, please consult with Brother Shen first."
Jin Gui and Jin Zhi agreed immediately.
Seeing the two of them coming up, Shen Xuan nodded with satisfaction, and then dismissed them.
When he was left alone in the room, Shen Xuan took out his small treasury and counted all the silver he had in his hands.
The recipe for honey custard tea was sold for two thousand taels of silver, plus the two hundred taels of silver brought from Yunshui Village, the total was two thousand two hundred taels.
If we don't count the hundred taels of gold Xue Fenglin once gave him, and the hundred taels of gold the empress dowager gave him as a reward when he entered the palace this time, it can be exchanged for one thousand taels of silver.
I wonder if I can buy a shop in Beijing with three thousand two hundred taels of silver? Shen Xuan thought in his heart.
He had originally planned to buy a house and open a shop in Lezhou after making enough money in Yunshui Village.
But now that he has come to the capital and has the property given by the Queen Mother, it would be better to open one in the capital first rather than lying at home and living off the property or waiting to be supported by the Xue family.
The capital city has a large population, and even more wealthy people. The business that can be done is naturally more diverse than that in Lezhou.
After Shen Xuan thought for a moment, he made up his mind. I plan to go to the market tomorrow to check out what kind of business is more profitable in Beijing.
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