She was a woman with a long face, above average looks, no more than eighteen or nineteen years old, with a sweet and crisp voice.
Xue Huan nodded: "Correct."
She asked a few more questions, each one more difficult than the last, with larger and larger numbers, but the woman could answer them all in one breath.
There are some things that Xue Huan herself hasn't figured out yet.
It seems that this woman is a genius in mental arithmetic.
"May I have your name?"
"Yu Xiaoxiao."
"Okay, you will take over this grocery store from now on."
The other two were very depressed. Xue Huan comforted them and sent them out. Then she discussed the issue of treatment with Yu Xiaoxiao.
"Two taels of silver per month, gifts and bonuses during festivals, and if you do well, bonuses every quarter. What do you think?"
Yu Xiaoxiao took a deep breath. She didn't expect that the man in front of her would pay her wages. After all, the entire village belonged to him now, and they had to rely on him for their livelihood. Even if he asked her to do hard labor, she couldn't say anything.
But now, he was willing to treat her as an equal and hire her for money instead of treating her as a slave.
She felt warm in her heart and bowed deeply to Xue Huan, "Thank you, sir. I will definitely take good care of this grocery store!"
"Well, I'm optimistic about you."
Xue Huan also explained some things to her, such as what goods can be received at the receiving counter, some tips for accounting, etc.
Then, the grocery store was officially opened.
That night, Xue Huan held a bonfire dinner. A huge bonfire was lit in the open space in front of the village, surrounded by several smaller bonfires. On the bonfires were whole sheep, whole deer, pheasants, rabbits, etc., all of which were prey that Xuan Xiao and the other two had hunted in the mountains.
On the long table in the room, there were drinks and food for people to eat as they pleased.
Children played and chased each other around the bonfire, and women put on their best clothes, holding hands and singing and dancing.
The firelight illuminated everyone's happy faces, and melodious singing floated over the village.
Xue Huan sat next to them, clapping along to the singing.
Wu Qi and Ah Man joined in, their cheeks flushed red from the sunshine.
Xuan Xiao and the other two were not used to participating in such excitement, so they hid themselves away.
*
Imperial capital, Prince’s Mansion.
The prince was originally supposed to live in the East Palace, but after Pei Ji returned to Beijing, he was not willing to live in the palace, so he took back the old house of the Huo family that had been occupied, renovated it, and hung a plaque with the words "Prince's Mansion".
It was already late at night, and Pei Ji was reviewing memorials in the outer study.
Now all matters big or small in the court need him to make decisions.
He was already the Crown Prince Regent in name only. Although he did not hold the title of Emperor, he was Emperor in reality. All the important officials in the court were in awe.
As for the legitimate emperor——
After he drank the medicine prescribed by Fang Xing, his condition did improve, but it was just an improvement and he could not be cured. Not to mention regaining power, he even had difficulty walking.
The emperor is in a state where he can neither be well nor die.
There was a flapping sound outside the window. Pei Ji's expression relaxed. He stood up and walked to the window. After a while, a big snow-white pigeon flew over and landed on the windowsill.
After reading the letter, a glimmer of joy flashed across Pei Ji's eyes. He quickly wrote back a letter, watched the spirit pigeon disappear into the sky, and strode out of the study.
At the same time he gave the order: "Prepare the horses!"
He wants to pick up his Huanhuan in person!
Unexpectedly, the moment he stepped out of the yard, he fell down without any warning.
The eunuch holding the lantern screamed in fear, "Your Highness!"
At the same time, in Prince An’s Mansion.
Backyard, Changchun Courtyard.
This is the residence of Prince An Pei Yu's favorite concubine.
Tonight, Pei Yu rested here, but the situation in the inner room was not a beautiful scene of passionate love.
A large open space was cleared in the house. In the center of the space, there were eight small flags the size of a palm placed in various directions. At first glance, those flags were black, but if you looked closely, you would find that they were actually dark red, just like coagulated blood.
There were wisps of black smoke swirling around it, and ferocious evil spirits were roaring and shouting in the smoke.
In the middle of the eight flags, there is a mirror. The surface of the mirror is pitch black and does not reflect any image.
It looks very weird.
An old woman was holding a spirit-calling bell and walking between the eight flags, muttering something and moving her body vigorously, looking like she was performing an evil dance.
In the corner, Pei Yu hugged his favorite concubine and watched the old woman's actions without blinking.
At a certain moment, the old woman's body trembled violently, and she raised the spirit-calling bell above her head, as if she had been struck by lightning.
Immediately, she knelt down in front of the mirror, pulled out a small black porcelain bottle from her sleeve, and poured out a few drops of blood. The blood had turned dark red, clearly not fresh.
The blood fell onto the mirror and was actually absorbed. The mirror that absorbed the blood rippled like the surface of a lake. The old woman held the spirit-calling bell in her hand and shook it more and more rapidly and violently.
But the ringing sound is not heard by the living.
The soul-calling bell, the soul-calling bell, the sound it makes can only be heard by the wandering souls.
"Puff!" The old woman who was performing the ritual suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Seeing this, Pei Yu's concubine looked worried and took a step forward involuntarily, but was pushed back by Pei Yu who held her waist tightly.
The old woman stared at the mirror intently and quickened her movements again, the copper bell in her hand almost becoming a shadow.
Finally, a soul rose from the mirror and appeared in this room.
The face of that soul was Pei Ji!
Seeing this, Pei Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled with a look of accomplishment.
He couldn't wait to say, "Miao Yu, hurry up and disperse his soul!"
The old woman waved her sleeves, and the resentful spirits and evil ghosts on the flags rushed forward, gnawing and biting Pei Ji.
At this moment, Pei Ji's soul opened his eyes. At that moment, a sense of great majesty emanated from him. Although invisible, it was as if tangible. It smashed down towards the three people in the room like Mount Tai. The three people were pressed to the ground and could not move.
Pei Yu was horrified.
He tried to struggle, but heard the sound of his bones being crushed.
Those evil spirits were not in a better condition. Before they even touched him, it was like ice and snow meeting the scorching sun. In an instant, the ice and snow melted away, and their souls flew away.
Pei Ji's gaze was calm and clear as he looked at Pei Yu and the other two. Although he was looking at them, the figures of the three did not enter his sight, as if the three were just insignificant ants.
He still had the same face, but his temperament was completely different.
He raised one hand and pointed his finger at the old woman. Before the old woman could even utter a scream, she evaporated and disappeared.
Only the black robe dropped on the ground proved that she had ever existed.
Seeing this scene, the concubine was so scared that she fainted.
Although Pei Yu did not faint, he was not in good condition either, and his face was trembling.
Just when he thought he was going to die, the pressure on his body suddenly disappeared and he was able to move again.
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