Yan Qingqing slept soundly through the night, without even a dream. She woke up refreshed the next morning.
Yuan Huiniang arrived at Yan Qingqing's room early in the morning to help her with her washing and dressing. Yan Qingqing glanced at her and said, "I'm not so old that I need to be served. You can go do whatever you need to do."
Yan Qingqing was really not used to being waited on, especially since Yan Qingqing was her daughter-in-law, and she had a lot to do all day long. How could she be the kind of wicked mother-in-law who tormented her daughter-in-law?
Upon hearing this, Yuan Huiniang smiled and said, "Mother, please let me stay here. I feel at ease staying by your side. Besides, we've hired servants now, so I don't even have to cook anymore. I have plenty of time to serve you."
Yan Qingqing couldn't refute these words. Oh well, if she likes staying here, then let her stay. She then asked, "Have you thought about how to arrange things for those people?"
Upon hearing this, Yuan Huiniang quickly took out a list from her sleeve and handed it to Yan Qingqing, saying, "I have made a rough arrangement. This is the list. Please take a look and see if there is anything inappropriate."
Yan Qingqing looked at her daughter-in-law and was surprised that she had started to plan things out. Regardless of whether the arrangements were appropriate or not, it was good that she had the intention.
Yan Qingqing took the list and glanced at it; relatively speaking, the arrangement was quite reasonable. However, Yan Qingqing needed to further assess Du Ruxiu's temporary role in managing Yuan Huiniang's household.
Yuan Huiniang was very happy to gain Yan Qingqing's approval. She had stayed up all night with Li Xiangping to do this, and she agreed with Yan Qingqing's suggestion that Du Ruxiu needed further evaluation. She herself was not used to a stranger helping to manage the household affairs.
Just as the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were talking, Xiao Mochen walked in. Seeing Yan Qingqing and Yuan Huiniang chatting animatedly, he pretended to cough. Yan Qingqing looked up, smiled, and waved to him, saying, "Mochen's here. Is there something you need so early?"
Xiao Mochen said frankly, "There are some things I want to tell my aunt." After saying that, he glanced at Yuan Huiniang subtly.
Seeing this, Yuan Huiniang smiled and said, "Mother and cousin, you can talk for a while. I'll go to the kitchen to see if breakfast is ready."
After saying that, he walked out of Yan Qingqing's room.
After Yuan Huiniang left, Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "Now you can tell me, right? What's so mysterious that you had to send your cousin-in-law away?"
Xiao Mochen replied, "I don't mean to hide it from my sister-in-law, I just think the fewer people who know about this, the better."
Yan Qingqing had already guessed what he wanted to talk about, so she asked, "Are you going to tell me about Lin You?"
Xiao Mochen nodded and replied, "It seems nothing can be hidden from Aunt. I arranged for Lin You to come in. He is extremely skilled in martial arts. Aunt, please feel free to ask him for anything."
Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "Since he's your man, how can your aunt order him around? Why don't you keep him in your courtyard and have him protect you closely?"
It wasn't that Yan Qingqing was ignoring free labor; rather, she was afraid that Lin You's identity was not simple, and that if she used him lavishly now, she would suffer later.
Xiao Mochen shook his head and said, "Aunt, I actually prepared this Lin You for my third cousin."
Yan Qingqing was puzzled upon hearing this, as she had never seen Xiao Mochen and Li Xiangjian have such a good relationship.
Seeing Yan Qingqing's confusion, Xiao Mochen explained, "I know that Auntie plans to send Third Cousin to the military camp. Actually, I also think highly of Third Cousin."
However, only those with strong personal skills can have a good future in the army. My third cousin is incredibly strong, but it's not enough to only know a few basic moves.
Although Lin You is a bit slow-witted, his martial arts skills are excellent, and he practices an extremely powerful and fierce style, which is a perfect match for my third cousin. It would be good to have him give my third cousin some pointers when he has free time.”
Yan Qingqing hadn't expected Xiao Mochen to be so thoughtful; this was a way of returning the favor. Naturally, she wouldn't refuse and immediately expressed her gratitude to Xiao Mochen.
Xiao Mochen breathed a sigh of relief, as long as his aunt wouldn't blame him for planting people in the house without permission.
Xiao Mochen then bowed to Yan Qingqing and said, "Please teach me, Aunt. I am willing to become your disciple."
Yan Qingqing was startled and quickly helped him up, saying, "What are you doing? Get up!"
After Xiao Mochen stood up, he said, "I also want to learn the military strategies that Aunt taught my third cousin. Mochen is willing to take Aunt as his teacher for life."
Yan Qingqing waved her hand and said, "Auntie's knowledge is limited. If you want to learn, you can just learn with her. There's really no need for that."
A few days ago, Xiao Mochen said he didn't want to go to school and wanted to study at home with Yan Qingqing. Yan Qingqing thought he was joking.
Yan Qingqing could teach him, but she absolutely couldn't accept him as a disciple. If she did, Xiao Mochen would probably never be able to leave this ship again. But she couldn't tell Xiao Mochen this directly.
Regardless of whether Yan Qingqing agreed or not, or what she was thinking, Xiao Mochen was determined to become Yan Qingqing's disciple.
After breakfast, Yan Qingqing asked Yuan Huiniang to gather all the servants together, as well as her own children.
Yan Qingqing gestured to Yuan Huiniang that they could begin, and Yuan Huiniang took out the list she had written yesterday. Each courtyard had a maid who did odd jobs and was responsible for the daily cleaning of the courtyard.
Each of them, from Li Xiangping to Li Xiangkang, had a servant running errands in front of them. Yan Qingqing was too lazy to come up with new names for them, so she just listed them from A-Da to A-Si. If anyone didn't like a name, they could change it themselves.
It's quite normal for a person to be given a name by their new family after being sold. Yuan Huiniang didn't want to change the original name, but she was worried that it would be hard for many people to remember. She thought Yan Qingqing's idea was excellent.
Li Xinniang and Li Yueniang each had a little maid, and Yuan Huiniang named them Rumei Ruhua respectively. She herself was named Du Ruxiu, and she thought the name was quite good, so she didn't change it.
The wet nurse chosen for Li Xiangyang was surnamed Ren; since she was a bit older, she was simply called Madam Ren. Madam Zhu and Madam He managed the kitchen.
Originally, a servant was arranged for Xiao Mochen, but he didn't want it. Yan Qingqing knew that he didn't lack servants, so she didn't force him.
When Yuan Huiniang and the others saw that they all had servants around them, while Yan Qingqing, an elder, had no one, they strongly urged Yan Qingqing to choose one as well. They said they wouldn't dare to use these servants if Yan Qingqing didn't choose one.
Left with no other choice, Yan Qingqing selected another young maid and named her Ruyi.
After making all these arrangements, Yan Qingqing realized that she had only a few people left whom she had originally planned to train. She could only sigh and think she could buy more later when she had the chance.
After Yuan Huiniang finished speaking, Yan Qingqing continued, "Since you have come to my home, it is fate. My children are not harsh masters. As long as you are loyal, I will not treat you unfairly."
But I won't tolerate any nonsense. From now on, if the young mistress is in charge of the household, and anyone takes advantage of her youth and inexperience, or intentionally betrays her, there will be no selling her out; they will only face certain death.
After Yan Qingqing finished speaking, her aura was overwhelming, and these people immediately knelt down, promising that they would never betray their master.
Not to mention them, even Yuan Huiniang and the others were stunned, but they also felt that Yan Qingqing was simply too awesome.
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