Chapter 96 Chapter 96 Update.
"Are we really going to work at the County Magistrate's Mansion? Can Xiaozhu and I go too?"
In the inn, Ji Feng couldn't believe it. She often chatted with the inn boy. She said that in all the places in Zhuo County, the home of County Magistrate Wang was the best place to go. It was said that the salary there was high and County Magistrate Wang was a kind and forgiving person.
In the Wang family, County Magistrate Wang is the eldest, and he has a younger brother, Wang Shouyu, who is said to be a cockfighting and running errand boy from a wealthy family, uneducated and unskilled. Now he is obsessed with alchemy and is obsessed with achieving immortality.
County Magistrate Wang was an honest official. When the crops were scarce, he often used his salary to help the people. However, his younger brother was a money-eater. In order to make elixirs, he cut down trees, attacked mountains and ponds, and built Taoist temples.
According to the government, Wang Shouyu is now an adult and should have left his brother to start his own family. However, the two brothers lost their father at a young age. Wang Shouyu loves his younger brother and has set up a rule.
The two brothers divided the family property but not their rooms, and did not divide the property. Therefore, although they were not registered under the same household, they still lived together in the same house as before, and their reputation for brotherly love and respect spread far and wide.
With such a good boss, there is no young man working who does not aspire to work in the county magistrate's office.
"Yes, we three sisters can live and eat together in it." Ji Xu said. This was her suggestion, so that they could save on rent.
Mrs. Lai agreed and signed a one-month employment contract with her. If she performed well, she would be hired for a long term.
The monthly allowance is one or two taels of silver, including food and accommodation, and you can bring your family with you. The important thing is that there is no news about Tian now. The only clue is Wang Ye in the county magistrate's mansion. I don't know if I can successfully find out Tian's whereabouts through him. If I stay in Zhuo County for this reason, I can work as a cook in the county magistrate's mansion, and have a stable residence and income, so I don't have to worry about food and drink.
That evening, a cow was led in through the side door of the county magistrate's mansion and taken to the cowshed in the backyard, and a car that was about to fall apart was taken into the warehouse.
Feng and Zhu, carrying heavy bags on their backs, followed Ji Xu as they walked through a corridor with vermilion lacquered and carved beams.
There was a small bridge and flowing water beside them, and a little boy was paddling on the water. The little boat was half full of lotus pods he had picked. When he saw the three unfamiliar faces coming in, he looked at them curiously.
The end of the lake is nestled against the mountains and forests, stretching as far as the eye can see. There are pavilions on the water, one of which has a curtain hanging down. The owner of the house must be enjoying the cool air inside. There are more than ten slaves serving outside, taking turns to serve meals, and elegant music is playing inside.
Ji Feng pricked up her ears and listened, but she couldn't understand what he was saying. It sounded like the sound of running water.
The green slave who led the way said, "The one on the water pavilion is the second master of the mansion. He doesn't have the good temper of the eldest master, so don't get too close to him." The latter part of the sentence was especially directed at Ji Xu.
Ji Xu agreed. She just wanted to find a job, find out about Tian's news as soon as possible, and reunite the family.
Feng and Zhu had just arrived and were full of curiosity, but they also remembered to behave properly and did not dare to act rashly.
It was not until I stepped over the threshold and entered the servant's room in the backyard that I couldn't help looking around, thinking that this must be my residence.
The back room is for the servants to live in. There are a lot of clothes hanging out to dry in the yard, and some young servants are chasing and playing inside.
Seeing Qingnu coming in, he hurriedly stopped, leaned against the wall with his hands behind his back, and just glanced at Ji Xu and the others, muttering to himself.
The one who led them in was the head servant, Qing, who had been in the mansion for over ten years. She had accepted Madam Lai as her adopted mother and was now tending the flowers and plants in the Second Master's courtyard. She could come and go around the master and was more arrogant than anyone else. Seeing how messy they were, she scolded them:
"The cattle and sheep have been fed, and you're still making a fuss? I'll tell Madam Lai to get rid of you little brats!"
The conversation ended in a commotion. Qing pushed open a room, and the furnishings inside were a little dusty.
"This is where Chef Hu used to live. You guys will live here and start working tomorrow."
Because Ji Xu was hired from outside and had skills, he did not have to live with the servants, and even brought his two younger sisters in.
Although Qingnu did not live in this remote servants' courtyard, she still had to live in a room with three third-class servants in the second master's courtyard. She did not have a separate room. Besides, she never liked to interact with those hired from outside. She said something coldly and left.
It was a blessing for her to leave. Feng and Zhu, who had been very curious along the way, now let their nature out and cried out in surprise as if they had never seen the world before.
In this room, there was a wooden table on the kang and an old mat. However, there was some dirt on it from years of use and a big hole had been bitten by mice. Ji Xu didn't want it anymore and picked it up and put it aside to throw away later.
The wooden table is made of lacquered wood. Although the paint has peeled off, it can still be used after being cleaned.
There is a Wei Si at the end of the kang, which is a large sheepskin box. It is intact inside and out and is perfect for storing clothes.
In the past, Chef Hu must have been tall, and some of the wooden nails on the wall were high up, which Ji Xu could not reach at all. He had to step on the wooden table to pull out the wooden nails and nail them back in a convenient place.
The whole house, even the corners, was swept clean, and then the newly bought reed mat and bamboo pillow were laid out. The bundle was untied, and the clothes were packed into a Wei chest. Some jerky that attracted mice was hung on the wall. It could be said that he had a small room to stay in.
"Sister, this kang is very different from our bed. It's made of bricks."
Ji Feng was particularly curious about this kang, which she had never seen before, and rolled around on it horizontally.
"It's much bigger than our bed."
Ji Xu said, "I heard that the winter in Youzhou is even colder than ours. I need to heat up the kang so that I won't be cold when I sleep at night."
"Can you still burn in winter?"
Ji Feng and Ji Zhu walked around the kang and searched carefully.
After Qing left, while they were tidying up the house, the little servants came out again, leaned out of their window, peeking inside, and chirping.
Seeing Ji Xu coming out, he slipped away along the wall.
A boy and a girl, both still looked like children, and Ji Xu stopped them and said, "Give me some jerky to eat."
"My name is Que, and his name is Doufu. I feed the cattle and sheep, and he pours night-blooming incense."
Hearing that it was time to eat, both of them ate it slowly, looking at each other, then turned around, took the chicken breast in their hands, licked their lips and smiled.
The girl pointed at herself and the boy.
She also taught Ji Xu where to throw the garbage she had cleaned up, where the kitchen was, and how to divide it up.
Because the family did not eat lamb every day, Mrs. Lai also assigned her the job of cooking in the east kitchen.
After asking the girl named Que, he learned that the kitchen in the mansion was in the east, divided into the East Kitchen and the East Kitchen. The chef was responsible for preparing three meals a day for the masters, and there was a special cook in charge. If there was a banquet in the mansion and lamb was needed, Ji Xu would cook the lamb in the kitchen, just like the Hu chefs of the past.
The East Kitchen is responsible for preparing two meals a day for the servants. The servants are divided into first to third class slaves who serve in the master's courtyard, and servants and miscellaneous servants who do rough work in the outer courtyard.
In addition to tending the sheep, Ji Xu also had to cook meals for the servants. However, as a newcomer to the mansion, it was not her turn to cook for the servants of the first to third ranks, including Madam Lai. She was responsible for doing the rough work for the servants.
"This job originally belonged to Qingnu. Her adoptive mother, Madam Lai, had a say with the steward of the inner courtyard, so she transferred her to work in the second master's courtyard." Que said quietly.
There was no one to do the rough work of making fire and cooking, so Mrs. Lai assigned it to Ji Xu.
She didn't think it was troublesome. It would be good to contact more people so that she could find Wang Ye who sent the letter.
However, the food for the mansion was transported in from the farms and forests outside the city every day. The masters picked it first, then the respectable servants, and finally the last ones left were picked by the lowest-ranking servants who did the rough work.
We can only eat whatever is left.
All that was left that day were some unwanted, fishy pork kidneys and half a basket of cheap cabbage.
"It's these again. Especially don't cook the kidneys, they're very fishy. You can even stew the pig skin with cabbage."
Old lady Sun, who was doing laundry, said that before Ji Xu came, she was the one who took care of this place and just managed to make some food.
Ji Xu walked around the kitchen. After all, it was the county magistrate's mansion, so there was no shortage of basic seasonings. There was even half a basin of lard. The food was better than what some poor people outside ate. At least they could have some oily and meaty food.
Ji Xu said, "Just eating cabbage is too plain. I'll try cooking pork kidneys. If they taste good, it will be another dish."
In fact, it can be seen that the pig must have been slaughtered today, and the kidneys are very fresh, but it has a fishy smell because it was not handled properly.
She cut it in two, removed the source of the fishy smell, cut it into slices, marinated it with seasoning, added shredded ginger to remove the fishy smell, then stir-fried it in oil and added the chili oil she made on the way.
This is a small jar of soup made by slowly boiling spices, peppercorns, and sesame in lard. When it is inconvenient to make a fire on the road, it is often used to mix with dry food or roll up into pancakes.
In Ji Feng's words, this chili oil is delicious even when dipped in shoe soles. Adding a spoonful of it for seasoning is the soul of the dish.
All that was needed was a plate of bright and crisp stir-fried kidney slices. The cabbage was stewed with sorghum as Mrs. Sun had said. The staple food was stewed sorghum rice, and kidney slices were also served as a side dish.
"This kidney is really good! I only felt the fishy smell before, but now I don't feel it at all. It's elastic and tender, and spicy and goes well with rice!" Old Mrs. Sun praised as her appetite increased.
Que and Doufu were wolfing down their food. They were still young, so even if there were good things, they would never get a chance.
When Qingnu was working, her cooking skills were not very good. She only wanted to go to the second master's courtyard, and she didn't care about the meals of the servants. She often cooked a lot of things together, without caring about whether they were meat or vegetables, or fishy or smelly. The servants didn't dare to complain because Mrs. Lai, who was in charge of the compradors in the mansion, was her stepmother.
It was the first time for Que and Doufu to eat such delicious meat dishes. They did not even have time to speak and just ordered bowl after bowl of sorghum rice.
“Is there someone missing?”
Ji Xu looked around among the servants squatting under the eaves to eat. A few days ago in the East Market, he saw Madam Lai buy five or six big slaves and bring them into the mansion, but now they were not there, nor was Wang Ye.
Old Lady Sun said, "All the people doing the rough work in the outer courtyard are here. Who else is missing?"
Ji Xu said, "Why isn't there someone called Ye?"
"We don't have this person in the outer courtyard. Maybe he's in the inner courtyard. Is he someone you know?"
"Not really. I happened to see it on a notice. It said he was a runaway slave who was recaptured. Because he had been mutilated, his portrait looked very special, so I remembered it."
Ji Xudao then asked anxiously, "Grandma Sun, did the people in the mansion cut off his nose because he committed a crime?"
Old Lady Sun was a long-time servant in the county magistrate's household. Her finger joints were swollen as big as garlic seeds from washing. She said:
"That's impossible. The county governor has always been lenient and has established household rules. If someone makes a mistake, they'll be fined a month's salary. They've never even used flogging, let alone capital punishment. I heard he even advised the emperor to abolish corporal punishment. The man you're talking about must have been punished before entering the palace."
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