In the peaceful and harmonious atmosphere, Qian Shengyan waited for Hongli to arrive, and the family of four finally had their dinner.
Yinzhen originally followed the rule of not speaking while eating, but over the years, under Qian Shengyan's influence, he has become increasingly unrestrained. At this moment, he was eating while chatting with Hongli about the book he was reading.
After finishing the meal, Hongli prepared to take his leave, but Yinzhen said, "There are no classes tomorrow. You can call Hongshi and Hongzhou and go and turn over the land again."
Hongli: ...
Qian Shengyan couldn't help but laugh when she saw the expression on Hongli's young face, which resembled that of an old man looking at his phone on the subway.
Then Yinzhen turned around and glanced at her: "You go too."
Qian Shengyan: ...
He and Hongli showed similar expressions.
Yinzhen was immediately in a good mood. He waved for Hongli to go back and told him to take a detour on the way and not to sit down and read right after finishing his meal.
Qian Shengyan also reminded him not to stay up too late, and then looked at Li Yu and told him to keep a close eye on the Fourth Prince.
After seeing their son off, the two practiced calligraphy for a while as usual. During this time, Su Peisheng returned and, seeing that his masters were busy, stood aside with his hands at his sides waiting.
After writing ten large characters, Yinzhen put down his brush. Qian Shengyan brought a damp cloth to wipe his hands, and he turned to look at Su Peisheng: "How was it? Tell me."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I have investigated. The maid is Jieyue, a lowly servant of Ying Shui Lan Xiang. She seems to have no connection with the Nian family and was originally serving in the garden," Su Peisheng replied. "As for the rumors, before the Prince and the maid even met, they were spread by Yuzhu, who was in charge of cleaning the side hall, and quickly reached Master Qian's maid..."
"It seems this is no coincidence." Yinzhen sneered. "Well, so you've managed to plant someone even in my Wanfang Anhe. Nian Gengyao has quite the reach. Well done!"
He angrily threw the wet handkerchief on the ground and paced back and forth: "So it was someone who was originally serving in the garden? Ha, I don't believe it." He glanced back at Qian Shengyan, then at Su Peisheng, "When this garden was bestowed upon me, all the servants were investigated, and there was nothing unusual at the time. But so many years have passed, and things have changed, no one can say for sure..."
“Starting tomorrow, investigate everyone serving in the garden, whether they were originally there or came from the Prince’s residence.” Yinzhen revealed a cold smile again. “Do they think I’m a fool? Peace and harmony, fragrance reflected in the water, ha.”
Qian Shengyan understood what he meant. This matter was obviously premeditated. Even if a maid dared to run straight into the prince, the rumors had already reached Qian Shengyan's ears before she even did so. What else could it be but premeditated?
What's frightening is that these two maids seem to have no connection whatsoever. One is a lowly maid who originally served in the Yuanmingyuan Garden, and the other is a cleaning maid who came from the front courtyard of the mansion. They belong to different courtyards and have different masters, yet they have such a tacit understanding.
That Jieyue incident, which involves the Nian family, has led Yinzhen, with his suspicious nature, to begin to suspect that both of them were planted in the mansion by Nian Gengyao.
Qian Shengyan sighed softly and bowed with Su Peisheng, saying, "Yes, Your Majesty."
Investigating people and checking them one by one is no small task. As a result, Qian Shengyan was spared the fate of turning over the land, but was more tragically left behind to look through the indentures one by one.
Su Peisheng followed the prince's instructions and stayed by her side. He originally thought that Qian Shengyan might meet everyone one by one, but unexpectedly, Qian Shengyan first asked him to find several absolutely trustworthy maids who could read and write, so that she could make a book first.
There used to be a list of servants, but it was separate for those in the garden and those in the mansion, making it very troublesome to find their names now.
Taking advantage of the current situation, Qian Shengyan simply created a table listing the servants in each courtyard of the Yuanmingyuan Garden. For example, the Wanfang Anhe staff list was divided into the front hall, the rear hall, and the side halls. The people in the front hall were basically those who followed the prince, the people in the rear hall were all hers, and the people in the side halls were those who were originally in the front courtyard of the prince's mansion but were brought here to serve.
Qian Shengyan further divided the servants in each palace into several ranks. The first rank was those who served the master personally and could enter the inner palace and the sleeping quarters. The second rank was those who could serve in the main hall and the side hall. The third rank was those who could only serve in the corridor and were not allowed to enter the room. Below that were those who swept the courtyard and served in the side halls where no one lived. On this basis, eunuchs and maids were further divided, and they were registered separately.
The form was divided into different columns, from left to right: name, place of origin, date of birth, date of entry into the mansion, reason for entry into the mansion, whether there are relatives or fellow villagers in the mansion, etc. Those who were compiling the register could write down what they knew, and Qian Shengyan told them to leave it blank if they didn't know.
Finally, organize and store the contracts one by one according to the page order of the register of names. This way, if you need to find someone in the future, you won't have to look through the contracts again, but it will be convenient to find them if you really need to.
Once everything that could be recorded had been noted, Qian Shengyan sat in the warm pavilion between Wanfang Anhe and Peach Blossom Village, and was summoned in groups of ten according to the roster.
After meeting, first ask about the things listed in the indenture. If you can answer them, you can basically confirm that it is the person in question. If you can't answer them, then there is doubt, so put it aside for now.
Then, I checked each item in detail and recorded other information. By the time this booklet was completed, it was already the end of February.
The five thick volumes gave Qian Shengyan the illusion that she had become a human resources manager.
But to be honest, this investigation did uncover some problems. Scattered throughout the various courtyards, there were always two or three people who "couldn't remember" their birth dates and when they entered the mansion. There were also one or two who remembered all of these but "forgot" whether they were sold to the mansion by human traffickers, official traffickers, or assigned by the Imperial Household Department.
The information contained in these contracts cannot be found if the person in question is not the person in question.
By the time everything was sorted out, it was already early March, and some bean seeds had already been planted in the cultivated fields on the west side of Xifeng Xiuse.
Yinzhen flipped through the register of names and appointed several junior eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department to take care of the fields, which mainly involved watering and weeding, and reporting any problems promptly.
He looked at the list of names, flipped through it once, and couldn't help but look at it again. After finishing, he let out a long sigh and then looked at Qian Shengyan thoughtfully.
Qian Shengyan, who was reading a storybook, couldn't stand his stare any longer. She kept looking up and glancing back at him. Finally, she had no choice but to close the book, walk over and put her arm around Yinzhen's shoulder: "What are you doing, Your Highness? You're making me feel so awkward."
“I was just thinking…” Yinzhen pulled her hand down from his shoulder and gently stroked it, “If you were a man, even if you were poor and destitute, you could still find a way out through the imperial examinations.”
"If I were a man..." Qian Shengyan raised an eyebrow slightly, then flung her sleeve coyly, lowered her voice, and gruffed it out, saying in a coquettish tone, "Would you still pamper me, Master?"
Yinzhen: ...
The hand holding the roster trembled slightly.
He silently put the booklet away, then stood up and pressed Qian Shengyan down, pinching her ample breasts: "A man? Not bad, let me see if this handsome young man is interesting?"
Qian Shengyan: ...
Holy crap! Even wilder than her!
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