"Who are you? What are you all doing here?"
As the sun was setting, it was time to get off government office in the evening. The young marquis came straight to the Su family, carrying large and small bags in his hands. When he arrived at the street gate, he saw five or six women and idle men squatting there like monkeys guarding the door. He couldn't help but feel suspicious, so he went forward to ask.
As soon as they saw him, they jumped up like fish in water, saying in unison: "Is this the prince of Anping Marquis's Mansion? We are here to find a job..."
It was like a group of flies buzzing, but Duan Tingxuan was no ordinary person. He could hear the outline of the situation in the noisy sound: it turned out that these people came here to sell themselves as slaves. He knew what Duke Ping was thinking, so he decisively rejected them on his behalf. However, he did not expect that those people would not leave even if he shouted. Seeing that he could not get them to leave, they actually went back to squat. One of them muttered, "I won't leave. We came here at this time. If we don't take advantage of this, when the old man resumes the position of Duke, we will be a handyman, but he will not accept us."
It turns out that this is the idea behind this. The common people do have their wisdom.
Duan Tingxuan laughed in silence. Suddenly, he saw Duke Ping and his elder brother-in-law coming from the opposite side. He stepped forward and said, "Father-in-law, these people are very persistent. Anyway, there are not many people working in the mansion now. Why not accept them all? We will see how they perform in the future. The diligent ones will be kept, and the lazy ones will be driven away."
Duke Ping glared and said, "No, I'm still working for others, but you're hiring servants in your own house? Is this how ordinary people live? You don't have to pay attention to them. I don't believe they won't leave after a long time."
After saying that, he looked at the large and small bags in Duan Tingxuan's hand and frowned, "Why are you spending money again? Your family sent a lot of food today, and our whole family can't finish it. What did you get?"
Duan Tingxuan smiled and said, "I know my father-in-law likes Dongxiangji's braised food, so I bought some after leaving the government office, intending to accompany you to get drunk."
Duke Ping's eyes widened again, and he said impatiently, "What do you mean by 'I'll get drunk'? If I get drunk, will you go and guard the door for me after dinner?"
"What? Guarding the door?"
Duan Tingxuan was shocked, then his face darkened, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Who is this idiot who is so ignorant? Who are you, old man? They dare to use you as a gatekeeper. Aren't they afraid of shortening their lifespan?"
"So no one will dare to use me then. You will be happy if I become a useless old man, right?"
Duke Ping snorted coldly. He had been at odds with his son-in-law because of his daughter. He had never been very nice to Duan Tingxuan. Although he knew his son-in-law had done nothing wrong after hearing his daughter's story, as a parent, he still felt a little upset when he heard about his daughter's experience.
Duan Tingxuan hurriedly said in fear: "I dare not. I just feel sorry for my father-in-law. You were the Duke of Pingguo..."
Before he could finish, the old man laughed at himself and shook his head, saying, "Why bring that up? It's all in the past. In fact, it's not bad to be an ordinary citizen now. Don't look down on being a gatekeeper or night watchman. Although the salary is far less than that of a duke, it's a leisurely job and less stressful. And you don't have to get up before 4 o'clock in the morning to wash and dress in order to attend the morning court like in the past. This life is also very comfortable."
As he spoke, the old man and his son entered the house. Seeing Duan Tingxuan following in, he asked in confusion, "You still want to drink with me? I've already said it's impossible, why don't you go home quickly? You are not as good as me now, and you have a heavy burden on your shoulders. You've been busy all day, why don't you go home and have a good rest? Why do you have the leisure to come here?"
Duan Tingxuan quickly smiled and said, "There's nothing to do at home. It doesn't matter if father-in-law doesn't drink. I'll just treat it as a free meal. Besides, I have to see Nuannuan. She's pregnant now... That... It's not that I'm worried about you, father-in-law... I just can't let go of Nuannuan."
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard his eldest brother-in-law laughing and said, "Dad, Tingxuan is right. Nuannuan is just willful. How can a married woman go back to her parents' home to stay for so many days? It's not like they are far away. This is because Tingxuan pampers her. Why not try another family?"
Duan Tingxuan looked at his elder brother-in-law with gratitude, thinking that he should stop looking down on that dandy boy. After the trip to Niutou Mountain, his elder brother-in-law understood a lot about the ways of the world, and now no matter how he looked at that face, he found it amiable and not as hateful as before.
Duke Ping snorted, but didn't say anything else, so the young marquis finally entered the back hall smoothly. As soon as he entered the door, he saw Su Nuannuan and Madam Liu peeling boiled peanuts. Seeing him coming, Madam Liu was also surprised, and hurriedly stood up and said, "Why are you here, my dear son-in-law? Aren't you going home?"
Duan Tingxuan said with a cheeky smile, "Yes, it's nothing serious, so I'll stay at Yue's house tonight." After saying that, he put the food in his hand on the table and said with a smile, "Dongxiangji's braised food, my father-in-law likes it. Please take it to the kitchen and heat it up. It's great with wine."
After saying that, he looked at Su Nuannuan again. He felt that he had been missing her so much after not seeing her for just one day. However, in front of so many people, he didn't dare to be presumptuous. He could only gather all his love in his eyes. For a moment, the couple looked at each other affectionately, and their gazes were almost glued together. Everyone couldn't help but lower their heads and cover their lips to smile.
It was not until the old antique Duke Ping, who could no longer bear it, coughed that they finally woke up. For a moment, Su Nuannuan's face turned as red as a sunset cloud, and even the young marquis, who was so shameless and black-hearted, was so embarrassed that he couldn't even say a word to smooth things over.
The dinner was a pleasant one even though no one was serving them. Duke Ping had probably lived through hardship for too long and had forgotten the family rule of not talking while eating or sleeping. He even chatted with Duan Tingxuan about state affairs at the table, while his two sons happily talked and laughed about some gossip. Amidst all the idle chatter, the young marquis ate an extra bowl of rice.
After dinner, the family sat together and drank tea, and then Duke Ping went out again. He was a gatekeeper and night watchman, and he was different from others. He went there in the afternoon, and asked you to come back in the evening for dinner. After dinner, you had to go back before dark, guarding the gate all night, and go home to rest the next morning. Although he worked one more hour than other gatekeepers, his salary was more generous than those people, so the Duke was quite satisfied. Of course, these were just on the surface. As for how sad he felt in his heart, only the Duke himself knew.
As it was getting dark, everyone went back to their rooms to rest. Duan Tingxuan helped Su Nuannuan back to the house. Looking at the small room, he sighed and said, "No wonder you sent Honglian and Xiangyun back to the mansion. This room is really too small. If they were here too, where would they sleep?"
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