Chapter 307

Finally, the rumors about Furen Mu and Official Yan had come to an end. The care for the refugees had gone smoothly, and there were no more concerning issues. In some areas, the situation had improved so much that many villages were starting to return to their towns. This meant Yueqian only had a few hundred people left to take care of, and it was expected that within 15 days, they would all be able to return home.

With the situation progressing well, Yueqian had more time to manage herself and the Mu manor. The family members had increased significantly, and the number of servants was now too many to count. Fortunately, she had Fan Yu by her side to help think things through; otherwise, it would have become a heavy burden.

The area used to prepare food had significantly reduced in size. The Yan family no longer came to the Mu manor to prepare food for distribution, as they had begun sourcing ingredients from elsewhere. Furen Yan didn’t want to trouble Yueqian any further, so they returned to cooking in their own manor as before.

Since the kitchen workers were highly skilled, Yueqian no longer needed to oversee everything herself.

While she was relaxing by reading a book, Fan Yu, who was beside her massaging her shoulders, spoke up.

“Furen, how will you handle the servants?” Hearing the question of the other party, Yueqian immediately looked up from her book, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

Fan Yu, who hadn’t been by her side for long but already understood her mistress’s thoughts, added more context.

“Because a large number of people were hired when we heard that the refugees were coming to the capital, now that the work is done, those workers are no longer needed. They don’t have regular duties to attend to, and we already have a lot of servants in the manor. Even if we sent them to the docks, it wouldn’t help; they don’t have enough skills in calculation to manage such tasks.

“Other manors have already begun dismissing these extra workers. Only our Mu manor hasn’t yet decided how to proceed,” Fan Yu explained, and at this point, Yueqian understood.

When additional workers were hired, it was with the purpose of having them assist, and most of the people were chosen by Yueqian herself. They sold themselves as servants or slaves, which would be beneficial for them if their employers were willing to purchase them outright. However, no one was willing to do so.

It would increase the household’s expenses, and taxes would have to be paid to the government for them. Initially, every household, including the Mu manor, only hired these workers temporarily. It wasn’t surprising that they would be dismissed once the workload decreased significantly.

However, remembering the people who had begged her for work back then, Yueqian couldn’t bear to send them away to starve again.

“Call them to see me first,” Yueqian had many tasks that required manpower. The Mu family, being relatively new, did not face the same issues as other households overflowing with servants. Moreover, Yueqian didn’t mind taking on more maids. Unlike other manors, Yueqian’s way of doing things was different from theirs; she didn’t just use servants for menial tasks, so it wasn’t considered wasteful spending.

“Yes, miss,” Fan Yu replied.

In truth, the maid was quite worried about her mistress’s decision. Having been together for several days, Fan Yu had spoken with many people, and no one wanted to leave this place. The Mu manor treated them well, and the master wasn’t someone who desired women indiscriminately. Many households treated female servants as mere objects.

If desired, they were called to serve without any chance to refuse, merely tools for emotional release. Some masters who enjoyed beating their servants would use money to buy their lives. Naturally, many had no right to refuse. For the sake of money to support their families, they had to sell themselves into slavery.

When they sold themselves at the slave market, they all thought they were doomed. If lucky, they might serve a kind master. Even so, trouble seemed to arise in the households frequently. Whenever there was news of a death, it was always the corpse of a servant.

Sometimes they even saw servants beaten nearly to death and then thrown back into the slave market, only to suffer until they died. Some were sold into brothels; others came out without limbs.

However, when they were chosen by Furen Mu to work in the kitchen, although the conditions meant they earned very little as temporary servants, it still allowed their impoverished families to have food for several days.

When they actually arrived at the Mu manor, they realized it was nothing short of a paradise for servants! Everyone had enough to eat, a place to sleep, and lived safely. The mistress and master of the house never harmed the servants without reason. The only rumor they had ever heard was about a servant who tried to climb into the master’s bed and was dealt with accordingly.

That servant’s behavior was seen as a severe mistake, illustrating that as long as one did not commit a wrongdoing, they wouldn’t have to face any consequences!

Life here was very good, and as the end of their employment approached, they began to feel fearful! They were scared of leaving, scared that Furen Mu would dismiss them just like other households were starting to do.

In truth, everyone knew about this condition from the start. It was common to see large-scale temporary hirings. Sometimes, nobles needed extra servants for big events, or shops needed extra hands for large catering jobs.

However, they had never felt as regretful as they did this time. They didn’t want the dismissal to happen. So, they went to the maids around them, like Fan Yu and Rui Beng, and the others, but everyone said the same thing: once the work was done, their contracts would end because there wouldn’t be much work left for them in the manor.

The servants in this manor weren’t lazy. None of them wanted to lose their jobs here, and to show gratitude to their kind masters, they performed their duties excellently.

Fallen leaves were never seen on the ground all day, showing that those responsible for cleaning did their jobs well, not being negligent like other manors.

As Fan Yu heard more people talking, she couldn’t help but ask on their behalf. Although she wanted to help, taking on too much responsibility out of kindness would ultimately burden the Mu manor. She couldn’t propose continuing to employ them; helping too much would be a betrayal of their benefactor!

However, Fan Yu didn’t expect Furen Mu to call everyone together. There was no need for the mistress to do this; she could have simply given orders to one of the servants. But she knew Furen Mu wouldn’t make such a decision without careful thought.

Fan Yu gathered everyone and led them to the mistress’s residence, where they saw Yueqian already standing there, lovingly holding her baby in her hands. Beside her was Wan Gui, who helped care for the baby, and Rui Beng, who was trying to make funny faces to make the baby laugh.

The more than 100 temporary servants stood in orderly lines like soldiers. Partly because they had been working with soldiers for almost a month and had fully absorbed the discipline, and partly because they knew the mistress didn’t like chaos.

It was better for them to be obedient, especially at a moment that could decide their fate. Many dared not act out of line.

Yueqian looked at the servants she had selected from the market, choosing those with cooking skills, diligence, endurance, and good communication to work together. These individuals had been preliminarily selected, and after working together, she found that many were worth keeping, while others might need more suitable roles.

“As you all know, the reception of the refugees is coming to an end. So, the initial reason for hiring you all is also nearing its conclusion.” Hearing the furen’s opening words, everyone’s faces immediately grew sad.

“Over the past period, thank you very much for working so well. I believe many of you have learned a lot during this time, haven’t you?” Yueqian smiled as she saw them growing even more anxious.

“Why aren’t you answering when Furen asks you a question?” Wan Gui, standing beside Yueqian, scolded them sternly. She, too, hoped the mistress would keep these workers and wanted them to behave well.

“We-we’ve learned a lot, miss.”

“So have I. I didn’t think tapioca flour could make such delicious food.”

“There were many things we had never seen before, but we learned they were really useful. We’ve learned a lot, miss,” a few of the servants replied, their voices tinged with distress. Some had even started crying.

“If you’ve really learned a lot, then you should be able to work well in the future,” Yueqian said to them again.

“Furen Mu, please, I beg you. Please buy us as permanent servants of the manor. We won’t disappoint you. We’ll help with all your work,” said one young maid, kneeling on the ground. This young maid had originally come from another manor. However, because she was in the prime of her youth, her previous master had developed vile intentions towards her and tried to assault her.

She had resigned herself to becoming a tool for her master’s whims. However, she never expected that the furen would storm in, harm her without caring who started it, beat her, and break her leg. Now, she walked with a limp, almost like a disabled person, and was sold back to the slave market.

Although she didn’t want to become a servant in another household, how else could her family, consisting of only her disabled younger brother, survive if she didn’t work? So, she sold herself again, ready to work until death.

Who would have thought that luck would favor her, bringing her to Furen Mu? Furen Mu paid them generously every day, calling it wages. If someone didn’t come to work, they didn’t get paid—there was no punishment. But if they did work, they received the agreed amount from the first day.

It was said that the permanently bought servants in this manor received monthly salaries, with the amount depending on their position, but even the lowest-paid still earned a considerable sum. As for their living conditions, the master and mistress took care of them, allowing them to eat to their fill, and they could even take leftovers home for their families.

If this place wasn’t called paradise, what else could it be?!

“Me too, Furen. Please show mercy. I have cooking skills. Just today, Head Chef Yang entrusted me to control the fire myself. Furen, please buy me as a permanent servant in this manor.” Seeing another maid dared to plead, the others began to follow suit.

“Me too, miss.”

“Please have mercy on me too, Furen.”

Finally, the temporary servants hired to cook for the refugees knelt down, begging for mercy, which was truly a rare sight. Typically, servants hated their masters, especially those from high classes who oppressed them. Only a few lucky servants had protective masters, and even within the same household, not all were treated equally.

“All right, all right. I only asked if you’ve learned a lot, not commanded you to kneel,” Yueqian frowned slightly. She understood that these servants must have faced many hardships. She had seen the world’s cruelty firsthand; wherever social classes were involved, such issues were inevitable.

There was nothing she could do about it, but meeting each other was fate, wasn’t it?

“And the reason I called you here is to change your temporary contracts to permanent ones. If you have no objections, you can sign with Wan Gui. After that, we will send your names to the slave market and the authorities.”

“I-Is it true?”

“Are you serious, Furen?!”

“Heavens have shown mercy. Truly, the heavens have shown mercy.” The servants cried out joyfully. However, Yueqian raised her hand to quiet them down.“But now that you’re part of the Mu manor, you won’t be idle. I have special tasks for you,” Yueqian said with a smile. Well...since these women had already learned many things from her, it would be a shame not to put their skills to good use.