HUS Chapter 62: Living Perfume Bottles
HUS Chapter 62: Living Perfume Bottles
January 4
With the departure of Estate Head Zhang and his people, the vast Feng'an Fortress became empty and desolate.
In the main hall of the front residence, only Yang Can, Leopard Head, Xiao Qingmei, Accountant Li, and a few other sparse individuals remained.
Leopard Head said, "Estate Head, the rear residence needs people to manage it, and the outer residence also needs household servants and guards. Does the Estate Head plan to hire some people from the estate?"
Qingmei immediately objected, "Hiring people from the estate wouldn't be appropriate. That way, if anything happens in our household, won't the whole estate know about it immediately?"
Qingmei thought for a moment, then said, "How about we ask the young mistress to allocate a group of people?"
Yang Can shook his head. Familiar is familiar, but did she really want to fill his surroundings with the Suo family's eyes and ears?
Yang Can said, "The young mistress also needs staff. I'm only transferring you alone, and I still don't know if the young mistress is willing to part with you. Transfer more people from the young mistress? Let's forget about that."
Qingmei actually didn't have any ulterior motives, it was just that in her heart, she saw both Suo Zanzhi and Yang Can as her own people, without distinguishing between them.
When Yang Can objected now, Qingmei immediately realized it was inappropriate.
At this time, Li Damu's eyes rolled, and he said, "Estate Head, why not send someone to Tianshui City to find a slave trader and buy some servants from him? Such slaves all have indenture contracts and can only depend on their master, so they're very loyal."
Yang Can's eyes lit up upon hearing this, "Good, that's an excellent idea!"
Accountant Li had now also been retained by Yang Can for Feng'an Fortress.
Of course, he was originally the accountant for the eldest branch, so his position couldn't be lowered.
Therefore, he was still formally under the eldest branch's organization, but actually managed Feng'an Estate's finances.
A chief accountant was needed here, and Li Damu, whose pigtail was in Yang Can's hand, was the most suitable person in Yang Can's mind.
Yang Can said with a smile, "Mister Li's method is excellent. Are you satisfied with remaining at Feng'an Estate?"
Xiaotan now officially belonged to Li Damu.
Because he used Yang Can's name to mention it to Zhang Yunyi, Zhang Yunyi naturally agreed readily.
Of course, Yang Can had also requested someone from Estate Head Zhang.
He requested Zhu Weipeng, this chef whose skills had conquered his stomach.
Li Damu, who was currently very satisfied, immediately beamed with joy and said, "Satisfied, satisfied. To be able to serve the Estate Head, Li is very satisfied."
Yang Can said, "That's good. As for finding a slave trader to purchase slaves, I'll leave it entirely to Mister Li to handle. You can pick a time and go to Tianshui City as soon as possible to find a slave trader."
Accountant Li was overjoyed. No matter how careful he was, there was still plenty of profit to be made here.
Being responsible for procurement had always been a cushy job since ancient times.
Qingmei instructed, "Tell the slave trader to bring more slaves. Our master will need to select from them. We won't accept ugly or defective ones in our household."
Accountant Li replied with a smile, "Naturally, naturally. When these people are brought back, they must first be reviewed by Miss Qingmei."
Only then did Qingmei relax.
Ugly or defective ones weren't really a problem, but they couldn't buy back any vixens.
What if the Steward's health was worn down?
...
After going through a series of upheavals, Feng'an Estate gradually calmed down.
Spring plowing would soon begin spring sowing, life had to go on.
This was a major matter related to the year's livelihood. Who could keep their attention focused on Feng'an Estate's personnel changes?
In any case, such a major bloodletting in Feng'an Estate's upper levels hadn't greatly affected the common people's lives, and they were satisfied with that.
Yang Can allowed all those stewards who had bullied men and dominated women in daily life, but hadn't committed heinous crimes, to retain their positions despite their offenses.
It truly wasn't that he could tolerate sand in his eyes, but rather he was considering the big picture.
He could establish order from now on and make these people follow his newly established rules but he couldn't replace all these people.
Select another batch directly from the common people?
Those people really might not be able to handle the work.
Yang Can didn't have the patience to train people from scratch step by step, nor did the situation allow him to do so.
Wangcai arrived from Phoenix Mountain Manor carrying a small bundle.
Since his master was going to permanently reside at Feng'an Fortress, what was he staying on the mountain for?
He brought Yang Can a sealed jar of "tihu."
This of course came from Madam Pan Xiaowan's hands.
The two places weren't far apart, and Yang Can would return to Phoenix Mountain Manor every few days.
Frequent reporting and communication would dispel Clan Head Yu Xinglong's doubts about him.
During this process, it seemed he also needed to reciprocate gifts from time to time. However, if he were to "give tihu in return for tihu," that naturally wouldn't do.
Because he concurrently held the position of Feng'an Estate Head, Yang Can temporarily had no time to inspect the remaining five estates and three pastures but if he didn't go, the blade hanging over these five estates and three pastures would never fall.
If the blade didn't fall, these pasture heads and estate heads would remain anxious and work even more diligently.
Of course, Yu Huanhu's influence couldn't be discounted either.
Yu Huanhu hadn't secretly instructed them to "badmouth" Clan Head Yu Xinglong.
Because Yu Huanhu suddenly discovered that this person Yang Can was both the Second Steward of Young Mistress Suo's household and a chess piece his elder brother Yu Xinglong had placed beside the young mistress to annoy the Suo family.
And such a person, if used well, might produce unexpected results in the future.
His elder brother Yu Xinglong had clearly already found a scapegoat, just waiting for the autumn harvest. If there was a poor harvest, he would push them out to appease public anger.
Since he couldn't shake his elder brother, he didn't plan to play these games anymore.
He set his sights on Yang Can.
For this reason, Yu Huanhu directly sent out his eldest son, Yu Rui.
With him sitting in Dailai City, Yu Rui could leave.
This father and son pair would never leave their base of power simultaneously.
Now, Feng'an Estate's retainer soldiers were still commanded by Kang Zhengyang as Corps Commander.
Among the stewards, Yang Can had promoted several barely usable new people.
Leopard Head Cheng Dakuan became his chief steward of Feng'an Fortress, with a role somewhat similar to Wan Tai beside Estate Head Zhang.
Xiao Qingmei didn't become jealous of Leopard Head or compete with him over who was the chief steward because her current goal wasn't to be Feng'an Fortress's chief steward, but rather to be one of Feng'an Fortress's mistresses.
The only one, she naturally didn't dare to think about.
Even if their young mistress couldn't formally marry Yang Can due to her status, that still wasn't a reason for her to take her place.
Yang Can now only focused on making Feng'an Estate a model.
The other estates were watching him at this time. Seeing what he did, they would have ample time to think, to choose, and to respond and these responses would inevitably favor compromise.
Yang Can wanted exactly this kind of compromise.
Of course, if there really were any blind fools who still wanted to act tough with him, he wouldn't mind making them Zhang Yunyi the Second, or even giving them a worse fate than Zhang Yunyi. However, even these new measures he implemented at Feng'an Estate still had Zhang Yunyi at the forefront.
He had Zhang Yunyi organize personnel to calibrate all measuring instruments and scales used in the estate.
He also had Zhang Yunyi establish rules for regular inspections and irregular spot checks.
For agricultural product processing facilities such as the estate's mills and oil presses, Yang Can also had Zhang Yunyi organize personnel to reorganize them and formulate stricter management measures.
Don't underestimate these measures or think they were trivial and useless small matters.
The people regarded food as heaven. These trivial small matters were matters of utmost importance to them.
With Zhang Yunyi charging ahead, these could be implemented with maximum efficiency.
At present, Zhang Yunyi still had some use at Feng'an Estate.
Of course, everyone knew that the hand behind Zhang Yunyi was Steward Yang's.
Yang Can was step by step becoming the new king in the hearts of Feng'an's people.
At this time, Li Damu returned to Feng'an Estate with a "slave trader" he had found in Tianshui.
"Slave traders" were human traffickers.
The difference between them was that human traffickers were mostly registered with the authorities and engaged in officially sanctioned slave trade.
These slave dealers had more reliable sources of slaves but the slaves in these human traffickers' hands relatively lacked diversity.
Moreover, these human traffickers mostly did business with regular customers in fixed areas.
For them to bring large numbers of slaves from Tianshui City to Feng'an Estate for Yang Can to select and purchase would be difficult.
"Slave traders" were different.
These people operating in the gray business chain would go anywhere as long as there was money to be made.
Their sources of slaves were also varied, though almost none had sold themselves voluntarily.
The "slave trader" Li Damu contacted was named Qian Yuan.
Shopkeeper Qian was a major slave owner who originally wouldn't bother with the business of a mere estate but he heard from Li Damu that this Feng'an Estate Head wanted to buy slaves sufficient to fill an entire fortress.
He also heard that this Feng'an Estate Head concurrently managed five other major estates and three major pastures.
That was different. Not only was this business worth doing, this person was worth befriending.
Thus, Shopkeeper Qian brought his slaves.
This slave trader's convoy was enormous, with over two hundred people.
Those riding horses were Qian Yuan's guards, about forty-some people.
They all wore cloth wrapped around their heads, hemp cloth long robes, sabers at their sides, and fierce appearances.
As for those mule carts, they were transporting the slaves.
Most slaves walked alongside the carts, but some slaves were also crowded onto the carts.
The slaves crowded onto the carts weren't necessarily old people. The elderly couldn't fetch a good price.
Slave traders found them a waste of food and were too lazy to collect them, unless they had special skills.
The carts mainly carried women and children.
Among them was one cart that was very different from the slave carts.
This cart was luxuriously decorated with silk curtains hanging from all sides. This was Qian Yuan's carriage.
"Master, we've arrived at Feng'an Fortress."
A guard walked to the side of the cart and reported into it.
Shopkeeper Qian was sitting in the cart, holding a crystal cup in his hand.
Less than half a cup of bright red grape wine remained, gently swirling.
Hearing the words, Shopkeeper Qian drained the wine in one gulp and handed the crystal cup to the beautiful young man beside him.
The youth was thirteen or fourteen years old, with delicate features. After some grooming, his charm was nearly bewitching.
There were two such beautiful young men in the cart altogether.
These two beautiful young men had both been carefully selected by Shopkeeper Qian from among his slaves.
They attended to Qian Yuan in all matters of sitting, sleeping, and daily life, never leaving his side.
Shopkeeper Qian jokingly called them his "living perfume bottles."
Because they had to wear incense-fumigated clothing, carry sachets of rare fragrances, and be fragrant throughout their bodies.
Qian Yuan slowly stood up. This cart was both wide and tall, and with his tall stature, he could actually stand upright without bending.
The other handsome youth had already stepped forward to lift the curtain for him.
Qian Yuan affectionately pinched his powdered cheek before walking out of the cart.
In front of the cart, a slave was already kneeling on both knees, hands supporting the ground, serving as a footstool.
Shopkeeper Qian emerged from the cart and stepped on the slave's back, steadily standing on the ground.
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