Not long after Shen Xuan returned from the palace, he received the imperial decree from the Empress Dowager.
He was granted a residence in Yangliu Lane, three streets east of the city, along with a set of imperial red sandalwood furniture, a set of blue-and-white porcelain vases, a set of blue-and-white bowls and plates, a set of palace gauze bed curtains, and an additional one hundred taels of gold.
There was also a carriage, two excellent horses, bedding, clothing, and various pieces of jewelry bestowed by the Empress, truly a very generous gift!
An imperial residence granted by the Empress Dowager naturally could not be refused!
Shen Xuan was overjoyed and immediately accepted the decree, expressing his gratitude.
This left Bai Shi so furious her teeth ached, only able to watch helplessly as Shen Xuan moved out of the Xue family mansion.
At this point, how could she not understand whose doing this truly was? The idea that the Empress Dowager was merely nostalgic was clearly just an excuse.
The Shen family had fallen over ten years ago, and the Empress Dowager hadn't given the Shen family orphan a second glance.
Yet, as soon as Shen Xuan returned, the Empress Dowager bestowed a residence—it all came down to wanting Shen Xuan to move out of the Xue family mansion.
The Empress was the Second Prince's birth mother, and the Ye family had always been very close to him.
It was likely that the Second Prince had exerted influence behind the scenes for the Empress Dowager to summon Shen Xuan this time.
But Xue Fenglin had never been close to the Second Prince; how could he have gained his assistance this time?
Had they formed an alliance behind the scenes? Bai Shi thought of this and immediately sent for her brother, Bai Yan.
Meanwhile, Shen Xuan simply packed his belongings and eagerly moved out. Although he was moving out of the Marquis's mansion, he still needed servants to attend to him.
After some thought, Bai Shi, under the guise of caring for Shen Xuan, insisted that Mama You accompany him.
Shen Xuan found it hard to refuse. After thinking it over, he also requested Jinzhi and Jingui. These two had been trained well by him recently and now prioritized his needs in everything.
Furthermore, they were old servants of the mansion and quite familiar with Mama You, so they would be good at helping him deal with her.
However, shortly after moving, people from the Ye family suddenly arrived. Shen Xuan went out to receive them and found that it was the same old woman who had come with Madam Ye that day, named Mama Han, who was likely her trusted confidante.
Mama Han brought some congratulatory gifts, including bedding, fabrics, pastries, and candies. She was also followed by two attendants.
The two ger looked about fifteen or sixteen, a very useful age, both appearing delicate and quite sharp and capable in their behavior.
"My madam heard that Shen Ger has moved and worried about a lack of servants, so she specifically sent two trustworthy attendants," Mama Han said.
"This pair of attendants are named Suyun and Suyue. They were trained by the Ye family and previously served the eldest ger who has already married. They are both first-class attendants in the family."
She added, "Now, they are placed here for Shen Ger to use, and their monthly allowance will still be paid by the Ye family."
Shen Xuan: "..."
He didn't expect that even after Bai Shi planted a Mama You by his side, the Ye family would also send people over...
He was just a single ger. Why would he need so many personal attendants? However, since Madam Ye had explicitly stated that their monthly allowance would come from the Ye family, as a junior, he couldn't very well refuse. Helpless, Shen Xuan could only accept them for now.
After seeing Mama Han off, Shen Xuan gathered all the household servants in the main hall for a meeting.
He told them, "I have only just arrived in the capital and know very little about it, so I will need your guidance."
He continued, "With so many of you, I'm not sure how to arrange everything. Why don't you introduce yourselves one by one and tell me what you are good at, so I can assign you to suitable tasks?"
Mama You, hearing this, immediately stepped forward and said, "Replying to Shen Ger, this old servant has always been by Madam Xue's side, helping her manage all personnel affairs in the mansion. All tasks within the Xue mansion were arranged by me."
Bai Shi had specifically sent her to monitor Shen Xuan, so she naturally intended to use her seniority to take control of the household's overall management.
Then Suyue and Suyun both stepped forward and said together, "We are first-class attendants from the Ye mansion. We used to take care of the Ye family's eldest gers daily life, including his food and clothing."
Suyun: "I am best at making tea and can also make pastries, sweet soups, and other foods."
Suyue: "I can write and keep accounts. I used to manage everything in the eldest gers' room."
After they finished speaking, Jinzhi and Jingui stepped forward, somewhat hesitantly, saying, "We used to do all sorts of chores in the Xue mansion, like cleaning and serving."
After saying this, they looked at Shen Xuan expectantly, hoping Shen Xuan would keep them in the main rooms, given that they had served him for a while in the Xue family.
Regardless of whether they were servants sent by Bai Shi or the Ye family, they all had genuine skills.
Only Jinzhi and Jingui, whom Shen Xuan had personally requested from the Xue family, were merely third-rank attendants who had just been promoted from general labor.
Not only were they younger, but apart from serving Shen Xuan with his clothes and meals and cleaning his room, they didn't have many other special skills.
If it were a fair competition, they would only be fit for sweeping the outer courtyard.
One was Bai Shi, the other Madam Ye; both were elders, and Shen Xuan couldn't afford to offend either of them right now.
After some thought, he said to Mama You, "Since Mama You is proficient in managing personnel, I'll entrust the personnel matters of this residence to you. Could you also help me arrange their tasks?"
Mama You, pleased, immediately said, "Then this old woman will help Shen Ger with the arrangements?"
She continued, "Suyun and Suyue are both first-class attendants sent by Madam Ye. By rights, they should be placed in Shen Ger's rooms to serve him personally. However, they are newly arrived and not yet familiar with Shen Ger's habits. Perhaps we can assign them other tasks, and let Jinzhi and Jingui continue to serve in your room?"
Suyun and Suyue were both spies sent by the Ye family, and Bai Shi was at odds with the Ye family.
Mama You naturally couldn't let them into Shen Xuan's room. Jinzhi and Jingui had been with the Xue mansion before and always followed her instructions. Mama You felt they were easier to control, so she arranged for them to stay by Shen Xuan's side.
As expected, as soon as Mama You spoke, Suyun and Suyue exchanged glances, appearing quite displeased. Shen Xuan then deliberately said, "But isn't that improper? They are first-class attendants from the Ye family; what task would be suitable if not serving in the main rooms?"
Mama You thought for a moment and said, "Since Suyue can write, she can manage the gatehouse entries and exits. Suyun, being skilled in making pastries, must be quite knowledgeable about kitchen ingredients, so she can go to the kitchen." She was eager to send these two Ye family members far away, not caring if the tasks were dignified or not.
Suyue and Suyun's faces turned green upon hearing this. They were born into the Ye family.
Even when they were third-rank attendants in the courtyard, they had never done such undignified work. However, Shen Xuan then interjected again,
"Isn't that unsuitable? They are first-class attendants from the Ye family; wouldn't these chores be a waste of their talent?"
"How about this: since Suyue is good at keeping accounts, she can help me manage the household's daily purchases and the storeroom. Suyun is skilled in cooking, and I presume she's quite knowledgeable about kitchen ingredients and related matters, so she can help me manage kitchen purchases and beverages."
Managing daily supplies and the storeroom, as well as kitchen purchases and beverages, were all lucrative positions involving money.
Mama You had originally intended to control all these herself but was now suddenly stripped of them by Shen Xuan.
Although she still managed personnel, she had no real power. She was naturally unwilling and wanted to say something, but Suyue and Suyun, with perfect tacit understanding, stepped forward together and thanked Shen Xuan for his arrangements.
They then pledged their loyalty, vowing to diligently perform their duties, leaving Mama You with no way to refute them.
***
Just as the household staff had been arranged, Wuxin suddenly arrived with a cook and a coachman.
The cook and coachman were both gifts from Xue Fenglin to Shen Xuan, and their indentured servant contracts were also handed over to him, saving Mama You the trouble of buying people.
"I live alone, and this many servants in the residence are quite enough," Shen Xuan said. He instructed Mama You to arrange the living arrangements for all the servants in the mansion, then returned to his room alone.
After he left, Mama You proceeded to assign accommodations to everyone. The three-courtyard residence wasn't too large.
The servants' rooms were in the Servants' quarters (dàozuòfáng (倒座房)), located in the east wing directly after entering the main gate.
One side of the servants quarters faced the road, and the other bordered the kitchen, making them noisy and not very good rooms.
Mama You, of course, arranged the best room in the middle for herself. To win over Jinzhi and Jingui, she placed them in the rooms next to hers.
The cook, who worked in the kitchen daily, voluntarily asked to stay in the room closest to the kitchen.
As for the room closest to the road, Mama You deliberately assigned it to Suyun and Suyue after some thought, hoping to make them retreat out of difficulty.
Suyun and Suyue were furious, but because Mama You managed personnel, they had no choice.
Only when they returned to their room did they quietly discuss, "That old woman, surnamed You, is truly despicable. Relying on her seniority, she deliberately makes things difficult for us everywhere."
"Yes, thankfully, Shen Ger is good-natured. He couldn't stand what she was doing, so he gave us important tasks to manage."
"I heard that old woman was sent by Madam Bai, the current madam of the Xue family. She must have been deliberately sent to suppress Shen Ger."
"Shen Ger is a ger who just arrived in the capital; how can he openly defy his future mother-in-law? What can he do? Look, when he wanted to give us the purchasing duties, that old woman You still wanted to object!"
After discussing for a while, they felt a touch of sympathy for Shen Xuan and two more parts of disgust for Mama You.
They resolved to constantly monitor Mama You from then on, and once she slipped up, they would find a way to blow things up and get her kicked out of the Shen family.
Shen Xuan, at this moment, was quite satisfied with this distribution of personnel. Primarily, his two trusted people, Jingui and Jinzhi, were still by his side.
And with Mama You and Suyun/Suyue balancing each other out, watching each other, they wouldn't have time to monitor him.
He called Jinzhi and Jingui into his room and first rewarded each of them with half of the pastries sent by the Ye family.
Then, he closed the door and said to them, "Although you are only third-rank attendants of the Xue family, I personally asked Madam Xue for you."
"I'm happy that you two can stay and serve in my rooms this time. However, you should know that the rules here are the same as they were at the Xue family: everything revolves around me. You understand that, right?"
"Yes, we'll follow all of Shen Ger's arrangements."
"We'll ask for your instructions first, Shen Ger, for anything."
Jingui and Jinzhi readily agreed. Seeing that they were sensible, Shen Xuan nodded in satisfaction and then dismissed them.
Once he was alone in his room, Shen Xuan took out his small stash of money and calculated his total silver.
The honey scholar tea recipe sold for two thousand taels of silver. Adding the two hundred taels he brought from Yunshui Village, he had a total of two thousand two hundred taels.
If he also included the one hundred taels of gold Xue Fenglin had given him, and the one hundred taels of gold the Empress Dowager had bestowed upon him during his palace visit—which could be exchanged for a thousand taels of silver—his grand total was three thousand two hundred taels of silver.
'I wonder if three thousand two hundred taels of silver is enough to buy a shop in the capital?' Shen Xuan thought.
He had originally planned to earn enough capital in Yunshui Village to buy a house and open a shop in Lezhou. But now that he was in the capital and had a property gifted by the Empress Dowager, instead of living off his savings or waiting for the Xue family to support him, he might as well open one in the capital first.
The capital had a large population and even more wealthy people. The business opportunities were naturally richer than in Lezhou.
After a moment of thought, Shen Xuan made up his mind. He planned to visit the market tomorrow to scout around and see what kind of business would be more profitable in the capital.
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