Chapter 22: Liu's Elder Brother

  Through the corridor, Su Mu Jin brought Liu Ya Ni into the courtyard.

  Su Mu Jin arrived when Su Zong Guan was instructing Li Po Zi about something, seeing Su Mu Jin arrive he stopped the conversation and led Li Po Zi to respectfully greet Su Mu Jin.

  "Miss, Li Pozi has brought a group of little girls waiting outside the Jin Garden for you to select your personal maid. Master has instructed that you should choose carefully and not worry about the number of people, as long as you are satisfied."

  Su Mu-jin smiled and nodded, "Thanks to General Manager Su." However, his eyes fell on Li Po's body. She was about 30 or 40 years old, with a plump face and a smiling face. She wore Suzhou silk brocade, with a blue-edged jacket outside. When she heard General Manager Su's respectful attitude and language, her eyes showed some flattery!

  "Go get someone."

  Soon, twenty or thirty eleven- or twelve-year-old girls came into the garden. The girls were all dressed very neatly and stood in a row, bowing to Su Mu-jin, "Greetings, elder sister!"

  Su Mochen nodded slightly, indeed well-trained, seeing the luxurious Jin Garden without even blinking an eye, unlike the maids bought from outside the mansion. Her eyes swept around in a circle and suddenly landed on one of the tall women, who was dressed in maid attire with a humble attitude, but her back was straight as a pen. Su Mochen's gaze shifted to her hands and saw that they were small and white as jade, with skin as smooth as condensed fat, not at all like a girl from a poor family, but rather like a young lady from a wealthy household.

  Her eyes immediately solidified.

  "Does the young lady find them satisfactory? These girls are all from poor families, and I've trained them for a long time to get them to their current state. I won't say anything else, but they definitely won't lose face in front of you." Li Baozi looked at Su Mochen's expressionless face, unable to discern her emotions, and felt a bit nervous inside - she was also used to dealing with young ladies from wealthy families, but this was the first time she'd met a 13- or 14-year-old girl with such a calm demeanor.

  "Li's old lady is a well-known trainer in the capital, otherwise so many big households wouldn't buy people from her!" She paused for a moment and smiled again, "But doing business is all about integrity! The old lady probably doesn't want to ruin her reputation either. I'd like to warn her that although my Su family isn't a noble family in the capital, we're not easy to fool around with either. For the sake of a few small coins, she's willing to ruin her own signboard - this is not a wise move!"

  Li's heart skipped a beat, and her smile became somewhat forced.

  "Think about it, madam," Su Mu Jin continued, "is there a maid among them who is not in good health? If she's infected with the illness, it won't be good!"

  Su and Liu Ayi listened behind her as she spoke with Li Pozi, both nodding in agreement.

  Li Babai has come to her senses and dryly said, "Big sister didn't remind me, old slave almost forgot, indeed three of these maidservants were ill a few days ago, old slave will take them back later!"

  Su Mojin nodded in satisfaction.

  "The old woman then took away all the sick people, and I got everything that was left."

  Li's eyes lit up, and her voice immediately brightened, "Well, well! The big girl is indeed a straightforward person!" More than 20 maids would be enough for her to make a fortune.

  Su Mojin gave a wink to Liu Mama, and Liu Mama handed over a bright red gold hairpin to Li Popo. After a few pushes, Li Popo accepted it.

  Su Zongguan nodded silently, showing even more respect towards Su Mochen. Using both kindness and severity, this is the style of a superior!

  Twenty-eight maidservants were left, Su Mochen only kept eighteen of them. She selected some younger-looking and more honest or clever maidservants from the twenty-eight to take with her to Qing Song Yuan.

  "First, take them back to the garden and let them get familiar with the environment. Then, observe which one is more stable and make it a secondary one first. After some time, I'll observe again and promote or demote accordingly."

  Everyone's eyes lit up, which means that as long as they do their job well, they can upgrade their level! The Su family is very generous to the lower servants, and the second-class maids have one or two silver coins every month, which is enough for them to live a good life. Moreover, if they gain recognition from the eldest daughter while serving by her side, she will arrange a good marriage for them in the future, and they won't have to worry about their lives after that.

  "The maids of Qing Song Yuan also need to be replaced, I'll take ten of them to Qing Song Yuan and hand them over to Zhou Mama to train, in the future they will serve Cong Er."

  Lao Lao was also an old servant left by Mother. After Mother passed away, one Liu Lao Lao was placed in front of her and one Zhou Lao Lao was placed in front of Cong Er.

  "Still so considerate as a big girl."

  Su Mu Jin bypassed the Bi Chi Yuan where Liu's family lived and went to Qing Song Yuan. Since Cong Er was not yet four years old, he had not moved out of the inner courtyard to live elsewhere. When Su Mu Jin arrived at Qing Song Yuan, Cong Er had just fallen asleep, his small face flushed with a faint red glow, and his long eyelashes still held tiny droplets of moisture. Su Mu Jin felt a slight pang in her heart, and then she heard Zhou Mama explain...

  "...was forcibly brought back by the people beside the old lady, cried and made a fuss for a long time, insisting on going to find her elder sister, no matter how they coaxed her, she wouldn't listen, crying for an hour, her throat was hoarse from shouting, only then did she fall asleep from exhaustion." As she spoke, Zhou Mama wiped the corner of her eye with a handkerchief, looking at Su Mu Jin, she also let out a sigh of relief, "Today's events have spread throughout the entire household, fortunately Miss is safe and sound, otherwise this old servant and Liu Mama would have no face to see Madame in the afterlife..."

  Su Mo Jin's words made her feel a little heartbroken, "Qiong Er has never even enjoyed half of his mother's love, he is the most unfortunate child. Nanny, I won't be able to watch Qiong Er every day, you take care of him more, and also know which maids and servants in the courtyard can be used and which cannot. Today, I brought some people over, if there are those who cannot be used, just replace them. These people are new to the mansion, they need good discipline!" She sat on the edge of the bed and wiped away Qiong Er's tears, "Qiong Er is the only young master in the mansion, there are countless people with designs on him, I will think of a way to let Qiong Er move into Jin Garden, so that he can be taken care of nearby in the future!"

  "It can't be better than this."

  Su Mu Jin gazed at Cong Er sleeping soundly, then instructed Zhou Mama, "When she wakes up, she will certainly make a fuss looking for me. At that time, Mama will bring her to find me."

  Zhou Nu looked at Su Mu Jin carefully putting down the curtain and nodded, "This old slave has taken note."

  Nodding her head, Su Mochen walked through the courtyard and back to Jin Garden.

  As I passed by Liu's Biqi Yard, I suddenly saw Jiang's nanny pushing a middle-aged man with a flustered expression rushing out of the house.

  Su Mojin was shocked and quickly flashed behind the fake mountain.

  Through the small hole in the artificial hill, she finally recognized who the man was!

  Liu's elder brother Liu Guang!

  Since Liu's family followed the old lady from Yunzhou to Kyoto, Liu's family also moved to Kyoto after Liu was carried by his aunt. However, in Yunzhou, the Liu family was not considered a wealthy and noble family, and when they arrived in Kyoto, they lost their previous connections and found it even harder to do business.

  But Liu's elder brother, Liu Guang, was notorious in the family for being lazy and greedy. He spent his days dreaming of getting rich quickly without putting in any effort. In her past life, she had caught him several times coming to the Biqi courtyard to ask Liu for money! Liu felt that this elder brother of hers was despicable, but as he was her own flesh and blood, she couldn't bear to let him end up on the streets, so she often helped him out.

  Su Mu Jin stuck to the fake mountain and listened to Jiang's scolding voice, "Silver, silver! The madam has been banned by the master, where can she get silver for you now?"

  Liu Guangyao shouted, "What's the reason for not giving me silver? If it weren't for my support back then and helping her do some shady things, would she have become Mrs. Su so smoothly? Now that her status is higher, she looks down on me, her own brother! She can't refuse to give it to me! Today, I'll stay here and won't leave!"

  Su Mo's eyes suddenly widened in surprise!

  "Ancestors!" Old Lady Jiang hastily covered Liu Guang's mouth, looked around to make sure no one was listening, and then scolded in a low voice, "Some things can be said, some things cannot be said. Do you really want to get the mistress killed?!"

  Liu Guang hummed a few discontented sentences, but didn't shout again.

  "Wait for a few days until Madame is released from her confinement and we'll think of a way to send you the silver," said Jiang Yiniang in a low voice.

  "I'll come back in two days then!"

  "You can't come in, it's not right for an outsider to enter the inner courtyard! I'll think of a way to have someone send the silver out of the mansion." Saying this, she quickly pushed Liu Guang towards the back door.

  Su Mo's eyes narrowed behind the fake mountain, and a sudden flash of inspiration appeared in her mind. After a while, she looked at the backs of Jiang and Hua leaving, with an unfathomable smile!

  Digression

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