At the beginning, his wife came to him, and he became rich by selling kidney treasures.

"Where are you all from?" Ren Hao asked the four people indirectly, wanting to know if they were arranged by the emperor to monitor him.

"To answer your question, sir, we are all from the ancient Wei Yang Village." The leading young man responded.

Ancient Wei?

Su Wan'er and her family members suddenly widened their eyes and found it unbelievable.

Then wasn’t ancient Wei an enemy country?

Why do people from the enemy country come to Gu Han to be servants?

Ren Hao saw that everyone looked confused, so he quickly said, "You don't know that the Han and Wei countries have been fighting for several years. In order to expand their populations, both sides would plunder each other's people."

"Is that so?" Su Wan'er and her family nodded.

Regardless of whether they were really plundered or not, Ren Hao had no intention of keeping them in the mansion.

If one of them is the emperor's spy, then every move they make will be known to the emperor clearly.

He didn't want to live under other people's eyes, so he had to find a way to get rid of these four people.

"What's your name?" Ren Hao looked at the young man who was answering.

"My lord, my name is Cai Lun." After introducing himself, the young man introduced the three people who were accompanying him to Ren Hao.

Ren Hao nodded, looked at the four people and asked, "Do you all miss home?"

None of the four expressed their opinions first. They just looked at each other. It would be a lie to say they missed home.

"To answer the master's question, we all miss home." Cai Lun spoke carefully, and the other three nodded.

Ren Hao saw the homesickness in their faces and suddenly remembered his hometown as if he were in another world.

But it was only a flash.

After all, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't go back.

Ren Hao sighed secretly, put away his thoughts and asked: "How about I take you home?"

"Master, are you asking us to die?"

The four people's homesickness was swept away and turned into panic.

Among them, the maid named Qingzhu suddenly started sobbing.

Seeing how terrified they were, Ren Hao quickly explained, "I don't want you to die. I just want to send you home."

"If the master wants to send us home, that means he wants us to die!!!" Cai Lun suddenly burst into tears and told Ren Hao that people like them who were captured by Wei should never leave the mansion assigned to them.

If he were caught after leaving the mansion, he would be dead.

"Master, please have mercy on us and don't drive us away. We are willing to serve you like slaves."

"Yes, Master, I...we eat less and work more, and we will never be lazy."

"Master, I...I will definitely serve you and the Madam well."

The other three knelt on the ground and kowtowed, begging Ren Hao to take them in.

Ren Hao was overwhelmed by their begging, and he quickly said, "Okay, all of you get up quickly."

"If the master does not accept us, we will never get up." Cai Lun kowtowed.

"Get up quickly, I will accept you." Ren Hao waved his hand and sighed secretly.

For officials of this era, the lives of slaves were not even as important as the pets kept in the mansion.

But as a modern person who traveled through time, he really couldn't help but feel pity for these people.

"Thank you, Master. We will never let you down in the future." The four of them burst into laughter and expressed their loyalty to Ren Hao before slowly standing up.

Cai Lun brought Ren Hao and his family to visit this ancient mansion.

From the main house all the way to the back garden.

Ren Hao's gaze finally fell on a stone in the center of the pond.

There was a word "Zhou" carved on the stone.

"Cai Lun, do you know who lived in this mansion before?" Ren Hao asked curiously.

"My lord, this mansion was previously the residence of the former prime minister. It is said that the word 'Zhou' was carved there before his property was ransacked." Cai Lun replied quickly.

"Is that so?" Ren Hao nodded in confusion.

As the saying goes, a boat in water can carry it but can also capsize it.

The word "舟" (boat) vividly demonstrates the intrigues in the court and the emperor's political tactics.

"Husband, do you know the meaning of the word 'zhou'?" Xu Yating asked curiously.

"Perhaps, only the parties involved can understand the meaning of it." Ren Hao shook his head pretending to be ignorant, and also tried to guess the emperor's intention of rewarding this mansion.

But no matter what, now that we have come to the capital, we must plan for the future.

Although the capital city seems peaceful and prosperous, there is actually a group of cruel beasts hiding in secret.

If you don't have your own power, you will be a piece of fat meat that can be slaughtered at will.

It is said that it is easy to make money but difficult to keep it.

Just as Ren Hao was thinking about how to build up his power, Xu Yating asked, "Husband, our business is booming now, and we can make a net profit of more than 3,000 taels every month. Should we expand the scale of our business?"

"We have just arrived in Beijing, so there is no rush to expand our business."

"Right now we have to find a way to gain a firm foothold in the capital. If we can't gain a firm foothold in the capital, no matter how much wealth we have, it will be earned by others." Ren Hao shook his head and expressed his thoughts.

"My husband, since you want to gain a foothold in the capital, why don't you want to be an official?" Xu Yating asked puzzledly.

"Being an official is a good choice, but I don't want to follow the footsteps of the former prime minister." Ren Hao shook his head and continued, "I don't want to be an official, but I also want to build my own power."

"Husband, do you want to..." Xu Yating widened her eyes, but before she could say the two words, Ren Hao covered her eyes.

Through the candlelight at the window, he saw a shadow waiting outside the door.

Although the aristocratic families all had a certain amount of retainer power, the emperor could only turn a blind eye.

But Ren Hao now can't compare to them.

If what he said to Xu Yating just now were to get out, he would have ten heads left.

"Who's outside?" Ren Hao shouted.

"Master, it's me, Qingzhu." A maid walked in holding a copper basin.

"Why are you coming to the study so late instead of going to rest?" Xu Yating asked.

"Madam, I see that the master hasn't rested yet, so I came over to help him rest." Qingzhu said with his head down.

"The master doesn't need you to serve him. Just put down the basin and go back to rest." Xu Yating waved her hand to dismiss him.

"Yes, ma'am." Qingzhu put down the copper basin and carefully left the study.

After Xu Yating was sure Qingzhu had gone far away, she closed the door and asked, "My husband, I know you are very capable, but you don't want to be an official and wade into muddy waters, but want to cultivate a power of your own?"

"Aren't you afraid of being beheaded?" Xu Yating widened her eyes.

He has no job but still dares to keep retainers. At the least, this is making friends with people from all walks of life. At the worst, this is treason!!!