After I got into the drama, I led the plot astray

With two people missing from the house, it suddenly felt a lot quieter.

No, there is still one person who hasn't appeared yet.

I quickly asked, "Where's my master? Is he back?"

After Yi Ping added a few pieces of charcoal to the charcoal stove, he stood up and patted the ashes on his hands, saying, "I didn't see him. Your master is always elusive. Who knows where he went?"

As Yi Ping was talking, Yingchun came in with a tray of hot water and said, "Second Young Master, wash your face first."

I nodded, and Yingchun wrung out a towel and handed it to me. I wiped my face and asked Yingchun, "How much monthly salary does the palace give you?"

My question was a little sudden. Yingchun hesitated for a moment and said a little embarrassedly: "My monthly salary is eight taels of silver."

"So little?" I was a little surprised.

"It's not a small amount. This is the monthly salary I receive as the head maid. Panchun and the others only receive five taels of silver a month." Yingchun said somewhat unconvinced.

I smiled and said, "I think you have done a good job and you should not receive such a small monthly salary. How about this? In addition to the monthly salary given to you by the palace, I will give you an extra 20 taels of silver per month, and the other three maids will each receive 10 taels of silver per month. What do you think?"

Yingchun was so frightened that she opened her mouth and looked at me in disbelief, saying, "Give me, make up, make up 20 taels of silver per month?"

I smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes, twenty taels a month, and more if you perform well."

Yingchun's eyes suddenly turned red and tears fell.

I was shocked by Yingchun's behavior. I quickly said, "Isn't it a happy thing to increase your monthly salary? Why are you crying?"

Yingchun sobbed and said, "I am so happy. Twenty taels is almost three months' salary. I can get three months' salary in one month without having to do any extra work. How can I not be happy?"

I smiled and said, "So that's how it is. Seeing you crying, I thought the amount was too little. Well, go out and tell those three girls to make them happy. When the palace gives you your monthly salary, you just come to Yiping to ask for the money."

Yingchun bowed to me happily, then turned around and ran quickly to report the good news.

Yi Ping watched Yingchun leave, then whispered, "Are you crazy? Since the palace pays them monthly wages, why do you have to give them extra money? They should be paid 50 taels of silver a month. We used to sell tofu, and we couldn't make that much in several years."

I handed Yin Ping the silver note with nearly 2,000 taels of silver left in my arms and said, "We don't have to spend money on food, drink, and toilet now, so there's no point in having so much silver. Besides, even if we give them 50 taels of silver every month, it's only a few hundred taels a year. The prince said last time that a portion of the stolen silver seized from Miaoyin would be used as a bonus, and half of it would be given to me. I calculated that it would be at least tens of thousands of taels, so these few dozen taels of silver are nothing to us."

"Is this true? Did the prince really agree to give you half of the prize money?" Yi Ping asked half-doubtfully.

I said, "Of course it's true. How could what the prince said be wrong? Yingchun's parents are sick and the family is in debt. I give her more money every month so that she can help her parents see a doctor and buy medicine. The other three girls' families are also so poor that they can barely make ends meet. They all rely on them to bring their monthly salary home."

Yiping didn't expect that Yingchun and the other maids had such miserable life experiences. She felt that she was indeed not considerate enough. She had also lived the kind of life where she had to worry about the next meal after eating the previous one.

Those days were really hard to endure. We ate vegetable stems and tofu dregs every day, and could not eat a piece of meat in a whole year. Everyone's faces were pale, so Jinping was so greedy and always looked like he was hungry.

Yi Ping was also a little annoyed that he had only enjoyed a few days of good life, but he forgot that there were still many people who couldn't even get enough food or meat.

Yi Ping took a deep breath, raised his head, and said, "Second sister, I know I was wrong. I should believe that everything you did had a reason. I will be better to them in the future and let them suffer less."

I shook my head and said, "No, they should do what they are supposed to do. After all, they are servants and there are some rules that cannot be broken. Giving them an extra salary every month is already the greatest gift to them. Don't give them alms as usual. And let them do more work so that they feel that their work is worthwhile."

Yi Ping understood and said quickly, "No wonder Lord Du asked me to learn how to manage a household from Madam Du. It turns out that managing a household involves so much knowledge. It seems that I have to learn more in the future."

I laughed and said, "I don't know how to manage a household, I only know that small favors bring up noble people, big favors bring up enemies, you just need to remember this."

Yiping nodded and said, "Yiping remembers it. Yiping will cook noodles for you right away."

I hummed, looked at the snow all over the yard, and said, "Tell them to clean the yard and the rooms tomorrow. It doesn't have to be done in one day, but find something for them to do every day."

Yi Ping nodded and said, "I understand. I will pass the order along."

After Yi Ping finished speaking, he walked out.

I poured myself a cup of tea and took a few sips, and my stomach finally felt a little warmer.

I went to the Wei River today, but not because I was bored.

I had never been able to understand the set of exercises taught by Li Yan, but after chatting with Wei Chang for a few sentences, I suddenly understood.

Li Yan was born in an ancient era, when spiritual energy was abundant. With the help of spiritual energy, his set of skills came naturally. But in the dynasty I live in now, the spiritual energy has long been exhausted. If I practice according to the method taught by Li Yan, I am afraid I will never be able to practice it in my lifetime.

Since the black bead in my body was made from countless wronged souls, and devouring the souls will help it grow, as long as I go find more wronged souls to feed it, maybe I will get something in return.

So I went to the Wei River. Before I reached the river, I saw that the countless wronged souls lingering on the river were about to condense into a black cloud.

The bead in my body seemed to suddenly wake up before I got close to the Wei River, and it was jumping around wildly in my body. If my body hadn't restrained it, it would have jumped towards the Wei River long ago.

I didn't know how to draw the black energy into my body, so I found a teahouse by the Wei River and thought of sitting down and thinking of a solution. The window where I sat was facing the Wei River, and I could see the scenery of the Wei River area.

As soon as I opened my spiritual sense to eavesdrop on the women's conversation, the black energy seemed to have found a way into my body and rushed towards me madly.

When the black air rushed into my body, it was swallowed up by the black bead in an instant, and I didn't feel any discomfort. On the contrary, as the black bead swallowed more black air, my mind became clearer and clearer, and my five senses became more acute.