Traveling through the starry sky just for you, I was a koi in ancient times

Seeing his young lady fully engaged in her work, he did not dare to disturb her.

Just like that, the door of the second courtyard was finally opened, and my mother came back with a few people.

Wang Jinyi threw herself into her mother's arms and found that her mother had cried, and cried very sadly, with red eyes! Her mother looked very tired.

Wang Jinyi and her mother walked into the main room hand in hand. The people who followed them lined up in a row. Her mother sent her people away, leaving a timid girl of six or seven years old in the room.

She was wearing the outer coat that was only worn by the maids in the Wang family's residence. The collar of her slanting-collared cloth coat had a purple trim.

The mother smiled and pointed to her daughter:

"Jin'er, this is your maid. She will follow you from now on."

The girl knelt down and timidly called out:

"Miss."

"Mother, who is this sister?"

"Don't confuse the identities. Don't call her sister anymore. She is Aunt Xu's granddaughter."

"what's your name?"

"Miss, I am the fifth child in my family. Everyone calls me the Fifth Girl."

"What's your name?" Wang Jinyi asked:

"Miss, my name is Zhao Wuya."

"Jin'er, according to the order of our courtyard, let's call her Zhu Yu, okay?"

Since her mother had made the decision, Wang Jinyi naturally had no objection.

He walked over and held Zhu Yu's hand. She took a step back slightly and then stood still.

Wang Jinyi touched a rough hand with thin calluses, and there were blood scabs on some parts of the hand. You can tell a person's living conditions from his hands!

Wang Jinyi silently said in her heart: Aunt Xu, I will take good care of her for you. Then she held Zhu Yu's hand tightly and said:

"Mom, I'm going back to my room. I'll come back to recite my lessons in the evening." Before he finished speaking, the two of them had already run to the door.

Seeing that her daughter had someone she could trust, the mother felt a little relieved.

Wang Jinyi took Zhu Yu into her west wing. Zhu Yu held the young lady and sat her on the couch, and then arranged her clothes from top to bottom.

Qingyu brought the cushion. Zhuyu knelt down on both knees.

"Your servant Zhu Yu pays respect to the young lady."

This is acknowledging the master. Wang Jinyi understood that, but he didn't want anyone to kneel to him, so he spoke quickly:

"No need, no need."

But Zhu Yu stubbornly kowtowed to them. After standing up, he carefully took out a dozen documents from the small bag beside him:

"Miss, the old lady asked me to give this to you."

"what is this?"

"Miss, these are the indentures of the slaves."

In this era, even a three-year-old would know the importance of a physical contract. Moreover, Wang Jinyi had an old soul. So, he took it with both hands solemnly.

In the past, we often heard people talking about a personal indenture and thought it was just a piece of thin paper. In fact, it is a document that is like a complete contract of the master-servant relationship.

These include: a middleman document, a guarantor document issued by both the master and the servant. The more sophisticated the family, the more guarantors they require! There is also a document with an official seal confirming the master-servant relationship. This is the clear path for the master-servant relationship.

This is the so-called "two guarantees and two documents". "Two guarantees" means that there are guarantors on both sides, not two guarantors! From the perspective of documents, the interests of both parties are absolutely protected.

This document alone shows that the master-servant relationship has been registered with the government, and birth, death, and leaving the house all require registration with the government.

Of course, there are exceptions, that is, when the master's family commits a serious crime that affects the clan members, the slaves will also be included. In other words, once a slave has a contract, he or she is bound to the master's family for life and death.

Wang Jinyi held the entire body contract in both hands and felt a thousand pounds of weight. This was giving herself a life!

Now, not only to repay Aunt Xu's kindness, but also for this wholehearted trust, I deserve the position of the eldest maid.

Thinking of Zhu Yu's hand, he couldn't help but ask:

"Who else is in your family?"

"My dear lady, my father is Madam Xu's third son, and I have two older brothers and a younger sister.

The eldest brother is 15, the second brother is 13, and the younger sister was born last year. My mother was still working in the fields when my sister was born, so she didn't have time to give birth to her.

Mother was injured and has not been well, so the family gave the job of entering the mansion to our third room. "

Wang Jinyi thought about the pair of hands with wounds and calluses, and had already made up his mind about life in the countryside.

Even a servant like Madam Xu, who was popular with her master and could earn a few taels of silver every year and get a red envelope at the end of the year, was certainly not well off enough to support a large family.

Maybe the family has a little land, and they grow and harvest by themselves, which can provide them with enough food, but certainly not enough clothing.

Alas! The whole family gave Zhao Wuya the opportunity to enter the Wang family, also to take care of her sick mother.

It just so happens that Zhao Wuya’s age is appropriate, and she is probably a trustworthy child in that family!

The mother and Qing'er outside the door leaned over and listened attentively. Inside the room, Wang Jinyi called out:

"Qingyu, what about you?"

Qingyu walked to the center of the room, stood beside Zhuyu and knelt down to salute:

"My lady, my indenture is in the hands of the lady. My father sold all the family property in order to enter the imperial examination. He also wanted to take the imperial examination. So he asked someone to send me to your house."

Qingyu looked up at the young lady and said:

"Originally, the Wang family refused to accept me. Later, my father found the second young master, who agreed and signed a 10-year contract with the second branch."

As if he had made up his mind, he continued:

"I don't have a mother anymore. My father is the only one who takes care of my brother and me. My brother is also a tenant farmer in the Wang family with a 10-year contract..."

Qingyu's voice became smaller and smaller, and the hands at her sides pulled her clothes tighter and tighter, until her voice could no longer be heard clearly.

Outside the door, the mother watched her daughter acting like a little adult, and felt relieved. Seeing her asking questions and seeming to understand everything, she forgot all the unhappiness in the upper room and was left with only relief.

With a daughter like this, what else could I ask for? Qing'er called out from outside the door:

"Miss, madam is here."

Qing'er pushed the door open and invited the lady into the west wing. Seeing her daughter sitting upright on the couch, her mother suddenly felt that in addition to memorizing books, her daughter should also learn how to manage household chores.

I have to start with the warehouse, account books, documents, and money, and let my daughter pick one that she is interested in to learn first.

As soon as Wang Jinyi saw her mother come in, she slipped off the couch and ran over happily, holding her mother's hand and shouting:

"Mother, come, mother, sit down."

He gave his main seat to his mother, and when his mother sat down in the main seat, Wang Jinyi sat down next to her. Seeing his mother flipping through Zhu Yu's indenture, he pulled the corner of his mother's robe and whispered:

"Mom, I want to see it."

The mother looked at one and then handed it to her daughter, and then took them back one by one. Seeing her daughter's serious look, as if she could understand it, she couldn't help but laugh in her heart, but showed affirmation on her face.

In order to give my daughter enough face, those standing below are all her maids.

Seeing her daughter flipping through the book seriously, the mother pursed her lips.

Suddenly, I heard Wang Jinyi ask:

"Can you two read?"