You're the one who wants to marry a mistress, and I'm marrying someone else, yet you still

"Where are you going, young master? Madam has woken up. You two young masters may go in and pay your respects."

When Dongzhu came out, she saw Shen Yanzhi turn and run away.

Shen Yanzhi had no choice but to stop. If he didn't greet Xie Wanru, his father and grandmother would scold him again. His father had said that those who achieve great things don't concern themselves with trifles.

He would bear it for now and wait until he left before going to complain to his grandmother.

Dongzhu looked at Shen Mo gently.

"Young Master, please come in. And this Junior Uncle Xu Jing."

Dongzhu smiled broadly.

Xu Jing is the youngest direct disciple of the Void Sect, but she has the best relationship with her mistress. Her mistress was actually the last to join the sect, but she felt that she was older and forced Xu Jing to call her senior sister.

"Humph."

Xu Jing knew Dong Zhu was teasing him, so he walked ahead while carrying his personal accessories.

Shen Mo followed, and Shen Yanzhi reluctantly followed behind.

Dongzhu told Xie Wanru what had just happened. It was inevitable that she favored Shen Mo. Now that Junior Brother Xujing was protecting her, she didn't need to worry too much about what others might do.

But from this moment on, her torment of Shen Yanzhi has only just begun.

"The slave trader will arrive shortly. Since Yanzhi already has a servant, then we can choose two more guards and one companion servant. Mo'er can just choose one servant."

After Xie Wanru finished speaking, Shen Yanzhi looked at Shen Mo with some pride. At least he had already surpassed Shen Mo in numbers, and he was the future of the Shen family.

Shen Mo was incredibly happy.

Aunt Wan specially found him Junior Uncle Xu Jing, which is a special treatment. It doesn't matter if he doesn't have a servant. If he weren't injured and needed someone to take care of him, he could do his own things on a daily basis.

Xie Wanru observed the expressions of the two children. She would never have made malicious assumptions about a child who was only a few years old before, but now... Shen Yanzhi's behavior really disgusted her.

What was she thinking? How could she like raising a child like that? She's crazy!

Soon, the slave trader arrived with nearly twenty men.

One column was made up of adult men, and the other column was made up of boys who were seven or eight years old.

Xie Wanru let Shen Yanzhi choose first. She wanted Shen Yanzhi to gradually accept her and realize that she actually loved him very much, and then... hehe.

Shen Mo waited obediently. He had never had a page before and was a little apprehensive about this situation.

"Which of you can lift this huge rock?"

Shen Yanzhi pointed to a landscaping stone in the courtyard, which weighed at least a hundred pounds.

Xu Jing chuckled to himself. Was this kid choosing to be a bodyguard or a laborer carrying heavy loads?

The slave trader looked at Xie Wanru, who nodded. Only then did the slave trader allow the adult men to go forward and try, since they were being paid and there were naturally some conditions.

"I'm not talking about them, I'm talking about them."

Shen Yanzhi pointed to the children his age.

Xie Wanru stopped drinking her tea. This Shen Yanzhi has really been wicked since childhood.

How could a child who is not even ten years old possibly move such a heavy stone?

"In other words, why did you have them move the stones?"

Xie Wanru changed her attitude towards Shen Yanzhi and began to act like a loving mother.

Shen Yanzhi felt uneasy because of her gentle tone. Shouldn't this woman be scolding him at this moment?

"Because my page needs to carry my things, how can he be weak..."

Shen Yanzhi made up a reason; in reality, he just wanted to see these people make fools of themselves for fun.

"Oh."

Xie Wanru put down her teacup, her attitude remaining gentle.

"Then why don't you demonstrate? You're older than them, so you should be stronger. As the ancients said, 'Lead by example.' If you can't do something, you shouldn't ask others to do it, understand?"

Xie Wanru was kind and approachable, but Dongzhu and Xujing could tell she was faking it and didn't take it to heart.

Shen Mo reflected on this sentence in his mind: one should not ask others to do what one cannot do oneself. Aunt Wan's words make a lot of sense. Following Aunt Wan, one can definitely learn more principles.

Shen Yanzhi couldn't refute it, and it seemed that this woman was trying to teach him a lesson.

"Would you like to give it a try?"

Xie Wanru continued.

He appeared friendly on the surface, but what he was really thinking was, "Go and move it! I'd rather lift it up and break your legs, you brat!"

"You're wrong."

Shen Yanzhi wasn't stupid; he knew he couldn't cause any more trouble at this point, so he bowed to Xie Wanru, apologized, and obediently stopped making a scene.

The subsequent selection process went much more smoothly.

Shen Yanzhi selected two of the strongest men and a seemingly honest child. The guards needed to be strong to protect him, and the pageboy needed to be honest so he would be easy to bully. This was the selection criterion that Shen Yanzhi had thought of this morning.

"Mo'er, you choose."

Xie Wanru called all the children over.

Shen Mo's gaze, however, was fixed on a child dressed in the thinnest clothes.

The child was thin, and his face wasn't very clean; he'd probably be even dirtier if he weren't taken out.

"Is Mo'er sure she wants to choose him?"

Xie Wanru asked again, and she actually roughly knew Shen Mo's thoughts; Shen Mo wanted to help this child.

"Ah."

Shen Mo nodded.

Although he has no status in the Shen family now, he has Aunt Wan to protect him and he has no worries about food and clothing. At least he can ensure that this person doesn't go hungry.

Xu Jing casually patted Shen Mo's head. This child really is as his senior sister described in her letter—kind and soft-hearted.

Xie Wanru couldn't help but smile as she watched her junior brother pat Mo'er's head, just like she always had. It seemed that Mo'er had won her junior brother's favor.

"Then let's go with him. Dongzhu will give him the money."

Xie Wanru was very straightforward. These people were ostensibly given to her two children by her, but in reality, they were also her spies. She didn't need to be wary of Shen Mo, but Shen Yanzhi was a different story.

After the selection was completed, Old Madam Shen sent someone to deliver silver, saying that since these were the young master's attendants, the Shen family should naturally pay for them. Xie Wanru refused, and said that she would pay for the monthly salaries of these people from now on.

She was willing to spend the money, after all, she needed to know Shen Yanzhi's movements at all times. If the Shen family paid for it, how could she win over these people?

Whoever pays you, you have to listen to them—this is an age-old truth.

"She's quite generous; let her be."

When Madam Shen saw that the silver had been returned, she had it put away without giving it much thought.

After all, no one would be on guard against a child.

"Hmph, Xie Wanru isn't a good person either. After that country bumpkin was burned, she abandoned him and bought three people for Yanzhi instead. Heh, now she knows how to curry favor with our Yanzhi. Where was she before?"

Shen Nianqing's attitude remained unchanged.

"You have such a silver tongue. She's willing to spend money, that's her intention. It's a good thing that she likes you. If she cares about you, you'll be able to get the Xie family's help in the future. Instead of wasting your time here being so glib, you should think about your own marriage."

Madam Shen rolled her eyes at Shen Nianqing.

These two children are really a handful.