High-class maid

"My benefactors, I have another request, and I hope you will agree," the princess said after seeing that Wang had accepted the box.

"Your Highness, there's no need for you to be so polite. I will do whatever it takes to help you," Shen Kun said respectfully.

Seeing her father so respectful, Shen Xing'er breathed a slight sigh of relief. The princess calling them benefactors was an honor. If her father took the opportunity to push his luck, the little affection they had would be worn away.

"When Zhu'er went missing at the age of six, I told the public that she went to a temple outside the city to pray for the country. After all, even if a girl were found the next day, she would be drowned in spittle. Now I am announcing that Zhu'er has returned from the temple. I would like to ask you all..." the princess hinted.

"Your Highness, rest assured, Zhu'er hasn't left the house these past few days. None of our neighbors in the alley have seen her, and I won't say a word about it to anyone," Shen Kun assured him.

The eldest princess nodded in satisfaction; she liked people who were so sensible.

"It's getting late, so we'll head back to the palace. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, just come to the Princess's residence to find me," the Princess said, looking at the family of three.

"Yes, this humble subject respectfully sees off the Princess." After Shen Kun finished speaking, he was about to kneel down to see them off, but Zhang Yuzhu stopped him with her hand.

Zhang Yuzhu smiled slightly at Shen Xing'er and said, "Xing'er, until we meet again."

Shen Xing'er wiped away her tears, then wiped away Zhang Yuzhu's tears as well, and said with a smile, "Why are you crying? You've found your home, that's a happy thing. Go back now."

Seeing how harmonious the two women were, Madam Huang felt fortunate that her daughter had met such good people. She walked up to them and said to Shen Xing'er, "Good child, come and play with Zhu'er whenever you have free time. I will thank you properly after I have finished dealing with matters in the manor."

After saying that, she took Zhang Yuzhu's hand and got into the carriage. Both girls had tears in their eyes. Zhang Yuzhu lifted the curtain and looked at Shen Xing'er. Shen Xing'er stood at the alley entrance and refused to go home, which also made the adults' eyes red.

"Xing'er, let's go back. It's windy at the alley entrance," Wang said, nudging the dazed Shen Xing'er.

"I've had Yuzhu with me these past few days, and I'm still not used to her leaving so suddenly." Shen Xing'er sniffed her red nose, not knowing whether it was from the cold or from crying earlier.

"Hurry home, the box the princess gave us is still in the courtyard. Let's see what she gave us as a reward."

The family of three returned home. Shen Kun closed the gate and window, then carefully opened the box. The contents inside made the whole family gasp.

"This, this, this is a silver note?" Shen Xing'er stared at the large denomination silver note in the box, as if she had been frozen in place.

Shen Kun was much calmer. He looked at his daughter's expression, shook his head with amusement, and said, "Let me count how many there are."

After counting the silver notes, Shen Kun lost his composure and began to stammer, "This, this, this is too much! A full five thousand taels!"

"Five thousand taels? Quickly check if it's real or fake!" Madam Wang picked up the silver note to examine it.

"Be careful! How could the Princess give you a fake? Put the silver notes away safely," Shen Kun said.

Shen Xing'er was amused by her parents' flustered appearance. She interrupted them and said with a smile, "Dad, Mom, aren't you getting a little too excited?"

Shen Kun and Wang Shi touched their noses sheepishly and explained, "No, no, Father just wanted to confirm."

“Yes, yes, Mother too. Husband, what are we going to do with so many silver notes?” Wang asked.

So the family sat on the stools, staring blankly at the banknotes on the table.

"Why don't we all buy up all the fertile land?" Shen Kun suggested.

"No!" His opinion was cruelly rejected by Shen Xing'er and her daughter.

"If you buy all that fertile land, how much silver will you have to buy? Won't people notice? What will you say when they ask?" Wang's barrage of questions made Shen Kun scratch his head in embarrassment.

“Isn’t this the first time I’ve had so many banknotes? Why don’t I buy a big house?” he said again.

"No way!" the mother and daughter said in unison.

"Father, we can spend a maximum of one thousand taels of this silver. We can talk about the rest in a few years," Shen Xing'er said.

“Xing’er is right. If we spend it all at once, it will definitely attract the attention of those with ulterior motives. If others follow the clues and find out about the jade beads, then we will suffer a great loss,” Wang said.

"Then what do you two say we should do?" Shen Kun asked, spreading his hands and giving up.

"Let Xing'er decide, after all, this is Xing'er's achievement," said Madam Wang.

"Why not take out five hundred taels, use three hundred to buy fertile land, and use the rest to buy a decent shop?" Shen Xing'er said after thinking for a while.

She wouldn't dare spend so much money all at once, so she'd rather buy some of her family's assets first. After all, her family had already discussed buying a good shop in the capital.

Wang and Shen Kun nodded, both seeing agreement in each other's eyes.

“Then let’s do as Xing’er says. If it’s about buying 300 taels of fertile land, I can ask Master to help with that. After all, it wouldn’t be surprising if we had 300 taels on hand,” Shen Kun said.

"I'll put the rest of the silver away for now. If we leave the manor in the future, we can do some business or something." Seeing that the silver notes had been distributed, Madam Wang took out five hundred taels from the box and then took the remaining silver notes to go back to the inner room.

"Yes, put the rest aside for now, and we can... What? Leave the manor? You agreed?" Shen Xing'er looked at her parents with surprise.

Madam Wang chuckled and said, "Your father and I have thought about it, and you're right. We originally wanted to save up more money in the mansion so we could ask the master for a favor later, but now that we have so many banknotes, we can leave the mansion anytime."

“We shouldn’t be ungrateful. Even if we leave the manor, we should wait until the young masters and ladies’ weddings are over,” Shen Kun said.

“Yes, this is the most critical moment when things are most likely to go wrong. As your father’s right-hand men, your father and I cannot suggest leaving the manor at this time. It’s just that you will have to make do for a while.” Madam Wang looked at Shen Xing’er and said lovingly.

"Father, Mother, your agreement to leave the manor is already a pleasant surprise for me. The old lady has always been tolerant, and I won't feel wronged working in her courtyard," Shen Xing'er said, shaking her head.

"No matter what, our masters have always been lenient with us. In a few years, it will be the old lady's sixtieth birthday. When we ask her for her favor, it will be the same."

Wang patted Shen Xing'er on the shoulder, worried that her daughter might not be able to wait and wouldn't do her job properly, so she explained to her.

"Father, Mother, don't worry, I know everything. This afternoon, Shantao and I are going to the street to sell handkerchiefs. Why don't we go to the street to look at shops tomorrow?"