Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

Wu Zihao drove the carriage directly to Dongguan Lane, where the broker Meng Er was already waiting.

Before long, Mu Xia arrived, and the group looked at the courtyards that Wang Qing'er had chosen.

Everyone thought the first courtyard was the best. Before Muxia came, she had already asked her mother-in-law about the price of the house in Dongguan Lane.

Mrs. Lin also bought a courtyard house in Dongguan Lane. When she was buying the house, she had looked at all the courtyard houses in the east of the city.

She also liked the house that Wang Qing'er had her eye on, but felt it was too big and she wouldn't need such a large courtyard for her own use, so she didn't consider it.

The broker initially asked for 5,000 taels of silver, but after some discussion, they bargained it down to 4,600 taels.

Meng Er didn't show it on the surface, but he was overjoyed inside, so he nodded and agreed to sell it at this price.

This courtyard is too big. After it was renovated, many people came to see it and liked it, but no one bought it. People usually buy small courtyards for two or three thousand taels.

Just a few days ago, the shopkeeper said that this courtyard could be sold for no less than 4,500 taels.

Now Wang Qing'er has received 4,600 taels, which is 100 taels more than he deserved. He is overjoyed, and the shopkeeper will surely give him an extra reward in addition to the reward he is entitled to.

Having decided to buy it, Wang Qing'er wanted to finalize the matter today. After discussing it, Zhou Shi and Mu Yan took the two children back home.

Meng Er then took Wang Qing'er to the yamen to complete the house transfer.

Originally, Mu Yan thought the Jing family would ask for a courtyard house in the county town, but now the Jing family hasn't mentioned the courtyard house at all, and Jing Yi is willing to marry into the village, so Mu Yan doesn't plan to buy a courtyard house in the county town.

After all, the money she had would be gone after buying a courtyard, and she still had to plan for her children; she couldn't spend all her money on her eldest son alone.

Seeing that her aunt didn't intend to buy anything, Wang Qing'er didn't mention it either. She had originally planned to contribute some money, but now she was spared that expense.

Wang Qing'er signed and stamped the house deed, and the yamen's seal was affixed. Meng Er presented the deed with both hands, and she accepted it with a smile and thanked Meng Er.

"Madam, you are too kind. I should be the one thanking you. If you wish to buy another courtyard in the future, please feel free to contact me. I will certainly be happy to assist you." Meng Er bowed and thanked Wang Qing'er.

"Brother Meng, I will definitely come to you if I need anything in the future." Wang Qing'er had met this Meng Er twice and felt that he was not bad. At least he was attentive and very patient.

Seeing that Wang Qing'er had a carriage, Meng Er took his leave.

"Sister-in-law, now that the courtyard has been purchased, we need to start decorating it. You'll be busy again." Mu Xia pulled Wang Qing'er into her carriage and poured her a cup of tea.

"Xia'er, I've looked at the courtyard carefully. It's quite clean. We only need to buy the items we need. We can add the decorations and paintings later."

Wang Qing'er was indeed a little thirsty, so she took a sip of tea to moisten her throat.

He then added, "The most important thing right now is to buy a few people to go to the courtyard. I want to set up a scented soap workshop."

The decision to establish the soap workshop was made after careful consideration and discussion with Zhou and the others.

I used to worry that the recipes for soap, skin-softening cream, and lip balm would be leaked, so I always made them myself.

Now, by collaborating with Shang Congjian, we've found so many varieties of flowers. The quantity will continue to increase, and the variety will continue to grow. Relying solely on her and her family is definitely not enough; establishing a workshop is inevitable.

That day I learned that all the servants at the Yun family's silkworm farm had signed life-or-death contracts.

The Eastern Liang Kingdom has enacted a very strict law specifically for these slaves who have signed a death contract.

Once a slave is sold into slavery and signs a death contract, he or she can never be redeemed. Their children become slaves of the family from birth and must serve the family for generations.

Their household registration was under the master's household, they had no personal freedom, and their fate was completely controlled by the master's household.

Similarly, the owner has the right to sell you; if they don't like you, they can sell you to whomever they want.

Even more severe was the rule that if one person betrayed the Lord, the entire family would be imprisoned and exiled to the border.

With just this one clause, those servants who have signed the death contract will be firmly controlled by their masters, and they will not dare to overstep the bounds.

As a modern person who grew up under the red flag, Wang Qing'er's mindset is definitely extremely resistant to these things.

But once she arrived here, she had to accept reality and adapt to everything here.

Nowadays, for the sake of their own careers, they have no choice but to buy servants with life-or-death contracts to do things for them.

To keep them in check, it's best to buy those who bring their own families.

As long as the people she buys behave themselves and work for her, she will not mistreat them; they will receive a monthly allowance.

Those who do well will be rewarded, but she will show no mercy to those with impure intentions.

“I do know a slave brokerage firm. These two maids I have with me were bought there by my mother-in-law. Why don’t I take you to have a look?”

The day after Mu Xia married into the Lin family, Madam Lin took her to choose two personal maids and two maids for menial tasks.

That day, in order to choose these maids, the manager of the brokerage firm summoned everyone for her to select.

When Mu Xia was choosing servants, she just picked a few based on her first impression, and by sheer chance, she ended up choosing a few pretty good ones.

“Okay.” Wang Qing’er was not familiar with the county town, and had no experience in buying people. If she didn’t have someone she knew to guide her, she would really be completely clueless.

"Young Madam, the Old Madam is ahead." The maid outside the carriage suddenly lifted the curtain and reported inside.

"Where is Mother?" Mu Xia lifted the curtain, stepped out of the carriage, and looked around.

As if speaking of the devil, he appeared. I was just thinking how great it would be if my mother-in-law were here; she would definitely know more about buying people and could help my sister-in-law make an informed decision.

"Look, there she is," the little maid said to Mu Xia, pointing to Madam Lin who had just stepped out of the carriage.

"Mother." Mu Xia hurriedly got out of the car and walked towards Madam Lin, calling out as she went. Wang Qing'er followed behind her.

"Xia'er? What are you doing here? Has your sister-in-law bought the courtyard?" Madam Lin asked her daughter-in-law several questions in a row.

"Mother, the yard has been purchased."

Mu Xia took her mother-in-law's hand and said that since that argument, Madam Lin had felt guilty towards Mu Xia and treated her even better. She also stopped pressuring her to have children, and the relationship between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had improved considerably.

"Hello, Auntie!" Wang Qing'er bowed to Madam Lin.

"This? Xia'er, this can't be your sister-in-law, can it?" Madam Lin's eyes lit up when she saw Wang Qing'er.

Thinking to myself, what a remarkable person.

“Mother, this is my eldest sister-in-law,” Mu Xia introduced with a smile. Her mother-in-law had been saying she wanted to meet her sister-in-law.

Especially after eating the dried mango and flower cakes that Wang Qing'er sent yesterday, I wanted to see her even more.

Let's see what kind of person is so skillful. I never expected that the two of them would run into each other on the street today.