The Daily Life of a Concubine's Daughter After Transmigrating

"The first thing is that Anqi is worried that the old lady's body cannot withstand the shock, so he wants to ask his father to keep it a secret from the old lady."

Li Miao nodded: "You're right. Tomorrow I will tell the servants not to say a single word to the old lady."

"The second thing is that Anqi wants to take this opportunity to rectify the gambling habit among the servants and not allow them to drink and gamble at night."

"Oh? This has nothing to do with the household expenses, so why do you do this?" Li Miao asked.

Li Anqi slowly said, "If they gamble at night, they will be exhausted during the day and will definitely try to cheat and slack off. Some of them are even worse; if they lose money gambling, they will even steal their master's things to use as collateral to continue gambling. They are truly despicable."

Li Miao looked at Li Anqi with increasing admiration and nodded, saying, "Okay, it's your way."

"The last thing is the last line written on this piece of paper."

Li Anqi pointed to the last line on the paper.

Li Miao followed Li Anqi's pointing finger and looked at that line.

Li Anqi said, "Currently, there are more than 400 maids in the mansion, plus more than 100 servants, guards and pageboys in the outer courtyard, totaling 642 people. Anqi wants to reduce them by half."

Li Miao got up and paced back and forth in front of the desk, seemingly hesitant.

Finally, he decisively handed the paper to Li Anqi: "Okay, let's do it your way."

Li Anqi took the paper and put it back in his sleeve.

“Most of them had signed indentures, and Anqi thought… to give each of them five taels of silver so they could go back to their hometowns.”

Those servants who signed indentures should, in principle, be sent to the manor to be sold.

But Li Anqi comes from the modern era, and although she tries her best to integrate into this era, she still rejects the buying and selling of people at heart.

The Jingguo Mansion is already in a difficult situation, and if they sell those servants, they can get a considerable amount of income.

Li Anqi was afraid that Li Miao would disagree.

Li Miao remained silent as expected.

Li Anqi said, "Our Jingguo Mansion has a tradition of generosity and compassion for its servants, which has been passed down since my great-grandfather's generation. Anqi thought that by following the wishes of our ancestors, we might be able to receive some of their blessings."

Li Anqi closed his eyes, faced the sky, and clasped his hands together above his head.

Seeing her so devout, Li Miao felt a little moved.

"Okay, then let's do as you say."

Li Anqi opened his eyes and smiled, "With Father's words, I have confidence."

A few days later, at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM).

Li Anqi gathered all the servants in his mansion in front of Xiangyu Building.

"As you have probably all heard, I will be in charge of the inner courtyard affairs from now on."

Li Anqi stood in front of the building, looking at the more than 600 people below the stage.

"whispering sound!"

From the crowd, someone let out a mocking sneer.

“I know you are not convinced, and some of you don’t even consider me your master.”

Li Anqi, radiating authority without anger, continued.

"Let me make this clear from the start: now that I've taken over the management, you have no right to disobey me! Don't try to play dumb or fool me!"

A young maid from Madam Zhao's room arrived late, sneaking into the crowd and occasionally stuffing a steamed bun into her mouth.

Li Anqi and everyone else present noticed her.

The young maid looked around, seemingly oblivious to her surroundings.

There was silence.

"I said it would be 1:15 AM, why are you late?!" Li Anqi asked the maid.

The little maid carefully hid the steamed bun in her sleeve and said timidly, "This servant...this servant overslept..."

Li Anqi looked at her cuffs.

"I see you didn't just sleep around; you simply didn't take my words to heart. Today I'll give you a small punishment to teach you a lesson!"

Li Anqi looked at Zhilan.

Zhilan nodded and said to the servants beside her, "Guards, give her twenty lashes to teach her a lesson!"

"Yes!" Several servants grabbed their weapons and rushed forward.

In full view of everyone, the servants pressed the young maid down on a bench and gave her a good beating on the bottom.

The cries of the little maid filled the entire Xiangyu Building.

After the penalty period ended.

The maid had already fainted and was dragged away in public by several servants.

Those servants who had previously looked down on Li Anqi were now terrified and dared not offend his authority any further.

Li Anqi calmly and composedly looked at the crowd below.

"From now on, no more drinking or gambling activities are allowed in the manor. If anyone is caught, I will punish you all with a beating and your monthly allowance will be cut off!"

Upon hearing Li Anqi's words, the servants who usually enjoyed drinking and gambling immediately looked rather bitter.

"Many of you have signed contracts that are binding on you. Now I'm giving you a chance to go home, and I'll also give each of you an extra five taels of silver so you can buy fertile land and have a place to settle down. Does anyone want to leave?"

The servants kept their heads down, glancing around at each other, not daring to speak easily.

"Think it over carefully. This is your only chance. If you miss it, you'll never have another one."

As soon as Li Anqi said this, the servants bustled about, and about half of them knelt down and kowtowed to Li Anqi.

"Thank you for your kindness, Miss Second!"

"Thank you, Second Miss! You are truly a bodhisattva descended to earth."

"I will never forget the great kindness of the Second Miss."

"..."

Li Anqi looked at Qiuyue: "Return their indentures to them, give each of them five taels of silver, and let them go home."

"Yes." Qiuyue bowed and accepted the order, then left with the servants.

Liu Yun selected the list of servants to be retained and handed it to Li Anqi.

Li Anqi looked at the list in his hand.

"Wenqian, Caidie, Granny Sun, the three of you should go too."

"Why?!"

Granny Sun looked bewildered, then suddenly put her hands on her hips and started cursing.

"I've been in Madam Zhao's room for almost twenty years, longer than you've lived. How dare you just kick me out like that?! Bah!"

Wenqian and Caidie also looked reluctant.

Li Anqi flicked his sleeves, placed his hands in front of his lower abdomen, slowly walked down the steps, and slapped Granny Sun in the face.

"I only call you 'Granny' because you're from Madam Zhao's quarters and are older. It's one thing for you to be arrogant and bully those young maids, but now you dare to act like a dog relying on your master's power, behaving so arrogantly towards me! Who do you think you are?!"

Granny Sun covered her face, her expression a mixture of shock and shame, and dared not act arrogantly any longer.

Wenqian and Caidie lowered their heads and looked at Li Anqi meekly.

Li Anqi paced back and forth in front of the three women, sizing them up, and then spoke to the crowd.

"Our household doesn't prioritize quantity over quality when it comes to hiring. We don't want arrogant, thieving, or frivolous people!"

Among the servants of Jingguo Mansion, Granny Sun was the most notorious for her arrogance. She often punished servants of lower rank than herself without permission. Even the rats in the hole would hide in fear at the sound of her voice.

Wenqian once stole Li An's paintings, and even after Aunt Xia forgave her several times, she still did not repent.

Cai Die is lazy and unkempt, and once tried to seduce Li Anxiu, so her reputation has always been bad.

Li Anqi stopped and spoke to the three of them.

"What are you all standing there for? Do you want me to call someone to kick you out?"