The news reached Qiutong Courtyard, making A'ru tremble from head to toe. "They...

they are being too much," she muttered. Qi Yue remained seated on the large kang bed by the window, continuing to flip through the personnel roster.

Several stacks of paper lay on the table beside her, and she occasionally picked up the brush to write a few characters. "...This Cai San Pozi manages the needlework; which godparent has her daughter, Zhong'er, chosen?" she asked, not having heard A'ru’s outburst.

"...The little maids said she chose Dong Niangzi, who manages the kitchen, as her godmother," A'ru replied, watching Qi Yue nod, then dip her brush to write a few more characters. "Miss, you’ve been staring at that roster for days now; what can you possibly glean from it?" A'ru couldn't help but ask.

Qi Yue closed the booklet, set down her brush, and stretched languidly. "In any establishment, aren't personnel and finance the two most crucial departments?

And of those, personnel is paramount. Reading the roster, naturally, is the first priority; there's a great deal one can discern," she chuckled.

A'ru merely mumbled an acknowledgment. "The selection of maids must have been influenced by these older women whispering behind the scenes.

Why don't I go out, find those old guards, and ask around? It would be better than letting these dirty ones decide things..." she suggested.

"No need. What would that make me?

The mistress managing the household, yet unable to assemble even a basic new team? That would be laughable," Qi Yue shook her head, smiling, glancing towards the outside as she spoke, "Here they come now." A'ru quickly looked over and indeed saw Nanny Su leading several maids inside.

"Miss, the candidates have been selected. Come and see, and decide which ones to keep," Nanny Su said brightly as she entered, gesturing for the maids behind her to line up neatly on the steps.

A'ru stood at the doorway and took an initial look. Seeing that the ten maids varied in height and build—some short, some tall, some plump, some thin—and that most looked either dull and foolish or overtly alluring and restless, she felt a surge of anger.

Previously, such substandard candidates wouldn't even pass the first round, yet here they were, up for final selection! Without the Old Mistress, every step was fraught with difficulty...

A'ru's expression darkened. Old Mistress, you left too soon, leaving the Young Miss so alone and immature...

Qi Yue, however, was quite cheerful, saying, "Let me take a look." Her gaze swept over the maids one by one. She noticed some boldly appraising her, while others timidly kept their heads down, avoiding eye contact.

"Let’s start with self-introductions. I want to hear from you," Qi Yue said with a smile.

"Just state your name, age, what you are good at, and where you served previously." After much shuffling and hesitation, the maids spoke. Some were incoherent, some spoke in voices like buzzing gnats, and some simply failed to grasp what Qi Yue was asking.

The sheer awkwardness of it almost made Nanny Su wince in sympathy. Qi Yue listened from beginning to end with a smile, showing no hint of displeasure.

Then, she pointed to the three whose voices were the clearest and who spoke the most fluently, keeping them. One of the chosen was the one who appeared alluringly beautiful.

This selection surprised everyone, including the maid herself. She had always prided herself on her beauty and had hoped to serve directly under the Marquis, though she knew there were too many beauties already near him.

She had also aimed for the young masters’ quarters, but the managing women always dismissed her in the first screening, while those less attractive than her were chosen. She attributed this to fate being cruel to beauty, and assumed this time she was brought forward only because Nanny Su had been manipulated, meaning she would endure another insult.

To be selected instead was shocking; she concluded the Young Miss must value her beauty and intended to use her to win favor with the Heir. "Miss," the maid immediately knelt down, her eyes sparkling seductively, "This servant will certainly serve you and the Heir well..." At these words, Qi Yue, Nanny Su, and A'ru all drew a collective blank expression.

Not only restless, but a fool too... One senior maid, A'ru, and four second-rank maids—this configuration was suitable for the primary wife of the Dingxi Marquisate.

Although one of the four second-rank maids was ill, and the other three were clumsy novices, at least the outward appearance was presentable. "The remaining eight third-rank maids and ten fourth-rank maids will be directly assigned from within the estate," A'ru stated, holding the roster.

Qi Yue nodded. Before dusk, the remaining maids and supervising wet nurses had also been located.

However, A'ru couldn't look with favor upon the people standing in the courtyard. Qi Yue, conversely, remained delighted and enthusiastically moved a chair to give a speech.

If A'ru hadn't repeatedly signaled her discreetly, the Qiutong Courtyard might have ended up hosting a grand feast that night. With the subordinates assigned, the supervising wet nurses led by Nanny Su reported on time the next day.

But still, the complement was incomplete; one person was absent today, another tomorrow, and some never showed up at all. Qi Yue simply nodded and smiled, saying nothing.

Her daily requirement for these supervising wet nurses was simple: each would state their tasks planned for the day, and the next day report on what was accomplished. If done well, a word of praise; if not, they were simply told to try again.

This innocuous, time-wasting routine gradually caused fewer people to attend. Even Que Zhi and the others couldn't stand by and watch, yet Qi Yue seemed unconcerned.

"There’s nothing to fret about. The estate has established protocols, and there are managing wet nurses.

Don't always look so tense and strained," she teased A'ru with a smile. "Yes, yes, Young Miss will surely manage.

Everything seems fine now," Ah Hao chimed in. Ah Hao was now able to move about off the bed, though she was forbidden from heavy labor or strenuous activity.

Following Qi Yue's instructions, she was being meticulously cared for—carried into the courtyard daily to bask in the sun and breathe fresh air, fed rich soups and nourishing broths. "You need to behave, you hear me.

You were pulled back from the gates of the Underworld; think of the prestige," Qi Yue laughed. This remark made Ah Hao, who had been crying from guilt and feeling useless, burst into laughter again.

"Listen to the Young Miss," A'ru said simply, looking at Ah Hao. It was precisely because she had defied the Young Miss before that this disaster had occurred.

Ah Hao nodded, diligently obeying. With Ah Hao recuperating, the duties that should have belonged to her as the foremost second-rank maid were now taken over by Que Zhi.

Que Zhi became Qi Yue’s voice for issuing commands externally. Ah Hao’s retreat due to illness could be reasonably understood.

A'ru, too, found herself relatively free. "Miss...

do you think the Young Miss dislikes us now? We can't help at all, and we're not as useful as the newly appointed Que Zhi..." Ah Hao asked A'ru secretly.

A'ru sat on a small stool in the courtyard doing needlework, keeping Ah Hao company who was reclined in the rocking chair. The sounds of Qi Yue, Que Zhi, and Lan’er could be heard from inside the room.

"She does," A'ru replied with a slight smile, glancing towards the interior. "The Young Miss is deliberately separating you and me..." "Separating us?" Ah Hao tilted her head, looking at A'ru.

"You and I are the last two people the Old Mistress left to the Young Miss. In everyone else's eyes, we are inseparable from her.

Because of the Young Miss's status, others hesitate to move against her directly, so they can only target us two when trouble arises," A'ru said softly, looking at Ah Hao's pale, post-illness face, reaching out to help her sit up and change her position. But as soon as Ah Hao sat up, it felt like being pricked by needles, and she quickly shifted back to lying down on her side.

"My backside still hurts," she said with a grimace. "So this is what receiving caning feels like.

When I was with the Old Mistress, I would often strike the junior maids with a board without a second thought. I was truly hateful.

I’ll never do it again." A'ru was amused by her comment. "Now the Young Miss has found so many new maids to handle the tasks.

Gradually, everyone's attention will shift to them. This is the Young Miss's painstaking effort for our safety.

When the Young Miss eventually leaves, we too can be safe," A'ru continued. Ah Hao’s eyes widened in shock.

"The Young Miss is leaving?" she exclaimed, unable to keep her voice down. "Where is the Young Miss going?" A'ru quickly pulled her, her own eyes showing alarm at the slip of the tongue.

"Me?" Qi Yue walked out, having overheard Ah Hao’s question, and replied cheerfully, "I’m going to the storeroom for a moment. You two watch the house and don't cause trouble." Ah Hao mumbled an acknowledgment, and A'ru quickly stood up.

She saw Que Zhi and Lan’er following closely behind Qi Yue. "Sister A'ru, what did you just say..." Ah Hao pressed on.

"I didn't say anything just now," A'ru cut her off, unwilling to let her continue that topic. As they spoke, a little maid rushed up to the door.

"A'ru, someone is asking for you at the gate," the girl reported. A'ru happily set down her needlework and hurried out.

She saw that Yuan Bao wasn't squatting by the corner wall as usual but had been allowed inside the gatehouse. It seemed the Young Miss’s recent actions had brought them all some unexpected favor—perhaps they were all experiencing an upward turn.

A'ru felt a mix of joy and sadness. "I don't have anything else, just came to tell you that I'm apprenticed to Master Zheng Si the Blacksmith on the main street now, so I won't be working as manual labor on the streets anymore.

You can relax," Yuan Bao said. A'ru was naturally overjoyed to hear this.

She pressed the monthly stipend she had just received into his hand, but he vehemently refused it. "When I earn money in the future, I will take you out of here," Yuan Bao stated.

A'ru glared at him with a smile. "Don't talk nonsense," she said, then carefully gave him several more instructions before urging him to go.

She stood at the doorway and watched until Yuan Bao’s figure disappeared around the corner before stepping back inside. Yuan Bao did not return home after leaving the alley but headed straight for the blacksmith’s shop on the main street.

Just as he reached the corner of the street, he heard a loud, bustling commotion. "Make way, make way!" Two horses galloped side-by-side, causing the street to erupt like boiling water—children crying, adults shouting, chaos ensuing.

Behind the two horses followed a rapidly moving carriage, the driver whipping the reins as if fleeing the underworld, speeding along and leaving destruction in its wake. "Rushing to the afterlife, are they?" Yuan Bao stood up from the ground, dusting the dirt off himself, and muttered as he squeezed through the crowd before walking on.

Only after the dust settled did people see what was left along the tracks of the carriage: a long smear of blood stretching in the direction the carriage had fled. Qianjin Hall, while not claiming to be the finest medical clinic in Yongqing Prefecture, certainly claimed to be the best for treating bruises and impact injuries.

The owner, Liu Pucheng, came from a family renowned in medicine, with ancestors who had even served as imperial physicians. He himself possessed superb medical skills and had many apprentices.

Yet, when these two injured men were carried in today, it threw Qianjin Hall into a scramble. Furthermore, the gentlemen who arrived with the injured were all ferocious-looking brutes who summarily drove out the other patients already being treated inside.

Worse still, Liu Pucheng was currently away visiting his ancestral home for the ancestral rites. The injured were carried in on plank stretchers, already unconscious, their bodies mangled and bloody.

Blood had soaked the floor since they entered. The younger apprentices, timid by nature, were too frightened to even approach.

It was by [].