Yu Zhong sighed.
"This matter is truly baffling. Concubine Yun used to be the head maid in Old Madam's room, and we all called her Sister Yun. But a few years ago, for some reason, she suddenly became Concubine Yun. What's even stranger is that Second Aunt wasn't angry at all. Everyone said she had become more virtuous.
Not long after, Concubine Yun gave birth to a little cousin. From then on, Second Aunt's expression turned very unpleasant, and she drove Concubine Yun to live in the rear courtyard, making her cook and prepare meals alongside the kitchen servants, living a life even worse than that of a servant.
Fortunately, Shuo'er was raised by Old Madam, so he still retains some dignity."
At this point, Yu Zhong paused and began introducing the household servants to Shen Qi.
In the front shop, besides Xie Yuming and Xie Yuduo being in charge, there is also a chief manager and eight or nine junior shop assistants. They usually don't come to the back.
There is only one junior shop assistant nicknamed Xiao Wu, surnamed Du, in his teens. Originally a distant nephew from Old Madam's maternal family, he was sent to work as a shop assistant after his father passed away early and his mother remarried.
Because he is considered a relative, young in age, and clever, he often comes to the rear courtyard.
In the courtyard where Old Madam lives, two maids were originally assigned to serve. After Concubine Yun left, only the younger maid remained to attend to her.
The household kitchen has two cooks, led by Concubine Yun, responsible for purchasing ingredients, cooking meals, and also feeding the livestock. They live in the Rear Servants' Quarters.
The east and west courtyards each have one maid, responsible for laundry, cleaning, heating water, and other miscellaneous affairs.
The maid in the east courtyard is named Chunliu, and the one in the west courtyard is Guixiang. Both are around fifteen or sixteen years old.
In addition, there is a young maid named Xiao Qiao'er in the west courtyard. She is Cousin-in-law Sun's dowry maid.
At this point, Yu Zhong hesitated.
Shen Qi knew it was because she herself didn't have a dowry maid, and Eldest Sister was afraid she might feel sensitive upon hearing this. She quickly smiled and said, "I understand. Thank you, Eldest Sister. If you hadn't told me, I'm afraid it would have taken me a long time to remember!"
Yu Zhong smiled and said, "If you feel there aren't enough hands in the courtyard, just tell Second Master. It's the same if the family adds more."
Shen Qi didn't speak, just smiled and shook her head.
The Xie family is considered a prominent household in the county, but counting on fingers, there are quite a few shop assistants in the front, six or seven servants in the back, and three generations of old, middle-aged, and young in the family. Even Old Madam's room has only one maid.
It shows that although the Xie family has the reputation of being a prominent household in Pingshan County, they are only slightly better off than ordinary families in the county in terms of food and clothing, not truly a wealthy family.
Fortunately, Shen Qi herself is not the arrogant type. Since childhood, she has done everything herself and is used to it.
Before long, Yujing came bouncing back, followed by Chunliu.
Shen Qi took note as she observed. Chunliu was sturdy, with a rosy face, and appeared very capable and efficient.
Perhaps due to shyness, she didn't speak much with Shen Qi and Yu Zhong, only daring to laugh and chat with Yujing. At night, she even slept alongside Yujing, and the two seemed to share a close bond.
Meanwhile, Yu Zhong held Xiao Yujing and chatted with Shen Qi for quite some time, and before they knew it, evening had arrived.
When dinnertime came, Xie Yuming and Xie Yuduo indeed returned to eat.
However, due to the earlier conflict, Second Aunt, Cousin's wife, and Yujin spoke very little. Naturally, Shen Qi and the Yu Zhong sisters didn't bring up the matter either, and everyone ate in silence.
It was Cousin Xie Yuming who complained that the food delivered at noon was too bland, earning him a round of indirect scolding from Second Aunt.
Just after dinner, Di Wu'er from the shop happened to come by with a message, saying there was something at the front shop that required the master's attention.
Xie Yuming, already irritated by his mother's remarks, seized the opportunity to berate Wu'er harshly.
Xie Yuduo, who was about to return to his room with Shen Qi, saw the scene and could only nod to Shen Qi, signaling her to go ahead first.
Shen Qi nodded in understanding.
"Eldest Brother, calm down. I was just heading to the front anyway, so I'll take care of it on the way."
Just as he finished handling matters in the study and saw off the guests, preparing to return, Xie Yuming pushed the door open and entered again.
"Eldest Brother, why are you back here at this hour?"
Xie Yuming strode in and collapsed onto the study's luohan bed, sighing heavily.
"Going back just fills me with frustration—no one responds, no one pays attention. It's better to stay up front where I feel at ease."
"Did you have another argument with Eldest Sister-in-law?"
"You're newly married and don't understand my troubles. Even if I spoke of them, no one would believe me. Only heaven knows."
Xie Yuming chuckled bitterly, then remembered something.
"This afternoon, Uncle Tang told me he met two merchants from Huaiyang who brought a lot of fine materials. Why didn't you take them? He showed me the shop's inventory list—those medicinal herbs are running low. Their prices were low too, so buying them would have been a great opportunity to make a profit."
Xie Yuduo flipped through the day's account book.
"If we had taken them, we might have made some profit, but I'm afraid we'd end up in lawsuits for half a year and lose even more."
Xie Yuming propped himself up. "What do you mean by that?"
"Those two men were… strange."
"Strange?"
"I went to see them. The two merchants were staying in Shoupa Lane, which is full of cheap inns, and carriages can hardly pass through.
Most medicinal merchants travel north and south all year round. For their own safety and convenience, they usually stay in larger inns. Who would skimp on that?"
"Even so, you can't say for sure. If they were frugal, staying in a small inn for a few days isn't unheard of."
"That's the first point. Secondly, merchants from Huaiyang travel often and mostly speak the official language. But those two, despite being medicinal merchants, spoke with a thick Huaiyang accent. On top of that, they wore silk clothes but didn't shave their beards. Truly strange among strange things."
Xie Yuming poured himself a cup of tea and laughed. "Second Brother, that's unreasonable. Can't people keep their beards?"
Xie Yuduo closed the account book, stood up, and paced over.
"Eldest Brother, you might not know this. For such medicinal herbs, the most important thing is clean appearance, so merchants rarely grow beards, fearing that a stray hair might accidentally fall and damage the quality.
These two wore silk clothes, but their beards were so long you could hardly see their faces. Honestly, from head to toe, they didn't seem like proper merchants at all."
"Why should we care about their beards? If the goods are good, we should just buy them and sell for profit. What's there to fear?"
"If it were ordinary goods, it would be more reasonable—buying them cheap and selling them off wouldn't be a problem. It's precisely because the goods are of such high quality that I concluded—they must be stolen property."
Upon hearing this, Eldest Brother even forgot to drink the tea in his hand.
"Stolen property?"
"Seeing that they aren't medicine merchants, holding such fine goods yet wanting to sell them off cheaply at a low price, and insisting on not meeting the owner—they might be bandits who robbed travelers. However, these are peaceful times, and there are few bandits in this province. Most likely, they stole them from lantern runners."
Xie Yuming stared blankly, completely stunned by what he heard.
Xie Yuduo continued speaking.
"If we took them in, sooner or later the authorities would investigate. Handing over the goods as they are would be a minor issue, but if they sealed the shop as well, that would be troublesome."
He paused for a moment.
"However, if the opportunity arises, this silver will eventually find its way into our family's coffers."
After saying this, he patted Eldest Brother on the shoulder and returned to the rear courtyard.