Willing

"I see." Zhao Ruxi actually had some thoughts on this.

Originally, the old lady wanted to maintain the dignity of the Marquis's mansion and dared not sell the servants.

Although Lady Zhu punished some cunning servants through various rules and sold them off, and did not purchase any new servants over the years, people in ancient times married young, and by the age of thirty-seven or thirty-eight, three generations could live under one roof, and by forty or fifty, four generations could live under one roof. With sons born into the household generation after generation, there were still many servants in the mansion.

Although only servants in the household who had duties received a monthly allowance, such as when their parents were on duty, using their allowance to support the elderly and children who did not have duties, the household had a fixed amount of money for this purpose. However, if a servant's monthly allowance was meager and they received no bonuses, they would live frugally and be unable to support their families, which would lead to dissatisfaction.

Therefore, the household had to find some jobs to appease everyone and ensure they could make ends meet. With more servants, expenses increased.

Before the family was divided, there were many masters, many conflicts, and many miscellaneous tasks. For example, a considerable number of people were needed for daily patrols and mediating disputes. But now, the entire Earl's mansion only has five masters left, and each of them is easy to manage, so these people are all idle. If their duties are removed, they will lose their monthly allowances to support their families. Over time, this will inevitably lead to trouble.

Although Zhao Ruxi was busy every day and always returned to the mansion at almost dark, leaving again the next morning, she had a little informant in her courtyard, namely the maid Dianjiang.

When the young girl first started working, she was timid and dared not say a word. But she was naturally lively, and Zhao Ruxi was kind, so she reverted to her true nature.

She was born into a family; her grandparents, parents, and elder brother and sister-in-law all worked in various places, so she knew everything that happened in the household.

Therefore, Zhao Ruxi had a general understanding of what happened in the Earl of Suiping's Residence and the situation in various aspects.

"Mother, if there are any extra servants in the manor, could you assign them to me? I'll give them a monthly allowance," she asked tentatively.

"Great!" Lady Zhu was even Gao Xing.

Her daughter had grown her wings and returned home; she had no need to ask anything of the Earl's mansion. Her only worry was that her daughter wasn't close to her and that there was some distance between her and the mansion. Now that her daughter could use the servants in the mansion, it meant that her daughter had no suspicion of them and treated them as family, which truly made her Gao Xing.

"I've had people spread the word these past couple of days that anyone willing to work with you will come to you or me. I'll screen them for you and choose some capable and honest people that you can use easily."

Zhao Ruxi affectionately took her arm and smiled sweetly at her, "Thank you, Mother."

Lady Zhu loved it when her daughter was affectionate with her.

By this time, the mother and daughter were almost at the Rongxi Hall. Lady Zhu said, "When your grandmother asked you earlier, I said you sent someone back saying they had something to do and would be back late. Don't let it slip later."

"Yes, yes, Mother, you're so kind." Zhao Ruxi quickly offered a compliment.

Zhao Ruxi went to pay her respects to the old lady, ate a meal alone in her own courtyard, and then had someone call over Ma Sheng, his wife Lady Luo, their son, and their daughter.

Ma Sheng and Zhou Chun are about the same age and have three children: their eldest son is sixteen years old, their daughter is fourteen years old, and their youngest son is seven years old.

Ma Sheng's wife, Lady Luo, also had some martial arts skills and, like Old Woman Liu and the others, worked as a guard in the inner courtyard. Their eldest son used to work as a servant in Zhao Jingli's courtyard, but after the family split up, Ma Sheng didn't want his son to go to the second wife's house, so his son resigned from his job and now stays at home.

Today, seeing that Zhao Ruxi had bought so many servants and had now summoned his family, Ma Sheng guessed that she intended to use them, and he was both surprised and delighted.

Zhao Ruxi cut to the chase. "I'm going to train the servants I just bought, using methods that the household may not have used before, so I need your help. I need to train you all first, and once you've learned them, then you can help me train the others. Do you have any objections? If you're unwilling, that's fine too; I'll find someone else in the household."

"Yes, yes," Ma Sheng quickly replied.

Having spent this time by Zhao Ruxi's side, no one knew better than him how capable this young master was. To put it bluntly, she was far superior to Lord Zhao Yuanxun, not to mention the former heir of the Earl's Mansion, Zhao Jingli.

If you don't follow a master like this, who else can you follow?

They were the first to follow Fifth Sister in building her empire. No matter where Fifth Sister marries or stays in this family business she built from scratch, they will be highly valued. They are much better off than staying in this unchanging Earl's mansion.

Because Zhao Ruxi hadn't kept the matter of the business a secret from the household, Ma Sheng had also told his wife about it. He had specifically reminded her of this when he came earlier.

Upon hearing his statement, Lady Luo and her three children quickly replied, "We are willing."

When Zhao Ruxi saw her seven-year-old son shout "I do" in his tender voice, she couldn't help but laugh.

She called the little one over and asked him, "What's your name?"

These children, born into families and destined to serve their masters when they grow up, are trained by their parents from a young age. Therefore, the little ones are not timid.

He said, "My name is Ma Tianming. My mother said I was born just as dawn was breaking, so that's my name."

Zhao Ruxi took a liking to him because he was robust-looking, articulate, and logical.

She patted his head and asked, "What are your brother's and sister's names?"

"My brother's name is Ma Wushi, and my sister's name is Ma Ling'er."

"Was your brother born at Wushi? Was your sister born in the early morning?"

"Right."

Upon hearing this, Lady Luo blushed slightly and said, "We servants haven't received much education and don't know how to choose names, so we just came up with something random as a nickname. After we start serving our masters, they will bestow upon us a proper name."

As she spoke, she nudged the two older children.

Ma Wushi and Ma Ling'er quickly knelt down. "Please bestow a name upon us, young lady."

Zhao Ruxi gets a headache just thinking about naming things.

She's terrible at naming things.

In fact, when Qingfeng, Yicui, and Dianjiang came under her name, Lady Zhu also asked her to name these maids. For example, Zhao Ruyu disliked the name of her Daya and changed it to Fushu. But Zhao Ruxi was a lazy person and felt it was unnecessary, so she didn't change it.

However, the master's choice of a name signifies his approval of the servant.

She pointed at Qingfeng and said, "Look, I haven't changed their names. So you can use your original names. I think your original names sound pretty good. Wushi will be called Wushi, Ling'er will be called Ling'er."

Seeing his two children standing there in a daze, Ma Sheng quickly nudged Ma Wushi.

Ma Wushi quickly replied, "Thank you for bestowing a name upon me, Miss."

Ling'er chimed in with a comment.

"Alright, get up."

Seeing that they had all stood up, Zhao Ruxi said, "Tomorrow, all four of you should wear short-sleeved shirts and trousers, and go to the Chess Watching Courtyard at dawn. I'll be waiting for you there."