Wangfu Shenyuan

The steward's surname is Han, and everyone calls him Steward Han, and he is in charge of the servants of this courtyard.After Xia An prepared with him, he officially became a servant with a job in the palace.To have work means to be useful, and to be useful is to survive.

Followed Han Guanshi to the big room in the middle of the north to get the daily necessities. He was wearing a worn-out gray coarse cloth bunt shirt and patched blue trousers, which were the same as Ah Fu's clothes, but not as neat as Ah Fu's. New, one bed of bedding, dirty, torn and damp.When Xia An took the things, he tried his best to restrain his emotions from showing, but after all, he was young and ignorant of the world, and his slightly frowned eyes made Guanshi Han understand his thoughts.

"Don't dislike it, everyone says that the palace is covered with gold and silver, ha, but there are straws under the gold and silver, we are just dry grass, don't treat yourself as a treasure, just be a piece of grass, a piece of dry grass needs What the hell, if you have a place to shelter from the wind and rain, you should chant Amitabha."

"Yes, I keep in mind the teaching of the steward." Xia An bent down and replied respectfully.

Manager Han patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Although we don't live as well as those high-status servants, our yard doesn't pay attention to so many rules. Be more casual in the future, but you can't be lazy when you should work. When the supervisor comes, they are really fierce, everyone is holding such a long whip, if you are slow, you will have to be whipped a few times, but it hurts a lot."

"I see, thank you, manager." Xia An still replied politely.

Guanshi Han made a few more points of attention, just like Ah Fu said, emphasizing the problem of water use.In the end, Guanshi Han kindly said: "Your registration booklet will be sent to Huaying Garden today, and it will be officially approved tomorrow. You, take a good rest today and adapt to the environment. If you need any help, ask Ah Fu, He is a servant of the palace, and he is more familiar with the palace than us."

Isn't the status of the slaves born at home always higher than the slaves bought later? How did Ah Fu end up like this.Xia An was puzzled, but he didn't dare to ask any more questions. He carried all the items he had received and went to the assigned west room to pack them up.

Upon entering the Westinghouse, Xia An was stunned.Where's the bed? Where's the bed?

Westinghouse is set up very simply.Facing the door is a path that is two feet wide. On both sides of the path are low platforms made of soil that reach the knees. There are many beddings on the platform, none of which are neatly folded. .

Xia An carefully looked at the time of a cup of tea before confirming that the low table was really a bed, where he wanted to sleep.But the tables are covered with quilts, where will his be placed?

While thinking hard, the crippled man came in limping in. Seeing Xia An holding the quilt in a daze with a sad face, he was grateful to him for giving up the fat job, so he helped to resettle him.Once inside, each bunk is set aside a little, and when you get to the innermost side, make room for the width of your body, and beckon to the wide-eyed boy: "Come and sleep here, although the smell is a bit unpleasant, but it's better than there is only one bed." People squeeze you."

It wasn't until Xia An realized that he was grateful for his help.Bowing to thank the man, the man ignored his false politeness and grabbed the quilt to spread it.

"The well in the yard is evil, and the water in it is not edible, but it doesn't hurt to wash clothes and take a cold shower. I think you are a clean person. Fortunately, it is summer now. You can take cold water every day until the weather turns cold. , the hot water can’t be drained, and once it stinks, it will stink until the next summer.”

Xia An was so frightened that he opened his mouth and couldn't speak.

The man pointed to Xia An's clothes: "Although the clothes are old, the material is still very good. We didn't get many things in the yard, and they were all left for the newcomers after death. That's it, it's still not enough. It’s rare to get two sets of clothes to change. You’d better take off the one you’re wearing and hide it, so that no one can see it and snatch it away.”

"But I only got a suit of servant clothes, so I have to change them."

"Oh, when it's time for you to work, you don't have the energy to do laundry. It's dirt or rocks all day long, and it's still the same dirty the next day after washing. My name is Zheng, and I'm Zheng Da, older than you. How old are you, just call me Brother Zheng."

This is friendship.Although Xia An didn't go out much before, he also read a truth from books, make more friends and less enemies.He immediately responded with a smile: "Brother Zheng."

Taking advantage of the fact that no one else came back, Xia An took the newly received servant clothes to the well to fetch water and wash them. After the night wind blows all night, he can wear them when he goes to work tomorrow.It's not that he can't listen to Zheng Da's words, it's just that he really can't stand such dirty clothes, especially, the clothes are likely worn by more than one dead person.

After washing his clothes, he hung them on a thick black rope in the yard, and washed his face with a cloth towel.Xia An didn't want to go back to the stinky room, and she was so hungry that she couldn't live up to it.After riding in the carriage for a whole day, he ate half a cornmeal bun on the way. From Xia An's point of view, it was just something fresh to eat, not a staple food to keep you full.

There is smoke in the kitchen, so there should be food in it, but I don’t know if they are allowed to eat at any time in the palace, even if there is no food, it’s great to be able to drink saliva.

The kitchen is not big, with two stoves and pots and pans scattered all over the room.As soon as Xia An opened the door and went in, he heard Ah Fu scolding Zheng Da: "Why did the manager send me a crippled man, and I can't even pick up water. Then what are you doing in the kitchen? Maybe you want to cook and call me Are you going to fetch water and chop wood?"

The wooden door made a "creaking" sound, and both of them looked towards the door.Xia An stood at the door a little uneasy, thinking whether it was inconvenient to go in at this time.

"What are you doing?" Ah Fu didn't like this young man who didn't talk very much.

Xia An said, "I want to see if there's anything to eat, and if there's nothing to eat, it's fine to drink clean water."

"Why, Pai Hanako won't even let you eat?"

Zheng Da couldn't understand Ah Fu's attitude, so he interjected: "Taking flowers are all kidnapping children, Xia An is an adult, can the traffickers be willing to spend money to buy food for them, do you have any food here? "

"No, there's no water either, you go pick it up, and I'll cook it when you pick it up." Ah Fu intentionally made things difficult for Zheng Da, who gritted his teeth and picked up a water pole to go out, but Xia An hurriedly stopped him.

"I'll go. Anyway, I'm going to look for a well on the wasteland. I want to drink the water, so I don't need to bother Brother Zheng." Xia An grabbed the pole and put it on his shoulder like he did, trembling. , quite fun.The moment he went out, he heard Ah Fu's sneer behind him: "Hmph, Brother Zheng."

Go straight from the hospital gate, turn left, and go straight again.Xia An was a little dizzy from walking, he felt that he was on the right path, but why couldn't he find any wasteland with a well? Now the surrounding area is surrounded by neat attic yards, which are not only neat but also prosperous. The place where he lives The broken yard is incomparable with everything that can be seen here.

wasteland, well.Xia An was swinging around with the pole in his arms, it doesn't matter if he can't get water, at least he can go back.

Hey, there is a river.It must be the untouchable river.The exhausted Xia An was sitting on a smooth rock by the river with a pole in his arms, in a daze.

Suddenly he received a slap on the head that was not light or heavy, and when he turned around, it was a girl of eighteen or nineteen years old, with a perfect head and eyebrows, a charming smile, beautiful eyes, colorful clothes and high temples, and a magnificent figure.

Xia An hurriedly got up and bowed to the end: "Miss, do you want to tell the servant what to do?" In front of Guanshi Han, Xia An noticed that Zheng Da didn't call himself "slave", so he followed up with "I", after all, no one I would like to call myself "slave" and "slave".But looking at this girl's luxurious clothes, Xia An needs to be cautious in her words and deeds.

"Which yard are you from? Why are you dressed so raggedly?" The girl circled around Xia An, smiling while covering her handkerchief.

which yard?Xia An really didn't pay attention to whether there was a plaque on the door of the broken courtyard where she lived. "Back to the girl, the slave just entered the mansion today, and I don't know the name of the courtyard where I live."

"What an idiot." The girl waved at the pavilion above the rockery, speaking in a high-pitched, loud voice, which made Xia An's ears hurt, obviously she wasn't talking to him.

Xia An looked along, and there was a person standing in the pavilion, because it was facing the sun, what Xia An saw was just a tall black shadow.

Xia An didn't dare to refute what the girl said, even though he was really not an idiot.

"Hey nerd, what are you doing sitting here holding a stick?"

"In the case of the girl, the servant went out to carry water, but he couldn't find a well, so he was a little tired, so he came here to rest. If it gets in the way of the girl, the servant will leave immediately."

"Haha, not only dumb, but also stupid." The girl was lively, pointing at Xia An, holding her stomach and laughing.Xia An was a little annoyed at being laughed at, and saluted with the shoulder pole before leaving.

"Hey, don't go." The girl grabbed Xia An's sleeve, pointed to the clear river and said, "Isn't the water quite clean, you can carry water back from here."

"Thank you for your kindness, girl. The slave's status is low. I'm afraid the water won't move, so the slave will resign."

"It's okay, I'll pick it for you." Taking advantage of Xia An's sudden surprise, the girl snatched Xia An's bucket and threw it into the river. After filling the bucket with water, she tried to lift it, but almost fell into the river herself. , Xia An quickly grabbed her and poured the water in the bucket back.

The girl was annoyed: "What are you doing, I finally made a bucket?"

"I'm sorry, but I dare not use the water here. I went to the front to take a look and leave." Xia An turned to leave, but the girl wanted to stop them. When they were arguing, two guards in yellow silk came over suddenly and walked away. Without further ado, he grabbed the girl and threw her into the river.

Xia An was taken aback. The two guards stood aside and watched the girl swim back with great effort. They even held the girl's head with their hands, trying to drown the person in the river.

Xia An warned herself not to meddle in other people's business, but no one could just watch a young girl die in front of her.

He ran over to try to tear the two guards away, but because he was young and not strong enough, one guard continued to press the girl's head, while the other turned around and kicked him on the ground.His lower abdomen hurt sharply, and he arched his body in pain.The guard refused to let him go, and kicked him hard again.

Until another guard finished his work and came over and said: "Okay, the lord will kill him without saying anything, let's accumulate some virtue, so that he will go to hell after death, so we can save a few times in the frying pan."

"I didn't want to beat him to death. I wanted to teach him a long lesson. The leisurely palace is also a place where you can meddle in other people's business, and you don't want to look at yourself." The beating guard stopped and hummed dissatisfied.

"My lord has always been an all-out killer, why did you keep one this time?"

"Haha, the lord must be looking at this boy holding a pole so stupidly, he wants to keep it for fun."

"It's a pity that the third lady of the Qi family has only been in the mansion for a day, and the prince likes it. Why do you think this kid is funny? I told the prince that I would come down to have a look, touched the river, and violated the taboo of the prince. It's just so unclear It's a pity to die."

"I didn't see how sorry you were when you started."

"Haha, there are too many people in my hands. These bloody hands have long stopped listening to my brain."

The voices of the two gradually faded away, and Xia An curled up on the ground, shaking non-stop.It is said that the Marquis of the Shenfu is a place to eat people, but this palace is more than just a place to eat people.

One moment he was pampering and joking, and the next moment he could be ruthless and kill him.The Prince of Leisure is as good as the King of Hades, Xia An's heart is as cold as a millennium cold stone, the master of his life is actually such a person.

Can you still save enough money to redeem yourself alive?How much money would a slave who was short on food and clothing have in a month?Mrs. Wang bought him for only a small amount of land, a coffin, and a shroud, which cost only three or four taels of silver, but she sold him to the palace because he was ugly, so she only got ten taels, which was twice as much as when she bought him. too much.

When he leaves the mansion in the future, how much money will he give to the palace?

Enduring the pain, Xia An got up, first patted the dirt off his body, and then raised the bucket with the iron hooks on both ends of the pole.Even if there is no water in the bucket, shoulders still hurt after carrying the two big wooden buckets for a long time, so Xia An prefers to carry the pole. Anyway, there is no water in the bucket, and he is not afraid of it leaking.

Bowing three times to the corpse floating away in the river, it counts as farewell, and it counts as... sorry.According to what the guard said, the reason why the girl killed herself was because of him.

Which direction to go is the way back.Xia An turned around in place holding the pole, and his eyes fell on the pavilion on the rockery, where the tall body was still there.That figure is the master of this palace, and also his master - Lord Leisurely.

The summer sun was harsh and dazzling, and the rockery was high and far away. Xia An couldn't see the black shadow's face, couldn't see the clothes on his body, and couldn't even tell whether the black shadow was facing away from him or facing him.

Either way, he didn't want to die.If you die, you are a slave, but if you live, you may become a free person.

It might be ridiculous for Xia An to kowtow goodbye to the shadow, but in the face of the murderous devil, he must be safe to save his own life.His life is everything to him, but to the prince, it is just a difference in quantifiers for casually talking about killing a few.

When it got dark, Xia An was still wandering around.However, he was lucky enough to see a group of people with the same style and color of clothes as he was leading, followed them, and finally returned to the yard smoothly.

When he entered the kitchen, Ah Fu saw him coming in with an empty bucket in his arms. He glanced sideways and said nothing.Zheng Da's eyes were a little red, and he was burning a fire beside him. A large iron pot was burning on the stove, and there was a sound of "gulu" and "gulu".Xia An sniffed, it was delicious, but it was not white rice porridge.

"Where have you been, have you been beaten?" Zheng Da asked worriedly as he saw that there was another big black mark on Xia An's face.

"No, I fell down." Xia An didn't dare to say more, even though he really wanted to find someone to tell the whole story, it was uncomfortable in his stomach, and he was still terrified. It was terrible. "Sorry, I didn't find any water."

"It's okay. There's still some in the water tank. It's enough to cook dinner. It's not too late to pick after dinner."

Xia An forced a smile, and Ah Fu snorted heavily in his ear.

For dinner, I boiled polenta porridge and steamed corn buns, both of which were added with salt.Xia An sighed at the meal, and sighed again, the palace is so luxurious, how can servants only eat such things.Even at the house of Mrs. Wang, who trafficked people, there was rice porridge to drink.

After eating, Zheng Da took out the wooden basin to wash the dishes, Xia An took pity on his inconvenient legs, and collected the used bowls for him, washed them for him, and took away the piles to put them away.

Zheng Da occupied his hands, but his mouth was not idle, he chattered: "Look at the poor food in our palace, in fact, our courtyard is the worst. I never expected that you would be divided into the first day you entered the palace. Come to this courtyard. You don’t know, the people in this courtyard are all sentenced to death by the palace, and the strong ones haven’t lived here for more than five years. Tell me, how could the palace let the dead eat well? .”

"Tomorrow you have to go out to work with everyone. In fact, the job is not difficult, it just depends on your strength. But you are weak and weak. If there is a supervisor by your side, you will continue to work even if you die. If you can't see Supervisor, just take a break from the meeting secretly. No one cares about us, so we have to take care of ourselves, right?"

"It stands to reason that I shouldn't take money to steal your good job in the kitchen, but look at me, there is really no way out."

Xia An, who had been silent all this time, heard this and said, "Why don't you go see a doctor if you have a tael of silver? If your leg keeps dying, it may cause other diseases."

"Looking at the doctor, money alone is not enough. I don't have time to cook medicine, and the kitchen won't let me do it. But I have a job in the kitchen, so I can go to the back mountain to pull some herbs and boil them quietly on the stove."

Xia An nodded, Zheng Da was indeed thoughtful in thinking this way.

When they returned to the house after carrying water with Zheng Da, everyone was already lying on the bed, and some of them were already snoring.Xia An walked past them, no one said hello, they just looked at him.Xia An was also secretly looking at other people. They were all older than him, some were stronger than him, and some were lying on the bed with yellow faces and coughing non-stop.

Tossing and turning in the west room and unable to fall asleep, Xia An sat up outside the door watching the moonlight all night, and fell asleep leaning on the poplar tree at some point.When the cock crowed on the second day, Steward Han took the gong, stood in the middle of the yard, and beat it vigorously.

Xia An was the first to wake up. He took the clothes he had dried yesterday and went back to the house. Everyone was already awake. No one took off their clothes when they were sleeping. When they woke up, they could naturally get up from the bed.

After hastily changing her clothes, Xia An carefully folded the body she brought in, and pressed it neatly under the quilt.