I'm taking the imperial examinations in Liaozhai

"I believe my lord, my lord is a county magistrate, he must know more than me. You can do whatever you want, Ah Fu will support you." Ah Fu raised his face and showed a big smile.

Ji Zihe sighed, he was still a child, he didn't understand these things... maybe it would be better.

"Let's go, we should go back." Ji Zihe patted her on the shoulder.

Ah Fu boldly grabbed his sleeve, and Ji Zihe didn't shake her off.

Back down the corridor, the butler was still dozing against the pillars.Ji Zihe called him twice before he yawned and slowly opened his eyes.

"My lord, you're done with your convenience!" Seeing Ji Zihe, the butler immediately woke up, with cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

It's over, how could he make such a mistake, and fell asleep while waiting for the magistrate, the magistrate wouldn't think that he was deliberately trying to neglect him.The county magistrate was originally angry, but now he bumped into him again. With the county magistrate's violent temper, why not give him a slap, that would be fatal!

The butler fought back and forth, and knelt on the ground with a thud, "Atonement, my lord, I really didn't mean to neglect you, I really don't know how I fell asleep, please forgive me, my lord!"

Ji Zihe: ...

Ji Zihe felt that it was definitely not his fault. He is a county magistrate who is kind and close to the people. He has always been as warm as a spring breeze to the people.Why is this butler so afraid of him? Could it be that he has done something wrong?

"You're so sleepy, maybe it's because you've done something bad, you can't sleep at night because you're so scared, did you do something bad to hide from me?" Ji Zihe snapped.

The butler was about to cry in fright, his head shaking like a rattle, "No, no, really no!"

Ji Zihe raised his eyebrows, "Really? You think about it carefully, if you don't tell the truth, you have to be careful about the consequences."

This is of course not a joke. He is investigating the case, and it is normal to "screen out" a few suspects.As for the consequences, of course he was caught and locked up in prison for two days.

The butler's heart was trembling. It's possible that Mr. Ji really discovered something, otherwise how could he let himself lead the way? It must have been calculated by him.

The butler really guessed wrong, he probably forgot that it was Chu Yuhua who asked him to lead Ji Zihe, not Ji Zihe himself. It can only be called a coincidence.

"I..." The housekeeper swallowed, faltering, still hesitating.

"I see that you are not too young, so I don't want to torture you. You won't let down my good intentions. If you are found out to be ugly, you won't be treated so well. No way. It will hurt the family as well.”

As soon as the family was mentioned, the housekeeper stopped hesitating, and immediately touched his forehead to the floor and kowtowed a few times, "Please forgive me, I have an 80-year-old mother and a baby who is waiting to be fed. If something happens to me, how will they live?" .”

"Then you will take what you know and tell the truth."

"Yes, my lord. Last night, the little one saw something. At that time, the master asked me to go to the young master's study to get the account books. On the way, I saw two people dragging another person sneakingly against the wall. I think After thinking about it, they didn't say anything, but followed them first. The two carried them all the way to the guest room. To be precise, it was the guest room where Mr. Feng lived. When they came out, the people dragging them were gone. I went forward to stop them, and found that the two of them turned out to be young master Biao's personal maids. The two of them were not afraid to see me, saying that the master ordered them to do this. They were afraid that Mr. Feng would fall asleep alone and be bored, so they specially sent a beautiful woman serve him."

The housekeeper couldn't help crying, "My lord, I really didn't know that the person who was carried to Mr. Feng was Ah Fu. She is still so young, even if she grows stronger, she is still a child. Why? If I can stand this kind of tossing, if I know that it is he, I will definitely persuade the master. Then Mr. Feng is too ignorant, why is he crazy when he is drunk, after all, it is a human life!"

Ji Zihe looked down at Ah Fu who was standing beside her. She held Ji Zihe's clothes corner with one hand, rubbed her eyes with the other and cried loudly.Although I can't shed tears, but

Both eyes were still swollen like rabbits.

"If it wasn't Ah Fu, would you just leave it alone?" Ji Zihe asked again.

The housekeeper swallowed, "My lord, they are all slaves bought by the master, and their wealth and life belong to the master. If the master asks them to serve the guests, there is no reason for them not to obey. The villain is not easy to manage this matter."

Ji Zihe was silent, and the housekeeper hesitated, "My lord, you are a good official, but this is their fate."

Ji Zihe felt powerless, he sympathized with those who were bought and sold as slaves, but he couldn't do anything.Let alone him, even the emperor couldn't do it.No one is willing to break this system, not only the aristocratic families are against it, even the people at the bottom are not willing.

Those high-ranking families don't have servants, if they don't hold the servant's contract of sale, how can they trust them to take care of the family business.Not to mention aristocratic families, rich families with a little money will also have such servants.

As for those ordinary people who do not need slaves, in case of a natural or man-made disaster, when life is difficult, they can still sell themselves, so that they will not starve to death.Those who can be sold as slaves, regardless of whether they sell themselves or others, will definitely not be able to live in their original family.Even after becoming a slave, can it be worse than before being sold?It's better than dead.If the master is generous, it may be more comfortable than being a farmer with mud legs.

Of course, there are many powerful people who will take advantage of this loophole to do illegal things, and being a slave is not a good citizen, but many ordinary people still regard this as a backup way out.

Although he knew that this system had many disadvantages, the emperor would certainly not be willing to change it.As long as the common people are given a way to survive and they are not cornered, even if something happens, they will not immediately rise up to rebel.As the saying goes, prevent problems before they happen.Even if the Holy Majesty is confident that he can manage the country well, he is not willing to take risks to change. At most, he will control the number of servants owned by each family to avoid some situations that he does not want to see.

"Fate." Ji Zihe put one hand behind his back and looked up at the floating clouds in the sky.It doesn't matter if you accept your fate, or not, there is really too little that can be done by a drop in the ocean.

"Housekeeper, can I ask you something more?"

"Sir, please speak."

"You know..."

In the dining room, Rong Ge was holding a brush in his hand, slowly interrogating the person and writing a confession.

"Hurry up, my lord has been away for so long and hasn't returned yet, Xiaosheng should send someone to look for it." Chu Yuhua worried.

"What's the hurry, my lord is very talented. Wen is better than others, and Wu is unmatched. Even if he goes to the latrine, it will take longer than ordinary people." Rong Ge said without even moving his eyebrows.

Chu Yuhua: "..."

Does your grown-up know that you "praise" him like this?Or, who is stronger than that table first?

Rong Ge didn't blush, his heart didn't beat, he greeted the eyes of everyone frankly, and continued to interrogate calmly...

My God, my lord, why don't you come back, how long can a dozen or so people interrogate.In order to save time, she has been getting to know the family's ancestors for eighteen generations. This has something to do with investigating the case!