Do you know: I should be fat and you should be thin!

September 16th!

Zhou Ning and his entourage arrived in Bianjing at noon and disembarked.

He sent Li Tou back to the mansion to retrieve the three carriages that Xiao Zhu had arranged long ago.

"I've already bought the house. When the carriage arrives, you can go back to your residence first. I need to go to the Ministry of Personnel to collect my official robes. The Sheng and Yu families both need to prepare gifts, and I'll have the eldest daughter-in-law personally deliver them on a chosen day. Keep the 'Ten Thousand People Umbrella' and the plaque in the ancestral hall. Zhi'er, you take care of that," Zhou Ning instructed.

"Don't worry, my lord, I will take care of it," Yu Yanran said.

"Don't worry, Ninglang, I've got it." Wei Zhi said.

After waiting for about half an hour, Pear Head and the others arrived!

After watching the two women leave, Zhou Ning took a carriage to the Ministry of Personnel and presented his official rank certificate.

The three departments verified his fifth-rank status by comparing his official title and generated a request for his official appointment.

The Grain and Provisions Bureau verified the official documents, marked the relevant information on official robes and remittances, transferred them to the Imperial Treasury for record-keeping, and gave the documents to Zhou Ning.

Zhou Ning took the verified voucher and went to the Left Treasury to collect it!

After verifying that the relevant documents were correct, the supervisor issued him a scarlet official robe, a leather belt with gold coating, a silver fish-shaped pouch, a long-winged black gauze hat, black leather official boots, and an ivory tablet!

Zhou Ning immediately donned the ivory tablet, held it in his hand, and returned to the carriage.

"Young master, are we going back to the manor?" Pear Head asked.

"Let's go back first. We've been adrift on the ship for so long, we're exhausted. It's good to be back, but there's no more sleeping in." Zhou Ning smiled wryly.

Although I've had a tough time these past two years, I've always been able to sleep in with my wife until I naturally wake up.

However, the Great Zhou Dynasty had a clear system of holding court at "5:30 AM" (i.e., around 4:30 AM).

As a mid-to-high-level official, I am required to participate in regular court sessions.

Since the morning court session started at 3 a.m., I usually had to get up at 2 a.m. (2-3 a.m.) otherwise I wouldn’t have time to eat at home and would have to rely on the “morning food stalls” (breakfast stalls set up specifically for officials attending the morning court session).

The key point is that after the old emperor assumed power, he restored the ancestral system of attending court every day. He attended court almost every day and personally reviewed all the memorials from officials, regardless of their size, showing great diligence in his duties.

In other words, I will work year-round without a break and get up early every day!

dying!

"Why?" Pear Head asked.

Weren't we allowed to sleep in before? How come now that we're high-ranking officials, we can't even sleep anymore?

Zhou Ning said, "Good question! Anyway, from now on, you'll get up at four in the morning every day, bring me here, and wait for me after court!"

"Four...four o'clock!" Pear Head was stunned.

This is when he tastes his sweetest.

The entire journey was silent; both master and servant wailed in silence.

The two returned to the Zhou residence!

"Ning-ge'er!" Xiao Zhu eagerly awaited, being the first to greet him.

Eighteen-year-old Xiaozhu has grown into a graceful young woman. After two and a half years apart, Zhou Ning almost didn't recognize her.

"Ning-ge'er, you look so handsome in your official robes. Do you think I look better? I've gained weight over the years. I've got some osmanthus flowers for the manor, do you want to see them?" Xiao Zhu chattered on and on.

Zhou Ning didn't mind the noise, so he sent Li Tou away and asked her to show him around his mansion.

After walking around, Zhou Ning saw a sweet osmanthus tree in full bloom and was very satisfied.

"It seems there are fewer maids in the manor," Zhou Ning asked.

He remembered leaving behind twenty maids for menial tasks and ten maids from wealthy families before he left. They were all newly bought and signed ten-year contracts, but along the way, he only saw about twenty of them.

"Ten of them were disobedient and loved to talk back, so I sold them off. I told the boy about it in the letter..." Xiao Zhu said nervously.

Although she was the head maid, she did not have the authority to sell off the maids. It was Zhou Ning who later sent a message that as long as she took good care of the house, she could do whatever she wanted!

Zhou Ning remembered this and said, "Don't worry, I remember now. You did well. Those who were left behind will be rewarded with 5 strings of cash. As for you, I'll give you an extra 200 strings."

"Brother Xie Ning! My... my contract has expired," Xiao Zhu reminded him.

The term of office for hiring servants is limited to ten years.

All four maids entered the household at the age of 7 or 8, with the earliest, Xiaozhu, already past her due date.

Zhou Ning thought she was leaving and felt a little reluctant to part with her; he had developed feelings for her.

Even counting from the time she transmigrated, there were still six years (she didn't go to Tianchang County for two and a half years) of childhood sweetheart relationship, watching each other grow up together.

"Did your parents come looking for you?" Zhou Ning asked.

The four maids were not sold because they were too young, and because their parents had long since disappeared, making it impossible for them to break their contracts and return home.

"No! I want to renew my employment..." Xiaozhu looked at Zhou Ning with some anticipation.

Zhou Ning thought for a moment and said, "Go and bring Xiao Qing and the other two to my study. Their time is almost up, so I might as well take care of them all at once."

Xiaozhu thought that all four of them were going to be laid off, so she ran crying to look for them.

Zhou Ning was somewhat conflicted. In fact, all four girls were quite beautiful, just like the four beauties in the story of Tang Bohu Pointing Autumn Fragrance, all of whom were pretty young girls. Xiao Zhu was even better, with the same level of beauty as Qiu Xiang.

He had the right to make the four of them his concubines, but firstly, there were too many; secondly, he had to consider Yu Yanran and the others' feelings; and thirdly, doing so so soon after returning to the capital wouldn't do him any good for his official reputation...

"Let them decide for themselves!"

study!

Soon all four girls arrived, and Xiaozhu's face was still wet with tears!

"You've all been with me since you were little. Some of you have been with me for over ten years, while others have only been here for a couple of months. Xiaozhu just mentioned this to me, so I thought I'd make things clear to you. You're all getting on in years. If you were born into good families, you should all be married by now. If any of you don't want to continue your employment, I'll give each of you 300 strings of cash as a settlement fee. When she gets married, I'll add ten more loads of dowry. If you do want to continue your employment, I can pay you a lump sum annually, either in bushels of rice or strings of cash, and the payment will be calculated based on the amount of the head maid," Zhou Ning said.

Xiaoqing, Xiaomei, Xiaoma, and Xiaozhu all knelt down, indicating their willingness to continue working for them.

Without any family, where can they go with the resettlement allowance?

A few hundred strings of cash are enough to live comfortably for many years, but if you want to settle down in Bianjing, it's not enough.

Moreover, they had harbored some feelings for Zhou Ning for many years. As they matured early, they began to see their little brother as a romantic younger brother and grew increasingly fond of their own brother.

Which girl wouldn't be attracted to a successful non-blood-related younger brother?

Zhou Ning sighed, "Have you thought this through? If you do this, you'll be in trouble. I might not necessarily make you my concubines, do you understand? At least not now. Firstly, it would be bad for my reputation, and secondly, my wife wouldn't be able to handle such a blow..."

"Brother Ning, I have nowhere to go, so please let me stay and serve you. Or you can tell me who to serve, and I'll serve whoever you want me to!" Xiao Qing said.

"Me too, I will take good care of Madam, please don't abandon me, Ning-ge'er," Xiao Mei said.

Xiao Ma remembered what Wei Zhi had said and said, "It's not good for Madam Wei to be without anyone to serve her. I will take good care of her."

The most beautiful of the four girls, Xiaozhu, wiped away her tears and looked at Zhou Ning expectantly.

"Then promote them all to head maids and renew their contracts. There are enough maids in the manor, so you don't need to do any of the rough work. Xiaoqing and Xiaomei will still follow Madam. Xiaoma will still follow Madam Wei. Xiaozhu, you... will follow me for now, mainly in charge of my meals. Grind ink for me, and I'll rewrite your contracts!" Zhou Ning said.

Xiao Zhu quickly stepped forward, poured water, and ground ink.

A new contract was quickly generated for each person, and all four women signed and accepted it before running back to their rooms to hide it!

Zhou Ning went to Fangxiangyuan, which was originally named by Wei Zhi.

"The crimson official robes are indeed very handsome, making Ning Lang look even more dashing."

......