CHAPTER 79: CHAPTER 78: FAT MOUSE, FAT MOUSE

Qin Yao stayed at the Ding Mansion.

The housekeeper arranged a room for her in a small room within Miss Ding’s courtyard.

The room was not large, only with a small bed and a set of black lacquered table and chairs. The window was very small, the light inside was dim, but it was relatively clean, and the prepared bedding was also washed.

Although it was a servant’s room, it was somewhat better than the master bedroom in an average commoner’s house, just enough for one person to live in.

The small room neighbored Miss Ding’s bedroom, and a shout from inside could be heard anytime due to poor sound insulation.

Miss Ding’s courtyard was not big, with a total of four servants.

An Aunt Qiao, who was like the general manager, was the maid who accompanied Mrs. Ding in her marriage, and apart from Miss Ding, she was the most senior in the courtyard.

Aunt Qiao had two maids under her, one called Cao’er, who was responsible for cleaning the courtyard.

The other one called Dou’er, who was Miss Ding’s personal maid, in charge of her daily needs.

There was also a house servant called Zhang Ba, who was usually responsible for running errands and guarding the door, and acted as a coachman when Miss Ding went out.

Qin Yao was different from them; she was a commoner, while these four were of humble origins, meaning they were slaves.

Theoretically, the master’s family had complete control over their life and transactions.

However, there were also laws that stipulated that the master could not arbitrarily kill slaves, and their life safety was somewhat protected, but not much.

The Ding Family had a very proper family tradition, and such things as harsh treatment of servants would not occur. The treatment, though not the best, was better than worse. If one worked well, they could live steadily until death.

Qin Yao had a rough understanding of the labor costs in Sheng Country. To buy a slave cost twenty to thirty taels of silver, and they had to be provided with a monthly allowance, and the costs of food, clothing, and housing throughout the year were a considerable expense.

If the master’s family treated slaves too harshly, the slaves would also escape, causing economic losses to the master’s family.

Therefore, from the number of servants in a household, one could roughly estimate the economic level of that household.

In the Ding Mansion, there were around twenty to thirty servants and guards, and maintaining such a number of people while keeping up appearances and daily expenses involved an amount of money that, to a commoner like Qin Yao, seemed astronomical.

Qin Yao was curious, both were humans, so how could Landlord Ding earn so much money?

Firstly, his father, his grandfather, and his ancestors were all wealthy people. There were no prodigals in the family, and the accumulated wealth of several generations laid a solid foundation for Mr. Ding.

Secondly, Mr. Ding was a titled man who became a Scholar at the age of nineteen.

The Scholar title exempts one from labor service and taxes, providing a safeguard for wealth accumulation.

At thirty-one, he became a scholar, exempting even his direct family members from taxes. As a result, the Ding Clan’s lands were all registered under his name, and many others also registered their lands under Mr. Ding’s name to avoid taxes.

These people would take out a portion of the produce every year to offer to Mr. Ding, forming a mature economic chain.

Finally, due to his titles, Mr. Ding obtained various privileges granted by the court to scholars of this era. He utilized those privileges to advance his family’s development, becoming a local power.

Housekeeper Yu said that Mr. Ding was not the only scholar in the Ding Family, nor the only one who became a scholar. There were also relatives in the capital working as officials.

However, those were the direct line, and these collateral descendants had developed too many generations not to have any connections.

But no matter what, it was still one clan, even if studying, it was much more convenient than others.

The teacher of the academy in Kaiyang County bore the surname Ding.

From birth, the children of the Ding Clan could access information about studying and the imperial examinations earlier than others.

This time Mr. Ding funded the establishment of a clan school to facilitate the young children of the clan in attending school.

In contrast, there was not even a rudimentary book in Qin Yao’s family; everyone knew that studying was good, but how it was specifically beneficial was completely unknown.

However, the path of the imperial examinations had nothing to do with Qin Yao.

This path was for men to tread, and women didn’t even have the qualification to enter the school.

It’s just... really damn frustrating!

Qin Yao splashed clear water on her face and looked down at her reflection in the copper basin.

With a standard three-quarters-width face, rough clothes and hair, one could still tell at a glance that she was good-looking.

Because the person inside had changed, the originally gentle eyes now emitted a sharp gleam, creating an intangible pressure felt immediately upon sight.

Such an expression was rare among the women of Sheng Country, who were mostly reserved and restrained.

Or like Miss Ding, bright and curious, as clear as a spring, easy to see through.

Mr. Ding and his son had set out early yesterday for Zijing Mansion, and the previously lively Ding Mansion was now somewhat deserted with half the people gone.

Qin Yao had already familiarized herself with her tasks over the past two days, standing guard at Miss Ding’s door as a gate god, besides eating, sleeping, and using the restroom.

If Miss Ding left the courtyard, she would follow and protect from a meter’s distance.

There were no other tasks she needed to do, as someone else would prepare meals for her and call her to eat on time.

As a close guard, she couldn’t leave the person she was protecting, so Qin Yao often squatted in front of Miss Ding’s door to eat.

If she grew tired of squatting, she stood by a column under the corridor and continued eating.

Watching her eat was frightful. After seeing it twice, Aunt Qiao, Dou’er, and Cao’er no longer wanted to watch and didn’t even allow Miss Ding to see, saying it was too vulgar!

If the young miss learned to eat like that, the master would beat them to death.

Unlike others who feared standing at military attention during university military training, Qin Yao enjoyed it. She hated moving; standing at attention all day was her favorite because she could let her mind wander endlessly.

After washing up, Qin Yao tidied her clothes, carried her bow and arrow, and went to stand at the door of the adjacent room.

The sky was barely light, a candle was lit inside, and Miss Ding had to wake early to study. She was up, being groomed by Dou’er and Aunt Qiao.

Neatly dressed, she ate half a bowl of fish porridge before sitting at the desk by the window, choosing a Classic of Poetry to study in the morning.

"Big rat, big rat, don’t eat my millet!"

"For three years, we have endured you, yet never a care you have shown."

"I shall depart, heading to a happy land."

"A happy land, a happy land, where there I belong."

The girl’s rhythmic voice sounded delightful, and Qin Yao couldn’t help but softly follow along:

"Big rat, big rat, don’t eat my wheat!"

"For three years, we’ve endured you, yet never a virtue you bestow."

"I shall depart, heading to a joyous land."

"A joyous land, where I shall find my worth..."

Curiously, a small head popped out from the window of the room, "You can actually read?!"

The low reading from the corridor stopped. Qin Yao turned to look, seeing Miss Ding with her hands on the windowsill, leaning out a tender white face, excitedly asking, "Do you also like this piece, ’Big Rat’?"

Qin Yao shook her head, "I just found it interesting how you read it, so I instinctively followed a few lines."

Every morning the first piece read was "Big Rat", and she had incidentally memorized it.