Chapter 237
It was very cold in the mountain area at night, so Minglan who was still in her period could only curl up to sleep . Gu Tingye encircled her body like a mountain and warmed her cold hands and feet during the whole night . While her cold body was pressed to his body which was as hot as the stove, she felt much more comfortable .
That night, the man had a good sleep . He remembered the look on Minglan’s face when was questioned by him before sleep . At that time, her face was super red like the grilled chubby octopus, but she still clenched her white teeth and said nothing . At last when she couldn’t bear it anymore, she was so embarrassed that she almost climbed the window to escape . Thinking of that, the man couldn’t help but laugh even in his dream . In the meantime, Minglan who saw what was happening only thumped on his chest violently .
The next day before the daybreak, Gu Tingye went to the military camp in the western suburb with Xie Ang and other guards .
“If you get busy, you don’t need to come back at night . ” Minglan muttered that with a drowsy look, “There are lots of guards in the manor . Don’t worry about me . ”
“I see . If anything happens, just make decisions by yourself . ” Gu Tingye kissed on her warm face and then left the manor .
As Minglan had expected, all the stewards and landlords in the manor were all well-behaved since she had two rows of strong guards standing there including Tu Long whose face seemed so scary . Minglan sat behind a screen while instructing everything to others .
A chief steward like Ba Laofu was well aware of what he was supposed to say and do when his madam inspected the manor . Therefore, he already brought a bunch of stewards and landlords in the early morning to give obeisance to Minglan . With a beaming smile on Ba Laofu’s face, he prepared a whole speech to report to Minglan . However, instead of asking him anything, Minglan only chatted with him breezily .
Ba Laofu and the other stewards, as confused as they were, could only engage themselves in the chat with Minglan .
“Madam, they are here . ” At the moment, Quan Zhu’s wife entered the room and reported that reverently .
Minglan replied to her in a gentle voice through the screen, “Tell them to enter in order according to the register . ”
Danju then picked up the register of names which had been handed in by Ba Laofu and started to read . After that, the other stewards found in surprise that Gongsun Meng was commanding a few servants to carry a waist-high basket .
With a great crashing sound of metals, the basket was put on the ground . Everyone turned around to have a look, and then they nearly jumped in shock-- That was a whole basket of copper coins . In the morning sunlight, those coins which were tied together by thick red threads gave off the bright green and grey light and dazzled everyone in the room .
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Minglan said gently, “They have worked very hard over the last year . Now that this manor belongs to Gu’s family and it’s the first time I came here, I’d like to reward the tenants . Hope everyone can feel happy about this . ”
“Madam, I . . . ” Ba Laofu felt vaguely that something was not right .
Before all the stewards had time to react, Quan Zhu’s wife had already started to call out names . Every tenant who entered the room would be given a string of coins first . The ones who had elders over sixty years old in their family would be given more of the coins . Having one elder in the family meant that there would be three hundred more coins . After the coins had been distributed to a tenant, Danju would cross out the number of the money and the tenant’s name on the name list . While those tenants staggered out of the hall with heavy strings of coins in their arms, they were still in a muddleheaded state .
The first few tenants were still a bit nervous or in a low spirit when they came in . After five or six tenants had been rewarded, the other tenants who were waiting in a queue all heard the news that their madam was rewarding them today . The response from the crowd in the front yard was immediate, and they were overjoyed . Next, the remaining tenants all came in with radiant faces and went out with joyful looks while uttering grateful words all the time .
The landlords and stewards looked at each other, not knowing what Minglan’s intention was . Some of them put on indignant looks on their faces, while others praised Minglan loudly . Only Ba Laofu was sweating . Since those landlords who opened their eyes wide now were all the witnesses, Minglan wasn’t afraid that those tenants would lie about how many elders there were in their families .
There were sixty-two hectares of land of the Black Mountain Manor and thirty-three tenants being registered on the paper . At last, six to seven thousand coins were presented to those tenants as well as the elders in their families, and nearly one basket was emptied .
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There was a brief interlude in the middle . A few tenants came to the hall, claiming that they also worked in the Black Mountain Manor after they had known about the reward . However, their names weren’t registered . Seeing that, Ba Laofu sweated profusely . However, Minglan wasn’t angry at all and only gave those tenants the money smilingly . Before Ba Laofu could think how to explain for this, Minglan already asked Cui Ping and Cui An to bring some landlords and a group of guards to measure the land .
Only then did Ba Laofu understand what Minglan was up to, and his face turned deadly pale with fear . As he wanted to explain, Minglan waved her hand lazily and dismissed everyone . Then she went back to have a rest .
The moment Minglan returned to the inner room, Xiazhu couldn’t help saying, “A few days ago, Madam has asked the people in the account counting room to prepare some coins . So that’s what those silvers are for . ” She didn’t dare to say too much . However, the reluctant look on her face already showed her true feelings .
In the meantime, Xiaotao still wore a calm look . She always thought whatever Minglan did was right . Danju poured a cup of tea for Minglan and helped the latter change clothes while saying gently, “Madam, why didn’t you ask about the affairs in our manor? You haven’t asked those stewards a word . ”
Minglan said tiredly, “The things they want to tell me might not be the things I want to know . The things I want to know might not be told honestly by them . ”
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“How dare they lie to you, Madam!” Danju frowned with her chest going up and down due to anger . Then she said in a low voice, “Madam, what do you want to know? We can inquire about it by ourselves . ”
After Minglan had taken a sip of the warm tea, she started to appreciate the porcelain cup with pink patterns which had been made in the official workshop, saying, “Not so much . I just want to know how many hectares of land and tenants there are in this manor . ”
The other things such as manipulation of account or swallowing the rents could be slowly handled afterwards . Besides, Minglan had the contracts of all the stewards and landlords in the manor . Since they were all new to her, she could deal with them as she wanted .
Minglan’s money was well spent .
When the Cui Brothers measured the land, those tenants who feared the stewards and landlords all became very friendly . Some sensible tenants knew what Minglan wanted to know and led the way for the Cui Brothers . At last, all the hidden facts were exposed by those tenants . A few stewards and landlords paced about in an agitated state of mind, but finally quieted down under the vicious gaze of the Tu Brothers .
In just two days, Cui Ping and Cui An finished measuring the vast farmland and recorded in detail the harvest of each area of the farmland . Meanwhile, Gongsun Meng visited all the tenants who hadn’t been registered with a steward who knew how to write .
The looks on the faces of those landlords and stewards became more and more awkward .
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