Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 43 Candidates

The outer courtyard is located within the gate of the Gao family mansion. It is quite large and has many buildings. Most of the servants live here, and some single guards also have residences here.

Daily shopping, sweeping, patrolling and many other matters are arranged here.

When Chen Xuan arrived, there were not many people here, and most of them were doing their duties.

In a wealthy family like the Gao family, not many people have free time. Servants and maids have to pretend to be busy even if they have nothing to do, otherwise they will be caught by the manager and thought to be lazy. If it happens too often, the manager will scold you at the very least, or deduct your monthly salary at the worst. In the worst case, you may even be driven away or sold to fend for yourself!

There are servants guarding the door here, so it's an easy job.

The gatekeeper seemed to be in his forties or fifties, but he didn't look old at all. The food was quite good, so the servants never starved. Compared with the old boatman who kidnapped and sold Chen Xuan, this servant looked like he came from a wealthy family, and in fact, he was almost the same.

I guess they took his age into consideration, so they assigned him the easy job of guarding the door.

He still had some good eyesight. Seeing the child Chen Xuan coming, he immediately stepped forward and greeted him with a smile, "Xuan brother, please come in. What do you want to tell me?"

Chen Xuan thought to himself that he had never met any stupid people in the Gao family, and everyone, whether they had seen him or not, could recognize him at a glance.

After all, although there are many people in the Gao family, you will get to know them all after a while, especially the children, who are only a handful in number, so it is not difficult to guess the identity of this unfamiliar face of mine.

He asked with the word "order" instead of directly asking you what's the matter. There is a big difference.

Even though Chen Xuan was just a small servant in front of Gao Jingming, and to put it bluntly, he was ordered around by her, but that was in front of the core figures of the Gao family. Who wouldn't put on a smile?

With such an identity, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is in the management level.

If anyone dared not take this servant seriously, who knows when Chen Xuan would twist his tongue and make things difficult for you. With Gao Jingming and his wife, would they trust Chen Xuan or them? Would they side with Chen Xuan or a dispensable servant?
Although the matter was not urgent, it was still better to implement it as soon as possible. Chen Xuan did not know him, so he simply said as he entered the yard: "Old man, the young master is going out later. I came here to discuss with Deacon Deng about the servants and guards accompanying him when he goes out."

In ancient society, people aged 30 could be called old men. Chen Xuan looks young now, so there is nothing wrong with calling him that.

"Brother Xuan is useless. I am not worthy of being called old man. Just call me Old Tang," the other party said with a smile.

They had already arrived at a hall. Old Tang picked up a teapot and poured tea, saying, "Xuan'er, please sit down for a moment and have a cup of tea. I wonder if this year's new tea suits your taste. I'll go and inform Deacon Deng. He's arranging people to inspect the farming situation this year. He hasn't left the house yet, so it will be quick."

"Okay, thank you," Chen Xuan nodded.

The Gao family still has land? Uh, isn't that nonsense...

After Old Tang Liandao left in a hurry, Chen Xuan climbed onto the chair on tiptoe and sat down. He took a sip of tea. He couldn't tell whether it was good or bad, but it was quite fragrant.

"It's still warm. This year's new tea, I guess it's specially prepared to entertain the people coming out of the inner courtyard to arrange things. The outer courtyard and the inner courtyard are different after all, so I guess there are special expenses for this part of the entertainment expenses."

A place like the Gao family is like a special social environment. You can't live in peace and stability just by being honest and dutiful. I'm afraid that under this kind of honesty, everyone is trying their best to pursue their own interests, just like Wang Hai. Chen Xuan has to adapt as soon as possible, and he will inevitably associate many details with it.

He had never thought about these things before, but now he finds it quite interesting. It is likely that he will not be exposed to this kind of intrigue and conspiracy outside the Gao family.

Even though everyone is polite to Chen Xuan, in the middle of it all they are doing is putting down the powerful and praising the weak, which is also a kind of intrigue.

Soon a fat middle-aged man came quickly, walking so fast that sweat appeared on his forehead.

He said at the door: "Xuan Ge'er, I'm sorry for the delay. Please forgive me."

This must be Deacon Deng, right? He's overweight, but his steps are steady and his breathing is even. He doesn't look tired. I'm afraid he's just pretending!
This thought flashed through his mind. At the same time, Chen Xuan also felt that there was something he had overlooked. He just couldn't grasp that fleeting feeling for a moment. The more he cared about it, the more he couldn't grasp it.

Without thinking too much, seeing that Old Tang was following behind him, he jumped off the chair and asked, "But is Deacon Deng in person?"

"That's right. I heard from Old Tang that Brother Xuan is here to arrange guards and servants for the young master?" The other party nodded. "Yes, do you have any suitable people at the moment?" Chen Xuan said frankly. Although he had a rough idea of ​​the candidate in mind, he still needed to consult with the other party since they were in charge.

Respect is something that is mutual. Although Chen Xuan can rely on his "young age" to not care, he can be a steward in the Gao family. Looking at the size of the outer courtyard, who would believe that he doesn't have some ability? Maybe he is related to a special person in the Gao family.

Upon hearing this, Deacon Deng quickly said, "Everyone who doesn't have any urgent matters is here..."

As he spoke, he pulled out a booklet from his bosom. He was originally going to hand it to Chen Xuan, but since he couldn't read, he simply flipped through it himself and quickly glanced at it. "There are more than twenty guards who can be mobilized immediately, and eleven servants. If you are not satisfied with these people, you can spend some time to make some arrangements."

After he finished speaking, Chen Xuancai said: "It doesn't take that many people, and it's not a long journey, so there's no need to disrupt the deployment and re-deploy."

After a pause, he continued, "I'm not familiar with the situation yet. Why don't you tell me the names of those people you mentioned, Manager Deng? I'll listen and then randomly assign a few."

"Okay, the guards are called..., and the servants are called..."

After he quickly finished reading the list, Chen Xuan heard Wang Hai's name among the servants as expected. He had just gone on a long trip with Mrs. Gao a few days ago, so it was not necessary for him to arrange important matters as soon as he came back.

But what surprised him was that he actually heard the names of Geng Hong and Niu Le. Didn’t they have two days off? Is it over already?
In this case, Chen Xuan naturally preferred the people he was familiar with, so he said, "There are too many people, I only remember a few. The guards are Geng Hong, Niu Le, Zhao Erhe, and Leng... Leng..."

"Cold?" Deacon Deng reminded.

Chen Xuan nodded and said, "Yes, Leng Bing. Judging from the name, she's a female?"

"Guardian Leng is indeed a woman. She is quite skilled and pretty," Deacon Deng said with a smile.

You are a 'civilian' deacon, and you know his martial arts skills?
Muttering in his heart, Chen Xuan said: "The guards are just these few. As for the servants, I remember you mentioned Wang Hai and Hou Jin just now, right? If I remember correctly, it's them. I'm not familiar with them, but they are all the same anyway."

"Okay, let's do as Xuan'er said. Guard Geng is very skilled, and he is enough to lead the team to protect the young master. Guard Leng is a woman, so she can protect the young master closely. Marquis Wang Haijin is also honest and hardworking. Then I will arrange for someone to notify them to wait outside?" Deacon Deng confirmed after a moment of hesitation.

Chen Xuan nodded and said, "That's it. Oh, and arrange a carriage just in case."

"That's fine, but Xuan'er, please don't mind my further comments. I think an ox cart is more suitable," Deacon Deng said after thinking for a while.

Chen Xuan was speechless and asked, "Why?"

"Because the young master is a scholar now and he doesn't travel far, although the ox cart is not fast, it seems steady and practical, which is more in line with his status as a scholar. Of course, I'm just making a suggestion, and it's up to Xuan'er to make the decision," Deacon Deng said with a smile.

This is something I really need to note. It seems that scholars generally prefer slow-moving vehicles like oxcarts, which allow them to travel leisurely and enjoy the scenery. Or do wandering vagrants usually prefer to ride horses and whip them?
"I was not thoughtful enough. Let's arrange a bullock cart," Chen Xuan accepted the advice.

"Well, Master, you have something important to do. I'll go and make the arrangements right away. I won't send Xuan Ge'er off."

"We are all working for the young master, there is no need to do this."

After everything was arranged here, Chen Xuan returned to the inner courtyard.

Little did he know that after separating from him, Deacon Deng looked in the direction he left and secretly said, "Monster!" He was too mature at such a young age, clearly not like a child, although he seemed immature in many ways.

He didn't really regard Chen Xuan as a "monster", but he admired Mrs. Gao's vision in his heart. How could the servant who was carefully selected for the young master after two months of absence catch Mrs. Gao's eye if he didn't have some outstanding qualities?

Chen Xuan didn't know what he was thinking. If he knew, he would probably have to remind himself to be more careful with his words in the future, at least to try to be consistent with his current age.

But what can he do? His body has shrunk, but his brain has not. He is only focused on getting things done, so how can he pretend to be young all the time?
Besides, the Gao family is full of shrewd people. If they deliberately pretend, they might backfire. It might be better to let things take their own course. At least Madam Gao and Butler He didn't think it was inappropriate. Otherwise, they would have "dealt with" me long ago...

(End of this chapter)