Eternal Beast Taming Family

Chu Jingyu glanced at the delicacies on the table but didn't touch them. Hearing Tang Cheng's words, he simply smiled.

"My Chu family has no connection with other families, so it would be a bit abrupt to integrate into this. I might even offend someone if I say something wrong."

"I'd rather stay here with the mayor; at least I'll have some peace and quiet."

Tang Cheng picked up the wine glass on the table, took a small sip, and smiled gently. "Patriarch Chu is a magnanimous person."

As the banquet continued, more and more people took their seats, but the county magistrate still did not appear.

Nearly an hour later, someone finally appeared high in the sky above the square.

Chu Jingyu squinted and observed carefully. He found that the man was a middle-aged man in his forties, with a thin figure and a faint, brooding aura emanating from him.

Judging from their aura alone, they did not seem as terrifying as the Huo family patriarch.

However, the overwhelming aura made Chu Jingyu realize that he had no chance of resisting it, so he only glanced at it before daring not to look any longer. Then he heard the man in the sky speak softly.

"You patriarchs have all worked hard today, and I hope this banquet will be enjoyable for you all."

Upon noticing the presence of today's protagonist, the magistrate of Paper Kite County, appearing high in the sky, the heads of various families and the town mayor quickly rose from their seats.

One of them responded, "It's no trouble at all; it's only right that we work hard for the county magistrate."

The county magistrate sat cross-legged in mid-air, glanced at everyone in the square, and spoke again.

"I know that some time ago, due to the actions of the Huo family patriarch, some of you lost the life of your family head or suffered injuries to your clan members."

Therefore, all members of the Huo family in Zhiyao County have been imprisoned, and those deeply involved have been executed without exception.

Some people in the square thought to themselves, "They're just some collateral relatives. The real Huo family patriarch and their main lineage have long since disappeared."

This thought only lingered in their minds for a moment; on their faces, they still had to feign gratitude, saying, "Thank you, Magistrate, for upholding justice for us."

"Soon, a wedding banquet will be held in this county to celebrate the establishment of a family business and the protection of the Paper Falcon County. We hope that you will all come to celebrate with us."

The crowd in the square bowed again, "Yes."

Then the county magistrate remained silent, and instead, a middle-aged man who appeared to be a steward at the courtyard gate spoke loudly:

"Fu Yunshu, from the Fu family, an eighth-rank noble family, is virtuous and kind, and has been betrothed to the Xiao family as their principal wife."

Li Qianqian, a refined and courteous woman from the prestigious Li family, is betrothed to the Xiao family as a concubine.

Shen Yan'er, from the prestigious Shen family, is a woman of exceptional beauty and character, and is betrothed to the Xiao family as a concubine.

The Qi family and Qi Xuan from Lingyang Town, the Yu family and Yu Ziyan from Qianchong Town, the Jiang family and Jiang Xiaodie from Xiayuan Town, and the Zhang family and Zhang Qingshu from Heyu Town were all concubines.

The wedding banquet will be held in seven days, and all guests are welcome to attend.

Only after the butler finished reading out the list of all the selected candidates did Chu Jingyu finally breathe a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Chu Suyuan's name was not among them.

After waiting a moment, the butler at the door called out again:

"Those who were not selected may now be led back home by the heads of the families."

After he finished speaking, a head maid led a row of girls with different postures to the edge of the square.

The girls looked either nervous, dejected, or curious; their expressions varied.

Chu Jingyu found Chu Suyuan among the group of girls, moved closer, called her name, and brought her to his side. He then bowed to Tang Cheng and left.

They followed the passage back to the outside of the boundary, then crossed the city wall back to the inside, and finally, as the carriage swayed along the road, they arrived home as dusk approached.

As soon as she led Chu Suyuan to the main hall, she immediately knelt down before Chu Jingyu, saying, "It is Suyuan's incompetence that she was not chosen. Please punish her, Master of the Family."

Chu Jingyu paused. "When did I say I was going to punish you? It's just as I wanted you not to be chosen. You've had a long day, so go back to your courtyard and rest. We can talk about it tomorrow."

With that, Chu Jingyu waved his hand, signaling her to go down first.

Chu Suyuan walked out of the courtyard of the main hall in a daze. Standing in front of the courtyard gate, she was a little lost for a moment, not knowing whether to go to the independent courtyard that the Chu family had prepared for her, or to go back to the small courtyard where she and her maids used to live together.

"Hello, Ms. So-won."

She only came to her senses when two maids greeted her.

She quickly interrupted the two maids who were about to bow, "No, no need. The play is over. I'm no longer a young lady. Now I'm just a maid like you."

Becoming a young lady of the Chu family was nothing more than a beautiful illusion she had been living in for a few days, Chu Suyuan bit her lip lightly.

The two maids knew Chu Suyuan before. Upon hearing this, they looked at each other and seemed to realize that Chu Suyuan's current state was not right. One of them pulled her away from the courtyard gate and walked to a corner.

At the same time, he whispered his advice:

"In any case, you've now awakened your spirit and formed a contract with a source beast. Even if you're no longer the young master's adopted daughter and continue as a maid, you'll still be a high-ranking maid."

Besides, the master is kind-hearted; he wouldn't just use you and then discard you. Miss Suyuan, don't worry, you'll have a good life ahead of you. It won't be any worse than being an ordinary little maid before.

This maid was clearly quick-witted and eloquent; after some persuasion, Chu Suyuan's eyes cleared up a bit.

She stared intently at the young maidservant in front of her, who appeared to be about fourteen or fifteen years old, then suddenly smiled and said, "Okay, thank you. I'm fine now. You can go back to your work."

The two maids smiled gently at her, then hurried into the courtyard of the main hall. The clan master had just returned home, and they needed to hurry to his side to serve him.

Although they usually just stood there as background figures and the master rarely made them do anything, this was a rule set by Granny Liu, and the two little maids dared not disobey it.

Chu Suyuan watched the two of them walk into the courtyard of the main hall. She tidied her stray hairs, thinking about the rules that Granny Liu had taught her these past few days, and walked to the courtyard where the young maids of the Chu family lived.

This courtyard has three rooms on each side, five rooms facing south, and four rooms facing north. The main gate is located in the middle of the north-facing side, making a total of 15 rooms in the courtyard.

Eight junior maids and one senior maid lived in one courtyard. Each junior maid had her own room, while the senior maid lived alone in the three central rooms facing south. The remaining empty rooms were used as their small kitchen, washroom, etc.

As soon as Chu Suyuan entered the courtyard, several maids on their day off spotted her, slowly stood up, and respectfully bowed to her.

"Miss So-won."

Chu Suyuan could see the envy in their eyes and sighed inwardly. Little did they know that she was now like a rootless duckweed, her heart never finding peace.

She didn't go on to correct them all, telling them they didn't need to bow to her, this "fake young lady," but simply spoke softly.

"I'm going back to my old place to take a look."

As she spoke, she began to walk toward the middle of the house in the east. The four maids in the courtyard looked at each other with complicated expressions.

One of the older girls stepped forward and said, "Miss So-won, your original room has been prepared for the new girl, Aoi."