Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

The best solution is to transform this safe house in Biyang County into a large, fully-fledged house that is actually inhabited and full of life.

In this way, although the owner of the "Lin Chaoxi" mansion was not in Biyang County for many years, he was by no means a stranger.

In the streets and alleys of Biyang County, the topic of this "Master Lin" will always be talked about.

If Lin Chaoxi were to return to Biyang County on any given day, no one would suspect anything.

Who is being housed in this mansion in Biyang County?

This is the Ming Dynasty, not the world I lived in before I transmigrated. There are legally protected personal dependency relationships here.

You can buy servants and maids!

It doesn't matter if there are no reliable people; you can simply use your money to buy a whole mansion's worth of servants!

But I'm away from Biyang County for a long time, and these servants can't be left unattended!

In the world I lived in before transmigrating, there were quite a few movies and TV shows about mansions where the owners were often away and only servants took care of them.

For example, a certain award-winning South Korean film.

The things these servants do can sometimes be so outrageous that they shatter one's worldview.

Human nature cannot withstand the test. If this is the case even in an era with a sound legal system, one can only imagine what will happen in this ancient world.

If I had only kept some of the servants and maids I had bought, they might have behaved themselves during the first few months after I left.

As time goes on, these undisciplined servants will likely become increasingly unruly.

It's even possible that by the time you finally need to use this safe house, it will be deserted, leaving only an empty house overgrown with weeds.

In order to create the illusion that "Lin Chaoxi" actually exists, he not only needs to buy a mansion in Biyang County, but also needs to continuously purchase land outside the city and shops in the city every year.

Silver is no problem; I can leave behind all the gold and silver I brought with me.

The logistics industry in Linqing is very developed. Once I arrive in Linqing and get familiar with the environment, I will definitely be able to find a way to send money anonymously without revealing my identity.

Before long, in the local gossip of Biyang County, "Lin Chaoxi" will become known as a wealthy landowner who runs businesses in other provinces and frequently sends money back home.

If I were to return here one day, no one would find anything amiss.

It is highly recommended to hire a butler with experience working in wealthy households.

It's not just about disciplining servants; acquiring and managing property also requires knowledgeable professionals.

However, if the servants are restrained by the steward, who can supervise the steward?

He also needed to find someone whose interests were deeply intertwined with "Lin Chaoxi's" to supervise this housekeeper.

This person must have a personal dependency relationship with "Lin Chaoxi", but cannot be an ordinary servant.

Under what circumstances would someone take such meticulous care of their business that they don't need anyone's supervision?

Of course, it's about taking care of our own businesses!

Lu Chen's solution was to find a mistress for the mansion and property that "Lin Chaoxi" left in Biyang County!

Given the time constraints, finding a woman from an ordinary family was clearly unrealistic.

The fastest and easiest way is to go directly to a brothel and redeem a prostitute from her servitude!

During the Ming Dynasty, courtesans were registered as "music households" rather than "civilian households," meaning they were not ordinary commoners.

The so-called "redemption" was actually just buying her indenture from the brothel owner.

Her household registration is still "Lehu", only now she has a different owner.

To change their registration from "music household" to "civilian household," they needed to go through complicated procedures at the county government.

Not only will it cost a lot of money, but it will also require at least two local property-owning, law-abiding citizens to vouch for the woman, proving that she is not involved in the case, has no debts, and is not implicated in any criminal activity.

This is still the procedure for an ordinary courtesan to leave her brothel.

If it were a woman involved in the case, such as a female relative of a criminal official who was sentenced to "confiscation into the Jiaofangsi" or "exile to the music register," it would be even more difficult, as the county government had no authority to process her removal from the register.

If a major case is involved, generally speaking, unless the emperor grants a special pardon or the case is overturned, one cannot be removed from the register for life.

Even if the case isn't too big, it would still require at least a high-ranking official at the provincial level to get involved.

After entering Cuihua Tower last night, Lu Chen did not choose a more private private room, but instead spent two taels of silver to first set up a tea table in the lobby.

In other words, you can sit in a booth in the lobby, similar to those in modern entertainment venues, where tea and snacks are served, and you can also watch performances. The fee is charged by the hour.

Although Cuihua Tower was the highest-class brothel in Biyang County, it was still just a small county town, and the main hall only featured performances such as singing and playing the pipa.

Lu Chen listened for a moment and found that the level of each woman who appeared was very average.

However, Lu Chen's most important purpose in sitting here was to select the person he wanted.

Every time a woman appeared who was even remotely pleasing to the eye, Lu Chen would inquire about her background from the pimps at Cuihua Tower. With generous tips, they would provide very detailed answers.

The most famous top performers all looked to be only fifteen or sixteen years old.

But in Lu Chen's eyes, they were still just underage middle school students.

As the courtesans appeared one after another, some caught the eye of the guests in the audience, who requested that they accompany them for drinks or stay overnight.

Of course, these all require additional payment.

Lu Chen sat in the lobby for more than an hour but still couldn't find a suitable candidate.

The pimp would only praise the talents and beauty of these brothel women, but when asked about their family background, he would find that most of them were ordinary women from ordinary families who had been sold to brothels.

They did not meet Lu Chen's criteria for selecting people.

Just when Lu Chen thought he might not get anything out of tonight, Yun Xiang appeared.

She carried a zither onto the stage and played a piece, her skill level clearly surpassing that of the previous top performers.

Lu Chen learned more about the woman from the pimp.

Unlike the courtesans who appeared before, she came from an official family and could not only play the zither but also read and write.

Unfortunately, her father committed a crime seven or eight years ago and was sentenced to beheading and his family property confiscated. All the women in the family were exiled to the entertainment industry and ended up in prostitution.

When Yunxiang was first sold to Cuihua Tower, she was once the top courtesan here.

Even though she's older now and can't compete with the newcomers, she still has some popularity thanks to her skill with the zither.

Lu Chen scoffed when the pimp said the woman was old.

She didn't look thirty at all. Upon asking, it turned out she was only twenty-six years old this year.

In the world Lu Chen lived in before he transmigrated, women of this age would be called "little sisters".

But in this ancient world, she's considered an older woman.

This is a woman who has received an education and has a certain level of cultural literacy.

Before being implicated by her father and forced into prostitution, as a woman from an official family, her original life trajectory would most likely have been to marry into a family of equal social standing and become the head mistress of the household.

She had likely received education on how to be the mistress of a wealthy household, so she wouldn't be easily fooled by the housekeeper.

Of course, besides her personal abilities, her background is even more important!

This is the real reason why Lu Chen ultimately decided to choose her!