Chapter 208: The Team Has Grown
Li Xiaonan had just received one cart and two mules from her second uncle, and then Wan Jing arrived with three carts, eight people, and eight horses.
“Why are you here!” Li Xiaonan asked Wan Jing, who was beaming, pointing at the carts, horses, and attendants behind her, “What are you doing?”
“Do you think I wanted to come!” Wan Jing’s tone was cheerful, “It was our Young Lord who ordered me to come!”
“With that happy look on your face, you don’t want to come?” A Wu poked his head forward and let out a breath.
“Of course I don’t want to come! It’s our Young Lord’s order! Where is Yu Ting? Control your man!” Wan Jing called out, standing on her tiptoes, jumping with joy.
“What did your Young Lord tell you to do? Deliver a message? Send something?” Li Xiaonan didn’t dare to say the option that seemed most likely.
“To follow you. It’s also delivering a message. Our Young Lord said to write him a letter every day and report to him daily. These four are the messengers, and he is the cart driver, you know him. It’s also sending something, you’ve guessed it all right!
“I brought a lot of your favorite foods, and the tea you like, and I even brought the cups you use!
“I was going to bring a cook, but Uncle Hong said to ask you first. I’ve already chosen a cook. Let them go now and call the cook over!
“Also, look at my clothes, and the ones on the cart, they’re all old clothes I specifically asked the servants for. Look, we’re almost the same now.”
Wan Jing raised her arm and leaned it against Li Xiaonan’s arm.
“Look at her showing off, this girl has never been out before,” A Wu muttered to Wang Yuting.
“Having a cook would be great, can we bring her over today?” Wang Yuting smiled.
If there was a cook, she wouldn’t have to manage everyone’s meals three times a day. With so many people, cooking was no easy task.
“A Nan, this is the Young Lord’s grace,” Li Wenru poked his head forward, subtly reminding Li Xiaonan to express her gratitude.
“Huh! Why is there a man! Who is he!” Wan Jing finally saw Li Wenru and let out a startled cry.
“What do you mean by that? Are you saying I’m not a man?” A Wu was the first to respond.
“It’s none of your business!” Wang Yuting pushed A Wu, “The cook…”
“All of you, be quiet!” Li Xiaonan raised her arm.
In just this short while, she was getting a headache from their bickering.
“You go back, I’m not taking you,” Li Xiaonan pushed Wan Jing to turn around.
“Huh! I already told you, it’s our Young Lord’s order, not yours. Whether you take me or not, I’m following!” Wan Jing turned back and faced Li Xiaonan again.
“Wan Jing is right,” A Wu chimed in from behind.
“If she follows, she has to write a letter to her Young Lord every day. Everything we do, every word we say, will be written to their Young Lord. Are you willing to be watched like this?” Li Xiaonan turned and asked A Wu, pointing at him.
“Willing, of course! What’s there to it? I’m someone who believes nothing is impossible!” A Wu said with a righteous expression.
“You shut up!” Li Xiaonan turned to Wan Jing, “I’m not willing to be watched like this, you go back!”
“Our Young Lord ordered me to follow you. If you say I don’t need to and I go back, what do you think our Young Lord will do? You’re making things difficult for me!” Wan Jing put her hands on her hips and faced Li Xiaonan, “Don’t you care about me at all?”
“This isn’t about whether I care about you or not. If you follow me and write a letter every day, what will that make me?” Li Xiaonan faced Wan Jing with her hands on her hips.
“You two, don’t be like this, let’s discuss it…”
Li Wenru’s words were cut short as A Wu grabbed his shoulders and pushed him aside, “Don’t interfere in their business, you can’t handle it.”
“Let me tell you, our Young Lord’s temper is such that even if I go back, he’ll still make me come. And even if he can’t do it openly, he’ll do it secretly. You might as well let me follow you, after all, right?”
“Oh, and our Young Lord also said that I understand the weaving workshop better than you, especially when it comes to observing weavers. He wants me to help you keep an eye on things, so you don’t get tricked.”
Wan Jing said earnestly.
“Speaking of which, both Yu Ting and I are the Young Lord’s people, so we have to call him ‘our Young Lord’ like Wan Jing. If our Young Lord ordered me to write a letter every day, I’d have to do it like her, I wouldn’t dare not to,” A Wu chimed in.
“Shut your mouth!” Yu Ting slapped A Wu on the back.
“The letters you write must be shown to me first. If I tell you to change something, you must change it. If I tell you to erase something, you must erase it,” Li Xiaonan finally relented.
Alas, the wise adapt to circumstances.
“This is a task, right? Anyway, a task must be accounted for,” Wan Jing said to Li Xiaonan, glaring forcefully at the attendants behind her.
“Okay, then you can follow. And also!” Li Xiaonan leaned forward, “When you’re on duty, you can’t work twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and sixty-five days a year, without any rest, can you?”
“What are you saying? Even mules and horses get to rest! You’re right, we need to set the rules first. How should I be on duty? Should it be like when we were at the villa, or like Shi Gun and the others who serve closely?” Wan Jing frowned.
“How were the shifts at the villa? And for those who serve closely?” Li Xiaonan asked.
“At the villa, I was the only steward in the fabric storeroom, and there was usually nothing to do. If something came up, I’d go. There was no fixed duty. For those who serve closely, like Shi Gun, they work during the day, with shifts in the morning and afternoon,” Wan Jing replied.
“Then you’ll follow Shi Gun’s example. You’ll be on duty every morning, from the beginning of Chen hour to noon. After noon, you’re off work,” Li Xiaonan said with a smile.
“Alright! It’s settled!” Wan Jing happily agreed.
“What about the cook? Let’s call a cook over,” Yu Ting suggested.
“Can your cook make meals by herself?” Li Xiaonan asked Wan Jing.
“How could one person do it! The cook I chose specializes in pastries. The mochi you eat was made by her. She has two apprentices, two general servants, and a stove master who is very particular about the heat,” Wan Jing explained.
Li Xiaonan looked at Wang Yuting, who listened with a stunned expression and shrunk back, saying nothing.
When they left home in Pingjiang City, Li Xiaonan, A Wu, and Wang Yuting had one mule cart and two horses. Before they even reached Changshu County, their group had expanded into a massive convoy of five large carts and about ten people and ten horses.
The group readjusted their carts and horses. Li Xiaonan got into the cart that Wan Jing had brought, which was the one she usually used to travel to and from the villa.
Li Wenru hitched his cart behind the Prince’s Estate’s cargo cart and rode his freed mule. Wang Yuting, not needing to drive, also rode a horse.
Li Xiaonan leaned out of the cart window, looking at her large and conspicuous entourage, and could only sigh.
