"The servants will definitely remain loyal from now on." Three managers kowtowed repeatedly.
"Alright, rise all of you," Ye Jiu said.
"Please, Madam Zhu, tally up the accounts—how much are all these people together?" The people Ye Jiu referred to included the families of the three managers, though he did not specifically ask how many family members they had.
As long as the people were useful, everything else was trivial.
Ye Jiu was quite easy to speak with, and the wages he offered to those who worked for him were not low. As long as they worked diligently, supporting their families would certainly not be a problem.
Madam Zhu, overjoyed, accepted the abacus passed to her by a servant and began clicking away, "Twenty young maidens, each at twenty taels of silver, totals four hundred taels. Four old maids, each at fifteen taels, totals sixty taels. These three managers, each at fifty taels, total one hundred and fifty taels. As for their families, I won’t ask too much, just add another hundred taels of silver to take them all, totalling seven hundred and ten taels of silver."
Except for the two managers who were a bit more expensive, everyone else, in this era, a living and breathing person, was actually just worth the price of an ox.
No, perhaps even less than an ox, considering that the prices in the capital city were much higher than in their small town.
With the prices already settled, Madam Zhu had someone bring out the families of the three managers. There were many of them, both old and young, which certainly justified the price of one hundred taels of silver.
After receiving the indenture contracts, Ye Jiu collected them all.
Ye Jiu straightforwardly paid the money and then left with a large group of people.
Such a large group walking down the street truly attracted a lot of attention.
Once he returned home, and as soon as he entered the door, Ye Jiu handed over the indenture contracts to Su Ning, instructing, "Watch over these people for now and then take these contracts to the government office for registration."
"Yes," Su Ning replied, bowing and accepting the contracts.
After walking a few steps, Ye Jiu suddenly remembered and asked Ye Gaosheng behind him, "Right, Fourth Brother, those two people you rescued a few days ago, how are they now?"
He had been too busy these past days, nearly forgetting about them.
It seemed the girl had wanted to see him but he had refused.
"The young master is almost recovered, it’s just that the girl’s injuries were quite severe; she’s just now able to walk," Ye Gaosheng said, his face unconsciously blushing.
It’s said that beauty captivates every heart and that girl certainly was beautiful.
This was the first time in his life Ye Gaosheng had seen such a beautiful girl.
No, but on closer look, his younger sister was much more beautiful than that girl, it was just that she was still young, her face not yet fully formed.
Speaking of which, Ye Gaosheng suddenly spoke up, "Little sister, how come your face looks so much like Prince Jing’s?"
Ye Jiu’s steps halted midway.
At the same time, Prince Jing, who had just hurriedly jumped over the wall to find Ye Jiu, also paused.
Why, he too wanted to know.
Following that, Ye Jiu spoke, "Perhaps, it’s fate, Fourth Brother. Why do you suddenly ask?"
"I was just marveling, after all, you were born in this capital city. If it wasn’t because our family lived in the poor district, I might suspect you were accidentally switched with the child of Prince Jing’s family."
Ye Jiu’s expression tensed, "Fourth Brother, such words must not be spoken recklessly. If the wrong people overhear them, it might bring our family fatal trouble."
Those in higher positions, for their own gain, wouldn’t hesitate to harm even their own children, and Ye Jiu did not want to become someone else’s target.