Yun Jinnian laughed out loud upon hearing this, "Yes, but Sister is busy. How about letting Sister Zimo read to you?"
The three children remembered well that Yun Jinnian liked scholarly people, so they were particularly attentive.
Yun Jinnian looked at them and smiled.
She then took Hemei and Henuan to the hall.
The servants of the Princess Residence were all there. Yun Jinnian read out a name from the Servitude Contract, and someone stepped forward to salute.
Hemei distributed the rewards.
"According to different individuals, the items vary in value. For women, there are pearl hairpins; for married women, fabrics and silver; for men, daggers and longswords. The daggers and longswords are from my grandfather’s collection, and this is the only time I will distribute them. I only hope that you remember that no matter what kind of life you led before, I will try to improve your lives from now on, and give you more work to do!"
Yun Jinnian paused before continuing, "There are two large houses next door that I plan to tear down and use for planting herbs. Your task is to ensure that none of the materials, plants, or trees from the houses are discarded. Everything must be preserved and cleaned. I’ve already put up signs to see if anyone wants to buy them!"
"Commandery Princess, what about this Princess Residence?"
"This Princess Residence was bestowed by the emperor, so it cannot be demolished. However, aside from the servants’ quarters at the back, the extra space will also be used to plant herbs. You might think I’m being excessive, but just look around among the common people. Many cannot afford food, medicine, or treatment. If you still think I’m being excessive after seeing that, then I have nothing more to say!"
Yun Jinnian’s benevolence was so great that no one dared to object.
The two large houses were soon found by buyers interested in their plants, trees, faux rocks, stones, beams, and windows.
Yun Jinnian did not bother with these matters herself, as she had Little Dengzi to manage them.
To Yun Jinnian’s surprise, despite being a eunuch, Little Dengzi was clever and quick-witted. Having served in the palace and attended to the emperor, he handled matters quite impressively.
In just five days, all the items from the two large houses were sold off. All that remained was to wait for the funds and proceed with the demolition.
"Commandery Princess, the items from the two large houses sold for a total of 1.75 million taels of silver. The few thousand taels in change were given to the few runners as compensation, based on my own decision."
Yun Jinnian smiled, "You did very well!"
It was a pity that Little Dengzi was a eunuch; otherwise, she would have loved to betroth Ru Yue to him.
Little Dengzi smiled, "Thank you, Commandery Princess, for your praise!"
"I praise you because you truly did a great job. Little Dengzi, do you have any wishes?"
"Wishes?" Little Dengzi was quite puzzled.
"When I was young, my family was poor, and we often didn’t have enough to eat. There were many younger brothers and sisters, so my parents sold me to the palace. I used to want to find my way back home, but after searching for many years without success, I gave up."
"Do you still want to find your family? If you do, I can send someone to help you search!"
"Commandery Princess, they can’t be found!" Little Dengzi said dejectedly.
"Perhaps we won’t find them. But what if we do? Don’t you think so?"
Little Dengzi couldn’t find them because he had no power or influence. Who could he send to look for them? Perhaps he spent money and the people he hired didn’t even try to search.
Little Dengzi knelt down before Yun Jinnian, "Thank you, Commandery Princess, thank you, Commandery Princess. I am willing to serve you diligently and repay your great kindness!"
"There is no need for that, get up and speak properly. You are now the great butler of this Princess Residence. Kneeling so easily is improper!"
"The Commandery Princess is right, I was wrong!"