At the moment, the most urgent thing for Jiang Mian was to plan the wedding for Li Zhao and Jiang Zhiqing.
After leaving the Wen Tao Academy, she proposed to her parents, "Father, Mother, since we've returned to the Li Mansion and settled here, shouldn't we hire some servants to take care of this mansion from now on?"
Such a large mansion would fall into disrepair over time if no one took care of it. She guessed that this couldn't be the reason why Li Zhao brought them back to Luozhou and the Li family's old residence.
She looked at Li Zhao. "Father brought Mother and me back here and plans to hold the wedding here. It means you don't want to abandon this mansion, right? Even if we're going to the capital in the future, this will still be our home."
Seeing that Jiang Mian didn't mind that someone had died in this mansion, Li Zhao smiled with relief and admitted, "You're right. I was just about to mention this to you. Besides adding servants to this mansion, you and your mother also need attendants to serve you."
Jiang Zhiqing was a bit surprised. She instinctively wanted to say that she didn't need any, but Li Zhao pressed her hand and said, "Ying Niang, don't be in a hurry to refuse. You should know that now that my identity has been exposed, soon the whole world will know that I, Li Bingjun, am still alive."
"You're the legitimate wife I brought back in a sedan chair carried by eight bearers. You're no longer a former maid or a country woman. From now on, you have to learn to be the mistress of the Li family. You'll be in charge of the household affairs, so you always need some considerate servants by your side."
Jiang Zhiqing's expression changed slightly. Finally, she didn't refuse anymore but said softly, "Okay."
"As for you, Mu Jin." Li Zhao then looked at Jiang Mian. "You're the legitimate eldest daughter of Li Bingjun, a proper young lady from a noble family. Our family background is no worse than the Ye family's. In fact, it's much higher. You should have grown up being well - attended and living in luxury."
Jiang Mian's nose turned sour as she remembered the scenes in her dream.
Yes, if nothing had happened, she should have been the beloved young lady of the Li family.
Time was pressing. After reaching a consensus, Jiang Mian, Li Zhao, and Jiang Zhiqing went out together to the employment agency, while Huang Gou was left in the mansion to guard it.
After what happened yesterday, the news that Li Bingjun was still alive and had brought his wife and daughter back to Luozhou City had spread among the enthusiastic locals.
Therefore, when the employment agency boss learned that Li Zhao himself had come to choose servants, he was greatly surprised and rushed over from elsewhere in a hurry.
"I didn't expect that Lord Li would visit our humble shop with his wife and daughter today. Please forgive us for any rudeness."
Li Zhao smiled at the boss of the employment agency and said, "We just came to choose some capable servants. We didn't mean to bother Boss Meng. We're a bit sorry."
Boss Meng's eyes welled up with emotion. "Lord Li, you're being too polite. The Li family used to be our biggest and most respected client. If it weren't for the Li family's support, we wouldn't have been able to keep this shop going. I'm so happy to know that Lord Li is still alive."
Although the Li family had suffered a great disaster, their prestige had been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in Luozhou. At this moment, the boss of the employment agency was showing his genuine emotions.
Remembering their purpose, the boss of the employment agency quickly said, "Hurry up and bring out the registers. Bring the best ones so that Lord Li, Lady Li, and Miss Li can choose carefully!"
This employment agency was an official one, covering a wide range of businesses. "Servants" was just a small part of it. However, precisely because it was an official agency, the servants here had clean backgrounds, and their quality was much higher than those from private agencies.
According to the regulations of the Li Mansion, they needed to hire a steward, two deputy stewards, an accountant, four servants to help in the kitchen, twenty servants for cleaning, four grooms, and five errand - runners.
These were all responsible for the affairs of the entire Li Mansion.
Then, Li Zhao also arranged two attendants for himself to take care of his daily life and run errands. For Jiang Zhiqing, the mistress of the Li Mansion, he arranged a head nurse and three close - waiting maids.
Jiang Mian's arrangement was the same as Jiang Zhiqing's except that she didn't have a head nurse. As for how to divide their ranks, they would decide after the maids entered the mansion.
Since these were the maids who would serve them personally and would go to the capital with them in the future and be with them every day, Jiang Mian and Jiang Zhiqing personally selected and inspected them.
Jiang Mian had once been a young lady of the Ye family. After experiencing the betrayal of a maid, she was extra careful when choosing people.
The maids didn't need to be extremely beautiful. Just being presentable was enough. The most important thing was that they should be honest. Those who rolled their eyes and clearly had a lot of petty thoughts, or those who answered back three times when the master said one word, were all rejected by her.
In addition, she also considered the first impression. If she didn't like someone at first sight, that person was also out of her selection range.
After such a careful selection, they actually chose nearly sixty people, and half a day had passed.
Since they had hired a large number of people, Li Zhao first selected the steward and two deputy stewards to go with them. The rest of the servants would go to the Li Mansion to find the steward tomorrow, and then the steward would assign them to different courtyards.
Besides choosing servants, Li Zhao also took out the land deeds and house deeds he had retrieved from the secret room and discussed with the boss of the employment agency about sending people to manage them.
The boss of the employment agency carefully looked at the house deeds in Li Zhao's hand and was very surprised.
"I didn't know that Lord Li had been in control of these shops all along. Over the years, many people have come to me asking me to find the owners behind these shops, but there has been no news."
Seeing Jiang Mian looking curious, the boss of the employment agency explained, "These are the best - located shops in Luozhou City. No matter what kind of business is run there, it will thrive. It's a pity that they've been closed for so many years. People always feel that a lot of good opportunities have been missed."
Jiang Mian smiled and said, "It's never too late to start over. These shops have been closed for so many years, which has already attracted people's attention. If they suddenly start doing business, they will surely attract a lot of customers."
"You're absolutely right, Miss Li!" The boss of the employment agency clapped his hands and said. "This is also a way to attract customers! Lord Li, you've really raised a wonderful daughter!"
Li Zhao couldn't hide the smile and pride on his face. "Of course. My daughter, Li Bingjun's daughter, can't be ordinary."
"These shops and fertile fields will be handed over to you from now on. You'll take 30% of the profits, and I'll take 70%. The contract will last for twenty years."
The boss of the employment agency said seriously, "I only need 10%. Consider it my gratitude to the Li family for what they've done for the people of Luozhou over the years."
Hearing this, Li Zhao didn't insist anymore. He signed the contract with the boss of the employment agency and then returned to the Li Mansion.
When they returned to the Li Mansion, Jiang Mian found that there were quite a few people gathered outside. They were the locals who had helped them clean the Li Mansion yesterday.