"Help me sit down first." Du Gu Qing took a deep breath and grabbed his robe.
Han Zhao wanted to help him change his clothes, but Du Gu Qing slapped his hand away.
"My lord, let this subordinate help you." Han Zhao said with great distress. He just wanted to give him a hand, but he met Du Gu Qing's cold stare.
"I'm not useless yet. I can do it myself." He slowly stood up, gritting his teeth as he took the clothes and put them on one by one. Just the act of dressing made him break out in a sweat.
"I'll stay in this villa for one more day. If I go back looking like this, people will notice." Every word he said cost him a great deal of energy. It would make anyone's heart ache to see him like this.
"Yes. Later this subordinate will go hunting for some wild game." Han Zhao quickly turned his face away, wiped the corner of his eye, and then turned back.
There was no one around here, and there were no servants in the villa. So the only food they could get was wild game.
Du Gu Qing nodded and closed his eyes. His hands were trembling as he tied his belt. Han Zhao felt extremely sad seeing this. But his lord never asked others for help and would rather bear the great pain himself.
"Go back to the city and buy some food. Also, go back to the mansion to see if the princess is getting used to living there. Just tell her that I'm staying in the palace for a few days. Make sure not to let anything slip. If the princess wants to do something, tell the steward to let her do it." Thinking of that elf - like woman, his heart softened.
"But if this subordinate is not here, what will happen to you, my lord?"
Han Zhao stammered, not knowing what to say. His lord was at his weakest now. How could he leave him alone with peace of mind?
"Han Zhao, why are you being so fussy now? I remember you weren't like this." Du Gu Qing frowned.
"My lord..."
Under normal circumstances, it would be okay. But now his lord was so weak. What if someone had evil intentions? Han Zhao looked at Du Gu Qing with a worried face.
"Go hunt some wild game first. I'm hungry!"
Seeing Han Zhao's persistent look, Du Gu Qing had to change the subject. Han Zhao was a good subordinate in every way, but he was just too stubborn.
"Yes. This subordinate will go right away."
Han Zhao stood up straight and immediately turned around to go out. His lord had stayed in the spring room all night. He must be starving. But here he was, arguing with his lord about whether to leave him alone.
After a while, Han Zhao came in with two pheasants in his hand, looking ashamed. "My lord, this subordinate is incompetent. Please make do with these for now. This subordinate will go back to the city later."
"Well, pheasants are good too."
Du Gu Qing was already starving. He didn't care about this at all. Besides, he wasn't really a pampered person. The hardships he had endured were things his eldest and third brothers had never experienced.
Han Zhao quickly and skillfully dealt with the pheasants and started roasting them on the fire. After a while, the smell of the roasted chickens filled the air.
"It smells good. I'm really hungry." Du Gu Qing showed a almost child - like smile on his face.
Seeing the Sixth Prince tearing off a chicken leg and taking big bites, and seeing him enjoying the pheasant without any seasonings.
Han Zhao suddenly stood up. "My lord, this subordinate will go back to the city now!"
He would come back as soon as possible, bringing delicious food and seeing what the princess was doing.
Mei Qingxue was sitting in the middle of the courtyard. Looking at the less than thirty people in front of her, she frowned. How could there be so few people in such a big mansion? There were more people in her father's prime minister's mansion.
"Is this all of them?"
Mei Qingxue looked at the steward, a middle - aged man who looked rather shrewd. His name was Uncle Fu. How could such a young man be called Uncle Fu?
"Report to the princess. Except for the six guards on duty today, since the lord is not in the mansion, and there's a close attendant of the lord named Han Zhao, all the others are here."
"Good!" Mei Qingxue nodded. She pretended to fan herself with a palace fan, covered the corner of her mouth with the fan, and secretly laughed, unable to hide her joy.
"Now tell me your duties. The maids don't need to say. I already know."
Mei Qingxue scanned the people in front of her. They were of different heights and builds. There were only Yue Ru, Xiao Yun, and the two maids she had seen last time. The others were mostly servants, gatekeepers, cooks, etc.
"This humble one, Uncle Fu, is the mansion's steward."
"Okay." Mei Qingxue nodded slightly. "Steward, stand aside first. Get some paper and a pen to make a register. I'll make some adjustments to the job positions."
"Yes, princess!" Uncle Fu bowed and stood aside. His heart was in a turmoil. What did the job transfer mean? He didn't dare to ask. There had never been any changes to the job positions in the mansion before.
A man with a round belly stepped forward. Mei Qingxue smelled the unique smell of the kitchen.
"This humble one, Li Dalu, is the cook."
"Okay, next one."
"My name is Jia Ming. I'm the gardener!"
"Next one."
"..." All the thirty - odd people introduced their positions one by one. Mei Qingxue listened and nodded as she did so. Yue Ru became more and more confused. She had no idea what the princess was up to. The uneasiness in her heart grew.
"Li Dalu, you'll be the gardener for a month next month. Staying in the kitchen all the time breathing in the fumes will damage your eyesight over time."
Hearing this, Yue Ru thought, Oh no. So this was where the uneasiness came from. But seeing the princess's expression, she didn't dare to say anything.
Li Dalu looked mournful. He didn't know how to be a gardener. He could pull out weeds, but the problem was that he didn't know which were the flower seedlings and which were the weeds in the lord's yard. If he pulled out the wrong ones, he might as well die!
"Xiao Xizi, you've been in charge of the lord's stables all the time and never had the chance to go out. It's not good for your mood. You can swap with Liang Kang. You'll be the buyer for a month. Liang Kang will take care of the stables."
Han Zhao had just walked past the middle courtyard gate. When he heard the princess arranging jobs, he quietly stopped.
"Being a gardener is also very hard. You have to face the loess and back to the sky every day, and there's no one to talk to. Starting next month, you'll talk to the lord's thrushes for a month. If any of the thrushes can't call out the lord's name, I'll spank your bottom until it blooms."
Mei Qingxue arranged new jobs one by one, which made Yue Ru tremble with fear.
"That's all for now. If anyone is not satisfied after the lord comes back, go to the lord."
Li Dalu bravely stepped forward, looking terrified.
"Princess, who... who will be the cook?"
Mei Qingxue was stunned for a moment. "I almost forgot this important thing. Jiang Benfen, it's you."
Mei Qingxue casually pointed at a person. At this, everyone frowned, but no one dared to question it.
Everyone in the mansion knew that Jiang Benfen was the one who cleaned the cesspits.
Han Zhao was sweating profusely! He was on the verge of scratching his head and cheeks. Originally, he should have paid his respects to the princess, but in order to avoid being assigned some strange jobs, he decided to leave quickly.
Mei Qingxue had sharp eyes. She saw a figure flash behind the flower wall at a glance. It was the medicine - jar guard. Knowing that the guard of the medicine - jar couldn't be easily transferred, she rolled her eyes.
"Isn't that Han Zhao? Go and call him back."
A moment later, Han Zhao, looking mournful, stood in front of Mei Qingxue.
"Princess, this subordinate has important matters to attend to."
Mei Qingxue gave a sly smile. "I won't delay your important matters. It's just that your job is rather monotonous."
Han Zhao's back started to sweat.
"Princess! Please spare this subordinate!" There was a pleading look in Han Zhao's eyes, but Mei Qingxue pretended not to see it.
"Your task is not difficult. Besides protecting the lord's safety, from now on, you'll be in charge of combing the lord's hair. The maids in the mansion don't comb men's hair."
When saying this, Mei Qingxue could hardly hold back her laughter. She quickly covered her face with the palace fan. Just imagining this nine - foot - tall man holding a comb made her find it extremely funny.
When she put down the fan, her face was already serious. She waved her hand at the people with different expressions in front of her.
"All of you go. Standing in front of me, you're even blocking the sun."
Everyone was sweating profusely. It seemed that even the tallest Han Zhao couldn't block the sun, right? Watching the people disperse, Xiao Yun let out a long sigh of relief. Fortunately, the princess didn't make any strange arrangements for the maids.
"Um... Xiao Yun, right?"
"Yes, this humble maid." As soon as Xiao Yun heard her name being called, she almost cried. Jiang Benfen was going to be the cook for a month, so there would be no one to clean the cesspits. Could it be that the poor one would be herself? A beautiful young woman with the smell of excrement on her...
"The lord's horses are so ugly. You're in charge of making them look beautiful. Make them look like the painted faces of the actors in the opera. That's how they'll look good."
"Yes!"
Although this task was extremely strange, it was a thousand times better than cleaning the cesspits. Xiao Yun let out a sigh of relief.
Yue Ru quickly stood in front of Mei Qingxue, looking at her mistress fearfully.
"Princess, this humble maid..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Mei Qingxue laughed. "I won't be unfair. You'll wipe the bluestone ground in the garden with a towel until it's shiny enough to reflect your face. If it can't, you'll lick it clean."
"Ah? Princess, please spare this humble maid!"
Mei Qingxue pretended to be deaf. Her eyes fell on the two beautiful maids. "You two..."
The two maids quickly knelt on the ground. Originally, they thought that since they were sent by Concubine Qin, they didn't need to take the new princess seriously.
"You two are too fair - skinned. Stay in the sun for two hours every day until you get tanned."
Xiao Yun suddenly felt very lucky. She was of average looks and didn't need to draw the mistress's hatred.
Watching the two poor girls who were almost fainting, everyone looked at them with pity.
Normally, such beautiful maids would be taken as concubines by the lord. It seemed that the princess was not an ordinary person.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief. But thinking of Jiang Benfen cooking for them with the hands that had held the dung - spoon, they lost their appetite. Presumably, the mansion would be very thrifty for the next month.