While Pei Xia was reading the official document, Qi Jiao sat beside him, looking at him intently.
After he finished reading just a few sentences, Qi Jiao snatched the document away. "Let me have a look."
A ninth - rank official was the lowest - ranking official. In the capital city where there were so many officials that you could probably hit one with a plaque, such an official was completely inconspicuous. But for a commoner from the bottom of society, to be an official was a blessing accumulated by generations of the family, a sign of great fortune!
Qi Jiao didn't know much about the official system. On the surface, Pei Xia's ninth - rank position didn't seem to bring much profit. He only got a monthly salary of three taels of silver. Even with the winter coal allowance and the summer ice allowance, it was barely enough for his own expenses.
However, in this world, for those who became officials, the major source of family income definitely didn't come from the meager salary.
Generally, the clan would support the official descendants, and in return, the descendants would provide protection for the clan.
As for Qi Jiao and Pei Xia, this matter was even simpler.
Qi Jiao planned to do business in the capital. Having an official husband would save her a lot of trouble.
Therefore, she didn't care about Pei Xia's current salary. A ninth - rank official for now didn't mean he would be one for the rest of his life.
Moreover, the family didn't lack money at present.
She could support him.
Putting down the document, Qi Jiao looked at Pei Xia playfully and said cheerfully, "Congratulations, my lord! You've finally achieved your goal."
Pei Xia couldn't help laughing at her teasing. He grabbed her arm and gave her two kisses on the cheeks.
Just as the couple were laughing and joking, the steward of the Marquis Mansion came to send a congratulatory gift.
Shortly after, the attendant beside Hui Zhenyu also came. He brought a house deed and said that the house was a gift from Lord Hui.
"My lord wants to add some joy to this occasion. This house is his private property. Hearing that Lord Pei has become a clerk in the Court of Judicial Review, he ordered me to bring this deed. Please accept it, Lord Pei and Lady Qi."
The land in the capital was extremely valuable. Pei Xia had already received great favors from Hui Zhenyu and the kindness of the Marquis of Yongjia. Moreover, he had been eating and living in the Marquis Mansion for some time. How could he accept such a precious gift?
Qi Jiao thought the same as him.
The couple firmly declined Lord Hui's kind offer. After expressing their gratitude, they asked the attendant to take the house deed back intact.
Speaking of their own residence, Qi Jiao had actually planned to buy a house in the capital for a long time.
Although the Duke's Mansion and the Marquis Mansion were nice, they were not suitable for long - term residence.
They had already troubled the people in these two mansions enough during this period.
Moreover, since Pei Xia had successfully been selected as an official, no matter the rank, they must have a house.
So Qi Jiao had been asking real - estate brokers for information.
Fortunately, she got a message yesterday. There was a house in Changping Fang, not far from the inner city. The house originally belonged to a seventh - rank official. Now that the official had retired due to old age, he sold the house and returned to his hometown.
Qi Jiao was busy yesterday, so she asked Pei Xia to go and have a look first.
Pei Xia was very capable. He just walked around inside and then came out.
It was a good house, no problem at all.
The most important thing was to consider the surrounding environment. Changping Fang was only one li away from the inner city, not far from the yamen. One could either ride a horse or walk there.
Even more importantly, the house was located in a deep alley. It was quiet inside the house without any noise, but just a few steps out of the door, there were streets full of food stalls, tea houses, which made life very convenient.
He thought Jiao Niang would definitely like it, so he immediately made a decision and booked the house.
After dinner, Pei Xia went to the Court of Judicial Review to go through the formalities, while Qi Jiao rushed back to the Duke's Mansion. She took Qiong Zhi and Lü Fang with her. The three of them went to Changping Fang to look at the house.
When they arrived, Qi Jiao took a look. Oh, this house had been around for some years, but it looked very imposing from the lintel. Once inside, it didn't seem dirty or messy, which meant someone had been cleaning it all the time.
The house had three courtyards in total, divided into the east, west, and middle routes. In the middle route, there was an outer courtyard in the front, followed by a large courtyard, and then two small courtyards for the front hall and the back bedroom. The west route had a small garden with five annexes, and the east route had several guest courtyards.
Qi Jiao walked around inside for a long time and couldn't help sighing, "I didn't expect this house to look small from the outside, but it has so much space inside. Even if the whole family comes to live here, it will be more than enough."
Qiong Zhi joked with a smile, "Lady, in the future, when you and the lord have more children, you may even worry about not having enough space."
Qi Jiao laughed, "You're so naughty. I'll tear your mouth off."
Lü Fang, who was two years older than Qiong Zhi, laughed secretly behind them. She couldn't help but butt in, "Lady, you don't know. Although Qiong Zhi is small, she knows a lot."
This made Qiong Zhi so angry that she wanted to catch Lü Fang.
The two of them were laughing and joking non - stop, but they didn't forget to ask Qi Jiao if she was tired from walking. They helped Qi Jiao to rest in the pavilion opposite.
Then they took out the tea sets they carried with them and made tea for Qi Jiao to quench her thirst.
Actually, the two maids' deeds had already been officially given to Qi Jiao by Lady Fang. So Qi Jiao became their mistress.
Qi Jiao was very grateful. She spent money to buy their deeds. She couldn't just take people from the Duke's Mansion for free.
Lady Fang couldn't persuade her, so she only took a symbolic amount of money. Qi Jiao gave back many gifts in return. You know, human resources were more precious than any other resources.
Qi Jiao was very generous. After getting along with her for some time, Qiong Zhi and Lü Fang thought Qi Jiao was a very good person. From then on, they were whole - heartedly loyal to her.
After resting for a while, Qi Jiao wrapped her silk shawl around her and continued to stroll around. While looking around, she instructed, "Lü Fang, starting from tomorrow, come here every day. Find out all the places that need to be repaired, where to repaint, where to add tiles... Write them all down. I'll find craftsmen to decorate the house. We'll move in here at the latest next month. Xia Jiao, A Hu, and Niu Niu are all at a lively age. We have to hire a few more servants..."
The three of them inspected the house carefully again. Then Qi Jiao paid the final payment for the house. After putting away the house deed, she rushed to the real - estate broker's office without a moment's delay.
The broker saw that Qi Jiao looked different from ordinary people, so he rushed over to greet her attentively.
Qi Jiao thought for a while and talked to the broker for about half an hour. In short, she wanted to hire at least six people.
She already had Qiong Zhi and Lü Fang as her personal maids. She couldn't take the old women from the Duke's Mansion with her, so she needed two rough - working old women.
Then she needed two young servants. One would serve Pei Xia personally, and the other would be in charge of guarding the door and receiving guests.
Finally, she needed two little maids to train as reserves for future use.
The broker was overjoyed when he heard that she wanted to hire six people at once. He slapped his chest and promised that he would help to find the right people and there would be no mistake!
The summer was scorching hot, and Qi Jiao was busy all day long without a moment of rest.
Qi Jiao quickly rented two street - facing shops in Changping Fang. She wrote a letter home asking Qu Si to transport a new batch of goods. At the same time, she repaired the house, bought a new set of furniture and various sundries, and hired six new servants for the family.
She spent no less than three thousand taels in total.
On the eighth day of the seventh lunar month, Qi Jiao presided over the move.
Under Qiong Zhi's leadership, the two new young servants polished all kinds of ornaments spotlessly clean. The old women and maids came in and out, moving the valuables.
Many hands make light work. Moreover, Qi Jiao had brought limited things when she came to the capital. After a few rounds like this, everything was quickly arranged in place.