Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The abbess at the nunnery asked me what I had come for.

I said I was a heartbroken soul, and I did not know what I had come for either.

They let me stay for the time being.

But they wanted me to pay incense money.

I said I had no money.

In the end, after neither side would give in, I paid five copper coins.

I knew Rong Chen had left the capital that night.

So after spending one night at the nunnery, I went down the mountain the next day with an auntie who had her son with her.

Once we entered the city, the auntie asked where I was going.

I said I was going to buy two servants.

The auntie dropped to her knees at once and said she was willing to become my slave and servant, as long as I could give her and her son a bite to eat.

This auntie’s husband had died. She had come to the capital to seek help from her maiden family, only to be driven out by her younger brother’s wife.

Her husband’s brothers in her in-laws’ family were afraid she would fight them for the family property, so they drove her out as well. Most nights, she slept at the nunnery, then came into the city during the day to look for work.

But the nunnery was not willing to let her eat and stay there for free forever, so they had chased her out too.
After spending so long by Rong Chen’s side, I naturally knew how to judge people.

This auntie looked strong and sturdy, and she seemed honest too.

Most importantly, for the sake of her seven-year-old son, she would work herself to the bone.

I nodded and told her to follow me.

I went to the place where maids and servants were sold and bought a pair of brothers.

One was eight, the other six.

Because I had originally been picked up by a palace matron, I had no surname.

So, in a fit of boldness, I named myself Diao Chan.

Of the two children I bought, one was named Diao Zhaocai, and the other Diao Jinbao.

For the next while, I devoted myself to training my four servants.

When I was in the palace, I had learned how rouge was made. So apart from doing the most basic household chores every day, the four of them followed my instructions and made rouge.

Aunt Wang was the most capable.

And she was kindhearted. Though she was a servant, she treated the rest of us with something like a mother’s tenderness.
After that, I bought a shop and opened a rouge store.

I also hired two shop assistants.

Hiring assistants in the capital was far too easy.

There was no shortage of people.

Selling rouge was quickly put on the agenda.

My rouge business did very well.

The estate also brought in several hundred taels in harvest income every year.

For safety’s sake, I hired two guards for the residence and bought two more children, both around twelve or thirteen.

Only servants raised in one’s own household could truly be trusted.