Since the contract handed over by Mr. Xie already had the name of the person in charge of the Su Family signed on it,

As soon as Xu Yun's handwriting was added, the entry contract took immediate effect.

This means that Xu Yun has honorably become a little servant of the Su Mansion.

Of course.

Being a newcomer in the mansion, all Xu Yun needed to do at the moment was some rough work; there was no need to wash smelly socks and underwear.

Actually, in ancient Huaxia, small household landlords had no choice in this regard, but in large households, those responsible for washing clothes and cooking were not ordinary servants.

Being meticulous and dexterous was fundamental, and they also needed to have worked in the household for at least a few years.

After all, intimate clothing, in any era, is considered very, very private, and regular servants do not have the privilege to touch them.

Moreover, considering Xu Yun's 'background' issues, Mr. Xie was kind enough not to make him sleep on a large shared bed but rather offered a small bedroom as his temporary resting place.

And so.

After signing the contract, three days flew by.

Even though the Northern Song didn't have mobile phones, WIFI, Takamine Kanai, or Tifa.

Xu Yun, after all, had lived with Little Niu for a period, and his past experiences soaking in libraries also made him less dependent on mobile phones.

Additionally, the lifestyle in the Northern Song was far more enjoyable than in the 17th century, listening daily to servants chatting indeed passed time not too harshly.

Certainly.

This also had to do with Xu Yun being new to the Northern Song.

When a person suddenly comes to a completely new environment, a sense of exploration often makes time fly by.

On the early morning of the fourth day.

Creak.

As usual, Xu Yun opened the door, yawning as he stepped outside.

Just like usual, Mr. Xie was routinely arranging tasks in the courtyard.

Yes, and the donkey was also the same.

"Old Chief Steward, Brother Yongzhu, good morning."

Xu Yun greeted familiarly, stretching, ready to go fetch water as usual.

However, before he could lift a leg, Mr. Xie stopped him:

"Wang Lin, wait a moment."

Xu Yun turned around, puzzled, and asked:

"Old Chief Steward, is there something?"

Mr. Xie glanced at him and motioned for the surrounding people to quiet down before asking:

"Wang Lin, you can read, right?"

Xu Yun nodded:

"Yes, that's correct."

In the past few days, he had taught Zhang San how to write his own name during spare moments, and given him a wild nickname for the community wandering.

After Zhang San learned, he showed off in the courtyard, so Mr. Xie knowing he could read was only natural.

Mr. Xie thought for a moment and said:

"Since you can read, don't fetch water today, hurry to have some breakfast, and then follow Yongzhu to deliver a message."

"Deliver a message?"

Mr. Xie nodded, explaining:

"Master has loved reading since childhood. Recently, an Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Rites from Huang Prefecture has been promoted to Central Attendant and, besides bringing his family and belongings to the capital, has brought many rare books—

Master agreed via correspondence a month ago to borrow fifty volumes of unique books from Huang Prefecture, and today is the day to send servants to retrieve them.

Borrowing books is a matter of gentlemanly agreement, and the Assistant Minister is known to be an upright person, but just in case, it's better to be attentive during the handover...."

After listening to Mr. Xie's explanation filled with refined language for a few minutes, Xu Yun understood the cause:

In simple terms, a Northern Song official was recently promoted from a regional position to the Central Commission in Beijing and brought many special books. Old Su had arranged to borrow a few volumes.

Today is the day to collect the books, requiring someone to take the greeting letter and get the books.

However, to prevent possible disputes, the servant sent must be literate, verifying the book titles one by one before passing over the borrowing document.

And as luck would have it...

Not many literate servants are present in the mansion today.

There has always been much debate regarding literacy rates across the various ancient Huaxia dynasties, as everyone's standards for literacy vary greatly.

For instance, recognizing one's name is literacy, while knowing more than 200 characters also counts as literacy.

But the cultural degrees represented by both are entirely different concepts.

However, the commonly acknowledged point is:

The highest literacy rate in ancient Huaxia should have been during the Eastern Zhou to the Qin Dynasty, reaching about 20%.

The exact literacy rate of the Song Dynasty isn't easy to determine, but excluding the educated scholar and civil servant groups, not many could understand fifty book titles.

There were a few literate servants in the Su Mansion, but today is the Minister of the Secretariat's birthday, and Old Su's fourth son, Su Mao, took these servants to celebrate.

Those leftover literate servants are usually stewards, reluctant to do this job—since the Assistant Minister's residence in the west of Bianjing City is a good ten li away from the Su Mansion.

So Mr. Xie thought it over: hey, Wang Mazi was a male actor, must have some literacy in his belly, so just send him over.

Hmm... Mr. Xie wasn't aware of Zhang San's story.

As for Xu Yun's chance to escape...well...

Even with other servants accompanying, even if Xu Yun truly ran away, so what?

Restraining Xu Yun's movements in the mansion and putting bells on him was mainly to prevent him from disturbing the master's and young misses of the Su Mansion, as Xu Yun was not a stable factor back then.

As for outside the mansion—feel free to flee. Without identity documents or a waist badge, surviving even five days would be considered lucky.

These days, Xu Yun had stayed in the South Wing without any chance of stealing, so if he ran away, Su Mansion would only lose a few meals.

Master had planned out his life path, yet if he couldn't enjoy it, he deserves to be scolded as such wherever.

Subsequently, Mr. Xie lightly coughed, saying:

"Wang Lin, what's your decision?"

Xu Yun was already weary from staying in the South Wing these days, and with the chance now to see some sights in Bianjing City, he naturally welcomed it:

"What reason is there to refuse to serve the master? Rest assured, Old Chief Steward, I shall accomplish this mission!"

Old Chief Steward nodded approvingly, summoning Yongzhu:

"Yongzhu, gather a few people to go with Wang Lin to fetch the books. Be careful not to damage the books, or you'll be held accountable!"

Old Su, a reading fanatic, borrowed books often, so Yongzhu was quite experienced:

"Rest assured; leave it to me."

Then Mr. Xie took out two documents from his sleeve and handed them to Xu Yun:

"The one on top is the greeting letter; present it to the front gate after meeting.

The one below is the borrowing document, which should be delivered only after confirming the book list accuracy. Understood?"

Xu Yun took the documents, nodded:

"Understood."

Seeing this, the Old Chief Steward waved gently:

"Since you understand, hurry up and set off."

Xu Yun stashed the documents safely in his inner pocket, had some breakfast with Yongzhu and others, and left through the Su Mansion's back door.

After taking a few steps out, Xu Yun recalled something and said to Yongzhu:

"Brother Yongzhu, I forgot to ask earlier, which residence are we visiting this time?"

Leading the way, Yongzhu turned back to look at him upon hearing the question:

"The host's surname is Li, an old acquaintance of the master's mentor, the Dongpo Scholar. His name is Ge Fei; I forgot his courtesy name. He's now a Fifth Grade official and has corresponded with the master often; he lives in the west of Bianjing City."

"...Li Gefei!"

Upon hearing the name spoke by Yongzhu, Xu Yun stood frozen on the spot.

No matter that he was purely a science student; this name was not unfamiliar to him.

Because this person was named...

Li Qingzhao!

.......

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