Episode 8 recap: After Hua Zhi took charge of the household, she freed the maidservants.
After Hua Zhi fell asleep, Lin Wan, worried about her well-being, specifically had someone bring the remaining three beauty pills to her. Zhu Ying Zhen, Hua Zhi's mother, tenderly covered her with a cloak, while Qi Hui Lan, the second Madam, who usually maintained a tough demeanor during the day, knew that Hua Zhi was feeling wronged. So she placed her son's three remaining candies by Hua Zhi's pillow.
When Hua Zhi woke up, she saw many things by her pillow. Although everyone treated her sternly and even harshly on a daily basis, deep down they still cared for her. It was just like what Gu Yan Xi said: the closer people are, the deeper the rift becomes, like a layer of paper separating them. Only when the paper is torn can they see each other's true hearts.
After thinking it through, Hua Zhi went to see Lin Wan and told her that she wanted to take charge of the household affairs. According to the Daqing penal code, with a sum of two million one hundred and fifty thousand coins, the forty-three people from the Hua family who were exiled to the northern region could be redeemed. As soon as everyone heard this astronomical figure, they were dumbfounded. Even if the entire Hua family sold all their property before it was confiscated, it would not be enough to cover this amount. But Hua Zhi believed that as long as they were determined, they could achieve it because where there's a will, there's a way.
Xia Jin E still thought Hua Zhi was talking nonsense because they didn't even have their own food and provisions settled yet. After hearing this, Hua Zhi took out a promissory note from her pocket and handed it to Bao Xia, instructing her to buy food and provisions for the month, and the remaining money should be given to the servants as their monthly wages. When everyone was shocked, Hua Zhi continued, saying that she would also give monthly wages to the Madams and Misses in the future. After speaking, she turned to Lin Wan and said that she would take charge of the household for three months. If she didn't do well, she would personally return the account books to Xia Jin E.
The matter of the marriage alliance with the Shen family needed to be resolved as soon as possible. After understanding Hua Zhi's stance, Lin Wan personally took Hua Zhi to the Shen family to break off the engagement. Shen's father thought that the Hua family would use the marriage alliance as leverage, so he avoided meeting them. As a result, Shen's old Madam received them and was completely taken aback when she learned they were there to break off the engagement. They even gave her a written IOU for the gifts they had received.
Upon hearing the news, Shen Qi hobbled out of the house. Hua Zhi told him that he was a good person, and even though they were breaking off the engagement, they would still be friends. Chen Qing reported the matter to Gu Yan Xi and cleverly handed back the dowry wine to the Seventh Department. Hua Zhi gave half of it as the wine money to Wu Yu Niang and told her that she had just come to a realization. She would do what she wanted to do and protect the people she wanted to protect. Someday in the future, she would truly be free, relying on no one and able to travel far and wide.
And the starting point for all of this was the red fruit made by Fu Dong. After making up her mind, Hua Zhi arranged for the maidservants to pick the fruit, clean it, remove the pits, and start the process of making syrup and sugar.
The plan was easy to conceive but difficult to implement. Most of the maidservants had never done such rough work before, so they began to complain and do a sloppy job. As a result, the batch of red fruits they made had inconsistent quality, with some being too sour and others too sweet.
Later, some maidservants were directly called away by Xia Jin E to do other tasks, without even having the leisure to make the red fruits. This forced Hua Zhi to personally get involved. Gu Yan Xi sent Chen Qing to thoroughly investigate all the suitable servants in both the main and branch families of the Hua household, but they still didn't find the servant who had spoken to Hua Zhi.
While leading a horse, Gu Yan Xi happened to pass by a field of red fruits and unexpectedly saw Hua Zhi picking them. Hua Zhi shared the current situation of her taking charge of the household with Gu Yan Xi. During their conversation, Lin Wan, the manager of the forest, arrived, and Hua Zhi specially gave her some pastries and money, instructing her to eat well.
Gu Yan Xi inquired about the male servants of the Hua household and was disappointed to learn that none of them had stayed. While the maidservants were processing the red fruits, someone came and said that the third Madam wanted them to do some work. Since their contracts were all in the hands of the third Madam, they didn't dare to refuse. Hua Zhi personally brought a meal to Lin Wan and expressed her desire to retrieve the maidservants' contracts. Lin Wan agreed.
Hua Zhi gathered everyone together, and Xia Jin E publicly handed over the contracts to Hua Zhi. Hua Zhi told everyone that she had taken these contracts to grant them freedom, and she distributed the contracts to everyone. After regaining their freedom, Mia Qiu bid farewell to Hua Zhi. Ying Chun asked about Hua Zhi's plans, and Hua Zhi told her that she would start a family business by selling the red fruits and gradually expand it to redeem her grandfather and the others.
With the absence of contract restrictions, everyone worked with extra enthusiasm, and the red fruits they made tasted exceptionally delicious. Xia Jin E, seeing this, came up with a plan and went to Lin Wan's room with a blanket in the evening.
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