Li Zhiyue instructed the steward to settle the Ji family’s two brothers.

She summoned craftsmen and brought out the blueprints.

The craftsmen could understand them partially, but the specific dimensions needed to be discussed in detail.

It wasn’t until the next day that the blueprints were finalized.

Next, they needed someone to oversee the project.

But who?

Li Zhiyue rested her chin in her hand and thought for a while, then said, “Mo Yu, spread the word — I want to select someone to serve as manager and accountant. Anyone in the residence who can read and do arithmetic is welcome to try.”

The moment this message got out, the whole residence was in an uproar.

Everyone knew that just a few days ago, the young miss had bought a servant who, in no time, became the manager of a new teahouse.

The servants born into the household were incredibly envious…

After all, getting promoted to manager or accountant not only meant a much higher salary but also greater dignity.

Even as servants, they desired to live with dignity.

The Marquis of Xiangyang’s household had always treated its servants with kindness. Children of long-time servants were often taken to the marquis and his wife to ask for a favor — to be sent to study reading and arithmetic for a few years.

As a result, over twenty people in the household were qualified, ranging from teenagers to seasoned servants in their forties or fifties.

Li Zhiyue sat at the head seat, watching the gathered crowd in the courtyard.

Among them were the attendants from her own courtyard, followers from her parents’ and brother’s courtyards, and even lower-ranked servants who did the dirtiest chores.

Previously, she thought the servants of the marquis household were all too complacent — finishing their work in the morning and then lazing about gossiping and snacking in the afternoon.

She hadn’t expected this many people to come forward.

Turns out, it wasn’t that they lacked ambition — they just didn’t have direction.

She smiled and said, “Don’t be nervous. I’ll only test two things — first, your writing, and second, arithmetic. If you write well and calculate well, you pass.”

An older man asked, “Miss, what if everyone writes and calculates well?”

“That would be even better,” Li Zhiyue smiled. “I need capable people. If you’re all excellent, I won’t need to go out and buy new staff.”

Mo Yu set out brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.

Everyone had to come up and write their own name.

The word a person writes most often in their life is their own name.

If they couldn’t even write that properly, they were eliminated on the spot.

Out of twenty-three people, only eight passed the writing test — a clear sign of how slack they’d become, even after learning to write when they were young.

Next was the arithmetic test.

Mo Yu handed out the problems Li Zhiyue had prepared in advance.

They had one incense stick’s time to complete them.

Anyone who answered all questions correctly within that time would pass.

One person finished well before the time was up.

Some didn’t even finish when the time was over.

Only one person passed the arithmetic test — the eldest among them, Old Tian.

Li Zhiyue had a headache.

She thought she’d find a group of capable people, but out of more than twenty, not one met her expectations.

Oh well — at least she found one.

“Old Tian, I’m putting you in charge of the grand theater construction.”

Old Tian was overjoyed and immediately knelt to express his thanks.

Li Zhiyue furrowed her brows.

Each of their shops only had a manager and assistants — no dedicated accountant.

Previously, there wasn’t much accounting to do, but as business expanded, a separate accountant role became essential to avoid errors.

But where could she find accountants?

She looked at the few top-ranking maids beside her — and suddenly had an idea.

Chores around the courtyard could be done by anyone, but accounting had to be handled by trusted people.

When it came to loyalty, no one was more trustworthy than these girls who had grown up with her.

Mo Yu had been trained as her secretary.

Now, she would train the other three to become accountants.

She acted quickly.

Li Zhiyue decided to teach the girls modern bookkeeping methods.

First, they had to learn Arabic numerals.

The girls believed this was a secret code between them and their mistress, so they studied with great enthusiasm.

Once they mastered the numbers, they began to learn how to keep accounts.

Ancient bookkeeping was simple and linear, but she used more advanced modern accounting methods, which made it easier and faster to review records.

After just two days of training, the three girls were nearly ready to take on the job.

“You don’t even have anyone to serve tea in your courtyard?”

Bai Ruzhu walked in and saw only some rough servant girls sweeping leaves, and not a single personal maid nearby.

Li Zhiyue smiled. “My four top-ranking maids are studying, and the four second-ranking ones have been sent to the teahouse. That only leaves a few rough maids and old servant women. I’m really short-staffed — Mother, can I borrow a few of yours?”

Once the grand theater opened, she would need maids to receive guests in private rooms, and she had long had her eye on a few of the capable maids by Bai Ruzhu’s side.

Bai Ruzhu shook her head. “You are still a young lady of a marquis’s household — you must maintain your proper status. I’ll go to the slave market and buy some more people for you.”

“Oh right, Mother,” Li Zhiyue added, “a few days ago, Minister Cheng from the Court of Judicial Review sent me two guards skilled in martial arts. Why don’t we buy a group of ten-year-olds and have them trained in martial arts too? They could protect our marquis household in the future.”

She knew those two men didn’t feel comfortable living in the household without doing anything.

One insisted on being her carriage driver.

The other offered to train the household in martial arts.

She was more than happy to accept.

Bai Ruzhu was surprised. “I heard the Cheng family is very poor — they don’t even have a single servant. How could he afford to send us people?”

Li Zhiyue replied, “Precisely because they’re poor and can’t afford to keep them, he sent them to us.”

Bai Ruzhu frowned.

Was that really the reason?

It felt… a bit odd.

Though Bai Ruzhu usually didn’t manage household affairs, when she did, she was efficient.

The next day, she bought ten boys around ten years old.

Ji Laizhi was put in charge of teaching them martial arts.

Li Zhiyue shamelessly asked to join in.

She figured — what if one day the marquis household was raided and exiled?

She ought to have some self-defense skills, right?

Before dawn, Li Zhiyue got up.

She, who loved sleeping in the most, was determined to train in martial arts!

She changed into a convenient outfit and walked toward the front courtyard under the pale moonlight.

Once everyone had gathered, Ji Laizhi said coolly, “The first step in martial arts training is physical conditioning. For the next few days, we’ll run laps around the marquis estate — no one is allowed to stop.”

He ran in front.

The ten energetic boys immediately followed.

Li Zhiyue didn’t dare fall behind and quickly caught up.

Fortunately, she had long-distance running experience from her previous life, so she managed to keep up at first. But soon, she began to lag behind…

However, she wasn’t the only one.

The ten malnourished boys also ran out of steam, panting heavily.

Crack!

Ji Laizhi pulled out a whip from who knows where and lashed it against the ground with a sharp snap.

The boys flinched in fear and hurried to pick up the pace.

“Miss,” Ji Laizhi said, “With us here to protect the household, you don’t actually need to practice martial arts.”