Chapter 1015 Disposal (4)
It’s no surprise that Zhao Chunhua thought this way. In the past, when the lord was coming over, they would have sent someone two days in advance to let them know so they could prepare early and not end up in a flustered mess. Who would have thought that this time, they would encounter Mo Yan, who did not follow the usual practices?
Seeing that Zhao Laoda still wanted to say something, Zhao Dafu scolded, "Things have already come to this point, what’s the use of complaining? It’s better to calm down and think of a way to dissipate the County Lord’s anger and beg her to give our family a way to live."
With that, he glanced at his silent daughter and said to the daughters-in-law who looked displeased, "Your little sister is right, none of you knew the County Lord was coming today, and whatever you wear or carry will be seen by the County Lord, so stop blaming your little sister."
Once their father-in-law reminded them, several of Zhao’s daughters-in-law quickly recalled their respective attire for the day, promptly putting away their dissatisfaction as their looks towards their younger sister-in-law softened immediately.
Zhao Dafu nodded in secret, quite satisfied with the few daughters-in-law who still had an understanding of the big picture.
"Old man, the County Lord doesn’t seem hard to talk to. If we take the initiative to confess to the County Lord and ask for mercy, maybe she will let our family go. After all, you didn’t take anything from the County Lord," Old Lady Meng hesitantly suggested to her husband.
Zhao Dafu forced a smile, "You think I haven’t thought about that? Confessing to the County Lord and begging for mercy might allow our family to stay on the estate if the County Lord is kind-hearted, but she won’t entrust the management of the estate to me anymore. From then on, our family would only be able to do menial tasks like raising chickens and ducks on the estate, and we’d be under others’ control. Most likely, the County Lord might sell us all off."
Over the years, he had made too many fraudulent entries, and the thought of the large earthen jar hidden under the bed made his heart continuously bitter.
Hearing Zhao Dafu say this, Zhao Laoda and the others, who had just kindled new hope, saw their little flame extinguished again. Although they were servants, no matter what work they did, they were still servants. But there were differences even among servants.
The servants who attended closely to the master enjoyed prestige and received many benefits, but once they offended the master, their fate could be worse than that of the street cats and dogs. As for the lower-class servants, they had to do the harshest work and receive the least monthly silver, which was not a good job at all.
For them, working on the estate, though hard, they had no one to oversee them daily, nor did they have to please or flatter anyone. Such a free life sometimes made them forget their status as servants. When they went out, they were the envy of the villagers in Chen Family Village, being seen as wealthy folks.