However, Su Qing was inwardly burning with excitement.
Outwardly, however, he didn't dare look around too much.
'This is a feudal era, after all.'
Su Qing had studied a little history. He knew that for ordinary people, the feudal era was a time of man-eating cruelty.
How could Su Qing dare to look around freely?
At most, he only snuck glances at the other slaves beside him.
There were men and women.
The women were generally quite attractive.
As for the men, however, few were handsome in comparison.
Su Qing himself was a mess. His hair was dry, yellow, and hung disheveled down his back. His clothes were in tatters, and with no chance to clean himself up, he looked quite ugly too.
A man walked up to the front of the group.
Su Qing had no idea what his name was.
"Listen up, all of you. I am the Wang Family's steward, Wang Bing."
"You slaves are to do exactly what your masters command. Otherwise, the minimum punishment is three days of starvation. The maximum…"
"Is death!"
"Torture until death."
When Housekeeper Wang said the word "death," his tone was remarkably calm, but no one dared to meet his gaze.
"From now on, just call me Steward Wang when you see me."
"..."
Just then, a group of young men and women dressed in fine silks and satins arrived.
Su Qing didn't dare to look for long.
"Young Masters, Young Misses, this servant personally selected these slaves for you."
Upon seeing the group, Steward Wang's tone became more humble. He bowed his waist slightly, leaned his body forward, and stood to the side with a faint smile.
"Well now, not bad. But why did you only pick pretty female slaves? The men are all so hideous."
The young master leading the group couldn't help but smile upon seeing the female slaves, but he shot a disdainful look at the male slaves, including Su Qing, and began to complain.
"It is my fault. I await Sixth Young Master's punishment." Steward Wang's tone was low and neither servile nor overbearing. His eyes showed a hint of remorse, but it was all an act.
This had been a requirement from the ultimate head of the Wang Family, so he wasn't afraid of being punished by this Sixth Young Master. Nevertheless, he had to maintain the right attitude.
"Forget it, forget it. I'll pick first."
This Sixth Young Master chose first, followed by the other young masters, and finally, it was the Wang Family's young misses' turn to choose.
The young masters of the Wang Family hardly ever chose male slaves. The one exception was a young master who picked a man who was comparatively more muscular than the others.
In the end, Su Qing was left to be chosen by one of the Wang Family's young misses.
'It's so strange. Why would they have the young misses of the Wang Family pick male slaves?'
Su Qing didn't understand. 'This is a feudal era. Shouldn't there be a strict separation between men and women?'
But for now, Su Qing's question would go unanswered.
A remarkably tall young woman appeared in front of Su Qing.
She was a full 1.7 meters tall, though she looked rather slender overall.
She was quite beautiful, with a hint of a heroic air about her.
"I don't care what your name was before. You have a new name now: Wang Qi."
"Understand?!"
Su Qing froze for a moment, then quickly bowed his head and nodded. "Understood, understood."
Seeing Su Qing's compliance, the young woman nodded. Then, wrinkling her nose, she said to him, "Wang Qi, follow me!"
"Yes."
This was Su Qing's first time being a servant. More than anything, it just felt novel, because as far as he was concerned, there was no way he would remain a servant for his entire life.
'In fact,' he thought, 'as long as I have a bit of free time, I'll definitely sneak away and escape this place within half a year.'
He followed the young woman to a small courtyard within the Wang Family estate.
They wound through so many paths to get there that Su Qing nearly forgot the way back.
"I am Wang Li of the Wang Family. You'd better watch yourself and not provoke anyone from the main family line. Otherwise, you'll die."
"This is my residence. From now on, you will attend to my daily needs."
"You will get up for me at 5:00 AM, go to the kitchens to fetch my food, then bring me a basin of water to wash up, and help me get dressed…"
The young miss before him listed many things, every single one about how to serve her.
Su Qing hastily nodded along to everything, indicating that he had taken note.
Wang Li talked a lot. She was twelve, so she could no longer live with her mother and also had to practice martial arts, but she was now old enough to have her own servants.
Unfortunately, Wang Li knew her own mother was merely a concubine of the Third House, so she didn't dare ask for too much.
Su Qing was one of the very last slaves to be chosen.
"Very good. Go to Yu Ren Hall and get your own clothes, then come back and wash yourself clean. You're not fit to serve me while you're so filthy and foul-smelling."
Wang Li was clearly accustomed to ordering people around. She shot the currently filthy Su Qing another disgusted look.
"Oh, and Yu Ren Hall is to the left of my courtyard. Go to…"
Wang Li then gave him the directions.
Only then did Su Qing understand.
'So many damn orders. Fuck, if I had a weapon right now, I'd seriously consider using it on her.'
But in the end, he could only bow his head meekly, then trudge off to find Yu Ren Hall.
He didn't have to ask for anything or say a word.
A few of the other slaves who had arrived with Su Qing were also heading to Yu Ren Hall.
This saved Su Qing the trouble of finding the way himself.
Fortunately, the language in the County City wasn't too different from the one spoken in Flood Village, or Su Qing wouldn't have understood anything, as it was peppered with a local dialect.
After arriving at Yu Ren Hall, Su Qing followed a few other slaves and collected his clothing along with them.
He returned to the small courtyard without much trouble.
Near his small courtyard was a public well, which seemed to be shared among four courtyards.
'They're truly rich.' Su Qing didn't even have to think about it; he knew that digging a well in ancient times must have been incredibly expensive.
'And these four courtyards are only for four people!'
Su Qing drew some water and returned, then looked for a place to bathe.
Eventually, he found a drainage area with no privacy screens whatsoever.
'Fuck, so even for bathing, a servant like me can't have a shred of privacy?'
Su Qing was fuming, and he desperately wanted to storm into the house, but he didn't dare.
'After all, that woman is 1.7 meters tall—more imposing than I am. The key thing is, I don't know if I could even take her in a fight.'
Still, Su Qing was something of a neat freak, so he stripped off his old clothes without hesitation and began ladling water over himself, scrubbing away at the layers of filth.
Soon, Su Qing felt much fresher.
His whole body felt refreshed, but his appearance hadn't changed much.
He still had the same swarthy, dark-skinned complexion.
After putting on the Wang Family servant's uniform, Su Qing waited for a while.
He realized that the young woman had gone into her rooms and hadn't come out since.
Su Qing had no choice but to rest in the small shack to the side.
'I have to practice Martial Arts.'
Su Qing didn't know how to begin. He was just a servant. 'How can I possibly pursue the Cultivation of Martial Arts? That's the biggest problem.'
He had only been pondering this problem for a moment when he heard the wooden door of the main house open. Su Qing quickly got up and went over.
"Young Miss."
Su Qing said, bowing his head.
"Yes. Wang Qi, from now on, don't wander around. Just stay here. As for tonight's meal, you don't need to fetch mine. Just see to your own."
"Yes, Young Miss."
Su Qing was inwardly pleased, but he kept his eyes lowered and replied in a soft voice.
Wang Li's steps were much lighter now.
She was on her way to one of her 'sisters' houses.
That morning, this formidable 'sister' of hers had gotten a sturdy male servant. He was much uglier, but Wang Li wanted to go and discuss the matter with her.
At twelve years old, one reached puberty; it was only natural to have a few unmentionable secrets.
After all, her servant, Wang Li's, was so scrawny she couldn't even be bothered to look at him.
...