In the end, the young lady personally gave them a lesson. Her knowledge was both deep and broad, her manner friendly, and her teaching style engaging, making them admire her completely.

Now that Jia Lin and Jia Yun could stay by the young lady’s side to learn, without having to face those difficulties, how could others not envy them?

After arranging all the positions and offering some words of encouragement, Ye Yaming finally dismissed them.

When Lu Guanyi returned after dealing with those people, he was quite surprised to learn that Ye Yaming had only assigned three people to the small kitchen, leaving other positions vacant for him to fill with new servants.

Ye Yaming glanced at him. “Did you think I brought so many dowry servants to work as ordinary servants in the Marquis Residence? Those are people I carefully selected and specially trained, of course, they’re meant to be dispatched to various places as managers.”

“Then you won’t manage the residence?” Lu Guanyi asked.

Ye Yaming had specifically explained that Xu Zan, Tang Song, Bai Rui, Lu’E, and others were meant to manage her properties, not to participate in the affairs of the Marquis Residence’s inner quarters. She was leaving him to arrange for the stewards and managers of the Marquis Residence himself.

Ye Yaming shook her head. “You’re the Young Master, so naturally you should be in charge of the residence’s affairs. As for the servants we lack, you can decide whether to employ disabled soldiers and their families or purchase new people from outside.”

Lu Guanyi looked at Ye Yaming for a long time without speaking.

It must be said that Ye Yaming’s management style was very magnanimous. Other women would have been eager to grasp all the power in the inner residence, using their dowry servants everywhere. But when he offered this opportunity to Ye Yaming, she showed no interest.

She wasn’t short of people. The servants purchased through the Qi family’s manager numbered no less than a hundred, all privately bought by her with their contracts in her possession. She could have easily arranged those of average ability instead of deploying her best managers in the Marquis Residence.

But she didn’t. She only assigned three people to manage the small kitchen. This small kitchen was for her service, and they would follow her wherever she went, ensuring the safety of her food. In such a grand Marquis Residence, she didn’t arrange a single servant elsewhere.

This approach was naturally magnanimous. But Lu Guanyi felt a vague disappointment.

It seemed Ye Yaming wasn’t treating the Marquis Residence as her own home. Were they and he really that distant?

Ye Yaming immediately saw what Lu Guanyi was thinking.

She rolled her eyes at him. “Don’t overthink it. Let me ask you, do you consider this Marquis Residence your home? You’re the Young Master, not the Marquis. Your father isn’t old; he might take another wife anytime. And there’s Lu Guanyu, who’s not young anymore and will have to marry within a couple of years.”

Lu Guanyi instinctively replied, “My father said he won’t remarry.”

Ye Yaming shook her head. “Your father doesn’t have the final say in this matter.”

She leaned closer to Lu Guanyi and lowered her voice. “Don’t forget, Princess Imperial Yü’an is newly widowed.”

Lu Guanyi was shocked. “That can’t be!”

Princess Imperial Yü’an was born to one of the late emperor’s unfavored consorts. Her situation was similar to Third Princess, who was born to Consort Min, without strong backing or brothers and sisters from the same mother and father.

The reason neither Lu Guanyi nor Lu Zhongyong had thought the Emperor would arrange a marriage with Princess Imperial Yü’an was because she was forty-six years old this year, six years older than Lu Zhongyong. At forty-six, in this era, she was already of grandmother age. Most women had lost their fertility by then and generally wouldn’t remarry.

However, with Ye Yaming’s reminder, Lu Guanyi was surprised but quickly understood.

He frowned and said, “This is indeed possible.”

The Emperor needed military generals to lead troops into battle to protect the country, yet he was extremely wary of the military power they wielded. Now that Lu Zhongyong had divorced his wife and Princess Imperial Yü’an was newly widowed, wouldn’t it be perfect to arrange their marriage, placing Princess Imperial Yü’an’s people around Lu Zhongyong to monitor and restrain him?

It was known that Princess Imperial Yü’an had only given birth to two daughters and no sons. She wouldn’t use Lu Zhongyong’s military power to seize authority for the sake of her children, making her the ideal person to restrain a military general.

As for whether Princess Imperial Yü’an was a suitable match for Lu Zhongyong, that wasn’t something the Emperor would consider.

Seeing that he understood, Ye Yaming continued, “Even if not her, there will be someone else. The Emperor won’t allow your father to choose his marriage; he’ll certainly arrange one for him first.”

“And if a new Marquis’s wife marries in, am I supposed to compete with her? Furthermore, Lu Guanyu is still the second young master of this residence. He’ll certainly return. If he wants to beat a servant to death, then, am I supposed to fight him to the death over it?”

“Besides, my servants are all carefully trained. Since I’ll be staying here for a short time, placing them here would be a waste.”

Lu Guanyi nodded. “You make a good point. I was hesitating between purchasing new servants or accommodating disabled soldiers and their families. After your analysis, I’ll choose the latter.”

Many soldiers came from impoverished backgrounds—who would willingly risk their lives at the border if not for poverty? They did it for those meager wages.

When they weren’t disabled, they could barely survive. Now disabled and unable to do hard labor, survival became even more difficult. Coming to the Marquis Residence as servants might lower their status, but the work wouldn’t be heavy, and they would have food and clothing without worry. Since their master was a fellow soldier, other servants in the residence wouldn’t dare bully them. This was a placement many disabled soldiers sought but couldn’t obtain.

However, for the Marquis Residence, these people with impaired limbs didn’t know aristocratic rules and might have some uncouth living habits, making them unqualified as servants. Yet because they were disabled while protecting the country and were comrades with the male master, even the lady of the house couldn’t be too harsh with them, let alone the residence managers.

Such people could be carefully selected and placed in non-critical positions in the residence, but once there were too many, the residence would become chaotic.

If Ye Yaming considered the Marquis Residence her territory, she wouldn’t want too many such people placed there, as it would only create problems for her. But since she didn’t care, and the residence might soon welcome a woman forced upon them by the Emperor, and in two years, Lu Guanyu’s wife, it was better to have more such people.

Let her father-in-law and Lu Guanyu worry about it then.

Understanding all this, Lu Guanyi felt completely at ease.

He couldn’t help but extend his large hand to grasp Ye Yaming’s, saying, “Yaming, marrying you was the most correct thing I’ve done in my life.”

Ye Yaming glanced at him, raising her chin slightly as she smiled. “You’d better remember what you said today.”

Ye Yaming had a strong presence with a somewhat cool demeanor. But at this moment, she was charming and exceptionally adorable. If not for the presence of maids and servants, and concern that Ye Yaming might lose face, Lu Guanyi would have been unable to resist kissing her.

Lu Guanyi had a military style of doing things, swift and decisive. That very afternoon, he went to select disabled soldiers, choosing those with families who were willing to work as servants in the Marquis Residence, then had people teach them the rules and necessary skills.