"Ah?"

Upon hearing this reward, the workers in the manor were all stirred, as if in a dream.

The silk and grain were already good things. The blood wine was made from the blood of the Taisui (mythical creature) by the Red Lantern Mother, and drinking it made one feel invigorated, full of energy, and virile. If one was injured, burning it and applying it to the wound would also have a remarkable effect in dissolving clots and stopping pain.

Selling it in the market would fetch no less than ten taels of silver per jar.

The key was the blood pellet… Could it be a pill refined from a Blood Taisui?

That stuff was worth more than gold...

Earlier, they had seen Hu Ma go out late at night and bring back Yang Gong and the others, and they knew that this should be a big deal, but Hu Ma never talked about it afterwards, so they didn't know what was in the jar.

Now, suddenly hearing this reward, they were all shocked. From any perspective, this reward did not seem like it was for a steward, but for a manager...

"Has Yang Gong been promoted to three incense?"

Hu Ma thought to himself. Their Red Lantern disciples, upon joining the association, burned a stick of red incense.

After making meritorious contributions, they would be promoted to two incense. Yang Gong was only one incense before, but now that he had made this contribution, he was promoted by two levels?

A three-incense disciple could already be considered close to the Red Lantern Mother...

"Thank you for the Mother's reward."

Hu Ma knew in his heart that three blood pellets were not enough to satisfy him, but on the surface, he could only appear very satisfied and thank the Mother.

But on second thought, these were all things that could be brought out into the open, so it wasn't bad.

"Hehe, this reward is just a small matter."

The person on horseback laughed again, "We came here for another matter."

"As you can imagine, your manor's Manager Wu recently cleared the accounts and handed over the seal, and resigned. But after he leaves, this manor cannot be left unattended. Before he left, he recommended you to take his place as manager, did you know?"

"..."

Although they had guessed this earlier, the workers couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised when they heard the envoy say it in person.

Especially Zhou Datong, who almost jumped up and punched Li Waizi out of joy.

When Hu Ma heard him say this, he hesitated slightly and said in a deep voice, "The manager mentioned it, but I have only joined for a short time and have little experience..."

"Hehe, it doesn't matter."

The envoy smiled and said, "Are you from the Shou Suiren (Watchmen) lineage?"

"The Shou Suiren are passed down from master to disciple, which is an old rule."

"Old Manager Wu Hong was invited from outside by our Red Lantern Mother to be the manager. He has been supported with money, grain, and blood food for so many years. Even if he made a mistake, we didn't pursue it. There is a reason for this."

"He has something to ask for resignation, and we won't make things difficult for him, but he also has an obligation, which is to cultivate a disciple for our Red Lantern Mother."

"..."

Hearing this suddenly, the workers were so shocked that their mouths couldn't close.

Hu Ma was also a little surprised when he heard this. If it weren't for Er Guotou's reminder, he would have been overjoyed at this moment.

But now...

Just as he was thinking silently, he suddenly heard the Xiangzhu (Incense Master) say, "However, the manager of a manor is no small matter. Xiangzhu Zheng also said that you are too young after all, and you have only been a member for a short time. I'm afraid you haven't learned many rules yet."

"Thinking of letting you take care of a manor alone, I'm afraid you'll be overwhelmed. Therefore, we'll first transfer someone over to help you. After you've learned, we'll let you go, how about that?"

"..."

"Ah?"

This sudden sentence made the workers' moods drop like they had fallen off a cliff.

They didn't react for a while, but when they did, they were all dumbfounded.

Why was this envoy talking in circles? One moment he said that it was reasonable for Brother Ma Zi to be the manager, and the next moment he said that he didn't have enough qualifications and needed to send someone over to help...

So, is he still the manager or not?

On the other hand, many of the people who came with him had subtle smiles on their faces.

It was as if they had been listening for so long just to see the expressions on these people's faces when this last sentence came out.

"Xiangzhu Zheng?"

Hearing his words, Hu Ma's mind flashed.

He had offended someone without realizing it...

Yang Gong had indeed made a name for himself, but before he did, he had always been bullied by his immediate superior. Now that he had made this great contribution, his immediate superior would not dare to provoke him at this time.

But unexpectedly, this immediate superior had turned his attention to himself and had already stirred up his matter of becoming a manager without him realizing it...

He wanted to be a manager for freedom and convenience in doing things.

But he sent someone over, so what was the difference from when the old manager was around?

Perhaps, it was even worse!

The old manager had at least handed over everything to himself and never interfered. Now, this one probably wouldn't be as easy to deal with as the manager.

Thinking carefully about the details, he suddenly felt that this Red Lantern Mother was just a blood food gang that worshiped evil spirits, but there were no fewer tricks inside. He suddenly thought of what Er Guotou had told him, and he couldn't help but sneer in his heart...

"Sun Niuzi, come out!"

Just as Hu Ma was thinking, the envoy smiled and called out a name.

In the back of the crowd, a person pulled on the reins and slowly stepped forward, a short, fat man. He looked about thirty years old and wore a loose-fitting coat. He didn't dismount, but looked at Hu Ma on horseback and said with a smile:

"Manager Hu, Xiangzhu Zheng asked me to come and help you and remind you of the rules of the Red Lantern Association."

"In the future, we'll have to get closer..."

The ambiguous expression on his face made Zhou Datong and the other workers feel a chill in their hearts.

Before this person had even dismounted and entered the manor, he had already cast a shadow over everyone's heads.

But listening to this ambiguous words, Hu Ma slowly raised his head, looked at him on horseback, and smiled, "Yes, we really need to get closer."

"..."

This smile stunned Sun Niuzi on horseback for a moment, and he vaguely felt that something was wrong.

Why did the smile on this person's face seem to be from the heart?

...

But other than Hu Ma, the workers in this manor did seem a little depressed. After finishing their business, they wanted to invite these envoys and others into the manor for a meal. Originally, they had happily prepared such a big feast, but now they were all eating in silence.

On the other hand, Sun Niuzi seemed to be back in his own home. He invited the envoy to sit in the seat of honor, and he accompanied him, eating and drinking happily.

Hu Ma's expression was normal, and he drank two cups of wine with them, and showed no reaction to the gazes cast by the people around him.

After several cups, one person excused himself to go to the toilet, and hid aside with Hu Ma, and said in a low voice: "Brother Hu, I worked with Steward Xu, you should still remember me?"

"He asked me to come and remind you of something. He was originally thinking of helping you with the matter of becoming the manager of your manor, but unfortunately Xiangzhu Zheng spoke up and sent his brother-in-law here. Xiangzhu Zheng is in charge of personnel, so no one else can say anything..."

"..."

This Xu Yao Steward Xu was the little bearded steward who had accepted three Green Taisui from Second Master back then.

Of course, now his beard has grown longer, and he is a middle-bearded man.

Seeing that Hu Ma was promising, he had always treated Hu Ma as an equal and regarded him as one of his own.

In the Red Lantern Mother Association, there are a total of three Xiangzhu. One is in charge of the blood food mine, which is the most powerful and trusted. He is from a Red Incense disciple and is out all year round.

One is in charge of the distribution of money and grain and the operation of blood food.

And this Xiangzhu Zheng was Yang Gong's former immediate superior. He happened to be in charge of the affairs of the various manors, and with his word, Steward Xu naturally couldn't say anything.

But he was a good person and specially sent someone to remind him.

Looking back, if things had gone smoothly, he would probably have come in person to tell Hu Ma the good news.

Hu Ma then smiled and said, "I know, thank Uncle Xu for me."

"I didn't go to the city to visit in time. When I have the opportunity, I'll go to the city to make up for it."

"..."

"Yes, when you are free to go to the city, first go to the Steward's place and have a seat."

The two agreed and then went back to drink.

That night, they put up the people who came to give the rewards, sent them back, and the manor was empty again.

And that Xiangzhu Zheng's brother-in-law, Sun Niuzi...

...Xiangzhu Zheng's parents-in-law really know how to name people!

From the moment he entered the manor, he immediately dispelled the leisurely atmosphere in the manor after the old manager left.

When he came to the manor, he naturally had to arrange a place to live. He immediately saw the old manager's inner courtyard. Although the old manager had been gone for several days, Hu Ma had not moved into this inner courtyard out of respect for him.

But now that Sun Niuzi came, he laughed and said, "It's too much trouble to clean up again, I'll just live here!"

"Anyway, I'm going back to the city sooner or later. When I leave, you can move in, okay?"

"..."

As he spoke, he asked people to clean it up for him. The workers dared to be angry but dared not speak out, and could only clean it up in silence.

However, this was all because Hu Ma gave them the courage. Before that, they didn't dare to have even a bit of anger towards the people from the city.

And after he brought a follower and moved into the inner courtyard, he began to cause many troubles.

When it was time to eat, he would first let his follower go to the kitchen to see what good things there were. He would directly cut half of the grain from each meal and take it back to the inner courtyard. He would take both legs and half of the chicken from a big, fat chicken, and leave the chicken feet, chicken butt, and chicken head to the workers in the manor.

In addition, he would ask for hot water every morning and evening, making Li Waizi in the kitchen spin like a top.

Looking at this demeanor, he wished that the manor would specially send three workers to him.

Two to serve him exclusively, and one to serve his follower.

But if it was just like this, it would be fine. Every day when it was time to work, he would put his hands behind his back and leave the inner courtyard.

One moment he would say that it wasn't clean and ordered them to clean it again. The next moment he would say that the horse wasn't fed well and suspect that the workers had secretly swallowed the horse's feed and sold it to the surrounding villagers to feed the pigs. Another moment he would say that the patrol area of the guards on duty was not in compliance with the rules.

The workers had been doing this for a year and were already familiar with it, but he messed it up all at once.