Chapter Ninety-Seven: Managing the Household

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Zhuge Xuan’s funeral arrangements began that very night, and before dawn the next day, the formal rites of washing and announcing the death commenced.

The so-called washing involved dressing the deceased and changing their bedding.

In the Han dynasty, funerals followed a complete and complex set of procedures, including cleansing the body, burning incense, announcing the death, lying in repose, guarding the spirit, the grand burial ceremony, procession, interment, and more—over a dozen steps in all.

In later times, many of these rituals were simplified; modern funerals typically last only three to seven days, whereas in ancient times, the process was far more elaborate.

For common folk, the ceremonies were simpler, but from humble families to gentry, officials, lords, and even imperial bloodlines, the higher one’s status, the more complicated and prolonged the funeral rites would be.

Historically, Emperor Ling of Han’s funeral lasted nearly two months. Going further back to the Spring and Autumn period, due to poor roads, the Zhou king’s body might lie in repose for an entire year, awaiting the arduous journey of lords from across the realm to pay their respects.

Though the Zhuge family was not a great clan, their ancestors had held positions such as the Commandant of the Capital, a rank with an income of two thousand bushels, which was better than commoners or local strongmen—essentially a lower-tier gentry family. Thus, their funeral procedures were somewhat more intricate.

Yet, it was unexpected that on the very first day of the rites, a small problem arose.

Before dawn, after a sleepless night, Zhuge Liang emerged from his uncle’s room. The uncle’s friends had all departed the previous night, except for Shen Chen, who stayed by his side.

Zhuge Liang first washed up. When he stepped out into the backyard, he found Shen Chen standing behind him, though he had not noticed when he arrived.

“Little brother,” Shen Chen greeted.

“Brother,” Zhuge Liang replied.

Shen Chen looked at him with concern. “You haven’t slept all night, and today you still have to watch over the spirit and announce the death. You need to take care of yourself; at least get some rest.”

Zhuge Liang shook his hand weakly. “It’s nothing. Uncle passed away, and even if I wanted to sleep, I couldn’t.”

“Hmm.” Shen Chen nodded. “Since my clan moved to Nanyang, I have overseen numerous funerals for dozens of family members. I have some experience. If you want to rest, I can help you.”

“All right.” Zhuge Liang forced a smile. “Just take over receiving guests when I’m too tired.”

“Understood.”

The two then returned to the room.

Outside, a young servant boy dozed at the door.

Zhuge Liang woke him and instructed him to summon the strong male servants inside.

Funeral rituals followed strict rules: the deceased must lie as if alive on their own bed for their final night—a custom called “lying in state.” At dawn the next day, the “washing” ceremony would begin, in which the body was cleansed and dressed in burial clothes.

After a short while, six robust male servants arrived, one yawning with a somewhat impatient expression.

Zhuge Liang instructed, “Carry uncle to the hall in the backyard. Prepare a basin of hot water to wash his body and dress him in new clothes. I have written out the names for the mourning visits. This afternoon, you will take them into town and visit the households in the order listed. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

The servants responded in unison.

However, the yawning servant suddenly showed reluctance upon hearing he must wash Zhuge Xuan’s body and travel around Xiangyang to announce the death.

“Master, can I not do this?”

Zhuge Liang’s gaze hardened as he looked at him sharply. “Are you ill?”

The servant shook his head. “No, but when the doctor bought me originally, the contract only said I was to guard the house. There was no mention of washing the master’s body or going into town to report the death.”

Hearing this, Shen Chen and Zhuge Liang exchanged a frown.

They had encountered a lazy servant.

Since the Qin and Han dynasties began the transition to feudal society, slavery was largely abolished. However, slaves had not entirely disappeared; even as late as the Qing dynasty, servants symbolized the wealth of the elite.

In the late Han, certain slave customs remained. The Yuan family, with its four generations of three grand ministers, owned countless slaves. The highest noble families could not be seen without thousands of servants. Wealthy families often had hundreds to thousands of servants. Even Mi Zhu, a wealthy merchant from Xuzhou, had over ten thousand.

Though the Zhuge family had declined, Zhuge Liang’s father had been the deputy magistrate of Taishan Commandery, second in command, so the family retained some status and wealth. They had dozens of servants, mostly male.

Later, when Zhuge Jin took charge, considering his youth of only fifteen and his widowed stepmother’s solitude, he sold off most of the male servants to avoid accusations of a weak master and strong servants, keeping only four loyal slaves.

The remaining servants were mostly child attendants who accompanied Zhuge Liang and his brothers in study and served the household in minor tasks.

When Zhuge Xuan came to Jingzhou to retrieve Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Jin had gone to Jiangdong, taking those four adult male servants with him.

In Jingzhou, with the family restarting, they hired many local villagers for labor and bought six male servants to manage affairs.

Aristocratic families preferred to raise servants from childhood to ensure loyalty—hence the term “family slaves.”

Newly purchased servants lacked loyalty. If treated too well, they might become arrogant; if poorly treated, they might flee. During the late Western and Eastern Han, conflicts between masters and slaves were frequent.

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The male servants originally belonging to the Zhuge family had been taken by Zhuge Jin. The remaining servants were mostly boys between seven and sixteen years old. Only the six new male servants were young and strong, needed for labor.

Unexpectedly, one of these male servants was lazy.

Previously, these male servants managed Zhuge Xuan’s properties outside, while the household was mainly run by the child attendants. Heavy labor was called upon only occasionally. Zhuge Liang knew these servants but was not close to them.

Zhuge Xuan had served under Liu Biao for years, working daily with strict attendance and little time to manage servants. After his death, one lazy servant dared to shirk duties and defy the household.

Such occurrences were common. During the northern warlords’ chaos, with lawlessness rampant and officials powerless, even if servants fled, few could enforce discipline.

Especially during the Yellow Turban and Dong Zhuo uprisings, conflicts between masters and slaves intensified severely.

Sometimes, when an old master died and the heir was young, slaves could overpower the household and seize property. During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, some servants even joined the insurgents and killed their masters.

But here was Jingzhou.

Under Liu Biao’s rule, stability and law enforcement remained strong.

If this servant named Ding Le thought that after Zhuge Xuan’s death, young Zhuge Liang could not manage the household and he could bully his master, he was gravely mistaken.

After hearing Ding Le’s complaint, Zhuge Liang thought briefly, then turned to Shen Chen.

“Little brother, do you need servants?”

Shen Chen immediately understood. He called out to the boy outside, “Ah Nu, bring Shen Qi and Deng Pi here.”

“Yes.”

Ah Nu happily ran off.

Shen Qi and Deng Pi were not servants but distant relatives and bodyguards of the Shen and Deng families, assigned to protect Shen Chen.

Ding Le was puzzled. “Master, are you going to sell me?”

Zhuge Liang ignored him.

Soon, Shen Qi and Deng Pi entered.

“Young master, what do you need?” they asked.

“Hold him down,” Shen Chen ordered, pointing at Ding Le.

The two bodyguards, large and strong, immediately lunged fiercely, pinning Ding Le to the ground.

The other servants dared not speak.

Cunning and deceitful servants were rare; most were honest.

Ding Le shouted, “Master, what have I done wrong? Why do you arrest me?”

Zhuge Liang did not respond but told Ah Nu, “Fetch Ding Le’s contract.”

The contract, or slave deed, proved the master-servant relationship and outlined responsibilities.

Due to brevity, contracts were often vague. Ding Le’s contract specified only house guarding; there was no clause about washing the deceased.

However, the unwritten social rule was that servants obeyed masters’ orders regardless of contract details, so Ding Le was merely exploiting a loophole to shirk work.

Ah Nu quickly returned with a bamboo slip contract, which had an official copy at the local government office, preventing theft.

Masters could privately trade these contracts, only needing to register transfers with the authorities afterward. Thus, these deeds were crucial—commonly called “selling oneself.”

Zhuge Liang glanced over the contract, then handed it to Shen Chen.

Shen Chen examined the formal document, noting that Zhuge Xuan had bought Ding Le for eighteen thousand five hundred coins. The duties were vaguely defined.

He turned to Ding Le. “So you mean you only work what’s written in the deed, and if it’s not there, you do nothing?”

“Of course. The deed is the proof,” Ding Le insisted stubbornly.

Usually, slaves in powerful households were not so lazy because killing a servant only meant paying compensation, not capital punishment.

But fools existed everywhere, and Han records are full of such lazy servants.

Moreover, with Zhuge Xuan just deceased, Ding Le assumed the young master was weak and could be bullied. He sought to slack off, unaware that Zhuge Liang had just become head of the family and intended to establish strict authority. He was courting disaster.

The two exchanged a glance. Shen Chen smiled.

“In that case, I shall read the contract aloud:

‘On the eighth day of the third month, Jian’an year two, Shen Chen of Xinye purchased the strong servant Ding Le from Zhuge Liang of Longzhong in Xiangyang for twenty thousand coins. The servant must obey all tasks without objection.’

‘From the ninth day, morning sweeping and cleaning, washing and food preparation. Wearing coarse clothes and carrying brooms and basins. Digging ditches and clearing fields. Building embankments and wooden racks. Making bamboo tools and treating livestock. All tasks must be completed in one day, failure to obey results in one hundred lashes.’

‘On the tenth day, weaving mats and making traps to catch birds. Fishing with nets; hunting wildfowl and waterfowl. Climbing mountains to shoot deer; catching turtles in water. Raising over a hundred geese and ducks in the back garden. Driving away owls; herding pigs. Planting ginger and taro; breeding pigs and foals. Cleaning the main hall and feeding horses and cattle. All tasks must be completed in one day, failure to obey results in one hundred lashes.’

‘On the eleventh day, building embankments and repairing fences; harvesting mulberry bark and palm fibers. Planting melons and gourds; tending eggplants and onions. Burning brushwood and plowing fields; gathering crops and breaking seals. Lighting fires at noon and early morning; pounding grain at rooster’s crow. Managing horse stables and three fields. All tasks must be completed in one day, failure to obey results in one hundred lashes.’

‘On the twelfth day—’"

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Before Shen Chen finished reading the tasks for Ding Le’s third day, and before even mentioning the fourth day’s duties, Ding Le suddenly collapsed to his knees, repeatedly kowtowing and crying out, “Young master, please stop! Each of these tasks would take a day to complete. How can one day suffice for ten days of work? You’re trying to kill Ding Le!”

Shen Chen glanced at Zhuge Liang, who coldly asked, “Do you admit your fault?”

Ding Le slapped himself several times, tears and snot streaming, bowing again and again. “I admit my fault. I will obey you from now on. I dare not be disobedient again.”

“Then you shall receive ten lashes as a warning.”

Zhuge Liang turned to the other servants. “Take him away and give him ten lashes. Do not be lenient—I want to see blood.”

The servants shuddered inwardly, realizing that although the young master was but a boy, he ruled the household strictly, and no one dared defy him. They hurriedly dragged Ding Le outside, tied him up, and whipped him ten times in front of Zhuge Liang, each lash heavy and drawing blood.

Shen Chen admired his brother’s skillful balance of severity and leniency. He had intended to order a hundred lashes, but Zhuge Liang reduced it to ten—enough to punish the lazy servant without breeding resentment.

Soon Ding Le was brought back, kneeling before Zhuge Liang, not with grudges but with profuse thanks, tears streaming.

After all, Shen Chen had done the harsh work. His contract was a death sentence to Ding Le. If Zhuge Liang had truly sold him to Shen Chen, death might have been preferable. Instead, Ding Le felt as if he had escaped the gates of hell, grateful even after being whipped.

Zhuge Liang ordered him to begin work immediately. All the servants, now intimidated, dared not slacken and promptly followed his instructions. Thus, on his very first day as master, Zhuge Liang asserted his authority and restored order in the household.

“Brother Shen.”

“Hmm.”

Shen Changqing walked down the street, nodding or greeting acquaintances.

But no matter who he met,

No one wore any expression beyond neutrality, as if indifferent to all.

Shen Changqing was used to this.

For this was the Demon Suppression Department, an institution maintaining stability in the Great Qin, chiefly tasked with slaying demons and monsters, though it had other minor duties.

One could say,

Every member of the Demon Suppression Department had blood on their hands.

When one is accustomed to life and death,

Many things become a matter of indifference.

When Shen Changqing first arrived in this world, he was uneasy, but over time, he adapted.

The Demon Suppression Department was vast.

Those who remained within were either powerful masters or had the potential to become such.

Shen Changqing belonged to the latter category.

The department was divided into two roles: Guardians and Exorcists.

All newcomers started as low-ranking Exorcists and gradually advanced, hoping ultimately to become Guardians.

Shen Changqing’s former self had been a trainee Exorcist, the lowest rank among Exorcists.

With memories of his past life,

He was very familiar with the department’s environment.

After a while, Shen Changqing stopped before a pavilion.

Unlike the rest of the grim and bloodstained Demon Suppression Department, this pavilion stood out like a crane among chickens, offering a rare tranquility.

The pavilion doors were open, with people occasionally coming and going.

Shen Changqing hesitated briefly, then stepped inside.

Upon entering, the atmosphere changed abruptly.

A faint scent of ink mingled with a subtle metallic tinge of blood greeted him, causing his brow to furrow instinctively, then relax quickly.

The bloodstained odor clinging to everyone in the Demon Suppression Department was nearly impossible to wash away.