Counterattack of the Cannon Fodder Chambermaid

Untitled Part 21

The imperial laws of the Grand Xi Dynasty were as follows. For escaped slaves, every day missing would be sixty strokes with a stick. The punishment is doubled after three days. If a slave strikes the master, no matter if it resulted in injury, they would be beheaded. If a slave kills the master, death by a thousand cuts. In the case of manslaughter, execution by hanging. When those of lowly status struck those of a higher status, the crime's severity is doubled, and in cases of relatively heavy injuries the punishment was death by hanging. In cases of deadly beatings, death by beheading. If someone of a higher status strikes someone of lowly status, the crime's severity is halved. Furthermore, the lowly status registry is a hereditary system. Once you are listed, unless someone of influence helps remove it, your descendants will automatically become listed on the lowly status registry....

The inhumane treatment of those on the lowly status registry in the Grand Xi Dynasty was clear, and slaves were the bottom rung of that registry.

Those of lowly status could not marry someone of higher standing. Just this point alone suffocated the future of those who were once slaves. Even if you worked in an estate and was released once you came of age, you could only find someone who was similarly of low status to marry, and your children will continue to have that same status.

Even though Xiao Hua become a concubine in her past life, she had remained ignorant and never had any understanding of such concepts. Only when Qiao-Shi had spat at her on one occasion saying how she was a slave sapling who could never escape her low status in her lifetime did she start to understand these kinds of things. Once she understood she had turned pale with fright. Her dad, for the sake of a few pieces of silver, had pushed his daughter into the abyss without even further consideration.

After Xiao Hua had understood she decided to suck up to the 4th young master and have him help erase her from the registry. However, for reasons unknown she hadn't managed to succeed up until her death.

After reincarnating, Xiao Hua's main reason for being at a loss was because of this registry.

This was also why she never considered escaping. A slave not listed on the household registry but on the lowly status registry instead had nothing to rely on for survival and nowhere to go. This was without even considering the punishment for escaped slaves.

The subjects of the Grand Xi Dynasty were strictly controlled. Commoners who went beyond a hundred li1 needed a travel permit as proof of identity. How was someone not even on the household registry supposed to get a travel permit? If she was arrested for not having a travel permit, and later found to be an escaped slave, she would be executed.

But the Jing Prince Estate's treatment of its servants gave Xiao Hua hope. Perhaps in the near future, she could reach the age of release, escape her status and find someone to marry....

Of course that would all be in the future. Xiao Hua currently had to become qualified to stay.

These few days at the training ground, Xiao Hua had also secretly observed the situation here.

The same batch of girls would wear the same clothing and eat the same food. But there would always be a few who were taken away for various reasons. Of the original forty or so people, only around twenty remained.

Xiao Hua didn't know what point she would have to reach to be considered qualified, and could only continue enduring until the end.

Therefore, from that day on, she put all her heart into her training. She never complained and never whined about the hardships. She was well-behaved and rarely spoke, afraid of being disqualified and thrown out. Of those in her room, Xiu Yun was like her, rarely speaking and not provoking anything. Only Qiao Lian and Xi'er could be considered more restless. Yet despite being restless, the two were quite diligent during their training.

After raising the pot, the next thing to learn was walking.

Bystanders would say that everyone knew how to walk from when they were a couple of years old. Even Xiao Hua, with her two lifetimes' worth of experiences in serving different masters, had never seen such strict requirements placed on servants before. But since Auntie Qi said they needed to learn, everyone had to concentrate and learn.

They were required to walk with grace, always calm and unhurried. In order to train their walking, Auntie Qi had ordered special metal plates to be prepared. The plates were slightly larger than their heads, and although they were extremely shallow they were still filled with water. Every day they have to train by placing the plates on their heads until the plate never tilted and water never spilled.

Therefore, after their arm workout from raising the pot, everyone's necks and waists were polished next.

Only a long time later did Xiao Hua find out that this Auntie Qi from the Jing Prince Estate came from the imperial palace. The training methods she used on the servants here were all used to train maids in the imperial palace, hence the degree of harshness and severity.