Yuelan spent a few days staying in the library and talking with her father. He came to the library to see her every day after he finished with his responsibilities as the prime minister and Yuelan was glad for some semblance of normalcy. Once she’d calmed down and her father had helped her start to adjust her feelings over her situation, she held the diamonds and thought of the three maids she had left behind.

This time, instead of appearing in the same place she’d been like the last two times Yuelan had changed worlds, she appeared directly in front of the three maids, who were in the middle of cleaning the kitchen. All three maids dropped what they were holding and let out startled yelps.

Laurel was the first to recover. “Miss has returned!” she said happily, picking up a rag to wipe her hands on and then running over to hug Yuelan. “We were starting to worry!”

Long He came into the kitchen and looked around. “I see you three have kept yourselves busy cleaning up the place while Miss Yuelan was gone.”

“Of course,” Camphor replied calmly. “Miss, we started with your room. Everything is put away and organized now and it should be much more comfortable.” She hesitated, then took a deep breath and added, “We...also informed His Highness the third prince that you were not at the library and we didn’t know where you were. He asked that we inform him as soon as you returned…”

“Go ahead,” Yuelan sighed. “Inform Prince Guangfeng that I plan to return to my manor in the capital as soon as Long He has finished bringing the things from my dowry that my father is sending here and ask if we can borrow a couple of carriages to transport the items.” She paused and frowned. “And...invite the three younger princes to visit one day each next week. I’d like to get to know all of the princes better and they’re the only ones who haven’t tried to visit at all since our first meeting.”

Camphor nodded and looked over at Laurel. “Why don’t you go? You can see how your family is doing along the way if Miss doesn’t mind.”

“I don’t. If your families are near enough to visit then you should each choose a different day each week where you’re released from your duties to visit your families,” Yuelan told them, smiling. “Starting from next week. Family is important, and I’m sure you’d all feel better being able to see them.”

“As Miss is aware, my mother is a servant for His Highness the third prince and my father is in prison. I have no idea where any of my other siblings are as they were the children of concubines. I was the only child of the first wife,” Camphor explained. “I cannot visit my father at all and shouldn’t trouble my mother. Willow is an orphan and has no family.”

“You still get one day off a week,” Yuelan insisted. “Working all the time isn’t good for your health, physical or emotional.”

“This servant thanks Miss for the kindness,” the three servant girls said simultaneously as they gave her a salute.

Yuelan waved a hand. “There’s no need for that. It’s normal in my country for everyone to have a day off to rest. Laurel, take your time when you stop to visit your family. Camphor, give her three taels of silver to give to her parents.”

Laurel looked startled, then gave Yuelan another bow and said a few heartfelt words of gratitude while the other two servant girls smiled.

Camphor went to get the money from where it was stored and Yuelan covered her mouth to yawn.

“I’m going to go rest for a while,” Yuelan announced.

The other two maids nodded and went back to work as Yuelan headed to her room. Once inside it she looked around and smiled. A vase had been placed in the window sill and filled with fresh flowers and a few other homey and feminine touches had been added as well. Yuelan yawned and headed for the bed, where she lay down on top of it, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

***

A few days later, Yuelan woke and got ready for the day with the help of her maids, as usual, then went to take a look at the things that Long He had brought over from her father. She studied them and frowned a little.

“Something the matter?” Long He asked as he came into the library, likely having just returned from morning court.

“How are we going to get everything down the mountain?” Yuelan asked him. There were three chests full of items her mother had left behind, including high quality fabrics and her mother’s wedding attire, jewelry, and items her mother had made by hand to add to Yuelan’s dowry that were considered useful when starting your own home. Besides the chests, there was also furniture, most of it antique, and several other large items. Most importantly was her mother’s guzheng.

“I thought I could help with that,” said another male voice that Yuelan recognized. She turned around to see the owner of the voice: Prince Guangfeng. “You asked for a couple of carriages, but didn’t request any strong servants. I brought both.” He stepped to one side and gestured as several large men came in and started lifting items to carry them down the mountain path.

Yuelan pointed at the case where the guzheng was. “Leave that one,” she insisted. “I’d rather Long He carried it.”

The servants nodded and didn’t say anything, though the prince looked curious. “Why must Lord Long carry it?” he questioned.

“My mother’s guzheng is inside,” Yuelan answered. “It’s over six hundred years old and extremely precious to me.”

“May I have the privilege of listening to you play it once you’ve finished settling in?” Prince Guangfeng asked courteously.

Yuelan looked over and studied his face for a bit before giving him her best political smile. “Certainly. If you will agree to have my maids stop spying on me for you. It’s creepy.”

Guangfeng looked a little startled, then glanced at the three maids by Yuelan’s side and sighed. “What exactly would that entail? I do want them to inform me if you are in danger, after all.”

“Funny. I thought Lord Long was my guardian here, not you,” Yuelan countered, folding her arms and staring into Guangfeng’s eyes with a calm confidence. “If you refuse to have them stop spying then I will need to request more personal maids from the other princes.”

The third prince stiffened and his expression turned somber. “I don’t recommend that, for your own safety and peace of mind.”

“It doesn’t give me any peace of mind to know that I have three spies serving me and reporting everything back to you,” she countered. “What difference does fifteen more make?”

Guangfeng sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. “Alright. Laurel, Camphor, and Willow will no longer report to me at all. I gave you their life contracts anyway, so you could have just threatened to sell them.”

Yuelan’s eyes flashed and she glared at him. “That’s a disgusting thing to do. They’re people, not livestock. And where I come from slavery is illegal. Though thank you for reminding me. I’m going to burn all those life contracts that I have and give everyone in my manor the choice to stay or go as they please.” She spun on her heel and walked away to oversee moving the items from her dowry down the mountain.

It took most of the afternoon for everything to be moved down the mountain and carefully placed in the prepared carriages. Yuelan waited until everything was loaded, and then got into her personal carriage with her three maids. Long He and Prince Guangfeng opted for the prince’s imperial carriage and the group set off.

The two hour trip passed more easily for Yuelan than her previous two trips had. She spent the time chatting with her maids and getting to know them a little better and also asked them questions about how they felt about the different princes and the current state of the country. Naturally, the three maids were uncomfortable expressing their opinions, but Yuelan encouraged them and promised that what they said would not leave the carriage.

When they reached Crystal Moon residence Yuelan left the carriage with the assistance of her maids, thanked the third prince for his help, and headed inside. Laurel had prepared the residence for Yuelan’s arrival during her trip a few days beforel, so several strong servants headed out to bring in the items in the carriage and Chung Soo and Bing Mei were waiting to greet their mistress as she stepped through the gates.

“Dinner is nearly prepared,” Chung Soo informed Yuelan. “Nothing of note has happened during Miss’ absence from the residence, so would Miss please rest easy.”

“Thank you. I will eat dinner in my courtyard.” Yuelan replied before turning to Bing Mei. “I’ve brought my mother’s guzheng with me along with the other items left by my mother for my dowry. Most of them can be placed in the storage rooms until I decide where to place them within the residence, but I want the guzheng placed where I can easily access it. His Highness the third prince asked that I play it for him after I have settled in. Will you show Long He where to put it? Also, I would like to continue my etiquette lessons starting tomorrow.”

Bing Mei nodded and headed for the dragon, who was holding the case containing the instrument.

Chung Soo smiled at Yuelan and gave her a bow. “It is good to see that Miss is feeling much better after her trip to the library. This servant was worried at first as Miss did not seem comfortable.”

Yuelan smiled. “I had a chance to speak with my father,” she explained. “So I am feeling much better. Thank you for your concern, Chung Soo. Would you bring me all of the servant contracts, please? And call all of the servants. I want to speak with everyone.”

The eunuch looked rather confused, but he nodded. “Of course, Miss. The contracts are kept in your office, but did you not wish to rest first?”

“No, I’d like to take care of this now.” She smiled at the eunuch. “Just have them come here while I fetch the contracts.” She turned and headed for her office, leaving Chung Soo to go and gather all the servants feeling very confused.

Half an hour later, Yuelan was standing on a small set of steps that Chung Soo had thought to bring out for her with all of the manor’s servants in front of her. She held the box with the servant’s contracts in her hand and had carefully removed everything that wasn’t a life contract granting her ownership of another human being. She faced her servants and smiled at them.

“Now that everyone has gathered here, I have an announcement to make. Slavery is illegal where I come from and I find the practice of owning another human being despicable. So at least for this manor, I am going to end it. You are all free, as of this moment, to choose whether to stay here and work or to go somewhere else. If you stay, we will draw up new contracts that indicate what day you have off each week, the number of hours you are permitted to work, and your weekly pay. If you choose to leave, you are welcome to do so. There will be no punishment.” Yuelan’s voice was calm and clear as she spoke, drawing the attention of the servants. All of them seemed shocked except for her three maids, who knew this was coming already. “You have one week to make your decision and report it to one of my personal maids.”

Chung Soo stepped forward. “Miss, they can report it to me instead of bothering your personal maids,” he assured her. “I will be staying here.”

Yuelan smiled and nodded at the eunuch. “Thank you, Chung Soo. Camphor will be drawing up the contracts with me, so please bring a list of any decisions that have been reported to my office each evening for the next week.”

The steward bowed. “Of course, Miss. May I ask what you will be doing with the life contracts in that box?”

“Of course. I will burn the contracts. Each night I will burn the contracts of all the servants who have reported whether they wish to stay or go. I will personally hand the contract to the servant, then allow them to add it to the fire,” Yuelan explained. “Are there any other questions?”

The servants stared at Yuelan for a moment, stunned, then shook their heads.

“In that case, I will be going to rest now. Please make sure you have all made your decisions within a week.” She smiled at them and headed toward her courtyard.