Chapter 41 Confidant

In the end, Shen Wan did not have lunch with Ye Caiwei, and she did not get to eat bear paws.

When it was almost time for lunch, Ye Caiwei sent someone to tell Shen Wan that she wanted to have lunch with the old lady and would not come to Mingyue Garden.

Chen Wan didn't want to eat with her either, so not coming was exactly what she wanted.

At lunchtime, Shen Wan went to her eldest sister's room. There were camel humps on the table, but no bear paws.

Ye Caiwei knew that Yun asked her to eat at Mingyue Garden because of the bear paw. She felt that since there was only one bear paw, she should honor the old lady with filial piety, so she directly asked the kitchen to send the bear paw to Shou'an Hall.

When Yinchuan reported this, Chen Wan threw away the chopsticks in his hand in frustration.

Two pairs of bear paws were sent over, but the old lady let the second master give them away without saying a word. Her mother felt sorry for her and her elder sister for not being able to eat them, so she sent someone to buy more. After finally buying one, she still had to take care of Ye Caiwei, and the result was even worse. Ye Caiwei took it to honor the old lady.

Yun Shi was very angry when she knew that Xiong Zhang was sent to Shou'an Hall by Ye Caiwei. She was afraid that Shen Wan would be upset, so she didn't even bother to eat lunch and came to Mingyue Garden.

Yun coaxed Chen Wan to calm down, "Mother will buy you another one..."

Shen Wan laughed sarcastically, "Mom, even if you buy more, your daughter won't be able to eat it. Why bother spending the money?"

Yun had nothing to say.

She was actually angrier than Shen Wan, but the bear paw had been sent to Shou'an Hall, and she couldn't have anyone take it back. If she really did that, the old lady would be trying to commit suicide, and that would really be a big deal.

A favor and the word "filial piety" put the eldest son's family under great pressure.

Chen Wan couldn't stand it any longer. "Mother only has the reputation of being in charge of the household. All the officials in this mansion, big and small, are under the control of the old lady."

"I'll give you three days. If you don't take back the kitchen management rights, I'll do it myself."

Shen Wan said in a firm tone.

Chen Yu also looked at Yun Shi, "Mother really shouldn't continue to indulge them."

Ye Caiwei is difficult to manage, but if the kitchen was run by my mother, such things would never happen again.

Yun touched Chen Wan's face and said, "I'm not angry anymore. Mother will listen to you."

After leaving Mingyue Garden, Yun gave instructions to the maid.

"Ask the head chef, Mrs. Liu, to come see me."

…

The weather changed in the afternoon, with dark clouds and strong winds.

By evening, it was raining heavily.

In the previous life, it also rained on the day when the Xingguo Mansion sent out invitations.

It rained for three days in a row. As soon as the rain stopped, the news that the Taimiao was struck by lightning and a corner collapsed spread like wildfire.

The Taimiao was where the emperor worshipped his ancestors. Being struck by lightning was no small matter and it led to a lot of speculation. The emperor even issued an edict of self-blame.

The Duke of Xingguo's Mansion was holding a birthday banquet at this critical juncture, and they were very nervous, but the invitations had already been sent out. When they sent the invitations, they didn't know that there would be a rainstorm, let alone that something would happen in the Taimiao. The Duke of Xingguo's birthday had been prepared for several months, and they were unwilling to cancel it.

Later, Queen Song helped to test the emperor's intentions. The emperor didn't care about Duke Xingguo's birthday banquet, and Queen Song even left the palace to congratulate Duke Xingguo on his birthday.

The birthday banquet for Duke Xingguo was so lively, with all the civil and military officials coming together to congratulate him. However, at the banquet, Princess Jingbei had an accident and fell into a well and died, casting a heavy shadow on the birthday banquet of Duke Xingguo's mansion.

Chen Wan knew that she said that Princess Jingbei would have an accident at the birthday banquet of Duke Xingguo. Xie Jingyu was skeptical. After this rain, if the story of the Taimiao being struck by lightning came true, he would have to believe it even if he didn't want to.

If Princess Jingbei hadn't died, Xie Jingyu wouldn't have to observe mourning and could have proposed marriage to the girl he loved. He wouldn't have been abandoned by someone and his personality would have changed drastically.

Shen Wan was unwilling to be an enemy of a man who had the ability to rebel and overthrow the emperor.

He saved her elder sister, and she saved his mother. Perhaps they could become friends.

Chen Wan leaned against the window, watching the rain that affected Xie Jingyu's fate, his mood fluctuating.

However, the rain was not pouring down continuously. It would stop occasionally. It was just that the ground was wet. Besides, there was no need for it, so Chen Wan did not leave the hospital for three days.

The next evening, Chen Wan was writing quietly when Yin Chuan came in and said, "Miss, the head kitchen manager, Madam Wu, accidentally fell and broke her leg. Madam asked Madam Liu, the second head kitchen manager, to take over the kitchen temporarily."

The corners of Shen Wan's mouth curled up.

She knew that her mother was not without means, but was just used to spending money to buy peace and quiet.

My grandfather has been involved in the business world and has seen all kinds of people. How could he not know that most of the wealthy families are full of dangers? He still married his daughter into the family. If the Yun family doesn't have the ability to gain a foothold, wouldn't the Yun family end up losing both food and their daughter?

The Duke Dingguo's Mansion cannot afford to pay 200,000 dan of grain and fodder, but if it really doesn't pay, what can the Yun family do to the Duke Dingguo's Mansion? Can they still expect the court, which has taken advantage of them, to make decisions for the Yun family?

She had shown her mother a few tricks before, and Yun knew that Chen Wan would do what he said. If she didn't replace the mother who was in charge of the kitchen with one of her own, Chen Wan would do it himself. Yun was afraid that Chen Wan would not do it well, and if he was caught, he would get into trouble.

She was worried, so she had to come by herself.

Moreover, this matter also touched the bottom line of the Yun family. The Yun family was rich, and she really didn't care if they spent a few extra cents. But these people not only took advantage of them, but also climbed over their heads and acted arrogantly.

A mother spends her own money and can't even love her own daughter. Is there anything more ridiculous than this?

However, it was not so easy to take back the power of the housekeeper of the big kitchen. Yun asked Mama Liu to take over the big kitchen. After the old lady knew about it, she sent Mama Li, the housekeeper of her own small kitchen, to the big kitchen and directly suppressed Mama Liu.

Yun didn't argue with the old lady, and Madam Liu didn't say a word of complaint either, and was very respectful to Madam Li.

However, on the night that Mama Li took charge of the kitchen, the kitchen prepared a table of wine to please Mama Li. Mama Li drank a few too many glasses and tripped over the threshold when she got up at night, causing a bloody head injury. If the maid had not discovered her early, she would have died.

Because of a rain, the old lady lost two of her confidants.

After the rain cleared, Chen Wan went to Shou'an Hall to pay her respects to the old lady. When she arrived, they were discussing the matter of the steward of the main kitchen. Yun said, "Mother Li fell quite hard, and she will need to recuperate for no less time than Mother Wu. Mother Liu has been the second steward for many years, and I think she can temporarily take over the position of the chief steward. If the old lady is really worried, she can send someone else."

There are many people in the old lady's yard, but not everyone is capable of managing the big kitchen. We can't send Mother Sun there, as the old lady cannot leave her side.

The Second Madam said, "Mrs. Xu in my courtyard is quite good, how about..."

Yun smiled and said, "I was just worried about how to talk to my sister-in-law about this. Since you're so interested in managing the kitchen, I won't be polite to you. I'm not good at housekeeping. The expenses of the kitchen alone are more than double what they were when the old lady was in charge. It's my incompetence as a housekeeper. I should pay for this. Please help me manage the kitchen for a few months so that I can prepare Wan'er's dowry with peace of mind."

The Second Lady quickly refused, "I can't control that."

Yun looked at the Third and Fourth Madams, and they both shook their heads, "Sister-in-law, please don't embarrass us."

The old lady said, "Since you think Madam Liu is capable and can help you share a lot of the burden, let Madam Liu take over the position of managing the kitchen temporarily."

They didn't allow her mother to really manage the household, but when her mother really didn't manage the household, everyone else didn't allow her to.

To some extent, her mother was able to control them all by spending money.

After paying her respects, Chen Wan sat there, waiting for the news that the Taimiao was struck by lightning. But she waited and waited, her buttocks became stiff, but there was no news. She remembered that in her previous life, the news was brought into the mansion at this time, so why hasn’t it come yet?

Shen Wan didn't have the patience to wait any longer, since the message would definitely arrive anyway, so she went back to Mingyue Garden.

But by the evening, there was no news.

Shen Wan, “…???”

What about the news about the Taimiao being destroyed?

Was it that the Taimiao was not destroyed, or was the matter suppressed?

Shen Wan felt that neither of these two options was possible.

Her rebirth cannot affect the thunder and lightning. It will still strike, there will be no change.

As for the incident of the Taimiao being struck by lightning, she had only told Xie Jingyu about it. It had nothing to do with Xie Jingyu, and he would not bother to get involved in such a mess. Whatever happened would happen.

But that's the end of it.

She wanted to rely on this incident to gain Xie Jingyu's trust. She spoke with certainty, but it turned out that this incident never happened. Could Xie Jingyu still believe what she said that his mother would accidentally fall into a well and die at the birthday banquet of the Duke of Xingguo's Mansion?

But Princess Jingbei still went and died in the end. Didn’t Xie Jingyu still have to observe mourning as in his previous life? In the end, he couldn’t marry his beloved and came to bring trouble to her!!!