When the Marquis saw Jiayin staring at a jade ornament on the antique shelf as soon as she entered, he picked her up and took it down. Finally, he casually waved to the head steward and said, "Tell the kitchen to prepare a good feast for the table, add an extra minced meat and egg custard, and use less salt."

The head steward hurried off, and as he left, he saw the pink-clad maid still standing outside the door. He couldn't help but pull her aside and scold her, "Miss Yuxue, you're usually quite clever, what's wrong with you today? The old lady of the Li family and the young lady are the Marquis's saviors, and they're still taking care of him as he recovers from his injuries. Even if you're unhappy, you should at least try to be patient. You were really too rude just now."

Yu Xue seemed very aggrieved, and said with tears in her eyes, "Head Steward, I didn't mean to, it was just too smelly and I couldn't hold it in. Besides, I serve in the Marquis's quarters, and now I'm being asked to serve an outsider while he bathes, I..."

The head steward's face darkened, and his tone turned cold. "No matter where you're from, you're the Marquis's servant. You do whatever the Marquis orders you to do!"

Yu Xue bit her lip and went down.

In the side room of the main courtyard, a jade pool was built for the master to bathe in on weekdays.

Right now, the maids were busy boiling water, filling the jade pool halfway, and preparing washing supplies; they were practically never on the ground.

Yu Xue stood to one side, her face extremely pale, and the maids dared not say anything.

Soon, everything was ready. Yu Xue composed herself and entered the main room with a smile. "My lord, the bath is ready. Please, Madam and young lady, take a bath."

The Marquis nodded, patted Jiayin on the back, and said to the old lady, "Auntie, we usually bathe in the hot springs in the village, but today we'll have to make do with the bathhouse."

"We're family, why are you talking nonsense? What kind of water can't be used for bathing? Besides, I stink so badly, washing myself off is the best thing I can do... If I had known I'd get into trouble, I would have replaced the rotten eggs with clods of dirt!"

As she spoke, she took Jiayin and followed Yuxue outside.

The Marquis turned and went into his study to deal with some long-standing minor matters.

The old lady and Jiayin walked into the bathroom. Before they could even take off their clothes, Yuxue casually asked, as if it were just a casual conversation, "Madam, you've never seen such a big jade pool before, have you? This is reserved for our Marquis and has never been used by outsiders."

The old lady didn't speak, but Jiayin stared wide-eyed and asked, "Big sister, what is an outsider?"

Yu Xue didn't think a child had any bad intentions, and she really didn't take Grandma Li and Li Jiayin seriously. She replied with a forced smile, "Oh? For example, you are outsiders."

"And you, are you my wife, the Marquis's wife?" Jiayin asked innocently.

Yu Xue blushed at Jia Yin's question, but still held her head high and replied, "Yes, I am the Marquis's wife, and I serve in the Marquis's bedroom."

The old lady frowned, disliking Yuxue's mention of the bedroom, and coldly told her to leave, "Young lady, what's with all this talk about family and children, or bedroom service? You can leave now, we can wash ourselves."

Yu Xue was not surprised that Old Lady Li would lose her temper, and she was unhappy, so she turned around and left.

Two maids who had been guarding the door exchanged a glance when they saw her storm out. They then pulled her to the window, and one of them couldn't help but ask, "Sister Yuxue, what's wrong with you? Why aren't you inside serving our distinguished guest? Won't you offend someone by coming out like this?"

Yu Xue was holding her breath and forgot all her inhibitions, saying irritably, "When I serve the Marquis, he never makes things difficult for me. But these two bumpkins are putting on airs and saying that I said something wrong and scared her child!"

Another maid smiled and advised, "Sister Yuxue, don't be angry. The Marquis has given the order, so let's serve him well. I heard that the Marquis values ​​this family very much. They came over once before, but you were sick and didn't see them. You don't know, the head steward is very respectful to this Madam Li and Miss."

Yu Xue gritted her teeth, "What kind of bullshit ladies and misses are they? Don't think I don't know them. They're just country bumpkins guarding the Marquis's estate. The Marquis is kind-hearted and treats them with some respect, but do they really think they're superior? I was sick last time, otherwise I would have been the first to kick them out. Shameless!"

“That’s right,” the two maids quickly flattered, “We are just servants, so even if we don’t like it, we can’t say anything. But Sister Yuxue is different. Sister Yuxue serves the Marquis’s bedchamber and will definitely be promoted to concubine in the future. The Marquis’s mansion needs Sister Yuxue to manage half the household, and we are all counting on her to take care of us.”

Yu Xue felt very comfortable being flattered and became even happier. After thinking about it, she decided that she was unwilling to waste the opportunity and should take advantage of the fact that the Marquis had finally returned to get closer to him.

If she could win over the Marquis's heart and get him to take her to his estate to serve him, she would have the advantage of being close to him.

If she were to conceive the Marquis's child, she wouldn't be afraid even if a wife were to enter the household later. At that time, she would definitely have a place in the Marquis's mansion!

"You all stay here and keep watch, I'll go serve tea to the Marquis."

"Oh, Sister Yuxue, the noble lady inside doesn't have clean clothes yet?" A maid stopped Yuxue and asked, "Should we go outside the mansion to buy two new sets?"

As expected, Yu Xue couldn't stand the word "noble person" and replied directly, "No need for such trouble, just find two sets of clothes for the old women and the maids and let them change."

After saying that, she left, leaving the two maids exchanging knowing glances and smiling maliciously.

Yu Xue usually takes advantage of serving in the Marquis's bedroom and the fact that her father was a veteran who died in battle. She thinks that she will be the master of the Marquis's mansion in the future and can order them around at will. They have long been dissatisfied with this.

With such a good opportunity today, if the Marquis gets angry and gets rid of Yuxue, wouldn't all of them have a chance to rise to power?!

The Marquis had been busy for a while and was feeling thirsty when a cup of tea suddenly appeared beside him. He picked it up and took a sip.

When he looked up and saw Yu Xue, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "What are you doing here? Who's serving you over in the bathroom?"

"Reporting to Your Excellency, it is Yuxia and Yumei who are serving you. I was worried that the maids might not know Your Excellency's preferences, so I quickly brewed a pot of tea and brought it over," Yuxue replied gently.

She rolled up her sleeves, revealing her snow-white wrists, and was about to refill her tea when she heard the head steward announce from outside the door, "My lord, the meal is ready."

The Marquis put down his pen and paper, got up and walked out. Yu Xue was furious, but she still followed behind with her head bowed and eyes lowered.

The head steward smiled and pointed to the steamed egg custard on the table, saying to the Marquis, "My lord, there are some fresh river shrimp that arrived in the kitchen today. They are very fresh. I had someone peel half a bowl of them and steam some shrimp and egg custard. Let's see if the young lady likes them."

The Marquis nodded, and was about to speak when the old lady led Jiayin in from outside. His face immediately turned cold.

The head steward was puzzled. He turned around and was so startled that he almost dropped the bowl he was holding.

The old lady was dressed in dark gray, and Jiayin in earthy yellow. Although both outfits fit well and were clean, they were the kind of clothes the lowest-ranking servants in the mansion wore.

The Marquis just instructed that we should have clean new clothes!

After the Li family visited last time, he specifically instructed the sewing room to prepare several extra sets of clothes for men, women, and children, just in case the Li family came again and needed to change clothes.

But why are the old lady and the young lady dressed like this? What went wrong, or is someone deliberately trying to embarrass the Li family?!