The old marquis looked at the Chu family's "merit book" and called the second master to scold him. He said that if one prospers, all prosper, and if one suffers, all suffer. Now the Yong'an Marquis's Mansion is already in such a difficult situation. It's not easy for the two women in the family to contribute money, effort and ideas to the court, but their own family members don't support them. If Li is so ignorant, she should return all the money she embezzled from the inner house over the years.

The old man said it so clearly that the second master blushed. He went to Li's yard and scolded Li. Li had no choice but to donate five taels of silver. Seeing that the second master had the urge to take action, she had to donate ten taels more than the two daughters-in-law, donating thirty taels of silver.

After hearing this, Chen Afu felt that Li was really not smart. She bought a favor with dozens of taels of silver, which not only won the favor of the old marquis, but also might ease her relationship with the powerful third wife. It was still the second master Chu who was smart. He got angry when he should get angry and tried to please when he should. Even though he did so many bad things, the old marquis and the marquis Chu could not bear to ignore him. In fact, much of the money that Li embezzled was used by the second master to live a life of luxury and support women.

Many hands make light work, and within three days, they collected more than 6,000 taels of silver and hundreds of carts of clothes and quilts. So much money and property would save countless lives. Of course, the clothes of the ladies could not be donated, and the clothes donated were the clothes and quilts of the servants.

The Empress Dowager also issued an imperial decree to commend Princess Huachang, saying that she was a role model for women all over the world and a model for women of the royal family.

Because both women in the Yong'an Marquis Mansion made outstanding contributions to disaster relief and were commended by the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, the number of memorials impeaching the Yong'an Marquis Mansion gradually decreased.

The third wife was happy and gave Chen Ahfu a lot of jewelry and ornaments. Those things were made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and she had money but nowhere else to buy them.

The old marquis, Marquis Chu and the third marquis were even happier. They used the excuse that they didn't want Chen Afu to suffer too much, and rewarded her with 1,200 taels of silver each.

Li was furious when she heard this, thinking that she had spent so much money and ended up getting scolded. Chen Ahfu had such a good reputation, not only did he not suffer any loss, he even earned back the extra money.

The snow kept falling. The emperor personally led his ministers to the Temple of Heaven to offer sacrifices to the sky and issued an edict of remorse, but the huge snowstorm still did not stop.

On the 20th, Chen Ahfu thought to himself that the end of the month should be between the 20th and 30th. If the snow stops within these 11 days, it will be soon. If it stops in February, it will be even worse.

On the 26th, the snow was still falling. In the afternoon, Chen Ahfu and Hua Mama made some osmanthus biscuits in the small kitchen, and sent a plate to the old marquis and An Rongtang, and kept one plate. The men in the Chu family all liked sweets, so she would make some snacks every day, mainly to entertain the marquis Chu who came to visit his grandson. Even if he ate less, she would do her best.

Chen Ahfu now felt very sorry for the grandfather. From the gentle look he gave his grandson and his endless concern for Abbot Lechen, it was clear that he was a good man who valued his family. It must have been heartbreaking for such a man to break up his family with his own hands and send his wife to a nunnery.

But he had to do this because he wanted to be loyal to the emperor. Of course, the emperor asked him to do this, and he had no choice but to do it. If he didn't do it, his whole family would be ruined. If he did it, he could still survive from the brink of death.

At the end of the afternoon, Chen Ahfu was sitting on the kang watching the two little brothers turn over. The two boys were dressed too thickly, like fat penguins, and it was not easy for them to turn over. After struggling for a long time, they finally turned over, raised their heads, looked around with trembling little heads, and laughed triumphantly.

Chen Ahfu was very happy, and mischievously turned them over again. The silly little brothers did not lose their temper and continued to turn them over hard.

Just when they were having a great time, the old man and Lord Chu came again.

Chen Ahfu poured them some tea and served them some biscuits, saying with a smile, "It's just come out of the pan, it's just the right time to eat it."

The old man took the biscuits and started eating. Lord Chu nodded and sat on the edge of the kang to look at his grandson.

The two boys liked their grandfather very much. When they saw him coming, they turned over much faster, looked up at him and laughed, with their saliva flowing like silver threads.

Lord Chu smiled and took out a handkerchief to help them wipe their faces, and then pinched their little faces. He didn't dare to hold such a small child by himself, thinking that they were too soft and afraid of hurting them. If he really wanted to hold them, he would open his two big hands, let the children put them in his big hands, hold them, and then quickly put them down.

Seeing that it was time, Chen Afu invited the two of them to have dinner here, and said that she would invite the third master over and she would cook a few side dishes herself.

Lord Chu readily agreed.

Chen Afu was busy in the small kitchen when the maid came to say that there seemed to be an urgent matter in the outer courtyard and the old marquis and the marquis had already left.

Chen Ahfu felt bored and didn't want to continue cooking. The dishes she had already prepared were enough for her. She had just finished dinner when the servant came to report that the Marquis invited her to Liuyunzhai.

Liuyunzhai was the inner study room of Lord Chu before, and it was also the place where he received distinguished guests and discussed important matters. It was located in a bamboo forest between the outer courtyard and the inner courtyard.

Chen Afu was shocked. Since coming to the capital, she has not attended any secret high-level meetings.

Chen Afu put on a small jacket and cotton skirt for going out, and a fur hooded cloak. With Hongfei holding an umbrella and Xiaohong holding a lantern, they walked to the outer courtyard.

After walking for about a quarter of an hour, they arrived at a courtyard. Many lanterns were hung under the corridor, illuminating the courtyard. This was the most confidential place of the Chu family, and at this moment, this courtyard was no different from other courtyards, all white.

They walked through the guard corridor and arrived at the main house. The gatekeeper was a handsome young man. He opened the door, lifted the thick curtain, invited Chen Afu in, and asked Hongfei and Xiaohong to go to the side room to rest.

Although the two treasure cabinets in the hall were filled with books, it was more like a reception room. Four glazed palace lanterns were hung down, illuminating the room brilliantly. On the wall directly opposite was a large painting of a tiger descending from a mountain. On the large red sandalwood carved dragon table was a several-foot-high ancient bronze tripod. In front of it was a red sandalwood eight-immortal table, with two armchairs on both sides of the table, and four red sandalwood official chairs on each side. The floor was covered with a Western carpet.

Chen Afu took off his cloak and placed it on the chair closest to the outside.

A servant invited Chen Ahfu to the east room. There was a big kang under the north window, and a large red sandalwood bookcase on the south side, which took up the entire wall. Eight celadon Kunpeng candlesticks were lit with candles, illuminating the room.

On either side of the small table carved with dragons and painted in gold on the kang sat the Old Marquis and Lord Chu, while Lord Chu San sat on an armchair on the left.

The expressions of several people were very solemn.

Chen Ahfu went over and knelt down to greet them.

The old marquis pointed to the chair on the right and said, "Xuan'er's wife, please sit down."

Chen Ahfu sat down. The waiter served tea and then left quietly.

Lord Chu told Chen Ahfu again. He had just received news from the Ninth Prince that the Second Prince had asked the Emperor for instructions, saying that he saw the Emperor was worried day and night because of the snowstorm, and was very anxious and worried. Starting from midnight tomorrow, he would fast for three days, and on the 30th day, he would offer a blood sacrifice to the Heavenly Temple, praying that the gods would protect Dashun and stop the disaster.