When the family sat together for dinner, Li Xiangjian was not present, but since he hadn't been at the dinner table much in the past six months, no one thought it was a big deal.

Yan Qingqing observed Li Xinniang for a moment and was relieved to see that she was no different from usual.

Yan Qingqing said with a smile, "Today I told your third aunt that Xinniang will be learning how to manage the household affairs. The embroidery workshop may not be able to take care of things for the time being, so I asked her to help Yueniang manage the embroidery workshop."

Li Xinniang replied, "Yes, I was just about to bring this up with you, Mother. I also think Third Aunt is a very nice person."

Neither my sister-in-law nor I work at the embroidery shop, and those people will inevitably look down on Yue Niang over time. It's best if my third aunt helps out.

Yan Qingqing nodded upon hearing this, and then casually mentioned, "Today I heard from your third aunt that you took the young master of the Wu family to the embroidery workshop."

Li Xinniang was somewhat surprised and said, "Wasn't it arranged by Mother? Young Master Wu said that Mother arranged for me to take him to the embroidery workshop."

Yan Qingqing: ……

Yan Qingqing was so angry that she ground her teeth. It was bad enough that Wu Jingzhi was going against her, but he even dared to use her name to cheat people.

Seeing that Yan Qingqing's expression was off, Li Xinniang quickly asked, "What's wrong, Mother? Wasn't it you who arranged it? Then why does he say that it was you who arranged it?"

Yan Qingqing composed herself and smiled, "It's alright, it was my arrangement. But Mother was inconsiderate. He's a man, and you're an unmarried young woman. I'm afraid that you two being together would damage your reputation."

Li Xin's mother said with a smile, "Mother, why does what you're saying sound so awkward to me?"

Yan Qingqing countered, "What's wrong with it?"

Before Li Xinniang could answer, Li Yueniang replied, "Mother, you're the kind of person who would even go to a brothel, why would you care about your reputation?"

Yan Qingqing: ……

What kind of nonsense is this kid spouting, yet it seems to be true? She genuinely doesn't care, but the thing is, she doesn't want Li Xinniang to marry Wu Jingzhi.

Li Xiang'an glanced at Yan Qingqing thoughtfully, then scolded Li Yueniang, "How dare you speak to your mother like that? You only went to the brothel to do business for our sake."

The younger ones were always afraid of Li Xiang'an, and Li Yueniang was no exception. So she whispered, "I didn't say it wasn't for our sake."

Seeing this, Yan Qingqing waved her hand and said, "Alright, stop arguing. Xinniang is a grown woman now. Just be more careful in the future."

Li Xin's mother, fearing that her younger siblings would start arguing again, quickly agreed.

After that, although Wu Jingzhi would come to Canghe Village every few days, he would not see Li Xinniang eight out of ten times. On the rare occasions when he did see her, there were always other people present. Wu Jingzhi was so anxious that he scratched his head in frustration. Of course, that's another story.

Because Yuan Huiniang was pregnant and Jinxiu was still young, Du Ruxiu alone probably couldn't take care of her, so Yan Qingqing bought seven or eight more servants in one go.

Among them were five girls around fifteen or sixteen years old, and three errand boys.

The servants naturally followed behind Ah Da and the others, and according to age, they were Ah Wu, Ah Liu, and Ah Qi.

Two girls were assigned to Yuan Huiniang, one named Ruyu and the other Rulan, to take care of Yuan Huiniang and Jinxiu respectively.

Another one was placed in her own room to take care of Li Xiangyang, and Yan Qingqing named her Ruxue.

Yuan Huiniang knew that Yan Qingqing had gone to great lengths for her, and she was extremely grateful. Even her own mother had never treated her so well.

That day, Yan Qingqing was teaching Li Xinniang how to manage the servants when she heard Ah Si from the gatehouse come to report that the eldest young mistress's family had arrived.

Upon hearing this, Yan Qingqing raised her head and asked, "Who came? Have you informed the young mistress?"

Ah Si replied, "It is the young mistress's mother and younger brother. Ah Wu has already led them to the young mistress's courtyard."

But my elder brother said they didn't look too good, so he sent me to inform the madam.

Ah Da was trained by Yan Qingqing and is good at dealing with people and reading their expressions. Since he had Ah Si report back in this way, there must be a reason.

Moreover, since her mother-in-law is still alive and they haven't separated their households, they would definitely have to see her mother-in-law first when they come to visit.

However, having heard that Yuan Huiniang's parents treated her well, Yan Qingqing wasn't one to hold grudges. So she said to Li Xinniang, "Come on, let's go to your sister-in-law's courtyard."

Yuan Huiniang's family member, Li Xinniang, had also met her, so she went with Yan Qingqing.

Yuan Huiniang was naturally happy to see her mother and younger brother arrive. She quickly invited them into the house and had Du Ruxiu serve them tea.

Looking at the furnishings in her daughter's room, Yuan's mother smiled and said, "Oh dear, it seems your mother-in-law is really good to you. Look at all these things in your room; they're worth quite a bit of money."

Our family is poor. The reason we married you off to the Li family was because we thought that if they produced a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations, you could become an official and escape rural life.

But who knew that your uncle was actually a good-for-nothing who did such a disgraceful thing? At that time, your mother regretted choosing such a marriage for you.

But I never expected your mother-in-law to be so formidable; you're truly blessed.

Hearing this, Yuan Huiniang assumed that her mother-in-law was just being affectionate. When she heard her mother-in-law praising her mother-in-law, she smiled and said, "Yes, I have met the best mother-in-law in the world."

After Yuan Huiniang finished speaking, she glanced at her younger brother next to her and said with a smile, "Mother, when Acong gets married in the future, you must be a good mother-in-law."

Yuan Huiniang's younger brother is sixteen years old this year. His name is Yuan Huicong. There are few children in the Yuan family, so although Yuan Huiniang is not as favored as her brother when she was at her parents' home, she is still more favored than the average girl.

Yuan Huiniang was just saying it casually, but to her surprise, an unnatural look flashed across her mother's face. Yuan Huiniang was so happy that she didn't notice her mother's unusual expression.

After carefully looking around Yuan Huiniang's room, Yuan Huicong said, "My sister keeps urging me to get married, but the woman has to be willing first."

Yuan Huiniang's eyes lit up as she said, "So, Acong has a girl he likes? Is it because they're asking for a lot of betrothal gifts or something? If the betrothal gifts aren't enough, I can give you some."

Yuan Huicong seemed unappreciative and turned his head away.

Mother Yuan said somewhat awkwardly, "Hui Niang, don't pay any attention to him, he's just being childish."

Then he yelled at Yuan Huicong, "What kind of attitude is this? Your sister is pregnant. If you upset her, you'll have no chance of succeeding."

Yuan Huiniang has been in charge of the household for so long, and she has learned a lot from Yan Qingqing. If she still can't see through the schemes between her mother and her brother, then she would be a useless young mistress.

However, Yuan Huiniang believed that she had never mistreated her family since her family's life had improved. Her mother-in-law was generous and always told her to remember the kindness of her parents in raising her, so she would occasionally use her own money to help her family.

However, Yuan Huiniang was a woman of principle. Her subsidies were only to make her family's life a little better; she didn't take on everything herself.

Since her mother and brother weren't really there to visit her, Yuan Huiniang wasn't in a hurry.

He poured himself a glass of water and sat down slowly, waiting for the two to make their moves.