Granny Zhao asked in surprise, "You bought them all? That's more than four bushels!"

Madam Gu also felt a pang of regret and asked in return, "What else can we do?"

Granny Zhao said, "Why not bring the Third Madam in? We can split the profits. If we make a profit, great. If we lose money, someone will share the burden, right?"

Madam Gu remained silent.

Granny Zhao continued, "Didn't Madam want Miss Zhen to get engaged to Third Madam's cousin? Why not take this opportunity to curry favor?"

Madam Gu chuckled and said, "An engagement is an engagement. How can she, a married woman, make decisions for her own cousin? I'm going to keep all the money. You saw how happy she was making the old lady in the main room just now. Do you know what she brought out? It was medicinal incense, which she said she made herself. I don't know where she got the trick from to curry favor with the old lady. If she makes enough money, won't she be even more powerful?"

Granny Zhao, who was also quite knowledgeable, said, "When our family was still prosperous, the eldest master had obtained medicinal incense. I heard it was extremely rare. If the third madam had known how to make it when she was still at her maternal home, she would have been famous throughout the capital long ago. Neither the Qin family nor the Cui family has ever heard of anyone who is skilled at making this. I wonder where she got her fortune from."

"What other fate could there be? It's all because of our Marquis. Alas, it's all because the man I married is useless, good for neither literature nor martial arts, and all he thinks about is taking concubines. It makes me lose face in front of the old lady."

"Last time, the old lady said to me that Sixth Master is a man after all, and it's not good to lose face. He should be able to face guests with dignity. But the old lady knows that Eighth Master is not someone to be hated."

“Jiao Chen is protecting you so closely, and he’s short of money. Qin Yuan came back yesterday, and this morning you didn’t offer the medicine to please the old lady. He’s thinking about it, how come you’re so unlucky?”

Upon returning to Wutong Garden, the Marquis, as usual, first dealt with matters outside the mansion.

That's true.

"So few? So valuable?"

Lately, behind the children's backs, she's been saying things like Qin Yuan is heartless and wants to abandon us, mother and children.

Da Hong laughed and said, "Is that so? The old lady said that the incense pill that the madam gave her was extremely bad. When she was in a bad mood, she said that she would also give some of her own bad things to the madam. That's what you call 'no return for good.'"

The Marquis said he wanted Da Hong to stay and play for a while, so Qiu Ju went back to her room to serve him.

The Marquis smiled and stroked the big red braid, saying, "He's so capable, let his sister Hongye get him some candy."

The Marquis dismissed the people in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. He had just returned to his room to drink tea when Qiuju and Dahong arrived. Qiuju smiled and said, "Madam, the Old Madam asked me to bring some things over."

Rong Momo steered the conversation back on track, saying, "It's still too risky."

Qiuju said, "In the past, only noble families paid attention to such things. I heard that because the concubines in the palace disliked it, fewer and fewer families use incense. When I served the old lady, I heard Manager Re say that now even men from wealthy families dislike using incense."

The Marquis hurriedly ordered his head maid to fetch a bag.

The Marquis thought for a moment and then said, "You should accept this. Your mother has been too cruel to you. You should have been more filial to her in the past."

When Madam Gu found out, she was furious, but she could only suppress her anger and wait for someone from Zhao Niangzi's husband's family to come and send the person away.

It turns out that the child even knows how to use someone else's flowers to present to Buddha.

Da Hong said, "Madam has gone to great lengths. Just give us brown sugar. Master Cheng and Sister Yu can share it. Eating too much will only get in the way."

Madam Gu sighed.

Qiuju immediately replied, "This servant only made one trip; how could I possibly accept any reward from Madam?"

The head maid brought them over, and the Marquis gave them all to Qiuju.

Nowadays, the mothers in charge are very careful to understand your thoughts and do things properly, which makes the process extremely slow.

Jiao Chenyuan knew there was another way to persuade her, so she did as Madam Gu had said.

Granny Zhao hadn't planned ahead. Yesterday she made up her mind to go to school, and this morning she pestered Cheng-ge'er to teach her a few words. Yu-jie'er continued to act as usual, but she followed Granny Zhao's lead, doing whatever Granny Zhao did.

Qiu Ju carefully placed it outside her sleeve pocket.

When the Marquis opened it, he found a box of pearls the size of a thumb, emitting a soft, lustrous glow that seemed to brighten the room.

Zhao Niangzi taught us to just provoke Qin Yuan. As long as Qin Yuan and her ilk cause trouble, we'll be living the high life, and won't have to worry about anything.

The Marquis added, "What the old lady gave you, you always resend to him. As long as there are some unusual things on your plate, he shouldn't find them objectionable."

Qiuju said, "The old lady said that it is the lady's filial piety that is most precious. Those things are of no use to the old lady. If the lady takes them to make a face mask according to her own preferences, they will be ruined. If she grinds them into powder to wipe her face, they will be ruined. Even if they are just hung under the shoes, there is nowhere for them to go. It will prevent them from being left to yellow in vain."

The Marquis exclaimed in surprise.

Qiuju then said, "Madam, please open it and take a look. Do you like it or dislike it? I will have to report back to the old lady when I get back."

Qiu Ju smiled.

The more he listened to the Marquis and Hongye, the more alarmed he became.

Ten years later, after a long period of war, the people became even wealthier. Many things that the nobles used to dislike began to circulate among the common people, and many people started using incense.

The Marquis suddenly had an idea and asked Qiuju, "If those incense pills were displayed and sold in the West Market, would it be acceptable for people to do so?"

"You have to give up something to gain something, and you have to catch a wolf to catch a monster. Your sister-in-law is always thinking about managing the household affairs, but you always manage to get all the bad things done for you."

"So that's what he wanted?"

The Marquis thought for a moment, then took a flower hairpin from under the dressing table and pinned it under Qiuju's hair, saying with a smile, "That's the one you often wore at your parents' home, don't mind it."

Jiao Chen was taken aback and asked, "Did Mother give you something again?"

Jiao Chen said, "He's losing his baby teeth, so let's just forget about it and have Hongye find him something else to eat."

Da Hong grinned, revealing the cavities in her missing teeth.

The Marquis thought to himself, "A child like Da Hong can find a way to make a living anywhere. It's no wonder I'm worrying about you."

It turns out that Granny Zhao and Sister Yu usually just played with a few old women brought from the north, and also interacted with the children of the other military officers. Eighth Master's children looked down on us for being vulgar and fierce, and before they had a few fights, they would only talk to each other in private.

Cheng Ge'er and Da Hong talked about interpersonal relationships and worldly wisdom those few days, making us realize our own situation.

"You've been spending less money lately, and there's nothing readily available."

Qiuju smiled and said, "I am still happy that Madam has used it. However, I have no idea what to do. If Madam could also give me a bag of the incense pills that she gave to Brother Cheng, that would be wonderful."

Qiuju said, "That stuff is bad. Brother Cheng praised the bad boy, saying he wanted to take some home during his vacation to give to his old sisters. I'm afraid my mother outside the house also hates it."

Da Hong followed and, as expected, had nothing to say. With her big mouth, she vividly recounted how Granny Zhao and Sister Yu behaved in the servants' quarters those days, how Brother Cheng and Old Madam Gu taught them, and how she herself had been encouraging them from the sidelines.

Qiuju also said, "Dahong said exactly what he said, not a single word is too much."

Hongye smiled and then pulled Da Hong away.