Tong Cheng'er's mother, Shumulu, was kind to her daughter-in-law and naturally wouldn't let her daughter-in-law serve her meals, so she really didn't understand what this meant.

Not understanding, she looked at Consort Wuya with a puzzled expression, as if to say, "Quickly explain this to me so I can see how to break your trick."

Consort Wuya naturally couldn't speak up herself, so the nanny beside her spoke on her behalf: "Fourth Princess Consort, according to the rules, you should serve the Empress some food."

Tong Cheng'er was stunned when she heard this, then her eyes widened as she looked at Consort Wuya and her nanny in disbelief.

"Does the palace have such rules?"

The old woman frowned: "What? Didn't anyone in the Tong family teach you manners?"

Tong Cheng'er shook her head: "My rules were personally taught by the nannies from the palace, so they can't be wrong. Besides, if my rules were bad, Father Emperor wouldn't have chosen me as his daughter-in-law. I just didn't expect there to be such rules in the palace, so I didn't react for a moment. Please don't blame me, Mother."

Upon hearing this, Consort Wuya coldly said, "Now that you know, come and serve the dishes!"

Tong Cheng'er smiled and was about to get up when Yinzhen stopped her and said to his mother, "Mother, today is the first day of my marriage. I am serving you food to repay your kindness in giving birth to me. As for my wife, she has suffered with me, so please sit down!"

Upon hearing this, Consort Wuya was furious. What did he mean by that? He was just asking his newlywed daughter-in-law to set out the dishes, making it seem like he was trying to torment her.

Seeing that her good mother-in-law's expression was getting worse, Tong Cheng'er said, "I appreciate your kindness, sir. Today is the first time I've eaten with my mother, so it's only right that I serve her. Sir, please sit down and enjoy your meal. My mother is kind-hearted and not a vicious mother-in-law. She'll only let me serve her a couple of bites of food at most. You're overthinking it."

Upon hearing her words, Yinzhen was taken aback. He had misunderstood; his young wife was indeed clever and witty, and not one to suffer losses.

So he nodded: "Alright then!"

Consort Wuya was furious at the way the two of them were behaving.

But there was nothing she could do.

Because of what Tong Cheng'er said earlier, she really couldn't order her around too much.

Tong Cheng'er got up, walked to Wu Yapin's side, and began to serve her food.

Tong Cheng'er didn't know what Consort Wuya liked to eat, but she knew what women who cared about their appearance generally couldn't eat, so she had a specific direction when setting the menu.

She reached with her chopsticks to the only greasy dish on the table, picked up a piece of fatty meat that looked greasy and unappealing to women, placed it in her bowl, and then said with a smile, "Mother, please eat."

Consort Wuya looked at the piece of fatty meat, clearly unwilling to put it in her mouth.

She just wouldn't eat, and Tong Cheng'er said anxiously, "Mother, please eat quickly! The meat won't taste good if it gets cold."

Consort Wuya's face turned pale with anger. She slammed her chopsticks on the table and said, "How could you pick up such fatty meat? How can you even eat it?"

Tong Cheng'er trembled, her face turning pale with fright, and said, "Mother, please forgive me. I didn't mean it. I saw the table full of meat dishes and thought you liked meat, so I specially put a piece of fatty meat on your plate. I really didn't know you didn't like fatty meat. Please don't blame me and forgive me this time."

Tong Cheng'er adopted a very humble attitude and admitted her mistakes very quickly, but Consort Wuya just couldn't be happy listening to her.

She's already said that, what else could she say?

Wu Yapin took a deep breath and thought to herself, "Don't get angry, I can't get angry."

After a while, Consort Wuya finally spoke up: "Alright, Mother won't blame you this time. Let's set the table again!"

Then she added, "I don't know how the Tong family raised their daughter; she can't even arrange a dish properly."

Upon hearing this, Tong Cheng'er was furious. This person had no sense of propriety, daring to lecture her Tong family on manners.

So she continued, "Mother, what you're saying is true. The Tong family has produced two empresses, one the Empress Mother of Father Emperor and the other the Empress Mother of Grandfather Emperor. Although the relationship is somewhat distant, the two Tong families are of the same lineage. Furthermore, the Tong family teaches their daughters virtue and etiquette, not how to serve others."

Tong Cheng'er's words were very direct, even mocking Consort Wuya's background as a bondservant maid. To put it bluntly, she was of Manchu noble birth and acted like a mistress.

Naturally, there's no need to put effort into how to serve someone meals; only servants think about how to serve their masters meals and how to guess their masters' thoughts.

Consort Wuya understood the implied meaning in those words, and now she was so angry that she couldn't eat anymore.

Tong Cheng'er then placed a piece of tofu on her plate. The tofu was fine, but Wu Yapin couldn't eat it.

Tong Cheng'er looked bewildered and said, "Mother, what's wrong now? Is it because you can't eat tofu? How about I get you another dish? Please don't refuse to eat!"

Consort Wu slammed her chopsticks on the table again, glared fiercely at Tong Cheng'er, and made Tong Cheng'er shudder.

Then she said to Yinzhen, "Look at the good wife you married. How can she talk like that? What does she mean by looking down on your mother's background? Yinzhen, don't forget that you were born from your mother's womb. She is insulting your mother, and by extension, you. She is looking down on your mother, and by extension, she is looking down on you."

Yinzhen's face turned cold. He understood what the young consort meant, but he did not feel insulted.

There's a saying that goes, "I won't offend others unless they offend me." Ultimately, it was his mother who "made the first move," and he was happy to see his wife retaliate. After all, he knew she was protecting him, and he could distinguish right from wrong. He didn't need her to stir things up.

Yinzhen said calmly, "What are you saying, Mother? I don't understand. What do you mean by looking down on someone or looking down on someone? What are you talking about?"

He just learned it from the young mistress; he pretends to be stupid.

Tong Cheng'er then said with a surprised look, "Mother, I don't quite understand what you're saying, but I did something that offended you. If that's the case, then it's my fault. Just tell me and I'll change. Please don't blame me, sir. You can hit me or scold me as you please."

Consort Wuya had been angered by the two of them many times today, but this time, she was so angry that she wished she had never given birth to Yinzhen.

Her son's stubbornness was already distressing enough, but now an even more difficult daughter-in-law has arrived. How is she going to live her life from now on?

This mother-in-law didn't even get a chance to put on airs, and her son and daughter-in-law pulled off several conspiracies against her. If this were to be said, wouldn't she have no face left?

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Then, in a moment of impulsiveness, she said to the nanny beside her, "I'm tired. Help me to the inner room to rest."

The nanny wanted to say that this was inappropriate, but seeing her mistress's face turn pale with anger, she could only help her inside to rest.

Tong Cheng'er was still standing there, looking completely innocent. Then she specifically asked Yinzhen, "Your Majesty, what have I done to upset Mother?"

Yinzhen shook his head, chuckling to himself, and then said, "It must be that Mother is unwell, it's not your fault."

Then, as if nothing had happened, Yinzhen invited his young wife to lunch, saying that they had walked quite a distance today and she must be hungry.