If this were in modern times, when there was a surplus of labor and a shortage of jobs, as soon as a job posting was put up, thousands of people would be waiting to come and work.

Not to mention that the Duke's Mansion is, at the very least, a wealthy and prestigious family in modern times, with a rich historical background, making it easier to recruit workers.

Jin Shu is so stupid. She took a bunch of worthless things with her before she left. So many people and so many mouths to feed, how could she, a woman, possibly support them all? Wasn't she just trying to annoy them? What a pity, it's nothing to them at all.

"We'll put up a job posting, and we can recruit all the people tonight."

Lu Mingqian immediately wrote out the job posting, and because of the lack of manpower, he had to post it on his own door.

All that's left is to wait for the servants to come to us.

Before this, the family sat in the cold front hall, with no one to even brew tea for them. They had finally regained their status and returned to the mansion, which should have been a day of double happiness and family celebration. However, they couldn't even get a hot meal, which dampened their good mood considerably.

The old lady tapped on the table.

"Does nobody want to eat? Deng Qiao, now that you're a daughter-in-law of the Lu family, you'll cook dinner tonight."

Upon hearing this, Deng Qiao burst out laughing.

"Why should I? Who said a wife has to cook? I can't, so you have to cook for yourself."

The old lady glared at her, her tone turning stern.

"I won't say much about your past jokes with Mingqian, but now that you've become the daughter-in-law of our Duke's mansion, you should do what a daughter-in-law should do!"

Previously, Jin Shu prepared all my three meals a day. She knew that I had a weak spleen and stomach, so she specially learned from a famous chef how to cook medicinal cuisine.

I don't expect you to do any of these things anymore. What? Now you can't even cook a meal?

The smile on Deng Qiao's face vanished, replaced by disgust and impatience.

"If you like Jin Shu as your daughter-in-law, then go with her! What are you still doing here? Let me tell you, that's the kind of person I am. Don't try to manipulate me. If you don't like me, then leave..."

"Ah Qiao! How dare you speak to my mother like that?"

Lu Mingqian, who had been silent all along, finally spoke.

However, the moment he opened his mouth, he sided with his own mother.

Deng Qiao stared intently at him, her breathing rapid and her eyes turning cold.

"What do you mean? You're siding with your mother and not me?! Didn't you see her bullying me just now?!"

"It's just asking you to cook a meal. If you don't want to, then don't. Why are you speaking so harshly to your elders?"

Deng Qiao's eyes reddened as she roared angrily.

"I don't care, if anyone tries to bully me or step on my head, then don't blame me for being rude to them! Don't try to restrain me with your outdated and feudal ideas!"

I am who I am, and I will always be myself! Even the King of Heaven himself can't force me to do something I don't want to do!

The old lady was somewhat frightened by Deng Qiao's shrewish appearance.

She simply clutched her chest, frowned, and groaned in pain.

"Mingqian, this is the good wife you found! I just wanted to eat a bite of her cooking, but she seems to want to eat me up!"

Mingqian, I'm old and useless. I've devoted my whole life to the Lu family and finally built up a fortune for you, but in the end, you all despise me!

"Fine, fine, now that you've grown wings, you want to kick me out, huh? Fine, I'll leave. Good riddance, it'll save you all the trouble of figuring out how to get rid of me every day!"

Seeing this, Lu Mingqian quickly tried to stop him, his once spirited face now showing only distress and helplessness.

"Ah Qiao, apologize to your mother."

Deng Qiao turned around and left, not forgetting to leave behind a sentence before she left.

"Impossible! You want me to submit? Dream on!"

"Look at her, look at Mingqian! She really thinks that now that Jin Shu is gone, she's the matriarch of this family!"

"Let me tell you, as long as I'm alive, you two can forget about getting married!"

They actually think about holding a grand wedding banquet with a ten-mile-long procession of red bridal procession? Dream on!

Lu Mingqian was caught in the middle, his brow furrowed with worry so deep it could have crushed a fly.

The old lady looked at him coldly and gave him an ultimatum.

"If you can manage it well, I won't interfere. But if you can't manage it well, don't blame me for being ruthless."

That evening, the old lady went to a restaurant to eat by herself. Deng Qiao also wanted to go out to eat, but she didn't have any money.

“You used the money I received before to buy clothes, so I have no money now. All the money is with Mom.”

"Then let's go to the restaurant to eat, since it's our restaurant anyway."

The two immediately headed to the restaurant, only to find it closed when they arrived.

The two hungry people ignored each other and went home with dark faces.

Because everyone in the family who could do the housework had gone with Jin Shu, and ancient times were not as developed as modern times, where you could eat out no matter how late it was, Lu Mingqian eventually went to the kitchen to cook because he was so hungry.

A pampered young master who never lifted a finger in his life ended up so troublesome that he couldn't even start a fire.

In the end, Deng Qiao pushed him aside and took matters into his own hands, quickly getting the fire going in the stove.

"You know how to cook, don't you?"

The movements are so practiced, you must know how to do it.

Deng Qiao has always maintained a pampered image. Whenever Lu Mingqian asks her, she always says that she has never done any hard or tiring work in her life and that she is waited on hand and foot at home.

Therefore, Lu Mingqian naturally assumed that she couldn't do anything and that since she had followed him, she should maintain her original standard of living.

So when Deng Qiao was able to start the fire, Lu Mingqian suddenly felt as if he had never known her before.

Deng Qiao naturally wouldn't admit it.

"You can learn this by watching someone else do it once, what's the problem?"

"You can try to learn something that's so simple."

Deng Qiao glanced at him.

"Why should I do it when there are servants?"

Forget it, we always end up arguing whenever this topic comes up. Lu Mingqian didn't want to dwell on it anymore. Anyway, he'd have servants to take care of him from now on, so he wouldn't need them to do this kind of thing.

Just as the two were about to pick up their chopsticks after a simple pot of fried rice was cooked, Lu Mingqian suddenly remembered something.

"Oh no, we forgot about Ah Zhao!"

So much happened that day, yet none of them remembered that there was a Lu Gu in their family.

The couple finally found Lu Gu in the main courtyard. He was standing alone in the courtyard, practicing a horse stance. Deng Qiao looked at the scene in shock and asked cautiously with a frown.

"Ah Zhao, what are you doing?"

Is someone practicing horse stance here so late at night possessed?

Lu Gu didn't turn his head and continued stabbing himself.

"What's wrong with you? Tell me!"

Lu Gu slowly turned his head to look at them.

Why did you drive Jin Shu and the others away?

Deng Qiao frowned and spoke with displeasure.

"She doesn't belong here, so we let her go. What's wrong with that?"