Chapter 693 Rejecting the Butler

Despite her doubts, Shen Wantang didn't show them. In any case, she had no intention of managing the household, nor did she have the inclination to do so.

Gu Qianhan will soon start a rebellion. This matter weighs on her mind like a mountain. She even dreams about it. Small things like housekeeping can no longer affect her.

She said politely, "Sister-in-law, your praise makes me a little embarrassed. However, as my mother said, I am not yet familiar with the household, so it is up to you to take care of it. You manage the entire Duke's mansion very well by yourself, which is very impressive. Everyone in our mansion praises your competence."

Meng Yunlan smiled at her: "My housekeeping skills were all taught by my mother. When I have some things I can't make up my mind about, I come to my mother for help. So the Duke's mansion is well-organized, which is not my achievement alone."

"My sister-in-law has just entered the family, and she is newly married to my second brother. It is indeed not very appropriate for me to ask you to help manage the household at this time."

"Then let's wait a few more days, until my sister-in-law is more familiar with the household affairs, before she takes over the household management."

Shen Wantang looked at Meng Yunlan and felt that the smile on her face looked forced no matter how she looked at it.

However, she still did not agree to the housekeeping job, and said directly, "Sister-in-law is very capable, it is only right that you manage the household, I will not cause you any trouble."

Her refusal was tactful, but her meaning was very clear, leaving Meng Yunlan speechless.

Madam Gu was very satisfied with her knowing when to advance and retreat, and even felt that letting her second son marry Shen Wantang was the best decision she had ever made.

She came from a humble background, had a steady personality, disliked standing out, and was never reckless. Even when her eldest daughter-in-law wanted to give her some of the power to manage the household, she wisely refused, showing no intention of competing for it.

If this were a girl from a wealthy or prestigious family, would she ever lower herself like this?

Seeing that the two sisters-in-law were so harmonious and sensible, Madam Gu felt very comforted.

Harmony in the family brings prosperity in all things. A family should be like this: showing each other courtesy and help, not fighting amongst themselves, not being petty, and not scheming. Only then will the family prosper.

So, after Shen Wantang and Meng Yunlan left, Madam Gu asked someone to fetch some things from the storeroom and sent a portion to each of them.

Shen Wantang sat in the chair, looking at the things her mother-in-law had sent over. She knew that her mother-in-law was rewarding her for not vying for the power to manage the household.

To my surprise, Madam Gu was very generous, sending only the finest gifts: a set of red gold jewelry, a pair of jade bracelets, and a set of enamel-gilded tea set.

Everything else is fine, but that enamel-gilded tea set is a rare item; you simply can't buy such a dreamlike and dazzling color on the market.

Even Granny Yan was somewhat surprised: "This enamel tea set was a gift from the palace. Such bright colors are rare even in the palace. Madam liked it very much after receiving it and has kept it safe, not daring to use it. I didn't expect Madam to give it to the young mistress. It can be seen that Madam is very satisfied with the young mistress."

Shen Wantang sighed softly, "My mother-in-law has indeed treated me perfectly, but..."

However, the better the gifts her mother-in-law gave her, the more she was encouraged not to compete with the eldest son's family for anything, which further proved her mother-in-law's favoritism.

To be honest, in all her three lifetimes and three marriages, this was the first time she had ever experienced her mother-in-law's favoritism.

When she married Liao Youhe, her mother-in-law was biased, but the one her mother-in-law favored the most was Liao Youhe, so she didn't have any particular feelings about it.

When Shen Wantang married Xiao Qingyuan, her mother-in-law only had one son, so there was no favoritism involved. Therefore, Shen Wantang didn't know what it felt like for her mother-in-law to be biased.

Only this time did Shen Wantang truly understand what it felt like for her husband to be unloved.

"Sigh, never mind, let's just pack everything up!"

She couldn't control her mother-in-law's mind. The only thing she could do was to cherish Gu Qianhan more in the future and be the one who favored him the most.

As soon as the things were put away, Qin Xin walked in quickly: "Young Madam, I just inquired and found out that the things Madam gave to the eldest son's family were about the same as what you gave to her. However, Madam also gave the eldest son's family one more thing."

"Really? What extra did you give me?"

"They gave us an extra century-old ginseng, saying it's for the young mistress to nourish her body!"

Shen Wantang was slightly taken aback: "Is your health a bit weak, sister-in-law? You don't seem like it!"

Not everyone can eat century-old ginseng. If a healthy person suddenly takes in such a highly nourishing substance, their blood and energy will overflow, which may actually harm their health.

"This servant doesn't know either. I've only heard that the eldest young mistress often eats nourishing foods. Perhaps she just likes to take care of her health!"

Shen Wantang shook her head slightly. Even someone of Madam Gu's age doesn't take supplements every day. Meng Yunlan doesn't have any illnesses, so why should she take care of herself?

As she was thinking, a thought suddenly popped into her mind.

By the way! Meng Yunlan has been married for five years and still hasn't conceived a child!

Even in her previous life, Meng Yunlan had to wait many years before she finally conceived and gave birth to those twins!

Could it be that... Meng Yunlan suddenly suggested that she help manage the household today so that he could worry less and recuperate so that he could give birth to a child sooner?

After thinking it over, Shen Wantang felt that this was highly likely.

Having managed a household before, she knew how much effort and worry a woman had to put in to keep such a large Duke's mansion in perfect order.

If you are overworked and exhausted, it is indeed difficult to get pregnant.

However, even if Shen Wantang guessed the reason, she did not intend to sacrifice herself to please Meng Yunlan. Otherwise, the first person to object would be her mother-in-law, and she would be doing a thankless job. She was not that foolish.

Anyway, Meng Yunlan got pregnant eventually, it was just a few years later, but it wasn't a big problem.

On the other side.

Meng Yunlan received the gifts from Madam Gu, but there was no joy on her face. Instead, the worry between her brows deepened.

She took her maidservant and went back to her parents' home.

When Madam Meng saw her daughter return, her first question was, "Lan'er, has your mother-in-law agreed to let the new daughter-in-law manage the household together?"

Meng Yunlan shook her head: "Mother, my mother-in-law is not willing."

"And what about the new bride? What did she say?"

"My sister-in-law herself didn't want to either."

Madam Meng was extremely surprised: "The second son's wife is unwilling? How could that be? I've only ever heard of people fighting for the right to manage the household, I've never heard of anyone being unwilling to manage the household!"

She herself was the eldest daughter-in-law of the Meng family, and she also had two sisters-in-law.

Originally, she was in charge of managing the Meng family, but after her two sisters-in-law entered the family, they began to openly or secretly vie for the management rights.

By now, those two sisters-in-law have seized a lot of power.

The Meng family was like this, and so were most other prominent families in the capital. As long as there were many brothers, there was no one who wouldn't fight for it.