Qingqian stepped forward politely and bowed, having no intention of disturbing the madam at all.

He gave Chunyan a wink, signaling her to go to the backyard and call over Granny Hua.

Xu Shaoqing served a cup of tea, but instead of going to the living room, she glanced at the mess on the floor.

"It seems that the maids here are not only unruly but also lazy. They just overturned a tea stove, and it's been almost half an hour, and they still haven't cleaned it up."

Qingqian smiled slightly and didn't reply. At this moment, Granny Hua was helped over by Zhixue and Wang Yan.

Upon approaching, she bowed respectfully and asked, "May I ask, Third Young Mistress, what brings you to the main courtyard?"

Xu Shaoqing gave a forced smile, "Greetings, Granny. The little maids had a few quarrels, but it's nothing serious."

It's just that the disciplinarian didn't educate the child properly, and it was wrong for her to hit the child.

I wonder if my Guilan hurt that little girl. I came to check on her too. I gave her two coins so she could also have her face examined.

Upon hearing this, Granny Hua was not angry at all; instead, she smiled slightly and glanced at Qingqian.

"The one who slapped me was a first-class maid in my courtyard. Young mistress, please take a look at your face to see if there are any injuries."

This girl was raised by Granny Yang in the mansion, a retired palace governess who taught her manners.

Loyal and clever, he is extremely disciplined and would never do anything to cause trouble for others in private.

"Please forgive me, young mistress. The kitchen maid has a fixed amount of work to do each day; the rest of the time she needs to be well-rested so she can prepare soups and meals for you, madam."

When she spoke, Granny Hua emphasized the words "find someone privately" very heavily.

Then he glanced at Guilan again and said, "The nanny who disciplines this girl is indeed incompetent. The girl is eloquent and has nothing wrong with it, but if she talks nonsense, then she is shameful."

Not only has she disgraced her own parents and the young mistress, but she might also disgrace our Marquis's mansion in the future!

If the young mistress doesn't mind, she can be sent to Granny Yang for some discipline.

She'll definitely grow up to be a well-mannered and respectable girl. The young mistress will find her easy to use.

The phrase "knowing manners and having face" was spoken with great emphasis.

Xu Shaoqing blushed deeply at Hua Mama's sarcastic remarks, but she noticed that the old woman remained composed.

He lost all interest in seeking justice, mumbled a few vague words, and left dejectedly with Guilan and the others.

…………………………

When Gao heard about this the next day, his face remained calm and expressionless; he simply nodded slightly.

Qingping understood and gave Qingqian and her companion two pairs of earrings and two jade bracelets. She even made a joke to Qingqian.

"The material I found for this bracelet for my sister is of excellent quality. My sister has really struck it rich this time. How about we treat each other to a snack?"

I'll learn this twisted logic too, cough cough. I'm going to buy some snacks now. If I don't, I'm breaking the rules!"

Qingqian glared at her with a grin, ignoring her. Unexpectedly, when they took the things to Wang Yan, Wang Yan actually made them a tea jelly as a token of her gratitude.

But it wasn't made specifically for them. We'd been preparing this for a few days, and it was for the Fifth Miss and the Eighth Miss.

Today, the main kitchen received a batch of freshly picked grapes. I had been instructed to deliver them early this morning.

Wang Yan peeled a bunch of grapes with her hands, then took a few teacups and put two or three peeled grapes in each teacup.

Take some white tea, add plenty of water and boil it into a clear tea. Add agar and pour it into a peeled grape cup.

Take another piece of ice, put it in the freezer for half an hour, and it will be fine.

Chunxi, at the behest of Granny Hua, came over to help make 50 cups each time, three times.

They sent gifts to every courtyard, except for the third young master's courtyard.

The old lady overheard the argument but pretended not to hear it. When the white tea and green grape jelly was delivered, she also rewarded the old lady with two agate earrings and a purse.

Chunxi and Wang Yan each received an agate pendant, and both were quite satisfied.

The second wife took the grape tea jelly handed to her by Qingyu and sighed softly.

He instructed Zijuan, "Tomorrow, resume the morning and evening greetings, and have all the concubines and new brides come to pay their respects."

Zijuan nodded and went out to have Zijing inform the children in each courtyard.

In the Moyuan Courtyard, Xu Shaoqing listened to Zijing's message and sat there sullenly.

She didn't want to pay her respects to her mother every morning and evening. At home, her mother was lenient, and she only needed to visit her mother once every ten days.

At 5 a.m., go to the morning and evening service; at 10 p.m., go to the morning service.

Just thinking about it gives me a headache; I definitely won't be able to eat or sleep well.

But once the second wife spoke, no one could refute her, and Xu Shaoqing still went to pay her respects at dawn the next day.

Zheng Jin didn't make things difficult for her and even invited her and several concubines to stay for a meal.

However, they specifically asked Aunt Yang to stand aside and serve them, something Aunt Yang hadn't done for many years.

The second wife would punish people if she was angered, but it was rare for her to make people suffer like this when she had to serve them meals.

By the end of the meal, Aunt Yang was sweating profusely and had made quite a few mistakes.

She was reprimanded by Zheng's wet nurse in front of many concubines.

This went on for several days in a row before Aunt Yang realized something was wrong, but she hadn't done anything strange lately.

Zheng Jin went to the second wife's place several times to argue and prove his innocence, but she only picked up her teacup and smiled, never openly admitting that she was tormenting her.

Aunt Yang had no choice but to find the reason herself. Her maid, Hanqiao, went out to inquire several times, exhausting herself trying to explain.

I just heard a vague piece of news: it seems that the young mistress went to the first wife's courtyard to cause trouble, but I don't know if the news is true or not.

Aunt Yang was furious. She was already dissatisfied with Xu Shaoqing because of her adoption and her small dowry.

But then she found an excuse and a reason, put on a miserable face, and went to her son, pitifully trying to sow discord.

Gu Ting and this concubine were still related. Seeing that his concubine, at such an advanced age, was still being harassed by the madam for his sake, he was deeply moved.

After sorting out his thoughts, he went to find Xu Shaoqing.

"We are, after all, the second wife. Over the years, we have been fortunate to receive care from the Marquis's wife in every way. As the younger generation, we should be filial and grateful."

We must be careful in our actions, otherwise our aunt will worry about us too.

Unexpectedly, Xu Shaoqing was stunned for a moment after hearing this, before silently nodding in agreement.

After he left, Xu Shaoqing felt a little lost for the first time.

In her own view, she had not gotten anything good at the last time she was in the First Madam's courtyard, and had even suffered quite a bit of grievance.

Granny Hua's words implied that she had met with Gu Ting in secret before their marriage.

I was so ashamed and indignant at the time that I felt I shouldn't shout it out, so I swallowed my anger.

To put Gu Ting at ease, she didn't mention the grievances she suffered when she returned.

But Gu Ting still seemed dissatisfied, telling her to be careful and try to please people when she was around.

She had never lived like this before, so why should she try to please someone who was trampling on her?

Xu Shaoqing suddenly felt a little panicked. She seemed to realize that marrying down was indeed somewhat different from what she had imagined.

She thought that love was enough to sustain her and that she could withstand all indifference and coldness. But Gu Ting's words today were something she couldn't bear.

I vaguely sensed that I would never be a servile and obsequious person.