During this vacation, Wang Yan went to the Ma Xing Street Night Market. The small house her family bought is on the street in front of Ma Xing Street, about a 15-minute walk from there.

Wang Ying was on her way to deliver embroidery work to the Langao Clothing Shop, so Wang Yan, having just gotten home and taken a sip of water, went out with her sister.

After delivering the embroidery work and settling the bill, Wang Ying received one tael and three mace of silver. This time, she had taken on a big job: embroidering a table and a screen.

Such opportunities are rare and require a lot of work, but the potential earnings are substantial.

Wang Ying was happy to have earned this much money after only half a month of embroidery.

It just so happened that there was a rouge shop right next to the embroidery shop, so she took Wang Yan in to buy some good cosmetics.

In Wang Ying's opinion, the cosmetics and perfumes given to the third-class maids in the mansion were not very good.

When asked to buy Wang Yan the kind of face powder that contains lead powder, Wang Yan shook her head vigorously.

They gave her a box of rouge, which Wang Yan glanced at and then casually put down.

The face cream cost two taels of silver, which I felt was not worth it, so I returned it to the counter.

Then Wang Yan turned her head and saw Ying Jie's increasingly dark face, and shrank her neck.

I went over and walked around again, then picked up a box of gardenia balm.

Upon picking it up and taking a sniff, she was immediately captivated by its elegant and gentle fragrance, which filled the air with a serene and pleasant aroma. After applying a small amount to her hands, Wang Yan instantly fell in love with the scent.

A box costs three qian of silver. Wang Ying was quite pleased to see that she had chosen what she wanted, and immediately took out her money to buy it.

The two were walking out with the perfume when they bumped into Gui Xiang.

"Greetings, Sister Guixiang." Wang Yan greeted her crisply, then noticed the young lady next to her.

Gui Xiang smiled and said, "This is Gui Qin, the maid who served with me when we were at the Earl's mansion. She's been released now."

After chatting casually for a while, they learned that the rouge shop actually belonged to Xu Shaoqing.

The Anbo family helped Xu Chen resolve his worries after he caused Xu Shaoqing to lose face so badly.

Bo Fu and Jiang Shiyi now dislike Xu Shaoqing and turn a blind eye to any grievances she suffers.

But Xu Chen couldn't do that. After discussing it with Granny Cheng, he took out a rouge shop and gave it to Xu Shaoqing as an apology for the humiliation she had suffered recently.

Xu Chen felt that a shop was nothing compared to the fact that he could defeat his "elder sister" and her husband.

To outsiders, his actions were seen as extremely kind and reasonable, showing him to be magnanimous and reasonable, and leaving no room for criticism.

Jiang Shiyi and the other man were both impressed by his actions, not because of Xu Shaoqing, but because they wanted to make their third brother, Xu Yan, happy.

He is so insightful and prudent at such a young age; his third brother will surely be able to uphold the family's honor in the future.

Gui Xiang saw that she had taken a box of gardenia flower balm, so she went inside and gave her another box of jasmine flower balm.

"This scent smells nice too, take it and try it."

Wang Yan felt embarrassed, but Gui Xiang kept stuffing more into Wang Yan's hand, so she couldn't very well tear it off.

After taking the perfume balm home, Aunt Wang looked at it and thought, "I can't just take something for nothing. This little jar costs three qian of silver."

So he decided to cook something delicious and have Wang Yan deliver it as a return gift.

Since this place is close to the Wei River, Grandma Sun asked Wang Yan to go and spend 20 coins to buy a basket of small shrimp.

When I got back, I peeled the shrimp, added the water celery I bought in the morning, and chopped it into large pieces.

Add white pepper, salt and pepper, and ginger water to marinate for 15 minutes, then stir-fry in a pan until fragrant.

Next, take the prepared spring roll wrappers, wrap the shrimp meat inside, and fry them in oil. This method of frying spring rolls was taught by Wang Yan.

The sweetness of the large shrimp pieces, combined with the crispy outer skin, makes the spring roll wrapper crumbly with every bite.

After returning to the Marquis's residence, Wang Yan carried a small basket and delivered it to Mo Yuan Courtyard.

It was delicious. Gui Xiang took it and, along with Gui Lan and the others, devoured the plate of fried spring rolls.

Guilan nodded repeatedly as she ate, "I never imagined that spring platters could be fried."

Manjing chimed in, "Chunyan is such a good eater; everything she brings over is delicious."

Xingzi brewed a pot of Liubao pear tea, which was refreshingly sweet and fresh, and the group drank and ate together.

Chun'er came out to spoil the mood again, "Should we send some of this to Miss Xiang'er?"

"Let's build a good relationship; she's just gotten back and is quite lonely."

Everyone paused, suddenly remembering that Liu Xiang'er had returned. Sigh!

Guilan swept her cold eyes over them, "If you want to send something, take your own things and send them. We don't give things to maids."

They were enjoying their meal when Chun'er's words made Gui Xiang and Gui Lan extremely uncomfortable.

Is Chun'er out of her mind to expect the main wife's maid to rush to curry favor with the concubine?

Fangli was delighted to see Chun'er disliked by everyone, so she took a spring roll and ate it without saying a word.

Manjing quickly stepped forward to smooth things over, "Chun'er, go brew a pot of Liubao tea and send it to the young lady. I didn't see Liu Dong come out to fetch tea this morning."

Chun'er, having just been teased, knew she had said the wrong thing and stood up looking aggrieved.

She didn't want to either, but the girl had just returned, and they asked her to help smooth things over with everyone.

Xiang'er also told her that she herself had put in a lot of effort to promote Chun'er to the second class. Chun'er thought about it and realized that it was true.

So they started doing things for Xiang'er again. If they hadn't run into her when they went to call Dai Xiu, no one would have called Chun'er over at all.

She bit her lip and looked at Xingzi again, "Why don't you come with me and peel a pear? Pear Liubao tea is quite delicious."

Xingzi felt a lump in her throat. "I'm not going, the pears are all gone!"

Seeing Xingzi speak so bluntly, Chun'er stamped her foot and went out to the tea room to brew tea.

When they arrived at the side room, Liu Xiang'er was applying makeup in front of the mirror, drawing her eyebrows and applying powder.

Upon seeing Chun'er, he quickly stepped forward, took her hand, and handed her the teapot.

"Thank you for brewing tea and bringing it over, sister. I was just about to send Dong'er away."

After saying that, he grabbed a handful of silver melon seeds and gave them to her, saying, "Little sister, take these and buy some candy."

After Chun'er left, Liu Xiang'er sighed and looked at her purse with heartache. She had just returned and hadn't received her monthly allowance yet.

I've never even seen the Third Young Master's face, let alone received any reward from him.

But I also need to manage my interpersonal relationships. As long as I can come back, that's good enough. I looked in the mirror again and thankfully, I was lucky.

I went to ask Lin Mu for help, but Lin Mu made it clear that he wouldn't help at all.

No one else dared to look for them. Feeling disheartened and listless, they walked out of the mansion while crying.

When I got to the outer courtyard, I encountered an rude servant girl. Judging from her clothes and attire, she didn't seem to be someone who served in the inner courtyard.

He then grew bolder and began to tease her, which frightened Xiang'er, and she cried even louder.

Just then, the Third Young Master returned from outside the mansion, feeling troubled, and asked the newly arrived servant to take a look.

To his surprise, it turned out that it was his former maid who had been harassed, and the third young master felt he had lost face.

They beat up the servant boy and then summoned the steward to deal with him. The steward could handle these people with ease.

They usually dared not speak carelessly to the maids in the inner courtyard, but if they spoke ill of them in the outer courtyard, they would be scolded back without hesitation.

Some old women might come up and beat him if they see him, but they won't cause trouble and report him to the manager. There's no one to testify, and they can't find any evidence against him.

This time, by sheer chance, they ran into a snag. The Third Young Master is not someone to be trifled with these days, but the steward won't let it go. They'll be sold off soon!

However, Liu Xiang'er returned to Mo Yuan Courtyard because of this. The Third Young Master looked at her and at that moment decided to sell her.

But the second wife's side just sold off Dezi, and they're selling people one after another—it's not a pleasant thing to say!

After this incident, Liu Xiang'er was filled with regret and dared not oppose the young mistress anymore.

Now I stay in my room like a quail every day, rarely going out.

Even so, Xu Shaoqing still couldn't stand it and spent the last two days finding excuses to scold her.

The master above despises her so much, yet Chun'er, that brainless girl, actually sent Guilan and the other two to curry favor with Liu Xiang'er.

I really don't know what they were thinking! It made Dai Xiu feel terrible, and the two of them even shared a room.

No doubt, when she gets home tonight, she'll be crying and complaining that everyone is targeting her. Sigh!

……………………………………………………

February 15th, the Flower Festival, has arrived. It is the perfect time for spring outings and flower viewing. The lady took several maids to the countryside for a spring outing to admire exotic flowers and trees.

Grandma Sun went along too, and this time she brought Wang Yan along. Fuling was feeling unwell, so she stayed at the mansion to rest.

Several people carried their belongings on their backs, boarded a horse-drawn carriage, and went to the countryside for a spring outing.

Upon reaching the mountain, the ladies sat in the mountain stream they had previously sought out.

Send a few maids to the upper reaches of the stream, place wooden trays with wine cups on them, and let them float downstream. Whoever the cups float to, they are asked to drink and compose a poem.

The young ladies, accompanied by their maids, went to pick flowers, which they would then give to the cooks from their respective households to make flower cakes.

After picking the flowers, she and her maids went to play a game of "fighting the hundred herbs" together. Today, everyone played both literary and physical games.

Wen Dou is a game where a group of people go out to collect flowers and plants and return within a set time. The group with the most flowers and plants wins.

The martial arts competition involves finding some relatively resilient grass stems. Two people each hold a grass stem, cross them in a cross shape, and then pull in opposite directions. The side whose grass doesn't break wins.

Wang Yan and the others were also given a half-hour break. They didn't have to serve their master, so they played with the maids from various households for a while before going to cook.