After Liu Yuqin's son's full-moon banquet was over, Liu Yuqin asked Madam Qin to stay and talk to her alone.

Su Qiuya saw this and simply went to help pack up. She didn't leave immediately. She knew Liu Yanbo had a problem with Liu Yuqin, so she didn't run away so quickly. She would do more to make Liu Yanbo feel good about her.

"Just let the servants clean up." Liu Yanbo watched Su Qiuya clearing the dishes and said, "You don't need to clean up."

"There are only a few servants here," Su Qiuya said. "Some were hired just a few days ago. Expecting them to clean up everything is unrealistic. There are so few people and so much stuff, and I heard they get paid little, too."

"Oh?" Liu Yanbo didn't know this yet.

"I just heard it when I passed by the kitchen," Su Qiuya said. "They said they were paid so little but were asked to do so much work."

"Why are they still talking nonsense? If they don't want to do it, then don't do it." Liu Yanbo frowned.

"It's not their fault," Su Qiuya said. "We own our own shop, and we know it's not easy. Second Sister pays us so little, and she doesn't allow them to say a few words?"

"If they take the job, they have to do it," said Liu Yanbo.

"That's right." Su Qiuya nodded. "They do have to do it, but we're closed today, so it's a good opportunity for them to help sort it out. We can also keep an eye on it to prevent any mistakes."

"That's fine. Don't get too tired." Liu Yanbo said, "I'll go check on Mom."

"Okay, go ahead." Su Qiuya didn't expect Liu Yanbo to help here, and this place was not suitable for Liu Yanbo to stay.

Aunt Qing didn't do any work herself. She just kept an eye on the hired people, asking them to be careful and clean the tables.

Liu Yanbo saw Aunt Qing directing people over there. He thought for a moment and decided not to go over. When he turned around, Aunt Qing called him.

"Where is the one in your family? Is he gone?" asked Aunt Qing.

"No, she is helping to pack up." Liu Yanbo said.

"What is she cleaning up? She is not a servant and she is not afraid of losing face." Aunt Qing thought that these were the jobs of servants. Liu Yuqin had servants, so there was no need for Su Qiuya to do those jobs.

Aunt Qing didn't intend to let Su Qiuya do those things. If others watched Su Qiuya do those things, how would others view Liu Yuqin?

"If you want to go back early, then go back early and don't bother with these things." Aunt Qing said, "When your help is needed, you don't help. When your help is not needed, you help blindly."

"That's what you said." Liu Yanbo said.

"I'm telling you to go back early and stop embarrassing yourself here." Aunt Qing waved her hand.

Liu Yuqin and Mrs. Qin were sitting in the room, and Liu Yuqin's eyes were still red.

"They are so cruel. They really didn't come." Liu Yuqin was unhappy. She had thought that those people might come when the banquet was almost over. Even if Liu's mother and others didn't come, what about her father?

Liu Yuqin wondered how her father could be so cruel and why didn't he come over.

"Okay, don't be sad. You should have known long ago that they couldn't come, so I can come." said Mrs. Qin.

"How can they be the same?" Liu Yuqin said, "You are not the same people."

"What's the difference? You've made them so unhappy, how could they possibly come?" Madam Qin said, "You should be more careful in the future and stop worrying about whether they come or not. Not to mention now, they won't be able to comply with you in the future. You're already such a grown-up, how come you still don't understand this?"

"Do you think I don't understand?" Liu Yuqin pursed her lips. "I understand too, but... never mind. I won't say it anymore. It's all my fault. I'm not that good. I can't do it."

When Liu Yuqin thought of this, she felt a headache.

Madam Qin Da Shao listened to Liu Yuqin's sobbing, and she was helpless. She couldn't speak for Liu Yuqin anymore, and she couldn't let herself fall into an irretrievable situation. She didn't dare to think about how her in-laws would treat her if her family didn't pay more attention to her.

Those people would definitely think that she did not do well and that she did not have the demeanor of a daughter-in-law of the eldest son.

"By the way, the baby is already one month old. What are you going to do in the future?" asked Mrs. Qin.

"Of course I'll find a husband." Liu Yuqin said, "I can't stay single for the rest of my life, and you can't support me forever. Don't tell me that I don't have to get married just because I have a son. I don't want to stay here forever."

"Then find a husband-in-law." said Mrs. Qin.

"How can it be that easy to find?" Liu Yuqin curled her lips. "You guys are helping me, so I have to find it myself. How good can I find it?"

Liu Yuqin had always hoped that the people in Jingning Marquis's Mansion would help her and find her a suitable marriage. However, these people had no intention of helping her at all.

"You can always find the right one, don't worry." Madam Qin patted Liu Yuqin's hand.

In the evening, Liu Yulian returned to the Marquis' Mansion from the research institute. After she came back, she did not go to eat with Liu's mother. The Marquis' Mansion had its own meals prepared for each person, so they did not have to sit together to eat.

Liu's mother came over, and Liu Yulian saw that her mother invited her to have dinner with them.

"You eat, I've already had my meal." Mother Liu said, "Did you go to your second sister's place today?"

"No, I just came back from the research institute." Liu Yulian said, "You know she and I don't get along well, so there's no way I could go there."

Liu Yulian didn't want to have much contact with Liu Yuqin at all. This second sister didn't like her at all. Liu Yulian thought she hadn't offended this person, but Liu Yuqin was still like that.

Didn't Liu Yuqin return to the Marquis' Mansion several times just to deliberately say some unpleasant things?

"I'm younger than her." Liu Yulian said, "I can't always give in to her, even if she gives birth to a child."

Liu Yulian didn't care what happened to Liu Yuqin's child, and she didn't want to tell her that the child was innocent. But Liu Yuqin might use these things to do other disgusting things, and there was no way Liu Yulian would let Liu Yuqin succeed.

Anyone else can go to Liu Yuqin's place if they want, but Liu Yulian won't go anyway.

"It's better that she didn't go." Mother Liu was still wondering whether Liu Yulian would be like Madam Qin, and was still thinking about the sisterly love.

"My eldest sister should have gone." Liu Yulian said.

Liu Yulian didn't say that Madam Qin treated Liu Yuqin better. After returning to the capital, she didn't think Madam Qin treated her well. She always felt that Madam Qin was a little distant from her, and she thought it might be because Madam Qin had already married and the age difference between them was large.

"Your eldest sister did go." Liu's mother said, "Do you think your eldest sister treats your second sister better?"

"I won't be jealous." Liu Yulian understood what her mother meant. She was still holding the bowl and chopsticks. "My eldest sister doesn't live at home. When I get married, I won't live under the same roof with her."

"That's true." Mother Liu could feel that her younger and older daughters were becoming estranged.

But this couldn't be blamed on the younger daughter. Mother Liu had long noticed that her elder daughter cared more about Liu Yuqin. Some people just liked to sympathize with the so-called weak, and in the eyes of Madam Qin, perhaps Liu Yuqin was a weak person.

When Madam Qin returned home, she told her husband that no one from the Jingning Marquis's Mansion attended the full-moon banquet for Liu Yuqin's child.

"That child is pitiful too." Madam Qin Dashao sighed.

"What's there to be pitiful about? Since your second sister has decided to give birth to that child, you can't blame anyone else." Young Master Qin said, "Why, you haven't figured it out yet and are still thinking about helping her more?"

"I didn't intend to help her," Madam Qin said quickly. "I just thought it's not easy for women. My second sister is divorced and lives alone outside, without anyone to rely on. Her family isn't there to support her, so who knows? People might think she's easy to bully."

"How could she be easy to bully? No one bullied her, so she went to bully others." Young Master Qin said, "Don't be confused. My father-in-law and mother-in-law didn't go, and Princess Zhaoyang and her family didn't go either. My younger sister went to the research institute. Do you think they don't have other considerations in their minds?"

"..." Madam Qin just felt that she couldn't explain it clearly to her husband. She didn't have to ask them to go, she just felt that Liu Yuqin was still a little pitiful. Liu Yuqin married the wrong person, divorced and was pregnant, and now gave birth to a boy. Which good family would be interested in Liu Yuqin?

On this day, Liu Yuqin still had a quarrel with Su Qiuya.

Su Qiuya was originally helping to pack up, and she hadn't thought about having dinner here. But Aunt Qing asked them to have dinner here, and Su Qiuya couldn't refuse, so Su Qiuya stayed with Liu Yanbo.

At the dinner table, Liu Yuqin was talking about all kinds of faults of Su Qiuya, saying that Su Qiuya was infertile, that Su Qiuya was always out in public doing business, and that Su Qiuya was chatting and laughing with those male guests.

In short, what Liu Yuqin meant was that Su Qiuya was shameless, Su Qiuya was not a good woman, and Su Qiuya was a hen that couldn't lay eggs.

How could Su Qiuya possibly tolerate Liu Yuqin? Liu Yuqin was too much, so of course Su Qiuya had to fight back.

"You can only bully others at home and talk about me." Su Qiuya sneered, "Today, the people from the Marquis' Mansion didn't come. You were unhappy, and you couldn't take it out on them, so you took it out on me."

"I said a few words to you, and you're upset?" Liu Yuqin asked, "You're eating my food, and you're upset?"

"Let's go." Before Su Qiuya could speak, Liu Yanbo stood up.

Liu Yanbo directly pulled Su Qiuya away, and they didn't continue to eat here, as they didn't need this bite of food. Liu Yanbo thought Liu Yuqin was really too much, and his face looked very bad. There was no need for them to stay and listen to what Liu Yuqin said.

"Why leave?" Liu Yuqin asked.

"You can just pretend that I'm not your brother." Liu Yanbo said this, and then he and Su Qiuya left without looking back.

Su Qiuya and Liu Yanbo were walking on the road together. She didn't expect that Liu Yanbo would directly pull her away.

"Just come out like this?" Su Qiuya asked.

"She's been saying such harsh things. We can't eat if we continue sitting there," Liu Yanbo said. "She's like this, and she's blaming the people from the Marquis' Mansion for not coming. The people from the Marquis' Mansion know exactly what kind of person she is, and that's why they didn't come."

"As for the Marquis' Mansion...we can't control it either." Su Qiuya paused for a moment, "To be honest, we are really asking for too much. You said they didn't give you face, but in fact, they also sent people to give gifts, which means they still recognize this relationship. If something really happens to Second Sister in the future, they can't just ignore it."

Su Qiuya thought that the people in Jingning Marquis' Mansion were not bad, but they were the bad ones. They always wanted to take advantage of the people in the Marquis' Mansion, and never thought about what they could do for the Marquis' Mansion. They all had such high demands.

"Back then, you said such harsh words in front of them and hurt my little sister. They severed ties with us, but they didn't stop you from taking the imperial examination, nor did they make things difficult for you." Su Qiuya said, "In fact, they still considered our blood relationship."

"Yes." Liu Yanbo had long understood what kind of person his biological mother was. He also knew that he had wronged those people. "Second sister and mother, I'm afraid they will never change in this lifetime. If they say something about you, you don't have to stand there and let them say it."

"Yeah." Su Qiuya nodded.

After Liu Yulian reported the incident to the court and requested an investigation into the misappropriation of research funds, the Crown Prince quickly made arrangements. He assigned the Ministry of Justice to investigate the matter. Because the misappropriation of research funds was obvious, the Ministry of Justice uncovered the truth in less than two weeks.

One of the families had followed Liu Yulian from the northwest to the capital. That person was quite capable. If he hadn't had any skills, Liu Yulian wouldn't have brought that family to the capital, let alone made so many arrangements.

But after that person came to the capital, he changed over time.

The capital was a prosperous city with many powerful people. Even if someone in that family was an official, he would only be a seventh-rank official, a small official of that rank, which was not worthy of respect in the capital.

The man heard from someone that graduates from the research institute could become officials, such as county magistrates. He became interested, thinking that being a county magistrate was better than being a researcher. After all, researchers were often called craftsmen in the past, and the status of craftsmen was not that high.

That person thinks that since he has become an official, he can think about other things and doesn't have to stay in the research institute all the time.

Because the Ministry of Revenue allocated funds monthly, and the research team had other members, the amount of research funds embezzled by that person wasn't particularly large. Even so, the Ministry of Justice still convicted him, sentencing him to two years in prison and forcing him to leave the institute.

There were two other people who had been admitted to the institute, but they were also dismissed. These two people were not that short of money, but they had encouraged others to do those things more often. They did not seem to be the main culprits, but the institute could not keep these two people.

One of them was the son of a marquis, and his admission to the academy was considered lucky. He was interested in Qi Men Dun Jia and the academy had relevant workbooks. He read through them frequently and more or less understood some of the content. His good memory in this area made it easier for him to get into the academy than others.

The Jingyuan Marquisate was also founded on military virtues, and they thought it was good to have a researcher in their family, even though there was still a difference between a researcher and a civil servant. But they thought it was good too, at least it wasn't always about fighting and killing.

When Marquis Jingyuan learned that his son was expelled from the institute, he was very angry.

"Are you short of food and drink at home?" Jingyuan Hou couldn't understand why his son was bothering with such things when the family didn't need the money. Why would his son embezzle research project funds for no reason? If his son really needed money, he could take it from me.

"I'm just a bastard." said the second young master Zheng.

The second young master Zheng was a bastard. He had a legitimate brother above him. Even if he didn't have a legitimate brother, but had a legitimate brother, it would still be the same. He couldn't possibly be the heir to the Jingyuan Marquisate unless all the legitimate sons died.

After the second young master Zheng was admitted to the research institute, the rebellious mentality in his heart came out again.

"Then you shouldn't have misappropriated research funds." Marquis Jingyuan really felt that this son was no good and that this son brought shame to him.

When Marquis Jingyuan met his colleagues outside, they asked him if his family was short of money, which is why he allowed his son to embezzle the research institute's funds. His colleagues did not say whether they thought Princess Rongning was easy to bully because she was a woman.

"It's just a few hundred taels of silver." Second Young Master Zheng said, "It's not a big hole."

Young Master Zheng had originally thought that they could somehow make up for the money, but the people at the research institute refused to let them make up for it, and the imperial court even told them to get out of the institute.

When the second young master Zheng was admitted to the research institute, he didn't think it was that great. He felt that he didn't study much, but he still got in easily.

Young Master Zheng had easily entered the research institute, so he didn't take it seriously. He treated it as a place for fun, and he wanted to see if the researchers could withstand the temptation and whether they could focus on research without thinking about other things.

Facts have proven that some people simply don't want to continue doing research. Some people followed Princess Rongning to the capital just to become high-ranking officials. Even if they didn't start out wanting to be officials, just to make a living, once they could make a living, they had more ideas.

"Who knew they would ask us to pay the money and kick us out of the institute?" Young Master Zheng thought those people were too cruel.

"If I don't kick you out of the institute, will I keep you here for the New Year?" Jingyuan Hou said, "You've completely disgraced me."

"It's nothing. I'm just a bastard." The second young master Zheng knelt in the hall. He didn't think he had done anything wrong and dared to say these words.

Marquis Jingyuan looked at his son and couldn't help but shake his head. There was nothing wrong with the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children; a illegitimate son should behave like a illegitimate son. But Marquis Jingyuan believed he had treated this illegitimate son well, so why did he let him develop such a temper?

The second young master, Zheng, was fed up with all that. His mother wanted him to fight for the throne, while those around him kept saying he was a bastard. The servants and maids didn't think he could inherit the title either. They were kind to his brother, but not to him.

Young Master Zheng was unwilling to accept this. Furthermore, Princess Rongning was just a weak woman, so how could she be the director of the research institute? It was said that there was a difference between legitimate and illegitimate children, and that there was also a difference between men and women. A woman should not be the director of a research institute.