"In the Duke of Cheng's Mansion, the old lady wasn't targeting Madam Mo. She was a daughter of a military family, even if her mother was a scholar. That didn't mean she could manage a large household. The old lady hoped that Madam Mo would be a good mistress in the future."

Since the old lady wanted her grandson to marry Mo, she had no intention of having anyone else replace Mo's position, so she had to arrange for more people to teach Mo.

"Start when she returns from her parents' home," the old lady said. "You also spent quite a bit of time learning when you first came in."

"Yes." Lady Chengguo replied, "Let my daughter-in-law do some things for her first."

"Yes, if we don't let her try, how can we know if she can do it, or if she will make mistakes?" The old lady thought that Lady Chengguo had a good idea. "We have a lot of things in our house. The prince will inherit the title and most of the family property in the future. As the mistress of the house, you should be more generous and not be easily influenced by others."

"Yes." Lady Chengguo didn't dare to say that the old lady was wrong, she just listened.

When Mrs. Mo returned to her husband's home, Lady Chengguo came to see her and said she wanted to find a maid from the palace to teach her.

"I'll listen to mother." Mrs. Mo said quickly.

"It was the same when I married in," Lady Chengguo explained, lest Madam Mo get angry. "From now on, this household will be yours. You'll be the head mistress, responsible for many things. You'll have to pay attention to everyone and everything. You'll also have to go to every banquet and learn about the relationships between people."

A mistress of a house has a lot to learn, and she doesn't just worry about whether her husband takes concubines or not. There are many things she has to take care of.

"My daughter-in-law should learn more." Mrs. Mo had known this for a long time. After she married into the Chengguo Mansion, she found that the Chengguo Mansion's wife and the old lady did a very good job, and even the concubines' sons and their wives were more well-behaved.

In terms of temperament and behavior, Mrs. Mo always felt that she was not as good as some noble ladies. As the wife of the Crown Prince of the Chengguo Mansion, she had to study hard to avoid being laughed at and causing chaos in the household.

Ever since Mrs. Mo sent the maid back to her parents' home, the maids around her no longer dared to say anything divisive in front of Mrs. Mo.

When Madam Mo was supported by her maids and returned to the courtyard, the head maid said, "The Duke's wife still values ​​Madam very much."

"My status is not high to begin with. They could have chosen a woman of higher status, and they could have chosen the woman they wanted." Mrs. Mo said, "Let the people from Zhuangzi grow the herbs. There's no need to send them over."

Mrs. Mo had studied medical books, but her medical skills were not that strong. She herself was not particularly passionate about medicine, but only studied it because she liked He Xichen.

Now that He Xichen's legs had healed and Madam Mo had married into the family, Madam Mo felt that she didn't need to dry herbs in the yard every day, lest people think she did it to remind the people in the Chengguo Mansion that she had studied medical books so hard.

She had studied medical books so hard, but so what? She didn't find anything and was of no help to He Xichen.

Since she failed to help He Xichen, if she did that again, it would seem deliberate and would make others think she was bad.

"Next time, check the account book. If necessary, ask them to send it over." When Mrs. Mo was at her parents' home, she asked the people from the farm to send herbs to her yard. Now there is no need for that.

"I've already told them." The head maid said, "Young lady, are you really not going to study those herbs anymore?"

"I don't have any talent for this," Madam Mo said. "Master also said that for someone like me, I can treat minor illnesses. But I can't handle serious and complicated illnesses."

However, Madam Mo was unwilling to give up and insisted on learning more about herbs. She even asked the people in the farm to grow herbs. When she married into the Duke of Chengguo's mansion, the Mo family gave Madam Mo the farm where the herbs were grown as a dowry.

"How can you think that this and that are all possible?" Madam Mo said, "Isn't life difficult these days?"

Mrs. Mo believed that when it was time to give up, she should give up and not keep thinking about how to learn medicine. There were many doctors like her in the world. She was not very talented in medicine and she was married, so she would do something else.

It's not okay to do something when you know you don't have the talent and ignore your family.

Mrs. Mo was not someone who didn't understand things. If she hadn't married, if she hadn't been the mistress of the household, then she could have really ignored all that and continued studying. But she wasn't like that. She was the Crown Prince's wife, and would become the Duke's wife in the future, so she couldn't do those things willfully.

In the Mei family, after the second young master's wife wrote a letter to the northwest, she waited for her younger brother to think of a solution for her, wondering whether her younger brother would go to find Marquis Jingning.

"Where is the Second Young Master? Did he go to that bitch again?" Mrs. Mei was very angry.

The maid didn't dare to speak, for fear that Madam Mei would become even angrier.

When Mrs. Mei Ershao saw the maid's reaction, she knew that her husband had gone to the concubine again.

The Mei family had recently stopped saying that the woman was a co-wife, and they no longer dared to call her "Mrs. Second Young Master." However, Mrs. Second Young Master Mei knew that those people still valued the woman, and that she knew how to please the Mei family and spend money on them.

Mrs. Mei didn't have that much money, and it was impossible for her to constantly give out jewelry to please Mrs. Mei, nor could she go to the sister-in-law and others. But that woman could, giving jewelry and silk. In short, that woman gave gifts every once in a while, very generously.

Of course, that woman couldn't have given so many gifts to Mrs. Mei, but instead gave them to other concubines and sisters-in-law. Since she was given something for nothing, those people naturally didn't think that the woman was bad, but instead thought that Mrs. Mei had no manners.

"Okay, okay, it's like this again." Mrs. Mei threw the cup in anger.

It wasn't that Madam Mei Ershao hadn't rushed over with her men before, but it was completely useless. At best, these people tried to appease her superficially, and the woman would even act aggrieved.

"You are just bullying me because my father is not in the capital, right?" Mrs. Mei gritted her teeth. Did the Mei family really think she had no way out?

Mei Hanlin originally wanted to transfer to another government post, and he thought that everything would go smoothly. However, he learned that the Ministry of Personnel did not have a transfer order for him and would not allow him to serve as an official outside the capital.

This made Mei Hanlin very puzzled. Could it be that he didn't take care of it well?

"To be honest with you, having a concubine is just a merchant's trick," someone told Mei Hanlin. "If I give you a transfer order, they'll impeach you in front of the emperor, and you'll lose the order."

"I don't have a concubine anymore." Mei Hanlin explained that after Liu's father regained his title, he told his wife not to let those people talk about the second young master's wife anymore and not to mention the concubine anymore.

"I think he did earlier." The man said, "Although Marquis Jingning is not in the capital, he will return sooner or later."

There are always people who attack Mei Hanlin in order not to offend Marquis Jingning or even to please him.

Mei Hanlin did not expect things to turn out like this. He originally thought that he could serve as an official outside the capital.

In the original novel, Mei Hanlin also did not leave the capital to serve as an official. Many people were waiting for transfer orders. People had something on Mei Hanlin's family, so of course they could find ways to prevent Mei Hanlin from leaving the capital.

This time, someone simply used the name of Jingning Marquis' Mansion, which saved Mei Hanlin from having to worry that someone else was harming him.

After Mei Hanlin returned home, he could not admit his fault and could only say that his wife was confused.

"Master." Madam Mei had never imagined that a concubine would prevent Hanlin Mei from going out to serve as an official. "What should we do? Or... or should we send her to the manor first?"

"Why send her a farm? Just let her stay home and don't go out." Mei Hanlin thought that even if he sent his second son's concubine away now, it would be useless. If he sent her away, how would they get the money from her?

Mei Hanlin didn't have a housekeeper, but he knew that his family didn't have that much money. Over the years, they had mainly relied on the dowries of their daughters-in-law. Mei Hanlin's salary was not that high, so if he went to social events, he would inevitably have to spend some money, and he also had to manage the relationship.

"I will listen to the master." Mrs. Mei didn't want to send this concubine away. She took so many things and knew that her second son's concubine had a lot of good things.

It was Madam Mei who first proposed the title of "equal wife." She had originally intended for the woman to be a concubine to her son, but later, when the Liu family lost their titles, she suggested that her second son marry her as a equal wife in order to coax her into taking more money.

The Mei family was trying to smooth things over because they wanted the matter to be over as soon as possible. After a while, no one would remember it anymore.

Mrs. Mei had previously taken this concubine to some banquets, intending to have her replace the second young master's wife in the future. This led many people to know that Mrs. Mei valued this concubine more. Even if Mrs. Mei didn't take anyone out now, others would still remember it.

The families who were originally interested in the daughter of the Mei family all went to talk about other girls instead of looking at the daughter of the Mei family. They believed that a mother like Mrs. Mei was unlikely to raise a good daughter. If their sons married such a daughter-in-law, they were afraid that the family would be in turmoil and they would not be able to live a good life in the future.

Other families would at most keep the wife at home and not bring her out. In more serious cases, they would even let her die of illness. But no one would do what the Mei family did, locking up the wife and bringing in a concubine.

When the Mei family saw that the Liu family's title had been restored, they released the principal wife, but did not send the concubine away. They just let the concubine stay at home.

The others weren't fools, so how could they not see what the Mei family was thinking? The Mei family was just trying to get the best for everyone. Some people even heard that the concubine had brought a lot of dowry and a lot of silver.

Madam Qin Da Shao didn't bother with the Mei family's affairs. She was Madam Mei Er Shao's elder sister, but that didn't mean she could just meddle in other people's family affairs. Since her younger sister wasn't strong enough, she could just keep grinding.

In the northwest, Liu Yanbo finally went to find his father. Liu Yanbo thought that his daughters might have wronged the eldest wife, but as the girls had already married out, they had nothing to wrong the eldest wife.

"What do you want?" Father Liu asked, "You chose this family yourself."

Father Liu remembered that Mother Liu had arranged for Madam Mei to marry someone else, but Madam Mei was unwilling. The Mei family wasn't a very good family to begin with, so the way they treated Madam Mei wasn't surprising to Father Liu at all.

"We are not in the capital. Even if we write a letter and ask someone to look after her, how long can they do that?" It's not that Liu's father doesn't care about his daughter, but this is the fact.

They are not in the capital and cannot reach that far.

The most Father Liu could do was write a letter reprimanding the Mei family for their actions, questioning Mei Hanlin and the Second Young Master Mei. He found it difficult to do anything else. This matter was, at best, a family matter, and it was difficult to ask friends for help.

"With your letter, they will definitely not dare to hurt her." Liu Yanbo said.

"If your father-in-law tells you not to hurt your wife, and he's not in front of you, but writes you a letter from afar, do you think that's okay?" Father Liu asked again.

Father Liu believed that the Mei family might be nicer to the second young master Mei's wife on the surface, but privately he believed that the second young master Mei's wife was too troublesome. He believed that she wrote letters to her natal family to complain, causing her natal family to oppress the Mei family.

This is how things are. If you don't care, people will think you are easy to bully; if you care, you are not at the scene, so the deterrent effect is not that great.

"I didn't hurt my wife." Liu Yanbo said.

"You'd better study hard. When you go to Beijing for the imperial examination one day, I will take care of you more." Father Liu planned to write a letter to the Mei family. He couldn't let people think that their family was easy to bully.

Madam Liu hadn't stopped Father Liu from writing this letter. Madam Mei, the Second Young Master's wife, had been bullied to such an extent. This letter should have been written, and not only should it have been written, but the words should have been harsher.

At this time, Princess Zhaoyang was tasting the wine brewed by Liu Yulian. The wine tasted good and was not so easy to make people drunk.

"Such good wine must be made from the best grapes." Princess Zhaoyang said.

"These are grapes grown in our own fields. The sunshine hours here are long, and the grapes are sweeter." Liu Yulian said. She was about to pack her down jacket and planned to send the clothes to the military camp in two days.

Recently, the temperature has dropped again and it has become much cooler.

Liu Yulian was worried that Liu Yanjing and He Xiyuan would be frozen. She knew that it was not easy for these two people to be frozen, but she just felt uneasy.

Princess Zhaoyang sat aside and watched Liu Yulian making down jackets. She did not interrupt Liu Yulian while she was doing these things.

"Your brother must be very happy." Princess Zhaoyang looked at the down jacket made by Liu Yulian. "It's very well made."

Princess Zhaoyang just felt that the colors of these down jackets were not that good-looking, but for clothes worn by soldiers, the color is not important.

"Last year we made cotton-padded clothes," Liu Yulian said. They hadn't thought about down jackets last year. They were busy with other things, so it was too late. "These clothes are just a bit heavy."

"As long as it's warm," Princess Zhaoyang said, "it's a good opportunity for them to exercise. They're in the military camp anyway, so they need to be strong."

Princess Zhaoyang didn't think the clothes were heavy, but rather felt they were a bit light. They had worn heavier clothes before to keep warm.

"Is this all you do at home?" Princess Zhaoyang asked. She hadn't seen Liu Yulian do anything else. "Don't you leave it to the servants?"

"It has to be done by the servants, but sometimes I can do it faster, so I will do it myself." Liu Yulian said, "Look at each other so that we don't get confused about what to do."

You can't just stuff the down in there; down jackets have checkered patterns to prevent the down from sticking together when you wash. Cotton-padded jackets also need a few stitches. Those people know how to do it, and they do a pretty good job.

"It will be almost ready by tomorrow." Liu Yulian looked at the down jacket in her hand and said, "I'll send it over the day after tomorrow."

"Are you going?" Princess Zhaoyang had met Liu Yanjing before and was in no rush to see him again. She thought the most important thing was to see Liu Yanjing's children, who were very adorable.

"Go and take a look." Liu Yulian's cheeks were slightly red. He Xiyuan said he wanted to see her, but then asked her not to go, saying it was too cold outside.

That guy spoke quickly in front of her, and after he finished speaking, he quickly told her not to go and to let the servants go. Liu Yulian knew that even if she didn't go, He Xiyuan would still hold those clothes.

My brother said that He Xiyuan attached great importance to the clothes she made and always looked at the things she made with her own hands.

Liu Yulian thought that He Xiyuan's behavior was also quite good. She could just go there in a carriage. She could also light a stove to warm her hands so that she wouldn't be too cold.

Princess Zhaoyang did not tease Liu Yulian, as they were not that familiar with each other yet.

"Take Xiaojia to see it again." Liu Yulian said, "She still wants to go out and play. If you don't take her with you, she will run around aimlessly."

"She is still very well-behaved and runs around the house." Princess Zhaoyang never saw little Liu Jia making any noise during the several times she came. She was a very well-behaved child.

Little Liujia would move a small chair and sit next to them, eating cakes there quietly without disturbing others.

When Princess Zhaoyang saw Liu Jia like this, she thought that it was probably because the child gradually realized these things after the Liu family was confiscated, which was why he was so well-behaved.

"She specifically told me to do that," Liu Yulian said. "If I didn't tell her, she would run outside."

Fortunately, there was a maid keeping an eye on her little niece, so Liu Yulian didn't have to worry too much about her.

Liu's father gave the written letter to Liu Yanbo instead of sending it out himself.

"Take it." said Father Liu.

Father Liu didn't give anything else to Mrs. Mei, because there really wasn't much at home. If he gave a concubine's daughter, wouldn't he also have to give a legitimate daughter and other daughters? If he gave too little, it wouldn't look good.

So Father Liu simply didn't send anything. If the second house wanted to buy something for Mrs. Mei, the second young master, then the second house would send it.

"Thank you, father." Liu Yanbo breathed a sigh of relief.

Father Liu waved his hand. After all, he was the father of Mrs. Mei Ershao, so he would still do the easy task.

When Liu Yanbo returned to the county town, he told Aunt Qing that his father had written a letter.

"What letter? Open it and take a look." Aunt Qing wanted to see what Liu's father had written in the letter. Seeing that Liu Yanbo was not very willing to open the letter, she said, "Your father gave you the letter, he can't expect you not to read it."

"This..." Liu Yanbo hesitated.

"This is addressed to Mei Hanlin," Aunt Qing said, "but neither you nor I know what's in it. What if it's not good for your sister?"

Aunt Qing believed that Father Liu might really do that, that he didn't value their families. Of course, Father Liu wanted to save face, and he might reprimand Mei Hanlin, but his daughter still wanted to live in the Mei family.

This made Aunt Qing think about what Father Liu wrote in the letter. If it was not well written, then why should they send the letter to Beijing?

"Take a look, it won't damage the letter." Aunt Qing snatched the letter from Liu Yanbo's hand. The envelope hadn't been sealed yet, so she pulled out the letter.