Chapter 54: The Marquis's Mansion is Poor! The General's Mansion is Poor! Rumors Spread in the Capital
Zhou Baili glared at Liu Mingyue with gritted teeth and returned to the Zhou Mansion angrily, with Zhou Qianqian following closely behind.
Liu Mingyue disdained to deal with these people. She smiled and looked at Aunt Liu: "Mother, I will take you to have some tea."
"My son, you actually..." Aunt Liu looked hesitantly at the masters who entered the mansion, feeling a little uneasy.
"Just enjoy the day with your daughter and don't think too much." Liu Mingyue knew that her mother was worried that she would make enemies if she was too aggressive, but Liu Mingyue didn't care.
At least, she didn't care what the Zhou family dared to do to her. The Zhou family didn't have many days left. Liu Mingyue brought Aunt Liu to Chunbanju, the teahouse she managed.
The teahouse is at the end of the long street and its location is not very good, but it is precisely because of this location that it is very suitable to be used as a teahouse.
Liu Mingyue led Aunt Liu into the teahouse, took out a sign and handed it to the shopkeeper, asking him to choose a good play for the troupe to perform. The plays selected in the teahouse all had melodious and long tunes, which were most suitable for listening to while drinking tea.
As soon as she sat down, Aunt Liu was a little surprised when the play started, because it was the song she liked.
However, because she entered Zhou's mansion as a concubine, she did not want to cause trouble and never said what she liked.
Aunt Liu held her daughter's hand and said, "I'm afraid it will cost a lot of money. I'm happy to hear anything. I'm happy to be with my precious daughter, even if it's just eating a piece of cake at a roadside stall."
Liu Mingyue patted her hands to comfort her: "Mother, this teahouse is run by my daughter. Not only can you listen to any opera, but you can also drink all the delicious tea here."
Hearing this, the woman was startled and began to look at the teahouse carefully. The location of this shop was not good, but there were many customers, especially the good seats for listening to operas were occupied, which showed that the business was good.
This was her first time visiting her daughter's shop, and she had not expected the business to be so good: "My son, your shop is doing so well. I am very happy for you. My son, you have made great progress."
Aunt Liu watched her daughter gradually become different from before, and felt relieved from the bottom of her heart.
"How have you been doing in the Marquis' Mansion recently? Are you okay?" Aunt Liu was worried that her parents-in-law would make things difficult for her.
Liu Mingyue took Aunt Liu's hand, held her hand against her face, and said word by word: "My daughter eats and drinks well in the Marquis' Mansion. Mother, please feel her and see if she has gained some weight."
Apart from the Marquise and Tan Zhuoyan who were a bit of an eyesore, life in the Marquis's Mansion was pretty good.
The servants didn't dare to bully her, but they wouldn't serve her too attentively either. This gave Liu Mingyue the opportunity to secretly give herself, Guihua and Huasheng some extra meals without anyone finding out.
Aunt Liu was worried about her daughter, but after hearing Liu Mingyue's complaints, she couldn't help but laugh. She gently pinched her face lovingly and said softly, "You have indeed gained some weight, which is good."
Liu Mingyue took Aunt Liu to watch opera and drink tea, and sent her back to Zhou's house after dinner.
Not long after the palace banquet, news about the Zhou Mansion and the Hou Mansion spread like wildfire and spread throughout the capital.
"Have you heard that the Dingbei Marquis Mansion is now in decline, unable to even take out a few hundred taels of silver, and needs the daughter-in-law's dowry to subsidize the household expenses." People were talking about it in teahouses, taverns, and on the streets.
"And the Zhou Mansion. I didn't expect that they only gave 200 taels of dowry to their adopted daughter when she married her to the Marquis' Mansion. The other 300 taels were supplemented by the concubine. Is the mansion really that poor?"
The people were talking at once, about things that were completely unrelated, and they were talking about them with great enthusiasm.
The rumor soon spread to the Marquis's residence. When the nanny beside the Marquise heard about it, she hurried to tell the lady.
"What? Who touched that bitch's dowry? When will we ask her for a share of the household income?" The Marchioness was trimming the flowers in the yard when she heard about this. She slammed the scissors on the table.
Although she did intend to use Liu Mingyue's dowry, wouldn't that be useless?
"People are saying everywhere in the capital... that our family is so poor that we can't even support our daily expenses, and that the bride's dowry has been embezzled. The rumor is spreading like wildfire."
The nanny unnoticeably put away the scissors on the stone table, fearing that her master might hurt herself.
"It's complete nonsense! How did this news get out?" The Marquis's wife was so angry that her face turned red. She had intended to do something but had not done it, and now someone was blaming her for it. Of course, she was furious.
"This... I don't know." The nanny lowered her head. The rumors outside were spreading like wildfire, and it was not easy to find out where they came from.
The Marquis's wife was so angry that she cursed for a long time and it took her a long time to calm down. The nanny was very good at reading people's expressions and immediately served her tea.
Just as she opened the lid of the tea bowl, the Marquis paused as she thought of something and said, "Only the maid I brought with me to that bitch's yard that day knew about my original plan for her dowry."
When the Marquis' wife hinted at Liu Mingyue, she spoke in a roundabout way. Liu Mingyue didn't understand, but others might have understood.
The Marquise herself had a good idea of how to act in front of others.
Money makes the world go round. The mansion is indeed facing a tight budget right now, so there is not much money to reward the servants. Who knows, some short-sighted person might be so bold as to set his eyes on Liu Mingyue's dowry.
If this is the case, it must be dealt with properly!
"And the maid in the Hoof Courtyard, who knows who might have stolen something in my name, and that's why she spread these rumors."
The nanny agreed with what the Marquise said. The Crown Prince's wife was too stupid to do such a thing. She didn't have the intention to do that.
The cunning servants in the mansion who pretend to obey but actually disobey others are very good at reading people's faces. Even if they secretly stole Liu Mingyue's things and exchanged them for money, it is hard to say for sure.
"I think it should be what Madam guessed. These people have ruined the reputation of the Marquis' Mansion. How do you plan to deal with these stubborn slaves?"
The nanny followed the Marquise into the mansion. Everything revolved around her master. If there were servants with dishonest hands in the mansion, it would ruin the mansion's reputation, which would be a slap in the face of the marquise. The nanny was angry with her master and hated those servants for not doing a good job.
"Since they are useless, let's call the human traffickers today to sell them off, no matter if they are from our side or that bastard's yard. Sell them all." The Marquise's face was gloomy. It was time to clean out the people in the mansion.
This is a good opportunity to replace the people around that bastard. When the ugly girl got married, the Marquise didn't take her seriously, so she didn't place any spies in her yard, which resulted in her not knowing anything going on over there now.
Madam Hou would be worried if she asked people whose background she didn't know to do things for her, so this opportunity was perfect.
After receiving the order from the Marquise, Mother Duan rushed into Liu Mingyue's yard in a rage.
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