At this moment, Madam Du and Du Lanlan arrived with their entourage.
Xia Chunmei and Du Lanlan, these two "love rivals," finally met.
"Greetings, Madam and Miss." Lin Mama and the other servants bowed in unison.
The Du mother and daughter stared intently at Xia Chunmei, their eyes so cold they seemed capable of freezing someone to death.
Xia Chunmei also looked at the Du family mother and daughter, her gaze finally landing on Du Lanlan's stomach. She finally understood why the Du family had taken action this time; it turned out that Du Lanlan was pregnant.
It seems they wanted to resolve everything before Xianhuai appeared.
However, her appearance...
"Why don't you bow to my lady and young lady?" At this moment, Xiangyu, the maidservant beside Du Lanlan, said sternly.
“Your mistress and young lady aren’t princesses, so why should I bow to you, a lowly servant? Why should I yell at you? You’re a slave, I’m a commoner. I was invited by your Du family to discuss business. In a way, I should be considered a guest. Is this how your Du family treats its guests?”
Xiangyu's expression changed slightly. She hadn't expected Xia Chunmei, a country girl, to be so quick-witted, leaving her speechless.
Xia Chunmei continued, "Ha, first your Du family had shameless servants who made a mess in your madam's courtyard, then a lowly maid threw dirty water on me, and now another lowly maid has appeared, yelling at me without any sense of hierarchy."
"Tsk tsk, the Du family's family values are truly admirable. I've certainly seen something new. Sister Baoyun, I think we should just forget about this business deal with the Du family. I, Xia Chunmei, will never do business with a family like that."
Fan Baoyun was dumbfounded.
The Du family members were furious; when did it become the place for a village girl to gossip about them?
"How dare you!" Granny Lin shouted angrily, "This is not our mistress's courtyard!"
"Oh, isn't that right? When Aunt Zhou brought me here, she told me this was Madam's courtyard. I found it strange at the time. How could the matriarch of the Du family live in such a dilapidated courtyard? So it's not Madam's place after all. Then why did Aunt Zhou lie to me, Baoyun? Do you know why she lied?"
Fan Baoyun, who was called out by Xia Chunmei again, felt guilty and stammered, unable to say anything.
“Miss Xia, this has happened because my Du family has not disciplined its members properly, and you have become a laughing stock.” Madam Du said.
“Madam Du, your Du family’s servants are so arrogant, how dare I watch your Du family make a fool of itself? Just now, this Granny Lin even stopped me from leaving, saying that I was the one who did what Zhou’s sister-in-law and her brother did. I really have no way to defend myself.”
"Now that Madam Du has arrived, it's just in time. I was just about to go to the yamen and ask the county magistrate to investigate this matter and clear my name."
When Fan Baoyun heard that Xia Chunmei was still insisting on going to the yamen, she became anxious and said, "Chunmei, Granny Lin was just saying it casually, she didn't mean it..."
“Sister Baoyun, you are Baowen’s older sister. You should know that if my reputation is ruined, Baowen may also be implicated. He is a scholar, and his reputation cannot be damaged in the slightest. I must go to the yamen and ask the county magistrate to make a decision!”
Would they dare to take this matter to the county government?
Others might not know what kind of person the county magistrate was, but the Du family, who did business in the county town, knew very well.
He Bo is definitely not the kind of heartless, corrupt, and incompetent official!
Once Xia Chunmei reports this to the authorities, He Bo will definitely investigate impartially. Then, by following the clues, he will find out that today's events were actually a scheme set up by the Du and Fan families.
"Hurry up and apologize to Miss Xia!" Madam Du said.
Upon hearing the lady of the house speak, Granny Lin and Xiangyu immediately apologized, "We're sorry."
Xia Chunmei: "Speak louder, I didn't hear you."
Seeing that Xia Chunmei was still acting arrogantly, the Du family members and Fan Baoyun were all unhappy.
There was nothing Lin Mama and Xiangyu could do but bow and raise their voices, softening their tone: "Miss Xia, we were rash and offended you greatly. Please forgive us."
"What does the Zhou siblings' matter have to do with me?"
Upon hearing this, Granny Lin glanced at Madam Du and Miss Du, then said, "Miss Xia is visiting for the first time and has no grudge against the Zhou siblings. It's their shamelessness that's causing this."
"This is none of anyone else's business."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Dami immediately sensed something was wrong.
Then Madam Du continued, "I'm sorry Miss Xia had to witness this today. Lin Mama offended a guest; she'll be fined three months' wages. As for the Zhou siblings, they committed such a disgraceful act, ruining the Du family's reputation; they'll each receive twenty strokes of the cane and be expelled from the manor!"
"Madam, please don't, Madam, I've heard everything..." In his anxiety, Zhou Dami almost blurted out the whole story, but how could the shrewd Madam Du give him the chance to speak?
With just a glance from her, someone covered Zhou Dami's mouth and dragged her out.
"I've heard about Miss Xia's culinary skills from Madam Fan before. The main reason I invited Miss Xia here today is for the birthday banquet. Miss Xia, please don't let today's unpleasant incident cause you to refuse orders from the Du family."
After saying this, Madam Du picked up a longevity peach bun, took a bite, and was immediately amazed.
He was just pretending before, but the expression on his face after taking a bite of the food was genuine.
"Miss Xia truly has skillful hands! With your culinary skills, fifteen coins a table is a bit too much. I'll give you twenty coins a table, what do you say, Miss Xia?"
They raised the price because they were afraid I wouldn't accept the order.
"Actually, I had already taken on other orders those two days. Mrs. Du, you might as well find someone else."
"Miss Xia, if you think the price is too low, how about thirty coins per table?"
Fan Baoyun was afraid that Xia Chunmei would refuse, so she quickly persuaded her: "Chunmei, this is a lot of money. You only spend a few dollars on a banquet in the village. This is many times more than that. It's only because Madam Du is so generous. Others wouldn't be so generous. Please agree quickly."
These two, working together to persuade me to agree, seem to be planning to use the birthday banquet to further frame me.
It's too easy to tamper with or frame someone when it comes to food.
Xia Chunmei herself wasn't afraid, but there were so many people in the village working for her, and her stepsister was still young. Even with Xia Ping'an as her trump card, she couldn't afford to take the risk.
Xia Chunmei insisted on not taking the business, so Madam Du had no choice but to give up and politely had Xia Chunmei and her niece seen off.
Fan Baoyun suppressed her anger and saw Xia Chunmei and Xia Hongfen out of the Du family's house: "Go back on your own."
After saying that, Fan Baoyun turned around and went back into the Du family's house.
Xia Chunmei guessed that she must have gone to discuss countermeasures with the Du family, and Xia Chunmei signaled Xia Pingan to follow her quickly.
"Chunmei, is something wrong? Why does she look so pale?"
Fan Baoyun had a sour face, and Xia Hongfen could clearly sense that something was wrong.
"Ha, the conspiracy failed, so why be happy?"
"What conspiracy?"
Xia Chunmei then told Xia Hongfen about how the Fan and Du families had conspired to frame her.
"What?!" Xia Hongfen exclaimed in shock. "If you knew they wanted to harm you, why did you still come?"
Xia Hongfen was shocked by her niece's audacity and glared at Xia Chunmei: "What will you do if they succeed?"
"Auntie, don't get agitated, I know what I'm doing."
"You know what you're doing? What a load of crap!" Xia Hongfen cursed excitedly. "What if something happens to you? You're incredibly reckless!"
The Fan family is inhuman, a bunch of sons of bitches and beasts. My father should never have saved old man Fan back then. They are ungrateful bastards!
And that Du family, those shameless sluts, are all the men in the world dead? Why are they fixated on someone else's fiancé? Shameless..."
(Two thousand words omitted here)
"This matter cannot be left like this, I must..."
Xia Hongfen grew angrier the more she thought about it, and turned to go back to the Du family to settle accounts with them!
Xia Chunmei quickly grabbed the person: "Aunt, don't go. The Du family has a lot of members. We won't get away with it if we go. Don't worry, I won't let them get away with it."
Du Lanlan is pregnant, and the child is Fan Baowen's. The Du family probably wants to finalize the marriage between Fan Baowen and Du Lanlan before the pregnancy becomes obvious.
If the two of them want to get married as soon as possible, Xia Chunmei and Xia Xiumei definitely need to resolve things quickly.
Xia Xiumei must have been in danger at that time as well.
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