Chapter 76 Chapter 76 Aunt Wen is old and her appearance...
Madam Wen is old and not particularly pretty. Ever since she gave birth to Tian Jie'er, Lord Xue rarely came to her room once a month.
Today, because of the delicious food, Madam Wen was not happy at all. She just put on a smile and asked, "What brought the Marquis here today?"
"It's been a while since I last saw you, and I've been missing Sweetie, so I came here to see her." The Marquis coughed and said in a serious tone.
He usually ignored Tian Jie'er, but today he acted like a kind father. Madam Wen sneered in her heart.
She knew that the Marquis was just making up excuses, but she didn't expose him. She just said to him very gently, "Marquis, you came at the right time. It just so happens that today is Tian Jie'er's tenth birthday, and I spent money to prepare a table of food. Since the Marquis is here, why don't you eat before leaving? Tian Jie'er is also happy to see her father."
Lord Xue had totally forgotten about his own daughter's birthday. Now that he suddenly heard this from Madam Wen, the Marquis felt a little embarrassed, and he felt a rare sense of guilt towards Madam Wen and Tian Jie'er.
The table was filled with roast chicken, steamed fish, fried shrimp, braised tofu and Chinese mushrooms. Because it was Tian Jie'er's birthday, a bowl of longevity noodles and a pot of sweet rice wine were specially made.
The prices in Beijing are alarmingly high nowadays. Just these few dishes cost Madam Wen more than ten taels of silver.
Madam Wen pulled Tian Jie'er and said, "Tian Jie'er, the Marquis is here, why don't you come over and call him daddy?"
The sweet girl is only ten years old. Her almond eyes look very much like Madam Wen, but her nose and mouth are more like Marquis Xue.
She was still young, and had always been raised in the palm of Madam Wen's hand, so she looked cute and adorable. When she saw the Marquis, she imitated her mother's behavior, went forward to please him, and called him "Daddy" sweetly.
When Lord Xue saw that Tian Jie was well-behaved and sensible, he began to like this daughter whom he hadn't seen for a long time.
He was very happy at the moment, and said to Madam Wen: "Since today is Tianjie's birthday, it's not right for her to come to the feast empty-handed. Let's give the shop beside the canal west of Xue's city to Tianjie as a dowry, so that she will have someone to rely on when she grows up and gets married."
The shop was in a very ordinary location and only made a profit of one or two hundred taels a year, but it was still an industry after all, and it was an extra layer of security for a concubine's daughter like Tian Jie'er.
Madam Wen was overjoyed and immediately took Tian Jie'er to thank the Marquis together.
Tian Jie'er was also a good person. She immediately served a bowl of sweet soup to the Marquis and said, "Dad, this fermented rice wine is very sweet. Would you like to try it?"
Lord Xue took the sweet soup with a smile, took a sip, and was very pleased with the scene of loving father and filial daughter.
He has always been soft-hearted and has never responded to harsh words. Xue Fenglin has been raised by the Ye family since he was a child, and they have always been rather cold and hard towards him. He also has a very bad relationship with Xue Fenglin.
Bai gave birth to Xue Fengli, who was always good at pleasing him and was very much favored by him.
But Xue Fengli is grown up now, and likes to hang out with some friends of the same age outside every day. He is not willing to spend time to please the old man in his house.
Lord Xue was served a delicious meal by Madam Wen and Tian Jie'er. His face was flushed and he was very satisfied with Madam Wen and her daughter.
Madam Wen picked up a chicken leg for the Marquis and said, "Speaking of which, this time, when it comes to Tianjie's birthday, the prince thought of it in advance and sent someone to send some fabrics and silver. He said that he wanted me to make a few clothes for my concubine sister and prepare a good feast."
"The last time he saw Tian Jie, she still hadn't learned anything. He also said that all the girls and boys from the noble families in Beijing could recite poems and write calligraphy, so he hired a teacher to teach Tian Jie every three days, and the money was paid from his account."
When the Marquis heard this, he nodded and said, "Your Highness is right about this. In a family like ours, even the girls and boys in the family must learn to read, otherwise they will be laughed at when they go out."
At this point, the Marquis paused before saying, "Since you are hiring a gentleman for Tian Jie, you can just pay from the public. Why do you have to pay from the prince?"
The reason why Lord Xue said this was not because he felt sorry for Xue Fenglin's money, but because he felt that his son had another handle on this matter, which would inevitably be brought up by him in the future.
Madam Wen hesitated at this time and said, "My Lord, it's not that I don't want to take money from the public treasury, but I asked Madam if I could let Tian Jie go to the clan school to study. Madam said that a woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent, and asked Tian Jie not to learn useless things."
Lord Xue was already in a cold war with Bai, so when he heard this, he knew exactly what Bai was thinking. He was even more angry, and snorted fiercely, "This Bai, she used to be proficient in everything, but she didn't let her daughter study. She is getting narrower and narrower! It's better not to mention it!"
Seeing that Marquis Xue was obviously unhappy, Madam Wen curled the corners of her mouth, picked up another piece of food for him with her chopsticks, and talked about other things.
That night, Lord Xue rarely stayed in Madam Wen's room.
When Bai learned about this, she was actually quite happy. It’s just because Madam Wen is already over 30 years old and her appearance is not extremely beautiful. Compared with Madam Qin, she has no competitiveness.
However, on the second day, the housekeeper suddenly came to report that the marquis had transferred a shop under the name of Tian Jie'er.
Bai's expression changed instantly and she got really angry. It was just that Madam Wen had good tactics. In just one day, she had persuaded the Marquis to give her a shop.
On the next day, the Marquis went to Madam Wen again. There was a pot of lotus root and pork ribs soup on Madam Wen's table today. When she saw Marquis Xue coming over, she hurriedly said, "Marquis, I thought you might come today, so I asked Yin Shuang to send someone to cut some pork ribs for soup."
Nowadays, apart from basic meals, students in each hospital have to buy everything they want to eat by themselves.
Madam Wen tidied up her own small kitchen a long time ago and cooked for Tian Jie'er herself, which is very convenient now.
Lord Xue knew the situation well, and he also knew that Madam Wen owned several shops and was well-off enough to afford to run a small kitchen.
Now seeing that Madam Wen and her daughter were all around him and that he was well fed and well drunk, he felt very happy. For the next few days, he stayed in Madam Wen's courtyard every day.
"This bitch is really generous. She has spent fifty or sixty taels just on food these days, right?" Bai said coldly after hearing Mama You come to report on what happened in Madam Wen's courtyard.
"Where does Madam Wen get so much money? Don't the shops she runs only generate three or four hundred taels of income every year? Is she willing to spend it?" Madam You asked in confusion, "Madam, why don't we cook two delicious dishes in our courtyard and invite the Marquis over?"
"How long has it been since the Marquis last visited her? Why are you reluctant to leave?" Mrs. Bai rolled her eyes and said, "Food is so expensive nowadays. Just a good meal costs more than ten taels of silver. The Duke has already spent so much money on food, and there is nothing left to give. Do you want me to follow the example of Madam Wen and pay for it out of my own pocket?"
"The money I have saved will be used to help Li'er get married, so I can't just spend it on food and drink."
"It's just these few days. When the famine is over and the people in the palace have good food, let's see what she can do to keep the Marquis!"
Seeing that except for the first day, the Marquis did not give any property to Madam Wen and her daughter, Bai felt relieved.
She and the Marquis have been married for nearly thirty years and know him best.
You know, he goes to Madam Wen's place every day just because the food there is better. If the famine in the capital is resolved after some time, I'm afraid I'll have to run to that little bitch Qin's concubine.
Madam Wen entertains the Marquis with food and drinks every day. If I were to pay for it myself, I would definitely not be able to afford it.
However, after Xue Fenglin knew that the Marquis had gone to her place, he sent her several hundred taels of silver notes and asked her to serve the Marquis well.
Madam Wen knew Xue Fenglin's intention, so she spent a lot of money to prepare meals every day to keep the Marquis.
After a few days, Madam Wen always felt a little unwell. After careful calculation, she found that her happy day had been delayed for a long time.
She felt somewhat nervous, but did not dare to tell anyone. She just secretly went out under the pretext of cooking for the Marquis and went to see a doctor.
This was really surprising. It turned out that the Marquis had been staying overnight these days, and Madam Wen had been eating meals from her own small kitchen every day. She was actually pregnant!
When Madam Wen found out that she was pregnant, she was delighted, but she immediately became worried again.
Now, although Xue Fenglin treats Tian Jie'er very well and helps her to please the Marquis. But if she knew that I was pregnant, I didn’t know what her attitude would be?
After all, if she was pregnant with a boy, he would have the right to inherit part of the Marquis's estate, but the prince might not like it.
She was worried and restless, but Yin Shuang beside her advised: "Auntie, you can't keep this a secret. You'd better tell the prince."
"Now that you are on the same boat with him, you can't hide anything. Besides, if Madam knows about it before the prince, you and the baby in your belly will be in even greater danger."
Yinshuang's younger brother Jinzhi worked for Shen Xuan, and his parents were arranged by the prince to sit next to him, so he naturally spoke in Xue Fenglin's favor.
Madam Wen thought that made sense when she heard this. If the prince really wanted to attack her, she would be powerless to fight back. So he did not go home, but sent someone to find Wuxin Wuwang at the clinic and told Xue Fenglin about it.
After hearing this, Xue Fenglin specially sent Wuxin over and said to Madam Wen, "You must inform the Marquis of this matter. Otherwise, if Bai Shi finds out, the baby in your belly will probably die sooner or later."
How could Madam Wen not understand what Xue Fenglin meant? He could only sigh and take the car back home.
When the Marquis had finished his dinner that night and wanted to be intimate with her again, Madam Wen pushed him away and said, "Marquis, I have something to tell you. If there is anything inappropriate in what I said, please forgive me."
The Marquis was stunned, not knowing why Madam Wen asked this, so he let her speak.
Madam Wen informed the Marquis of her pregnancy, but she added: "This is a good thing, but I am afraid and dare not tell it to anyone."
"It's because I used to eat in the kitchen, and I often had unbearable abdominal pain. But after I started cooking for myself recently, the abdominal pain has improved a lot."
"I dare not say that my stomachache has anything to do with the kitchen, but the master has had many concubines and maids in the mansion over the years, and except for the concubine Tian Jie'er, no one else has given birth to a child."
"After I cooked my own meals, my abdominal pain was relieved by 90%, and I became pregnant."
When Lord Xue heard what Madam Wen said, his expression changed instantly.
He held a high position and had many wives and concubines, but he was a little lacking in offspring. Apart from two legitimate sons and one illegitimate daughter, there are no other children!
Lord Xue has been constantly promoting his concubines over the years and taking in two concubines. It is inevitable that he has some desire to have more children.
However, the maids and concubines who were promoted were all not good at conceiving and had not given birth for many years.
Originally, the Marquis was over fifty years old and had no expectations of having offspring. When he heard the news that Madam Wen was pregnant, he was overjoyed.
But he also heard from Madam Wen that he had few children, and the reason didn't seem simple?
Could this really be related to the big kitchen? Lord Xue thought of this, but did not dare to think further. After all, the personnel affairs in the big kitchen are now managed by Bai.
Thinking of how Aunt Qin had pestered him to set up a small kitchen, Lord Xue had a mixed feeling on his face. He was silent for a while before saying, "This matter is of great importance. I dare not make any assertions. I need to verify it first."
He specially found a doctor and asked him to check the leftovers on the tables of Aunt Kong and Aunt Qin.
The doctor examined the food carefully before saying, "There is nothing wrong with these foods, but I noticed that many dishes seem to have safflower powder added to them. This powder can be used for seasoning, but eating too much can easily cause uterine coldness and lead to abdominal pain during pregnancy. Women should eat less."
"If we use safflower to season every meal, will it affect fertility over time?" Madam Wen asked immediately.
"How can anyone eat safflower for every meal?" The doctor laughed and said, "If you really eat it like this, your wife will have unbearable abdominal pain every day and it will be difficult for her to have children."
After hearing what the doctor said, Lord Xue was fully aware of what he understood.
His face turned pale, and he felt angry when he thought about how the Bai family had secretly interfered in the affairs of his offspring over the years.
However, the relationship between the Xue family and the Bai family cannot be easily torn apart. Moreover, Bai's brother Bai Yan is the confidant of the Grand Prince. If Bai's character is corrupt, Xue Fengli's future will also be affected.
Lord Xue closed his eyes and fell into deep thought. I don't know how long it took before he suddenly opened his eyes and said to the servants beside him, "Go call Bai over here!"
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