Chapter 3 Chapter 3 What’s the difference between this and bandits!
Qionghua Hall is the most spacious and bright main courtyard in the entire Li Mansion. It has three upper rooms. Luo lives in the main house in the middle, Li Susu lives in the east wing, and the west wing is converted into a small kitchen.
The main house has nanmu wood beams, and under the eaves hangs a plaque inscribed with the words "Virtue Lasts Forever" written by Mr. Kong, a great Confucian scholar in Beijing.
Under the plaque, the housekeeper of the Li Mansion was pacing back and forth anxiously.
On the other hand, Mrs. Luo in the bedroom had just slowly gotten out of bed in her sandals, being served by four or five maids. She listened to her mother Luo reading a letter to her. It was from her beloved son Li Che who was far away in Lingnan. He had already embarked on the journey back to Beijing and would arrive in Beijing in half a month at most.
Mrs. Luo was about forty years old, with a long and thin face, high cheekbones, and a nose as sharp as a knife. She had a mean look to her face, but she tried to act majestic like the mistress of a wealthy family. Her triangular eyes were raised high, and when she looked at people, her eyes were three parts scrutinizing and seven parts critical, revealing a sense of calculation.
She counted on her fingers and realized that today was May 16th. At the beginning of next month, her Che'er would be back and her life would get better.
Thinking of her biological son, Luo couldn't help but think of the illegitimate son who had always been ignored by her and didn't like to talk much. "What has Cuizhuxuan been busy with recently?"
"The second master is fully prepared for this year's autumn examination. In recent days, he has been going to the school before dawn." Mother Luo whispered.
Mrs. Luo snorted softly, "No matter how hard you try, you can never compare to my Che'er. My Che'er is the third place winner personally selected by His Majesty. Soon, he will be the favorite of His Majesty."
Fantasizing about that day, Luo couldn't help but laugh out loud.
The maid came forward to help Luo change her clothes and brought her the tea for her morning drink. Luo took it without smelling it carefully, but tilted her head back and took a big gulp. A damp and moldy bitter taste immediately spread between her lips and teeth.
Luo was caught off guard and spat out all the tea. Then she raised her hand and threw the teacup at the maid's feet, spitting several times.
"You damn bastard! How dare you try to trick me with this foot-dyeing tea?"
She spat a few times, but the musty smell still lingered in her mouth.
The maids in the room were terrified and knelt down to beg her to calm down. Even the housekeeper outside changed her expression.
Luo rinsed his mouth with warm water several times, barely getting rid of the indescribable disgusting taste, and only then did he feel better.
Her fingers trembled. "Who... who on earth wants to harm me? I need to drink Queshe tea every day. Who is this black-hearted bastard who actually replaced my tea?"
The maid in charge of brewing tea was trembling, tears streaming down her face. "Old Madam, no, it's not me who wants to change it, it's..."
"Why are you hesitating?" Mrs. Luo, who was standing behind Mrs. Luo, said, "Just tell the truth!"
The maid closed her eyes and said, "It's Grandma!"
After these words were spoken, everyone in the room fell silent for a moment. Luo closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if trying to suppress the anger that was about to erupt.
"Today, I went to make tea and found that the queshe tea in the storeroom was empty. So I went to report to Grandma's courtyard as usual. Who knew that Qiao Yue, who was by Grandma's side, not only refused to give me tea, but also drove me out. She also said... she also said that from now on, no one can take anything from Grandma's courtyard..."
The maid lowered her head tightly, not daring to look into Luo's fierce eyes.
Mrs. Luo felt a lump of anger stuck in her throat. She grabbed her mother's hand and said, "Go, go get that bitch."
Luo had always disliked Zhao Qingyi, a noble lady from a prominent family. Whenever she was in a bad mood, she would call her a slut. The maids in Qionghua Hall were used to it and no one dared to say anything.
Mother Luo agreed and was about to leave when the steward from the small kitchen came to the door and timidly said, "Madam, would you like to take a look at today's breakfast?"
What happened again?
Luo frowned, pushed everyone aside and walked out quickly. In the middle of the room stood an old mahogany round table with cloud patterns carved on it. It was where she usually had her meals. At this moment, there were only two plates of vegetarian dishes and a bowl of thick rice soup on the table.
Luo stumbled over to the round table, his triangular eyes widening. "You're going to let me eat this? Where's the bird's nest I drink every day?"
Not only that, even her favorite Jingdezhen blue and white porcelain plates, lotus-patterned bowls, and ivory chopsticks were all gone.
The kitchen manager looked embarrassed and said, "Madam, this...this is all what Grandma meant."
It's her again! It's her again!
"What does she want to do? Is she trying to take advantage of me, her mother-in-law? She even dares to control the food and drink expenses of my courtyard?"
Luo was furious and threw all the food on the table to the ground. "This is outrageous! This is outrageous!"
"Oh my!" The kitchen manager opened his mouth wide, heartbroken, "Madam, this..."
It’s over, it’s over. What should she say? These are the last bits of food left in the small kitchen of Qionghua Hall. Now the old lady and the aunt have not yet had their meal, but they have been knocked to the ground. They are going to starve.
"Madam, these are all that's left in the small kitchen. Master hasn't sent any money to your house in the past three years. We at Qionghua Hall have been unable to make ends meet for a long time."
"Is the Zhao family member dead?" Luo shouted angrily, "If Qionghua Hall doesn't have it, can't you go to Lanyue Pavilion to ask for it?"
The kitchen manager felt wronged, and the maid who made tea earlier also felt wronged. Why couldn't the lady understand?
“It’s no longer available…”
Before they could finish their words, they heard Qiao Yue's loud voice outside the courtyard, "Quick, quick, take all these away!"
Hearing Qiao Yue's voice, Luo Shi hurriedly lifted up her skirt and ran to the door. Holding the door frame and squinting, she saw Qiao Yue standing in the courtyard, holding a red book in one hand and a wolf hair brush in the other, directing a dozen servants to move things in the Qionghua Courtyard with great fanfare.
"A couch with a black lacquer mica stone surround, three cages with five bats holding shrouds, and a mother-of-pearl dressing box..."
Qiao Yue looked at the book, and every time she called out an item, the servants would go into the house and carry it out. After they were carried out of Qionghua Hall, she would make a mark in the book, "Be careful, don't miss anything... Hey, hey, hey, there's also the huanghuali wood bronze mirror and dressing box in the dressing room, and the vermilion bird holding a lamp tree by the door. They were also our grandmother's dowry. Move them out! Move them all out!"
As the servants carried the things, Li Susu followed behind, crying loudly.
"Mine! This is mine! All of this is mine..."
Li Susu was so distressed that she burst into tears, but no one paid any attention to her. The servants all had stern faces and were busy moving things. Li Susu simply spread her arms to block the door, "Put it down! Don't move it!"
The messengers were stopped and finally stopped, looking at Qiao Yue who was standing far away.
Qiao Yue curled her lips into a cold smile, "Auntie, they are just a bunch of rough servants, they don't know how to be gentle with women. If you care about your own skin, it's better to stay away from them, lest you get hurt by them."
"Don't even think about it! I won't let you. These are all my things in my room. Why are you trying to move them?"
Li Susu gripped the door frame, turned her head and glared at Qiao Yue fiercely, "You brought outsiders here for no reason and acted so brazenly in my courtyard. Believe it or not, I can file a complaint and sue you all to the government office!"
"You go ahead." Qiao Yue tilted her head and put her hands on her hips, showing the dowry list. "Everything here is our grandmother's dowry brought from the Zhao family. It is our grandmother's private property. If she is willing to lend it to you, then she can lend it to you. Now that she doesn't want to, it is only natural for her to take it away!"
"you……"
Li Susu was about to yell and curse, but a big and strong servant who was carrying a box couldn't hold back and pushed her out with a push of her hip.
Li Susu was a delicate girl after all, and she fell backwards after being hit.
"Susu——"
Mrs. Luo finally couldn't help herself. She wailed and ran over to pick up her daughter, who had fallen to the ground and was grimacing in pain. Her face was full of heartache. "Oh, what's going on? How did it get to this point?"
After all, Qiao Yue was the maid who was favored by Zhao Qingyi and came from the prestigious Zhao Mansion. Even if Luo Shi acted violently in private, she would feel inferior to the people around Zhao Qingyi and would not dare to act like a mistress.
To prevent her daughter from getting into any more accidents, Mrs. Luo pulled her daughter back to the center of the courtyard, away from the servants. However, as she watched the servants filing out, each carrying a load of priceless treasures on their hands and shoulders, her heart ached.
Holding it in for a moment, Luo forced herself into what she thought was a kind expression and moved closer to Qiaoyue. "Qiaoyue, your grandmother and I are family. We never differentiate between you and me. Why make such a scene today?"
"Make a fuss?"
Qiao Yue raised her voice and sneered, "Our grandmother didn't make a fuss. It's just that these things were her dowry brought from the Zhao and Meng families. It's not proper to keep them in Qionghua Hall. That's why we borrowed some help from our cousin to move them. Old lady, do you have a prejudice too?"
Luo choked, "I, I didn't..."
"Since there's nothing, please ask the old lady and my aunt to stand further away." Qiao Yue turned her head away and interrupted Luo Shi in a cold voice, waving to another group of servants outside the courtyard gate, "The small kitchen and the storeroom have been moved, right? Come on, let's go to the old lady's main house. There's still a lot of grandma's dowry there."
Upon hearing this, Luo's triangular eyes widened again.
What, what does it mean?
Moving the kitchen and warehouse?
Could it be that her unhappiness early in the morning was all because of Zhao Qingyi?
Luo was still a little confused and instinctively turned around on the spot, wanting to catch someone to ask.
The servants didn't care about her at all. After receiving Qiao Yue's order, they rushed past her and rushed into the main house. The maids who were in the house before were forced to leave and could only gather around Luo Shi, feeling insecure.
"Old lady, this..."
Luo grabbed the steward and demanded sharply, "Tell me, what happened to my warehouse?"
The steward said with a bitter face, "Just an incense stick ago, Miss Qiaoyue sent people to break into the kitchen and take away the rice, flour, lard, pots and pans. She also ordered people to break into the storeroom and move out all the food and daily necessities stored there, as well as some gold and silver jewelry, antiques, calligraphy and paintings! This old servant came here early this morning just to tell you about this..."
Luo took a deep breath, and his cloudy eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
Her queshe tea...her bird's nest...her gold and silver!
Luo couldn't help shaking. It was all money! The money she had hidden with great effort!
Looking towards the main room again, he found that the step-out bed he slept on had been lifted out by the servants. Due to the huge movement, a white porcelain pillow fell off the mattress and shattered into pieces in an instant.
Qiao Yue didn't even raise her eyelids. "It's okay. Our grandmother doesn't want anything that the old lady used personally. It's better to throw it away."
But the grandmother didn't want it, but the servants wanted it very much. When they heard that the one she used personally was no longer wanted, some of them were quick to roll up the bedding in the bed and take it away.
Not only that, the two century-old crabapple trees in front of the steps were also dug up by the servants with shovels.
“You, you guys…”
What’s the difference between this and bandits!
Luo's thin old face turned purple, veins bulged on his forehead, his chest heaved violently, and his heavy breathing sounded like a bellows. Suddenly, he ran out of breath, his eyes rolled back, and he fell backwards.
This time it was Li Susu's turn to be heartbroken: "Mother——"
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