"Listen to me!" Zheng Fangyu glared at Xiao Ruyan. "Your grandmother is teaching you, so listen carefully!"
Xiao Ruyan looked at Zheng Fangyu in disbelief: "Mother! You, you've changed! I don't like you anymore!"
Seeing the direction Xiao Ruyan ran off in, Zheng Fangyu quickly said, "I'll take Yan'er back to the Zheng family first." After saying that, she chased after her.
Grandma Xiao snorted coldly: "This mother and daughter just look down on me. Forget it, I'm too old to bother with them. Guangyuan, now that you have Xiu'er, you should try harder to have a son."
Xiao Guangyuan quickly agreed, then said, "I still have to go to the palace to meet the Emperor. Xiu'er, you stay with Mother."
Chen Zhixiu agreed, and after watching Xiao Guangyuan leave, she slowly said, "Mother, I haven't finished tidying up my yard yet. I'll have dinner with you later."
Grandma Xiao waved her hand: "No rush, but what you said the other day, was it true?"
"Of course." Chen Zhixiu smiled and took out ten taels of silver from her sleeve pocket. "Mother, does it mean that Sister Yu'er, who manages the household, doesn't give you any silver?"
When Zheng Fangyu was mentioned, Old Mrs. Xiao clearly didn't have a good look on her face: "She would never give it to me."
“Mother, you are too pitiful. The old ladies of noble families all have a lot of money, more than they can spend. Besides, your husband is your own son, so you should get a share of the money he earns. I heard that Ruyan earns one tael of silver a month, so you should have at least five taels!”
Upon hearing this, Old Mrs. Xiao became even angrier, to the point that her face turned extremely pale.
Upon seeing this, Chen Zhixiu's lips curled up almost imperceptibly: "However, Yu'er is still the one in charge of this household, and everything must be done according to Yu'er's wishes. But don't worry, Mother, I promise you that I will give you ten taels of silver every month, and I promise I won't give you less."
"Why aren't you in charge of the household?" Old Mrs. Xiao said quickly. "Xiu'er, you should be in charge of this household. You are the legitimate wife!"
Chen Zhixiu quickly shook her head: "I'm just a peasant woman, how would I know how to manage a household? Let Sister Yu'er do it."
The thought of how she had to report everything to Zheng Fangyu when she was in charge of the household made Old Mrs. Xiao feel increasingly uncomfortable.
“It must be quite tiring for Sister Yu’er to be in charge of the household. Although her husband has no one in the harem, it’s still such a big family. It would be great if other sisters could help out.”
Chen Zhixiu sighed and said helplessly, "Besides, my husband only has two daughters. If we had more sisters to give birth to more children for him, our household would be more lively."
"Good Xiu'er, do you really think so?" Old Mrs. Xiao's eyes lit up, and she grasped Chen Zhixiu's hand, her face full of anticipation.
Chen Zhixiu feigned confusion: "Of course, don't men all have three wives and four concubines? Mother, what do you mean by that? Are you afraid I won't agree?"
"Mother knows you're a good person!" Old Madam Xiao patted Chen Zhixiu's hand. "It's just that Zheng Fangyu is extremely jealous. Don't think I don't know. She killed several of Yuan'er's concubines before!"
"Huh?" Chen Zhixiu exclaimed in surprise, "This..."
"It's alright. Now that we have you, let's plan ahead and make sure Yuan'er brings back a few concubines!"
Chen Zhixiu glanced at Old Madam Xiao with a mocking tone, responding verbally while inwardly cursing her several times over.
After listening to Old Mrs. Xiao complain a few more times, Chen Zhixiu left with Bai Tuantuan.
Back in the courtyard, Bai Tuantuan looked at Chen Zhixiu with a hint of confusion in her almond-shaped eyes: "Mother, I don't understand what you're trying to do."
Chen Zhixiu put down her teacup, looked at Ruotang and Granny Bai who were busy outside, and slowly said, "You are still just a child in both your past and present lives. How could you possibly understand the affairs of the inner quarters?"
"But you will eventually get married. Your grandmother told me some things about the inner quarters of the capital, and now I will tell you as well."
"It's enough that you know it in your heart."
After Chen Zhixiu explained everything, Bai Tuantuan was stunned.
"Alright, you don't need to worry about these things. Mother has her own plans." After a pause, Chen Zhixiu slowly said, "Tuantuan, what are your plans?"
Bai Tuantuan pursed her lips, a serious look appearing on her face: "Since Mother asked, I won't hide it from you anymore."
"Mother, I want to learn music, chess, calligraphy, and painting; I also want to learn swords and spears; and I want to learn medicine, divination, and so on. I want to learn everything I know and don't know!"
Bai Tuantuan said, word by word, "Now we have our current status and position thanks to our uncles and aunts, our grandparents, and our maternal grandparents."
"But the Emperor's word can wipe out everything we have now, so Mother, I have to become powerful myself!"
Chen Zhixiu was stunned, and after a long while she said, "Don't think too far ahead, Mother."
Bai Tuantuan shook her head, and just as she was about to speak, she heard Chen Zhixiu continue, "You just focus on your studies, leave the rest to your mother. In the future, your mother will rely on you."
Seeing Chen Zhixiu's teasing expression, Bai Tuantuan laughed: "Don't worry, Mother, Tuantuan will try her best!"
After chatting for a while, Bai Tuantuan returned to her room to rest.
"Soup Spoon, can I exchange it for knowledge about music, chess, calligraphy, and painting?" Bai Tuantuan called out to the soup spoon.
His soul then directly entered the space.
Inside the space, the ladle lay under a tree, glanced at the iron pot not far away, and then said, "It's possible, but many ancient musical scores from the 21st century have disappeared, so it's not as good as your own world. However, the arts of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting have diversified considerably in the 21st century. For example, the zither now includes the violin, cello, piano, and so on. If you want to learn them, then you can learn them all."
Bai Tuantuan agreed without hesitation: "Okay, I'll learn what I already know first. As for what I don't know, I'm not in a hurry. I have to take it one step at a time."
In the following days, Chen Zhixiu and Bai Tuantuan were busy with their own things, while Zheng Fangyu seemed to be waiting for them to make a move, and things remained peaceful for quite some time.
In Zheng Fangyu's courtyard, Zheng Mama watched Zheng Fangyu doing the accounts, wanting to speak several times, but swallowing her words each time.
Only after Zheng Fangyu finished calculating did she dismiss the other servants and slowly say, "Granny, please say whatever you want to say."
"Madam, you initially thought Chen Zhixiu was stupid and easy to deal with, but it's been quite some time now, the Emperor has issued an edict to elevate her to the position of concubine, and rumors about you are circulating all over the capital. Why haven't you made a move yet!"
Upon hearing this, Zheng Fangyu laughed: "No need to worry, Granny, I know what I'm doing. As for the gossip, just ignore it."
"But they say that when you knew the master had a wife, you forced him to marry you!"
Granny Zheng became anxious.
Zheng Fangyu paused slightly in her teacup, took a deep breath, and said, "No rush, let them run wild for a few days."
Granny Zheng nodded and said, "The Imperial Concubine has sent word that everything is in order. On the Empress Dowager's birthday, she will make that little white dumpling look bad! It will be to avenge you!"
Zheng Fangyu breathed a sigh of relief, a mocking look appearing on her face: "Bai Tuantuan dares to compare herself to my Yan'er? She's really overestimating herself! She's made Yan'er suffer these past few days, and I'll make her pay a thousandfold the day she does!"
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