In charge of the farm in my hometown in Henan...he must be a very trusted servant!

Eleventh Lady smiled and nodded at Xiangyi.

Xiang Yi hurried forward and saluted to Shiyi Niang: "Your servant Xiang Yi greets the Fourth Madam!"

Eleventh Lady didn't expect to meet a stranger at this time. Fortunately, she had two gold hairpins on her head, and she took out one and gave it to Xiangyi as a gift.

Xiang Yi thanked again and again.

The lady smiled and said, "Okay, okay, Xiangyi is not a stranger. You don't have to be so polite." She smiled and said to Shiyi Niang, "We have pressed duck hotpot today."

Xiang Yi added with a smile, "I feed the ducks in my own farm and cook it according to the recipe passed down by our ancestors."

It seems to be a specialty of my hometown!

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Great! I'm in for a treat today."

* * * * * *

Sitting in the small room in the kitchen where the ingredients were stored, Wanxiang, who was drinking eight-treasure chicken soup, put down the blue and white porcelain bowl and said, "So, Xiangyi is back!"

"Yes!" Liu Wu's wife at the stove laughed flatteringly, "A whole cart of pressed duck!"

Wanxiang snorted disdainfully: "She is smart, she knows how to use this to please the Madam. However, this is the only skill she has that can please the Madam for a while."

"That's right." Liu Wu's wife smiled, "How can I compare with you? The kitchen in the inner courtyard depends on you. Without you, we really can't get by."

"Alright, alright." Wanxiang's face looked a little unhappy. "Stop telling me these useless things. I want to ask you, is there any ginseng I want?"

Liu Wu's wife looked embarrassed and lowered her voice: "You know. Now each room cooks according to the recipe, and the seasoning is also collected by quantity. Where can we get extra ginseng?"

Wanxiang's face darkened, and the bowl in her hand fell onto the table with a thud.

Liu Wu's wife hurriedly held the bowl and said, "Sister Wanxiang, please be gentle. Gan Laoquan's adopted wife is outside ordering food!"

"Bah!" Wanxiang's face was full of indignation. "When I was in charge of the kitchen, she didn't even know where she was. She dares to show off in front of me. I will slap her to death." But her voice was a little lower.

Liu Wu's wife understood it.

A new emperor chooses his own ministers. The good days of Wanxiang, the maid who accompanied the Marquis’ wife and could act arrogantly in the mansion are over!

She couldn't help but mutter, "It's not like I want to eat this ginseng... Besides, the situation is so tense right now... Mrs. Huang is just saying it to please you. Why do you have to be such a fool?"

"What are you talking about?" Wanxiang vaguely heard something about "being taken advantage of", but she didn't quite understand it. She said angrily, "If you have something to say, just say it out loud. Why are you hiding so much?"

Liu Wu's wife didn't dare to speak under the pressure. A woman outside called Wanxiang: "Sister-in-law Chen, the dishes are ready, do you want to order?"

Wanxiang stood up, patted her clothes, walked to the door, glanced at Gan Laoquan's godson's wife, and said with a smile: "I'm going to the toilet, wait for me!" After that, she left.

The daughter-in-law was so angry that she stamped her feet. After delivering the dishes, she had to sign her name. After signing, she sent the bill to the kitchen manager, and the job was done. Wanxiang quit more than once.

Everyone in the kitchen pretended not to see anything and continued doing the same thing as before!

A woman winked at the daughter-in-law.

The daughter-in-law went out on the pretext of something.

The woman followed him and said, "…What are you afraid of? Just wait here. If there are no people picking vegetables, what does it have to do with you?"

The daughter-in-law's eyes lit up and she asked the woman, "What's your name? I'll tell my godfather about you and he'll use you well!"

Over there Wanxiang returned to her room.

Her husband Chen Xu was enjoying himself with a plate of peanuts and a bottle of Lao Baigan, humming "Silang Visits His Mother". Seeing Wanxiang coming back, he was surprised: "Why are you coming back instead of collecting vegetables in the kitchen?"

Wanxiang glanced at Chen Xu coldly, turned and went into the inner room, rummaging through the drawers and cabinets to look for something.

Chen Xu had lost his job and was living on Wanxiang's monthly salary. He hurriedly stood up and pulled her: "Okay, okay, don't lose your temper. Let's talk after we collect the vegetables."

Wanxiang shook off Chen Xu's hand, put on a stern face and continued to search in the box.

"Wanxiang, don't be so angry with the Third Madam's people." He was used to being bullied by his wife, so he advised her in a low voice, "What good will this do to you? If you don't go to harvest the vegetables, everyone will be stuck there. If the meals in the rooms are late, they will still blame you."

Wan Xiang looked up and glared at her husband: "She just wants to jerk me off, right? Am I not giving her the chance?"

"Why bother!" Chen Xu smiled, "You are a well-known figure after all, there is no need to bother with her."

Wan Xiang was even more furious after hearing this: "Chen Xu, stop trying to smooth things over. I'm telling you, as long as the Fourth Madam is not in charge, my job will be over sooner or later. Rather than her putting the blame on me, it's better for us to just break up."

"Yes, yes, yes." Chen Xu smiled, "You are absolutely right. You are absolutely right."

My husband is capable, but he has no brains.

Wanxiang didn't bother to pay attention to him, and took out a clean wooden box from the box: "Found it!"

Chen Xu was shocked when he saw this: "What are you going to do?"

"Send it to Mrs. Huang." Wanxiang opened the box, which contained ginseng as long as seven or eight chopsticks.

"You're crazy." Chen Xu snatched the box away. "So you were in the kitchen and had the chance to help her get ginseng. Now these things are no longer in your hands... We can't give our things to others to use!"

"Give it to me!" Wanxiang snatched the box back. "What do you know? You've lost your job, and I'm being bullied. If you can't even take care of our old friendship, who will pay attention to you when you move around the mansion in the future? This one ginseng is enough for their family to use for a year. By then, maybe things will turn around. Don't worry about this. I have my own ideas." As she said that, she took a ginseng from the box, wrapped it in a handkerchief, put it in her arms and left.

Chen Xu looked at his wife's back and couldn't help muttering, "Mrs. Huang is such a jerk... Her son is sick and needs ginseng, so go buy it yourself... Is she clinging to you like this just to get something from you? You really treat her like a sister..."

Over there, Wanxiang took the ginseng and quickly went to the outer kitchen.

When I walked under the eaves, I heard Mrs. Huang yelling, "I'm already too busy here, and you want me to send someone else to help with the porridge? Whose idea is this? I can't find any staff here!"

Wanxiang was delighted when she heard this and stepped aside.

"That's what the Third Madam meant." A woman said with a smile, "I have conveyed my words, but as for whether you go or not, it's all up to you." After saying that, she walked out.

Wanxiang looked at the woman, who was wearing an official green Lu silk jacket and a red silk flower on her head. She knew she was Gan Laoquan's niece, so she waited until she left before entering the kitchen.

Mrs. Huang was feeling humiliated and was getting angry. When she saw Wanxiang coming in, she quickly put on a smiling face and greeted her: "Why are you here, sister Wanxiang?" She quickly asked her daughter-in-law at the stove downstairs to make tea.

Wan Xiang sighed, took out a ginseng from her bosom and handed it to Mrs. Huang: "Good sister, it's my fault that I don't have the ability. This is a ginseng hidden at home, give it to your eldest nephew first!"

Mrs. Huang's face changed slightly when she heard this, and she asked, "What happened?"

Wanxiang told the Third Madam how strict she was: "...Let alone ginseng, even ordinary wolfberries are hard to come by. It's really hard for my nephew, who has been eating ginseng for two years and is just one breath away from recovery."

Mrs. Huang couldn't help but look bitter when she heard this. She pulled Wanxiang's hand and said, "My dear sister, if it weren't for you these years, your nephew would have died a long time ago. Stop talking like that!"

Wanxiang wiped her eyes with a handkerchief: "I thought I could take care of my nephew's illness...but I didn't expect that the third wife would show up halfway. As long as she is in charge, this matter will be difficult to handle..."

"What does this have to do with my sister..."

The two were sad for a long time.

Wanxiang stood up and said, "I'm still waiting to harvest the vegetables. I'll come visit you someday when I'm free."

Someone outside called out to Mrs. Huang, "Why haven't the people who are going to distribute porridge arrived yet? The Third Master is about to leave for the porridge stand."

Mrs. Huang responded loudly and arranged for people to go to the porridge kitchen. Wanxiang slowly returned to the kitchen in the inner courtyard.

* * * * * *

"... During the years when I was in mourning in my hometown in Henan, they took care of me." Xu Lingyi sighed, "In the blink of an eye, it's been almost ten years!"

Eleventh Lady followed Xu Lingyi and walked slowly back, and the flying snowflakes were all blocked outside the corridor.

"How old was the Marquis at that time?"

Xu Lingyi glanced at Shiyi Niang and said with a smile, "Not much older than you?"

Eleventh Lady said jokingly: "Are you scared?"

Xu Lingyi was silent for a long time: "I don't remember!"

Eleventh Lady sensed that he was a little depressed, so she smiled and changed the subject: "The snow is really heavy this year!"

Xu Lingyi stopped walking after listening to this, and stared at the snow outside the corridor with his hands behind his back, with a somewhat melancholy expression.

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but secretly groan.

He wants to commemorate the past here, do I have to stand here and suffer the cold too?

As I was thinking about it, two red lanterns came towards me.

Eleventh Lady looked carefully and found that it was Aunt Qin with two maids holding lanterns.

"My Lord, Madam." She knelt down to greet them, but looked at Xu Lingyi with worry in her eyes, "I saw that you hadn't returned yet, so I came out to greet you."

When Eleventh Lady looked at Xu Lingyi again, he had returned to his usual cool and calm self.

"Got it." He said calmly, "Everyone go back quickly!"

Aunt Qin replied "yes" in a low voice and followed the two into the yard.

Eleventh Lady smiled and said goodbye to Xu Lingyi at the east corner gate and returned to the house.

The maid in the room was busy untying her cloak and pouring hot tea for her.

Amber couldn't help but whispered: "Mrs. Qin is so bold... She is so impatient to come and meet the Marquis!"

Eleventh Lady held the hot tea in her hand, thinking of Xu Lingyi's indifferent expression when he stood on the corridor and watched the snowflakes, and couldn't help but shook her head gently: "Not necessarily!"

"What?" Amber asked puzzled.

"Oh." Eleventh Lady smiled, "I mean, Aunt Qin really knows the Marquis very well." Then, with an expression that suddenly reminded her, "By the way, I asked you to inquire about the house in Goldfish Lane. Is there any news?"

Amber said hurriedly, "Thanks to Wan Daxian and Wan Erxian climbing up to the roof to sweep the snow in the middle of the night, only one side room collapsed. Everything else is fine!"

"This Wan Daxian is quite a capable man!" Eleventh Lady couldn't help but nodded slightly.

Amber was worried: "We need to repair this and that. How much money will it cost when spring comes tomorrow?"

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but laugh.