"They won't! After all, they both saw with their own eyes that Aunt Zhao was dragged away from your courtyard by the yamen runners! They'll only hold a grudge against you!"
"Therefore, Madam, you should not try to influence or educate them. Instead, you should be more careful to prevent them from harming you and the young master!"
After hearing Shen Yuan's words, Madam Liu's face turned very ugly, because she remembered the full moon banquet not long ago, when her child was almost hit in the head by Wang Jinzhu and suffered brain damage.
At the full moon celebration, Wang Jinzhu kept asking to hold her younger brother.
At the time, she didn't want to let a toddler hold her child.
But she couldn't refuse Wang Jinzhu, so she could only temporarily hand the snowball to Wang Jinzhu.
As soon as Wang Jinzhu took the snowball, she let go of it and threw it on the ground.
He kept complaining, "Too heavy! Too heavy! My little brother weighs as much as a pig!"
Fortunately, she reacted quickly and dove to the ground to catch the snowball; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
At that time, she thought that Xue Tuan was indeed heavier than other babies, weighing ten pounds by the time she finished her confinement period. She assumed that Wang Jinzhu really couldn't carry her, and she didn't make a big deal out of it in front of the guests.
Looking back now, whether it was an unintentional mistake by a child or a premeditated act of revenge, the answer is obvious.
Seeing that Madam Liu had taken her words to heart, Shen Yuan continued, "As for Master Wang, both of them have mouths, and so do you. Is it so hard to complain? Even a child can do that, so can you!"
"Madam is Master Wang's lawfully wedded wife and the only mistress of his mansion. How can she allow two children of only a few years old to bully her?"
"Madam must stand up for herself in order to suppress those two, protect her children, and control the inner quarters of the wealthy man's household!"
Madam Liu nodded emphatically. She had almost suffered a difficult childbirth due to the maternal harm caused by Aunt Zhao, and her own child had almost been killed by Aunt Zhao. Now she was going to be bullied by Aunt Zhao's child. It was truly ridiculous!
Shen Yuan is right, she can't continue to be weak!
Liu gratefully took Shen Yuan's hand and asked in a low voice, "You're not married yet and you're still young, how come you know more about the affairs of the inner quarters than I do?"
Shen Yuan pursed her lips. During the year she served as a servant in the princess's mansion, she had indeed learned a lot.
Liu glanced at Wang Jinzhu and Wang Mingzhu, who were squatting on the ground eating reluctantly, then moved closer to Shen Yuan and lowered her voice, saying, "Aunt Zhao used to be in charge of managing the family business, and with the gold mine of Zuichunlou, she was very well-off. She spoiled these two children too much, giving them the best of everything!"
"After I took over the household, I learned that each of the two sisters had a monthly allowance of one hundred taels of silver, not including food and drink. This was more than what my husband and I spent, and probably even more than what the daughters of officials spent."
"Now that Zuichunlou is closed, where will we get the money to support them like before? But their spoiled and extravagant nature has already taken root; they complain if the food is even slightly subpar. I don't know how to temper their temperaments!"
“That’s easy!” Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow and quickly came up with an idea.
"They don't know how hard it is to get a bowl of porridge and a meal. It's already March, the time for spring plowing. Why not send these two children to the Zhao family? Their mother isn't here, but they still have their maternal grandmother and uncle. Let them go back to Zhao family village to visit their relatives, wouldn't that solve the problem?"
“You mean…” Liu’s almond-shaped eyes widened. She quickly understood Shen Yuan’s meaning and secretly gave her a thumbs up.
Shen Yuan and Liu Shi spoke in low voices, and since they were sitting some distance away from Wang Jinzhu and Wang Mingzhu, Wang Jinzhu and Wang Mingzhu were unaware that their treatment was about to undergo a dramatic change during their short meal.
The next meal might not even be as good as the lunch they called "pig swill" today!
Wang Jinzhu and Wang Mingzhu squatted on the ground, eating the food on the ground without saying a word. Aside from the first few bites being hard to swallow, they gradually got used to it and were able to accept the food on the ground.
And apart from being covered in mud and ash, the food didn't seem as bad as I'd imagined; in fact... it was actually quite delicious!
Just then, two more men dressed in brocade robes entered the Flower Garden Restaurant.
Upon seeing them arrive, Haitang quickly greeted them with a smile: "What would you two like to eat? Would you prefer the premium set meal or the value set meal?"
The man in the royal blue brocade robe held a folding fan and lingered his gaze on Haitang for a while before saying, "Two premium meals!"
"It will cost sixty coins in total. You need to pay first and then choose your dishes."
"OK!"
The man took out a string of cash and handed it to Haitang.
Haitang reached out to take it, but the man took the opportunity to grasp her hand.
Haitang's expression changed, and she looked up at the man in front of her, only to see a playful smile on his lips as he gripped her hand even tighter.
Haitang quickly pulled her hand away, saying, "Sir, please watch your behavior!"
"Oh!"
The man sneered, grabbed Haitang's hand and pulled her into his arms, bringing his nose close to her neck and sniffing hard.
"Hmm... It's been so long, Miss Haitang still smells as sweet as ever!"
"Let me go!" Haitang shouted.
"What are you putting down? What, now that we've left Zuichunlou, you're pretending you don't recognize us?" Another man standing behind the man in blue leered at Haitang with a wicked grin.
Haitang frowned, staring at the man in front of her for a long time before she remembered who they were.
One was named Li Zihao, and the other was named Zhang Yunfeng. They used to be regulars at Zuichunlou.
Once she realized who they were, all color drained from Haitang's face. A chill ran through her body, making her numb and momentarily forgetting to struggle.
The others at Huajian Restaurant also noticed the commotion and rushed over, surrounding Li Zihao and Zhang Yunfeng.
"Take your filthy hands off!"
Furong rushed forward to try to pull away Li Zihao's hand that was holding Haitang, but was kicked to the ground by Li Zihao.
"Dirty? Ha, I haven't even complained about how dirty you are, and you dare to complain about how dirty I am!"
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