In a courtyard west of the Yong'an Marquis's mansion, Mrs. Li, the second wife of the Chu family, was looking at the plate of golden cake with hatred and ordered, "Go, take this useless golden cake and get out of here."
Gun'er is a pet cat raised by Li.
The second master Chu Ling'an said quickly, "Mother, don't waste things. Mother doesn't want it, but I do. Even Third Aunt said that the cooking skills of the eldest sister-in-law are comparable to those of the imperial chef."
Li pointed at him with her index finger and said angrily, "You are useless. You were bribed by such a small thing."
Chu Lingan said helplessly, "Mom, just listen to your son's advice. You have offended everyone in this mansion. Don't make your relationship with your eldest sister-in-law too awkward. If you do that, Grandpa will dislike you even more, and Dad will be even angrier. Before Grandma passed away, she gave us a lot of private property, and Grandpa also let Mom take a lot of it in the past few years. I estimate that the money and property in Mom's hands is no less than 50,000 taels of silver, which is enough. If we divide our room, plus the money from the division, life will not be difficult."
When Chu Ling'an was seven years old, he was taken to the outer courtyard by the old marquis. Although the old man did not teach him every day, he also hired a good teacher to teach his grandson. He did not dare to let his son and daughter-in-law teach his grandson badly, because that would completely ruin the second branch.
Chu Ling'an was not good at studying and did not even pass the exam to become a scholar. Only last year did the Third Master Chu find him a job in the Imperial Guards. Although he was not as capable as Chu Lingxuan, he was well-behaved, calm, and had no evil intentions, so the old marquis still liked this grandson very much.
Li hated to hear her son's tone, and was not happy that her son had no ambition, just like his father. She snorted coldly, "Won't you feel sad if you are separated? If you are separated, we will be a branch of the Yong'an Marquis's Mansion. Your father won't even have a real position, and you are just a seventh-rank official. Our family will be completely ruined."
When Li thought about moving out of the mansion, she felt as if needles were stabbing her heart. She had used some tricks to get married into the mansion from her sister. What did it matter if the man was disabled? She married into the mansion and became the young lady of the mansion. Her status was there, and this was the most important thing.
Later, something happened to the first wife, and she was overjoyed. She flattered Princess Rong Zhao on the surface, and secretly fished in troubled waters in the Marquis's mansion, getting a lot of benefits. A few years later, seeing that Rong Zhao was childless, Chu Lingxuan did not dare to return to the capital, and was stunned by the birth of a daughter, so she thought of something deeper.
Her eyes darkened, and she said, "It's all because of the old man's partiality and Huachang's meddling. It's only natural for a daughter-in-law to serve her parents-in-law, but they ruined it. If Chen had entered the princess's mansion, she would have been even more miserable than Ma was back then. Not to mention having a child, she would probably not even survive." Her face twitched with pain, and she added, "What a pity... If Princess Rongzhao can't give birth to a son, and Lingxuan can't give birth to a son either, then your uncle's title will be yours. If you inherit the title, we will..."
"Mom, you are stupid!" Chu Ling'an yelled. He stood up and went to the window to check. Seeing that there was no one around, he felt relieved. He sat back and whispered, "Mom, you should stop thinking this stupid thing right away. If this gets out, Grandpa, the first wife, the third wife, and Princess Rong Zhao will not let you go, and they will not let our family go."
Li was amused by her son's nervousness. She said, "Look at how useless you are. You get so scared by a few words. How can you do anything big?" She laughed again, "I wonder how angry Chen will be when she sees the red envelope I gave her! Humph, I just look down on her. An illegitimate daughter of a prefect who doesn't know how to be filial to her parents-in-law and how to please her sister-in-law is only worth this little money."
When Chu Lingan heard that his mother only gave Chen Ahfu 20 taels of silver, he sighed and said, "If my father knew what my mother did, he would be so angry that he would not come to visit for a year."
Li said, "Don't worry, Chen doesn't dare to say it. The elders gave her twenty taels of silver as a gift, which obviously looked down on her and slapped her in the face. She was too embarrassed to say it out loud and slap herself in the face..."
In the evening, Chu Lingxuan returned to Zhuxuan, and the two went to Anrong Hall for dinner. Except for the New Year, the Chu family usually ate in their own rooms, but today was the day for the newlyweds to recognize their relatives, so they would have dinner here.
Chu Hua and her family played in Anrong Hall for a day. Chu Hua had lived with Mrs. Chu San since she was ten years old, and they had a very good relationship, like mother and daughter, and like sisters.
The men were talking in the living room, while the women were in the west room. Mrs. Chu San was sitting on the bed, holding Heng Ge'er in her arms and teasing him. When Chen Afu left, she beckoned him to sit next to her, and they talked and laughed.
Li was chatting and laughing in a low voice with Chu Zhen, the two concubines' daughters were sitting there stupidly, and Chu Lingqi's wife Song was standing behind Li to serve her.
Li said she wanted tea, then some fruit, then her shoulder hurt, which kept Song busy. It seemed as if they had agreed that only Song was busy, and the servants just stood there stupidly.
Finally, Li smiled with satisfaction to Mrs. Chu San, "Lingqi's wife is virtuous. As soon as she came home, she knew how to serve her mother-in-law and was polite to her sister-in-law. She is a smart and good child."
Mrs. Chu San took a sip of tea and smiled, "I don't know which of my second sister-in-law's words I should believe. A few days ago, you complained that Lingqi's wife was like a stick, moving only when you poked her. Now you say she's smart?"
These two sentences made Li blush. She wanted to refute but didn't dare to. She said awkwardly, "It was a joke, but my sister-in-law took it seriously."
Mrs. Chu laughed again, "Oh, I'm so honest that I believe whatever people say. But I remember that when our mother-in-law was alive, she was a well-known philanthropist. She never let her daughter-in-law set rules, and always said that she was also raised by her parents. There are so many servants in the mansion, could it be that she treats the daughter-in-law as a slave?" She said very sincerely, "Second sister-in-law, I am in charge of this family now. If there are servants who bully the master and you can't control them, tell me and I will sell them out immediately."
This not only made Song blush, but also frightened the servants behind Li.
The fighting power of the two people is not at the same level, one is a mosquito, the other is an elephant. Li was completely defeated and dared not speak. He could only lower his head to drink tea and pretend to be stupid.
Chu Hua, who had watched the excitement, smiled and whispered to Chen Afu, "If Li dares to bully my sister-in-law, don't be polite, Third Aunt will help you."
Chen Ahfu smiled and nodded. She was only staying here for half a month and didn't want to get involved. But if Li did something too much, she would definitely not let her go.
The meal was set up in the flower hall on the second floor, with one table for men and one table for women and children.
Song stood behind Li and served her, picking up dishes and scooping rice for her. Mrs. Chu San spoke again, "Lingqi, please sit down and eat. If you want to honor your mother-in-law or rub your wife, you can go back to the second room. In my place, I saw the servant standing there in a daze, and the master was too busy to stop, so I couldn't help but want to clean him up."
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