Since Xiao Yu'er was half a year old, Chen Afu began to gradually take over the household affairs of the mansion from the third wife. She had to spend more than an hour in the inner courtyard meeting room in the morning to handle the affairs of the mansion. She had never liked managing household chores, so as soon as she took over the housekeeping, she began to train Li Ma and Hong Fei to be her right-hand men. Hong Fei had already been engaged, and the young man was a steward in the mansion. Chen Afu asked her to get married in two years.
Fortunately, Xiao Yuer has started breastfeeding, and she is only fed twice a day, morning and evening.
On the tenth day, Chen Afu invited all the masters except the second room to have dinner in Zhuxuan. Li was so angry that she cursed in the yard for most of the night. This matter reached Chen Afu's ears the next day.
This is the good thing about being the mistress of the house. Any little movement in the mansion will be heard by her immediately.
Chen Ahfu was clearly slapping Li's face. Li followed Rong Zhao in the beginning, and for more than ten years, she controlled the inner courtyard of the Marquis's mansion and embezzled tens of thousands of taels of silver. The silver was fine, but she made Chu Lingxuan and Yan'er unable to return home, and she wanted Chu Lingxuan to have no descendants and let her son inherit the title. This was really heartbreaking.
Although the second master did not join in the quarrel, he watched his wife making a fuss and did nothing about it. He had no pressure at all to spend the money his wife had embezzled. He was not a decent person either.
If it weren't for Lord Chu's hint that the Second Master had suffered when he was young, it would be okay to let go of the silver and save the Second Master's face. Chen Afu would really have found a way to force Li to hand over the tens of thousands of taels of silver.
Fortunately, Chu Lingan and his wife are nice people, and Chen Afu treats them with courtesy in private.
On the afternoon of June 20, Chen Ahfu had just gotten up from his lunch break and was playing in the living room with several children and the animals except the golden swallow. The golden swallow had been sent to the south to "watch the war" again.
At this time, Xiao Shiyi and Li Xuan came to the Chu family again.
As soon as little Lixuan arrived, he raised his voice and shouted, "Auntie, I want to eat your watermelon shaved ice and golden shrimp balls." His voice was cheerful, just like before in the countryside and Dingzhou Prefecture.
Chen Afu said with a smile, "Did your mother let you starve?" He then asked someone to make watermelon shaved ice and the food that the Eleventh Prince and Prince Rui liked, and to keep them for dinner in the evening.
Last month, Prince Rui requested that little Li Xuan be named the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince approved it on behalf of the Emperor. In fact, many princes or people with titles do not necessarily request to name their children the Crown Prince when they are so young. The reason why Prince Rui did this was to tell his biological mother, Concubine Zhou De, and his eldest son, Li Chao, that the Crown Prince belongs to the legitimate son Li Xuan, and that some things cannot be wishful thinking.
After Concubine Zhou De knew about this, she knew that the title of Crown Prince had been given to Li Xuan. She was so angry that she summoned Prince Rui to the palace and scolded him, saying that Li Xuan was too young, and asked Prince Rui to take back the title of Crown Prince and give him the title after Li Xuan's health was completely recovered in two years.
King Rui disagreed, saying that such an important matter could not be changed overnight. Besides, Li Xuan was in good health and did not need rehabilitation.
Prince Rui had been a disobedient and unruly person since he was young, and it was useless for Concubine Zhou De to scold him for a long time.
Concubine Zhou De had no choice but to run to the emperor and cry, saying that Prince Rui was unfilial and did not tell her, his mother, about such a big thing. Moreover, Li Xuan was weak and a little stupid, so how could he take on such a big task.
The emperor reprimanded Concubine Zhou De, saying that she was too biased as a grandmother. Anyone could see that Li Xuan was now smart and strong. It made no sense that such a good grandson should not inherit the title, but let the illegitimate grandson inherit the title instead.
Concubine Zhou De was so angry that she thought, "You are more biased than anyone else. You still let a concubine's son become the crown prince." But she only dared to think about it in her heart and didn't dare to say it out loud.
Concubine Zhou De failed to dethrone Li Xuan, and Li Chao did not dare to stir up trouble again. With Xiaoyi, Li Xuan's life in the palace became much easier. He no longer had the anxiety and restlessness he had when he first returned to Beijing, and he became optimistic and relaxed again.
Little Eleven gradually adapted to life in the palace. His elder brother was the crown prince, and the emperor loved him, so he had a comfortable life. Especially after his biological mother became the queen, he could walk around the palace without anyone daring to stop him. Not only that, he was fawned over and respected by the emperor's nephews every day, and his life was extremely comfortable.
He still rarely mentioned Chen Afu and the Chu family in the palace. Occasionally, when he met Chen Afu who came to the palace to pay respects to the Empress Dowager or the Queen, he would only greet him politely and not be too intimate. However, as soon as he returned to the Chu family, he would sit next to Chen Afu like a child. Of course, he would not ignore Chu Hanyan, and would pull her to sit next to him with one hand. Having a peerless beauty on each side made him extremely happy and proud. After being intimate with the two beauties, he went to tease the other brothers and sisters.
When he returned to the Chu family, he would leave the other guards and eunuchs in the outer courtyard. The only person who came with him to Zhuxuan was Xiaogezi, and he would occasionally bring Qiuyue with him. These two people were his absolute confidants, and he was not afraid that they would tell others about his close relationship with "mother".
In fact, he felt that a kind person like his mother would not be unhappy even if she knew that he was intimate with "mother". But he did not dare to be careless, always afraid of bringing disaster to "mother" and his family.
Whenever he left the palace, he would bring Luo Mama with him, and Luo Mama would go back to her own home. Before that, Chu Lingxuan had already exempted Luo Yuan and Luo Mingcheng from slavery. This was not only for Luo Mama's sake, but also for the loyalty of Luo Guanshi's family to Lechen.
Although the Luo family was a slave in the past, they were definitely rich and had many shops and lots of land. Luo Yuan was now a free man and a real master. He no longer needed to work for the Chu family and only managed his own business. Little Luo Mingcheng had already gone to a private school, and the Luo family hoped that he would study hard and pass the imperial examination in the future. With the help of His Highness the Eleventh Prince and the Chu family, his future would definitely be good.
Li Xuan, the two brothers and the animal home were not afraid of the scorching heat and insisted on going to the children's playground to play. Little Eleven did not go with them, saying that he wanted to stay in Zhuxuan to accompany his mother and sister.
Now Xiao Shiyi has grown up and is no longer as interested in children's playgrounds as he was when he was a child.
When there was no one else around, Xiao Shiyi whispered in Chen Afu's ear, "Mother, Brother Nine asked me to tell you that he knows that Lord Chu has been wronged, and he has something on his mind."
Since the Ninth Prince was named Crown Prince, he has not met Lord Chu in private. He asked Little Eleven to pass this message over to express an attitude, right?
Chen Ahfu smiled and pinched Xiao Shiyi's chubby face and said, "Okay, I got it, I'll pass it on."
Little Eleven blushed again and whispered, "I also think Lord Chu has been wronged, but my father...ah..." He was embarrassed to say that his father was wrong, and after a pause he continued, "That Rong Zhao is particularly annoying. I have never regarded her as an elder sister."
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