The woman looked to be in her thirties. She had evasive eyes and was timid. Half of her face was red and swollen, and there were bruises and nail marks at the corners of her eyes. She looked like she had been beaten.

Xu Qinyu roughly guessed who the woman was. She had just seen her coming from the end of the alley. She must be the daughter-in-law of Mrs. Luo.

As expected, a woman saw this and immediately shouted, "Ms. Lin, what's the matter? Didn't your mother-in-law say that the fish cooked by Miss Xu was not tasty? She even came to your house twice yesterday to ask for the eight cents back. Miss Xu didn't say anything and returned the money, so you had a free meal. Are you addicted to free meals? Today I asked you to buy fish, and tomorrow you came to ask for the money back, and the day after tomorrow I asked your two daughters to buy fish? What's the matter? Do you have any shame left in your family?"

The neighbors all knew how pitiful Lin was and what kind of life she lived in the Luo family.

But free food is free food. No matter what, Lin is the daughter-in-law of old lady Luo. This family makes trouble every day. When the young lady is annoyed by the trouble, she will feel that there are so many rogues in Guihua Lane and naturally she will not want to continue selling fish in Guihua Lane.

If the young lady goes to sell fish somewhere else, her business will still be good.

At that time, the people in Guihua Lane had to be very frugal and could not afford meat and fish, and their children were pale and thin all day long. Who could they turn to for justice?

This also tells the young lady that the woman in front of her is the daughter-in-law of Mrs. Luo, and that there is only one such peculiar family in their Guihua Lane.

Lin's face turned red when he heard that.

But what can she do?

Her mother-in-law suffered such a great loss at Miss Xu's place, and she was unwilling to resign herself to it. She wanted to continue learning the Miss Xu's recipes and cooking skills. She also wanted to eat fish, so she had to ask her to buy it. She didn't want to come, but her mother-in-law took the opportunity to beat her last night, and even the eldest and second daughters were kicked twice. If she didn't come today, her mother-in-law would beat them even harder.

After the woman finished speaking, she saw that Lin's face was red, swollen and bruised, and realized that her mother-in-law had beaten her again. She couldn't help but sigh.

He is also a pitiful person, but there must be something hateful about a pitiful person.

Xu Qinyu looked at the wounds on Lin's face and knew that if she was the daughter-in-law of old lady Luo, she would be less than 30 years old, and look like only 23 or 24, yet she had been wasted like this.

Xu Qinyu felt a little upset. She said, "Sister-in-law, I won't sell you this fish. Go back."

Even if she felt sorry for the Lin family, she couldn't continue selling fish to the Luo family.

Lin's face turned pale and she looked at Xu Qinyu pleadingly.

"My dear, please sell the fish to me, or my mother-in-law will beat me to death when I get back."

"Don't you have arms or legs?" Xu Qinyu asked her back.

Lin was stunned. "What?"

She didn't understand what the young lady meant.

Xu Qinyu said calmly, "Didn't you know how to resist? Didn't you know how to run away when she hit you?"

Lin's lips trembled twice and she was unable to speak.

No one ever told her that she could resist.

The women around began to nod.

In their minds, even if they are beaten and scolded by their mother-in-law, they can resist but they cannot fight back.

What Xu Qinyu actually meant was, if she hits you, wouldn't you hit her back?

How come a strong man in his twenties can't beat an old woman?

She was willing to sell fish to Lin this time just to encourage the evil tendencies of Mrs. Luo and make her think that she was easy to talk to and could make friends with. She would also try every means to get her recipe for cooking fish.

She felt that even though this was a feudal society and filial piety was the most important virtue, one should not be blindly filial. Moreover, this had nothing to do with filial piety. This was an old woman abusing her own daughter-in-law and granddaughter, but she did not know how to resist.

This old woman Luo dared to sell her own daughters to marry her son. Now that Lin can't give birth to a son, old woman Luo dared to sell Lin's two daughters and divorce Lin, and use the money from selling her granddaughter to marry her son to a wife who can give birth to a son.

It's just a matter of time.

Lin said nothing.

Xu Qinyu no longer cared about her and continued to sell fish.

In the end, all the braised herrings were sold out.

Lin also failed to buy the braised herring. She returned to the Luo family in a daze. Mrs. Luo's face was also bruised and purple, and one of her eyes was swollen. Seeing her daughter-in-law returning empty-handed, she picked up the broom next to her and hit her daughter-in-law, "You idiot, you can't even buy a fish. What's the use of you? You might as well sell it to the kiln."

Old Mrs. Luo cursed Lin and Xu Qinyu with foul language and beat them so hard that Lin bent over with a pale face.

The pain coming from his body and the despair in his heart made Lin couldn't help but wonder, can he really resist?

Can anyone really rebel against his own mother or mother-in-law?

She was beaten and scolded by her mother when she was at home, but not as severely as by her mother-in-law. She had to work every day at home. Finally, her mother sold her to the Luo family for twenty taels of silver.

Her mother did not use the twenty taels of silver to prepare a single cent for her dowry, but left it all to her brothers.

The reason why she was able to get a betrothal gift of twenty taels of silver was because she was pretty. Luo Dagen chose her. Luo Dagen was ugly and had not married in his twenties, but he wanted a pretty wife, so he chose her.

She thought that this was how women of that era were.

But today someone told her that she could resist.

But how to resist?

…

Xu Qinyu went back home after buying the fish. She was a little depressed along the way. She actually had no qualifications to judge the Lin family. Most women in this era did not live a happy life. Even if they were born into a wealthy family, they had to obey their fathers at home and their husbands after marriage. In short, the freedom that women of this era wanted was basically impossible.

After returning home, Xu Qinyu's mood had almost disappeared.

She felt that she should pity herself rather than Lin. She was originally worth hundreds of millions, but ended up in such a place and became an exiled substitute princess. Who could be more unlucky than her?

If it weren't for her excellent cooking skills, her situation would probably be worse than Lin's.

Fortunately, the Pei family members get along well with each other and I have cooking skills.

But no matter what, she still hoped that Lin could stand on her own feet and protect her two daughters.

After returning home, Xu Qinyu started to prepare dinner. She had been eating braised fish for dinner these days, which she was a little tired of, so she braised some spare ribs. There was some rock sugar at home, so she decided to splurge and made some sweet and sour spare ribs.

The method of making sweet and sour spare ribs is simple. The most important thing is to fry the sugar color. If the sweet and sour spare ribs have good sugar color, the dish is half successful.

Pour the blanched ribs into the fried sugar color and stir-fry until the skin is slightly browned, then add soy sauce, vinegar and salt to bring out the flavors. Finally, add appropriate amount of water and simmer over high heat. After boiling, switch to medium heat and continue cooking. When the simmering time is almost done, add a spoonful of vinegar to thicken the sauce.

The whole yard was filled with a sour, sweet, and meaty smell. They didn't know that meat could taste sweet and sour. It smelled very appetizing and fragrant.

The people living in Osmanthus Alley also smelled the sweet aroma of meat and knew that Miss Xu's family was making new food.

There were many people at home, so Xu Qinyu cooked all the more than two kilograms of ribs she bought last time in one go.

After making the sweet and sour spare ribs, she steamed a chicken egg custard and finally stir-fried some bean sprouts.

In the southwest, radish, cabbage, taro, tofu, and bean sprouts are all commonly eaten vegetables. Yam, lotus root, winter melon, and water chestnut are relatively expensive vegetables because they are not available in the southwest and have to be transported from other places. Water chestnuts, to be precise, are a kind of fruit.

In the evening, Shao Ge'er's mother, Sister Xia, came to serve dinner, and Xiao Cui came with her.

Shao Ge'er didn't come. Although the snow was a little lighter these two days, it was still very cold.

Xu Qinyu had already packed the food box. The glutinous rice she cooked herself was soft, sweet and fragrant, with shiny grains of oil, which was the oil contained in the glutinous rice.

She now makes meat-stuffed steamed buns and braised herring every day, and makes about 350 to 360 coins in pure profit, which is enough for her to eat glutinous rice every day.

Mrs. Wu also brought two turban hats and two pairs of woolen gloves for Xu Qinyu.

Both are made of rabbit hair, one is white and the other is grey. They should be for her and Pei Weixuan. Seeing that they have to go out to set up the stall all day and the weather is cold, she sewed them for them.

Of course, it is not made of a whole piece of rabbit fur, but some scraps. You can see the traces of stitching. Mrs. Wu is good at needlework. The hat is also very cute. It is furry on the head. The gloves are also very cute. When you put them on, your whole palm becomes warm. Xu Qinyu likes it very much and thanks Mrs. Wu.

Mrs. Wu smiled and said, "As long as Miss Xu likes it."

Shao Ge'er has gained some weight visibly in recent days, and she can't tell you how grateful she is to Xu Qinyu.

Seeing Xu Qinyu and her husband having to work in the stall in the wind and snow all day, she wanted to make something for them. Making clothes was not suitable, but making a hat and gloves would be very good. The Xia family was a cloth shop, and in addition to cloth, all kinds of furs were indispensable, and there were even more leftover furs from cutting. So she picked up some rabbit fur scraps and made two such hats and rabbit fur gloves.

Mrs. Wu came just to give Shao Ge'er a hat and gloves. She gave the things and then went back after getting Shao Ge'er's evening meal.

Xu Qinyu was still fiddling with her rabbit fur hat and gloves, but there was no bronze mirror at home, otherwise she could have seen what she looked like.

Ever since she became her original self, she had not looked at her face carefully except for the reflection in the basin when washing her face, but Xu Qinyu remembered that her original self looked 80% similar to her.

Xu Qinyu touched the rabbit fur hat on her head, and saw another gray rabbit fur hat next to it. She picked it up and put it next to her cheap husband, tiptoed to put it on him, and said, "Fourth brother, try it on too."

She smiled with her eyes crooked and a hint of cunning, she just wanted to see what her cheap husband would look like wearing this slightly soft rabbit fur hat.

Pei Weixuan saw her standing on tiptoe and subconsciously bent down slightly to make it easier for her.

He also saw the sly smile on her face and couldn't help laughing.

When he realized that he had smiled, he was slightly startled, then lowered his eyes and returned to his indifferent expression.

After Xu Qinyu put it on her cheap husband, she found that even though he was wearing a navy blue, not very nice-looking robe and a furry rabbit fur hat, he did not look feminine at all, but was still as cool and pure as jade, and his natural nobility could not be concealed.

Xu Qinyu touched the tip of her nose. As expected, she was so good-looking that even wearing a sack wouldn't affect her appearance.

Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er both particularly liked the sweet and sour spare ribs we had in the evening. The surface of the sweet and sour spare ribs she cooked was slightly browned, but the meat inside was very tender and bright red. The two children's mouths were covered with the sweet and sour sauce, and they licked the sauce off their lips at the end.

…

In the next few days, Xu Qinyu and her cheap husband continued to set up a stall. She had a rabbit fur hat that covered her head tightly, and put on rabbit fur gloves, so she didn't feel cold when pushing the cart. Before, not only did her hands get frozen, but the wind blew for half a day and her head was buzzing. It was so uncomfortable. Yesterday she was still thinking about whether to buy some fur to make a hat and gloves.

With a warm hat and gloves, Xu Qinyu goes to the dock half an hour earlier every day. Her business is basically stable, with about one hundred pieces of meat buns sold every day. Fortunately, she only goes to sell breakfast in the morning and not at night, so the other stalls at the dock still have some business.

Xu Qinyu sold breakfast at the dock for a few days before she realized that it was only early winter. According to the past, the dock would be busy for at least another month. It would snow so heavily in the deep winter at the end of the year, and the merchant ships and official ships of the major employers would not continue to sail. She did not expect that it would snow so heavily in early winter today, and they were trapped here. Other merchant ships had not yet reached the southwest, and were delayed on the way due to the snow, and had to dock at docks in other areas.

According to the people on the merchant ship, they don't know how long they will be trapped.

Xu Qinyu knew that although roujiamo was delicious, she would get sick of it if she ate it for ten days or half a month.

Since the people on these merchant ships will have to stay at the dock for a long time, she plans to sell meat buns for ten days or half a month, and then switch to new breakfast food and continue selling them.

The business of meat-filled steamed buns and braised herring has become stable. She sets out to the stall early every morning and returns at noon after selling all the ingredients. She can even take a one-hour break at noon and then get up to prepare the herring for braised fish.

Mrs. Luo did not dare to call her daughter-in-law and granddaughter to buy fish these days, and the Luo family at the end of the alley was quiet.

Having made some money in the past few days, Xu Qinyu began to think about new food.

She wanted to eat bamboo shoots and bacon. The bamboo shoots and bacon stew she had made on the road to exile were not authentic. If she wanted to talk about authentic food, it would have to be the Anhui cuisine's pickled fresh food. This dish was truly salty, fragrant, and rich.

Pickled fresh bamboo shoots require good ham, spring bamboo shoots or winter bamboo shoots, fresh pork, bacon, ham, lettuce and other ingredients.

Among them, ham and bacon are the top priorities.

To make a good ham, it needs to be pickled, fermented and air-dried for at least half a year.

Even if she couldn't eat it now, she could cook the ham and bacon first. Besides, it was time to pickle some bacon.

She specially picked out a good pig's hind leg and bought a few pounds of salt to make ham.

The ham is a bit salty to make. First, trim the pig's hind legs, wrap the hind legs with salt, rub it vigorously to rub the salt into them, and rub the salt a second time. After that, it is air-dried and fermented.

Not only will she be able to eat the ham, she also plans to sell it for money.

In addition to this ham, she also pickled some bacon, so it was almost ready to eat during the Chinese New Year.

In addition to bacon, she also made some bacon and fish. When she made bacon and fish, she would spread some five-spice powder on them to make them taste better.

The five-spice powder is also a re-combination of the spices I bought earlier, which are fried until dry and fragrant, and then ground into powder.

Looking at the bacon, bacon and a big ham hanging in the kitchen, Xu Qinyu was satisfied.

…

Xu Qinyu's business was going smoothly. Deputy Captain Chen, who had sent the Pei family into exile, and Ma Liu and his party returned to the capital after leaving Raocheng.

Originally, they were going to return to Beijing by water on a merchant ship, and Lieutenant Chen's horse was also on the merchant ship. However, they did not expect that it would snow heavily after two days, and the waterway was dangerous due to the snow, so the merchant ship docked at a nearby pier, and Lieutenant Chen and Ma Liu and his party continued to take the official road.

There were post stations and horses on the official road, so they rode at full speed and returned to Duxun in a few days.

Duxun was the capital of Dasheng.

When they arrived at the capital, Ma Liu said to Deputy Captain Chen, "Boss, I'm going to go to the Marquis of Dechang's mansion first to deliver a letter to Miss Xu's parents."

On the way to exile, they were blessed by Miss Xu, who cooked for them for a few days to satisfy their appetite. Miss Xu was especially generous and taught him several simple cooking methods. In the future, when they send people to exile, they can cook by themselves. Although their skills are definitely not comparable to Miss Xu's, at least they won't taste as bad as before. Miss Xu also told him that there is actually a more delicious way to eat bamboo shoots and braised pork, called pickled fresh, but it is much more complicated than bamboo shoots and braised pork, and she also told him the method.

Having received the benefit from the other party, Ma Liu kept his promise. The first thing he did after returning to Duxun City was to go to Dechang Marquis's mansion to report his safety to his parents.

Deputy Captain Chen nodded and said, "Go ahead."

Ma Liu immediately went to the Dechang Marquis Mansion.

The door of the Marquis Dechang's mansion was closed. Ma Liu went to the door and knocked. The doorkeeper quickly opened the door, looked Ma Liu up and down, and asked impatiently, "Who are you looking for?"

Ma Liu had just returned to the capital and had not rested much along the way, so he was naturally unkempt and covered in dust.

Ma Liu frowned and said, "I am the official who sent the second young lady of the mansion to exile in the southwest. I came here today to report the news to the mansion."

Upon learning of Ma Liu's identity, the concierge was not in a good mood. He just said in a sarcastic tone, "Then please wait for a while, General, while I go in and report."

When the doorman came in to report, Ma Liu's face became even gloomier. His status was indeed low, but he sent the second daughter of Marquis Dechang's Mansion into exile, and now he was obviously back to help deliver the message to Marquis Dechang's Mansion. But the servants in the mansion still had this attitude, which showed what kind of life Miss Xu had led in Marquis Dechang's Mansion before. Even if she had no worries about food and drink, she was probably not respected by others, otherwise the exiled Shu Wang's fiancée would not have changed from the third daughter of the Marquis' Mansion to the second daughter of the Marquis' Mansion.

No wonder Miss Xu knows how to cook. It's all because of the Marquis Dechang's Mansion forcing her to do it. Otherwise, how could a girl from a noble family do such a job?

"Bah, what the hell!" Ma Liu kicked the stone lion at the door angrily.

About a quarter of an hour later, the doorman came out and said, "Sir, please follow me in. The old lady wants to see you."

Ma Liu followed the doorman into the mansion with a sullen face.

After walking along the corridors for a long time, they entered the hanging flower gate and came to a quiet courtyard. There were several maids and servants standing under the corridor in the courtyard. One of them, an old woman wearing a fine cotton jacket, waved to the gatekeeper, bowed to Ma Liu, and then led Ma Liu into the hall. At the top of the hall sat an old lady wearing a soft silk cross-collared thick long skirt and a soft silk ruby ​​headband. When she saw Ma Liu, she immediately asked, "Excuse me, did the military commander send our Yu Niang to the southwest? How is our Yu Niang? Did she suffer any hardships along the way? My poor Yu Niang, she was exiled in a hurry and didn't have time to prepare anything. Yu Niang must have suffered a lot."

Ma Liu sneered in his heart.

The headband on this old lady's bald head cost tens of taels of silver.

Even if Prince Shu offended the new emperor, the new emperor would target Prince Shu and confiscate Prince Shu's mansion before exiling him, but he would not pursue the matter so much towards Miss Xu. He would just give her some banknotes, gold beans, gold leaves, etc., and would not let Miss Xu suffer so much on the way to exile.

Miss Xu had a hard time during her exile, and it was obvious that she had no money to buy favors.

And this old lady just kept crying, if she was really worried about her granddaughter, why didn’t she shed any tears?

Ma Liu's misunderstanding was true, but it was also true. The five gold leaves on Xu Qinyu were bought with all the money from the second house, but a headband cost the old lady dozens of taels of silver, and she really didn't care about her granddaughter at all.

Ma Liu said: "Ms. Xu suffered a lot along the way. She couldn't even afford some rice porridge and was sick all the way. But fortunately, she survived and has successfully reached Raozhou City."

The old lady wiped her tearless eyes with a handkerchief, "My poor Yu Niang, it's all because of our incompetent mansion, and it's also her fate. Who could have thought that the eldest prince would do such a treasonous thing, and even implicate Prince Shu, causing Prince Shu's entire line to be exiled. My Yu Niang is very understanding and didn't cry or make a fuss. She was willing to follow Prince Shu into exile, alas."

Ma Liu gritted his teeth. Damn it! This old lady is lying with her eyes open. Half of the people in the capital know that the one who was engaged to Prince Shu was Xu Qinhui, the third daughter of the Marquis of Dechang.

Ma Liu endured it and said, "Although Miss Xu suffered a lot on the road, she survived. Madam, Miss Xu asked me to bring a message to her parents. Please allow me to tell her parents."

The old lady said, "Since Yu Niang's mother was exiled, she has been too sad and has been ill for a while. You don't have to go there. I'll send someone to send a message to the second house."

Ma Liu couldn't bear it any longer and sneered, "Even mice have skins, how can you be shameless, old lady? If you really care about your granddaughter, you should at least give Miss Xu some banknotes and gold. Miss Xu had no money or gold during her exile and almost died. And everyone in the capital knows about the things going on in the Dechang Marquis' Mansion. Since the second lady of the mansion is worried about her daughter, you should let me go and tell the second lady in person. After hearing the news, the second lady will recover. Don't tell me that you don't want your daughter-in-law to get better, right?"

The old lady's face turned pale. How could this lowly person dare to humiliate her like this.

The wife of Marquis Dechang had never been humiliated like this before. She was so angry that she wanted to have him killed with a stick. However, he was an officer after all, not a servant in the mansion. She was also afraid that if she just chased him away, he would go around talking nonsense and ruining her reputation and that of the mansion.

The old lady said with a gloomy face, "I had good intentions. Since the military master has misunderstood me, I have nothing to say. Madam Feng, take this military master to the second house!"

Nanny Feng's face was not looking good either. She responded and said in a cold voice, "Master Jun, please follow me to the second room."

Ma Liu then ignored the old lady and turned around to follow Nanny Feng to the second room.

Along the way, Nanny Feng ignored Ma Liu and had a stern face, but Ma Liu didn't care.

Soon they arrived at the second room, which was a bit far from the main courtyard where the old lady of Marquis Dechang lived, and was located in the south.

When they arrived at the gate of the second courtyard, Nanny Feng said coldly, "Master Jun, we are here. Please do as you please."

After saying that, he turned and left.

Ma Liu cursed: "What the hell is this?"

Just as he finished scolding, a child came out from behind the bushes and kicked Ma Liu on the leg, "Who are you? What are you doing in our second room? Did grandma ask you to come here to scold my mother?"

Ma Liu turned around and saw a little boy about five or six years old. He was handsome and his facial features were about 50% similar to those of Miss Xu, but he had a fierce look on his face and bared his teeth at Ma Liu.

When Ma Liu saw him lingering at the gate of the second courtyard again, he knew that he should be Miss Xu's biological brother.

He said, "I'm here to deliver a letter to your parents. It's from your sister."

The child was stunned when he heard this, then he put away the ferocious expression on his face, grabbed the corner of his clothes and ran inside, "Mom, mom, my sister sent someone to deliver a letter."

Ma Liu was dragged into the courtyard by the child's clothes. There were only two maids in the courtyard. When they saw the child, they hurriedly shouted, "Li'er, what are you doing? Who is this?"

Ma Liu briefly explained his identity. The maid was overjoyed and hurriedly told Ma Liu to report to the house. After a while, a pale-faced woman was trembling and supported by the maid. When she saw Ma Liu, she didn't even care about etiquette and asked with trembling lips, "Master Jun, is there a letter from my Yu Niang?"

"Yes..." Ma Liu told the woman what happened to Xu Qinyu along the way.

He also said that Miss Xu had no desire to live at first, and was lifeless all the way. Later, after she fell ill, she came to her senses and cooked food for them. He also told the woman in front of him what Miss Xu had said.

The woman was also Xu Qinyu's mother, Xue.

After hearing what Ma Liu said, Xue burst into tears, but the knot in her heart slowly unravelled.

As long as her daughter is still alive and has the will to live, they will meet again someday.

When her daughter went to Prince Shu, she made a big fuss in the Marquis's Mansion. The old lady ordered people to tie her up and send Yu Niang to Prince Shu's Mansion. Fortunately, the little maidservant beside her was smart. When Yu Niang was tied to the sedan chair, she secretly stuffed the five gold leaves she had prepared into Yu Niang's sleeves.

Seeing the woman crying, Ma Liu felt bad too. When the woman's cry died down, he raised his head and said, "Don't worry, Madam. I can see that Miss Xu has really let it go. And the food she cooks is really delicious. I think the food in the big restaurants in the capital is not as delicious as the food cooked by Miss Xu. With Miss Xu's cooking skills, there will be no problem for her to make a living in the southwest. She also said that she will make a lot of money for you in the future."

Xue didn't take these words to heart. As long as Yu Niang could live well, that was enough.

Yu Niang could indeed cook some food, and it tasted OK, but she felt it was a bit of an exaggeration to say that it was better than the food in the big restaurant in Du Xun.

Xue thanked Ma Liu again. When Ma Liu saw that the letter had been delivered, he said goodbye to Xue.

When Li Ge'er sent Ma Liu out, he kept asking questions about his sister and it was obvious that he was very worried about his sister.

After Ma Liu explained the whole thing to the child again in detail, Li Ge'er secretly swore that he would become a high-ranking official in the future to protect his sister and help her return to the capital.

…

At the same time, next to the main courtyard of the Dechang Marquis' Mansion, in the courtyard of the third room of the mansion, a beautiful girl was lying on a white fox fur couch in the west room. She was Xu Qinhui, the third girl of the Dechang Marquis' Mansion.

Xu Qinhui opened her eyes, and when she saw the furnishings around her, she was stunned at first, then her eyes widened in disbelief.