The commotion outside was so loud that it could be heard inside the hall. Huang Haichuan got up and walked out with a displeased expression—these servants, like Bai Nuo, were unruly.
Where has this ever happened before?
She has absolutely no manners.
After Huang Haichuan went outside, he saw that Lu Ying was arguing with a group of unfamiliar old women. The old women seemed to have gone crazy and were not giving Lu Ying any face at all, yelling at him.
"What's going on?" Huang Haichuan, his face swollen like a pig's head, looked at the old women with annoyance. "What are you shouting for? Don't you know that the person in front of you is the housekeeper?"
After scolding a few old women, Huang Haichuan then said to Lu Ying, "Butler Lu, what brings you here?" Lu Ying really came and went freely in their courtyard, as if she were in her own home.
If the servants in Huang Haichuan's courtyard were unruly, then he disliked Lu Ying even more, as Lu Ying simply didn't take them seriously.
One of the old women said, "Butler Lu is going to take everything away from the kitchen. If he takes everything away, what will we make for dinner?" If they can't make dinner, they will definitely be punished by Huang Wenbai again. Although they don't get involved in the fight between the masters of the two courtyards, they have heard of Lu Ying and know that although Lu Ying has a bad temper, she is not the kind of person who takes her anger out on others.
That's why they chose to argue with Lu Ying.
Upon hearing this, Huang Haichuan looked at Lu Ying with some surprise. "Butler Lu, what do you mean? Are you saying you can't afford any food anymore and have to come here to get it? Butler Lu, if you want food or anything, just tell us. We, as the masters, are not unwilling to reward you. But if you just barge in, we won't be polite to you!" Huang Haichuan directly mocked Lu Ying.
"I've come today to retrieve all the food that was purchased with money from the manor!" Lu Ying ignored Huang Haichuan's sarcasm and stated her purpose directly.
"You're all so concerned about such a small amount of food!" Huang Haichuan snorted, not caring about the tiny bit of food, and generously gave it to Lu Ying.
Although they can't spend money as freely as before after they stop managing the household, they're not so poor that they can't even afford to eat. They don't even care about such small things.
"Take it all. You guys go and help the housekeeper take everything out!" Huang Haichuan said. "Stop yelling, or I'll sell you all off one by one."
"Yes!" The old women were so frightened by Huang Haichuan's threats that their hearts trembled. They quickly agreed and dared not stop Lu Ying anymore. Instead, they helped Lu Ying get the things.
With help, Lu Ying quickly packed everything up. The Hu family's food was bought every day and distributed to the main kitchen and each courtyard, so there wasn't much food. Huang Wenbai didn't have any valuable medicinal herbs, so they only needed to take today's food.
After Huang Haichuan went back and told his parents, he had someone keep an eye on Lu Ying. After Lu Ying left with her people, he returned to the kitchen and gave the old woman in the kitchen ten taels of silver. "Go out and pack some food and bring it back. Then arrange for someone to buy food for the old master and old lady every day."
He refused to believe that his entire family could starve to death without relying on this mansion.
The old woman named by Huang Haichuan never expected that such a good thing as purchasing would fall into her lap one day. She immediately accepted the money with a big smile, patted her chest and promised to handle the purchasing matter properly, so that they could eat the best food, even better than in the mansion.
Huang Haichuan was very satisfied with the old woman's assurance. In his opinion, the old woman wouldn't dare to play any tricks, so he nodded and let her leave.
Who knew that as soon as he returned to the hall to talk to his parents, the old woman came over again, "Why are you back again? Didn't I tell you to go pack some food? Hurry up and go! If the old master and madam go hungry, I'll definitely teach you a lesson!"
The old woman knelt down tremblingly, her heart filled with bitterness. She regretted not taking this job. To others, purchasing was a lucrative task, so why was it so arduous in their courtyard? "Master, Madam, Master, it's not that I don't want to go, it's just that this old woman can't go out!"
"What a joke!" Huang Haichuan sneered. "Your feet are on your body, the door is right there, why can't you get out?"
"Master, you don't know the truth!" Huang Haichuan was furious. The old woman explained under pressure, "The gate to this courtyard is closed again. We can't open it no matter how hard we try. I called for a long time before they finally came to open it. They said that no one in this courtyard can leave. They want us to see if it's the young mistress..." The rest of the sentence was not very pleasant, but the old woman didn't say it.
"What are you stammering about?" Huang Wenbai was furious when he heard that the gate to the courtyard had been closed again and they couldn't get out. He looked at the old woman and said, "Speak quickly!"
"The gatekeepers said they want to see whether the young mistress's child will be born first, or whether we will die first!" The old woman trembled and truthfully relayed what the guards had said.
Now Huang Haichuan and the others understood. "Has Hu Mingmei gone mad? We are his elders, how dare he?" How dare he starve them to death?
After hearing what the old woman said, Huang Wenbai and Huang Haichuan understood Hu Mingmei's meaning. The reason why Hu Mingmei closed the courtyard gate and prevented them from entering or leaving was purely to let them die in there. Huang Haichuan thought of how Lu Yinglai had just taken away all the food—Hu Mingmei wanted to starve them to death!
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