The next day, Ye Chen entered the palace early. He was just the prince's teacher and did not have to attend court. Because the prince was still young, he only had to go to the palace to teach the prince every two days. This was the idle position he asked the emperor for.
Taking the imperial examination was only to make things easier for the emperor. If he really had to engage in verbal battles with those ministers every day, it was not because he could not win, but because he had done that in his previous life and wanted a quiet life in this life.
Chen Qiu was teasing An An. As long as An An was awake, her legs couldn't stop moving. The cradle was shaking under his glare. "I don't know where you get so much strength. Here, this is the rattle my uncle bought. Look here... here..."
Chen Qiu took the red rattle, moved it here, and then moved it to another place. An An kept staring at the rattle, turning his head along with the rattle in Chen Qiu's hand, babbling something in his mouth, which was very cute.
"Miss Xing'er, I really didn't do it. Please say a few good words to the lady." An unfamiliar voice sounded.
"Madam will investigate whether it is true or not. You wait here and I will go and ask Madam." Hearing that it was Xing'er's voice, Chen Qiu let Xing'er in to talk.
"What's wrong? Who is outside?" Xing'er came in and closed the door. Chen Qiu asked Xing'er while teasing the child.
"Outside are Madam Cai, who is in charge of purchasing for the kitchen, and a little maid named Chunlan who is in charge of cleaning. They were arguing in the kitchen about the servants' meals. I ran into them and asked them about it. As a result, I found out some things. The servants in the kitchen said that Madam Cai had withheld their food, so they brought them all here. Do you want to see them? Look at this." Xing'er helped Chen Qiu put on his coat while briefly explaining the matter, and then spread out a silver ingot in her hand, which was quite heavy.
"I gave it to you, keep it. Isn't there a little girl in charge of cleaning? What does it have to do with this?" Chen Qiu saw that An An began to squint his eyes, so he picked him up and coaxed him.
Xing'er ran to call the wet nurse in, "She's already asleep. Carry her to Grandmother's room. I'll be there after I've taken care of things."
After the wet nurse took An An away, Xing'er took over the previous conversation, "This girl named Chunlan is a servant girl in the mansion. She is only twelve years old this year. Her mother had committed a crime in the past and is now assigned to do rough work. Some time ago, she caught a cold after being caught in the rain. When servants in our mansion get sick, we call a doctor. She is almost well now, but because of the damage to her body, she has not recovered. The little girl went to the kitchen to watch if there is anything good to make for her mother. When Madam Cai stopped her, she started to quarrel. I happened to catch her and brought her here."
"You said earlier that the kitchen servants said that Madam Cai was withholding food from the servants. What is the standard of food for the servants in our mansion? I remember that you had three dishes and one soup. What about the servants who do rough work?" Chen Qiu remembered that the food for the servants in the mansion was good, and it was impossible for anyone to be malnourished.
"Before, we were served three dishes, one meat dish, two vegetable dishes, and a soup. The second-class maids were the same as us, and the people below were the same, one meat dish, one vegetable dish, and a soup. Nothing has changed since you took over the household, so this situation shouldn't happen. However, I went to the kitchen today and saw that they served one meat dish and one vegetable dish, but the meat in the meat dish was only chopped up, and there wasn't even a whole piece of meat to be seen." Xing'er said in a low voice.
"Xing'er, go call everyone in the mansion over. Who will be loyal to you if they don't have enough to eat? How long has this situation been going on?" The more Chen Qiu listened, the tighter his brows frowned.
"I asked Chunlan, and she said it appeared when you were in confinement after giving birth, and it's been over a month now."
"Okay, go ahead."
"Hey, it's so lively here today? Can I come in?" Lan Yu squeezed half of his face in from outside.
"Yes, we will finish discussing your matter in a while. Xing'er, you go first. I will discuss something with Lan Yu." Xing'er responded and went out to gather people.
Lan Yu came in and took a look, "Where's Xiao An'an?"
"I asked the wet nurse to take you to my grandmother's place. Why didn't Xiao Hang come with you? Isn't this his business? Why are you the only one who is worried every day?" Chen Qiu didn't see Xiao Hang and was angry for Lan Yu.
"He... oh, it's all the same. In the end, it's you who worries about us, right?" Lan Yu put her hands on Shen Qiu's shoulders and lay on Shen Qiu's back.
"Jin'er, go to the medicine garden and call Xiao Hang over." Chen Qiu called out from inside the house, and Jin'er responded and went out. Chen Qiu then said to Lan Yu, "This is a matter between the two of you. Besides, in our Great Yin Kingdom, men and women are responsible for their own marriages. Most of the time, it's the man who is responsible. The woman just needs to prepare enough dowry. He can be careless about nothing. You're not throwing yourself at him, so why put yourself in such a difficult position?"
Sensing that something was wrong with the person behind her, Chen Qiu just stood there, letting the person behind her cry. She felt the wetness and heat on her shoulders, but she didn't dare to look back, in order to leave Lan Yu with the last bit of dignity and pride.
"I'm fine, thank you, Xiaoqiu. I suddenly don't want to hold this wedding anymore. There was an accident at the last wedding. Maybe it's because the goddess didn't agree? Xiao Hang's behavior during this period has chilled my heart. Do you have a pen and paper? I want to write a letter to my family. I miss my father." Lan Yu was still buried in Shen Qiu's shoulder, and his voice was muffled.
As a friend of both Lan Yu and Xiao Hang, Chen Qiu didn't know whether she felt happy or sad when she heard Lan Yu's words. As a friend of Lan Yu, she hoped that Lan Yu could find someone who loved her and whom she loved, or at least someone who would not hurt her feelings.
As Xiao Hang's friend, Chen Qiu felt more regretful that he did not cherish such a good girl. Does he know what he missed?
When Lan Yu raised her head, Chen Qiu did not try to comfort her. He just found paper and pen for her, and went out to leave her alone to write a letter to her family. She probably wanted to be alone for a while at this time, right?
"Madam, everyone is in the main hall. Would you like to go over now?" Xing'er came back.
Chen Qiu walked to the door of the inner room and said, "I'm going to the main hall to take care of some household matters. I'll have someone guard outside. If Xiao Hang comes, don't let him in if you don't want to see him."
Lan Yu looked up at Chen Qiu with red eyes, "I understand, you go and get busy." After saying that, Lan Yu lowered her head and went back to writing a letter.
Chen Qiu looked at Lan Yu, then went out, "Xing'er, watch outside. If Doctor Xiao comes, tell Lan Yu first and let her decide whether to see him."
"Also, if the Duke comes back, have him come to the main hall to find me."
"yes"
When Chen Qiu arrived at the main hall, there were quite a few people standing in the yard. Mingyue also came over. Mingyue's belly was already visible a little.
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