Shen Zhiheng did have concubines around him, but when Chen was around, she had trained them to be submissive and useless.
Chen was still alive, and Shen Zhiheng could not remarry. He could only take a concubine to take care of the miscellaneous affairs in his courtyard.
Li Chaoyun is now in charge of most of the affairs of the eldest house, but no matter how much he manages, he cannot extend his hands to his father-in-law's yard.
The old lady had thought about this matter years ago and had privately selected two suitable candidates. Both were girls from small families in Beijing, with straightforward personalities and generous manners.
Of course, she hadn't told him everything yet, so she had to ask Shen Zhiheng first. Seeing Shen Cheng like this today, she became a little anxious.
Li Chaoyun raised her eyebrows when she heard this, picked up the teacup and took a sip without saying anything. As long as it didn't involve her interests, she didn't take it seriously.
Su Qingyu naturally didn't say anything and just teased Chen Qian on the side.
The old lady looked at Shen Zhiheng, waiting for his reply.
Shen Zhiheng lowered his head and thought for a moment, then suddenly coughed twice and drank some warm water to suppress it.
"Let's just pick Xiangdong. Let her take care of the affairs of my yard from now on."
The old lady was not surprised, as she knew that Shen Zhiheng had been doting on Xiangdong these days.
It's fitting that Xiangdong was in charge of these matters. She was originally a first-class maid at Qingyuan Residence, and later managed the warehouse. She was good at accounting and managing things, and she was also very conscientious in her work.
But the old lady had one concern, and that was Su Qingyu.
When Su Qingyu first became the housekeeper, Xiangdong used the old man's paintings to plot against her, almost bringing shame upon Su Qingyu. If she hadn't been pregnant, she would have killed her then.
She was afraid that Su Qingyu would feel uncomfortable if she praised Xiangdong now.
So the old lady didn't speak for a long time, gently stroking the tourmaline beads in her hand.
Shen Zhiheng couldn't guess what the old lady meant, so he said, "Mother, Xiangdong..."
The old lady raised her hand, interrupted Shen Zhiheng, and looked at Su Qingyu again.
"Third daughter-in-law, you are in charge of the mansion now, what do you think?"
At this moment, Su Qingyu was holding Chen Qian and playing with her fingers. When she heard the old lady ask about her, Su Qingyu was startled at first.
Then, as if she understood what was going on, she smiled and said, "When Concubine Xiang was in charge of the warehouse, her abilities were already outstanding. If she were to be in charge of Big Brother's courtyard, she would indeed be more suitable than anyone else."
"I admire Concubine Xiang's character. From now on, she will be in charge of my eldest brother's courtyard. If there is anything she doesn't understand, she can send someone to ask me."
When the old lady saw that Su Qingyu didn't seem to be speaking perfunctorily, she knew that she no longer took the matter seriously.
"Then it's settled. From now on, Xiangdong will take care of the trivial matters in your yard."
Shen Zhiheng nodded, covering his mouth and nose with a dark blue cotton handkerchief, as if he was trying hard to suppress a cough.
The old lady frowned and looked at him, "Why hasn't your cough healed yet? Please ask Mr. Zhou to take a look at you."
Shen Zhiheng shook his head and said, "No need, mother, don't worry. I know my own body well."
The old lady wanted to say something more, but Shen Zhiheng had already stood up and took Shen Cheng's hand to leave.
After leaving Qingyuan Residence, Chen Cheng lowered his head to look at his clothes and said, "From now on, I'll wash my face by myself. I won't bother my father."
Today, for some reason, his father insisted on washing his face, and even stained his collar. Fortunately, Third Aunt was kind and helped him clean it up.
Shen Zhiheng looked down at Chen Cheng and said, "At noon, Aunt Xiang made your favorite roasted lamb leg. Do you want to eat it?"
Chen Cheng nodded quickly, showing a shy smile, "Go."
Aunt Xiang was also good to him, and his father often took him to visit her during this period.
Shen Zhiheng took Shen Cheng by the hand and walked towards Xiangdong's yard.
On the way, she advised: "Xiang Yi Niang treats you well, you should also treat her well."
"When you grow up, in addition to being filial to your grandmother, uncle, and aunt, you must also be filial to Aunt Xiang."
"There are bad guys bullying her, you have to protect her."
…
After Shen Zhiheng left, Li Chaoyun and Yang also got up and left. Because they were going to the Zhao family together, the old lady asked Su Qingyu to stay at Qingyuan Residence for breakfast.
After breakfast, the servants loaded the things to be taken to the Zhao family into the car, and Su Qingyu and Shen Yue helped the old lady change into clothes for going out.
But before she could leave, a maid from the west courtyard came to report that the Su family had sent someone to invite her because Old Madam Su missed her granddaughter.
Su Qingyu naturally didn't believe it. Would her grandmother miss her? Either she wanted her money, or she wanted her to do things for the Su family.
Madam Shen patted Su Qingyu's hand and said, "Concubine Su had an accident yesterday. The Su family should have known about it. Go back and take a look and comfort your grandmother."
Su Qingyu could only respond with a yes, then sent the old lady and Shen Yue to the car, and she left the house and went to the Su family.
It goes without saying that it must be about Su Xiangling.
However, Su Xiangling had already been executed, so there was no point in looking for her. She had already pleaded for the Su family in the main hall yesterday, which was enough to silence her grandmother.
The carriage entered the Su family's house, and Su Qingyu got off at the second gate. As soon as she got off, she saw another carriage coming in, and the person getting off was Su Shunci.
Su Shunci wore a scarlet feather-satin cape with a peony pattern, and wore a scarlet gold hairpin with a cloud-like hairpin and a flowery face. Two pearls the size of rice grains were embedded in the stamens of the flowers, and one could tell that they were of extremely fine quality.
She had grown a lot taller, and her face had lost its childishness, gaining a bit of the delicate beauty that only a young girl could have.
Su Qingyu looked the girl up and down. When she was first reborn, Ah Ci was still like a child. But in just over a year, she was already able to stand on her own. Now, she was not only the adopted daughter of the Song family, but also the hostess of Huajin Pavilion.
Su Qingyu felt a sense of relief that her daughter had grown up.
After Su Shunci stepped forward and saluted her elder sister, she happily took Su Qingyu's hand and said, "Big sister, I haven't seen you for a few days."
The two of them did not take a sedan chair, but planned to walk to Songhe Hall so that they could talk on the way.
Su Shunci looked around and saw that they were surrounded by their confidants. Then she asked mysteriously, "I heard that Su Xiangling was executed by slow slicing for attempting to murder the Crown Prince. Is that true?"
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