Chapter 726 I can't be the only one suffering.
Du Juan took the bird's nest and went to the small kitchen.
After she finished cooking the bird's nest soup, she returned to report: "Young Madam, the bird's nest soup has been delivered to various places as you instructed."
Qi Yu had already placed the steaming hot bird's nest soup next to Shen Wantang. As she ate, she asked, "What are they saying everywhere?"
Du Juan counted on her fingers carefully and said, "The Duke praised you for your filial piety. He also said that although the Second Young Master's son is not very good, he has good taste in marrying a good wife who knows how to respect her parents-in-law. The Duke was happy and gave me a reward of fifty taels of silver."
"When I went to Madam's place, she had a gloomy face, but when she heard that you had specially sent me to deliver bird's nest soup to her, her expression improved a lot, and she even gave me twenty taels of silver as a reward."
"The young master seemed a little surprised to hear that you sent him bird's nest soup, but he accepted it and gave me a reward of ten taels of silver. He also asked me to thank you on his behalf."
"As for Miss Qiao, when I went there, the eldest young mistress was also there. After the two sisters left the madam's courtyard, they went to Fucui Courtyard together, where Miss Qiao will stay tonight. Miss Qiao was very grateful for the bird's nest soup, but the eldest young mistress didn't look too good and kept a stern face!"
"Oh, right, when I went to Fucui Courtyard, the eldest young mistress was scolding Miss Qiao, cursing her for being shameless, actually... actually trying to seduce her own brother-in-law."
Shen Wantang smiled, this time a genuine smile: "That's right, the manor is bustling again, that's how it should be. I can't be the only one suffering in silence, everyone should eat some, eat more!"
After she finished speaking, she took another bite of bird's nest soup.
Watching her eat the bird's nest soup, Du Juan felt that her mistress wasn't eating bird's nest soup at all, but rather was losing out.
She chuckled to herself. No wonder her master sent bird's nest soup to all the places; it turned out he wasn't sending bird's nest soup at all, but rather losing money!
She took out the reward money she had collected from various places and presented it to Shen Wantang: "Young Madam, this reward money..."
"Okay, you can keep it. Buy whatever you want and spend it however you like."
Qi Yu and Shu Xiang, standing to the side, both looked on with envy.
They all knew in their hearts that such a high reward was obviously given by the Duke and Duchess because of Shen Wantang's face. Usually, the masters in the manor would only give two or three taels of silver as a reward, never fifty taels at once.
Du Juan only went out for a short trip and received a reward of eighty taels of silver. She earned the money so easily!
But they had no other feelings besides envy, because Shen Wantang had a rule that errands were done in rotation, and it was Du Juan's turn today.
Next time it will be their turn.
Du Juan happily put away the silver, and then ate bird's nest soup with Qi Yu Shu Xiang.
While eating, she asked, "Young Madam, that Miss Qiao doesn't seem like a good person. What if she speaks ill of you to the Eldest Young Madam just to make things easier for herself? What if she says that you brought her to the Duke's mansion?"
Shen Wantang chuckled: "What I want is for her to gossip about me in front of Meng Yunlan, isn't it? If she doesn't, then my trip today will have been in vain! I'm hoping she'll say more bad things about me!"
Du Juan was surprised: "Huh? You're actually hoping she'll say bad things about you? Is that...is that right?"
Shen Wantang looked at her naive maid and patiently taught her: "People who like to gossip are the ones who are most likely to upset others. When someone is already restless and anxious, and they see a different doctor and a different prescription every day, and then their own cousin comes along and keeps gossiping in their ear, how do you think they will feel? Will they be happy? Or will they be even more annoyed?"
Du Juan nodded: "It will definitely make you even more irritable."
Chessman pondered, "We might need to call in even more doctors."
Shuxiangju, however, had another concern: "But young mistress, won't this be detrimental to your reputation? What if those two sisters go out and spread rumors?"
Shen Wantang's fair face beamed with a confident smile: "So, before I left, didn't I tell Qin Xin to spread the word about what happened today so that everyone would know?"
"Now, everyone in the manor should know that Meng Yunlan successfully entered Gu Qianhan's study and chatted with him for a long time, while I, as his legal wife, was kept out of the door, right?"
"This move is called striking first. Today, I was clearly wronged. Not only can outsiders not find fault with me, but even the Duke and Duchess can't say anything, right?"
"Besides, Qiao Zhiyu wasn't brought back to the manor by me, but by my elder brother. Everyone saw it with their own eyes. Even if Qiao Zhiyu tries to pin this on me to please Meng Yunlan, only Meng Yunlan will believe her. Do you think anyone else will?"
Du Juan and the others nodded in unison, looking at Shen Wantang with admiration.
"Young Madam is truly remarkable; it turns out you had foreseen this all along!"
"Young Madam went out in the rain today. I thought you were upset and heartbroken and went out to drown your sorrows. It turns out you went to calmly plan ahead! Young Madam is truly a woman destined for great things!"
"Everyone, human or ghost, is making a scene today, but the young mistress is the only one who has been wronged and remains quiet, even thinking of the Duke and Duchess and still showing filial piety! I think the direction of the Duke's mansion is about to change!"
Shen Wantang shook her head, her smile vanishing and replaced by a solemn expression: "It's far from enough. Why is Meng Yunlan respected by everyone in the Duke's mansion, even my husband's guards? They give her face, while I am looked down upon by the guards. Have you ever thought about why?"
Du Juan comforted her, "Young Madam, it's the guard's own fault for being mentally unstable. Don't be too upset."
Qi Yu stroked his chin as he answered the question: "The reason... should be that the eldest young mistress is in charge of the household? She is the head mistress, so our young master's guards also have high regard for her."
Shuxiang pondered: "It's also possible that it's because the eldest son is the heir of the Duke's mansion, and the eldest young mistress is the heir's wife. Their statuses are different, so everyone in the mansion looks up to her?"
Shen Wantang watched the candlelight flicker in the wind and said softly, "Yes, and not entirely. There are many reasons, but the main ones are three: first, Meng Yunlan is the housekeeper; second, Meng Yunlan comes from a good family; and third, she is respected by her husband and in-laws."
"But these three points can also be considered as one: she has hard power that everyone can see, so no one will underestimate her. Therefore, even though she has been married for more than five years and still cannot conceive, her position remains unshakable."
"As for me, I neither manage the household nor have a good background. Of these three, only the third one is barely considered to be true, but today, I was stopped at the door by my own husband's guards and humiliated. Now I don't even qualify for the third one."
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