Madam Hu tossed the silver in her hand and said, "What else could it mean? Right now, in the entire mansion, only your people cook and eat for themselves, and this is enough!"
Without looking up, Su Wenyuan said, "The other people in the manor won't eat what you cook. This little bit of money is just right for you to cook for yourselves."
Granny Gao is relying on this silver to survive, and now it's been completely cut off. A small handful of loose silver is probably less than two taels. What will she eat?
“Your Highness, it was you who set up the small kitchen, leaving our main kitchen with nothing to do.” Granny Gao was ready to argue with her.
Su Wenyuan raised her eyes and said, "Yes! The manor is giving you a monthly allowance for free, so you can cook for yourselves! What more do you want?"
Granny Gao opened her mouth, but had nothing to say.
You can't say it's because she paid too little and you didn't get any extra money.
"Your Highness, this amount of silver isn't enough to feed all the kitchen staff!"
Su Wenyuan asked, puzzled, "What do you eat in your kitchen every day? Isn't this enough?"
The previous treatment—several chickens a day, shrimp as meals, and even washing one's face with tea—was definitely not enough.
Ye Shan reminded her, "You said yourself before that the food in the kitchen is the same as what the servants in the other courtyards eat. You only get to eat better food because you cook too much for Ling'an Pavilion."
If they say now that this money isn't enough, it proves that they were making it for themselves before.
"But this..." Granny Gao was speechless.
This amount of money is enough for a daily diet of porridge and pickled vegetables.
Madam Hu glared at her fiercely and said, "Don't be ungrateful. The manor is just supporting you all now. You don't do any work and you still get a monthly salary. You just cook for yourselves every day. Weren't you happy before?"
I was happy to receive money before, but now that the money has been deducted, I'm left with only a meager monthly allowance that's less than what others get. How can I be happy now?
Granny Gao wanted to discuss with Su Wenyuan whether it was possible for the household's three meals to be prepared by their own kitchen.
Before he could finish speaking, he was scolded by Madam Hu. Not only did Madam Hu scold him, but she also pushed and shoved him out of Zhuyue Pavilion.
The servants in the mansion were all laughing at them. Now they'll get a taste of what it's like to eat porridge and cabbage every day.
Granny Gao was so frightened by Granny Hu that she ran away and fled all the way back to the kitchen.
There were still a bunch of people waiting anxiously in the kitchen.
"Aunt Hu, well done! Once they clear out the space, you'll have a large kitchen to use, much more spacious than here," Su Wenyuan praised.
Mrs. Hu asked, "Why doesn't the Princess just kick this kind of person out? Why bother with her?"
Su Wenyuan sighed and said, "I have no choice but to make trouble. They have powerful backers. If I kick them out, someone will dare to send them back to me. I have to make sure that these people don't dare to come back."
In the kitchen, Granny Gao was surrounded by people who had come to collect their money.
Outside the kitchen, a group of servants gathered to watch the spectacle. It was the first time they had ever seen Granny Gao in such a disheveled state.
"What are you all looking at? Don't you have anything better to do?" Granny Dong scolded angrily.
A servant boy chuckled and said, "Let's see what you're having in the kitchen today!"
"Don't ask such questions. We can't afford what they're eating! We don't have that kind of mouth!"
"That's right, we only deserve to eat steamed buns and pickled vegetables!"
Everyone chimed in, repeating exactly what Granny Gao and the others had said earlier.
They kept arguing, and Granny Gao got so angry that she ran out and started fighting with them.
When the news reached Zhuyue Pavilion, Su Wenyuan instructed Ye Shan to keep an eye on things and see which side was at a disadvantage before deciding whether to intervene or not.
As a result, the people in the kitchen were beaten black and blue, and Ye Shan didn't stop them...
It was already evening, and people were still groaning in the kitchen as they applied medicine to each other in their rooms.
Granny Gao was beaten the worst; she felt like her back was about to break.
"Is there no order left in this household?! Tomorrow! Tomorrow I will..." Granny Gao stopped mid-sentence.
"Hmph! How about tomorrow? Go see the prince or the princess? Who's going to make the decision for you?" another old woman said sarcastically.
The prince doesn't care about matters in the inner quarters, and the princess has offended him terribly.
Nowadays, there's no way to get anyone to make decisions for you.
Driven to desperation, Granny Gao slammed her hand on the table and exclaimed, "I'm going to find the Empress! Who's coming with me?"
No one answered; their eyes darted left and right, refusing to speak.
Granny Gao sneered, took out the silver she had received today, and said, "Look at the silver I received today! This is all I have. Let alone sharing it, it's not even enough to cover food and drink. This will be the same every month from now on. If you can tolerate it, then I'll just have to put up with it too."
I can't stand it, I can't stand it at all! I'm so used to eating big, meaty meals!
"Go! Her Majesty the Empress can't just abandon us, can she?" The old women made their decision.
Inside the Bamboo Moon Pavilion, Su Wenyuan was talking to Sheng Jingyu.
Su Wenyuan wanted to put the bathtub in the room, but when she casually mentioned it, Sheng Jingyu refused.
Her leg injury has healed a lot, and she will be able to take a bath in a couple of days.
These days, she and Sheng Jingyu have been taking baths in the side rooms. After Sheng Jingyu finishes bathing, he changes into his nightgown there before returning to the bedroom.
Su Wenyuan felt embarrassed walking around in her nightgown because it was so thin and see-through...
This was also because Sheng Jingyu couldn't see, so they chose a comfortable one.
Anyway, no one would see it, and even every morning, she would change her clothes before letting anyone in.
If the bathtub is installed in the room, she can change into her nightgown right after taking a bath without having to change back and forth, which couldn't be more convenient.
Moreover, the bedroom is very large; it could easily accommodate a bathtub or even a large pool, so she wouldn't have to go through all that trouble.
“You’ve been bathing and changing in the side room these past few days. The area behind the screen is just empty anyway, so putting a bathtub there won’t make a difference.”
Sheng Jingyu decisively refused, saying, "No, there's plenty of room in the mansion. Why do we all need to squeeze together?"
Su Wenyuan is already being quite audacious; who knows what he might see once the bathtub is placed inside the room.
Su Wenyuan explained, "It's inconvenient for me to go to the side. Our clothes are different. Yours allows you to walk around freely, but mine doesn't..."
She tried her best to explain the difference in their clothes, afraid that Sheng Jingyu wouldn't be able to imagine it.
But did Sheng Jingyu even need to imagine? Su Wenyuan's outfit was so thin that it barely covered anything.
Two days before the wedding, it wasn't like this. Later, Su Wenyuan found two sets of clothes in her dowry and wore them alternately.
Sheng Jingyu's mouth went dry looking at these two outfits, but he had to pretend not to see them.
"I knew I shouldn't have told you. Is this some kind of unreasonable request?" Su Wenyuan said angrily.
Sheng Jingyu said solemnly, "Yes, that's going too far. If you like, you can build a larger bath in the side room."
But you absolutely must not bring the bathtub into the room.
"Or... change your clothes, pick out some good fabric, and you can always make something comfortable." Sheng Jingyu's tone was so sincere that it was almost pleading.
As the two were arguing, Ye Shan knocked on the door and asked, "Is it convenient for Your Highness to speak?"
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