She just smiled and said, "Auntie Liu is Madam Yun's person, but when she heard about the bandits, Madam Yun got on the carriage without saying a word and fled. At that time, she couldn't even take care of her personal maid, so how could she care about these servants? Later, these people had to follow Madam Yun to survive. You know, with Madam Yun's temper, how could she not be angry when she thought about it afterwards?"
Long Yan wondered, "That may not be the case. The situation was like that at the time, so didn't Qiu Ling stay? She was the old lady's most proud girl. What's more, Fengxian and others were there at the time. After she came back, she still served Grandma Yun. I haven't heard that she had any resentment." Because she caught a cold that day, she didn't go to Pushan Temple, which was why Xue Zhilan spoke so frankly in front of her today.
After hearing Longyan's words, Xue Zhilan sneered, "Fengxian is Xu Ranyun's dowry maid, and her family is all in Chengmingbo's mansion. She and her master are on the same boat, and they will never have second thoughts. But Aunt Liu and the others are different. Madam Yun abandoned them and ran away, but it was the grandma who usually pretended to obey them but actually disobeyed them and saved them. If it were me, I would have some thoughts in my mind. Even if I didn't have any thoughts, Madam Yun must think that they had some thoughts in her heart."
"This... How can I have any thoughts if I don't have any thoughts?" Long Yan was confused, but he heard Xue Zhilan say word by word: "Because I feel guilty, do you understand?"
"So that's how it is." Long Yan suddenly realized: Xu Ranyun was indeed such a person. She did something wrong to others. Even if it was normal and others would not think much about it, she would think about it. Even if the other party was respectful, she could still find many faults under her suspicion.
"Grandma, what do you want me to do?"
After understanding the master's intention, Long Yan knew that he had another mission. Sure enough, Xue Zhilan sneered and said, "When Xu Ranyun wanted to deal with the grandmother, she refused to do it herself. She came to me several times to instigate and force me to take the lead. At that time, I was helpless. I had to follow the path she drew. I didn't expect that the situation would change. She has come to this day. If I don't make good use of her and repay her kindness that day, wouldn't it be too unfair to her?"
Longyan was silent, knowing that the master must have something else to say. Sure enough, Xue Zhilan pondered for a while. Suddenly, she whispered, "You don't have to do anything. Just find more omissions of Madam Yun's trusted subordinates. Then make some sarcastic remarks in front of Fengxian, and find a few servants in the mansion who are well-known but unsuccessful, and give them some advice so that they can be more filial in front of Fengxian. Find a few positions, and that's it."
What does this mean? Aren't you going to use Grandma Yun? Why are you always arranging servants? Long Yan was confused, but agreed. It was not until he walked out of the house that he gradually understood: his grandma was clearly trying to take advantage of Xu Ranyun's suspicion to sow discord and make her alienated from her friends and relatives.
After figuring this out, Long Yan fell into deeper doubts: Isn't Grandma Lan's ultimate goal Grandma? She wants to use Grandma Yun's power to deal with Grandma, but by doing this, wouldn't she weaken Grandma Yun's power? What else can the other party use to fight against Grandma? Isn't this a big mistake?
Although thinking so, Long Yan knew that her master had always been scheming and must have her reasons for doing so. There was no need for her to give unnecessary reminders. Her master never liked stupid girls. She just had to do what she told her to do and pretend to understand everything. That was all.
"Master is back."
In the afternoon, Duan Tingxuan returned home. As soon as he entered the gate of Chunfeng Garden, he saw the two daughters-in-law bowing to him, then bowing their heads and leaving. He saw Xing'er in the yard and asked, "Isn't this someone from our yard? What are you doing here?"
Xing Er shrugged and said, "How would I know? They came to see Grandma. I saw them carrying two baskets of vegetables, but I don't know why they talked in the room for a long time and just came out now."
"Vegetables? Are they from the greenhouse in Meiyue Building?" Duan Tingxuan's focus immediately shifted: "Are there any eggplants? The old lady asked me the day before yesterday when she could eat eggplant boxes."
Xing'er smiled and said, "I didn't notice this. Let me go in and ask grandma." After that, she added water to the last bird cage and shouted into the house, "Grandma, I'm coming."
"He's here, is it worth reporting? Anyway, his first stop will definitely be the kitchen." Su Nuannuan said impatiently in the house.
Xing'er turned around and saw Duan Tingxuan disappearing into the kitchen. She couldn't help but laugh so hard that she doubled over, saying, "Grandma really knows Grandpa well. He didn't go to the kitchen."
After a while, the young marquis came out contentedly with two large plates containing his favorite steamed dough twists and a few golden shortbreads. Xing'er happened to be still here, so she helped him lift the curtain and said with a smile, "Master, you're going to the kitchen to do something again. Why? Even if you didn't do anything, has grandma ever been so rude to you?"
"I am doing this for your sake as a servant. If I go to the kitchen myself, I can pick up some food I like and save you from running errands. It's like killing two birds with one stone. It's fine if you don't appreciate me, but you dare to slander me. What do you mean by touching me? Do you think I'm a thief?"
Duan Tingxuan's hands were occupied, so he couldn't knock on Xing'er's head. He glared at her fiercely, then walked in with his chest puffed out. Just as one foot stepped over the threshold, while the other foot was still outside the door, he saw a shadow falling on his head. The young marquis was very experienced. He turned around and became a shadow in an instant. Such an emergency did not stop him from despising the enemy: "You damn cat, you come to steal my things again. There are so many in the kitchen, can't you just take them yourself? Anyway, your master will definitely not be able to catch up with you."
"Meow..." In just a moment, the big cat was left behind by the young marquis. But this was normal for it. After all, it was just a cat. How could it compare with the young marquis who had experienced hundreds of battles? However, even though nine and a half times out of ten fights ended in defeat and escape, it could not stop Zhaocai's determination to face the challenges. He had a spirit of fighting again and again. From this point of view, Zhaocai was definitely a cat berserker who had been tempered by thousands of times.
"Go away, go away..."
Finally, the young marquis walked into the inner room with the big tabby cat hanging on his shoulder, shrugging his shoulders vigorously, hoping to throw the shameless and greedy cat down. Unfortunately, Zhaocai was also experienced. He dug his two claws into the young marquis's brocade clothes, biting his shoulders tightly and refusing to let go, while jumping upwards fiercely, hoping to steal a piece of fried dough twist.
"Nuan Nuan, Lord Liang from the Dali Temple said that there have been mice in his house these days, and he asked me to find two good cats to send over. After much thought, I think only our cat Zhaocai can take on this important task. How about I lend it to Lord Liang for a few days?"
Duan Tingxuan finally moved to the kang bed under Zhaocai's interference. He put down the plate, grabbed the big cat and was about to throw it to the ground when he saw his wife staring at him with unfriendly eyes. So he tightened his hands, hugged the cat in his arms, gently stroked its fur a few times, and said with a smile: "What do you think?"
"If you are not afraid of falling out with Lord Liang, I have no objection." Su Nuannuan said lightly. This answer was completely beyond Duan Tingxuan's expectations. He never thought that his wife would agree.
"What? I lent the cat out of kindness, but ended up being at odds with Lord Liang? What kind of explanation is this?" Duan Tingxuan was really curious. He knew his wife had a lot of crooked ideas, but he didn't know what "high-sounding theory" she could come up with this time.
"Do you think cats only eat mice?" Su Nuannuan finally stopped sewing and looked up at Duan Tingxuan with amusement. "This Dali Temple official is crazy about birds. Even I know his reputation. You sent Zhaocai over there, and overnight, there were fewer mice. Several bird cages were bitten open, and the birds inside either flew away or were eaten by the cats. Do you think Lord Liang would not fight you to death?"
"Forget it, forget it. Let's just let Zhaocai, this evildoer, wreak havoc in Chunfeng Garden." Duan Tingxuan imagined the scene of an old man with white hair and beard chasing him and beating him in the court room, and he couldn't help but shudder.
Zhaocai finally took two pieces of fried dough twist, then left gracefully with a proud look on his furry tail. Duan Tingxuan stretched his neck to look at Su Nuannuan's embroidery, and laughed, "It's been several months since you embroidered this mandarin duck, how come it still looks like a duck? Nuannuan, you are not good at this business, just admit it. There are plenty of people in the needlework room at home. Aunt Lin often gives away purses, belts and headbands, and Honglian is also an expert. How can you be missing out on clothes and accessories? You'd better concentrate on studying food."
Su Nuannuan rolled her eyes at him and snorted, "I'm just doing this for fun. What do you care whether I'm embroidering a duck or a mandarin duck? Eat, eat, eat. Am I a cook in the kitchen? If you dare to disrespect me like this again, do you believe that you won't be able to find even a sesame seed in the kitchen from now on?"
"Well, when I came in, I saw two daughters-in-law go out. They are not from our courtyard. Xing'er said they were delivering vegetables and talked for a long time in the house. What was it about?" The young marquis wisely changed the subject, but heard Su Nuannuan said unhappily: "What else could it be? I don't know what happened to Grandma Yun these two days. She has a bad temper. A few days ago, Xiangyun and Cong'er were in the garden and saw her scolding Aunt Liu who manages the garden. Today, these two daughters-in-law are in charge of distribution in the kitchen, but they just came to deliver vegetables from the warm shed in Meiyue Tower to me. They said that many servants in the family have been scolded these days, and several managers have been laid off because of a small matter, which has caused panic. From what they said, they want me to make the decision, but if I make the decision, I have to manage this family, so I advise them to be patient for the time being."
At this point, Su Nuannuan finally put down her needlework and looked at Duan Tingxuan and said, "I know your prestige in this mansion. Last time, I thought the mansion would talk about those daughters-in-law, but it's still peaceful until now, which shows that no one dares to disobey your orders. Now that Grandma Yun is suddenly acting so abnormal, is it because you ignored her? This is not good, right? Those dismissed stewards are just innocent victims. Why don't you find some time to go sit in Xia Yuxuan? I'm sure Grandma Yun will listen to you."
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