"That's true," Yi Ning could only sigh. "You can't control him taking concubines. Then just take care of the household affairs, and he will naturally respect you. Didn't you learn to read the accounts from your mother first? Go back and serve Old Madam Zhu respectfully, and take over these affairs of the mansion."
Luo Yiyu wrote down everything she said. Seventh sister's brain was better than hers.
"Does your third brother have servants around him?" Luo Yixiu suddenly remembered something and leaned closer to her and said, "I think you should be careful with those maids. When they reach a certain age, they will be married off to servants. If they climb into your third brother's bed and become his concubine, it would be a step up to heaven. I remember that those girls were all pretty, especially the one named Fu Jiang. I'm telling you, you can't not consummate the marriage. You hear all this talk about whether you should have reached the age of marriage or not. Why don't you just climb into his bed tonight..."
Yi Ning stuffed a piece of cake into her mouth and said, "Enjoy yours!"
Luo Yixiu drank a cup of tea and continued, "But don't worry about me. Your fifth brother-in-law treats me very well. He can take a concubine. He likes Yunniang very much."
She was quite open-minded, and it was good. Lin Hairu was also very happy, and she also had Nan Ge'er.
Luo Yixiu came over and invited her to Judezhuang in Deyin Hutong for tea and a play: "...Several of the Cheng family's sisters-in-law went there, it was very lively, and my mother said she would take two sisters-in-law with her. You should come too!"
She urged Yining to put away the cloak she was making and go to Deyin Hutong with her.
Yining had heard of the Judezhuang Tea House. She'd heard they had several world-famous teas, some not easily available outside. While she wasn't a fan of opera, she loved tea, and being part of the social life of aristocratic families was always a good thing. She was tempted, but besides making the cloak, she also had to make two pairs of winter socks, as winter was approaching.
However, Luo Yixiu insisted that she go out for a walk: "You are as lazy as you were when you were a child! You have to stay at home all day. I think you will get moldy." She took her to say goodbye to Lin Hairu and went to Judezhuang Teahouse together.
Arriving at the Judezhuang Teahouse, the place was truly elegant, with flowing wine cups and gurgling water. In the private rooms on the second floor, beautiful maids were preparing tea for the public. Many ladies were there enjoying their tea.
As expected, several sisters-in-law of the Cheng family were there. Grandma Cheng was the Princess of Danyang County. She was not talkative and just drank tea.
Yining observed carefully and found that Xie Yun seemed to be at odds with Grandma Cheng and had a bad look on his face.
The maid handed the opera discs to the two men and asked them to choose the opera first. The two men exchanged responsibilities for a while and no one chose first, so the atmosphere became awkward.
Second Madam Cheng was awkwardly trying to smooth things over. She couldn't afford to offend either Grandma Cheng or Xie Yun, so she had to please both. Both of them were extremely prestigious, so naturally, when they got along, you couldn't stand me and I couldn't stand you. When the big ghosts fought, the little ghosts suffered, and wasn't she, the peacemaker, the one who suffered?
The two of them were born with conflicting auras. Grandma Cheng despised Xie Yun for her pretentiousness, relying on her status as the Queen's niece. Xie Yun despised Grandma Cheng for her lack of knowledge and the audacity to claim to be well-read. She had studied for so many years and still didn't dare to claim to be well-read!
In short, Xie Yun had been pinching her eldest sister-in-law for the past two days. She was extremely clever, and Grandma Cheng was no pushover either. Back at her mother's house, she'd made her sisters hide whenever they saw her, a skill she'd earned. Xie Yun, after all, wasn't quite as skilled at pinching Grandma Cheng. Her face was as cold as ice, and she didn't distract herself much when she saw Luo Yining approaching.
Grandma Cheng didn't pay much attention to Luo Yining. It was only when she heard that Yining was the daughter of the Duke of Yingguo that she took a second look at her and asked, "I remember that the daughter of the Duke of Yingguo is the adopted daughter of Commander Lu, right?"
Luo Yining was a little surprised. How did the county lady know this? After all, her identity as the adopted daughter was not very public.
Grandma Cheng said, "When I was little, I lived with the Empress...now the Empress Dowager. One autumn, while hunting, I was hit by a horse, and it was the Commander-in-Chief who came to my rescue. That's why I call him Fourth Uncle. It was the Empress Dowager who told me that."
Grandma Cheng was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, quite young. She immediately beckoned to the maid, "...Change Hanyang Mist Tea for Madam Luo San. How can we use Lu'an Guapian?"
Yining didn't expect to receive such preferential treatment from Grandma Cheng, and thanked her with a smile.
Grandma Cheng said kindly, "Since she is Lord Lu's adopted daughter, there's no need to be so formal."
Xie Yun was furious. This Grandmother Cheng was just trying to pick on her; it was like they were born to clash. It was the same thing at home, at breakfast, when they went to pay their respects to Master Cheng and ate together. She liked porridge, but she insisted on noodles. She said smashed cucumbers were delicious, but she said the cucumbers weren't fresh. She thought Jude Manor was just a pretentious, boring place, but Grandmother Cheng had dragged everyone over.
Xie Yun smiled implicitly, stood up and said he wanted to go out for a walk. He opened the door first and went out surrounded by the maids.
Seeing the opera begin, Yi Ning didn't want to stay any longer, so she followed him out of the room to take a closer look at the restaurant's layout. She had only taken a quick glance at it just now, but the layout was exquisite, and she wanted to take a closer look.
Yi Ning brought Zhenzhu and a few others out and were walking along the corridor, admiring the furnishings of the Judezhuang Restaurant when she heard whispers. She turned her head and saw a man in elegant clothes talking to Xie Yun in the nearby flower hall.
Xie Yun ignored him, but the man kept pestering her and continued to talk. Xie Yun was impatient and wanted to leave. The man tried to grab her hand, but she pushed him away: "Are you annoying? I'm already married."
The maid who followed Xie Yun stepped forward to stop the man, and Xie Yun was able to escape.
Zhenzhu, who was beside Yining, said, "Madam, this is Xu Yong, the legitimate son of Duke Xu. I heard he fell in love with Miss Xie Yun at first sight and is always obsessed with her. Duke Xu dotes on his legitimate son, and no one can do anything to him..."
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