After the second branch of the Liu family failed to rent the shop of the first branch, they went to rent another shop. Liu Yanbo said that he wanted to rent the shop for a long time, at least a year. He wanted to lower the price, but he couldn't lower it much.
They found a better location, but the shop cost more, even more expensive than the shop on the main house side.
"I should have known I shouldn't have asked you to go and talk to the people in the eldest house about renting a shop. Otherwise, you wouldn't be in such a difficult situation." Su Qiuya couldn't help but say a few words as she was packing up her stall in town to go back. "Mom is just afraid of being looked down upon."
Why do you care so much about face?
Su Qiuya sighed, saying that they had reached this point and still wanted to save face.
"Just get through this time," Liu Yanbo said, "and save them from having to complain later."
Liu Yanbo couldn't say it was his own mother's fault, so he could only say this. Since they weren't looking for the big house to rent a shop to, they didn't have to owe the big house a favor. Just grit your teeth and it will be over soon.
"That's right." Su Qiuya sighed, thinking it would be better to not get involved. "That pound of cotton at home... go back and take a look."
When they returned home to check on the cotton, they discovered mice had built a nest in it. They had simply thrown the cotton in a corner, not in a box, and not in the bedroom, but in an uninhabited room, so they hadn't discovered it earlier.
"Damn rats." Su Qiuya really didn't expect that the rats would make a nest on the cotton. There were many small rats on it, and the big rats had already run away.
Su Qiuya had no choice but to let Liu Yanbo deal with the rats. Since they didn't catch the big rats, they could only deal with the small rats first.
"This cotton... let's throw it away." Su Qiuya had heard that cotton was quite good at keeping warm, so she wanted to use it to make something. Who knew that a mouse would run into the cotton first? "Wait, let's burn it so that no one can see it."
If the eldest wife saw them throwing the cotton away, it would be a disaster. It would be better to use the cotton to burn in the fire, at least it would be of some use.
"Okay, let's burn it now." Liu Yanbo said.
Since they no longer need the cotton for rats to build nests, they can only burn it.
"If we don't burn it, if someone takes it to make clothes for children, the children will get sick, which is not good." Su Qiuya knew that people should not touch things that mice have touched, so as not to get sick.
People here are poor, so it's inevitable that someone will pick it up.
Su Qiuya believed that she was doing this for the good of everyone and that she hadn't hurt anyone else. At most, the people from the first wife's house would think that they disliked her things. Being misunderstood by the first wife was better than hurting others.
How could the people in the first wife care about how the second wife used the cotton? The second wife bought the cotton, and it belonged to the second wife. Whether the second wife threw it away or burned it had nothing to do with the first wife.
It just so happened that the third wife's house was built next to the second wife's. When Aunt Chai heard that the second wife was going to rent a shop in the town, she came over specially and happened to see Liu Yanbo burning cotton.
"You shouldn't buy cotton." said Aunt Chai.
Aunt Chai didn't buy any cotton, nor did she think it was that good.
"It was useless for a while, so mice used the cotton to build a nest, so we burned it." Aunt Qing explained to avoid being misunderstood.
Even though Aunt Qing said so, Aunt Chai still felt that cotton was not good.
When Aunt Chai returned, she told her daughter-in-law that it was a good thing they didn't go to buy cotton because the second wife had burned it. Aunt Chai's daughter-in-law was a big mouth, and the news of the second wife burning the cotton quickly spread.
In the Liu family's main house, when Liu's mother learned that Concubine Qing had burned the cotton, she didn't go to say anything to Concubine Qing. Cotton is really warm, and if they want to burn it, then burn it.
When Liu Yulian learned about the Second Wife's burning of the cotton, she wondered how much she disliked the First Wife. She wanted to rent the shop but then refused, and then burned the cotton. But it didn't matter; the Second Wife had already paid.
"Asshole." Liu's father was very unhappy. Liu Yanbo was his biological son, so his feelings were even deeper.
Liu's mother was only Liu Yanbo's legal mother, and Liu Yanbo wasn't raised by Liu's mother, so Liu's mother didn't feel that strongly. It was just that the people on the second branch were a bit rude, and some people actually thought that the first branch forced the second branch to buy cotton, and that the second branch bought the cotton out of filial piety to Liu's father.
It's really ridiculous!
The village is so small that everyone will know about any disturbance very quickly.
"Don't be angry." Mother Liu comforted Father Liu.
Liu Yulian was in the kitchen, making osmanthus cake, which was the dried osmanthus she was selling in the town today.
Children are prone to greed, so Liu Yulian makes extra. Today, during the day, little Liu Jia sat in front of the shop and ate cakes. People passing by found it a little strange, so they went to the shop to sell some things.
"Auntie, eat it." Little Liu Jia still held the osmanthus cake and asked Liu Yulian to take a bite.
"It's delicious. Eat it." Liu Yulian took a small bite.
"Auntie, you eat so little." Xiao Liujia said, "Should you leave some for me and my brother?"
"Yes, leave it for you to eat." Liu Yulian pinched her little niece's face.
"But there are so many." Xiao Liujia's voice was soft and sticky. "Auntie can eat it too."
"I ate it." Liu Yulian didn't like it very much. "There are other foods, such as fish balls."
Liu Yulian made some fish balls, which could last for a few days.
This village is relatively close to Brother Liu Yulian's military camp, and sometimes people go there to deliver some things.
Liu Yulian thought that her brother had not been back for many days, so she could prepare some food and send it to him, as well as some dried meat that could be preserved, and some sugar.
"Mom, take the gloves I made two days ago to my brother tomorrow," Liu Yulian said. "You can also take the dried meat and candy at home."
"Just let your father take it over. The weather is so cold, the sooner he goes, the sooner he can come back." Mother Liu planned to let Father Liu go to find Master Zhang Er and take Master Zhang Er's ox cart to bring some things over.
It takes more than an hour to get to the military camp where Liu Yanjing is located by ox cart. According to later calculations, it takes almost three hours.
If Liu's father went, he would return the same day. There were no bandits along the way, and besides, there were only a few things, and it was not a caravan. If the bandits robbed the things, they would easily cause trouble for the military camp.
"We need to clean it up." Liu Yulian said, "The small steamed buns we made earlier don't need to be baked, we can eat them anytime."
Those small steamed buns were similar to the Wangzai steamed buns of later generations, and there were also some breads.
Liu Yulian had made this specifically to prevent her nephews and nieces from going hungry. Since her father was going to the military camp, she wanted him to bring some extra food with him.
"You're planning to empty the house." Liu's mother joked.
"That's your son. It's up to you whether to move him out or not." Liu Yulian said.
"I don't know how your brother is doing. The military camp is not an ordinary place. It's impossible for him to be so comfortable." Mother Liu sighed.
Mother Liu thought about how her children had suffered recently and said, "Your eldest sister is in the capital. I don't know how she is doing."
"My brother-in-law didn't divorce her." Liu Yulian knew that not divorcing her didn't necessarily mean she was fine. She might even die of illness later. Even if her brother-in-law treated her well, others would definitely think that her sister didn't have the status of a marquis' daughter and would inevitably look down on her.
This was the feudal society. Even in later generations, if a wealthy family went bankrupt, there would be such a gap.
"I just hope their family has some conscience." said Liu's mother.
"Yeah." Liu Yulian nodded. "Even if my sister is not doing well, she is unlikely to tell us."
Liu Yulian's sister went to see them off and prepared some things for them.
My sister's family was the home of the Minister of Rites, and families like that were very particular about etiquette. It was the daughter's duty to send her parents off, so that family didn't stop her.
Liu Yulian didn't know what kind of life her sister was living now, and hoped that her sister could stay stable.
In the capital, when Princess Su hosted a banquet, she actually invited Liu Yulian's sister. Liu Yulian's sister married into the Qin family, the wife of the eldest son of the Qin family. As the eldest daughter of the Marquis's family, she certainly did not marry the second son, but the eldest son, who would inherit the Qin family in the future.
After her family was confiscated and exiled, Madam Qin had indeed kept a low profile. If she hadn't kept a low profile, others would have been even more likely to torment her. Madam Qin hadn't had much contact with Princess Su, so she found it strange that Princess Su had invited Madam Qin.
When Madam Qin arrived at Prince Su's Mansion, people who didn't get along well with her couldn't help but say a few words.
"Oh, you're still in the mood to come out," a lady said. "The New Year is almost here. Have you sent anything to your exiled parents? Don't just think about your in-laws and yourself and forget about your biological parents."
"Thank you for your concern," Madam Qin Da Shao replied, "I have to send something. Do I need your approval for what it is?"
Madam Qin was no pushover, so how could she let others manipulate her? She didn't think Princess Su had asked her to come just to make her a laughing stock. If she were truly that kind of person, she would be easily caught by others. If other women competed for her favor, they could easily accuse her of being petty.
Madam Qin was not from the Su Palace, and her status was low, so she had almost no chance to come to the palace. However, if she bowed her head too much now, there was no guarantee that those people would say something behind her back. Even if she was no longer the legitimate daughter of the Marquis, she was still the young lady of the official family.
"Mrs. Qin, you're here." At this moment, a young maid came over. This maid was none other than Princess Su's personal maid. She smiled and stepped forward, "The Princess was looking for you."
The other lady naturally recognized the personal maidservant beside Princess Su, but she did not expect that the maidservant would be so polite to Madam Qin Da Shao. She could not help but wonder if there was something going on. Otherwise, why would Princess Su suddenly be so nice to Madam Qin Da Shao?
No matter what Princess Su said to Madam Qin, these people saw Princess Su's attitude towards Madam Qin.
When Mrs. Qin returned to the Qin family and met her mother-in-law, her mother-in-law asked her a few questions.
"Your sister is the fiancé of Prince Su's cousin, right?" Mrs. Qin looked at her eldest daughter-in-law.
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