In the kitchen of the third room, Su Qiuya thought Lin Xiaowan was a fool. How could anyone talk like that? Lin Xiaowan was not Liu Yulian, and her status was not high. How could she think that she could be like this just because she was a concubine of the general's mansion?
Haha, Lin Xiaowan is just a village woman now.
"You benefited from it then." Su Qiuya said, "Isn't it too late to point out the culprit now?"
"It's too late." Lin Xiaowan put the washed dishes aside. "I didn't say we didn't benefit. No, we are all wrong."
"..." Su Qiuya heard Lin Xiaowan say this, she felt that Lin Xiaowan was not a good person either. She might be trying to curry favor with the first wife. From now on, it would be better to have less contact with people from the fourth wife.
The people in the fourth room are either as cruel as Lin Xiaowan or as addicted to gambling as Liu Yanqing, and Aunt Zhao is not much better.
Su Qiuya thought that the people of the third house were much easier to get along with than those of the fourth house, and they didn't have so many thoughts. Even if the third house had thoughts, they would express them directly. For example, when Concubine Chai wanted to return to the Marquis, Concubine Chai would always go to the first house.
Liu Yanyuan and his wife worked hard, and they rarely visited the main room. If it weren't for Aunt Chai forcing Liu Yanyuan, and if it weren't for Liu Fang's marriage, Liu Yanyuan wouldn't have visited the main room so often.
When Su Qiuya returned, she told Liu Yanbo about Lin Xiaowan.
"She's a concubine of the General's Mansion, sure, but even after we got here, she's still putting on airs," Su Qiuya said. "I said a few words to her, and she accused me of being the culprit behind the split. Why didn't she point out that the First Wife was hiding things? She acted so weak and incompetent, so how can we be blamed for that?"
Su Qiuya believed that the eldest wife was black-hearted and had deliberately hidden those things so that they could become prosperous after they separated. If the eldest wife really wanted to keep these branches, she could have been more assertive and kept them for a while longer, allowing them to separate after a month or two.
"If the eldest wife hadn't gotten involved, would she still say that?" Ultimately, it was because the eldest wife got involved that Su Qiuya thought people like Lin Xiaowan were bad. "It was just hindsight."
Su Qiuya didn't think about the fact that they had just arrived in the northwest and had no time to show off on the way. They said they wanted to separate the family, so why did Liu Mu want to keep them? They were just illegitimate children, not legitimate children. Each of them threatened Liu Mu, implying that if the people in the main house didn't separate, they would have no hope of living.
"Don't be angry," Liu Yanbo comforted his wife. "They were looking at the eldest wife's house and thinking about buying land from her... They just said that on purpose."
"I just said that the people from the eldest house didn't come, and she acted like this." Su Qiuya was a little angry. "Did I say something wrong? In the first place, I really shouldn't say such things casually. If it weren't for her being the fourth brother's wife, I would have mentioned it so that she wouldn't be sold out foolishly."
Su Qiuya thought that Lin Xiaowan had no idea who had good intentions, and that someone like Lin Xiaowan would never get any benefits from the first wife.
It's true that the Liu family's eldest wife wouldn't give Lin Xiaowan and the others any benefits at will, but if Lin Xiaowan went to the Liu family's eldest wife to buy some culture medium, the Liu family's eldest wife would still sell it to her. Sometimes, it's okay to follow the trend, but it doesn't necessarily mean you have to stay closely by someone's side.
Liu Yanqing from the fourth room hasn't been very happy lately and hasn't made any bets with him. Recently, he's been forced by Lin Xiaowan to do some work, such as when Lin Xiaowan goes to the mountains, she'll also grab him and ask him to bring some firewood down the mountain.
A few days before and after Liu Fang's wedding, Lin Xiaowan did not force Liu Yanqing to do anything, which made Liu Yanqing feel relieved.
After Liu Fang got married, she had to return to her parents' home.
No one from the Liu family's main house attended Liu Fang's wedding banquet, so it was even less likely that they would attend Liu Fang's return banquet. Liu Fang wanted to take her husband directly to the main house, but she didn't dare to, fearing that she wouldn't be able to enter the house and would be embarrassed in front of her husband.
The people in the first house are so cruel!
Zhen Wen Ze treats Liu Fang well now, mainly because they are newly married, and also because he wants Liu Fang to get closer to the eldest wife of the Liu family so that he can find ways to gain benefits from her.
"Mom." Liu Fang took Zhen Wenzhe to Shiyuan Village to visit her parents.
Liu Fang even went to find Liu Yanyuan. She didn't want to talk to her sister-in-law at all. She believed that it was because her sister-in-law couldn't conceive and the baby died with just a push, forcing her to marry early. She didn't have time to choose carefully and didn't choose a better family to marry into.
"Brother, I'm married now, so please don't let Mom stay home alone." Liu Fang looked as if she was thinking about Aunt Chai. "What if she's alone in the village and something happens to her?"
"We haven't bought a house, nor have we rented one," Liu Yanyuan said. "Once you get married, we'll have to move out of the second house. They're just letting us stay temporarily because your sister-in-law had a miscarriage."
Liu Fang originally wanted Aunt Chai to follow Liu Yanyuan to the town, but who would have thought that Liu Yanyuan and his wife would go back to the village.
"Can't you find a way to stay?" Liu Fang looked down on her brother. "They let you stay, which means there's a vacant room. If you stay there, you can do more work for them."
"Your sister-in-law had a miscarriage before, so they found someone else." Liu Yanyuan knew clearly that the second house did not necessarily have to find someone from the third house to do the work. The second house could also find other people to do the work.
Didn’t you see that the first wife always hired other people to do the work? The second wife can do the same.
Liu Yanyuan didn't want to lose this job. He wasn't good at farming and didn't want to go back to the village to do it. As for the eldest wife, they simply couldn't stay there.
"That Sui Xin shop wasn't always open. There's a house behind it." Liu Fang said, "The house they lived in before was also quite nice."
Liu Fang thought that her brother could go to the first wife's house and ask them to give the shop or house to the third wife. Liu Fang didn't want the first wife's family to live too well, and didn't want Liu Yulian to take so many things.
"We'll be going back soon." Liu Yanyuan said, "You don't need to worry about the family affairs. Everything is fine at home."
Zhen Wenze wanted to go to the Liu family's main house, and whether he got in or not, he still had to give some gifts. However, he just mentioned this matter in front of Aunt Chai and others, and Aunt Chai told him not to go.
"The eldest house has no shortage of these things," Aunt Chai said, "If you go there, they will just laugh at you."
Aunt Chai thought that since Zhen Wen Ze and Liu Fang were already married, there was no need for her to continue to whitewash the situation.
"No need to go." Aunt Chai said, "Just put the things here."
"..." Zhen Wenze was not very happy when he heard this. He thought that Aunt Chai was just an aunt, and how could an aunt have the right to say such things.
No wonder Marquis Jingning never thought of letting anyone go back. These people must have been through a lot.
At the wool workshop, Liu Yulian looked at a bundle of red wool yarn. Ancient natural dyes were excellent, and the colors were beautiful.
"It's wool yarn like this." Liu Yulian said, "You can make thicker wool yarn, or thinner wool yarn. The thinner one can also be used to weave cloth."
The IQ of the ancients was no worse than that of people in later generations. They knew what to do with just a little hint.
From the oily wool they bought to the wool yarn, those people worked very hard, and no one dared to take the wool yarn home casually.
The tribal leader hiding in the wool mill had never imagined that wool could be turned into something like wool yarn. Just looking at the appearance, it was really hard to connect the two things. If he hadn't stayed in the wool mill for nearly a month, he probably wouldn't have known that these things were made of wool.
The chief also thought the food at the wool mill was good; he got paid and the food was provided. The people of Daliang were really capable. The chief just thought the wool yarn was too difficult to make. He had wanted to write down the method, but it was difficult because there were several steps.
Otherwise, they should sell more wool.
Those wool yarns don't necessarily fetch a high price, as the cost is so high. Simply selling wool would fetch three wen per jin, and if the wool is good quality, five or six wen per jin.
There are sheep with a lot of wool in their tribe, and that wool feels softer, so the quality of that wool must be good.
Generally speaking, they rarely carried a lot of Daliang coins, but that didn't mean they didn't know how to use them. They would sometimes go to Daliang's territory to buy things. If they could get more money from selling wool, their tribe could buy a lot of food to take back.
I heard that the Daliang court is still selling culture medium, and by autumn, we can harvest more grain.
The tribal leader had no idea how much grain Daliang could harvest. He only knew their wool would fetch a higher price, which would buy them more food. They also didn't want to fight Daliang. War meant death, and who would want to fight? And if they hadn't been starving, why would they fight?
After working for more than a month, the leader of the tribe planned to resign and wanted to buy a bundle of wool yarn to take back.
Liu Yulian didn't care about such things. If the workers in the wool mill wanted to leave, they could leave. If they wanted to buy wool yarn, they could buy it. Liu Yulian respected their choices and explained to them how to use the wool yarn.
"Take six pounds of each of these colors." Liu Yulian picked out wool of several colors and said, "Send it to the mansion."
Liu Yulian planned to knit a sweater. She had previously said that she wanted to knit a sweater for He Xiyuan.
Sweaters made of wool yarn are not embroidery products, so they are not that expensive. They are just good at keeping warm. Wool yarn is suitable for ordinary people to buy. As long as more wool yarn is made, people will not have to worry about lacking warm clothes.
The winter clothes promoted by the imperial court before were mainly paper-like clothes made of a certain tree, with chicken feathers, rabbit hair and other things sandwiched inside.
Things are different with the advent of wool and cotton.
Cotton can be grown in a wide range of areas, offers excellent warmth retention, and is much easier to process than wool. This doesn't necessarily mean cotton will be much cheaper; it's often more about practicality than sheer abundance.
A pound of cotton can fill several jackets, while a pound of wool can knit a number of sweaters. A sweater is not necessarily as warm as a jacket filled with cotton, and sweaters are not suitable for wearing outside. A cotton jacket is more suitable for wearing outside.
For the common people, cotton is better. At least the common people can grow more cotton and use it directly, so forget about wool.
But if someone makes wool yarn, others can use it.
When Liu's mother saw Liu Yulian bringing back so much wool yarn, she was surprised and asked, "Are you going to use it all?"
"Let's take a look." Liu Yulian said, "Each person should do two or three pieces, and let the servants learn from them."
Liu Yulian couldn't fix the sweater by herself. She wanted a sweater that was over the knee, which would look good. As for those men's styles, they didn't need to be so long. They would inevitably need more exercise, but they could have a high collar.
"It's still cold now, so I'd better knit a sweater now." Liu Yulian picked up a bundle of wool. "It will be too late to knit when it gets colder. Knitting a sweater takes time."
"You've been tossing and turning for such a long time." It has been two months in total. Liu's mother sighed, "Who would spend so much time to make a piece of clothing? At this point, I still have to weave it..."
Liu's mother really thought this was too much trouble, as the wool was quite heavy.
"It's good for keeping warm." Liu Yulian said, "It can also be made into gloves."
"Okay, do it." There was no way Liu's mother could decide whether to do it or not. Since it had come to this, she might as well do it.
When Father Liu came back and saw the wool, he picked it up and looked at it, "Is this made of wool?"
"Yes, it's made of wool." Liu Yulian had already found some bamboo and made knitting needles. "The wool yarn is also easy to store and can be shipped to other places to sell."
"Send some to the capital." said Liu's father.
"Everything is ready." Liu Yulian remembered what her father had said, that there were new things to be sent to the palace. Giving away good things would easily bring more benefits. "I've also prepared two people who can knit sweaters."
The two women were poor, older, and had no family, and they were willing to go to the capital.
Liu Yulian thought that she couldn't just give away the yarn without giving away the people. Those people might not know how to knit sweaters. She thought that she could send two more people to Beijing. These two people could teach others how to knit sweaters. They wouldn't have to enter the palace. After teaching others, they could stay in the Jingning Marquis' Mansion.
After all, the palace is a place where people are eaten without leaving any bones, so Liu Yulian had no intention of sending them into the palace.
"After they teach others, they will stay in the Marquis' Mansion." Liu Yulian specifically told her father Liu so that he would not forget to write it down when writing the memorial.
"Remember everything." Father Liu remembered Liu Yulian's words and did not want to send the two women into the palace.
"The main thing is that knitting sweaters is not a difficult thing. Once they learn it, they can come up with more patterns." Liu Yulian thought that the embroiderers in the palace were very capable. If they learned to knit sweaters, they would be able to learn faster and apply what they have learned to other situations.
"Send some to the Chengguo Mansion as well," said Mother Liu. The gifts they had given to the Chengguo Mansion last time should have arrived. However, those gifts were not very valuable.
At the Mansion of Duke Chengguo, the old lady saw the double-sided embroidery sent by the Liu family. She liked the double-sided embroidery of kittens very much. The kittens were still very lively and looked very lively.
"I've never seen Rong Ning so capable before. I'm afraid he must have suffered a lot in the northwest to achieve this." The old lady sighed, "They are really thoughtful."
The old lady saw that the other things sent by the Liu family, such as cotton cloth and dried fruits, were not very valuable. The most important thing was this double-sided embroidery. If this double-sided embroidery was sold, it would fetch a lot of money.
The Liu family was in such a difficult situation, yet they still gave her such excellent double-sided embroidery, which made the old lady very satisfied.
"It's beautiful." Lady Chengguo also liked the double-sided embroidery of a kitten, but there was only one of them. She didn't think there was anything wrong with Liu Yulian giving her just one, as this kind of double-sided embroidery wasn't easy to make.
"Make a nice stand and put it in my room," the old lady said with a smile, "and tell those people to be careful when they do it."
"Yes." Lady Chengguo responded.
Lady Chengguo looked at the old lady and couldn't tell that she had wanted He Xiyuan and Liu Yulian to cancel their engagement before.
"When will Yuan Ge'er return to Beijing?" the old lady asked again, "His brother is getting married soon, why won't he come back?"
"How could he be willing to come back now?" Lady Chengguo said, "He'll be away for a few years before he's willing to come back."
"Well, he's going to the army, how can he just come back so easily?" The old lady didn't say anything wrong about He Xiyuan. The heir to the Duke's Mansion was He Xichen, and He Xiyuan could fight for a while outside. "When they come back, they can see it too."
The old lady didn't think there was anything wrong with He Xiyuan going to the northwest. She had already seen it clearly anyway.
Miss Mo hadn't thought that when she and He Xichen got married, He Xiyuan and Liu Yulian would have to return. The journey from the northwest to the capital was not short, and it would take a long time to go back and forth. Even if He Xiyuan didn't return to the capital, it would still be the same even if the gift arrived.
He Xiyuan no longer has the position of crown prince, so he has to work harder.
When Miss Mo found out that He Xichen's brother had not returned, she didn't think it was a big deal.
The Mo family prepared a lot of generals for Miss Mo. The girls in the family married into a wealthy family and received so much betrothal gifts, so the dowry that their daughter brought over could not be small either.
General Mo didn't just have Miss Mo as his daughter; he also had other concubines and other children. Those people thought that General Mo had given Miss Mo too many things, so inevitably someone whispered something in General Mo's ear.
Fortunately, General Mo loved Miss Mo and did not reduce her dowry.
"Don't worry about your sisters. Our family has income," General Mo said. "Those betrothal gifts will also be added to your dowry."
"Father." Miss Mo's eyes were red. Her father had always been very good to her.
She is still unmarried at an advanced age and has a younger sister.
General Mo simply let the other sisters marry first, without forcing her to marry first. If General Mo did not follow her and force her to marry, then she would have no choice.
In the northwest, after Zhen Wen Ze and Liu Fang came out of the third house, Zhen Wen Ze thought they still had to go to the Liu family's main house.
"What are we going to do over there? They don't want to see us." Liu Fang was unhappy. Didn't she say before that she would not go to the main house? Why did Zhen Wenzhe still want to go there?
"It doesn't matter whether you meet him or not, just send him some gifts." Zhen Wenze said, "The Marquis is your father after all, so you should behave yourself."
Zhen Wenze thought that if Liu Fang was not Marquis Jingning, then he would not be able to marry Liu Fang. But Liu Fang did not realize this and continued to act this way.
"What rules? If they were real rules, they wouldn't have refused to attend our wedding banquet," said Liu Fang.
"..." But you are just a concubine's daughter. Zhen Wenzhe thought that the wife of Marquis Jingning must not have oppressed those concubines and concubines too much in the past, otherwise, how could Liu Fang grow up so crooked.
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