In the capital, the second young master's wife, Mei, tossed and turned, but in the end, she refused to divorce. She refused to divorce, not wanting others to laugh at her, and she insisted on staying in the Mei family.
Madam Qin was too lazy to bother with Madam Mei's affairs and was more focused on taking care of her own family. If Madam Mei was willing to listen to her, then she could just divorce. After the divorce, whether she could marry someone better or worse was uncertain.
However, given Mrs. Mei's personality, it would not be easy for her to marry well.
Madam Qin knew about the little troubles of her eldest daughter-in-law's sister, and Madam Mei, the second young master's wife, had come to the mansion many times.
When the Jingning Marquis's mansion was raided, Madam Mei II hadn't been around much, nor had she gone to see the Liu family off. Madam Qin didn't like Madam Mei II very much, not because she was a concubine's daughter, but because she was the one who always failed to manage the family's messy affairs.
When Mrs. Qin saw Mrs. Mei Ershao coming again, she couldn't help but frown.
Madam Qin Da Shao also knew that her mother-in-law was not very satisfied, so she had to say a few more words to Madam Mei Er Shao.
"Don't come to me so often," said Madam Qin. "If you do, my mother-in-law will get tired of me."
"What's there to be annoyed about? You are..."
"Shut up." Madam Qin Da Shao interrupted Madam Mei Er Shao, "Don't even mention being the legitimate daughter of a marquisate. It's not that easy to be someone's daughter-in-law. What are you doing here, talking about status or not?"
The Qin family isn't the Mei family, and Madam Qin Da Shao doesn't want to use her family's status to suppress others. Madam Mei Er Shao wants to use her status to suppress the Mei family, but she can't do it well.
People like the Mei family are inherently ungrateful. How could such people possibly be so kind to Mrs. Mei, the Second Young Master?
"It's always like this." Mrs. Mei Ershao was not very satisfied. "Did your father write to you?"
"Why are you asking this?" asked Mrs. Qin.
"Nothing, just wondering when they'll be back." Madam Mei Er Shao was hoping that Marquis Jingning would return sooner so she could return to the Marquis's mansion. Otherwise, she would have to do things according to the housekeeper's mood, which was not good.
"No matter when they come, your problem still needs to be resolved." Madam Qin said, "I told you, don't come to my place again. Next time, if you come here again, I won't see you."
“…” Mrs. Mei Ershao pursed her lips, thinking that her elder sister was really mean to her.
After Mrs. Mei Ershao left the Mei family, she planned to write a letter to Concubine Qing. She wanted to complain to her and say that Mrs. Qin Dashao had treated her badly. She didn't dare to tell Marquis Jingning because Marquis Jingning would never think that Mrs. Qin Dashao had done anything wrong.
It had always been like this since she was little. If she fought with her older sister for something, her father would either tell her to give in a little or tell her that there was a difference between legitimate and illegitimate children. Since she was born out of wedlock, she couldn't ask for more of those things.
Mrs. Mei Ershao always remembered those words, so she would look for Concubine Qing more often.
In the northwest, Mrs. Mei Ershao wrote many letters to Concubine Qing, and she received a letter basically every few days.
The letter Qing received this time was about Jiang's pregnancy. She didn't know she had miscarried yet, so she thought the Mei family was really too much. The Mei family first said Jiang was a concubine, then because the Liu family restored their titles, they stopped talking about concubines, but they still treated Jiang so well.
"What's going on?" Aunt Qing frowned. Her daughter's little problem hadn't been resolved yet. The letter written by Marquis Jingning was completely useless and failed to intimidate the Mei family.
The Mei family still bullied the wife of the second young master Mei. Aunt Qing wanted to rush directly to the capital, rush directly to the front of the Mei family, and tear those people's mouths apart.
"At the latest, we'll be able to go back next year." Su Qiuya said, "A year should be fine."
Su Qiuya was helpless. These bad things of Mrs. Mei's were really speechless. They received letters from Mrs. Mei's again and again. Mrs. Mei didn't send anything, but just kept talking about those bad things.
Other families don't want their relatives to know how hard their lives are, but Mrs. Mei Ershao wishes they all knew how difficult her life was and wanted them to make decisions for her.
"A year..." Aunt Qing sighed. A year is a very long time. How many years are there in a lifetime?
"We have to open today," Su Qiuya said. The Lantern Festival had passed, and they had to open. They couldn't stay closed any longer. If they stayed closed, they wouldn't make much money.
"Open it." Aunt Qing said.
Aunt Qing thought that there were a lot of things going on in the second house, and nothing was going well. Things were not going well for Mrs. Mei Ershao, and things were not going well for Liu Yanbo either.
"After a while, after a while..." Aunt Qing repeated the words, but she still didn't know what to say for a moment. They could only wait for Liu Yanbo to pass the imperial examination.
In the Liu family's main house, Liu Yulian took out some grass seeds and bought a piece of wasteland, intending to use it to grow grass.
Many people are used to driving their cattle and sheep directly to the pasture to graze, eating free grass, and are not used to buying grass. However, some wealthy families buy grass and feed their cattle and horses.
What Liu Yulian wanted to do was to let those people know how good the grass was, that it could be harvested three times a year, and that it could be dried and used to feed livestock when there wasn't enough grass on the grassland.
There is a lot of wasteland in the northwest, and the government is willing to sell it.
The imperial court hoped that the people would reclaim more wasteland, increase their food supply, and increase their income. Since the wasteland was not as fertile as the land, the imperial court would not force people to grow crops on it in the beginning.
For barren land with lots of sand and gravel but little water, the government would mostly just sell it and not care about anything else.
Liu Yulian wanted to grow forage grass. When her father found out, he thought that not many people were growing forage grass to sell. Was it really that easy to grow forage grass?
"For over a year now, I've been buying all kinds of seeds," Liu Yulian said. "I've soaked the seeds in medicine to try and see if I can grow something better. With high-quality forage, the cattle and sheep will thrive, and we'll be able to harvest more wool in the future."
Liu Yulian plans to sell more grass, as grass can make money.
"Okay." Father Liu was thinking of some wasteland anyway.
Father Liu also thought that if they had good grass, they could sell it to the grassland tribes. With enough grass, the grassland tribes wouldn't necessarily fight over the grass. If they did fight, it would probably be for power.
Father Liu wasn't thinking about helping the grassland tribes, but rather that the grassland tribes and Daliang each had something to gain. They were in the northwest, and they couldn't just sit there and do nothing. If they did nothing, it would be bad when they arrived in the capital.
"Let's buy some wasteland at home and plant some together." Liu's father believed in his daughter. If she failed, it wouldn't be a big deal. It was just some wasteland. It was impossible for those wastelands to produce such a good harvest in the first place.
"Okay." Liu Yulian nodded. "Let's have people level the gravelly land and plant some pasture grass."
Those grasses can also improve the soil and lock in moisture. They are also very resilient and can survive even in a bit of drought.
When Princess Zhaoyang learned that Liu Yulian had bought wasteland to plant forage grass, she simply bought some land as well. Although they did not stay in the northwest for that long, it did not prevent them from setting up businesses in the northwest.
After they return to Beijing, they can just hand over the management of the fields to the manager. If they set up a few farm heads, things will be much simpler.
Widow Zhang worked at Liu Yulian's farm, and she and others cleaned up the wasteland and planted grass. She had never thought that grass could be planted, and she had no idea what it looked like.
Widow Zhang didn't think about growing grass. She was satisfied with growing grapes and watermelons. They didn't have that much land, and it was impossible for them to grow so many things at once. They weren't a wealthy family.
"Learn more." Widow Zhang urged her children and grandchildren to learn more. Even though they didn't grow pasture grass now, who could guarantee that no one would do so in the future? Perhaps after the family splits up, with so many family members, there will always be someone who wants to grow a certain kind of pasture grass, or perhaps someone who likes to raise sheep.
Widow Zhang looked at her second grandson, "Why are you looking so evasive?"
"Nothing... nothing." said the second grandson of the Zhang family.
"Speak up, don't hide it," said Widow Zhang, "Are you attracted to a girl I don't like?"
“…” Widow Zhang’s second grandson stared at Widow Zhang with wide eyes.
"Yes, then it is. No, then it is not." Widow Zhang said, "You can't possibly be attracted to the third daughter next door?"
"Yes..." The second grandson of the Zhang family lowered his head slightly. He had originally been avoiding that girl, but she often came to him and helped him with his work. After a while, he felt that the girl was quite good. "She said she could sell her body, the kind that can be bought out directly."
This was a plan the girl had made with the second grandson of the Zhang family. She didn't want to be constantly sucked dry by her natal family, so she wanted to use this method to break away from them. If she were to sell herself, she would have a contract, and buying out the relationship meant giving a few more taels of silver at the beginning. Since the widow Zhang's family was so powerful, her own family wouldn't dare ask for more money.
The girl had given the matchmaker some money, hoping that Widow Zhang would agree. However, Widow Zhang was unwilling, so the girl had to think of other ways.
"Then let's take a look." Widow Zhang thought about the money the girl had given to the matchmaker before, and also thought about how the girl seduced her second grandson. It was obvious that the girl was capable and even knew about the indenture contract.
That same day, Widow Zhang went to the next village. Her idea was simple: if she wanted to buy out the relationship, she would have to go to the government office to file a report and break off the marriage. This would cost a lot of money, and of course it would depend on whether the girl could work. If she could, she could have her come home early to work, which would help her recover some of the losses.
The family's surname was Lin. They had four daughters and one son, and their first daughter was a concubine. This family was sucking the blood of their daughters to support their sons. After the first two daughters got married, they often brought gifts back to their parents' home and were very kind to their younger brother.
When Widow Zhang arrived, she saw Miss Lin San working in the yard, chopping wood and hanging clothes. She was quite capable. She was rather thin, probably because her family relied heavily on her younger brother for food, and as an older sister, she ate less and had to work harder, which was why she was so thin.
It doesn't matter if a girl is a little thin. Once she gets married, if she eats more good food, she will gradually become stronger.
Many girls are like that, looking rather thin.
In a family, the men usually eat more and the women eat less, sometimes even much less. Men work in the fields, so naturally they have to eat better. But in some families, the women do the work, while the men do less, and thus eat more.
This is the situation in the Lin family. The younger brother of the Lin family basically does not have to do any work. It is his sisters who do the work.
Miss Lin San saw the people outside the yard and went out on purpose. She recognized Widow Zhang as soon as she saw her. In order to leave this family and live a more comfortable life in the future, she had been eyeing Widow Zhang's house for a while and had also visited the people in Widow Zhang's house.
"Auntie, would you like some water?" asked Miss Lin San.
"I'm asking you to never come back to this house again. Are you willing to do that?" Widow Zhang didn't beat around the bush with Miss Lin San. This was her exact purpose. "If you want to come back and help them in the future, our family won't be able to accommodate you."
Widow Zhang thought that if Miss Lin San was a bad person and had deceived them, then she would ask her second grandson to divorce his wife. If the second grandson refused to divorce his wife, she would let him go out alone.
"I'm willing." Miss Lin San said quickly.
Miss Lin San did not pretend to be reserved. She had been planning for so long just to marry into Widow Zhang's family and to get away from her natal family.
"Okay." Widow Zhang nodded.
The next day, when Widow Zhang went to the town, she told Liu Yulian about the situation at the farm and mentioned her second grandson. Widow Zhang would sometimes nag Liu Yulian. After all, these country folks didn't have much ability, so they just wanted to see if they could make the host family happy.
"We didn't want this grandson's wife in the first place," Widow Zhang said. "She was willing to sell herself, so we agreed to let her go. It's not that our family wanted to do this, but it's simply too rich. Several sisters are supporting their younger brother, and her two older sisters often bring things back to their parents' home. We're not a wealthy family, so how could we have so many things?"
"Are there many people like this?" Liu Yulian knew about the "brother-supporting" craze. Some women only thought about their brothers, even ignoring their own daughters and sons. These women simply believed that their brothers were extremely important, that they were the roots of their mother's family.
Liu Yulian couldn't really empathize. If it were her, she would definitely treat her own children better and would never think about her brother.
"A lot," Widow Zhang said. "Many families keep having children just to have sons. When they have several daughters, they treat them like maids, making them work like slaves for their sons. If their sons don't have the money to marry, they marry their daughters off and sell them for a good price."
“…” Liu Yulian took a deep breath. It was so scary.
"If those women could think straight, they wouldn't send so many things back to their parents' home. I'm afraid of those who are not so clear-headed, constantly bringing things back from their husband's home to their parents' home." Widow Zhang said, "Once, there was a family that had very little food at home, and the daughter-in-law sent food back to her parents' home. As a result, the child she gave birth to starved to death."
Widow Zhang said this and thought that if she were that child, she would never let her mother go even if she became a ghost. The woman sent food to her parents' home even though they didn't have much food. Everyone in her family was alive and well, even a little plump, while the woman's child was gone.
"I have too little experience." Liu Yulian knew that some women did not love their own children, so she did not expect this to happen.
"That's right, I looked down on Lin San at first because her two older sisters were like that," Widow Zhang said. "Her parents are so shameless as to ask their daughter and son-in-law for things. Since she's willing to sell herself, why not just do it and sever ties with her family? That would be best."
Widow Zhang didn't think she was a cruel person, so she wouldn't stop Miss Lin San from visiting her parents occasionally. But if Miss Lin San wanted to take things from the Zhang family back to her parents' home, she couldn't.
"Yes." Liu Yulian nodded.
"She often works at home," Widow Zhang said. "She's very capable and pretty, too."
If that girl wasn't good-looking, his second grandson wouldn't have been so easily dazzled by her.
"That girl is quite pitiful." Liu Yulian asked someone to bring her a tael of silver. Her family didn't have much money, and she had to worry about the cement factory, so she asked someone to bring her a tael of silver. "This tael of silver is just a bonus."
"Thank you, Princess." Widow Zhang spoke so much to Liu Yulian, not to ask for money, but simply to express her gratitude. Since Princess Ning had given her money, she had to be grateful. She only hoped that Miss Lin San was truly sensible.
Only after Widow Zhang left did Liu Yulian go to see her mother.
Liu's mother had long known what kind of personality Widow Zhang had. She was a capable person. A widow who had supported so many people, Widow Zhang also sent some fruits and vegetables grown by the Liu family to the main house.
Such a powerful woman! Mother Liu believed that Widow Zhang was even more powerful than the mistresses of some wealthy families. This might be because Widow Zhang had been a widow for many years, supporting a family alone. Widow Zhang had more experience and understood those things better.
How many people simply can't persevere and can't do as well as the widow.
"There's going to be a happy event in the Zhang family." Liu Yulian said with a smile, "Her grandson is getting married."
"She has quite a few grandchildren, right?" Liu's mother had once lived in Shiyuan Village and had met Widow Zhang's family. Widow Zhang already had several sons and daughters, not to mention the grandchildren she had. "She's also quite eloquent."
"Yes, there are several." Liu Yulian said, "This time I married a girl from the next village. She has four daughters and one son. She is also a very capable girl."
Liu Yulian didn't say much about the girl's unwillingness to take care of her brother, as not everyone could understand.
"That girl is trying to escape from her parents' home," said Liu's mother.
"How do you know?" Liu Yulian thought that she didn't say it, and her mother didn't hear Widow Zhang say it.
"There's no way that Widow Zhang would be interested in a family like this. She must have other reasons." Mother Liu didn't think that someone as smart as Widow Zhang would marry a troublemaker into her family. She must have other plans.
"..." Liu Yulian only thought that she was not as smart as the ancients. She did not say much, and her mother could guess it at once.
"Let's not talk about that. Your brother's betrothal gifts are almost ready." Liu's mother said, "Time is a bit tight. The wedding will be next month. But it's necessary to hurry. They are not young anymore."
In the military camp, Liu Yanjing shot a pair of wild geese and was about to go home. When he turned around, he found He Xiyuan staring at him.
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