Liu Yulian couldn't possibly give Mrs. Mei the Second Young Master much face. She had never been one to submit to others, nor was she one without a temper. She could pretend she didn't hear what others said, but when someone went too far, she couldn't help but resist.
"Second sister, don't act like a little cat without temper like others do. If a little cat doesn't scratch you, it's because it's too lazy to do so." Liu Yulian said. The cat master is always so arrogant. The cat master will pay attention to you when it wants to, and will ignore you when it doesn't want to.
"You..." Madam Mei II stared at Liu Yulian. When did Liu Yulian become so talkative? "You think you've become a princess..."
"Yes, I'm a princess, and I'm a first-rank official. I can treat you however I want." Liu Yulian interrupted Mrs. Mei Ershao. "I tolerated you only because I didn't want to deal with you that day."
"..." Madam Mei Ershao's eyes widened. "Aren't you afraid of ruining your reputation?"
"It shouldn't be bad." Liu Yulian thought for a moment. "If those people really want to do that, it's because the culture medium has increased the yield of the crops, making them overeating. If that's the case, then it's fine."
Liu Yulian didn't think the common people had the time to talk about this. They cared more about food than about someone else's reputation. What the common people remembered more was that Liu Yulian had developed the culture medium, a fact the emperor had never concealed from the people.
She was also named a princess because of the culture medium and other things. Even if the common people knew what she said, they probably wouldn't say anything.
Hunger is a bad feeling. If everyone wants to fill their stomachs, and their families can also fill their stomachs, then fewer people will starve to death. The high infant mortality rate in ancient times was probably related to a lack of food.
With the development of disinfectants such as iodine, it is less likely that problems will occur during childbirth, and those women will feel better.
"Do you really think others will care about these gossips?" Liu Yulian asked.
"You..." Mrs. Mei Ershao opened her mouth, she didn't know what to say to Liu Yulian.
Mrs. Mei Ershao wondered why God had allowed Liu Yulian to research so many things. How wonderful it would be if she could research so many things herself. What was Liu Yulian? Mrs. Mei Ershao looked at Liu Yulian angrily. She could do nothing to her sister.
"If you don't want to stay here, then go back." Princess Zhaoyang said.
How could Princess Zhaoyang possibly stand on the side of Madam Mei, the Second Young Master? Madam Mei was a woman who didn't know how to behave. If Madam Mei knew how to behave, she wouldn't have said that about Liu Yulian. This person always tried to provoke others, so she shouldn't blame others for not giving her face.
Mrs. Mei Ershao was very unhappy to see Princess Zhaoyang like this, but when she went to see Princess Zhaoyang again, she saw the servants around her looking at her coldly. This made Mrs. Mei Ershao dare not say anything more. Princess Zhaoyang was a royal daughter, and Mrs. Mei Ershao was afraid of being punished by Princess Zhaoyang.
"Mother." Liu Jia walked up to Princess Zhaoyang.
"Are you having fun outside?" Princess Zhaoyang asked with a smile.
"I went to the greenhouse and saw a lot of small sprouts." Liu Jia gestured, "They're this long."
"Okay." Princess Zhaoyang nodded. "When they grow taller, you can come over and see them again."
"Yeah, I'll go there again in the future." Liu Jia said, "There are strawberries over there too, and the strawberries are in bloom."
"Then you can eat it after a while." Princess Zhaoyang said.
"I want strawberry cake and strawberry jam." Liu Jia counted them out, "Strawberry pudding, they're all very delicious."
Liu Yulian taught the kitchen staff how to make these cakes, so they also knew how to make them, so Liu Yulian didn't have to do it herself. However, Liu Jia still liked eating the cakes made by Liu Yulian. Liu Yulian's cooking skills were at the top level, so the cakes made in this state naturally tasted better.
Mrs. Mei Ershao was upset when she saw that Princess Zhaoyang and the others ignored her. She didn't go back to the Mei family. She didn't want to go back just like that. She wanted to stay in Jingning Marquis Mansion for the time being and wait for the second young master Mei to come and pick her up in person.
When Liu's mother learned that Mrs. Mei was going to live at home, she had no objection and directly arranged a courtyard for Mrs. Mei to live in. Mrs. Mei was a married woman, so Liu's mother naturally couldn't make things too difficult for her.
If Madam Mei Er Shao wanted to do something, then let her do it. Mother Liu wasn't afraid. If Madam Mei Er Shao really did do something, then Marquis Jingning wouldn't be able to endure it forever.
During those years, Liu's mother had always been kind to the concubines and illegitimate children in the backyard. She did not plot to frame them, nor did she give them too much or too little. She only gave them according to their allotment.
Liu Mu certainly knew that some concubines' ways of raising children were not right, but why should Liu Mu care about these people? Liu Mu was the mistress of the house, but she was not the biological mother of those illegitimate children, and those people might not necessarily treat her well.
If you want to control it, you basically have to suppress and criticize it.
When Mother Liu said a few words to those people, they would get upset. Some of them even complained to Father Liu that she was bothering them. Father Liu had even questioned Mother Liu about this. Even though Father Liu didn't blame Mother Liu, Mother Liu didn't bother with those people.
Don’t the concubines think they can take care of the children themselves? So they do.
Look at how the children raised by Qing Yi Niang are, and how the children raised by other concubines are. Those who truly respect their mothers, even if they have some small thoughts, are not like Qing Yi Niang who is unwilling to give in, and the children they raise are much better.
Concubines like Aunt Zhao also had some minor problems, but Liu Yanqing didn't dare to argue with the people in the main house. He also knew how to please the legitimate children and knew the difference between legitimate and illegitimate children.
Aunt Qing kept telling her children that their stepmother wanted to harm them.
When Liu's father came back, Liu's mother told him that Mrs. Mei Ershao would be staying at home temporarily.
"What's wrong with her?" Father Liu frowned.
"She was beaten by her husband," Liu's mother explained. "Maybe she saw that we had severed our relationship with her brother, so she thought we wouldn't interfere with her, so she hit her."
The Mei family clearly does not take the Jingning Marquis' Mansion seriously. The reason why Liu's mother asked the second young master Mei's wife to live at home was because the second young master Mei had slapped the face of the Marquis' Mansion. The second young master Mei had not only slapped the face of the second young master Mei's wife.
"What's her attitude?" asked Father Liu.
"What else can she do? She'll have to wait for her husband to come pick her up." Mother Liu told the truth. They couldn't force Mrs. Mei to divorce.
“…” Father Liu fell silent after hearing this.
At the Mei family, after Mrs. Mei learned that her son had beaten the wife of the second young master Mei, she didn't care much at first. She thought that the wife of the second young master Mei's brother had severed ties with the Jingning Marquis's Mansion, and her son said that the treatment they received when they went to the Jingning Marquis's Mansion was also average.
So when the Second Young Master Mei beat up his wife, she didn't take it as a big deal. She didn't expect that the Second Young Master Mei's wife would actually run directly to the Marquis of Jingning's mansion, and the people in the Marquis of Jingning's mansion didn't drive her out.
Mrs. Mei felt something was not right. She thought that the people from the Jingning Marquisate would not intend to deal with their Mei family.
"Master." Mrs. Mei didn't know what to do, so she could only wait for Master Mei to come back and tell him.
Master Mei was stunned. Hadn't he told his son long ago to be nice to Madam Mei, the Second Young Master? Regardless of whether Madam Mei's biological brother had severed ties with the Marquis of Jingning's family, the Marquis of Jingning still recognized Madam Mei, so the Mei family couldn't treat Madam Mei as someone who was easy to bully.
"Where's the second brother?" Lord Mei's face turned cold. "Tell him to come over here."
"He's out and not at home," said Mrs. Mei.
After the Second Young Master Mei beat up his wife, he was a little scared, afraid that the people from the Jingning Marquisate would come after him, so he ran away and went to the manor where Jiang was staying. He felt that Jiang knew how to comfort people and she never cared about those things.
Only with the Jiang family can he find peace of mind.
The second young master Mei fled to Jiang's place. Jiang didn't know what had happened, but she could feel that the second young master Mei's expression was not right.
"But I'm tired." Jiang Shi didn't ask Second Young Master Mei about those things. She didn't ask because she believed Second Young Master Mei would tell her. If she asked and Second Young Master Mei didn't want to talk about it, then she would be embarrassed.
"You're still the best." Second Young Master Mei said, "You're much better than that shrew. It's a pity... She's the daughter of a marquis. If she weren't, I wouldn't have let you down."
Haha, Jiang doesn’t think so. Even if there is no Mrs. Mei, there will be other Mrs. Mei.
If the Mei family wants to climb up the social ladder, they will not limit themselves to someone like the wife of the second young master Mei. They will also think about other people.
Jiang had long known what kind of people the Mei family was like. "This is not your fault."
"If she were half as sensible as you, I wouldn't be like this." The second young master Mei sighed.
"That's because I've suffered a lot." Jiang said. Her father died early, and the Jiang family has so much money. Many people are thinking about the Jiang family, so of course Jiang has to be more powerful.
Lord Mei originally wanted to send someone to the manor to find the second young master Mei, but Madam Mei stopped him.
"Master, let's wait a few days," said Madam Mei. "This can't be entirely blamed on our son. Since ancient times, it has been normal for men to have three wives and four concubines. This daughter-in-law is just too noisy. Let's wait a few days and let the second son go pick her up."
Mrs. Mei knew that the Mei family had to give in on this matter, but she didn't think of asking her son to pick up the wife of the second young master Mei right away.
"Maybe she will come back on her own without anyone picking her up." Madam Mei thought that if the people in Marquis Jingning's Mansion really didn't intend to take care of Madam Mei, then their trip to Marquis Jingning's Mansion would be in vain, so they should wait a while.
But before the second young master Mei could go to pick up the second young master's wife, a day later, it was reported that the Jiang brother had condoned his servants to kill innocent people.
Jiang's brother was arrested by the Shuntian Prefecture police and thrown into jail, and Young Master Jiang was imprisoned. Since this incident did not involve a serious crime that would lead to genocide, Mrs. Jiang was not imprisoned and remained at home.
Mrs. Jiang thought of various ways to rescue her son. She went to the Mei family, but they had no intention of helping.
Madam Mei was afraid that this was the work of the Marquis of Jingning Mansion. Her son had originally married Jiang as his concubine, and they had thought that the Liu family had truly fallen. Who could have imagined that the Marquis of Jingning Mansion could rise again?
"This matter...I'm afraid it's difficult." Mrs. Mei knew that her family's power in the capital was not that great. Her husband was in the Hanlin Academy, so he was also a powerful person.
They can't get involved in this matter!
Even though money can make the world go round, Mrs. Jiang had used silver before, and Young Master Jiang's affair was still reported.
This time, the Jiang family’s money was not so useful.
"As you know, our master is just a minor official in the Imperial Academy. How could he care about such matters?" Mrs. Mei said. "Our family was originally poor and has risen step by step. We don't have many powerful relatives, so we can't ask them for help. Even if we go and make arrangements, it will be useless. I'm afraid it will be a waste of your family's money."
If it were in the past, Madam Mei would definitely take the money from the Jiang family first. As for whether the money could be used to get things done, that was another matter.
But this time was different. Madam Mei didn't dare get involved. The Second Young Master Mei had beaten Madam Mei, and Madam Mei was still staying at the Marquis of Jingning's mansion. Madam Mei couldn't let anyone think she was siding with the concubine Jiang, fearing her husband would be displeased.
Mrs. May was scared.
"Here's ten thousand taels of silver." Madam Jiang offered ten thousand taels of silver right away. "I'm not asking for anything else, just to make his life easier in prison."
Mrs. Jiang wanted to take care of it herself, but she was a woman and it was not easy for her to go in front of those people. She used all the connections she could find. The Jiang family had money, and as long as it could save her son's life, she would spend any amount of money.
"This..." Mrs. Mei hesitated. She looked at the ten thousand taels of silver note. What Mrs. Jiang gave was really too much.
"Take it." Mrs. Jiang knew that the Mei family was short of money. After her daughter got married, these people had used a lot of Jiang's money.
"When the master comes back, let him go and find out." Mrs. Mei asked someone to put away the wooden box containing the silver bills.
When Mrs. Jiang saw Mrs. Mei put away the banknotes, she thought that Mrs. Mei was indeed a person who was greedy for money.
When Master Mei returned home, Madam Jiang had already left. When Master Mei learned that his wife had accepted Madam Jiang's banknotes, his face turned cold.
"Why are you still accepting her banknotes at this time?" Lord Mei was furious. "Why don't you return the banknotes to her?"
"It's okay. She also said that if there's no other way, then that's it." Madam Mei said, "Since she took out these banknotes, she has no intention of taking them back."
"She said so, and you took it." Lord Mei frowned.
Master Mei still didn't know what exactly happened and who reported Young Master Jiang. Young Master Jiang wasn't in the capital, condoning his servants to beat someone to death, but in another prefecture.
Logically speaking, if transportation is not that convenient, and Young Master Jiang is in Beijing instead of his hometown, then Young Master Jiang's affairs should not be discovered so easily, unless someone is targeting Young Master Jiang.
Lord Mei thought of the Marquis of Jingning's Mansion. Just as the wife of the second young master Mei went to the mansion, the eldest young master Jiang was reported.
At the Marquis of Jingning's mansion, Madam Mei Ershao learned that Master Jiang had allowed a servant to beat someone to death. Master Jiang had originally managed to avoid punishment, but was discovered again. This made Madam Mei Ershao very happy, and she wanted to see how Jiang could still be so proud.
Young Master Jiang was a playboy himself. He held no official position, and if his family hadn't been so wealthy, he wouldn't have been able to live such a carefree life. After arriving in the capital, he took advantage of his relatives being officials and hung out with the playboys.
There was no deep affection between these people, they were just drinking buddies. If something really happened, those people would not help Young Master Jiang.
Mrs. Mei was wondering if this was done by Marquis Jingning. She even went to find him to thank him. She believed that Marquis Jingning still cared about her, otherwise, he would not have treated Young Master Jiang like that.
"I didn't do this." Father Liu had no idea about Young Master Jiang's affairs. He just found out about this.
"Father..." Mrs. Mei Ershao originally wanted to thank Father Liu, but who would have thought that Father Liu would say such words directly, "If it's not you, who else could it be?"
"A corrupt official!" Father Liu replied. Young Master Jiang had once allowed his servants to beat someone to death, and at that time, he had been sued to the government. Because the prefect was a corrupt official, not an honest official, after the Jiang family paid him the full amount of money, the prefect had been bribed by the Jiang family.
After the corrupt official fell from power, the imperial court naturally had to investigate all the wrongdoings he had committed. Young Master Jiang's affairs were also uncovered, and the cover-up could no longer be carried out.
"..." Mrs. Mei Ershao originally thought that it was her biological father who did it, and that he was doing it for her own good. But after her biological father said that, how could she continue to speak?
"You have to take care of your own affairs." Father Liu didn't want to bother with those trivial matters. If Mrs. Mei, the second young master, couldn't stand on her own, then it was impossible for others to help her all the time.
"I..." Mrs. Mei opened her mouth, wondering what she should do.
Father Liu didn't wait for Mrs. Mei to say anything else. He just walked out and planned to take a walk outside and have some tea. Father Liu didn't continue to be an official in the court. He just wanted to be a rich and noble marquis.
In the yard, Liu Yulian was feeding the kitten. She made some dried fish, which the kitten liked to eat.
"It tastes really good." He Xiyuan picked up the dried fish on the table and ate one.
Liu Yulian made some edible dried fish, so she ate a few herself and asked He Xiyuan to try some.
"It's not seasoned that much," Liu Yulian said. "Kittens can't eat that much seasoning."
"That's not bad." He Xiyuan looked at the kitten being held by Liu Yulian. He felt a little envious of the little orange cat. "When it grows up, it will be very fat."
"It's okay." Liu Yulian rubbed the little orange cat's head.
"You're fat, so it's not easy to hold you." He Xiyuan said, "You're too heavy."
If Sister Lian was a little fatter, He Xiyuan thought he could also carry her. But Sister Lian was a girl, and she hadn't received any special training, so she probably wouldn't be able to carry heavy objects.
Well, that little orange cat should grow up quickly and get fatter.
By that time, Sister Lian will not be able to hold Big Fatty Orange anymore.
He Xiyuan looked at the little orange cat with a smile and fed it two more dried fish. "It tastes good."
"Maybe they didn't eat much before." Liu Yulian said, "Little kittens raised by others are picky eaters."
Liu Yulian looked down at the little orange cat. This little cat was also very picky about food. When the little cat ate, it would sniff the food with its nose. If it didn't think the food smelled good, it would not eat it.
"That's because you spoiled it." He Xiyuan said, "Why don't you give it a try if you don't spoil it?"
"..." Liu Yulian blinked. Who would be willing to spoil a kitten? The kitten's soft and sweet meows would make people soften their hearts.
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