Upon hearing Jiang Yuwei's words, Granny Li's face stiffened, and she stammered, "..."
“Madam Jiang, how could you go to such a dirty and messy place as the kitchen? You should stay at Diancui Courtyard and keep the Princess company.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuwei raised an eyebrow and looked at Granny Li, slowly saying:
"Oh? If Granny Li says the kitchen is a dirty and messy place, then I have to go there even more. Food is the most important thing for people. If the kitchen is dirty and messy, how can the masters of the Prince's mansion enjoy the food with peace of mind?"
Seeing that Jiang Yuwei was unconvincing, Granny Li quickly waved her hand to explain.
“That’s not what I meant. Madam Jiang, you’re just a messenger, why make things difficult for us? What do you say?”
Jiang Yuwei stood up and walked to Li Mama, looking at her intently as she spoke:
"What does Granny Li mean by that?"
Seeing this, Granny Li frowned and said:
"What I mean is that Madam Jiang is just a guest of the Prince's mansion, so she doesn't need to meddle in other people's business. What do you think?"
Jiang Yuwei chuckled softly.
"Granny Li knows I'm just a messenger. Do you think I'm the one who wants to go to the kitchen today?"
As she spoke, Jiang Yuwei took another step forward, her face immediately turning cold and serious:
"Enough with the nonsense, lead the way!"
After being yelled at by Jiang Yuwei, Granny Li lost her previous arrogance and felt a shiver run through her body. She quickly turned around, her face pale, and said:
"Just lead the way, why are you being so fierce? Let me tell you, even if you find out something, it won't help!"
Jiang Yuwei followed behind Li Mama without saying a word, silently pondering in her heart whose people she worked for, and how she acted so eccentrically. If she didn't use the Princess Consort to suppress her, she was afraid that Li Mama would take advantage of her and start acting aggressively towards her today.
After walking for a while, the two arrived at the back kitchen. As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw several vegetable farmers waiting outside with carts. The man in the lead, who had a limp, greeted Li Mama with a smile when he saw her.
"Oh, Granny Li, you're such a busy person these days! We've been waiting for you for quite a while. Look at the vegetables that were delivered to our mansion today—they were all freshly picked from the fields by the farmers, guaranteed to be fresh!"
As the man spoke, he reached out to lift the bamboo curtain covering the vegetable basket. Seeing this, Granny Li quickly stepped forward, grabbed his hand, and said coldly:
"Linzhou, your assessment of the quality of today's dishes is not enough to satisfy you. Do you see Madam Jiang behind me? She was specially sent by the Princess Consort to inspect the dishes. You'd better think carefully about which carts of dishes were delivered to our Prince Jing's residence and which weren't!"
As she spoke, Granny Li pointed at Jiang Yuwei.
Seeing that Granny Li was not honest, Jiang Yuwei jumped onto the cart before Lin Zhou could react, lifted the bamboo curtain, and took out the dishes while saying:
"Granny Li is joking. What is sent to Prince Jing's residence is naturally all supplies for Prince Jing's residence. If just any outside thing could enter the residence, that would be too outrageous, wouldn't you say, Linzhou!"
Lin Zhou didn't understand Jiang Yuwei's identity, and just nodded blankly.
Seeing this, Granny Li could only curse Lin Zhou in her heart as a fool; now everything was over!
Jiang Yuwei lifted the bamboo curtains one by one, and saw that there was indeed something fishy about the baskets of vegetables. Fresh and juicy vegetables were placed on top, while rotten vegetable leaves, branches, stones and other debris were placed below.
Jiang Yuwei looked up at Li Mama and Lin Zhou and sneered:
"So you're feeding the people in the Prince's mansion stones and weeds?!"
Lin Zhou only then realized what was happening, and hurriedly leaned closer to Jiang Yuwei with a nervous expression, saying:
“Madam Jiang, you mustn’t say such things. Please keep your voice down. Why don’t you come down first and we can talk about it slowly?”
As he spoke, Lin Zhou gritted his teeth and took out the silver he had been carrying with him to deposit at the bank that day, waving it in front of Jiang Yuwei.
Upon seeing this, Jiang Yuwei couldn't help but sneer a few times.
"You think you can get rid of me with just a few taels of silver? You'd be better off using that to get rid of Granny Li!"
Lin Zhou was also annoyed by Jiang Yuwei's words.
"I don't care what kind of lady you are. Don't be so ungrateful. Granny Li has her own duties, and you don't need to worry about her. Even if you find out that my dishes are not good, what can you do to me!"
At this moment, the maids and servants who were working downstairs lost their focus on their tasks and stared wide-eyed at the commotion.
Seeing Lin Zhou's tough stance, Jiang Yuwei smiled and asked:
"Aren't you really afraid that I'll tell the Princess about everything you've done?"
Seeing Jiang Yuwei ask this question, Lin Zhou assumed she was intimidated by him, so he said:
"What is a princess? She's just a sickly woman. I've heard that the actual head of the Jing Prince's mansion is about to become Concubine Lin. I think it's time to change the princess! Do you know what my relationship is with Concubine Lin?"
Li Mama, who was listening nearby, widened her eyes and hurriedly went to pull Lin Zhou away.
"Don't spout nonsense in our mansion!"
Lin Zhou turned around impatiently and shook off Granny Li, saying:
"You're a coward too. What are you afraid of? Isn't Aunt Lin protecting you enough?"
Hearing this, Jiang Yuwei looked at Granny Li with great interest, and Granny Li quickly waved her hand and said:
"Stop talking nonsense here. Go back now, go back!"
Just then, Wang Ma happened to come to the main kitchen to get some white fungus, intending to cook some white fungus soup for the princess as Jiang Yuwei had instructed. Hearing Lin Zhou's earlier remarks, she angrily pointed at him and cursed:
"Where did you come from, you wild bastard, daring to cause trouble in our Prince Jing's mansion!"
As she spoke, Wang Ma glared at the servants watching nearby and cursed:
"Are you all dead?! You're eating the food of Prince Jing's mansion, yet you allow an outsider to slander our Princess Consort like this! Guards, tie this person up and send him to the front so the Prince can interrogate him properly!"
Jiang Yuwei said with a smile:
"Wang Ma, don't get angry. I think this Li Mama is in cahoots with Lin Zhou. She must have profited a lot from this man. In my opinion, we should tie her up and take her to the front for questioning!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Ma glared coldly at Li Mama and said:
"You traitorous wretch! Guards, tie them all up and send them to the front yard so the young master can see for himself how these parasites in the Prince's mansion collude with outsiders!"
When Granny Li heard that she was to be tied up and taken to the young master for interrogation, she was so frightened that she wet her pants.
"Let me go! Let me go! This has nothing to do with me! Let me go, you beasts! How have I treated you all this time, and now you're kidnapping me!"
Granny Li struggled and yelled:
"I want to see Consort Lin! Let me see Consort Lin!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com