Xiaoyu went to the kitchen to get dinner, and the cook, as usual, threw her some vegetable porridge and said rudely, "It would be best if you could get it yourself, so we don't have to bring it to you."
Xiaoyu followed Ling Xiang's instructions without even looking at the vegetable porridge: "According to the rules of the mansion, as the eldest daughter, the Third Miss should have two meat dishes, one vegetable dish, and one soup for dinner."
"That's all, eat it if you want or not!" The cook slammed the tray down on the table as if she had heard a joke. Suddenly, the porridge splashed out and spread everywhere.
"You!" Xiaoyu's face turned red with anger, but she would never do such a thing as quarreling.
But Ling Xiang had taught her. She found the dinner prepared for the young lady in the kitchen and took it directly: "This is the meal for the young lady, I want this!"
"This is for the second young lady!" The cook stopped her from taking it.
Before long, the kitchen was in chaos and the prepared dinner was ruined miserably.
They shouted and wanted to beat Xiaoyu, but Ling Xiang appeared in time to stop them. "You withheld food and wanted to beat people. It seems that Second Aunt was too kind to you when she was the housekeeper."
Mrs. Ling was in the room, so anxious that she was at a loss for words. She kept asking Mr. Ling, "Master, what should we do?"
Master Ling slammed the table and said, "Did you poison him?"
Mrs. Ling Er was so frightened that she shuddered and trembled: "No, it's not me..."
Seeing her like this, Master Ling Er understood everything and immediately slapped her:
"What did I teach you? What good would it do us to ruin Ling Xiang's face? Now Ling Xiang's face is ruined, and she can't marry the King of Qin. We didn't gain anything, and we even have to go to court!"
Madam Ling II covered her face, feeling extremely aggrieved: "I didn't mean to disfigure her, I just wanted her to obey..."
"Idiot!" Master Ling raised his hand to slap her again. She was so scared that she squatted on the ground, covering her face tightly: "Master, spare my life!"
Master Ling smashed the table with one palm: "You'd better pray that Yuan Zhengqing doesn't find out about your stupid behavior. Otherwise, don't blame me for disregarding the relationship between husband and wife!"
The couple was arguing unhappily, and even then, the backyard wasn't peaceful. Someone from the kitchen came running over, yelling from a distance, "Oh no! The Third Miss has gone mad! She's ruined all of tonight's meals!"
Troublesome things happened one after another, and Mr. Ling was furious: "Call the third young lady to me!"
Not long after, Ling Xiang appeared in front of Master Ling Er and called out obediently, "Second Uncle."
Master Ling calmed down and revealed a look of disappointment: "Xiang'er, what are you making a fuss about? Don't you think the house is messy enough?"
Ling Xiang pointed at the kitchen manager and complained, "It's not Xiang'er who's causing trouble. It's really those servants in the kitchen who are being too overbearing. They're deliberately withholding food, only preparing vegetable porridge for every meal. I'm still young and need to grow. How can I only eat this?"
"Is this true?" Master Ling glared at the kitchen manager.
The kitchen manager immediately knelt down and protested: "Second Master, please understand! I was only following the instructions from above and never intentionally withheld food!"
Ling Xiang: "Tell me clearly, who was it that wanted to withhold my food? Don't make false accusations!"
"Yes, yes..." The kitchen manager hesitated and didn't dare to say anything.
Mrs. Ling, who was hiding in the room, was worried that the kitchen steward would betray her and she would be beaten again. She immediately came out, covering her face and shouting:
"You are so bold and cunning! Food in this mansion has always been served according to the rules. Not only did you withhold Third Young Miss's food, but now you are trying to falsely accuse others of it?"
The kitchen manager was stopped and dared not tell the truth. He knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.
"Drag him away, give him twenty strokes of the cane, and demote him to a servant."
Ling Xiang exclaimed, "Ah, Second Aunt, what happened to your face? Who hit you?"
Madam Ling Er covered her face tightly with a handkerchief, trying her best to hide the slap marks on her face. "Xiang'er must have seen it wrong. I just accidentally fell down."
"That's not bad. I thought it was someone who was so bold as to hit Second Aunt." Ling Xiang looked at Second Master Ling again.
"My food has been withheld for so many years, Uncle, how should this be settled?"
Master Ling was so angry about all this that he had a headache: "I'll give you a thousand taels from my account as compensation. No one is allowed to mention what happened today from now on!"
Ling Xiang disagreed, "As everyone knows, the entire Zhenguo Marquisate is the property left by my father. Doesn't the money in the Marquisate belong to me? Are you using my own money to compensate me? Uncle, isn't this inappropriate?"
Making trouble is not Ling Xiang's goal; her goal is to take back what belongs to her and make Mr. and Mrs. Ling give up what does not belong to them.
"Xiang'er, who taught you these words? How could you be so rebellious?" Master Ling angrily accused.
"Back then, my eldest brother and his wife suddenly disappeared, leaving you young. I was entrusted with the task of taking over the Zhenguo Marquisate Mansion. It was incredibly difficult back then! If it weren't for my management over the years, the Zhenguo Marquisate Mansion would have fallen on hard times long ago. Yet, you're still able to live the life of a wealthy lady, yet you're so ungrateful that you're actually trying to erase all of Second Uncle's contributions to this family?"
Mr. Ling played the family card and turned the tables, which really made Ling Xiang admire his thick skin:
"Then Second Uncle, do you still remember what you promised when you took over the Marquis Zhenguo Mansion?
"You said Xiang'er was still young and unable to manage this huge Zhenguo Marquis Mansion, so you asked to take charge of it on my behalf, and waited for me to grow up before handing everything back to me. Now, Second Uncle is going to break your promise and take over the Zhenguo Marquis Mansion?"
Over the years, in order to deceive Ling Xiang, Master Ling had dismissed all the people left behind by the former Marquis of Zhenguo. He had done it so well, but Ling Xiang was still able to know the truth, which really surprised him:
"Who told you these things? There's no such thing! It's obvious that someone is trying to alienate the relationship between us uncle and nephew!"
Uncle-nephew relationship? This was the funniest joke Ling Xiang had heard today.
She smiled.
"How about we ask the elders of our clan to come and testify to whether Xiang'er is just talking nonsense or if Second Uncle is deliberately deceiving an orphan like me?"
He had already bribed the clan members who knew the situation, and Mr. Ling was confident:
"Since Xiang'er doesn't trust Second Uncle, let's choose a day to hold a clan meeting and explain everything clearly, so that no one can use these things to alienate us in the future."
"Second Uncle is wise." Ling Xiang looked at Mrs. Ling Er, "Second Aunt, we agreed that the power of housekeeping would be handed over to me. Second Aunt, why don't you give me the accounts and keys of the house?"
"It's not sorted out yet!" Mrs. Ling Er had never thought of handing over the power of housekeeper.
"We agreed that three days would be enough, but it's already four days. Second Aunt's efficiency is really too low. No wonder a small kitchen manager dares to disobey and withhold food from the young lady." Ling Xiang pressed on.
"Since Second Aunt can't handle it well, then call all the people in charge and I can sort it out myself."
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