Chapter 75 Cousin Enters the House
The old lady was eating the snacks that Mengxi had brought. She saw a variety of cakes on the table that she had never seen before. She pointed at them and asked:
"This is a new pattern made by Xier. I have never seen it before. What is it called?"
"This dessert is called Lotus Seed and Poria Cake with Ophiopogon japonicus. It is made by peeling and core the lotus seeds, then slicing the Poria cocos and grinding it into fine powder together with the Ophiopogon japonicus. Add sugar and mix well. Make it into a cake and steam it. Old lady, if you add osmanthus, it will taste even better. It just so happens that there is no osmanthus in the house today. Your granddaughter-in-law will make it for you some other day. Let you try it."
As Mengxi spoke, she picked up a small piece and handed it to the old lady.
When the old lady heard this, she thought to herself, the mansion made osmanthus cake yesterday, why is it gone today? Osmanthus is not a rare thing, how can such a big Xiao Mansion be lacking it? She couldn't help but look at the first wife. When the first wife heard this, she was shocked. Seeing that the old lady was looking at her, she just ate the snack in her hand calmly.
Seeing that the eldest wife didn't say anything, the old lady didn't say anything. She took the lotus seed, oyster and ophiopogon cake handed over by Mengxi, took a bite, and nodded repeatedly:
"Delicious, delicious. Xier, now that you mention it, I really think that it would taste even better with the scent of osmanthus. Xier, please make it for me some other day."
After the old lady finished eating, she gave the rest to a few maids and asked them to go away to eat. She chatted with Mengxi and the eldest lady for a while and then told them to leave.
After the two men left, the old lady ordered someone to call Shiqi. When she saw Shiqi coming in, she asked:
"I've found out what happened."
"I just heard what Second Madam said, and saw the look in the old lady's eyes, so I went out to inquire. I heard from the maids in Second Madam's room that the mansion has never sent Second Madam's allowance of tea, rouge, etc. since she came into the mansion. It was fine before, because Second Master ate with her, and they didn't dare to skimp . Since Second Master stopped eating in the upper room, Second Madam's kitchen is always short of this and that. Second Madam sends Zhiqiu and Zhichun out of the mansion to buy daily necessities. The servant at the second gate said that the two of them went out of the mansion several times in just over a month. I thought it was strange at first, but no one dared to stop Second Madam from sending them out. Later, I found out that Second Madam's expenses were all bought by these two maids from outside the mansion."
"No wonder. Some time ago, someone came here to report that the maids in the Second Madam's courtyard were leaving the house too frequently and were a bit unruly. These past two days, I was thinking of sending someone to investigate. It turned out to be this matter. The First Madam was a bit too unreasonable. Our Xiao Mansion is so big that we still need the expenses of this one person! If this gets out, wouldn't it make people laugh? Go and tell the First Madam..."
"No, old lady. We only heard it , and we have no evidence. Second Madam herself did not say anything was missing. Old lady never cares about these trivial matters. We asked the first wife, but she evaded the question and said that it was the servants who did it privately. The old lady will be blamed. It would be better for the old lady to find an opportunity to remind the first wife not to go too far."
When the secretary heard that the old lady was going to blame the first wife, she hurried forward and said that she knew that the second wife would be divorced sooner or later, and felt that if this was the case, the old lady could not afford to offend the first wife for her. After all, she was the second master's biological mother, and the second master didn't like the second wife anyway, so she said that.
The old lady thought about it and felt that it made sense. She sighed:
"This will only make Xier suffer. It is our Xiao family that has let Xier down. It would be nice if she could enjoy a peaceful life in the Xiao Mansion for the next two years. I cannot even do this. I feel really sorry for the old master who passed away. How about this? I will take out some money from my allowance every month and give it to her as a reward. I will just say that I am happy because of the snacks Xier made. So this is a reward."
"Yes, I will arrange it right away. You are worthy of being the old lady. You don't need to care about those trivial matters now. If you really take care of them, any problem will be easily solved with just a flick of your hand. With your reward for the Second Madam, I don't think any servant will dare to look down on her. This will not only imply to the First Madam that you know that she treats her harshly, but also not offend the First Madam and intimidate those servants who want to bully their master. I think the First Madam will be more restrained in the future."
After the secretary finished speaking, he bowed slightly to the old lady, turned around and walked out. The old lady also smiled happily after hearing what the secretary said, and cursed behind him:
"This girl is just good at talking."
The eldest wife returned to the room, sat on the chair, raised her hand and smashed the teacup on the table, cursing:
"This bitch, I really underestimated her. She even dared to report it to the old lady. Ziyue, go tell the housekeeper Xiao An that if the old lady asks about this, just say you don't know and that the people below are talking nonsense. Don't be stingy with the expenses of the Second Madam's kitchen in the future. Give her whatever she wants as long as it does not exceed the regulations. Who knows if what she wants is made for the old lady? Don't let the old lady know if there is something missing one day. Apart from her coquettish appearance, what's so good about her? The old lady treats her like a treasure and does whatever she wants!"
Ziyue responded, turned around and walked out. Baozhu stepped forward and advised:
"Don't be angry, Madam. From what I see from the old lady's attitude today, she has no intention of investigating this matter. Besides, the old lady doesn't care about these trivial matters. If she wants to investigate, we will just say we don't know. Then the old lady might blame the second wife for causing trouble. The Qiqiao Festival is coming soon, and after the Qiqiao Festival it will be the old lady's birthday. Madam, you should quickly take the cousin home."
When the eldest wife heard this, her eyes lit up, she looked at Baozhu with appreciation and said:
"It's time to pick up Xiu'er."
…
As soon as Mengxi helped Zhiqiu into the house, Zhiqiu couldn't wait to ask the Second Grandma:
"Second Grandma, will this work?"
"It may not work, but at least the eldest wife won't treat us badly in terms of food in the future. As long as we are not bad at eating, we can be at ease and be parasites in the Xiao Mansion for the time being."
"Second Grandma, what is a rice bug?"
“It’s a bug that eats rice.”
Mengxi then remembered that she had accidentally slipped out the modern language again, but she and Zhiqiu were used to being casual, so she just spoke directly.
"Second Grandma, why do we have to be bugs that eat rice?"
Zhiqiu thought about it and shook his head. He didn’t understand, but he didn’t hesitate to ask.
Mengxi rolled her eyes at her: Dizzy!
On this day, Mengxi was preparing medicine in the backyard when Zhichun came in hurriedly with a message, saying that the eldest wife had asked the second wife to go to Yangxin Garden. Mengxi was also shocked, wondering what the eldest wife was going to do.
He hurriedly stopped what he was doing, tidied up a little, left the pharmacy, ordered someone to lock the door, took the key, and went back to the east wing with Zhichun. Zhiqiu simply made a stunning bun for Second Madam and inserted a light blue crystal tassel diagonally. Zhichun had already prepared a pure blue Narcissus cloud cotton wedding dress, and helped her put it on. He walked around Second Madam and said admiringly:
"Even with this casual attire, the Second Madam is stunningly beautiful. She can capture your heart at first sight..."
When Zhichun said this, he swallowed the rest of his words. Such a beautiful woman, but she met the wrong person. A beautiful flower stuck in cow dung. Zhiqiu looked at Zhichun and his heart sank. Last time, the second wife was called by the first wife and knelt for a long time. Everyone knew that there would be no good when the first wife called. However, the mother-in-law, who was in charge of the Eight Scenes, did not dare not go. He sighed and helped the second wife out of the east wing.
The sedan chair had already been prepared outside. Mengxi got on it and walked all the way to Yangxin Garden. When he arrived at Yangxin Garden, he asked someone to pass on a message. After a while, a little maid came out and said that the eldest wife was in the east wing, and asked him to go directly there. While saying this, she took the second wife to the east wing.
As soon as Mengxi entered the room, she looked up and saw that the Second Master was already there. The First Lady was sitting on the Kang, leaning against a blue satin pillow, with a Kang table next to her. On the other side of the Kang table sat a girl in a light yellow silk dress with scattered flowers. She had a petite figure, dark eyebrows and a pair of big eyes that were full of affection, and her little mouth was slightly raised, which added a lot of charm to her. Mengxi secretly praised her, what a pretty girl.
Then I saw three chairs in a row on the ground, covered with blue satin. Xiao Jun was sitting on a chair on the right, chatting and laughing with the girl. When they saw her come in, they both stopped talking.
