The head of the Wei family angrily left his wife's yard, and walked towards his most favored concubine with his hands behind his back. As a result, he met his eldest daughter-in-law and a slim woman halfway.
When Cao saw her father-in-law, she quickly pulled her stepsister to bow and said, "Dad, I just need to tell you something."
Patriarch Wei glanced at the woman and asked calmly, "What's the matter?"
Cao said, "This is my sister Cao Qingqing. I invite her to stay at home for a while to keep Zhu'er company and teach her needlework."
The head of the Wei family nodded and said, "You don't have to tell me these things. You can make your own decision." After that, he put his hands behind his back and walked away.
Cao turned to look at her stepsister and whispered, "Father-in-law doesn't care about domestic affairs. We need to go tell mother."
In fact, it was not necessary to say it, but Cao wanted her stepsister to show her face in front of her mother-in-law so that she could come and pay her respects to the mistress often in the future. In this way, she would have the opportunity to meet Wei Zhan if she came often.
Cao Qingqing said softly, "Of course. I will go with you to pay my respects to Madam Wang."
So, Cao brought her sister to Lady Wang's yard.
Mrs. Wang didn't say anything about the eldest daughter-in-law bringing her stepsister to live with them. After all, each of the daughters-in-law had her own yard, and they could take in whoever they wanted. She didn't care at all.
But since she had come to visit him, and courtesy was the norm, Mrs. Wang gave her two rolls of cloth and said something caring and comforting: "If you need anything, tell your sister and ask her to buy it for you."
Cao Qingqing quickly bowed: "Thank you for your concern, Madam."
Coming out of Lady Wang's courtyard, Cao whispered, "Let's go visit the princess now. Maybe we can run into Qilang."
Cao Qingqing nodded shyly.
At this moment, Ying Bao and Wei Zhan were talking in the house: "The officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that the mansion will be located in Zhouhe County. There is a ready-made house there with three courtyards. When the time comes, we can expand it by building two more courtyards."
The princess's mansion was also equipped with a hundred guards, as well as a number of coachmen and servants. So many people also needed a place to live and a kitchen to cook for them, so three courtyards alone were not enough.
Wei Zhan didn't care where he lived, as long as he was with his wife. "Zhouhe County is not bad, but it's quite poor."
Not only was the area poor, but many of the local officials colluded with the local gentry and oppressed the people.
A new county magistrate once tried to rectify the situation, but with little success.
Because the petty officials there were basically hereditary, when the father retired, the son took over, and when the son retired, the grandson took over. In addition, the officials and the gentry intermarried. After generations of operation, they basically controlled the people of Zhouhe County, and even the county magistrate had to look at their faces.
When the people were oppressed, they had nowhere to seek justice and had no choice but to flee.
Yingbao knows more about these things than Wei Zhan, but she is not afraid.
At worst, we can just kill a bunch of them to serve as a warning to others.
As soon as this thought came to mind, Xuanwu called out in his mind: "Put down the butcher knife and become a Buddha right here!"
Ying Bao burst out laughing, shocking Wei Zhan: "Madam, what are you laughing at? Did I say something wrong?"
"That's right, let's go to Zhouhe County." Yingbao said.
Suddenly, Mu Dan outside called out, "Princess, the lady is here."
Yingbao: "Please let her in."
After a while, Cao led her sister into the house.
"Congratulations, seventh brother's wife, for being promoted to the title of princess." Cao smiled and bowed to Ying Baofu.
Her sister Cao Qingqing also followed suit and bowed.
Yingbao did not move, because her status did not allow her to salute commoners. "Sister-in-law, please take a seat. Who is this?"
Cao said quickly, "This is my sister, one year younger than the princess. I came here today to meet her and recognize her."
Yingbao felt very uncomfortable hearing her words and couldn't help but frown.
Mu Dan said beside him, "Madam, please be careful with your words."
Coming to the princess to recognize someone, you must be mentally ill.
Cao realized that she had said something wrong, and apologized with a smile: "Look at my mouth, I was so happy that I said something wrong. Princess, please don't blame me. This is my younger sister Qingqing. Qingqing, come and pay your respects to the princess."
Cao Qingqing was inexplicably afraid of this extremely beautiful princess. She knelt on the ground and bowed deeply to Yingbao.
"Please get up quickly, there's no need to do this." Yingbao winked at Mudan, and Mudan immediately went up to help the woman up.
Yingbao picked up the teacup at hand, but didn't drink it. She skimmed off the foam.
Cao pretended not to notice and sat on the stool and said, "Princess, my sister is very good at needlework and embroidery. Look at the colorful butterfly skirt she is wearing. She embroidered it herself. If you have any work, just give it to her."
Yingbao put down the teacup and said, "The court has assigned me four embroiderers from the Imperial Clothing Bureau, all of whom are highly skilled, so I won't bother you, sister-in-law."
Cao was about to say something with a smile, but Wei Zhan said, "Sister-in-law, we can talk about it later. You guys go back first. Brother might have come back already."
When Cao heard that Wei Wenbai had returned, she immediately stood up and bowed to Ying Baofu: "Then we'll take our leave. We'll come back to bother you tomorrow."
Cao Qingqing also stood up and bowed, then left with her sister.
When they walked outside, Cao looked unhappy.
When they were alone, Cao said to her sister, "A poor peasant from a poor mountain village is putting on airs in front of me. Look at how arrogant she is now. When she was young, didn't she go to the market to beg for food? If she hadn't been able to cling to the emperor, the beggars on the street would have been better off than her!"
Cao Qingqing lowered her head and said nothing.
After a lot of scolding, Cao finally let out her anger and complained again, "I said you are always so talkative. Why are you so quiet in front of Qilang?"
Cao Qingqing cried and said, "Sister, I want to go home."
"What?" Cao was angry: "You useless thing! No wonder you can't find a good family even at the age of sixteen!"
Cao Qingqing found her sister's words harsh and wanted to go home even more.
It wasn't that she really couldn't find a husband, but her mother had always wanted to find her a wealthy and powerful family, at least one that wasn't worse than her sister's.
After this incident, she realized that it was impossible for her to get close to Wei Jia Qilang.
Even if she hooked up with her once, she would probably be beaten to death by the princess. Instead of that, it would be better for her to find someone with a similar family background to marry, rather than being someone's concubine.
A few days later, Princess Chuanhe set off in her carriage, with a long convoy stretching for two miles.
Jiang Jie, Jiang Wu and Jiang Quan all stayed in Beijing, including Meixiang.
Now that Meixiang and Jiang Quan are married, Yingbao handed over the bonsai shop in the capital to the couple.
For the annual dividend that belonged to Yingbao, she asked her second cousin to give it to Jiang Jie and Jiang Wu to split equally.
She herself had tax revenue from two counties, more than enough to support more than a hundred people.
Moreover, there is a textile workshop in Dongchen Village, and there is also a share of the specialty shop in Qinchuan County. Together with Wei Zhan's property and the emperor's reward, he can never spend it all.
Even if the princess's mansion employed a few retainers and staff, it would be enough to cover the expenses.
The convoy left the capital and slowly moved along the official road.
It took several hours to travel twenty miles.
When passing a deserted field, someone suddenly ran over from the side of the road and shouted loudly: "Help! Sir, help me!"