The news cannot be hidden in a crowded place.
This is also the reason why Lu Yunzheng is unwilling to live in a big yard.
Liu Qiaoer was just waiting in the yard for Lu Yunzheng to come out when several groups of people arrived.
"Qiao'er, congratulations! You will be the second young master's wife soon. You are so lucky."
"Qiao'er, I heard that the Madam doesn't want you to be the principal wife, so it would be nice to be the Second Young Master's concubine."
"Qiao'er, when you become the master of the mansion, don't forget to take care of us sisters."
"Humph, she's really a golden phoenix that flew out of a pheasant's nest. She's so lucky that she can marry the second young master."
Liu Qiaoer rolled her eyes speechlessly and said, “I don’t want to marry him yet.”
Just as she was about to enter the house and express her feelings to Mrs. Lu, saying that she did not want to marry Lu Yunqing, she turned around and saw Lu Yunzheng walking out of the house.
After being together for half a year, Lu Yunzheng knew that Liu Qiaoer was angry as soon as he saw her face, and he was afraid that she would go to quarrel with Mrs. Lu regardless of the consequences.
He walked up to her and grabbed her hand: "Come home with me first. If you have anything to say, we can talk about it when we get back."
Liu Qiaoer was so angry that her face looked very ugly: "It doesn't matter where you say it, I just want her to know that I don't want to cling to the Second Young Master."
Liu Qiaoer tried to shake Lu Yunzheng's hand off, but it didn't come off. It felt like a pair of iron pliers, and it hurt her wrist.
In the end, Lu Yunzheng pulled him out through the back door and got on the carriage.
Along the way, Liu Qiaoer didn't give Lu Yunzheng a good look.
It wasn't until she returned to Lu Yunzheng's study that she exploded.
"What do those maids in your family mean? Am I not worthy of Lu Yunqing? What do you mean I am lucky? Am I marrying above my station? I don't even care about marrying above my station."
Lu Yunzheng sat there quietly watching Liu Qiaoer lose her temper, and when he heard her words, he couldn't help but rub his eyebrows.
"Why are you so angry? Are you really willing to marry my second brother?"
Liu Qiaoer glared at him angrily: "I don't want that."
"That's fine, let them say whatever they want. You already have a fiancé."
Lu Yunzheng sat at the desk, picked up the book he was reading and continued reading, not planning to persuade Liu Qiaoer.
Liu Qiaoer thought about it and decided, yes, at worst, when Mrs. Lu asked again, she would just refuse.
"I just feel uncomfortable when I see them talking about me like that, as if I have really taken advantage of them."
You have to know that courtyard and those maids were all bought with Liu Qiaoer's money, and she proposed to buy them back.
They were afraid that Mrs. Lu would not be comfortable living in the small house, and they were also worried that she would not be able to use the new maid.
I had good intentions for them, but I didn't expect that a mere marriage would put them in such a difficult situation. After all, I still felt that Liu Qiaoer was not worthy of them because of her status.
But Liu Qiaoer is now a good citizen.
"By the way, my indenture contract is still with my wife, remember to take it back when you can."
Lu Yunzheng said calmly: "I have already gone to the government office to get rid of it, and the marriage certificate has been prepared. If you were not still in mourning, you should have gotten married."
Liu Qiaoer's resentment had dissipated a lot, but when it came to marriage, she still felt a little resentful.
"The marriage certificate is just a fake..."
It was Lu Yunzheng who used Gu Mubai's name to deceive the public.
But, even if it was fake, she would still be somewhat happy if she and Lu Yunzheng could really be husband and wife in the future.
Thinking of this, she felt her face a little hot, so she cooled her face with the back of her hand, and her tone became softer.
"You've been busy all morning. Are you hungry? I'll go to the kitchen to see if dinner is ready."
Mrs. Lu originally planned to keep Lu Yunzheng for dinner, but Lu Yunzheng keenly noticed that Liu Qiaoer was angry.
And if we eat at Lu's house, I'm afraid Liu Qiaoer won't be able to sit at the table.
Lu Yunzheng rejected it.
As soon as Liu Qiaoer arrived in the kitchen, she smelled the fragrance. The cook had stewed chicken soup, made wonton noodles, and fried two side dishes, and was about to serve them.
Liu Qiaoer happened to come, so she brought it to the small living room.
I invited Lu Yunzheng to eat, but Lu Yunzheng didn't come. Gu Mubai smelled the food and hurried over.
"It's time to eat, right? Chicken soup? Mother Wu's chicken soup is the best. I can smell the fragrance through the wall."
Seeing Gu Mubai go to get a small cake to eat, Liu Qiaoer hit his hand with chopsticks.
"Mother Wu has sent your portion to you. If you want to eat, go wash your hands."
Washing hands before meals and after defecation was a tradition that even wealthy families in ancient times were very particular about.
Gu Mubai hurriedly went to wash his hands, and brought in a plate of cold dishes and a bowl of wonton noodles from the kitchen. Lu Yunzheng also came in.
The three of them started eating and didn't bother to talk about the rules.
Gu Mubai talked about the situation of several shops. Zuiyuefang was relatively stable, with many songs. The girls were very hardworking and both beautiful and talented. Even the madam of Zuihualou wanted to let the girls in the music house take care of the business.
The grain shop was also stable. After the Su family's granary moved away, the grain price in Fengxin County was high for a few days. As soon as Liu Qiaoer took action and opened the grain shop, she directly lowered the grain price.
Are you kidding? Food is the basic necessity for the lower class people to have enough food to eat. If the price goes up, it will easily cause unrest among the people.
Other grain shops in Fengxin County held out for more than half a month, thinking that the day would come when this grain shop would sell out, and it would still be time to raise the price then.
Who would have thought that we have been able to hold out for two months and the food is still selling very well.
If the pressure continues, new grain will come in, and their grain will rot in the warehouse if they cannot sell it all, so they have to lower the price.
The grain storage methods of that era were not as good as those of modern times. A granary could store grain for many years. The land in Fengxin County was humid, and if the grain was not stored properly, it would become moldy over time.
The restaurant business is pretty good, and it's really enjoyable to eat and listen to music at the same time.
The stories told by the storyteller were very interesting, and the music sung by the girls in the music troupe was also pleasant to listen to. Only the opera actors in the troupe seemed to be unpopular.
At the beginning, Gu Mubai arranged for them to attend the busiest time at noon, but they were driven away.
It was arranged again for the afternoon, but was still kicked out. Gu Mubai came to discuss with Liu Qiaoer today whether they should just not dare to cooperate with the troupe as it would be a waste of money.
Liu Qiaoer thought about it and felt that it shouldn’t be the case.
"Opera is a folk art form that people love to listen to. Why are they being driven away? How about this, after dinner, I'll go with you to see what they are singing?"
After lunch in the afternoon, Liu Qiaoer followed Gu Mubai to the opera troupe.
The troupe was in a large courtyard, with a place in the middle for practicing kung fu.
As the saying goes, one minute on stage takes ten years of hard work off stage. As soon as they came in, you could hear them practicing their skills.
Liu Qiaoer took a careful look at each of them and found that they all had solid basic skills.
Logically, there should be someone who likes him. The troupe owner, who was in his thirties and named Qi Xi, saw Gu Mubai and ran over to him.
"Mr. Bai, you are here. Please come in and sit down."
Liu Qiaoer waved her hand and said, "No need. Call two of your people over here so I can hear what they are singing."
Gu Mubai introduced her to the troupe owner: "This is our headmistress. She wrote the music for the troupe and she also likes to sing opera. You guys said the opera was not good and no one wanted to listen, so she came here to see what was wrong with it."