After leaving Tianshui City, the road was very bumpy. The carriage bumped along for more than an hour before slowing down. Mingyu stretched her stiff body, leaned over the gap in the carriage, and looked out. The carriage was driving on the ridge of the field. There were wheat fields on both sides, and there were several farmhouses not far away, which looked like a small village.
When they arrived at the farmhouse, Zhou Datian drove the carriage directly in. Along the way, several peasant women who were working looked at the carriage with some curiosity, and their curiosity was mixed with understanding. It must be that someone in the marquis's mansion had committed a crime again.
When the carriage stopped, Mrs. Hu and Zhou Datian jumped off first. Outside the carriage, they respectfully said to Mingyu, "Second Madam, we're here. Please get off."
Lixiang opened the door and got out first, then helped Mingyu get out of the carriage. When the master and servant were standing still, Mrs. Hu pointed to the two tiled houses in front of them with a flattering smile on her face and said, "Second Madam, this is where you live."
Mingyu frowned immediately. She had never lived in such a bad place in her two lifetimes combined.
The tile house seemed to be quite old, with thatch growing all over the roof. In late autumn, the thatch turned yellow and swayed in the autumn wind, which was indescribably desolate with the gloomy sky. On the right was a kitchen built of adobe, with a white and worn-out New Year picture pasted on the wooden door. There was a well in the yard, with a wooden cover on it, probably to prevent dust from falling. The courtyard wall made of blue bricks was high, about two or three meters.
Zhou Datian lowered his head and said, "Second Grandma, we live in the front yard. If you have anything to do at night, just shout and we will hear you."
Mingyu turned around and looked out through the courtyard gate. It turned out that this courtyard was equivalent to an independent backyard. In front was where Mrs. Hu and the others lived. If nothing happened, they could just bolt the gate from the inside to isolate it from the front yard.
Seeing that Lixiang was about to get on the carriage to get the boxes, Mrs. Hu hurriedly climbed onto the carriage with a smile on her face, picked up the boxes and bundles and walked under the carriage, secretly weighing the weight of the boxes, as if she could feel whether there was anything valuable inside.
However, Mrs. Hu was very disappointed. The box was very heavy. She shook it, but could not feel the vibration of the things inside at all. It seemed as if it was filled with clothes.
Li Xiang was startled and hurried forward to take the box from Mrs. Hu, saying, "This thing is very heavy. I can do it. I don't want to trouble you, Madam."
Mrs. Hu didn't find what she wanted, so she was not willing to give up. She quickly dodged Li Xiang and said with a smile: "The girl is a respectable person, so let me do the rough work!" She hurriedly walked into the room. However, when she reached the threshold, Mingyu saw clearly that Mrs. Hu tripped over her right foot with her left foot, and fell to the ground with an exaggerated cry of "ouch". The box was thrown out with the momentum, and the lid opened. A lot of clothes fell out and were stained with dust on the ground. Mrs. Hu kept crying "ouch" and kept looking at the things in the box, trying to find something valuable.
Mingyu was immediately furious. He walked forward and kicked Mrs. Hu on the leg. He shouted with a cold face: "Have you seen enough? Do you want me to turn out the things one by one and show you clearly?" Lixiang also walked over angrily. Without bothering to brush off the dust on her clothes, she stuffed all the clothes back into the box, closed the lid and placed it on the bedside.
Mrs. Hu was so embarrassed that she got up from the ground and said with a drooling smile, "Oh, grandma, you are so angry. It's not that I am old and my legs are not flexible, it's that this old slave deserves to die! We will leave now, we will leave now."
"Wait!" Mingyu stopped Mrs. Hu and Zhou Datian who were about to go out, "Where is our food?" They hadn't eaten in the morning, and it was almost noon, so they were already starving.
Mrs. Hu looked embarrassed and said respectfully, "Second Madam, we were called to the Marquis' Mansion to pick you up early in the morning, and lunch has not been prepared yet."
"Then go and get ready. What are you doing here?" Mingyu was annoyed. If she was bullied by this old woman, her life would be hopeless.
"It's not that I'm lazy and don't want to serve Second Madam, it's just that there's nothing good in this countryside. Second Madam is a delicate woman, and she can't be used to our simple meals. If she wants to eat some meat, she has to ask the farmers to buy it..." said Mrs. Hu.
Mingyu almost laughed out loud. They were just asking her for money in various ways. She even had to pay for her meals. Then Mrs. Hu took advantage of her. How many days would the twenty taels of silver last? When the silver was all gone, wouldn't she just starve to death
"Just send whatever you have." Mingyu said calmly, "We're already here, why bother with so much."
Before Mrs. Hu could open her mouth to say something else, Zhou Datian, who was standing beside her with his head lowered, pulled her aside. The two of them said goodbye and walked out, closing the gate behind them before leaving.
Lixiang was still frightened. She patted her chest and said, "Fortunately, I hid the silver on me, otherwise she would have seen it." Mingyu turned around with a smile, gave Lixiang a thumbs up, and praised her, "You are so smart!" Lixiang didn't understand what Mingyu meant by the thumbs up. She looked back at the house full of dust and cobwebs, sighed, found a small broom in the corner, drew water from the well, and slowly began to clean.
Soon, Mrs. Hu knocked on the door and came in, holding a peeling plate with two bowls and steamed buns on it. She said in embarrassment, "Second Madam, I don't have tea or food, so I only have these things. Please use them as you like."
Mingyu glanced at the plates in Mrs. Hu's hands. The porridge in the two large coarse porcelain bowls was so thin that you could see your reflection in it. There were two yellowed steamed buns on the chopsticks. Then she looked at the black dirt under Mrs. Hu's fingernails as she held the plates. Mingyu suddenly felt nauseous and lost her appetite.
“Take it back.” Mingyu waved her hand.
Mrs. Hu was delighted and kept on talking: "It's all my fault for not being able to cook. Second Madam is a noble lady, how can she eat these? How about I buy a chicken for Second Madam and stew it to nourish her body?"
"No need. Do you have rice, flour, oil and salt?" Mingyu asked.
"Madam Wei has ordered that you and Miss Lixiang are not allowed to leave this courtyard." Mrs. Hu said hurriedly.
Mingyu nodded, "I know. Bring me the rice, flour, oil, salt, pots and pans. My maid can cook, so you don't have to do it."
Mrs. Hu's eyes widened. How could this happen? They cooked for themselves, so how could she make any money? "This... This is not okay. If it gets out, I will be punished!"
Mingyu felt relieved when she saw Mrs. Hu's panic. She said with a smile, "I won't eat these things anyway. If word gets out that the second wife of the Marquis's Mansion starved to death here with you, what kind of punishment do you think you should receive?"
Mrs. Hu was unwilling to accept the offer, but she still responded and was about to leave. Mingyu was in a good mood and added, "Madam, don't forget to send us firewood and vegetables, so that we don't have to chop the bed for firewood and make you tired and have to be punished by the Marquis' Mansion!"
"Yes, I will definitely send it to grandma." Aunt Hu agreed with hatred, and the expression on her face as she turned and left could only be described as ferocious.
After hesitating for half an hour, Madam Hu reluctantly brought all the things over, including simple pots and pans, barely enough for two people, a bundle of firewood, a small bag of flour, two bundles of cabbage and radishes, a salt jar and a small oil jar. The salt jar and the oil jar were so dirty that you couldn't see their original color. No one knew what kind of oil it was, it was yellow with a hint of black, like low-quality rapeseed oil.
Mingyu comforted herself by thinking that at least there was no gutter oil in this era, and no matter how low quality the food was, it was still pure natural green food, so she could just eat it.
Lixiang cleaned the house and came out to see the pile of things and the closed gate. Mingyu had already started to move everything into the house. There was a big hole in the kitchen roof, and it was gloomy and it was going to rain at any time, so food could not be stored in the kitchen.
Mingyu lit a fire, Lixiang kneaded some dough and fried a radish. The two of them were busy until their stomachs growled, and finally they got to eat a hot meal.
The Marquis's Mansion was also in unrest at this time. When the old lady woke up, she heard the rumors circulating in the mansion. When she heard that Mingyu was banished to the farm without any explanation by the Madam, she immediately became furious. She slapped the armrest of the couch and asked Madam Zhao to call the Madam over to get to the bottom of the matter.
Although Miao was exhausted, she still pulled herself together and went to the old lady. When she met the old lady, she no longer cared about her face, dismissed the servants, cried in front of the old lady, and explained the whole cause and effect of the matter.
The old lady was so shocked that her eyes widened in disbelief. When she came to her senses, she gnashed her teeth in hatred. The grandson she had raised with great effort was actually treated so badly by Luo Lingxiu! This was the grandson's wife that her daughter-in-law insisted on hiring! The old lady grabbed the teacup on the table in anger and was about to smash it at Miao. However, when she saw Miao's eyes were red and swollen from crying, she held back, sighed, and asked, "What are you going to do? After all, she is your own niece."
Miao wiped her tears and said through gritted teeth, "She dared to abuse my two sons, I will not forgive her! Unfortunately, this is an extraordinary period, and there is no room for error. I have suppressed this matter, and if anyone in the mansion dares to mention it, I will beat their entire family to death!"
"That's fine." The old lady said, "It's a pity for Mingyu. She was wronged and thrown to the farm."
Miao's face looked a little unhappy. This was indeed something she had done that was not right. She said shyly, "Don't worry, old lady. I won't treat Mingyu badly in the future. She is a good child. I misjudged her before."
The old lady nodded. She completely agreed with Miao's way of handling the matter. For the reputation of the Marquis' Mansion and to consider the overall situation, this matter could only be characterized as Mingyu being ignorant and uneducated, and hitting her eldest sister-in-law, while the victim, the eldest sister-in-law, endured the humiliation.
"Speaking of which, Bao Ge'er is a very sensible child. He knows what to do and what not to do." Miao couldn't help but mention Bao Erye. She felt relieved. After all, he was the son she raised and he didn't let her down. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian (). Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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