After a cup of tea, Xu Shichu pretended to wake up and called Zhichun in to help her wash up.
"Madam's complexion has indeed become much rosier, and she looks more energetic. Once you recover, you will be so beautiful." Zhichun praised while putting makeup on Xu Shichu.
Xu Shichu smiled and looked at herself in the mirror. She had gained some weight. She looked better than the day she first came here, but she couldn't be called beautiful. After all, she was still too thin and it was impossible for her to gain weight back so quickly.
"Okay, stop praising me. I just woke up and my face looks rosy." But in fact, it's not like that. It's because I just came back from outside and did a lot of exercise.
But Xu Shichu would never tell the reason, she thought with a smile.
The knowledgeable and interesting maid found other aspects to praise Xu Shichu. Xu Shichu felt very happy about the praise and thought that this maid was really worth it. She worked efficiently, had a sweet mouth, and could make people happy. She was a good girl.
"Madam, someone from the outer courtyard came to tell me that there are a few men carrying goods outside the mansion gate, and they are here to deliver flower and plant seedlings to you. Do you want them to bring them in?" a maid asked outside the door curtain.
"Let them send it in." Xu Shichu said.
The flower and plant seedlings were finally delivered properly, and Xu Shichu ordered her servants to plant them according to her plan.
Since there were not enough servants in his own yard, Xu Shichu asked Luo Yaqing for help without hesitation.
Luo Yaqing assigned the people to her, and after they left, she asked her nanny, "How many flowers and plants does Madam Xu want to plant? Why does she need so many people?"
The maid happened to be a sociable person. Although the servant in Xu Shichu's yard had not been there for long, she was able to talk to him, so she replied:
"I heard that the lady pulled out all the flowers and plants in her yard, and even demolished some empty houses to make room for the land, saying that she wanted to re-plan the land and plant some rare plants—all of which were plant seedlings found from outside."
Luo Yaqing raised the corner of her mouth slightly, with a hint of sarcasm in her eyes, and said, "I wonder where did this lady in our mansion find these rare flowers and plants? How rare are they? Why haven't we seen them before?"
The maid said disdainfully, "Could it be that our lady was deceived? Miss, you are well-informed and you can't find any rare flowers and plants. Where can she, a lady from a declining earl's mansion, find them? Tsk tsk, if the lady was really deceived, then our prime minister's mansion will also be laughed at."
Luo Yaqing glared at the nanny in a fake way: "Mammy, what are you talking about? Madam was a little inconspicuous before, but now she has married into our Xiangfu. I believe she will not be so shallow and be deceived."
"Oh, my lady, this is not a matter of being shallow-eyed or not, but a matter of her lack of knowledge and stupidity. If this gets out, I don't know how many people will laugh at her!" said the nanny indignantly.
Luo Yaqing sighed and said helplessly: "There is nothing we can do about it. She is the lady of the mansion after all. She can do whatever she wants. As a stepdaughter, how can I interfere with my stepmother's actions... Well, I have to wait until she learns from this lesson and thinks more carefully next time."
"It's a pity for the young lady and the young master. I hope she won't do anything too outrageous." The nanny said hypocritically.
Xu Shichu didn't know that he just borrowed some people to do the work, which caused the noble eldest daughter of the prime minister's mansion to express her feelings, and even received her "considerate and caring" behind her back.
The next morning, before Xu Shichu got out of bed, she heard Zhichun calling her softly, "Madam, Madam... The eldest lady and Miss Xuerou from the Ningyuan Earl's Mansion are here and are waiting for you outside."
Xu Shichu had been busy all day yesterday and was sleeping soundly when he heard the unpleasant people coming to his house. He immediately frowned and got angry. He covered his face with the quilt and said in a muffled voice: "Come to disturb my sweet dreams so early! Let them wait, I'll talk to them after I wake up!"
After saying that, he didn't care anymore and fell asleep. Zhichun had no choice but to ask someone to tell Madam Xu.
Madam Xu was extremely anxious. When she heard a maid say that Xu Shichu had not gotten up yet and asked them to wait, she immediately got angry: "It's so late and she still hasn't gotten up? She is getting more and more presumptuous. She even dares to make me, an elder, wait for her. She is really lawless! Go and urge her!"
She even called the maid who was answering the conversation. The maid was a simpleton and just kept telling them to wait because the lady hadn't gotten up yet...
Madam Xu was so angry that her head hurt. If this was in the Ningyuan Marquis's residence, she would have rushed into Xu Shichu's room, pulled off the quilt and cursed at him. But this was in the Prime Minister's residence, and she didn't dare to show off in someone else's house, so she could only hold her anger and wait.
If she was asked to go back without waiting, she would not want to go there in vain and return empty-handed, so she could only grit her teeth and wait for Xu Shichu to wake up.
Xu Xueruo, on the other hand, was absent-minded, with a dishonest look in her eyes. She was always looking around and wanted to go out, but was stopped by the maid and did not go anywhere else.
"What are you looking at? Young Master Luo will not appear here, so don't waste your time." Madam Xu said unhappily when she saw that she was in Cao's camp but her heart was with Han.
Xu Xueruo blushed, stamped her feet, and said shyly, "Grandma! I just want to see... whether the young masters and young ladies of the Luo Mansion will come to pay their respects to my aunt!"
Madam Xu rolled her eyes and said, "Don't even think about it! Who is your aunt to have the qualifications for the young masters and young ladies of the prime minister's mansion to come and pay their respects to her? That's just wishful thinking."
"But, but after all, my aunt is their stepmother, so we have to do some courtesy for her, right?" Xu Xueruo said uncertainly.
"Face? What face does your aunt have? She thought that after marrying into the prime minister's mansion, she would have the confidence to get rid of us. Humph! Look at her, she is not favored by her husband and has no support from her family. How arrogant can she be? She is still looked down upon by others..." Madam Xu said contemptuously.
"As for you, my good granddaughter, when you marry into the prime minister's mansion, you must win over Young Master Luo's heart and persuade your father and brothers... Only when your brothers from your mother's family are well-behaved, can you gain a firm foothold in your husband's family." Madam Xu lowered her voice and took the opportunity to teach her granddaughter.
The matter of marrying into the Prime Minister's Mansion is not settled yet, but Madam Xu has already figured out how to use the power of the Prime Minister's Mansion to promote her own descendants. She is so confident that she can let Xu Xueruo marry Luo Rui. It's really a wishful thinking.
Of course, in the original owner's life, they were successful. Even though Luo Rui was not willing to marry Xu Xueruo, Xu Xueruo was smart and manipulative enough. Relying on her unfavored status, she managed to pull up her brothers.
But the poor original owner, after being used up, was like burnt firewood, with the wind blowing away all the ashes. And none of these vested interests thought of saving her.
When it comes to being ungrateful and cruel, the other people in Ningyuan Marquis' Mansion are much worse than Xu Shichu.