Cui Anhua hugged Jiang Wenyue affectionately and continued to walk. Several concubines looked at their backs and looked at each other in confusion.
"The new lady's belly is a little abnormally big, isn't it?" Aunt Zhou broke the silence and whispered.
"She looks about five or six months old, but she has been married to the Cui family for less than three months, right?" Aunt Chen said disdainfully, "She must have had an affair with the master before the marriage, and she is still pretending to be a naive and kind girl in front of us!"
They didn't know that Jiang Wenyue's belly was so big because she was carrying several cubs, they just thought she was pregnant for a long time.
Several concubines despised Jiang Wenyue for this. Even though she was the principal wife, she was not faithful to her husband. She had an affair with Cui Anhua before they got married and got pregnant. Didn't she deserve to be looked down upon
"Alas, life is so boring now. When the ex-wife was around, she would go with us to burn incense outside the city or go to temple fairs and outings. Now that Jiang is married, she only cares about flirting with the master and doesn't care about anything else. How long has it been since we left the house?"
Aunt Chen said unhappily that Liu Shichu was a magnanimous wife and had no deep hatred with the concubines, so they would have fun together when they were bored. But now that Jiang Wenyue had entered the Cui family, she wished all the concubines were gone, so how could she think of letting them go out to play
Therefore, the other concubines naturally disliked Jiang Wenyue and missed the time when Liu Shichu was around more and more. Unfortunately, he was no longer a member of the Cui family and had nothing to do with them anymore.
"I really want to visit the ex-madam's wine shop. I heard that she also welcomes female guests..." Madam Wen said with longing, but unfortunately they couldn't go out casually.
The other concubines also sighed, complained a few words, and then went back to their own courtyards.
The husband doted on his new wife again. Fortunately, they still had children and grandchildren, so they didn't have to fight for his favor like they did when they were young.
In order to ensure the quality of the wine he brewed, Liu Shichu had to personally go to a small county town near the capital to check on a grape farm.
When Liu Jian heard that she was leaving the capital alone, he immediately became unhappy and said, "Why do you have to go there yourself? Just send a knowledgeable servant. You have never been out of the courtyard. What if something happens?"
"Brother, I'm not going there alone. I will bring guards with me. Besides, the grape farm is not far from the capital. How could anything bad happen?" Liu Shichu said disapprovingly. Even if something bad really happened, Liu Shichu could naturally ensure his own safety.
"How do you know? What if? You are a single woman, and if you encounter an accident on the road, it will be ruined. No, I don't agree to you going!" Liu Jian still denied.
"Brother, I'm already over 30 years old, not a teenage girl. Are you still worried that I'll be kidnapped?" Liu Shichu said with a headache. "If you're worried, just send more people to follow me. Anyway, I must go."
Liu Jian was unable to persuade his sister, so he had to send the most elite guards in the mansion to her.
Liu Shichu then left the city. In fact, inspecting the grape farm was not her main purpose. She just wanted to go out for fun. She was tired of the almost unchanging environment in the capital, so she wanted to go out for some fresh air.
When passing a relatively remote mountain road, Liu Shichu's carriage suddenly stopped, and a guard came up to her and reported: "Madam, there are two people lying on the road ahead, and we don't know whether they are dead or alive. How should we deal with this matter?"
When Liu Shichu heard this, all sorts of conspiracies and schemes immediately popped up in her mind. However, she changed her mind and realized that she was just a divorced woman, an ordinary person. Why would anyone plot against her
So she threw away the conspiracy in her mind and ordered: "See what's going on with them. If they can be conscious, ask about the situation; if they can't be conscious, take them with you and put them down in the city ahead; if they are dead, report to the authorities."
The guard took the order and left. After a while, the carriage started moving again. It was obvious that the two people on the road had been settled.
When they arrived at the city ahead, Liu Shichu asked the guards to throw the two men into a clinic, but unfortunately the guards came back and reported: "Madam, one of the two men woke up. After knowing that we saved him, he insisted on meeting you in person to express his gratitude."
"No need. It's just a piece of cake. Let's go." Liu Shichu was not a kind person. She brought the two men to the city just to avoid suspicion if they died on the road. Therefore, when she knew that the people were fine, she naturally would not care anymore.
The carriage continued to move forward, but Liu Shichu heard someone shouting from behind: "That kind lady, please wait!"
Liu Shichu turned a deaf ear and did not stop.
The grape farm she was going to was not very big, but it was famous in the surrounding area for its large size, small cores and sweet taste, and could be sold to the capital.
When Liu Shichu was making wine, he used grapes from several different origins. In the end, the "Black Beauty" wine produced by this grape farm tasted the best, so Liu Shichu signed several business deals with the owner of the farm.
"The Black Beauty grapes here are the sweetest and most delicious. When they are ripe, they are often in short supply. Madam Liu, you have a keen eye for gems and know that our Black Beauty grapes are extraordinary." The owner of the grape farm said incessantly, "My farm is at the foot of the mountain. I usually use spring water flowing down from the mountain for watering. It is very sweet, so the grapes watered with this spring water are especially delicious..."
Liu Shichu was studying under the grape racks, looking at the grape vines and leaves, and found that there were no worm holes. He couldn't help but ask curiously: "How come your grapes don't have worms? How did you do that?"
This was not the modern time when pesticides and other insecticides were everywhere. In ancient times, insects on crops were a big problem, but Liu Shichu found that the grapes in this farm looked very good and had no insect pests.
"Well, use wood ash or chili water to get rid of the insects." The owner of the farm smiled and said, "I have a lot of grapes planted on this farm. If we catch them manually, we can't catch them all."
"Wood ash and chili water can kill insects?" Liu Shichu said in surprise. Indeed, the wisdom of the ancients should not be underestimated. Even if they could not develop modern chemical pesticides, they could come up with various purely natural and pollution-free methods to prevent pests.
"Of course. This is a method passed down from generation to generation. Although wood ash is easy to obtain, its insecticidal effect is not as obvious as chili water. However, the chili water prepared by each household is different. The chili water prepared by experienced people is more useful. The chili water in my family is a recipe passed down from my ancestors, so I can grow such good grapes." The owner of the village said proudly.