Because the monthly allowance has always been unified among the rooms and then distributed by each room, Zhang... retained half of it without hesitation. Although she had done such a thing before, usually retaining one-third, the one-third at that time was far more than the current half. It is conceivable that after the distribution, the people in the fourth room must have received very little.
Naturally, Ge would not deduct money from her own children, nor would the servants around her - if she lowered her rank, would that be called deducting money? She was just following the rules - the concubines, the illegitimate children, and the people who served them would suffer.
They had known that Ge had done this in the past, but because Han was generous, as long as they did not spend lavishly, they would not be short of money. Therefore, they turned a blind eye to Ge's behavior.
But today, after getting the things, everyone’s faces turned green!
What does this mean? Does it mean that they will have to live a frugal life from now on
If you can still tolerate this, you might as well just hang yourself one by one and die.
As for how to make trouble, it also requires skills. After all, Ge is the mistress of the fourth room. If you make trouble in front of her, you will be wrong even if you are right. After all, Ge is the absolute authority over the concubines and illegitimate children of the fourth room. They cannot provoke her openly. However, it is not a difficult thing to plot against Ge. Don’t be fooled by her jumping up and down happily. In fact, she is just making trouble on the surface. She has no scheming and her IQ is not online. If you really want to plot against her, it will be a sure thing. You didn’t dare to make a move before because she also represents the dignity of the mistress. If you let a bunch of concubines and illegitimate children manipulate you, the old lady will not allow it, and her sisters-in-law will not allow it either. Now the situation is obviously different...
As a concubine, she naturally went to the man to cry and complain. Anyway, Ge could only be domineering in the fourth room by relying on her status as the wife. Apart from that, there was not much affection left between her and her husband. And this time, she was the one who made the mistake first. Wenren Jili seemed to be making trouble for her in a legitimate way. It was possible that she would be stripped of all her dignity and dignity.
As for these concubines' children, they were naturally favored by Wenren Jili. Besides, they also had their own ways. Moreover, the eldest son of the fourth room was born out of wedlock, the third among brothers, and his wife was pregnant...
In the backyard of this mansion, there are actually not many people who live like Ge. Even if they didn't know that Han used her private money to subsidize everyone, they should now understand why Han took back the subsidies. Regardless of whether they themselves were one of the factors or not, they would certainly not admit it, but would put all the blame on Ge, because she was the one who openly attracted hatred. As for the "culprit" Han and Xiaocao, the root of the matter, haha, if they don't want to live a more miserable life, they should just put all their thoughts aside.
—Wen Renxiang was full of regret and hatred. She shouldn't have said the wrong thing on the first day Wen Renxuan returned home. She was forced to admit it after being scolded by her stepmother. She didn't think she had done anything wrong. She also hated Han, her eldest aunt, for being so petty. She pretended to be virtuous and generous. With so much money in her hands, she should give some to her family. What did she mean by saying it on purpose this time? Did she want people to be grateful to her? In fact, she treated Wu Yaru, an outsider, much better than her own family. Did she take these nephews and nieces seriously? If she really wanted people to be grateful to her, she should treat everyone equally. What the eldest wife had, they should also have.
Han had expected the reactions of the people in each room, but would she care? Of course not. No matter how unhappy she was, she had to keep it to herself. Who had the courage to complain to her
So that night, some people slept well, while others tossed and turned. There is no need to talk about the former, but the latter appeared in the Wenren family, the Meng family, and even in the Lu family where Xiaocao's eldest sister married.
On the fourth day of March, the ranking of the palace examination will be announced, and a grand ceremony of announcing the results will be held in the palace. Before that, the ministers will submit the top ten test papers to Emperor Xuanren, who will select the top three candidates in the first class, and the rest will be ranked from second to seventh in the second class. During this period, Emperor Xuanren may summon some students in advance.
This is roughly the process. Xiaocao knew from what Han said that she would naturally have no chance to see it. However, this matter concerned the fate of countless people and had nothing to do with Xiaocao. She needed to go to the Dingbei County Prince's Mansion to see the old empress dowager.
No one from the Prince Dingbei's Mansion came to see her in the first two days. Apparently, the old concubine's condition should be relatively stable.
After all, she was a remarkable woman with a strong character. She was too emotional to bear it when she first heard the bad news. As long as she could get through the most dangerous moment, nothing should happen to her afterwards. After all, the old concubine had reasons for asking her to live well, so everything was within Xiaocao's expectations.
Han did not accompany Xiaocao, but Wen Renying went with her because she was concerned about the old concubine's condition. She wanted to see that the old concubine was safe and sound, and to witness that the King of Dingbei would be able to recover in the future. Then she would have more confidence that her fourth sister could cure the emperor.
Not long after Xiaocao and the others left, the eldest sister Wenren Hui returned to the Wen family angrily. Seeing this, others were all wondering what was going on. Did something happen in the Lu family? Of course, there were also people who gloated over the misfortune. Wenren Hui had been married to the Lu family for so many years, and she had no sons or daughters left. Many people secretly laughed at her as a hen that didn't lay eggs. Her husband loved her because of the Wen family. Those who envied and jealous of Han's family couldn't find any reason to criticize Han's family, so they just said this. It was impossible to say that Han didn't have any knots in her heart.
Han was also very surprised to see her come back.
"What's the matter?"
Wenren Hui drove out all the servants, including his confidants, and told them to stay away from him. They were not even allowed to stay in the yard. Anyone coming in had to notify in advance.
This scene made Han's heart jump.
After everyone left, Wen Renhui could no longer suppress her temper. She was like a completely enraged female beast, without her usual dignity, and became irritable and even aggressive. "Miao's bitch, bitch..."
Han frowned. Miao was the only concubine who had given birth to a child for her son-in-law. She had always known that the woman didn't get along with her daughter, but she couldn't intervene in such matters. However, over the past few years, even if her daughter was angry, she wouldn't be so angry. What did the woman do? Han couldn't help but show a fierce look in her eyes. If the Lu family bullied her daughter because of that woman, she would definitely not ignore it.
Before Han could ask carefully, Wen Renhui blurted out everything like pouring beans.
"Mom, that bitch actually cheated on me with my husband's cousin. The two bastards she gave birth to are both from the second wife. Yesterday, my husband planned it. We took the children out for an outing, and then he came back and caught them in bed. They were together in broad daylight. Just thinking about that scene is so disgusting."
It was like a bolt from the blue, and Han was shocked!
"And the second wife gave my husband a sterile drug five or six years ago. They planned this long ago, waiting for that bastard to inherit everything in the Lu family. The first wife was so good to them, but they could do such a cruel thing!"
Lu Deyuan was an only child. The second branch of the family was his uncle's. The Lu family did not have many descendants, and Lu Deyuan's father had only one younger brother, his uncle. Although he was born out of wedlock, because he was their only brother, they treated him like a child of the same mother. Lu Deyuan's uncle died of illness in his early years. Lu Deyuan's parents could not bear to see the orphan and widow of the second branch suffer outside, so they stayed in the mansion. The illegitimate sons of the second branch even moved out after getting married, but the legitimate son and his widowed mother stayed all the time.
He helped to arrange the marriage, and even if he was not well educated, he used his connections to help find a job. He really put in a lot of effort.
What they ended up raising were wolves, tigers, leopards, and poisonous snakes that were ready to eat the wife alive.
Han pulled her to sit down, "Hui'er, tell me in detail what happened."
Wen Renhui took a deep breath, "Mother, this matter has to start from the time when Fourth Sister checked my husband's pulse a few days ago. Fourth Sister found that my husband was not in good health. Fourth Sister kept it a secret at the time, and my husband refused to tell me. I was confused and worried, but later my husband acted as if nothing had happened, so I didn't ask any more questions. Yesterday, he went out as usual and went back halfway. My husband looked very bad, and later I learned that he had informed my mother-in-law in advance and left a chance for Miao, just to see who the adulterer was. I had a little hope, but Miao really didn't let him go. I thought maybe Miao was just a pervert by nature... She couldn't stand the loneliness, so she had an affair with a bold servant, but she ended up catching someone from the second house.
For the first two days, my mother-in-law looked at me with something strange in her eyes. Later I thought about it and realized that before the person was caught, both my husband and my mother-in-law suspected that it was a servant. This male servant sneaked into the backyard, which was a serious dereliction of duty on my part.
In fact, Miao's treatment was only slightly worse than mine because of her contribution in giving birth. That was because she had an independent courtyard and was separated from the second room by a wall. If she went through the door to the second room, she had to take a long detour. There was a dog hole under the corner of the wall. I don't know how arrogant Miao and the second room were in private.
The fact that Miao could become my husband's concubine was all planned by the second wife, who had drugged my husband long before.
The mother-in-law originally hated Miao because she was related to the second wife. When the second wife saw that the matter was exposed, they initially denied it and tried to beg for mercy with various excuses. But when they mentioned the two illegitimate children, they gave up and confessed everything. The mother-in-law almost fainted, and the father-in-law, whose health was not good to begin with, was even worse and he almost died.
Miao relied on her child and became arrogant. She climbed over my head. My mother-in-law treated her better than me. She accepted all this as a matter of course and did not feel guilty. Yesterday, she was beaten on the spot until she was only left with one breath. She was sent to the farm overnight. The adulterer from the second room was also beaten half to death. He is still at home for the time being, but it will only be in the next two days. I will definitely "send" them back to their ancestral land. "
At this point, it would be strange if they just sent the people away. Not only Lu Deyuan, but also his parents would never allow the people from the second house to have an easy life. Not to mention the others, the mother and son, who are the culprits, would definitely not let them live.
If the relationship was just ordinary, there wouldn't be so much hatred. The mother-in-law treats the second aunt as her own sister, and the husband treats his cousin as his own brother, and is also very good to his children. As for the mother and son, one is kind and gentle, and even Wen Renhui is willing to be close to her; the other is loyal and honest, and seems to be more filial to the two elders of the first house than Lu Deyuan, her own son. But it turns out that she is a black-hearted person. On the surface, she is very nice to the first house, but behind the back, she might even mock the people in the first house for being stupid.
Because of this, even Wen Renhui wanted to eat them alive, let alone Lu Deyuan and his parents.
Han took some time to digest this horrifying fact before asking, "What about the two children? What should we do with them?"
"For the sake of our reputation, we can only keep them for now and send them away later. It's lucky that we can keep these two bastards alive. Fortunately, they are still young, otherwise they would not be let go so easily. However, they may not be able to wait until that time. Mother, you didn't see the look in my mother-in-law's eyes. She really wanted to strangle them to death. She would definitely not care about them anymore."
This child is prone to premature death. The elders have already despised him. How can you expect the servants to take good care of him? If he meets a snobbish person, it would be good if he is not abused to death. A little carelessness or a little headache can cost him his life.
Han sighed softly, "Those two children are practically raised by your mother-in-law. She loves them like the apples of her eye. How good she was to them in the past is how much she hates them now."
In this case, even if the Lu family has no other children to adopt, they will definitely not keep them.
"So are you going to prepare to adopt the child? Your son-in-law is still young. Even if you announce to the public that the child is gone after a while, it will probably arouse suspicion if you adopt the child. But from now on, your mother-in-law will have no reason to blame you anymore."
"Mother, you think too much. Fourth sister told my husband that his body can be cured, it just takes a long time, and we can have our own children in the future." It was only when she said this that Wen Renhui's expression was filled with joy. After venting, she finally felt a lot better.
"Really? That's great, great." Han was also overjoyed.
"My husband will be here later. Let my fourth sister start treating him."
"You two were right to leave at different times. Outsiders would just think you had a conflict and wouldn't think about it in that way."
"That's right. Fourth sister should be in her yard now. I have to thank her very much. You know, it's because the disease can be cured that my parents-in-law saw hope and they didn't get into any serious trouble. If the timing wasn't wrong, my mother-in-law would have brought generous gifts to personally thank fourth sister." Wen Renhui's brows softened completely.