They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 61 The Humiliation of the Eldest Sister

She even wrapped all the star anise, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorns, fennel seeds, cardamom, bay leaves, white cardamom, angelica root, and cloves in a clean cotton cloth.

Zeng Xiaoyan and the others weren't people without boundaries; they wouldn't insist on opening the spice packet to see what was inside. After cooking the braised meat, they would stuff the used spice packet into the stove hole and burn it, leaving no trace. She didn't have to worry about anything.

In addition to these, add soy sauce, cooking wine, ginger, scallions, garlic, red chili peppers, rock sugar, and salt, and you're guaranteed a big pot of rich, dark, and fragrant sauce.

When Zeng Xiaoyan and her family returned at noon, they had bought all the pig's head, pig's trotters, and pig's tail that she had requested. Zeng Xiaoyan herself had a large pork hock and five jin of spare ribs, while Aunt Zhu'er bought a large piece of pork belly.

"Sister-in-law Zhichun, when are you going to make this braised pork?"

Xu Zhichun smiled and said, "After I cook the konjac tofu, I'll make more tonight, and we can eat it tomorrow morning."

Before going to bed, add enough water to the braising pot, cover it with the lid, and burn two pieces of hardwood about the size of a bowl in the stove hole. It can burn until almost dawn.

The next morning, after another intense heat, you can take it out and it's done.

Zeng Xiaoyan said with slight regret, "Ah, that's fine too. Luckily, we have a big pot."

Xu Zhichun laughed heartily: "Yes, thank goodness for this big pot!"

It's expensive, but it's really effective.

It's a pity that you can't buy chicken feet or chicken wings in bulk at the market these days, otherwise they would be delicious braised together. However, you could braise some eggs.

Aunt Pearl: "We ran into the Zeng family today."

Xu Zhichun looked at Zeng Xiaoyan with concern, no wonder she had a feeling that Zeng Xiaoyan didn't seem to be in a very good mood today.

Aunt Zhu looked at Zeng Xiaoyan with some sympathy. She was truly shocked today. She had never dealt with wealthy families in the city before and never imagined that some people could be so wicked and have such a vicious tongue. Every word she spoke was like a steel needle.

Even she, as someone listening nearby, felt her heart pound with distress; one can only imagine how painful it must have been for Zeng Xiaoyan, the person directly involved.

Zeng Xiaoyan was indeed in a bad mood. She didn't want to say anything, but when Aunt Zhu pointed it out and Xu Zhichun looked at her with concern, she suddenly felt wronged and her eyes turned red.

She pursed her lips. "When we were closing up shop today, we ran into my elder sister's maid, Cuiqiao, while we were eating noodles at the noodle stall."

Zeng Xiaoyan's elder sister, Zeng Mingzhu, married into the Qi family in Qingyang County, a neighboring county. Since it was only seven or eight days until Zeng Xiaoyan's father, Master Zeng's, fiftieth birthday, Zeng Mingzhu took this opportunity to return home early.

She happened to be passing by in a carriage today when she caught a glimpse of Zeng Xiaoyan and the others eating noodles at a roadside noodle stall. When she saw that Zeng Xiaoyan was wearing ordinary cotton clothes that were neither new nor old, and that her hair was only held in place by a single, plain silver hairpin, Zeng Mingzhu burst out laughing.

"I thought she would be resentful and make a scene for the rest of her life until she died, dying with resentment. I didn't expect her to accept her fate so quickly. She can even eat in a place like this with a smile on her face without feeling disgusted. She is just like her mother, both of them are despicable."

Cuiqiao knew that her master disliked the third young lady the most. The second young lady dared not utter a sound no matter what kind of bullying she suffered, but the third young lady was different. She would run to the master, roll up her sleeves to show the red and swollen marks on her arms, and cry to the master about the clothes that had been cut for no reason.

Although there was no evidence to prove that the eldest young lady did these things, in the end either the servants were pushed out to take the blame and were scolded by the master, or the third young lady herself was unable to defend herself and was scolded by the master, she still remained unrepentant and did not hesitate to make trouble when necessary.

Everyone in the family disliked her.

Later, I couldn't be bothered with her anymore and treated her like she wasn't there.

Hearing her mistress say this, Cuiqiao also joined in the fun with a gloating laugh: "Who says otherwise? Shouldn't the eldest young mistress go down and say hello to her?" Saying hello is of course not a greeting, but a way to show the world to each other what a world of difference there is, and to properly ridicule her: "You've finally met your match!"

Zeng Mingzhu raised her hand to adjust the pearl and gemstone-encrusted red-gold mandarin duck and lotus hairpin at her temple, and scoffed, "She doesn't deserve it!"

"But since we've run into her, as her older sister, I should show her some concern. Go and say hello to her, just say that."

"Yes, Madam."

The carriage stopped, and Cuiqiao got off, appearing before Zeng Xiaoyan.

Her mouth was sharp and venomous. Not only did she make a big fuss by publicly revealing Zeng Xiaoyan's identity, but she also put on a sympathetic and pitying face and said many words of sympathy and pity. She wiped non-existent tears from the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief and indignantly denounced Liang Mingliang and the Liang family.

"Our third young lady has been pampered since childhood. If it weren't for our master's desire to repay a debt of gratitude, your Liang family wouldn't even be worthy of carrying her shoes, let alone marrying her! Our third young lady brought so much dowry with her when she married into your Liang family, and she could have lived a life of comfort and ease for the rest of her life. But you, instead of letting her out in public and do manual labor, make her wear such clothes and not even have a decent piece of jewelry. She's not even as good as a maid like me. Our third young lady has been wronged so much! Your Liang family is truly going too far, worse than pigs and dogs!"

"I wonder how heartbroken our master will be if he finds out about the Third Miss!"

Unaware of the truth, diners and passersby gradually gathered around. Upon hearing this, they couldn't help but sympathize with Zeng Xiaoyan and began to criticize Liang Mingliang.

Liang Mingliang had never seen anything like this before. Surrounded by so many people, their eyes filled with disdain and condemnation, he felt embarrassed and angry, his face turning red.

"What nonsense are you talking about? How could my family possibly bully my wife? That's absolutely not true!"

"Hmph, the facts are clear, why should the third son-in-law try to deny it? Just by looking at the third young lady, I know that your family must have embezzled all of her dowry. How shameless."

"you--"

"Third Miss, don't worry, when Master and Madam find out, they will definitely stand up for you. You dare not say anything and have to swallow your anger. I know you have been wronged, and I will definitely tell Madam and Master."

Liang Mingliang was so angry that he couldn't speak. His rebuttals, such as "no" and "no," were weak and ineffective.

Zeng Xiaoyan was also furious. "Cuiqiao, what's wrong with you? Who told you to talk nonsense? You—"

Cuiqiao raised her voice, deliberately making it sound like she was about to cry: "Third Miss, I know you are virtuous, but you can't wrong yourself like this! You wait, I'll go back and tell Master right away!"

Cuiqiao covered her face and ran away while pretending to cry.

The crowd of onlookers pointed and whispered at Liang Mingliang, shook their heads and sighed, and gradually dispersed.

Liang Mingliang's face turned ashen.

On the way back, Liang Mingliang was listless, and Zeng Xiaoyan was angry the whole way.

“Sister-in-law Zhichun, listen to these words! This brat is deliberately humiliating me. I remember now, my father’s birthday is coming soon, my elder sister must be back. Cuiqiao is her dowry maid, it must be her doing.”

"I'm already married and have nothing to do with her anymore, yet she still insists on disgusting me like this!"

(End of this chapter)