Daily Life of a Powerful Official Supporting His Wife

Chapter 34

Chapter

Lu Baoer was surprised that Old Madam Su would come looking for her, but Old Madam Su wasn't the type to be difficult, and it wasn't like she didn't have anyone around her. Perhaps the request for her service was false, but her desire to see her was genuine. So, Lu Baoer stood up and followed Qiuju.

Because of their rank, Li Jiao and Cui Shi happened to sit diagonally across from Lu Baoer. When she saw that Mrs. Su's personal maid had found Lu Baoer, she felt extremely jealous.

However, Cui enjoyed the pleasure of being served like a servant by her daughter-in-law from a wealthy family. She was not allowed to sit down and was required to understand the rules and know when to advance and retreat. Vegetables and meat were put into Cui's bowl one by one with chopsticks.

Li Jiao was a daughter-in-law, so how could she dare to refute? She could only grit her teeth and continue to work. Cui came from a humble family and actually didn't quite understand how the mothers-in-law of those officials and officials behaved.

In fact, the more prestigious the mother-in-law is, the less likely she is to make things difficult for her daughter-in-law. If she likes her, she will reward her endlessly, and if she doesn't like her, she will send her away early. Why would she have to keep someone in front of her and set rules for her all day long? It's so annoying.

Therefore, Cui's behavior of torturing her daughter-in-law did not bring her any honor. Instead, people laughed at her privately for being rude. She was a guest in someone else's house, but she didn't have a maid to serve her, and yet she asked her daughter-in-law to come.

Li Jiao felt guilty, as if everyone was looking at her. She felt embarrassed and could no longer bear it. She whispered to Cui, "Mother, we are at the Fu residence. If you want someone to serve you the food, can you let my maid come? It would be against the rules if I don't join the table."

Cui had been enjoying her daughter-in-law's attentiveness and flattery, and when she saw the ladies around her looking at her, she thought they were all envious of her good fortune. But after hearing Li Jiao's words, she suddenly realized what was happening and felt embarrassed.

Li Jiao was a daughter of an official family from the Minister of Revenue's mansion, so she naturally knew more about etiquette than she did. Now, wasn't this just mocking her, a country peasant woman, for not knowing the rules? Cui had finally made her fortune with her son, and her worth had skyrocketed. Now, being stung by Li Jiao's words, it was as if she had been brought back to her original state.

Cui still had a low self-esteem, which was why she was so suspicious. She always felt that Li Jiao had deliberately ignored these rules to make fun of her! Great! Li Jiao must have been disobedient at the Shen family, so she wanted to punish her in front of everyone at the Fu Mansion! Let's see how Cui would torment her from now on. How could she be such a difficult and mean daughter-in-law?!
It was really unfair to Li Jiao to say this. If she had warned Cui not to be petty before entering the mansion, Cui would definitely think that she would take the opportunity to ridicule her as soon as she left the mansion, and that she was not someone to be trifled with.

After saying this, Cui whispered resentfully, "Since you know, why don't you sit down quickly! It's fine that you don't behave at home, but you embarrass me outside! Are you doing this on purpose, wanting people to say that I'm a mean and cruel mother-in-law? And you're even torturing my daughter-in-law? Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. Cut out some of your tricks!"

This was a complete accusation, and Li Jiao looked at Cui in disbelief, feeling furious but unable to vent her anger. It was Cui who had clearly asked her to serve him closely, and now she was accusing her of this conspiracy.

Li Jiao felt extremely miserable. She looked around and heard the ladies chatting and laughing, feeling melancholy. Suddenly, her eyes fell on Lu Baoer and Old Madam Su, who were at the front.

She clearly told Lu Bao'er to serve the meal, but she sat next to Madam Su without even using chopsticks. How could this be considered serving? It was clearly pampering her!
How could this country girl have caught the eye of Old Madam Su? But what good would it do her to please the old lady? She'd still married a lowly editor in the Imperial Academy, a figure with little influence.

Thinking of this, Li Jiao was filled with resentment. What right did she have to say anything about Lu Baoer? Her husband was still Xie Junling's subordinate!
Li Jiao's brow was gloomy, clearly a newlywed bride, yet she looked several years older. Lu Baoer seemed to sense someone was looking at her, but there were so many ladies enjoying the venison feast that the sight of them was so dazzling that it hurt her eyes, and she couldn't tell them apart.

Madam Su was delighted. She picked up her chopsticks and picked up a piece of venison dipped in sesame and cumin for Lu Baoer. She said to her, "Madam Xie, try it quickly. This venison is a good blood tonic!"

"How can I let the old lady pick food for the younger generation?" Lu Baoer said in fear.

"There's no need for you and me to be so polite. Seeing Madam Xie makes me feel happy and cheerful!"

Lu Baoer didn't know why she had won the favor of Old Lady Su, but having such a kind and gentle old lady looking after her reminded her of her childhood. When she was little, she envied her playmates who had grandparents at home. The old people would always hold candies in their hands and pass them to their grandchildren to sweeten their mouths.

Since Old Madam Su treated her well, Lu Baoer knew to return the favor. She picked up some meat for Old Madam Su and carefully cut it into small pieces with clean scissors, placing it in Old Madam Su's bowl: "I'm afraid your teeth are not good, so small pieces of meat will be easier to chew."

Lu Baoer was afraid that her unwarranted care would overstep the bounds, but she was truly moved by Mrs. Su. She held Lu Baoer's hand tightly and said, "Thank you, Madam, for your thoughtfulness!"

This back-and-forth left the wives of the officials below puzzled. They had heard that Lu Bao'er had won Madam Su's favor, but they hadn't expected their relationship to be this close. It seemed that she was not much worse than Madam Su's favorite granddaughter, Cheng Lingyan!
Speaking of Cheng Lingyan, she had dressed up nicely for today's venison banquet, hoping to show off at the event. However, Old Madam Lu hadn't allowed the younger members of the inner courtyard to come out and play.

Not only Cheng Lingyan, but even the granddaughter of the third room did not come to the banquet. However, Old Madam Su instructed the servants to distribute the roasted venison to each room one by one.

After all, it was a meeting with external guests, so it would be very noisy, and Old Lady Su didn't want to have her family members busy. If it passed through the hands of the third daughter-in-law, the nature of the venison banquet would change, becoming a gathering of guests for the Fu family, which would be much more restrained and something Old Lady Su didn't want to see.

There was also Madam Su's selfish motive involved, which was that she didn't want her biological granddaughter Lu Baoer and her fake granddaughter Cheng Lingyan to confront each other. How would the hierarchy be calculated and how would the closeness be deducted?

She was afraid that she might not handle it well and hurt Lu Baoer's feelings, so she did not invite the younger generation to meet the guests in front.

Cheng Lingyan had been in the mansion for many years and had long been spoiled. She even felt that her status was superior, even higher than that of Old Lady Su's granddaughter. So it was normal for Fu Wan and others not to attend the venison banquet. She was Old Lady Su's favorite, so how could she not attend?

It must be the servant's negligence that forgot to call her!
Thinking of this, Cheng Lingyan adjusted the golden filigree flower and fruit hairpin on her head and, supported by her maid, rushed towards the venison banquet in front of her with great momentum: "Let's go! Let's go to the banquet and take a look!"

(End of this chapter)