The subtle fragrance of cotton needles

"Second Aunt said that the Madam and the Right Prime Minister's wife are at Ao Yan Xuan, and the eldest son and his wife, the second young lady Li, and the cousin are also there. She is a concubine and it is not appropriate to be rude."

What? The front yard is full of men, and Tu Song is here today. Isn't Yang Jin afraid of gossip when he comes to the front yard?

"Ridiculous! Should she come to the front yard? Let her go back and reflect on her mistakes!" Xia Liu suppressed her discomfort and scolded.

The servant left quickly.

Xia Liu finally breathed a sigh of relief. He turned around and saw Dongfang Ji staring at him. He asked cautiously, "Does Mr. Dongfang have any advice for me?"

"It's nothing, I'm just curious, how could the concubine of your family be so presumptuous that she didn't report to the mistress first, but instead came to the front yard to find the master directly?" Dongfang Ji's tone was full of disdain, and he didn't even want to save face for Xia Liu.

Xia Liu was speechless for a moment, but soon found a reason: "This... I usually have a lot of official duties and rarely stay in the backyard. This second aunt is usually well-behaved, and I don't know why she is like this today. I will send someone to ask clearly, please worry about it, old sir."

"I see. I thought that the master had spoiled this concubine so much that she forgot her own status and dared to bother the master without the permission of the mistress."

"Of course not. The master is the master and the slave is the slave. How can I overstep my authority?" Xia Liu felt a chill on her back and couldn't help but raise her voice.

Dongfang Ji smiled meaningfully and said nothing more.

Tu Song hadn't spoken yet, which made Xia Liu a little scared. Out of caution, she spoke first, "Today is not a formal banquet held by our Shangshu Mansion, but since the Prime Minister and the Marquis are here, why don't you stay and have a simple meal?"

Tu Song still didn't say anything and continued to drink tea calmly.

Seeing that Xia Liu was a little embarrassed, Wu Anhou stepped out to be a peacemaker: "In this case, thank you very much for your hospitality, Lord Shangshu."

"Where there!"

Xia Liu was just being polite. Tu had already instructed the kitchen to prepare lunch.

Xia Liu breathed a sigh of relief after hearing what his personal servant told him. Fortunately, Tu was well prepared and did not embarrass him.

Tu Song didn't say a word. If his sister hadn't married into this family and had a son and a daughter, he would have married Xia Liu long ago. He didn't even want to say a word to Xia Liu.

But if they were to stay for lunch, they couldn't just sit there for a while. "Mr. and Mrs. Bai'er will be leaving for Yangzhou in the afternoon. As a father, you should remember to take care of everything."

With Tu around, Xia Liu had nothing to worry about: "Of course, Bai'er will be in Yangzhou for a while before coming back. Madam has already prepared all the gifts for her in-laws."

Tu Song frowned upon hearing this and swallowed back the words that were about to come out of his mouth: "Even so, your relative should not forget to ask Bai'er to say a few auspicious words from you as the master. You must not let people think that we, the officials in the capital, look down on the merchants."

Xia Liu was somewhat disdainful. Among the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, merchants were inherently inferior. He was not happy when Bai'er married Li.

If it weren't for the fact that the Yangzhou Li family owned an entire business group and several ports, with a large fortune and a lot of wealth, he would have divorced his wife long ago.

However, as Xia Zhibai's uncle, Tu Song would have no problem marrying a peasant girl as long as his nephew was willing.

Moreover, although the Li family has been engaged in business for generations, some of their children have entered official careers. The girls in the Li family have also attended private schools since childhood and have been educated as aristocratic girls, no worse than the girls in the capital.

A person of the Jiangnan culture, Li is also a typical Jiangnan beauty, with a gentle personality, graceful behavior, and has always been impeccable.

Besides, the Tu family has never been one to curry favor with the powerful, and they are even more unwilling to sacrifice their children's marriages for personal gain.

The only failure was Yan'er's marriage.

After the meal, Tu, Xia Yanxiang and Xia Liu saw the people off.

As soon as he sent the person away, Xia Liu's face darkened. However, because Xia Yanxiang was still there, Xia Liu didn't say anything.

This daughter is used to being disobedient, and he can't control her.

Xia Yanxiang saw Xia Liu's expression at a glance, without even giving her any response, knowing that Xia Liu was determined to find fault with Tu. Xia Yanxiang did not intervene, because her mother was no pushover.

"Mother, Yan'er has gone back to her room first." Xia Yanxiang told Tu and went back to Ao Yanxuan.

As soon as Xia Yanxiang left, Xia Liu's face darkened. She turned around and walked inside, saying, "Go call the second aunt."

Yang Jin deliberately walked slowly into the main hall, and as soon as he entered the door, he held a handkerchief to his face and cried.

When Tu saw Yang Jin's behavior, she frowned, ignored him, took the tea beside her and started drinking it.

"Master!" Yang Jin glanced at Tu and burst into tears, his eyes full of tears and his tone sounded aggrieved and pitiful.

Before Xia Liu opened her mouth to speak, Yang Jin started to cry: "Master! I know that my status is low and I cannot be compared with Madam, but I am also alone. There are also your fifth girl and seventh brother in the room. The weather is cold. Can't I even ask for some firewood? I knew that Madam was receiving guests, so I didn't dare to disturb her. I just asked for a reward. Who knew that Madam not only didn't give it to me, but the maid beside her also humiliated me, saying that my status is low and I am not worthy of using good charcoal, and that my two children deserve it! Master, it's okay for me to be cold, but Jian'er and Feng'er are the flesh and blood of the Shangshu Mansion. They can't bear such harsh treatment!"

Every word was full of grievance and was so touching. Xia Liu was already partial to Yang Jin, so hearing this made her even more soft-hearted and angry.

"I know that Madam has no such intention, but I am the second concubine in this courtyard after all. How can I bear such humiliation? Master, you..."

Before Yang Jin could finish crying, Tu put the teacup on the table, making a loud noise.

Yang Jin was startled and fell on Xia Liu's legs, not daring to move.

Tu calmly poured the remaining hot tea onto the ground, turned the cup over, and placed it upside down on the table.

Tu had never spoken a word, but now she looked at Yang Jin nonchalantly, "Second Aunt, today is the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. If you want to mourn for me, you have to pick an unlucky day, otherwise you will humiliate everyone in this mansion."

Tu's sudden change caught Yang Jin off guard, and he and Xia Liu stood there awkwardly for a moment.

"What are you talking about? It's obvious that you are the one who treats the people in Zhuxiang Garden harshly. Don't you allow them to seek justice?" Xia Liu turned around and scolded Tu.

Tu would never pretend to serve this cheap man again. She snorted coldly, "I treated her harshly? The master had ordered people to supply coal to the Second Concubine's courtyard seven or eight years ago, and it was the best red charcoal. The Second Concubine has never asked for justice in seven or eight years. What happened today?"

Xia Liu just remembered this when she mentioned it. After a little bit of hesitation, she became even more angry: "Then you shouldn't let a weak woman like her stand in the ice and snow!"

"Observe the rules? How dare I let the master's favorite observe the rules? Today I clearly instructed the servants to let the second concubine go back and behave herself. Did the servants fail to convey the message to the second concubine, or did the second concubine just ignore it?" Tu felt sad and extremely happy in her heart.