The daily struggles of divorced women in ancient times

"Why are you looking at me?" Pei Yanxu was also a little helpless. He certainly knew what Chen Suzhi was planning.

"Yan Xu, you are the imperial envoy. I don't have rice, but you do! This matter concerns the economy of Yanzhou. You have to provide me with some people." Chen Suzhi said earnestly.

Xia Mianwan chimed in, "Yes, yes, it's up to you, Master Pei."

Pei Yanxu thought about it carefully and finally nodded, "That's fine. I'll write a letter to the emperor and borrow someone from Zheng Xiaoyun."

When Pei Yanxu mentioned Zheng Xiaoyun, his voice paused slightly and he looked at Xia Mianwan. Xia Mianwan really had no reaction.

For Xia Mianwan, it doesn't matter who he borrows from, as long as he can get the job done.

After leaving Chen's house, Xia Mianwan accomplished everything he wanted to do and returned home happily.

……

After some time, Xia Mianwan heard that the "Safest Chef Competition" was officially launched, and she felt relieved. At least Pei Yanxu could get the job done.

"Madam, I received the invitation from the Zheng family." Ruzhu said unhappily. This Zheng family was really strange. They were not polite at all, but they kept delivering invitations.

When Xia Mianwan took a look at the post, she found it was written by Old Lady Zheng herself, which meant that Old Lady Zheng had already arrived in Yanzhou.

This time, when Old Lady Zheng invited Xia Mianwan to the Zheng Mansion, it was not a banquet, and there was no one else around.

In the words of Haitang, the maidservant beside Old Madam Zheng, there was no one else but Old Madam Zheng, Xia Mianwan and Zheng Lingwan. Xia Mianwan said she would go to the appointment without much thought.

After all, Old Mrs. Zheng was old, and she was exhausted after traveling all the way to Yanzhou.

No matter how tired she was, Old Lady Zheng had to get the job done, and she posted a message to Xia Mianwan first. After posting the message, Old Lady Zheng called Zheng Lingwan over.

Mrs. Zheng didn't exchange pleasantries, but asked directly, "Ling Wan, are your brother and sister-in-law doing well these days?"

Zheng Lingwan knew what Old Madam Zheng wanted to know, so she answered honestly, "My brother and sister-in-law are both fine, but...my sister-in-law held a banquet and invited Madam...no...Mrs. Xia, and there was some unpleasantness during the banquet..."

After listening to Zheng Lingwan's story, Old Mrs. Zheng sighed deeply. This granddaughter-in-law was also a troublesome person, but she was just a little smarter than her useless daughter-in-law.

"Ling Wan, you are getting older. You have been taught to manage household affairs in the mansion. Why are you so... disorganized now? You know why your grandmother wanted you to go to the south of the Yangtze River with your brother and sister-in-law."

Zheng Lingwan lowered her head somewhat helplessly, gritted her teeth and knelt down, "Grandmother, I want to ask for mercy for Lady Xia. No matter what, she has helped us so much, and she also raised Brother Chen and Sister Yu. When we met on the street, I asked her what she thought, and she would never return to the Zheng family. Sister Yu saw me as if I were a stranger, and the defensiveness in her eyes could not be hidden. I...when I think of how good she was to us on the road to exile, I feel uncomfortable. Although, my eldest brother did it for the family, it is wrong. Lady Xia doesn't care because she doesn't care about my eldest brother at all, but it doesn't mean that my eldest brother did nothing wrong. My eldest sister-in-law did nothing wrong to defend her position, but she should have come to our Zheng family if she had any problems. How could she go to trouble Lady Xia? Our Zheng family indulged my eldest brother's behavior, and we are already very sorry to Lady Xia. Now my eldest brother and sister-in-law are taking turns to provoke Lady Xia, which is probably not appropriate."

When Mrs. Zheng saw Xia Mianwan like this, her frown relaxed and her expression didn't look so ugly anymore.

"Lingwan, you get up first." said Mrs. Zheng.

Zheng Lingwan hesitated for a moment and then stood up obediently.

Mrs. Zheng said at this time: "Lingwan, do you know the difference between you and Mianwan?"

Zheng Lingwan didn't quite understand what Mrs. Zheng meant, so she shook her head and said, "My granddaughter doesn't know."

Seeing that Zheng Lingwan still looked somewhat confused, Old Mrs. Zheng couldn't help but sigh in her heart, but fortunately, although this granddaughter had a soft temper, she was not unreasonable.

"Mian Wan has never been the type to passively take a beating. If it were Mian Wan, she wouldn't kneel at this moment. If she kneeled and I asked her to stand up, she wouldn't get up until she achieved her goal."

Zheng Lingwan still didn't understand what Old Lady Zheng meant, "Grandma..."

Old Madam Zheng sighed and said, "Don't you understand yet? Lingwan, I asked you to come here not to restrict your sister-in-law, but to give face to Mian Wan. Before I even arrived in Yanzhou, I heard that the emperor was very pleased and praised the "fish farming in rice fields" in the palace. You have been in Yanzhou for so long, you must know who came up with the idea of ​​"fish farming in rice fields", right?"

Zheng Lingwan was a little surprised. She really didn't know how she, the eldest daughter of a general's mansion, could inquire about these farming matters.

"Granddaughter...I really don't know." Zheng Lingwan answered honestly.

At this time, Old Mrs. Zheng wanted to stand up, and the maid next to her immediately stepped forward to support her.

Old Madam Zheng held onto Zheng Lingwan's hand and said, "Lingwan, you are the daughter of our Zheng family. Because of your mother's temperament and your father's long absence, you have become a little softer. Although you have grown up after the turmoil in the north, you are still a little naive. Our Zheng family stands at the center of power, and our children should also have a keen sense of touch."

"Yes, grandma." Zheng Lingwan responded obediently.

Old Madam Zheng shook her head and said, "Ling Wan, what I mean is that if you came to Yanzhou and asked a little about things, you would know that Mian Wan is not someone who would do nothing and let our Zheng family slaughter her. I can understand that you pleaded for her just now, but... you got it completely wrong. This time when you came to Yanzhou, you actually just stayed in the mansion with your eldest sister-in-law all day long?"

Zheng Lingwan was speechless again, feeling a little bitter in her heart.

"Forget it, forget it, Lingwan, don't think too much. We'll talk about it tomorrow when we meet at the bedtime party. But... Lingwan, if you don't change your temper, I'm afraid you'll have difficulty getting married. Grandmother is afraid that she can't protect you..." Old Mrs. Zheng sighed.

The Zheng family is not in the emperor's favor. The current situation is really... hard to say... hard to say...