I was a housekeeper in ancient times

It had been raining for half a month and the air was filled with a musty smell. When a sunny day finally came, everyone in the room was busy cleaning things to get rid of the musty smell and sweep away the bad luck that had accumulated over the past period of time.

The servants swept the courtyard, wiped the corners, weeded and shoveled dust. Everything in the Pingrong Marquis's mansion looked orderly and prosperous.

It was the quarreling and cursing coming from the second room in the east courtyard that broke the apparent calm.

Madam Sun from Mrs. Ding's room in the second house led a few maids to stand in a row, with their hands on their hips, scowling and guarding the door, not letting in Madam Chen and others who came to borrow things.

Mrs. Chen had known that this would happen. She sneered in her heart but pretended to be friendly on the surface. "Mother Sun, we just came to borrow a white porcelain teacup and a set of purple clay tea sets. Why won't you let us in? My wife has just received an imperial decree, so she has to thank the guests. Without these things, it would be difficult for us to entertain the guests."

Mother Sun snorted coldly and spat without any courtesy, "I say, who borrows things like you do? You come every few days, either to borrow bowls, plates, tea sets, or tables, chairs, and benches. Is your family so short of things? You said you were borrowing, but you never returned them!"

"Hey, you're right, mom. We don't have anything left in the main house. We have to borrow it. Oh, we don't even have any tea leaves. I'll have to trouble mom to borrow some more tea leaves and a box of eight-treasure snacks."

"no!"

"You are lying. How can you not have it? Do you not want to lend it to us?"

"Yes, you are shameless enough. You come to borrow things every now and then, and you only borrow good things. You never return them. Isn't this just throwing meat buns at a dog?"

Mrs. Chen was not angry, and did not even continue arguing. She turned around and led her people back.

I went to Shuangxi Courtyard and found Lin Weiqiao, who was eating plums under the loquat tree, and told her what happened.

"Mom, are we just going to let this go? The things we borrowed from the second house recently are just a few, and they are not as valuable as the screen they borrowed a few days ago."

Lin Weiqiao's facial features were distorted by the sourness of the plums. She took a sip of her new tea and said, "The second house will never give out the borrowed items unless they are snatched away by force. If the situation gets out of hand, it will be difficult for Madam. Just wait, there will be a way to make the second house give up the items slowly."

Mrs. Chen also took a green plum to taste, and the sourness made wrinkles on her face. "After this incident, I don't think the second wife will come to get things again in the future."

"Let someone keep a closer eye on things in our room from now on. Even if the things in our room are useless, they can't be given to the second room for free."

"That's right. The second branch is really arrogant and overbearing. They can just take things from the first branch, but we have to be fussy about taking even a little bit from the second branch."

"By the way, is the kitchen also managed by someone from the second room?"

"Yes, the Second Madam is in charge of the household. Except for our first wife, the rest of the house is filled with people from the Old Madam and the Second Wife."

Lin Weiqiao took a piece of candied melon to reduce the sourness. This plate of fresh plums still dripping with water was sent to Yu Muyan by her subordinates, who said they were seasonal fruits and asked her to try some. Yu Muyan gave her some.

She thought it was delicious, but it was unexpectedly sour.

She cleared her throat and thought carefully. Without Lu Yuxuan's presence, Madam Lu and the second house would definitely target the first house more and join forces with others to embarrass Yu Muyan.

By then, Yu Muyan's situation will only become more difficult.

Yu Muyan has a daughter, an imperial decree, and an uncle's family, so she can completely leave Yu Bo's mansion and live on her own.

But, in this world, it is totally unrealistic.

It would be fine if Yu Muyan's son was still around, but he is not. Although she has a daughter, to outsiders, the daughter is almost nonexistent.

If Yu Muyan and her daughter set up their own business, there would be no telling how much obstruction they would encounter, and they would also be subject to gossip, malicious speculation, and even slander.

Of course, given Yu Muyan’s current condition, it is unnecessary to think about this.

The most important thing right now is how to help Yu Muyan get the first wife to gain a foothold in the Bo Mansion.

In the past, when Lu Yuxuan was around, Madam Lu and the second house would have done their best to save face no matter how poor they were. Now that Lu Yuxuan is gone, Yu Muyan has no children, and her natal family doesn't have support, anyone can come and step on her.

Lin Weiqiao brushed off the crumbs on her body and stood up, "From now on, I have to live behind closed doors."

Mrs. Chen asked, "How do you close it?"

"I don't want to have anything to do with them. If they want to hand it over to the government, I won't. If they want to borrow something, I won't."

"If we don't pay, I'm afraid we won't even have food to eat."

"It's not like only the second room has a kitchen. Don't we have one? Even if we don't have one, we can just build one first. We shouldn't let the second room get involved in anything, and we can't let the second room get involved either."

"What if they come to Madam to argue?"

"Madam is not stupid. Besides, she is already busy with her own affairs, so how can she care about these things? The private vault has been moved to another room. You must guard it and do not open it. If you must open it, you can send someone to the private vault of the second room."

"to make."

Lin Weiqiao’s main point is mutual harm. Since the first wife is not allowed to have an easy life, no one else will have an easy life either.

Then, she asked how to buy the farmland. She didn't forget what Yu Muyan had told her, but she forgot how to buy it.

Mrs. Chen laughed at her for being smart at one moment and foolish at another. "Of course, matters outside should be handed over to outsiders. We are all women, so it is not easy for us to go there in person. We are also afraid that people will look down on us and fool us. Why don't you hand it over to Manager Li?"

She thought about it and realized that Yu Muyan had several maids. Besides her, there were Madam Li and Nanny He, as well as two stewards. One was Madam Li's husband, Steward Li, and the other was Nanny He's nephew, Steward He.

Among them, Madam Li and her husband were given as dowry by the Yu family, and she and Nanny He and Steward He were given by the Qi family. Of course, they are all Yu Muyan's subordinates now, regardless of which side they are on.

As Yu Muyantou's companion, she was in charge of all matters, big or small.

Madam Li is in charge of private accounts, income, and personal relationships, while Manager Li is in charge of managing several shops.

As for Nanny He, she was originally in charge of the young girls. However, her health had not improved in recent years, so she went home to recuperate and asked her wife, Sister Cuihong, to take over and take care of their diet and other things.

Manager He was in charge of all matters big and small on the farm for Yu Muyan.

"Look at me. I was so busy that I even forgot about him. Xiaohan, go to the front yard and ask someone to call Manager Li back." She ordered.

As they were talking, they were about to go out. Mrs. Chen still had to sort out her private storeroom, and she had to go to the kitchen to take a look, as this was related to the important matter of what she would eat.

These past few days, the meals she was given were becoming more and more perfunctory. For breakfast, she had a bowl of whole-grain porridge, a few vegetarian dumplings, and a few pieces of bean cakes.

At noon, she had fried tofu, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, and pickled cucumbers. The only meat dish was stir-fried kidneys, but she didn't like kidneys because they were too fishy.

Fortunately, the food in Yu Muyan's room was rich and Yu Muyan didn't eat much. The sisters were young, so she could have her turn, otherwise she would have starved to the point of eating people.

Even a companion like her had to eat like this, so she couldn't even imagine how miserable other people's meals were.