I was a housekeeper in ancient times

Mrs. Chen said that the second wife found a lot of excuses to ask for money. In short, they were short of money and were looking for a sucker from the first wife to fill the shortfall.

As they were talking, they saw Mother Sun leading a group of people. They didn't seem to be here to urge the payment of public debts, but more like to collect debts.

Right at the beginning, Mother Sun started talking about how difficult and hard it was for Mrs. Ding to take care of so many people in the Bo's mansion, and how money was needed here and there. Finally, she got to the point and asked for money.

In the past, Mother Sun would not bother to say so much. Whenever her family was unhappy, the eldest wife would rush to send money, so there was no need to say all this.

I thought that the first wife had no support, so I started saving money. But no matter how much I saved, the first wife still had to rely on the second wife.

No matter how many good or bad things Grandma Sun said, Lin Weiqiao just smiled faintly and said two words: "No."

Mother Sun was anxious, "What do you mean by 'no'? You don't want to pay it?"

"That's right. Not only will I not pay it now, I won't be able to pay it in the future."

"How can you not afford it? It's obvious that you don't want to pay!"

"I can't help you if you think that way. We have lent you all the valuable things in our eldest house. Even if you want to pawn something, there is nothing valuable to pawn, so naturally we can't pay the public debt."

"Nonsense! Didn't the Madam receive a reward not long ago?"

Lin Weiqiao sneered. No wonder he said he would hand it over to the government in advance. It turned out that he came for this.

Seeing that they were determined not to hand it over, Mother Sun threatened, "If you don't, I will report it to the Second Madam. From now on, we will not be responsible for your food, drink, monthly allowance, etc. You can solve it by yourselves!"

This is exactly the effect Lin Weiqiao wanted. Originally, the second house used the first house's money to support the entire mansion. After paying the public treasury, it became the second house that supported the entire mansion.

Everyone would say that the Ding family is good at housekeeping.

"Then please go back and explain to the Second Madam. From now on, we will each live in our own rooms and have nothing to do with each other."

"You! It's useless for you to say that. I'm going to ask the eldest lady what she thinks."

"What I meant was what the First Madam meant. You said to hand it over to the government in advance, so I have to ask what the Second Madam meant."

"Hey, this is what the Second Madam meant, do you still want to disobey?"

"Then it was the eldest lady's intention not to hand it over. Do you want to disobey?"

"you!"

Mother Sun was speechless and her face turned red. She wanted to argue again but was persuaded to go back.

Lin Weiqiao quickly turned around to find Yu Muyan and gave her some instructions, saying that when the old lady or the second house came to invite her, she must insist on not handing it over to the government in advance and must reduce it by half, otherwise she would be alone.

Yu Muyan didn't want to make a big deal out of it, so she said tactfully: "Mom, it's not like we can't afford this little money, why bother..."

She was so tired. "Madam, you see, we have paid a lot of money and suffered a lot of grievances. They clearly saw that you are easy to talk to, so they are getting more and more aggressive and taking advantage of you."

"That's what I said, but if I really did that, I'd definitely be criticized."

"Why are you complaining? Madam has given and taken everything she should have given. It's the Second House that is too overbearing and doesn't take the First House seriously at all. Madam is still the Countess and the eldest daughter-in-law of the Lu family. They come to take things when they have no money. What do they think of the First House?"

Before she could say a few words, Madam Lu sent someone to invite Yu Muyan over to talk.

Yu Muyan and her servant went over, and Lin Weiqiao repeatedly warned Yu Muyan on the way, telling her not to give in. She hated that she was an old woman and could not intervene in important matters, so only Yu Muyan was willing to listen to her.

When they arrived at Huangju Hall where Old Madam Lu was, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were waiting for Yu Muyan to come.

As soon as she entered the door, Madam Lu said, "Yu."

After Lu Yuxuan passed away, Madam Lu was no longer willing to pretend. She used to call Yu Muyan "Brother Xuan's daughter-in-law" to show her closeness, but now she just calls her "Mrs. Yu", and the unfamiliarity is obvious.

But after all, she was not her own daughter-in-law. When Lu Yuxuan was still alive, Madam Lu was just pretending to be nice to deceive outsiders.

Even towards her stepson Lu Yuxuan, Old Madam Lu was just forcing herself to act like a loving mother.

"I heard that you don't want to hand it over to the government anymore?" Old Madam Lu said in an unhappy voice, not even bothering to raise her eyelids, and leisurely stroked the civet cat in her arms.

"It's not that I don't want to pay, but it's not until next month yet." Yu Muyan was a little scared.

"Aren't you in a hurry to use the money? You don't manage the household, so you don't know the difficulties of managing the household. The funeral a while ago cost a lot of money. Let's not talk about the outside world, just look at the big and small things in this family, which one doesn't cost money?"

"Mom, I know the difficulties my second brother and his wife are in, but the first house also depends on me to support it, and I really can't afford it."

Lin Weiqiao, who was listening on the side, was worried that Yu Muyan would turn against her at any time.

Yu Muyan looked at Madam Lu cautiously, then looked at the hint Lin Weiqiao gave her, and mustered up her courage, "It's not that my daughter-in-law won't pay, she will pay next month, and it will be halved."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Ding became anxious, "Sister-in-law, it's not enough to begin with, and you're halving it?"

Madam Lu did not expect Yu Muyan to have such an idea. "I know that it is not easy for you orphans and widows, but you are not going to go to this extent, are you? You have an imperial decree and rewards, which is worse than us. I am old and should enjoy my old age. Do you want me to worry about the livelihood of the Bo family again? We are all family. The second branch is not as wealthy as the first branch. Since you are capable, you should help more, instead of..."

Yu Muyan didn't refute, she just listened obediently, she was used to it anyway.

Lin Weiqiao nodded in satisfaction. Being bad at talking has its advantages.

Seeing that Madam Lu was taking advantage of her age and trying to use filial piety to pressure Yu Muyan, she took the opportunity to say, "Madam, our Madam still has to take care of three sisters. Not to mention that she doesn't have much money, even if she did, she would have to save it for a dowry. There is still a lot of money in the future. And..."

She paused deliberately, "Besides, there are so many people watching our mansion now. If this matter gets out, those who know will urge us to hand it over to the government, while those who don't know will think that they are bullying our orphans and widows who have no one to rely on."

Madam Lu slammed the table, "How dare you! What are you talking about? Second Housekeeper, what's wrong with asking the first house to hand it over to the public? I was wondering why Mrs. Yu was unwilling to hand it over, and it turns out that it was you, a shrewd servant, who was gossiping about it!"

Seeing that Madam Lu was taking her anger out on Lin Weiqiao, Yu Muyan hurriedly said, "Mother, don't worry about Madam Lin's business. This is also what I meant. The public funds paid are too much, and I really can't afford it. I know it's not easy for my second brother and sister-in-law to manage the household. If it really doesn't work out, I will manage this room myself and not trouble my second brother and sister-in-law."

Upon hearing this, both Mrs. Lu and her daughter-in-law got angry. Mrs. Lu said angrily, "I'm not dead yet, and you want to split up and live on your own? Xuan Ge'er is gone, and you don't honor me on his behalf, but instead want to live on your own and ignore me, an old woman?"