Favoring concubines and ignoring wives? The mistress of the marquisate remarried a powerful official

Rongfu Hall.

The old lady had just woken up from her afternoon nap and heard the maid complaining to Song Wanning in her ear, "Old Ancestor, you don't know that Second Madam has been paying less and less attention to the housekeeper's affairs these past two days. The other day, I went to her to exchange the silver I bought for the kitchen. She actually said that I paid too much and would not give me so much money to buy vegetables in the future. But the old ancestor eats the best. If there is not enough silver, how can we buy these good things to honor the old ancestor in the future? Isn't she just cutting the old ancestor's expenses in various ways?"

The maids in the old lady's room are opportunists and have always taken advantage of the old lady's room. Now that the money is gone, they will naturally go to the old lady to complain.

The old lady is now very dissatisfied with Song Wanning's behavior. Not long ago, she asked Song Wanning to give Wen Tingbai more money, but Song Wanning dared to go against her wishes and said that the family was in financial difficulties.

The old lady became furious when she thought of Song Wanning.

Just at this moment, the maid at the door welcomed Cui Xiaoxiao and Wen Tingbai into the house.

Cui Xiaoxiao listened to Wen Tingbo's words and bought a mink coat as a gift for the old lady. She bowed to the old lady above her with a quiet and obedient look on her face, "Granddaughter-in-law greets the old ancestor, and comes to pay respects to the old ancestor."

As a concubine, Cui Xiaoxiao called herself the grandson's wife, which was extremely against the rules.

However, the old lady was very dissatisfied with Song Wanning now. She was somewhat pleased with Cui Xiaoxiao, the concubine. She was mocking Song Wanning in her words, "You and Ting Bo are filial. You know to come and pay respects to an old man like me. Unlike some people in this family, they use the excuse that the housekeeper is busy and don't see her for half a month."

Cui Xiaoxiao said, and hurriedly handed the cloak in her hand to the old lady, kneeling on the ground and said, "My granddaughter-in-law got Tingbai's care some time ago, and opened a rouge shop with the money and made a lot of money. This is all due to the old ancestor's training of Tingbai and letting him marry my granddaughter-in-law. My granddaughter-in-law dare not forget the old ancestor's kindness, so as soon as I made money, I bought a mink cloak for my ancestor to show my filial piety."

"Good, good, good kid." When the old lady heard that Cui Xiaoxiao bought something for her, she immediately smiled and looked at Cui Xiaoxiao and said, "I guess this cloak cost a lot of money, right?"

Wen Tingbo, who was standing nearby, quickly replied, "My ancestor, it cost five hundred taels of silver."

"Tingbai..." Cui Xiaoxiao knelt on the ground and said coquettishly, "I told you not to tell me how much money I spent. It's all my intention, no matter how much."

The old lady half-closed her eyes and looked at Cui Xiaoxiao who was kneeling on the ground, "Is your rouge shop really that profitable?"

"Yes, my granddaughter-in-law has specially made new designs to make this rouge different from the ones made in Shengjing now. I'm afraid it will be able to become bigger and stronger in the future." Cui Xiaoxiao is not modest at all when it comes to doing business. She smiled and said, "The ancestor is just waiting for my granddaughter-in-law to honor you."

"I never thought Xiao Xiao was so good at making money." The old lady said, and thought of the housekeeper Song Wanning, and became more dissatisfied, "That Wanning, our mansion has so many shops and farms, but she doesn't think about how to make the business better, and she only knows how to save money day by day."

"Grandfather, Xiao Xiao still has many ways to make money. If Xiao Xiao is the housekeeper, he will definitely make more money for the shop in the mansion." Seeing that the old lady was so dissatisfied with Song Wan Ning, Wen Tingbai quickly said, "Since Wan Ning has not managed this family well, the housekeeper power should be given to more capable people."

"But if it's housekeeper Xiao Xiao..." The old lady looked at Cui Xiaoxiao who was kneeling on the ground and had more considerations in her mind.

Cui Xiaoxiao is a concubine anyway. If a concubine is the housekeeper, it will be bad for her reputation. Although the old lady loves money, she cannot give up the reputation of the Marquis's mansion.

Wen Tingbai saw the old lady's hesitation and said quickly, "Grandfather, if Xiao Xiao was the housekeeper, our mansion would have more and more money in the future, and we would be able to hold a chrysanthemum banquet in a grand manner. We wouldn't have to live so frugally like we do now. In my grandson's opinion, it doesn't matter who gives the housekeeper power to him."

"Well, since you said so, then call Wan Ning over." The old lady half-closed her eyes and said slowly, "If she hadn't managed the housekeeper of the Marquis' Mansion like this, I wouldn't have touched the power in her hands."

Cui Xiaoxiao, who was kneeling on the ground, raised the corners of her mouth proudly, and was then helped up by Wen Tingbo who was standing beside her.

Not long after, Song Wanning was called to Rongfu Hall by the old lady.

Song Wanning opened the curtain and entered the room. She immediately saw the old lady sitting there and Wen Tingbai beside her. Cui Xiaoxiao was standing behind Wen Tingbai, looking well behaved.

Song Wanning knew that it was Cui Xiaoxiao who did it, but she pretended to be unaware and looked at the old lady and said, "Granddaughter-in-law greets the old ancestor. I wonder if the old ancestor asked her to come here today because of something important to discuss with her."

The old lady couldn't say directly that she had dismissed Song Wanning's housekeeping authority, so she only mentioned another housekeeping matter and looked at Song Wanning and said, "Did you make the sweet-scented osmanthus cake that Xu'er wanted to eat a few days ago? Have you prepared the cloth I asked you to buy?"

Song Wanning explained slowly, neither servile nor overbearing, "The sweet-scented osmanthus cake that Xu'er wanted to eat has been bought. The Shu brocade that the old lady asked to find is now running low, so my granddaughter-in-law prepared a few more pieces, which are not inferior to the Shu brocade."

"You can't even do a small thing." The old lady said, picking up the teacup next to her and smashing it towards Song Wanning. The teacup broke into pieces and the tea inside splashed out.

"Wan Ning, I'm not targeting you, but look, Xiao Xiao has only been in our Marquis Zhongping Mansion for a few days, and she has already saved enough money to buy me a cloak. How do you do your job as the mistress of the family? I am so disappointed." The old lady said, pretending to be angry and stroking her chest.

Song Wanning saw that the old lady was just looking for an excuse to strip her of her power today, so she immediately knelt down in response to the old lady's anger, "I know that I am incompetent and immoral, and I am far from the mistress of the house in the old ancestor's mind. I am willing to give up the housekeeping power and hand over the key to the house as a small way to make up for my mistake."

When the old lady saw that Song Wanning actually said that she wanted to give up her power, she was secretly delighted, but she still pretended, "Wanning, I don't really want to give up your housekeeping power, but now you are really not managing this family properly, so you can't blame me."

"Replying to the old ancestor, your granddaughter-in-law knows that you have always cared about the honor and disgrace of the entire marquisate. I will hand over the housekeeper's key to a capable person now." Song Wanning said, taking out the key from her sleeve and presenting it to her mother beside her.

The old lady ordered her mother to Cui Xiaoxiao who was behind Wen Tingbo, and said, "Miss Xiaoxiao, you must take the future of our mansion into consideration in the future. This whole family is waiting for your arrangement for dinner."

Cui Xiaoxiao glanced at Song Wanning with great pride and said slowly, "My granddaughter-in-law will definitely live up to your mission."