I was a queen in ancient times, no, a maid!

In addition to pigs and vegetables, the refugee tent also had a batch of food, which Zhao Shiyan had collected from other areas that were not affected by the disaster.

What is taken from the people will certainly be used for the people in the future.

The refugee camp was particularly lively that night, and Cheng Yu had a rare chance to rest.

Zhao Shiyan also hired a chef to prepare pig-killing dishes, just as a New Year's treat for the refugees.

In fact, Cheng Yu was still a little worried.

She had prepared some minced meat porridge for the refugees before, but Yang Huaiyuan scolded her. If Zhao Shiyan did this, she was worried...

“Is it really okay to feed the refugees meat? What if, after this meal, there is no meat to eat, will they be unhappy and cause trouble again?”

Cheng Yu was talking to Zhao Shiyan.

Zhao Shiyan kept holding Cheng Yu's hand and playing with it in his palm.

"Don't worry. Not long after the New Year, they will all be taken to a new place. The emperor will not allow them to stay outside the city forever."

"What if there are rebels?" Cheng Yu asked.

Zhao Shiyan's eyes were gloomy, "Kill without mercy."

Emperors in power can be kind or cruel.

Otherwise, how can we govern the entire country?

After hearing those four words, Cheng Yu's small body trembled in fear.

Subconsciously, he wanted to let go of Zhao Shiyan's hand. Just at this moment, a few people came towards him, and Cheng Yu immediately let go of Zhao Shiyan's hand.

The people who came were none other than Yang Huaiyuan and several officials in charge of the refugees.

After seeing Zhao Shiyan, Yang Huaiyuan walked straight towards him.

"General Zhao, you are really generous. You brought so many things and even hired a cook. All the refugees praised you."

As Yang Huaiyuan was speaking, he noticed a woman standing to the side who looked very familiar.

"Madam Cheng, you are here too."

Cheng Yu said softly, "The prince has arranged a cook, and I was planning to go home soon."

"Alright."

If Madam Cheng was a man, she could stay and have a simple meal with them, but Madam Cheng was a woman, so naturally she could not be kept.

"I will send Madam Cheng back. The affairs of the refugee camp will be handed over to General Yang for the time being."

After Zhao Shiyan said this, Yang Huaiyuan was speechless.

Zhao Shiyan didn't give Yang Huaiyuan a chance to speak and left with Cheng Yu.

Cheng Yu felt that there was something wrong with the way Yang Huaiyuan looked at them, so she didn't dare to get too close to Zhao Shiyan.

Her little thoughts were seen by Zhao Shiyan.

"Are you afraid that he will find out about our relationship?"

When asking this question, Zhao Shiyan's tone was cold and hard, as if he would be furious if Cheng Yu said yes or nodded.

"Aren't you afraid, my Lord? Aren't you afraid that it will affect your marriage in the future?"

"Then we'll talk about it later."

Why does this sound so awkward?

Zhao Shiyan arranged a carriage in advance. The coachman was a servant whom Cheng Yu had never seen before. He helped Cheng Yu get into the carriage first and then he got in.

Cheng Yu was worried about Taozi and Hehua, but Zhao Shiyan said that he had made arrangements and she didn't need to worry.

At first the carriage moved slowly. When entering the city, Zhao Shiyan took out his badge and went straight through. As soon as the carriage entered the city, the man who had been restless from the beginning became even bolder.

He asked Cheng Yu if he could stay overnight in her house.

When Cheng Yu heard this, he was scared to death.

She is a popular internet anchor in modern times, but her private life is very clean. Not to mention sleeping with men, she has never even held hands or kissed them.

Not long after the relationship was confirmed, they went straight to bed.

She couldn't accept it.

"My Lord, I am still young. I don't want to ..."

"Don't worry, I won't have a baby for now. I just can't control myself anymore, do you understand?"

Cheng Yu shook his head, "I don't understand."

Zhao Shiyan groaned and held her in his arms, "You don't understand, I will teach you later."

Marry her, she doesn't want to.

It doesn't have to be this way.

However, this kind of sneaky thing is quite fun.

The only trouble is that I can’t eat what I want.

Zhao Shiyan sent Cheng Yu to his residence. When Cheng Yu wanted to get off the carriage, Zhao Shiyan hugged him and bit him twice before stopping.

Cheng Yu got off the carriage but did not let Zhao Shiyan get off, mainly because he was afraid of being seen. If everyone knew about their agreed secret relationship, then it would not be considered a secret relationship at all.

She turned around and quickly went into the house, leaving only her back to the man in the carriage.

Zhao Shiyan felt depressed. He couldn't tell what he felt, but he just felt unhappy.

"Drive back to the palace."

The servant drove the cart forward and turned the car around.

Cheng Yu was the first to enter the house with the key. Hehua and Taozi had not returned yet, so she hurriedly went inside to look at herself in the mirror.

Sure enough, my lip was broken.

It must have been that guy Zhao Shiyan who bit him.

The first time he kissed her, Cheng Yu felt pain on her lips. When she struggled to get off the carriage, Zhao Shiyan said she couldn't control herself. She was not a fool, so how could she not know that men only think about those trivial things, and they just want to sleep with her.

It's funny. We've only been dating for a few days and you already want to sleep with her?

In fact, Cheng Yu didn't hate Zhao Shiyan, but she still didn't want to sleep with him.

She knew her identity. She was born a maid. Yes, she was lucky and now she was a good citizen. She felt that everyone had equal human rights, but this was an ancient time where people were eaten without leaving any bones. It was impossible for a little woman like her to break the rules.

Moreover, Zhao Shiyan did not show that he really wanted her to sacrifice herself.

Another point is that when Cheng Yu thought about who she would marry in the future, she only wanted to choose an ordinary man without any class distinction. It would be best if he could respect women, which would be the best.

To put it bluntly, the so-called love now is just a stopgap measure for her.

Even the grievances she felt before Yang Huaiyuan were mostly pretense.

What men fear most is women’s toughness. If they want a man not to hurt her, they must learn to be soft.

Using softness to overcome strength is the right way.

Regarding making meat porridge for the refugees, a strange thing happened later. It was said that the concubine in the Fourth Prince's mansion sent some meat, saying that it would be cooked into meat porridge for the refugees, but Yang Huaiyuan stopped her from doing so before the porridge was put into the pot.

The concubine relied on her noble status to be tough with Yang Huaiyuan and her words were also powerful.

Yang Huaiyuan was a man of integrity. He didn't care who the prince's wife was. He immediately ordered that all the meat be confiscated and the concubine be driven out directly. He then informed the Fourth Prince that what the concubine had done was inappropriate.

Cheng Yu heard about this from Yang Jun, the deputy general beside Yang Huaiyuan.

Yang Jun also said, "The Marquis never likes women crying. If this concubine had spoken kindly, the Marquis would definitely not have been so cold and heartless."

At this moment, Cheng Yu felt that it was fortunate that he wiped away some tears at that time.

I felt a little aggrieved at the time, but not to the point of crying.

She was thinking that she must have made a mistake in making the meat porridge, and since she had made a mistake, she should apologize and act pitifully, so that Yang Huaiyuan could not punish her.

Fortunately, she pretended.

As for what happened to the Fourth Prince's concubine later, Cheng Yu did not continue to inquire.

I just feel that Yang Huaiyuan dared to confront the prince's concubine directly. If she had been stubborn and refused to admit defeat, she would have been scolded and punished.

She is just an ordinary person and has no one to rely on.

Cheng Yu sat in front of the dressing table, combed her hair, changed her makeup, and put some lip balm on her lips. She heard a knock on the door and got up to open it.

The lotus and peach are back.

"Lieutenant General Yang said that the young lady came back in the carriage of the Prince of Jing's Mansion, so I hurried back as well."

"The refugee camp is very lively today. A woman said she would invite the girls to dinner and saved some meat for you."

Cheng Yu said: "Refugees are also human beings, and most of them are good people. Let's not talk about that. We should prepare a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner today. I will cook and you can help me."

Chicken, duck, fish and meat were all bought in advance.

Chickens and ducks are raised in cages in the yard, and fish are raised in basins. They can survive for three to five days without any problem. Pork is also fine. In the cold winter, when selling New Year's meat, it can be stored for ten days or half a month without any problem.

Before the New Year, Cheng Yu originally wanted to invite his grandmother, Madam Cheng, to come outside the house to celebrate the New Year.

Nanny Cheng said that if she didn't come, she would have wanted to pay New Year's greetings to the masters of each household in the mansion and ask for a bonus.

During the Chinese New Year, the masters of each room would give some bonuses to the maids and servants under them.

Cheng Yu didn't force them, as many of these ingredients were prepared for her grandmother. But since she wasn't coming, Cheng Yu had no choice but to let them eat them.

But there wasn't much for three girls to eat.

Lotus has lost her family.

Taozi was bought by the Lu family. She was seven or eight years old when she was bought. Now she is seventeen. It has been ten years. As for her family who sold her, they did not come to inquire about her after the Lu family got into trouble. Taozi also did not want to send money home.

Taozi's family did not receive Taozi's money, so it seemed like they had tacitly agreed to her death.

This made Taozi sad for a long time, but now she has come to terms with it. She said that she treated all her family members as if they were all dead.

Even though I think this, I am still sad in my heart.

She knew her father didn't love her and her mother didn't care about her, but she didn't expect that no one would come to see her when she died, and even after asking around, no one knew about it.

On the day of the New Year's Eve dinner, Cheng Yu, Hehua and Taozi drank a lot of wine.

The door was locked, and they stayed inside, drinking and eating, talking about each family's misfortunes.

Hehua said that her revenge had been achieved and that the Lu family was in this situation. She would live for herself in the future.

Taozi said that it made no difference whether she had a family or not, and she would follow Miss Yu from now on, and go wherever Miss Yu went.

Cheng Yu said she wanted to go back to her hometown.

Return to her hometown.

Lotus and Peach felt that when Cheng Yu said she missed home and wanted to go back, she must be missing her mother.

The three of them drank until they were drunk and went back to their room to sleep.

Cheng Yu really missed home, her house, her savings, and her car. She had originally planned to travel around and see the world after she made some money.

Unexpectedly, this time I ran too far and suddenly came back to ancient times.

***

The next morning, Cheng Yu woke up early, feeling dizzy.

Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year. Before the Lunar New Year, Dingxiang specifically told her to remember to come and pay New Year's greetings on the first day.

She promised to go well.

But it was still a little late.

He Hua got up very early and prepared the sobering soup and wrapped the dumplings, but they were not put into the pot yet.

"I have to go to the palace to wish the eldest lady a happy new year, so I won't have dinner. I'll drink this hangover soup with some wine."

"Here, this is the red envelope I give you."

Lotus was busy wiping her hands and catching it. "Thank you, Miss Yu. I wish you a happy new year, good luck, success, and prosperity."

Cheng Yu said with a smile, "Happy New Year, I wish you all the best and prosperity."

Taozi also said, Happy New Year, congratulations on making a fortune.

People who do business like to hear people say "Congratulations on your prosperity."

After giving each of them a red envelope of one or two taels of silver, Cheng Yu was about to go out.

Taozi followed in the car.

He Hua stayed at home alone. Whenever a neighbor came to pay New Year's greetings, she would give the child a red envelope. The red envelope was prepared by Cheng Yu in advance. Two copper coins were put in the red envelope, which was considered a considerable amount.

When they drove to Prince Jing's Mansion, naturally many people wished Cheng Yu a Happy New Year along the way.

I only know that saying Happy New Year means asking for red envelopes.

The red envelope for the servants in the palace was five copper coins. Fortunately, there were not many people he met on the way, just the old woman guarding the back door and the maid on the way. When he arrived at Yinlan Garden, the only person he saw was Dingxiang Zhuer. Dingxiang naturally did not want Cheng Yu's red envelope.

Cheng Yu was young, so she called Ding Xiang "sister", and Ding Xiang would smile and give her money.

"You're late today. The eldest girl has gone to the front yard to pay her respects to the prince and princess. Please sit inside for a while and wait."

"Knowing that you didn't come, I waited for you here and asked Xiangling and Lily to go to the front yard."

Cheng Yu said: "Then sister, don't you think you will receive less red envelopes?"

"Look at what you said. It's better to spend that money talking to you. After you see the eldest girl, don't leave in a hurry. Today the palace is not so strict. Go and see your grandmother."

"Can I take my sister with me? My brother is a fool. My sister is so nice, but he doesn't even bother to come and get close to her."

Dingxiang thought about it and patted the back of her hand, saying with a low laugh, "Don't make fun of me."

After a few simple words, Cheng Yu went to Xiyuan to see Sister Yan.

Yan Jie'er is the child that Zhao Rulan brought from her husband's family, and she is a girl. In Prince Jing's Mansion, only her uncle, the Crown Prince, and her mother love her. As for her grandfather, Prince Jing, not to mention loving her, he doesn't even want to look at her.

Not to mention my step-grandmother, Princess Jing.

After paying New Year's greetings, Zhao Rulan and the Crown Prince Zhao Shiyan walked out of the front yard together.

Zhao Rulan's eyes were filled with displeasure. "It's true that if you have a stepmother, you will have a stepfather. This is not New Year's greetings at all, it's just an excuse to push me out. I'm a daughter of the Jingwang Mansion. If my mother were still here, how could I ask for the status of a princess? Even if not a princess, I would be a county lady. Now I'm forced to marry a rich businessman?"

"I think he was greedy for the money given by the rich businessman."

Zhao Shiyan said, "I have my brother here, so I won't let you down. I'll go find out about the wealthy businessman in Jiangbei City. Don't worry, the matter has not been decided yet."

Zhao Rulan sighed, "Brother, father is a fool, but what he said today may not be wrong. You are already in your twenties, and you haven't even talked about getting married. Do you know what people outside say about you? It's too ugly to hear."

It is said that the Prince of Prince Jing's Mansion is probably impotent. At his age, he has no maid or concubine at home, no male confidant outside, and he never goes to brothels.

Prince Jing's political enemies even mocked him, saying that he was too old and would not be able to have a grandson even after he died.

These words made Prince Jing very angry.

Zhao Shiyan was too lazy to say more, but at this moment, he heard several crying and cursing voices coming from the front.

"...I have been a servant in the palace all my life, but I was bullied by you filthy bastards."

"You are just taking advantage of me because I am just a nanny who takes care of night fragrances."

"The Prince Jing's Mansion was ruined by a bunch of bastards like you."

Zhao Rulan frowned and asked in a low voice, "Which old woman is shouting?"

Xiangling hurried forward to ask, and only then did she find out that it was Nanny Cheng, who was in charge of pouring night incense in the palace.

"My dear young lady, it's Madam Cheng who works in the lower house."