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

As soon as Cheng Yu got off the carriage and stepped into the threshold of the Lu family, she saw Ding Xiang walking towards her.

"What a coincidence that I ran into you here. I was thinking of visiting your residence. The prince had already sent someone to deliver a letter, telling you the approximate time you would be back today. I went back and forth several times before I ran into you."

Ding Xiang said this with a smile on her face when she saw Cheng Yu.

I thought it was Zhao Shiyan who sent someone to tell her early in the morning, but I didn't expect the nanny sitting beside the Princess Consort to pull her aside and ask her some questions.

Cheng Yu didn't want to hide what happened in the palace and the people he met.

At least it shows that she is open-minded.

If you don't say it, people will suspect you have ulterior motives.

But Cheng Yu didn't say anything about the prince giving her one hundred taels. It wasn't that she didn't want to say it, but she didn't dare to say it.

She took so much money from the prince for no reason. People who didn't know would think that she and the prince did something unspeakable.

Dingxiang heard Cheng Yu talking about the nanny who served the princess consort.

Then he asked, "What did you ask? Did you ask about the pregnancy?"

Cheng Yu said, "I did ask, but I didn't tell you. The Madam was almost three months pregnant. I couldn't tell you before three months. Even if it was three months later, I wouldn't dare to tell you."

Ding Xiang nodded, "You did a good job on this."

"Yu'er, you must remember that you are now the dowry of the eldest lady, and you will have nothing to do with the palace from now on. Even if your family is still in the palace, your master from now on is the eldest lady. You must remember this, understand?"

Dingxiang looked at Cheng Yu, and was actually a little worried.

She had not expected this before, but this time Cheng Yu told her that she was called into the palace by the nanny serving the Princess Consort and questioned.

Ding Xiang was naturally worried that Cheng Yu would listen to the Princess Consort and do things for her.

It is normal to include a few people from the royal palace in the dowry of a married woman. The purpose is to remind the married girl to remember to help her parents' family at all times.

But the princess consort was not the eldest girl's biological mother, and she didn't like her very much.

Now that the eldest daughter has married into the Lu family, she no longer wants to be disciplined by the step-princess.

The Princess Consort is the second wife, but she is also the princess married by Prince Jing in a formal ceremony.

In Prince Jing's mansion, her words still count, and she is in charge of all household affairs, including Zhao Rulan's food and drink expenses before she gets married.

Fortunately, Zhao Rulan's mother had a large dowry, so she didn't have to wait for the household allowance allocated by the palace to live on.

Even so, over the years, the second princess had secretly taken away the dowry of the previous princess.

For Zhao Rulan, what’s past is past, and she doesn’t want to dwell on it anymore.

She is married now and just wants to live a good life.

Cheng Yu followed Ding Xiang to the lady.

Zhao Rulan was not in good condition and looked very haggard. Only after seeing Cheng Yu did she feel a little happy.

"My lady, how are you? I am back."

Zhao Rulan smiled and said, "Now that you're back, tell me how my brother is doing now."

There are Zhao Rulan's people in the prince's courtyard so that they can always inform Zhao Rulan of her brother's situation.

Cheng Yu told Zhao Rulan about the prince's situation.

"Just tell her that I'm fine, I just suffered some minor injuries. Don't tell her that I was poisoned. Even if you tell her, it will only make her worry more."

"Remember my words, don't say anything you shouldn't."

This is what Cheng Yu said after being called by the prince that day.

Cheng Yu hesitated.

"The prince was seriously injured, but he told me not to tell you, for fear that you might worry. The prince definitely told me not to tell you."

"But I feel that I am your dowry, so I should say these words."

Zhao Rulan wiped her tears with a handkerchief.

"Don't worry, Madam. The prince is fine now. This injury was also caused by work. You can rest assured."

Zhao Rulan hummed.

"You've been tired in the palace these days."

Of course, she was aware of the complicated situation in the palace.

"Take a rest for two or three days, then return to the small kitchen to continue working."

"Dingxiang, go get a handful of the golden beans from my box and give them to Yu'er."

Hearing the words "Jin Douzi", Cheng Yu was surprised.

Dingxiang smiled slightly, turned around and went into the house to grab a handful of golden beans. Each golden bean was five grams in size, and Dingxiang grabbed six in one handful.

If there are six of them, that would be 30 grams of gold.

Cheng Yu immediately thanked him happily.

Zhao Rulan asked her to go and rest.

Cheng Yu said she was not tired.

They are indeed brother and sister from the royal palace. The rewards they give are so generous.

After Cheng Yu left, Ding Xiang continued to serve Zhao Rulan.

"Don't worry, Madam. I asked Yu'er in private, and she said that the prince was indeed seriously injured, but he has recovered a lot. In addition, I asked more questions, and Yu'er said that the nanny in front of the princess called Yu'er to question her. Yu'er said that it seems that Madam Zhu is not a confidant of the princess, so there should be no problem."

Zhao Rulan said, "I heard you say that Cheng Yu has a brother who works in the prince's courtyard. I'll send a letter to Wanxiang and ask her to transfer Cheng Yu's brother to the front courtyard and increase his monthly salary."

Dingxiang felt a little happy.

"Yes, my lady, I will send someone to deliver the letter tomorrow."

Zhao Rulan still values ​​Cheng Yu very much.

She thought of promoting Cheng Yu's brother so that Cheng Yu could continue to work hard for her.

***

The things prepared by the prince who came back with Cheng Yu and the others were also moved to Zhao Rulan's small warehouse.

The carriage was parked at the side door, and several servants from Lanyuan were called to move it.

Moving these boxes of things into the inner courtyard still attracted the attention of the Lu family.

That evening, when Zhao Rulan was having dinner, she saw Qiuwen, the maid who served the old lady, bringing two dishes to her.

One dish was pickled fish cubes, and the other was chicken stewed with dried matsutake mushrooms.

"Second Madam, the old lady said you are pregnant and she is very worried about you, so she asked me to bring you some food. She didn't even want to eat her favorite pickled fish. And this chicken stewed with matsutake mushrooms..."

As Qiu Wen spoke, her eyes caught sight of the food on Zhao Rulan's table.

Eight-treasure duck, steamed mandarin fish, braised pork, steamed oyster egg, salted prawns. The big red prawns were as big as a palm, and there were six of them on the plate on the second wife's table.

This meal is indeed very sumptuous.

However, the food on the old lady's table seemed a bit shabby.

It just so happened that when Mr. Lu got off work in the evening, he went to have dinner with the old lady. Looking at the table full of vegetarian dishes, he didn't see any meat.

Qiuwen brought food to Zhao Rulan, who naturally accepted it and asked Dingxiang to give Qiuwen some money as a tip.

Touching the half ounce of silver in her hand, Qiu Wen curled her lips.

He hummed in his heart, the Second Madam is so rich, but she doesn't even know how to give more rewards to her servants. The half tael of silver she gives is like giving alms to beggars.