Shipin Dalizheng

The imperial capital of the Southern Dynasty, the palace of the King of Fengxiang.

When Mrs. Gui came in, she asked Zhao Da to close the door quickly, fearing that refugees wandering on the street would take the opportunity to come and beg for food. Their lady was now just an orphan with no one to care for her. The pitiful amount of money she received as support every month was not enough to feed the servants in the mansion.

"Where's the village chief?"

Zhao Da pointed to the side hall and whispered, "The Third Madam has sent her daughter to borrow grain again."

More than two months ago, the Jing'an Marquisate was divided, and the four branches of the family were separated and lived their own lives. Because the second and third branches were not the old lady's biological children, they only received a small share of the family property, which was equivalent to being kicked out of the Marquisate.

The second wife had some savings, and the family bought a small courtyard in the southern part of the city, where they could live comfortably. The third wife's situation was far worse. The Marquis's wife, using the excuse that the third wife was imprisoned, had spent a lot of money on bribes, and hadn't even given her a share of the inheritance. The third wife had spent all her savings, and the third master had lost his job. The family now rented an empty courtyard across from the county magistrate's mansion, living a miserable life.

The third wife fell ill in prison, and since no evidence was found to prove she had killed her mother-in-law, she was released. Unfortunately, her reputation was completely ruined, and no one wanted to associate with their family anymore.

In fact, it wasn't just their family that was deserted. Even the eldest branch had been neglected. Ever since the Marquis of Jing'an and his son returned from a mission, they had somehow provoked a barrage of criticism from the entire Censorate, who had denounced him as a human being and a dog. Even the Southern Emperor, who had always favored the Marquis of Jing'an, didn't give him any face, directly stripping them of all their errands and confining them to the Marquis' mansion, not allowing them to leave.

The second and third branches also noticed that the situation in the Marquis' Mansion had changed. In order to avoid being implicated, they were unwilling to have any contact with each other. The brothers were basically five generations apart.

Mrs. Gui muttered, "Again, you're here to borrow grain. Everyone knows what's going on in the imperial capital these days. Rice is more expensive than gold. Our Sixth Miss has suffered so many grievances in the past, and the Third House has just pretended not to see them. We're both from the Marquis' Mansion, but our Sixth Miss has suffered so much more than the Third House. How dare you ask for a loan?"

The aftermath of the flood finally arrived as expected. People in the surrounding counties who had no food to eat all flocked to the imperial capital, which was unable to accommodate them all. If the relief agency had not purchased a lot of old grain from various places some time ago, people would have starved to death by now.

All the grain shops in the imperial capital raised their prices overnight. The key point was that even with the price increase, there was a purchase limit, so rice was simply unavailable. At this time, rice became particularly precious, and it was no wonder that Mrs. Gui blamed the third house.

It happened that Feng Pingping and her maid came out together after borrowing rice. When the maid heard what Gui Po said unpleasantly, she couldn't help but want to retort, but was stopped by Feng Pingping.

"We are keeping our palms up, so it's only natural that others may look down on us."

The maid's eyes reddened, "I am just angry. The Sixth Miss hasn't said anything yet, how can it be the turn of a lowly woman like her to speak."

Feng Pingping scolded her, "Alright, Mrs. Gui is now the headmistress of Sixth Sister's house. She receives five taels of silver a month. You should respect her. Next time, don't follow me. Go to whoever's house you want."

As the two passed by Mrs. Gui, she was still muttering, "You can't even eat, and you still use maids? Our Sixth Miss is a royal lady, and she doesn't even have maids to wait on her personally. Yet you're so arrogant to come here and beg for food."

The little maid's face changed, and even Feng Pingping couldn't stand the shaking. She was afraid that the maid would say something unpleasant again, so she quickly pulled her away.

Feng Xiangjun did not allow maids to serve her personally, but he still had two second-class maids, and he sent one of them to call her over.

"Mother Gui, please don't criticize her all the time. She's young and thin-skinned, and she can't handle it."

Unsurprisingly, and not at all inconsistently, Feng Xiangjun's voice had been affected by the "poisoning" incident two months prior. Even after being cured by Dr. Mo, there was still a slight difference. Fortunately, it was a change for the better. Her voice was soft and gentle, like a normal girl's.

Mrs. Gui said angrily, "Sixth Miss, have you forgotten how the Third Branch treated you in the past? Even now, you're scraping food from your teeth to give them, but they won't necessarily remember your kindness. They just think it's their due. If it weren't for the fact that the Imperial Capital is so big and there are so many cheap houses to rent, why would they insist on renting the house across from ours? What are they planning? I can hear it in my dreams."

There was no need for Mrs. Gui to explain this. The Third Madam insisted on living across from her because she hoped to get her help. Although she had not helped her in previous years, she was sure that Feng Qingqing would not ignore their lives.

"I'm not hard-hearted or incapable of feeling sorry for others, but look at the people in the Third House. The Third Madam is ill, and I won't say anything. But the Third Master and the Third Young Master, grown men, do nothing but lie down on their beds, relying on pawning their goods for a living. They're even borrowing food to cook. A family of four still has eight servants to run around. Who deserves their fate?"

"Don't talk so much. Have you bought the food?"

"I bought ten catties and spent one ounce of silver. Mom, I can't afford it anymore."

One hundred coins per pound of rice is truly a sky-high price. In fact, the Xiangjun Mansion is not short of food. He has stockpiled a lot of it before, but he cannot show it to the public. He has to send someone to queue up and grab it every day, so that outsiders will think that he has no surplus food.

Mrs. Gui calculated that most of the money she had bought was used to subsidize the third wife. She felt even angrier when she thought about it, because she had worked so hard to get it back.

Grain is expensive, and vegetables aren't cheap either. After all, anything that can be imported is valuable these days. As Mrs. Gui was carrying some rice and vegetables to cook, Steward Lu from the Annan Earl's mansion next door knocked on the door and came in.

When it comes to the relationship between Xiangjun Mansion and Annanbo Mansion, it can be described in one word: ironclad!

Even though Mrs. Gui was nominally the headmistress, she was quite knowledgeable. Firstly, she was illiterate, and secondly, she had no experience in managing people. Therefore, whenever she encountered a problem that she could not solve, she liked to ask Butler Lu for advice.

Thirdly, Rong Tang had proposed marriage to Feng Xiangjun before he left. After many things happened, Feng Xiangjun was unlikely to marry someone else. Therefore, Mrs. Gui and Butler Lu reached a tacit understanding in private that no matter what means were used in the future, Feng Xiangjun would still marry Rong Tang, even if it was as a concubine.

In short, the relationship between the two sides is very good.

(Rong Tang: It hurts my heart. I want to be my concubine.)

As soon as Mrs. Gui saw Butler Lu, she rushed out and asked, "Butler Lu, have you contacted Young Master Rong? How is my dog? Is he still alive?"

I feel like crying just talking about it.

Butler Lu glanced in the direction of Feng Xiangjun. Mrs. Gui had always thought that he was writing letters to the young master, but in fact, all the letters he wrote were given to Feng Xiangjun, and Mrs. Gui was unaware of this.

"Look at what you said, Sister Gui. Er Gouzi follows the young master. As long as he does his job and doesn't make any mistakes, what can the young master do to him? Just relax!"

Mrs. Gui paused for a moment. Butler Lu's comfort did not make her feel relieved, but made her even more worried. Ergouzi was not a well-behaved child.

Butler Lu went in and replied to Feng Qingqing with a natural expression, as if the master was not at home and wanted to talk to the mistress.

"My Lord, the relief agency has sent another message saying that the food supply is sufficient, but they are running low on medicine. I wonder when the dowry money you promised to the relief agency will arrive."

Feng Xiangjun wanted to laugh. "Who sent this message? Was it Xu Tou?"

"No, he knew that the Duke of Xiang had no money, and that it was all held in the Marquis of Jing'an's mansion."

"Yes, I am a weak woman. My dowry is held by my grandmother and aunt. I can't spend a penny myself. How can I get the money? Go and tell the people who come here that I have already given them the dowry list. It is reasonable and legal. Whether they can take it depends on their own ability. If the government office can't get the money, don't expect me, an abandoned girl, to do it."