【Quick Wear】My Years as a Mother-in-law

Qi Xian seemed to understand, but also seemed not to understand, and left in a daze. He felt that he could learn something new every time he came to his mother. However, he had only replaced some servants in the house some time ago, and the next step was to form a team of trusted people, that is, Blade.

As for collecting information, I will ask my mother how to do it when the time comes.

Seeing her adopted eldest son leave, Yun Xi picked up the private account bill and had only one feeling in her heart: the Qi family was so rich. The private money of the original owner's mother-in-law and husband alone was a considerable amount, with three thousand taels of gold, thirty thousand taels of silver, and five boxes of jewelry made of various gold, silver and jade. Who would have thought that this was just private money?

As for the original owner's private property and dowry, they were not even a fraction of what the other person had. The government only gave her one or two taels of silver a month, and her dowry was only two taels of silver. All her private property added up to only three hundred taels of silver. Fortunately, she had enough food and clothing, otherwise she would not be able to save this money.

Other people's monthly allowance was not much either. Qi Cao was very frugal and was especially harsh on her family members. She, the mistress of the house, only received one or two taels of silver a month, and her concubines probably received even less.

But these are all mine now, haha!

As for the silver and money in the public treasury, there should be more. This is where all the income of the Qi family is concentrated. It would be strange if there was less.

Soon, it was lunchtime. Yun Xi didn't want the other rooms to come and pay their respects, so she only allowed the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month to gather in the morning as usual.

Therefore, when her granddaughter Qi Yi crawled over the threshold, Yun Xi was surprised. She walked over and picked up the child, "Xiao Yi'er, why are you here? Where's your mother?"

Xiao Yi'er's face was covered with saliva. She pointed outside and complained, "Mom, no, meat!"

Yun Xi smiled and tapped her nose, "Your mother doesn't let you eat meat?"

"Yes!" Qi Yi nodded heavily, "Yier, I want meat!"

"Okay, our Yi'er will eat meat and grow taller." Yun Xi gently rocked the little girl and instructed, "Dongzhu, tell the kitchen that the great-grandchildren don't have to observe mourning. From now on, make a meat dish for the children every day, and also provide milk and bone soup. How can they grow tall without meat?"

"Meat, meat!" The little girl Qi Yi was drooling with joy.

Xiaodong handed over a handkerchief, and Yunxi took it and patiently wiped the child clean, "Good boy, just eat and take a nap here with grandma."

Seeing San'er and his wife rushing over, Yun Xi couldn't help but scold them, "Third brother, have you become stupid from studying? According to etiquette, it's not right for a great-grandson to observe mourning for his great-grandmother. Don't let my Yi'er be wronged in the future, understand?"

She said she was talking about Qi Yu, the third son of Qi, but in fact she was warning herself. The third son's wife knew what was going on and quickly assured her, "Mom, I'll remember this."

"Mom, I had a conflict with my wife and took my anger out on Yier. It's my fault." Qi Yu honestly admitted his mistake.

Yun Xi glared at him. "You two are having a conflict, why are you taking your anger out on my Yi'er? She is your legitimate daughter."

Qi Yu did not argue, "Mom, I was wrong."

Yun Xi glanced at her daughter-in-law and saw that her lips were tightly pursed and her eyes were red. She wondered what was going on. She had not intended to interfere in the affairs between the young couple, but after thinking for a moment, she asked, "What's the conflict between you two?"

The third daughter-in-law, who had been holding back her tears for a long time, suddenly burst into tears, "Mother, you have to make the decision for me. Qi Yu wants to take a concubine!"

"Concubinage?"

Yun Xi glanced at her adopted third son with curiosity. His face was a little pale due to years of studying, and his facial features were like those of the original owner. Although he was a bit mediocre, the more she looked at him, the more comfortable she felt. However, this child was now twenty years old, and the eldest son was five years old, and he had accomplished nothing. Now he wanted to take a concubine?

What kind of plane?

Yun Xi decided to ask first, "Third Brother, are you really going to take a concubine? Whose family is it?"

Qi Yu was a little embarrassed, "Mother, she is a brothel girl who is a little knowledgeable in literature."

The third son's wife curled her lips, obviously not convinced.

Yun Xi's eyes widened. "Third Brother, not only are you taking a concubine, but you've even been to a brothel?"

Qi Yu quickly shook his head, his face flushed. "No, I haven't been there. I just happened to see it."

"Whether you met her by chance or deliberately, the Qi family will only allow you to take a concubine if your daughter-in-law is forty and childless." Yun Xi curled her lips, "I don't believe you can't see how mad your mother is at your father's concubine. You actually want to take a concubine. I think you don't care about your mother at all."

"No!" Qi Yu was shocked. This old scholar was very particular about etiquette, but he didn't expect to be scolded by his mother for being unfilial.

"Why not? Mother never thought that at this critical moment for the Qi family, you'd still be thinking about love. Look at your brother. Although he has no children, he's never mentioned taking a concubine. Look at the fourth brother. He's the one who runs away the fastest when something happens." Yun Xi squinted at him. "Look at you. I thought you could achieve anything by living in seclusion in a corner, but it's been thirteen years since you started elementary school, and you haven't even passed the entrance exam. Your brother is struggling in the business world, but there's no one to share his burden..."

At the end of her speech, Yun Xi burst into tears and hit her foolish son twice.

The third daughter-in-law went from being happy about her mother-in-law making the decision to being terrified in just one word. She couldn't help but ask, "Mom, what's going on at home? Is it a business problem?"

"Oh! You don't understand. Mother's only hope for you is that Yu'er can pass the imperial examination and become a scholar as soon as possible. Then our Qi family will no longer be a lowly merchant family and will not be bullied and exploited. If he can pass the imperial examination and become a juren, our Qi family can prosper for another hundred years." Yun Xi patted her third son's shoulder with a serious look on her face.

It’s better not to tell these two people about the replacement of the fourth brother to avoid unnecessary complications.

Qi Yu lowered his head and dared not say a word after being scolded. Yun Xi asked someone to call her eldest grandson Qi Zhang to have lunch together. She also encouraged Zhang to study hard. After all, if her son was unreliable, she could rely on her grandson, as long as she lived long enough.

Little Qi Zhang held the jade pendant given by his grandmother and nodded heavily, saying that he would study hard.

A month later, Yun Xi had completely adapted to her identity and the life in ancient times. In the early morning, the sun was shining brightly, and she sat leisurely on the armchair. Dong Zhu was diligently preparing the dishes beside her, and the little maid behind her was gently massaging her shoulders.

She was wearing a light blue long skirt with light bamboo patterns, and a moon-white double-breasted jacket. Her hair was simply tied up with a white flower in her hairpin. There were six dishes and a soup on the table in front of her. The only difference was that they were all vegetarian.

After her mother-in-law passed away, Yun Xi, as a daughter-in-law, had to observe mourning for three years according to the rules, which was actually twenty-seven months. During this period, she not only had to complete the worship process, but also had to wear plain clothes, eat light and flavorless food, abstain from alcohol and meat, and her living place could not be decorated too luxuriously. Many festive holidays could not be celebrated. During the mourning period, she could not take the imperial examinations, get married, go to other people's homes to attend weddings and funerals, or participate in festive activities such as marriages and birthdays, and she could not appear too happy.

The current emperor attaches great importance to filial piety, so the Qi family dare not be presumptuous. They just have to observe mourning honestly, avoiding socializing, at least to have peace and quiet.

Fortunately, the original owner had observed mourning once when her husband passed away, so she was familiar with these procedures.

However, the Song family's chef made delicious vegetarian dishes, and the stir-fried dishes with vegetable oil had a unique flavor. Yun Xi ate most of it slowly. She was now an old lady who was almost forty years old, so of course she had to chew her food slowly.

After dinner, Yun Xi took a slow walk in the house. After walking back and forth for two minutes, she began to deal with the chores at home leisurely.

"Dongzhu, have the servant call Zhao Yaren over and ask her to bring more servants."

Dong Zhu saw his master holding a stack of indentures and seemed to have guessed something. "Old lady, I'll do it right away."