My wife wants a divorce; if she ruins my life, I'll leave.

Aunt Lü's Lianxiao Courtyard.

Holding the fair-skinned and tender Yu-ge, and glancing at Xuan-ge playing under the window, Aunt Lü was filled with smug satisfaction.

So what if she's the legal wife? She still gave birth to two sons!

In order to take good care of her big, fat grandson, the second wife hired two wet nurses to take turns caring for the young master day and night, all so that she could have a good postpartum period and hopefully give birth to two more big, fat grandsons in the future.

In the past few days, Meng Ruohua had granted her every wish, making her feel even more superior. She was a respectable concubine from a respectable family; if her family's status weren't so low, she could have been the principal wife of the Song family.

Aunt Lü's maiden name was Ning Shuang. She was the daughter of a distant cousin of the Second Madam. Back then, the cousin's family was in dire straits and often visited the Song family for protection. Later, the Second Madam married Meng Ruohua as her daughter-in-law, but fearing that her daughter-in-law's high social status would make her difficult to manage, she personally arranged for Lü Ning Shuang to become her concubine.

She had met Song Chen'an since she was a child. He was a handsome and talented young man, so when the Second Madam mentioned it, she nodded in agreement.

Given the Lu family's background, the best she could hope to marry into would be a wealthy family in town. To be able to marry into the Song family, a family with a centuries-old tradition of scholarship, would be a stroke of good fortune from her ancestors.

"Yunzhu, go find the second young mistress and get two bolts of fine cotton cloth. Tell her it's for making clothes for the eldest and second young masters."

Yunzhu hesitated: "Didn't Madam just bestow a bolt of lake-blue fine cloth yesterday? She said it was for making clothes for the young masters."

Lu Ningshuang casually stroked the bracelet on her wrist, "Go ahead."

If Meng Ruohua doesn't give it to her, she'll make a scene at the Second Madam's place, and her aunt will surely stand up for her.

What she didn't know was that all the needles and thread she had asked for had been reported to the second madam.

Seeing Yunzhu's hesitant look, Lü Ningshuang sneered, "Meng Ruohua doesn't dare to refuse me now, so go ahead and ask for it."

Yunzhu felt no boldness, only trepidation.

Every morning, Meng Ruohua would handle household affairs in the side room. The stewards would report their expenses one by one, and those that were reasonable would be approved, while those that were unreasonable would be rejected.

Yunzhu saw Aunt Ding, who was in charge of serving tea, crying to others with a long face, "The second young mistress said that anyone who breaks a teacup or tea bowl without reason will have their monthly salary deducted. Good heavens! Those tea sets are so expensive, even if we sold our whole family, it wouldn't be enough to cover the cost."

“I’ve noticed that the second young mistress has become much stricter lately. The other day she lashed out at Erqing’s family, saying that the garden wasn’t clean enough and that if they continued to slack off, they would all be kicked out.”

"Kick them out? The indentures are all with the madam; can she just kick people out like that?"

"If she can't get rid of you, what will she say if she dismisses you from your post?"

"Is Madam just going to stand by and do nothing?"

"You forgot when the second young mistress first took over the household two years ago? She beat up the old woman guarding the gate as soon as she arrived, and the whole family was driven to the estate."

"Yes, I heard that a few days ago Madam gave the order that anyone who breaks the rules should be severely punished by the Second Young Mistress."

Hearing this, Yunzhu became increasingly uneasy. Although the concubine was favored, what mistress could tolerate the concubine's constant antics?

If they find an excuse to lash out one day, won't it be the maids who suffer?

She waited until all the stewards had finished replying before quietly calling for Coral to report.

Coral affectionately scolded her, "How long have you been here? Why didn't you call me earlier? You were just standing there like an idiot. Next time you need something, come to me first. I told the Second Young Madam to take care of your business first, so you wouldn't have to stand there until your feet hurt."

Yunzhu forced a smile, "I don't want to cause you any trouble. The affairs of the managers are more important."

"What's the trouble? What's our relationship?" After saying that, he went inside, and after replying to Meng Ruohua, he pulled Yunzhu into the house as well.

Meng Ruohua asked, "Two horses?"

One bolt of cloth can make five or six children's clothes, so we need two bolts?

Yunzhu's face flushed red, and she also felt that the "two pieces" were too hot to handle, so she just mumbled an "um".

She waited anxiously, fearing that the second young mistress might lash out at her if she was in a bad mood.

But the second young mistress didn't ask any more questions. She even kindly instructed, "Shanhu, write a note and take Yunzhu to report to the madam."

Along the way, Yunzhu finally realized that the matter of her aunt should be reported to the madam.

She asked Coral in a low voice, "Does everything that Auntie wants have to be reported to Madam?"

Coral's eyes widened in surprise. "No way? Didn't Madam say she wouldn't interfere? Does she mean she'll only be in charge of the concubine's affairs?"

Instead of getting an answer, they were asked a question in return.

Yunzhu was puzzled. Shanhu didn't seem to be faking it, so why did she have to go back to the madam today?

The lady herself brought fine cloth to visit the concubine the other day!

The more I thought about it, the more uneasy I felt. Could it be that the second young mistress was trying to find a way to complain to the concubine?

Before she could even find an excuse to go back and report to her aunt, Coral grabbed her arm and said, "We're here. Let's go find Sister Jixiang first."

Upon hearing the purpose of their visit, Jixiang immediately showed a puzzled expression.

Yesterday, she personally carried the cloth to Aunt Lü!

She wanted to offer some words of advice, but seeing Yunzhu's troubled expression, she knew that Aunt Lü had forced her to come.

When the Second Madam saw that Aunt Lü only had a little girl of about ten years old and an old nanny by her side, she gave her the second-class maid Yunzhu. In fact, Yunzhu had been with Jixiang for five or six years.

Now that we're all grown up and doing our own things, our old friendship remains unchanged, and we still chat warmly when we meet.

Concubines are not considered proper mistresses, and serving them is much more difficult than serving them.

Judging from the Second Madam's mood today, Jixiang said, "You should bring the eldest young master over and say that the Second Madam will be happy and will agree more readily."

"Shall I go and hug the young master now?" Yunzhu was a few years younger and didn't do things as smoothly or as perfectly as she wanted.

Coral's eyes flickered with worry as she advised, "The sun has just risen and the chill hasn't dissipated yet. If you carry the young master back and forth, he might catch a cold."

Although she sympathized with Yunzhu's predicament, she didn't want to see Aunt Lü gloat even more! If Aunt Lü was gloat, her own mistress would have to suffer!

Jixiang touched her slightly cool fingertips. She felt a bit cold even though she was wearing a layered jacket. If the young master caught a cold, many people might be punished as a result.

"Let's go in and talk."

Upon hearing this, the second wife frowned and was about to lash out. Ning Shuang was becoming increasingly greedy!

Since she became pregnant, I've sent her at least a dozen or so bolts of cloth. In addition, I had Xuan Ge's clothes and shoes made at the sewing shop and sent over, just in case she was worried about not having enough people in her courtyard to handle it all.

The fine cotton fabric I used yesterday was even softer and more delicate than usual; it would be more than enough to make two sets of undergarments for the child!

Jixiang glanced at the Second Madam's expression and advised at the right moment, "Children grow quickly and need to change their clothes a lot every day, so it is indeed necessary to prepare several sets."

Yunzhu, with her head down, felt Jixiang's gaze, quickly looked up, and explained, "It's getting cold, and the clothes won't dry quickly, so Auntie needs to get two more."

The second wife had also given birth to children, so how could she not understand these things?

These past few days, Lü Ningshuang has asked for a lot of things under the guise of the child, and even ate better food than her. But since she was the one who gave the order, she couldn't go back on her word, so she had no choice but to accept it reluctantly and just wait until she finished her postpartum confinement period.

The second wife secretly suppressed her anger and waved her hand dismissively, telling Jixiang to make the arrangements.

People from humble backgrounds are easily swayed by others; they became arrogant after having only two sons!