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

Coral was quite efficient; she spread the word about the pearl to Aunt Lü that very day.

Besides what Yunzhu found out, she also heard three different versions, all of which were about how Pearl served Song Chen'an and how she gained his favor.

All of these statements share a common premise: Pearl goes to Qingfeng Courtyard every day to bring either a bowl of soup or two or three small dishes, and snacks are served every day.

She also said it was the Second Young Mistress's order, just so that the Second Master would be more comfortable when he came home, and that Pearl wouldn't tell anyone. Therefore, the Second Master thought that Pearl was doing this for him, and he spoiled her more and more.

Hearing these words, Lü Ningshuang was filled with rage.

I thought Meng Ruohua didn't want to fight her anymore, but it turns out she's pushing Pearl out to fight her!

Let's wait and see who's better!

So what if she's offering special treatment to win over Song Chen'an? Then she'll make sure that special treatment stops!

The next day, as Wang Gui's wife, the head of the kitchen, finished listing the ingredients to be purchased, Lü Ningshuang, without waiting for the second mistress's reply, casually remarked, "Wang Gui's wife, it sounds like the expenses are higher than the past few days."

Wang Gui's family has managed the kitchen for nearly ten years. They can remember the prices of vegetables and grains for each season and keep accurate accounts. When Aunt Lü asked the question, they immediately replied with a smile, "It is a bit more. Vegetables are more expensive in winter, so the expenses are naturally higher than before."

She paused and then added, "It's only used in the masters' meals; the servants' meals mainly consist of radishes and cabbage."

The household has been cutting back on spending in recent years, and the servants' food and clothing are much worse than in previous years. Fortunately, their monthly wages haven't been reduced, so everyone just complains a bit.

Wang Gui's wife glanced at it and then quickly lowered her head, thinking to herself: The main kitchen has been spending a lot of money lately, and most of it is still going to Lianxiao Courtyard. Aunt Lü's meals are the best in the mansion.

The second wife trusted Wang Gui's wife quite a bit. After listening to her, she secretly calculated in her heart and found that there was not much difference. So she asked Jixiang to deal the pair.

As Lü Ningshuang watched Wang Gui's family walk out the door, a plan slowly began to take shape in her mind.

It was nearly noon when they returned to Lianxiao Courtyard. Lü Ningshuang teased the chubby Yu Ge and asked, "Has lunch been brought?"

Yunzhu replied, "I've already gone to get it, and it should be back soon."

Lu Ningshuang kept her head down, playing with the child. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yunzhu wearing a pair of embroidered shoes with a light green upper and asked, "When did you make these shoes?"

These shoes have dark green soles that are thicker than regular shoes, making the wearer appear taller.

Yunzhu unconsciously pulled her feet back and answered softly, "They're freshly made; my old shoes were almost worn out!"

She tucked her feet into her plain pink dress, revealing only the delicate toes of her shoes, which made her feet appear even smaller and more slender.

The upper was made from the fabric Coral gave her. Although it was just cotton, it was thick and sturdy, making it perfect for shoes.

It's not that she can't afford to make a pair of shoes, it's just that there's no better material available.

Lu Ningshuang had no dowry and lived on her monthly allowance. However, besides herself, she also had to take care of two children, which was not enough to make ends meet, let alone reward her subordinates.

Even if tips were given, they wouldn't go to Yunzhu, who served her personally; most of them would be given to people outside who ran errands or did chores.

In Lü Ningshuang's view, it was only natural for Yunzhu to serve her. She received a monthly allowance of 600 coins even without doing any work, so why should she ask for any rewards?

Therefore, Yunzhu, a first-class maid, was considered to be the worst off among the first-class maids in the mansion.

Linglong and Yuye, needless to say, both knew that the Second Young Mistress was kind and generous to her servants, and would often reward them with gifts. Jixiang and Ruyi, who served the Second Mistress, were also doing well, after all, they served the mistress of the house, and the servants were too busy trying to curry favor with them.

She served a concubine, receiving neither rewards nor respect!

Even the maids around Aunt Sun were better than her; at least Aunt Sun wouldn't beat or scold her servants at will.

Seeing that Aunt Lü didn't press the matter further, Yunzhu breathed a slight sigh of relief. If she had known that it was given to her by Shanhu, she probably would have been slapped again.

She made an excuse to check on the food and then went outside.

Just as I reached the outside of Lianxiao Courtyard, I saw two little maids carrying a food box coming over.

Yunzhu sighed inwardly, lamenting that she didn't even have time to catch her breath.

After setting out the food, he went inside to call Aunt Lü.

I saw Aunt Lü holding Yu Ge in her arms and Xuan Ge leaning against her legs, the three of them chatting happily.

Taking advantage of a lull in their conversation, Yunzhu quickly said, "Auntie, the food is ready."

Lu Ningshuang nodded without looking up and continued to say to Xuan Ge, "When your younger brother grows up, you must protect him, understand?"

Little Xuan Ge didn't understand, but he still nodded obediently, "Play with my little brother."

She then said a few more words, but the child couldn't understand them anyway, so he just nodded and hummed in agreement.

She handed Yu Ge to the wet nurse so she could take him down to breastfeed, while Lü Ning Shuang herself kept talking to Xuan Ge.

Yunzhu urged anxiously, "Auntie, please eat first, or the food will get cold."

"Don't you know how to heat it up if it gets cold?" Aunt Lü glanced at her sideways. "You just stand there like a block of wood all day, do I have to tell you everything?"

Of course, we knew we needed to heat it up, but there was only one small stove in the tea room, which could only simmer one dish at a time. How could we possibly heat up all seven or eight dishes on the table?

Seeing that Aunt Lü showed no sign of leaving, Yunzhu had no choice but to step back and make the arrangements.

They could have gone to the kitchen to fetch a small steamer, but there wasn't enough time to do so. So they instructed the maid, Yunshan, to keep an eye on the stove and replace the dish with the next one as soon as it was heated.

Even so, when Aunt Lü was ready for lunch, only three or four dishes were warm.

She took a bite and said nothing, but Xuan Ge's wet nurse, Mama Su, frowned and only picked out a few bites of still-warm vegetarian dishes to feed Xuan Ge.

Fortunately, Xuan Ge's meat porridge was still hot, and he ate about half a bowl with a few side dishes.

However, most children prefer meat, and their mouths watered at the sight of the braised pork on the table. Ignoring Su's mother's advice, they grabbed a piece with their hands and put it in their mouths.

No matter how much Su's mother tried to persuade him, he refused to spit it out.

Su's mother was so anxious that she jumped up and down: "My little darling, the meat is cold, you'll get a stomachache if you eat it."

Kids don't know anything about whether something is cold or not; they only know whether it tastes good or not.

Despite Su's mother's best efforts to stop her, she, as a servant, could not make decisions for her master!

Even if it's just a three-year-old master, not to mention that his own mother is watching over him.

Su's mother didn't dare to say anything about Aunt Lü's inaction, but just looked at her strangely a few more times.

In the past, you always valued your children the most, so why are you letting them eat cold meat today?

Regardless of her speculations, Aunt Lü never once stopped her, and simply kept her head down and ate her meal.

Yunzhu tried to coax Xuan Ge a few times, but it had no effect.

It wasn't until Xuan Ge was eating his third piece that Lü Ning Shuang spoke up to stop him, eventually forcibly knocking the meat out of his hand, which made Xuan Ge burst into tears again.

Lu Ningshuang waved her hand, signaling Su's mother to take Xuan Ge away and coax him.

The food on the table was only eaten a few bites; most of the dishes had already gone cold, and layers of white, greasy oil had solidified on the plates.