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  The concubine in the main room shouted loudly, and Qingguo and Yiyi rushed over. The concubine coldly asked: "Who called out for Yiyi?!"

  "Yes, it's me."

  The concubine shouted: "Get up!"

  Yi Yi didn't dare disobey, tremblingly stood up, knowing that today was not good, tears couldn't help but fall.

  The concubine sneered: "Just looking at you, you're not a good thing! Who are you showing off this flirtatious appearance to? I haven't even spoken yet and you're crying already?"

  Yiyiy didn't dare cry again, and she choked back her sobs as she wiped away her tears with all her might.

  "I asked, how much milk did our grandmother drink this morning? Did she have porridge? How much did she eat? What else did she eat?" The concubine asked sternly.

  Yi Yi's servant was so tongue-tied that he couldn't answer, and Consort Ce sneered, "Is this the kind of service you provide? I think it would be better to find someone else to serve!"

  "Come in!" she shouted loudly. The old woman at the door hurried in, and the concubine pointed to Yiyi: "Quickly take this beautiful woman out! I'm tired of looking at her!"

  The old woman pulled Yiy out without saying a word.

  Chu Xue suddenly realized that Ce Fei was being provoked by Zheng Fei!

  "What about the others?! Are there only these two?!"

  At the door, Bai Guo and Zi Guo had been waiting for a long time. After hearing this, they quickly came in and knelt down: "There are still two slaves."

  The concubine pointed to one side: "Let's get up and stand on this side!"

  Four maidservants stood up and accompanied her to the side. The concubine also called in the old women from the courtyard, one by one, to ask questions, and those who were slightly displeasing were immediately driven away. After finishing the inquiry here, the two new arrivals, Chunqi and Qiuzi, timidly stood at the door, peeking inside.

  The two consorts saw a shadow on the window and asked: "Who is that? What are they doing sneaking around outside?"

  The two were frightened and quickly came in, and Ce Fei immediately asked: "What's your name?"

  "Slave... called Chun Qi..."

  "My servant's name is Qiu Qi..."

  The concubine coldly smiled and slapped the table: "What a big attitude you two have! I've been repeatedly asking if there's anyone serving here, and you only come now?! Is this how you normally serve Master and Madam?"

  "The maid had just come from upstairs."

  The concubine sneered, "So you're saying that since they came from the upper house, they don't need to serve anyone? Every one of them has no master in their eyes! They even dare to argue with me. These two ladies have just entered the door, and normally they wouldn't know how to deal with these demons secretly!" As she spoke, she didn't allow them to make another sound, and called over a servant to drag the two women out as well.

  A sudden storm blew away the few people brought by Zhengfei, and Ce Fei was not finished yet. She angrily pulled Chu Keqi to find Zhengfei to settle the account!

  When Chu Ke was pulled over by the concubine, Zhu Yanzhong was sitting on the side of the empress. Seeing the concubine enter, Zhu Yanzhong hastily stood up and saluted her: "Your child greets Concubine."

  The concubine smiled and said, "Fifth Master has returned, but he didn't even come to pay his respects to me. He's already chatting with the princess over here? The Crown Prince's tutor has taught him well! What good manners!"

  Fifth Master Zhu Yizhong didn't understand where the concubine's anger was coming from, his face turned red as he hastily knelt down: "It wasn't me...it was a mistake..."

  Zheng Fei's face turned red and she said: "You've just come back! You haven't even sat here for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea!"

  The concubine smiled and said: "Is that so? Then it's my fault!"

  The Fifth Master did not dare to say anything. It was his fault, and he still knelt down to admit his mistake. The Consort personally helped him up, and the Fifth Master paid his respects to Chu Kejie again.

  Chu Xue's face turned red as she hastily returned the courtesy.

  The uncle and aunt were polite, sat down separately, the main wife's heart was huffing with anger, the secondary wife's heart was also huffing with anger. She wasn't finished yet, smiling at Zhu Yizhong: "Yizhong will be thirteen years old after the New Year. He's grown up!"

  Zhu Yanzhong didn't know what Consort Ce meant by her words and could only hastily say, "Thanks to the careful upbringing of both mothers."

  The concubine smiled and nodded, without even looking at the vigilant gaze of her empress, turning to find her maid: "Meixiang? Where is Meixiang?"

  A maidservant wearing a red jacket with a light blue vest hastily stepped forward: "Your servant is here."

  The concubine pulled Mei Xiang and smiled slyly, asking Zhu Yanzhong: "Yanzhong, this maid is the most clever, understanding and gentle. Is there not enough people serving over there? Why don't you take this one?"

  Zhu Yanzhong's face turned bright red! He was so flustered that he didn't know what to do! Originally, he still pretended to be calm and composed, but now his cover is blown! The sudden move by the concubine finally made him reveal the shyness and panic of a young man, and Zhang Huang was at a loss for words, only looking at the empress.

  Zheng Fei's face turned bright red, and Mei Xiang was so scared that her face also turned bright red.

  "Let's go down first!" The queen said sternly.

  The concubine coldly smiled and said to Chu Ke'er: "Go back first."

  The younger generation retreated in disarray, and then they heard the empress inside shouting loudly: "What do you think you're doing?!"

  "I've been wanting to ask this! What's the point of being so anxious in my son's room? He just got married and keeps stuffing people inside, even a fool can see what's on his mind! Let's live in peace and stability, we're all good! If you want to stir up trouble, then try it!" The concubine was furious, her voice uncontrollably loud as she shouted.

  Zhu Yanzhong hastily ran towards the gate, afraid of hearing a word. Chu Keji was very calm and walked out slowly with a smile, so she heard another sentence or two.

  Back in the courtyard, her room was left with only her own dowry maid.

  The queen consort couldn't swallow her pride, but she was also powerless against the imperial concubine. She wanted to stir up trouble between the newlyweds and make the bride feel uncomfortable, hoping they would quarrel with each other. However, the imperial concubine might use the same trick on her, so she didn't dare to act rashly.

  The maid's affair came like a thunderclap and went without a sound.

  Zhu Yichan returned home in the evening and heard about what had happened. He said calmly, "From now on, don't worry about these things, Mother will take care of them."

  Chu Kei today is deeply felt, smiling and nodding: "Yes, it's just that I've made my mother-in-law angry for a long time, and I feel guilty in my heart."

  "My sister has a fiery temper. Once she's had her outburst, it's all over." Zhu Yichen said with a smile.

  "Hmm... right, where did I go today?"

  "An official from Shuo Prefecture. I'm going back to the capital to report for duty, there are some things I want to talk to you about." Zhu Yichen went over to wash his hands and face, then sat down with her to eat: "After these two days when this matter is taken care of, I'll take Mother to meet my mother-in-law."

  Chu Ke asked strangely: "When an official returns to the capital to report on his duties, what does he say?"

  Zhu Yichan smiled and shook his head. Chu Keji hastily said: "If it's troublesome, then don't say it."

  "I don't think it's a bother." Zhu Yichen explained, but didn't continue.

  Two people ate and returned to the house, the maid went out to serve tea and water, and after finishing, she withdrew. Zhu Yingtian smiled and said: "Our great Ming dynasty's princes, although they are idle princes without real power, each prince will operate one or two in their fiefdoms. Local officials also dare not really treat the princes as decorations and ignore them, especially for major local events. Some princes will also intervene. If something big happens locally, the court will not really abandon the princes."

  "Isn't this a contradiction?"

  Zhu Yichen smiled and said, "What's contradictory about that? Let me give you an example. Suppose Suzhou is the fief of a certain prince, and the people of Suzhou rebel. Not only will the imperial court investigate the dereliction of duty by the officials of Suzhou, but this prince will also be held responsible."

  So saying, Chu Kei understood and smiled, nodding: "I see."

  Zhu Yichan smiled and said, "Of course. The king's salary is several times that of an official, all supported by the people's taxes! It's only right to get things done. Moreover, there may be some major events where the officials' face is not enough or their position is not high enough to accomplish certain tasks. That's when the king needs to step in, for example, if a place has bandits and the government troops need to go and eliminate them, but each local yamen and other government offices are separate, so to mobilize troops or coordinate between these different offices, sometimes the king also needs to step in."

  "Is this still the idle and carefree Wang Ye?!" Chu Kei exclaimed, shaking her head.

  Zhu Yucheng smiled and said: "Without real power, it's just a idle prince, do you think he really has nothing to do at home?"

  Chu Ke Xi also smiled and said: "I really thought so too!"

  Zhu Yichan smiled and shook his head, saying: "It's just these two days, Zhuangzi will send the things over, just in time to go with Mother. Also, I estimate that soon someone will come to our mansion to deliver something, usually it is sent to the two mothers, but it can't be guaranteed that there won't be anyone coming here to explore the way, so we should prepare."

  "Who sent the things? The official's family?"

  Zhu Yichan nodded: "Officials, gentry, merchants with a good reputation... in short, all sorts of people are here."

  "Then will I receive it?" Chu Ke asked.

  "I was at home back then, and I would have said something." Zhu Yichen said with a smile.

  The two of them chatted for a while, then Zhu Yuchan went in to take a bath. Chu Keji secretly put incense in the brass incense burner and then put on her cloak and went to the room where she kept her trunk. She instructed Bai Guo to open the trunk and bring out several bolts of silk as well as a small box of silver ingots, which he carried back into the house.

  Zhu Yichan had just finished taking a bath and came out, but didn't see her in the house. Just as she was about to go out to look for her, she saw her come in and hurriedly scolded: "So late at night, what are you going out to do? The sky is cold, the ground is cool, be careful not to catch a chill."

  Chu Ke smiled and said, "Just now, I suddenly remembered that I don't have anything to give as a return gift. If someone comes, whether it's a junior or a younger generation, they would need to give a gift when we meet, wouldn't I be laughed at?"

  Zhu Yucheng saw the green fruits placed on the silk and silver ingot boxes on the table, and smiled to ask: "Are you preparing these as gifts for your juniors?"

  "Of course not, I think the silver ingots can be exchanged for silver sycees, which are needed for the New Year. As for the silk, I'd like to have the maids embroider some small pouches and handkerchiefs. And then find a jewelry store to buy some bracelets and jade pendants, that would be enough."

  Zhu Yichan couldn't help but laugh: "Don't those mansions have any? You're still moving out the dowry?" He waved his hand at Qing Guo: "Take it back."

  "Ah, don't go..."

  Zhu Yichan said, "There are already some ready-made ones! Tomorrow, bring them over to take a look. Once you have an idea in mind, it will be clear who to give them to later." He saw that Qing Guo had already left and went over to hug her from behind, whispering with a smile, "Why are you still being so formal?"

  Chu Ke'er looked a bit embarrassed: "It's not that I'm seeing things from the outside, it's just that I didn't think there would be so many... actually, isn't it clear who it belongs to? Taking mine is the same too?"

  Zhu Yichan just smiled and didn't argue with her about this. He pulled her hand onto the bed to rest.

  The next day, she indeed called the housekeeper of her courtyard and instructed them to take Grandma to see the warehouse. From now on, the warehouse will be managed by Grandma, and they will listen to her instructions directly.

  Actually, this is just a small part of it, but Chu Ke'er went to see it and that was enough. The old lady also showed her the account book of the warehouse, and in the evening, Zhu Yi Zhen came back and showed her the account book of the manor as well.

  Chu Xian's family finally had a good understanding of Zhu Yizhen's household, and although the Zhu family only had four sons, each one was very large and concentrated. The Ming dynasty treated the descendants of the Zhu family with special favor.

  After being busy for two days, Zhu Yucheng's affairs were finally settled. The Consort immediately came to find him and took him to meet his sister as soon as she heard he was done.

  At this time, two Zhuangzi had already sent things over, and the two of them were busy for another day dividing the things in half. Only then did they push the cart and lead the concubine to Yu Lin.

  Arrived at Qingyuan, the concubine pulled Madame Liu's hand and looked her up and down, with red-rimmed eyes asking if anything was wrong. Seeing Chu Tao, she naturally felt surprised and curiously asked how he came to be here? Madame Liu led her into the house to explain the situation in detail.

  Chu Tao ordered his men to unload the goods from the carriage, and he himself didn't bother with polite small talk, instead going straight into the study to speak with Zhu Yuxuan and Chu Keqi.

  As soon as the old man gave himself a name, Chu Tao shivered several times: "Bao Teng?! Bao Teng?!" He muttered and repeated it over and over again, then very seriously told the two of them: "This name must never be mentioned in front of others..."

  Chu Ke smiled so hard she was holding her stomach and leaning on the table.

  Zhu Yichan also smiled and looked at Liu Didi, who hadn't come over yet. He then told Chu Tao about the Lan family's affairs. Chu Tao sneered, "That little girl has told me many times that her family doesn't pay attention to her. Now it seems true! Hmph, if they weren't so cold to her, I wouldn't have this wife!"

  "That's it! As long as brother is a bit nicer to sister-in-law from now on!"

  Chu Tao said bluntly on horseback, "How can it just be a little better? It's all good... especially mother! Now she doesn't even have me in her eyes!" He complained for the last time.

  A few people were laughing, and then someone came to call Chu Tao. It seemed that the concubine was going to recognize this nephew. Chu Tao hastily tidied up his clothes and went over, solemnly paying respects to the concubine.

  The concubine hastily pulled it up, crying and taking out the gift for meeting, and scolding Zhu Yuheng, saying that he knew clearly but didn't say anything, causing herself to not prepare anything.

  Chu Tao hastily said that three large cars had already been sent, and everything was enough. The concubine still held onto the "Woo Woo Woo" cry, crying for a while and then complaining to Zhu Yi Chen and Chu Ke Qi for not telling her earlier. Several children were scolded until they sweated on their foreheads. Finally, Chu Tao pulled in Liu Di from outside and pushed her into the concubine's arms: "This is my wife!"

  The concubine then pulled Liu Dian again, praising and rewarding her endlessly, and the crowd finally dispersed.

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