Chapter 556: Escaping

  The old woman took the ginseng back to her own wing of the house, and as she looked at her son's pale face in the dim yellow light, she couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

  An old man named Huang said in a low voice beside him: "What? No one is attending Chen Xiu's funeral either?"

  The old woman shook her head and took out the ginseng she had given to Wangxiang earlier: "I'm afraid we won't be able to get it in the future!"

  "What's happened?" Old Huang hastily asked.

  "It's nothing." Huang Pozi's expression was somewhat bitter, "She took so many things from us, it's time to settle the debt!"

  "How can we repay it?" he asked, looking around the empty house. "We've sold everything that could be sold, what do we have to pay with now?"

  The old woman didn't say a word, only instructing her husband: "You take good care of this. Use it sparingly and it can last for a year. As for what happens after a year, who can predict that clearly!" There was a hint of spirit in her voice.

  The next day early in the morning, they reorganized the people going to Shu Zhou.

  "You know how to curry favor with the inner court." The daughter-in-law was not convinced, "The people in the inner court go to offer porridge and get a subsidy of 30 cents every day. We're good, working for nothing!"

  "Who said that?" Huang Pozi asked, startled.

  "The old lady herself nodded in agreement." The daughter-in-law brushed her hair, "You also know that our family's aunt's elder sister works in the old lady's courtyard, this is what our family's aunt said with her own mouth."

  Everyone else was shocked upon hearing this.

  "Why should they have thirty cents when we don't, just because everyone is doing the same job?"

  "It's always like this, every year. After the respected mothers from each household have finished showing off at the congee shed, it's our turn to distribute the congee. And they don't even care about how severe the wind and snow are this year!"

  The old woman saw that the scene was getting a bit chaotic, so she gave a signal to two of her usual acquaintances among the wives. One of them immediately shouted: "Alright, alright! What's the point of saying all this? Who made us outsiders and not as noble as those inside? If you have the ability, ask someone to transfer yourself to the inner courtyard, what's the use of talking about it here?"

  Suddenly drowned out everyone else's voice.

  The old woman saw that everyone had stopped talking, and smiled: "I don't want to either. But this is also an unavoidable thing. If you must blame someone, blame me for being incompetent as the leader." She sighed helplessly, "If everyone has a way out, I won't stand in your way."

  The daughter-in-law and son look at me, I look at them, but nobody says a word.

  "Alright, alright. Everyone go busy!" The wife of the old woman who was on good terms with Huang stepped forward to mediate and everyone dispersed in a hurry.

  The old woman then winked at the two daughters-in-law and the three of them went to the backyard behind the kitchen.

  "You two go and offer porridge as well." Huang's wife said in a low voice, "See if there are any flaws?"

  The two daughters-in-law were frightened and exchanged a glance.

  "Sister Huang, this...this isn't good, is it?" one of them hesitated, "Even if something happens, we can't get a good outcome."

  "Exactly!" another one laughed, "We don't care, it's all the same wherever we are. But sister is different. She finally managed to become the head of the outer courtyard kitchen and has a good reputation in the mansion. It's not worth taking the lead on this matter..."

  Huang Pozi didn't know. But if there was a second way to go at the beginning, she wouldn't have accepted Wanxiang's things... What's the use of saying these now!

  She had no choice but to see it through. Pointing east, she said in a low voice: "I'm also acting on orders. Everyone just does their job and doesn't interfere with others. Even if something happens, it's not up to us to take the blame. Besides, flies don't bother flawless eggs. If everything is clean and aboveboard, who can do anything to anyone?"

  That woman couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh: "Such things, when are they ever clean? Think back to the time when the original Madame Hou was in charge, didn't she also exchange coarse rice for fine rice? And now it's Third Madame in charge?"

  The old woman laughed: "That's right. We're just telling the truth."

  His daughter-in-law nodded: "Don't worry, if anything happens, I'll come and tell you."

  The old woman put her mind at ease.

  At night, the daughter-in-law sneaked into Huang Po's house under cover of darkness.

  "It's not unpolished rice, it's moldy rice."

  The old woman was overjoyed in her heart.

  "You can see clearly now!"

  "It's clear at a glance." The woman said in a low voice, "The top is fine rice and the bottom is moldy rice. It's obvious that someone has tampered with it."

  "Is it much?"

  "There are thirty-odd bags."

  "Huang Pozi thought for a moment: 'Don't make any noise for the time being. Since they are deliberate, they must have another trick up their sleeve. Let's wait until they can't even think of changing before we do anything.'"

  The wife and son exchanged a knowing look, then whispered to each other for a few sentences before dispersing.

  Several days later, the incident of Lan Xiang broke out - she was late in serving dishes, and each household didn't get to eat hot food until after midnight.

  The old lady looked at the third lady deeply, but didn't say a word.

  With so many people at home, there must be conflicts, but to make the conflict to this extent... As the third lady of the house, although it's not a complete loss of face, her ability to manage the household is deeply doubted. She couldn't stand it anymore and went to the kitchen with a red and white face.

  From a distance, the sound of Wanxiang's wailing could be heard: "......It's just that you're bullying me because I have no one to rely on, thinking that my affairs are trivial......I went to the outhouse and the person delivering food left......such injustice to me......I won't live! If you have the ability, go and confront Tai Furen about it, I'm not a soft persimmon, do whatever you want to me..."

  Gan Laoquan had already found a few wives to wait for the third madam, preparing to have a good talk about Yanxiang's misdeeds. When they saw the third madam, they all came out to greet her eagerly.

  The third lady stopped in her tracks, turned around and went to the eleventh girl: "...... Household chores have to be done by someone, even if it's not her, someone else will do them. Besides, she has always been doing well. But horses can stumble, people can make mistakes. She refuses to admit her mistake and is still shouting that she wants to confront the old lady. What really happened, the kitchen wives and daughters-in-law are all unclear about. But if it's going to be a big deal, I'm in charge of the household, even though I don't have the face for it, she was originally your older sister's favorite, there's no glory in that either. Please ask fourth brother and sister to advise her." Her tone was somewhat harsh, with a hint of threat.

  The eleventh girl was quite surprised.

  Wanxiang is an old hand in the mansion, this is a lose-lose situation, she should be very clear about that...

  "Third sister didn't say, I wouldn't have known there was such a thing." She smiled and said, "However, third sister shouldn't be anxious either. There are many wives and mothers-in-law in the kitchen, it's not like they can't make things clear. I'll just call someone to go get her and ask her!"

  The three madams listened to her words with a hint of something more, soft yet firm, their faces subtly changing. They coldly stood up: "Then please ask Fourth Brother and Sister to inquire further!"

  Eleventh Girl smiled and saw her out the door, telling Amber to go fetch Evening Fragrance.

  Dong Qing, in order to avoid the Fifth Mistress, was afraid of causing trouble and didn't go anywhere. Every day, she would do needlework in front of the Eleventh Mistress. Seeing Hu Po going to call Wan Xiang, she couldn't help but advise in a low voice: "Madam, everyone knows that Wan Xiang has always been domineering in the mansion. You don't have to make things unpleasant with the Third Mistress for her sake..."

  Eleventh girl shook her head: "She wants to take charge, the longer the better. But Mrs. Tai may not think so... unless it's forever, otherwise, no matter how careful I am in front of her, it's useless. Since the conflict between the two is inevitable, someone will be offended anyway. It doesn't matter when!"

  Dong Qing listened to what she said and found it reasonable, nodding repeatedly.

  Eleventh Sister exclaimed in surprise: "Logically, Wanxiang shouldn't be such a rash person, how could she have made such an unpalatable mistake!"

  Dong Qing thought for a moment and smiled: "Even tigers have times when they are caught off guard. Maybe it was someone's doing."

  The eleventh girl also thought it was possible.

  As soon as Wangxiang arrived, she directly asked her: "This doesn't seem like a mistake you made?" Wangxiang couldn't help but laugh: "Fourth Mistress is truly sharp-eyed." She also cast a glance at Dongqing who was serving by the side.

  The eleventh girl looked like she had something to say and dismissed her attendants.

  Wanxiang immediately stepped forward a few steps and said in Shiyiniang's ear: "Madam, I've found the way to bring down San Furen."

  Eleventh Sister was startled and thought of Shi Zhou's matter...

  "You must speak with evidence." She gazed calmly at Wanxiang, "Falsely accusing the master is not something that can be settled with just a few slaps!"

  "Madam, rest assured, I am not one to do such a thing. The third madam had long been thinking of making a profit from the rice for the porridge. At first, it was half good and half bad, but later, seeing that no one noticed, she completely replaced it with coarse rice. These past few days, what has been transported is all moldy rice. Now, there are seven or eight days' worth of grain piled up in the porridge shed. If you were to bring people to investigate now, I would make sure they catch her red-handed. She wants to say something about being careless for a moment, but she can't get away with it." Her eyes gleamed with cold light, "She won't be able to escape punishment even if she tries to shift the blame onto us!"

  Eleventh Sister stared at the resentment in her eyes, even more shocked by San Furen's actions.

  "Rice mold? You can see clearly!"

  She had also guessed that the third madam would make a profit by replacing good rice with coarse rice, but she didn't expect her to use moldy rice... In her impression, moldy rice was deadly!

  Wan Xiang saw that she seemed to be in a state of disbelief, so he swore an oath: "If I'm lying, let me not die a good death!"

  The eleventh girl took a deep breath and felt a chill on her back.

  Wanxiang was originally walking a tightrope between life and death; if he hadn't been fully confident, how could he have had such great audacity?

  It's probably true!

  "Who else knows about this?" The gaze of the eleventh girl deepened.

  Wanxiang said in a low voice, "The person who donated the porridge knows. But only I know about the inner courtyard." As she spoke, her eyes flashed, "Madam, it's not good to delay. You should report to Master Hou as soon as possible and expose San Furen's scheme, making her lose face greatly. Then you can smoothly take over the power of the household!"

  The eleventh girl looked at her with an expression of excitement hidden on her face and suddenly understood.

  Evening fragrance, what a wonderful technique!

  She was the one who stayed behind, and she took over the inner courtyard kitchen, which was a job that Third Madam would not tolerate. So she decided to take matters into her own hands - first by finding fault with Third Madam, then making a scene so that Third Madam would lose face, and finally using herself as a pawn to stir up trouble for Xu Lianyi... This way, Third Madam would be in a difficult position, not only would she have solved her own problem, but she could also claim that Third Madam was trying to frame her, and even more so, she could say that it was because she knew about Third Madam's rice substitution scheme that Third Madam couldn't tolerate her!

  The girl's eyebrows furrowed slightly: "Report it to Master Hou? Wouldn't that make a big fuss and let everyone know?"

  They're fighting...