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  Chapter 16: The Cost

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  Chu Ke looked at Qing Guo's back and snorted, then ignored her. She lowered her head to take down the curved knife from her waist, where she had previously made a scabbard that was now wrapped around it. After examining it carefully, she placed it under the pillow. Then, she took out the pouch and retrieved the ink jade and the bottle of medicine inside. The medicine was directly placed in a small box on the dresser. Chu Ke held the ink jade in her hand, playing with it for a while, and couldn't help but think of Zhu Yu Xun dazedly.

  He always wore such a simple long shirt, yet it was fluttering and soft, his ink jade-like eyes were always smiling at her, his white and slender hands often unintentionally stretched out to her, then pretended to be unintentional and turned in another direction.

  He openly expressed his affection for her, no matter who was watching around...

  Chu Xue's face turned slightly red, her mind was in a mess again, and she fiddled with the ink jade as if she saw his eyes, unable to think calmly, muttering anxiously... Don't forget, I can't marry someone with the surname Zhu... Really can't.

  After a while, I thought of Lan Zixuan again. Such an extraordinary beauty was delivered to the door, would Zhu Yuxun accept it? ... Do men really take in whoever is sent to their doorstep without exception? Thinking of this, a scene from the Lianghua Pavilion appeared in my mind, only the person on the couch behind had changed to Lan Zixuan, and the one with her had become Zhu Yuxun...

  My heart ached sharply, my hand involuntarily tightened its grip on the ink jade, I hastily shook my head, muttering to myself in a daze, how stupid...

  What was that beautiful woman thinking? It seemed obvious that she wouldn't marry Zhu Yue Chen, and yet she couldn't even see the disgust on his face... Was it always like this? Thinking about Chu Yun Ting and Chu Yun Qing, they also couldn't see through Zhu Yue Zuo's evil tricks...

  Chu Ke shook her head and muttered to herself, "No matter what others think, I will never be like that."

  After thinking for a long time, the ink jade in her hand also swayed for a long time before she sighed and found a red silk ribbon to thread through the ink jade, hanging it on the waist of her skirt.

  He had just put down the account book and lay down, muttering a sentence "Really tired", no matter how big the thing is, it will be said tomorrow." He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

  Men ran out of the hospital gate and rushed back to Chu Lao's side. Chu Lao was leaning on the kang with her eyes closed, meditating. When Men arrived at the door, she stepped inside quietly, looked at the old lady on the kang, hesitated for a moment, then turned around and wanted to leave.

  "What's going on?" came the voice from behind him.

  Men hastily turned around and smiled: "Old lady is tired? Don't worry about the few words, you rest, I'll massage your legs for you."

  Chu Lao Zhang opened her eyes, looked at her, and slowly sat up. Men Shi hurried over to support her, helping her sit up properly. Just as she was about to pick up the nearby wooden leg massager, the old lady shook her head, so Men Shi put it down. Seeing a porcelain bowl with a lid on the table, she quickly picked it up with both hands and examined it before turning to ask the maid standing beside her, "Is this swallow's nest?"

  The maid took a step forward and hadn't had time to respond when Chu Lao lazily said, "Serve the swallow's nest congee, they just brought it."

  Men hastily lifted the lid of the bowl, used a handkerchief to pad it, scooped out a spoonful and sent it to Chu Lao's mouth "Eat it while it's hot."

  Chu Lao took a bite and asked, "Isn't it a small matter?" Looking at the gatekeeper's appearance, it seemed that if he started talking, he would never finish, so he didn't rush to speak.

  Men nodded and the slave also thought it was a small matter, but when he took a look, it wasn't a small matter after all."

  "Chu Lao was stunned and said, 'It's only been half a time, how could such a big deal have happened?'"

  Men gently scooped a spoonful and sent it to her mouth, softly saying "It's not just made... Ah, it's a long story, I'm afraid you'll get tired."

  "Speak up, I'm wide awake now." The old lady was a hot-tempered person and had to get things done immediately.

  Men nodded and sighed before saying "The third young lady's side really can't be ignored."

  Chu Lao's eyebrows furrowed and she became restless too?

  Men shook his head hastily, turned to look at the maid standing at the door, nodded slightly with his chin, and the maid understood, immediately bowed out and closed the door.

  Men took another spoonful and fed Lao, but Lao turned his head away and refused to eat." He said, wiping the corner of his mouth gently with a handkerchief.

  Men put down his bowl and said, "It's not San Guniang, but someone beside San Guniang..."

  Chu Lao's eyebrows furrowed, the people around San Yatou? That was Chu Yunshi's people, all of San Yatou's attendants were Chu Yunshi's people. She had been tolerant for a long time, but those servants on the other side looked down on her and often overstepped their bounds. Could it be that after killing two senior maids today, she still couldn't make these people behave?

  "When the slave went, Third Sister was standing under the eaves to avoid her, wearing only a thin shirt and skirt, with uncombed hair, shivering in the wind. The one from Sun Cheng's house was rolling around on the floor of Third Sister's room, wailing loudly, shouting at the top of her lungs, her voice piercingly sad."

  "Is Sun Cheng's family okay? What happened?" Chu Lao asked strangely.

  "The girl said she fell down in the house and might have hurt herself somewhere..." Aunt Sun shook her head, raising her voice a bit, somewhat indignant. The shouting from the Sun family's place grew louder and more mournful, to the point where the girl couldn't bear it anymore and had to hide away. All the maids in the house rushed to the side of the Sun family member who was crying out loud, wailing and calling out, except for one maid who looked like a third-class servant and followed the girl. And yet, with so many maids around, none of them hurried to help the Sun family member out, just letting her scream in the house and forcing the girl to avoid her."

  Chu Lao leaned against the backrest and let out a cold hum. The servants on San Gu Niang's side were not disciplined, it seemed that beating two other maids to death couldn't wake them up, after all, they had been lazy for over a decade and no one had managed them, some people even indulged them, so it was normal for the servants to be unscrupulous and unrestrained. The stick would have to hit their heads before they could be considered severe.

  "The servant girl was told to hurry and take away the stretcher of Sun Cheng's family. All the maidservants around the young lady had left, only a third-class maid remained. The servant girl was told to go in and sweep the floor, the young lady said that after drinking wine, Sun Cheng's family rushed into her room and even sat on her bed...The servant girl really didn't say anything good, seeing the young lady standing outside pitifully, she asked the young lady to go to the side house to sit for a while. The young lady also said that Sun's mother told her to go to the deceased's side house to kneel and acknowledge, but she couldn't bear to hear the two words 'side house'." Madam Meng started talking, adding some flavor to the story.

  "What's wrong?" The old lady asked in surprise.

  "The girl should lie down for a while," said Sun Cheng's family, "it's not proper." Mrs. Men wanted to stop the girl, so she sat down on the girl's bed with a thud.

  Chu Lao's expression was calm and collected, but his eyes were somewhat cold.

  She remembered the plan, it was precisely because of San Ya Tou's illegitimate daughter status that she had thought of her, if it were Yun Ting or Yun Qing, those legitimate ones, perhaps the old master would not agree... But since it has been decided, from now on, no one can bully her like this anymore... Not even a single servant in the Chu family looks down on her, and there's still use

  Men continued to say: "You are Sun Chengjia's deceased wife, originally called 'Big Original'"

  Chu Lao was also stunned after hearing this, and his face suddenly sank.

  "Is this a reminder for someone? Are you saying the new one is not the original partner? And yet, it's called 'big', isn't that what we have now, is it really second-rate?" Madam Meng shook her head and the servant girl listened intently, simply not speaking well.

  Chu Lao coldly said: "Did those maidservants all go with them?"

  Men was secretly delighted, having touched the old lady's sore spot. The old lady became angry. Still following her previous expression, she continued to speak as if nothing special had been said, nodding and saying "Ah, that lotus seed, crying as if dead..."

  She smiled and gently patted her mouth, "Look at this mouth of mine." She seemed to be relaxed, repeatedly indicating that she was just talking about it, and it really had nothing to do with her.

  "Then, in a soft voice, she said that Lianzi cried as if she was her own mother. At that time...” Madam Meng hesitated, glanced at Chu Lao and saw that she didn't stop her, so she continued: "At that time, your husband spoiled her to death, and you also handed over the household chores to her in order to let him feel at ease. Many people came to you saying that they should teach and raise San Gu Niang, but that woman was lawless and unscrupulous towards San Gu Niang, and you still gave face to your husband. Now that he's gone, she still...still doesn't restrain herself, and is even more rude to the new one, not treating San Gu Niang as her master at all."

  Chu Lao's face sank.

  "Mrs. Meng, these people treated San Gu Niang like this, and that's it, but if they don't give Xin Li Wei a chance, in the future, they won't even spare Xin..."

  Chu Lao's expression gradually faded, no longer so obviously gloomy. Madam Meng had said enough and softly said, "Old sir, take a rest, I'll massage your legs for you."

  "Let's take a rest too, old Chu. At our age, we're tired. Call the maid to attend to us... Never mind, let's talk about it tomorrow."

  "Yes, thank you for your concern," said Mrs. Meng, turning around and quietly exiting, calling in the maid to massage Old Chu's legs.

  Men walked out of the courtyard gate and looked at the courtyard where Chu Yun had died with a cold smile.

  After Chu Yun's death, Uncle Chu Nan changed to a new upper house. Now he lives in the new courtyard with the new Mrs. Chu. The old courtyard is where the people who served Chu Yun during her lifetime live. Although it has been more than half a year since they moved in, they have been busy and haven't taken care of these things yet. Those people still live in the courtyard.

  Men looked for a long time, until the rough servant girl behind him coughed uncomfortably, before he turned around.

  No, Sun Chengjia had offended her. Although on the surface, the two did not have any conflicts and even when Men Shi saw Sun Chengjia in front of others, she was very polite, but all this could only be tolerated until Chu Yunshi's death. Once Chu Yunshi died, Sun Chengjia lost his backing and Men Shi had her chance to deal with him.

  The reason is simple, when the old lady was in charge, the Meng family was the one who was above all others in the inner house, who saw her and didn't tremble with fear and retreat to the side? Which matter of the inner house wasn't handled by her? At that time, she received 180 taels of silver as a monthly allowance.

  Chu Yun's family came, relying on the master's favor, used some means to seize the position of the host, and the old lady did not want to be caught in the middle, so she let go, and Chu Yun became the host.

  One person gets the way, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. From then on, Men's family didn't get any benefits from Chu Yun's family anymore. Her errands were stripped clean, directly putting her in the same situation as the old lady, being set aside. And a large part of her previous errands fell into Sun Cheng's hands.

  She fell from the high clouds to the ground, getting a swollen nose and face. Although the servants in the mansion still treated her with respect as the old lady's personal maid, could their respect be used to buy silver? From earning dozens or even hundreds of taels of silver every month, she was now only receiving a meager one tael eight qian monthly salary. How could she not feel distressed? Seeing that all the silver she had accumulated in the past now belonged to the Sun Cheng family, how could she not hate Chu Yun and the Sun Cheng family to the bone?

  However, she was clever and the old lady wasn't a fool either. Following the old lady's side, she understood the old lady's temperament clearly, but on the other hand, didn't the old lady also understand hers? Therefore, she endured silently, and when Chu Yun was alive, she never said an improper word.

  It wasn't until the last few years of Chu Yun's life that, due to her not having children, her haughty attitude began to wane and she tried to curry favor with Old Lady Tao. Since Old Lady Tao didn't say anything, Men Shi also endured in silence.

  But today, it's because Chuyun died, and also because of her, the old lady has finally reached her limit. In order to boost San Gu Niang's prestige, she deliberately wants to take in Chuyun's former subordinates. This matter that came out from San Gu Niang's side is simply the best excuse for the old lady.

  Men already had a premonition that the next day might not be easy for the people in the mansion, but this fire would not burn to his body.

  ……

  That night, the mansion seemed very quiet and peaceful. Most people had fallen asleep quietly, but only Old Lady's side was still bustling with activity. Although Old Lady was older than everyone else, her spirit was surprisingly better than everyone else's. She called over New Madame Chuxi in the evening and talked until very late at night.

  The next day, Chu Ke woke up and sat for a while, lazily getting dressed and washing her face. Lianzi came in to serve her, after taking care of Sun Cheng's family yesterday, she naturally became the first maid by her side, and Qingguo was not squeezed out either.

  It is by.

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