Springtime Affairs in a Noble Family

Both Cui Lingrong and Li Shi had children, especially Zhou Ge'er, who was beginning his education. Li Shi had many questions to ask him.

"Don't be too strict, Zhou-ge'er is still a child," Cui Lingrong said gently. "Children need to grow at this age. They can study during the day and practice martial arts to strengthen their bodies."

She knew that Madam Li and Third Master hoped their child would be successful; all parents are like that, and everyone wants their children to be their pride.

Li nodded. Seeing Wang Shanxi's wife return with a frown, she whispered, "Sister-in-law, has something happened?"

Cui Lingrong turned her head and saw Wang Shanxi's wife whispering a few words to Princess Rongjia, who then got up and followed her.

"Don't worry, Princess can handle it," Cui Lingrong said.

Madam Li, however, did not think so. She understood the recent events in the manor clearly. The princess did not have her sister-in-law's ability to manage things, and if something really happened, she would not be able to handle it.

Not far away, Madam Jiang, oblivious to what was happening, kept praising the head steward, saying, "A princess is indeed a princess, coming from a royal family, naturally she's more capable than us. Since the princess married into the household, she's been incredibly lenient yet strict; who in the entire mansion doesn't admire her?"

She said this deliberately for the Princess Consort of Rong to hear. She had long heard that the Prince Consort of Rong and the Princess had a good relationship, so she deliberately tried to please the Princess Consort, hoping to get closer to her and perhaps get her own man on the Rong Prince's good side as well.

With the Crown Prince's wife present, everyone is praising her.

Jiang brought over a bowl of lotus root starch and osmanthus cake to curry favor, saying, "I just noticed that the Crown Princess was eating something sweet. This is the chef's specialty dessert. Would you like to try some?"

The Crown Princess glanced at the lotus root starch and osmanthus cake, which was crystal clear and looked delicious, but she didn't touch it. "I'm not hungry right now, you can leave it for now."

Jiang was puzzled by the lukewarm attitude.

Was she not flattering him enough?

Or is there another reason?

As Jiang was pondering how to proceed, a maid came and called her away, saying that the princess wanted her to go to the kitchen.

When she arrived at the kitchen, she learned that Aunt Yu and Granny Hao had gotten into a fight.

Jiang walked over to Princess Rongjia's side. "Princess, what's wrong?"

Princess Rongjia couldn't say that it was because autumn crabs were too expensive that she bought a batch of mid-grade crabs, with the top-grade crabs for the elderly ladies and the mid-grade crabs for the rest. In addition, she didn't want to bear the losses, so she had someone deliver more crabs this morning. As a result, the crabs spilled on the way, and many of them had broken legs, and there was nowhere to replace them.

The crabs weren't good enough, and Mrs. Yu felt that she would be blamed if she cooked them and served them out, so she refused to cook and insisted on finding a master to come over.

Granny Hao was a servant of Princess Rongjia. She scolded Mama Yu for being nosy, and the two argued endlessly. As it got later and later, Granny Hao had no choice but to send someone to find the princess.

As it turned out, even when Wang Shanxi's wife came, it was no use. Yu Mama said that Wang Shanxi's wife was just a servant, and her words didn't count. Without the master's approval, she couldn't bear the responsibility.

Only then did Wang Shanxi's family invite Princess Rongjia over.

The princess had already reprimanded Madam Yu, and since she couldn't leave the banquet for too long, she had someone call Madam Jiang over to keep order. "I'll trouble you, Second Sister-in-law, to keep an eye on things here. Otherwise, some people will be thinking about the old master and ruin today's banquet, which would be bad."

Jiang was still completely confused, but since Princess Rongjia had given the order, she could only agree and say, "Don't worry, Princess, with me here, I will make sure they don't make any mistakes."

After Princess Rongjia left, Mama Yu snorted, "Doesn't Second Madam even bother to ask what's wrong in the kitchen before troubling you to come and oversee things?"

Jiang's heart skipped a beat. "Wha...what's wrong?"

"Look at these autumn crabs in the basket. Half of them are broken, some are even missing limbs. There are some good ones, but how can that be enough for so many people?" Madam Yu said quietly. "Anyway, I've informed the Princess that she's sent you to oversee things. You'd better think carefully. If anyone eats a crab with missing limbs, and it gets back to the Old Madam, what will she do to you?"

Jiang finally understood that Princess Rongjia was trying to drag her down with her!

What should we do?

She panicked and couldn't speak. The first batch of crabs had already been steamed, which had already delayed things. The maids and servants didn't dare to slack off and hurriedly carried them to the front yard.

Grandma Song's side was naturally served first, and it was also top-quality crabs.

When everyone saw the plump and juicy autumn crabs, some people were already drooling.

Su Yunfei loved eating autumn crabs, so Grandma Su had someone send her share to her daughter.

When Grandma Song saw this, she told Grandma Su to eat too, "What, are you worried I haven't prepared enough? Eat as much as you want, there's enough for you to eat your fill!"

"Then I, your niece-in-law, will respectfully accept your offer." Grandma Su knew her aunt would say that, and to add a bit of fun, she ordered someone to bring another serving of autumn crabs.

The maidservant looked at Princess Rongjia with a troubled expression. Princess Rongjia knew that there weren't many good autumn crabs, so she said, "I don't know where my second sister-in-law is. Cousin, please eat hers first. Autumn crabs should be eaten while they're hot. We'll serve her the rest later."

That was indeed the case, so Grandma Su did not refuse.

People were eating crabs in the main hall. Fifteen minutes later, the people in the flower hall outside also started eating, but some of their crabs were missing arms or legs.

Everyone looked on in surprise. Why would such a respectable family as the Song family invite people to eat crabs with broken legs?

Immediately, people began to whisper among themselves.

However, this news didn't reach Old Madam Song and Song Shulan yet, because the Song residence was very large, with dozens of tables set up for the banquet.

Moreover, most people just whispered that now that the Song family has attached itself to the Rong Prince's Mansion, who would dare to provoke the Song family or say a bad word?

However, there are exceptions.

Just as Qiu's mother finished peeling crabs for her master, she heard someone shouting, but no one in the main hall could hear what they were saying.

Princess Rongjia stood up and said, "Who is so insolent? Wang Shanxi's wife, go and see. If it's a rogue, kick him out!"

That's a very inappropriate statement.

Those who were able to attend the autumn banquet were all invited by invitation from the Marquis's residence.

Who would say their guests are scoundrels?

Princess Rongjia was in a fit of anger, and with Qiu Xie on her mind, she panicked.

Wang Shanxi's wife quickly said, "Please don't be angry. I suppose someone got drunk. We can just send someone to check on them."

After hearing what Wang Shanxi's family said, Princess Rongjia realized that she had acted impulsively. She quickly put on a smiling face and said, "I was too hasty. You should take some people to check on him. If he is drunk, have someone help him to rest."

Princess Rongjia sat down again, but this time, everyone else quieted down. They had all seen Princess Rongjia's actions just now.

Suddenly, someone burst out laughing.

Cui Lingrong looked in the direction of the voice and was surprised to see it was the Crown Princess of Rong.

"Haha, I'm so sorry, I've never seen the princess so anxious before. I just thought... um... it was interesting." The Princess Consort of Rong explained, helping the old woman to her feet. "I've also drunk quite a bit of wine and I'm a little tired. Please don't take offense, Grandmother. I'll head back now."

A scoundrel?

Rogue?

Everyone was in an awkward situation when they saw that the Princess Consort of Rong was about to leave; they didn't know whether to stay or leave.

Old Mrs. Song's face turned ashen, but she couldn't lash out, so she quickly got up to try and persuade her to stay.

Princess Consort Rong then stayed, but said she needed to rest and would come back later.

Grandma Song finally breathed a sigh of relief, but just then, there was a sound of a table being overturned outside. Was this something a drunk person would do?

Old Mrs. Song asked her trusted servant, Xu Mama, to go out and check. A little while later, Xu Mama returned and whispered a few words in Old Mrs. Song's ear. The old lady immediately turned pale, couldn't catch her breath, and almost fainted.

Cui Lingrong and Li Shi, as daughters-in-law, hurried over to serve them.

Old Mrs. Song grabbed Cui Lingrong's hand, clenching her teeth tightly, "Cui... Cui Shi, go handle this, quickly... quickly!"

As for Princess Rongjia?

She no longer believed in Princess Rongjia's abilities.

Cui Lingrong then led her people toward the flower hall. She hadn't expected that someone would have such a bad temper, daring to overturn the tables and chairs in the Marquis's mansion.

As soon as I entered the flower hall, I heard someone shouting loudly.

"Don't touch me, I'm not drunk!" The speaker was a man in a blue robe, with deep-set eyes and an inexplicable wildness about him. "If your Jiangyuan Marquis's mansion can't afford to treat guests to crabs, don't try to fob them off with broken arms and legs. Are you trying to send a beggar away?"

Food was spilled all over the floor, and several servants were lying on the ground.

The man continued, "Since you look down on me, I won't eat. Who cares about your hypocritical feast? I don't even respect you!"

Seeing that the man was a stranger, Cui Lingrong dared not approach him rashly. Just then, Song Shulan rushed over and asked who the man was.

"General Xie Yunting is an illiterate good-for-nothing who only became a general because he was lucky!" Song Shulan said through gritted teeth, even flipping the table in public without giving him any face. It is a disgrace to the country for such a person to hold a high position!

Cui Lingrong had never heard of Xie Yunting, but she was quite grateful to Xie Yunting for making a big fuss, which made her plan worthwhile.