The temperamental white moonlight is back, and the entire Marquis's family obediently calls him

As the Lunar New Year approached, the Marquis's residence became extremely busy right after the Laba Festival.

Cleaning and hanging lanterns began in all areas, both inside and out.

On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, the estate managers under the Hou family began to enter the city to deliver New Year's goods.

Since this was Lu Mingzhao's first New Year since her return, Zhou Ningchuan and his eldest son had specifically instructed the housekeepers, both inside and outside the household, to fully cooperate with the old lady in organizing the celebrations.

So although Lu Mingzhao was busy, he didn't feel overwhelmed.

She received the village heads in the main hall of the courtyard. The village heads kowtowed to her and handed her account books and lists of New Year's goods.

Liu Muqiu sat to the side. She had been in charge of all this at this time last year. Although she was young, she couldn't tolerate her subordinates being careless or sloppy. Last year, she punished the heads of two estates, which made this year's business exceptionally smooth.

Following the lines Liu Muqiu had taught him, Lu Mingzhao asked a few questions about this year's harvest and the number of people on the estate, and then checked the items one by one.

All kinds of new rice, new noodles, beans, wild boar and wild deer from the mountains, freshly picked bamboo shoots, hazel mushrooms, and so on are available.

Since her return, Lu Mingzhao has enjoyed many of the privileges afforded to the mistress of the Marquis's mansion.

However, since the food and drinks were all brought to her by others, she had no idea how much wealth she actually had.

Having seen so much, she finally felt a sense of reality, and this was only half of the estate that had been presented.

She intended to accept it directly, but Liu Muqiu coughed lightly, reminding her to check it herself.

Lu Mingzhao then got up and walked down the steps.

Upon closer inspection, she noticed something was amiss. Having worked in agriculture herself, she knew what constituted good produce; some vegetables might look beautiful, but taste quite different.

There were even a few baskets of beans, and when she reached down, she found that the beans at the bottom were small and not plump, clearly used to make up the weight.

She checked the vegetables according to her old habits of buying and selling them, and found that there were indeed quite a few shoddy products.

Fortunately, all of these things came from a village.

Zhao Xianglan immediately summoned the manor manager surnamed Liu and coldly demanded, "What's going on here?"

Liu Zhuangtou trembled: "This autumn, the pests damaged a lot of crops. I remembered it and was thinking of telling the old master about it. But I'm old and my memory isn't so good anymore, and I completely forgot about it."

"Please forgive me, Ancestor."

"Pests?" Lu Mingzhao frowned and turned to look at another village head.

"Your two villages are so close, how come one has pests while the other doesn't?"

Liu Zhuangtou didn't dare to raise his head. He had made a special inquiry before entering the city and heard that this year's New Year's goods were being handled by the old lady who hadn't been in charge for a long time.

Thinking back to many years ago, the old lady also received a lot of New Year's gifts, but she only went through the motions and didn't check them carefully.

He mustered his courage and replaced the items with inferior ones to make up the difference, but then the old lady suddenly started inspecting everything.

"Muqiu, what should we do in this situation normally?"

Liu Muqiu replied, "To put it mildly, we can deduct the rent. To put it more seriously, we can replace the person."

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhuangtou felt a glimmer of hope and was about to make a few excuses when Lu Mingzhao waved his hand.

"Since you can't do it, let someone else do it."

Liu Zhuangtou was stunned. Before he could beg for mercy, Zhao Xianglan clapped her hands and ordered her men to drag him out.

Liu Muqiu, who was standing to the side, had never expected her mother-in-law to be so decisive.

After my mother-in-law returned, her personality remained very good, and I never heard of her beating or punishing the servants again.

Liu Muqiu had thought that her mother-in-law would be lenient this time.

As soon as Lu Mingzhao turned around, he saw Liu Muqiu's expression and naturally guessed what she was thinking.

She sat down again and said softly, in a voice only the two of them could hear, "You'll have to manage this family sooner or later. If I'm strict with them now, they'll remember your kindness when it's your turn."

Liu Muqiu was shocked and speechless for a long time, her eyes welling up with tears.

After dealing with matters at the estate, Lu Mingzhao asked a few more questions about Muqiu's pregnancy. Upon learning that everything was fine, she personally escorted Liu Muqiu back to the East Courtyard.

After seeing Liu Muqiu off, she didn't plan to go back immediately.

As the Lunar New Year approached, she was busy, and so was Zhou Ningchuan.

Having finally returned to Beijing, Zhou Ningchuan, despite his dislike of crowds, had to make plans for his children, and social engagements were unavoidable.

"Is the hangover soup for tonight ready?" Lu Mingzhao asked.

Zhao Xianglan responded, "It's already prepared."

During the past few days, Zhou Ningchuan has been outside, only returning at night to share a room with her.

Because he was afraid of offending her with the smell of alcohol, Zhou Ningchuan would always bathe and burn incense in the front yard before coming to see her.

Although he tried his best to stay sober each time, Lu Mingzhao could still tell that he was drunk, so he prepared hangover soup for him every night.

Zhou Ningchuan never asked any questions, and each time he would obediently drink a whole bowl from her hand.

This can be considered an unspoken understanding between the two.

Unbeknownst to Lu Mingzhao, he went to the backyard and arrived at the outside of Longcui Pavilion.

The hibiscus tree behind Longcui Pavilion had already lost its leaves, and she could no longer hide in the tree to listen to her daughter talk as she used to.

Her daughter didn't visit her often, so the two remained estranged.

The only saving grace is that their relationship is at least not as strained as it used to be.

What makes her even happier is that her daughter also loves practicing martial arts; she truly is her child.

She had met General Duan Tianyin a few times. Perhaps because they were both martial artists, they naturally felt a connection. Although Duan Tianyin remained serious and unsmiling when facing her, aside from that, the two got along very well.

Therefore, she learned a lot about her daughter from General Duan, which was some consolation.

But none of these things can compare to her seeing her daughter in person.

"Madam, should I go knock on the door?" Zhao Xianglan asked.

Lu Mingzhao shook his head and tightened his grip on the handcuffs. "No need, let's go."

Even though they were separated by only a wall, she still didn't want to disturb her daughter.

She could be heartless to outsiders, but she felt deeply indebted to and couldn't bear to leave her daughter alone.

The two then quietly walked back.

As Lu Mingzhao walked along the road, he suddenly smelled a scent that seemed familiar, as if he had smelled it a long time ago.

Feeling puzzled, she stopped and walked a few steps in that direction. She saw Liu Muyuan sitting in a pavilion not far away, reading a book. Only then did she remember that Liu Muyuan always wore a sachet of herbs.

"It's so cold outside, what's wrong with this child?"

Lu Mingzhao looked completely puzzled.

More than a month ago, she heard that Liu Muyuan had moved in.

However, the two didn't usually interact and never met. She only knew that Liu Muyuan lived in the west courtyard.

Logically speaking, he shouldn't be in this small garden in the main courtyard.

Although it was all in accordance with the rules and regulations, Lu Mingzhao still felt something was off.

The west courtyard has a garden, so it's rather strange that he not only didn't take the long way around there, but also read outdoors in the snow.

Zhao Xianglan was also somewhat puzzled, but she chose to respect his wishes: "Young Master Liu is a scholar, so he must have his own interests and aspirations... Madam, you see, there's a stove burning next to him, though it's not very warm. Perhaps he's studying diligently?"

Lu Mingzhao clicked his tongue repeatedly: "Is studying really that hard? It's a good thing Xu'er and An'an didn't go down this path."

Otherwise, wouldn't she be heartbroken?

Lu Mingzhao looked up at Liu Muyuan not far away and felt a pang of heartache.

She knew about Liu Muyuan's situation in the Liu family, so she couldn't help but connect the scene before her with the Liu family. Maybe this was how he studied in the Liu family.

Thinking of this, Lu Mingzhao led Zhao Xianglan over.