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Xia Shi returned to the West Courtyard and slammed her palm down on the table.
"Su Li!!"
Her eyes were filled with an unshakable malice.
At that moment, a maid hurried in.
Xia Shi asked coldly, "What is it?"
"Madam, this was handed to me by a servant from the Zhang family when they were leaving in the chaos." The maid handed over a note.
Xia Shi took the note and, after unfolding it, her already darkened face grew even colder.
Wei Laopo, who was by Xia Shi's side, stepped forward and whispered, "Madam?"
Xia Shi handed the note to Wei Laopo and said, "Nanny, you know what to do, right?"
The old woman took the note, and after reading it, she grumbled, "The Zhang family is too unreasonable! If it weren't for Madam's help back then, their son would probably be in trouble right now. How dare they now threaten you with something so trivial just because they did a small favor! They don't know their place! Don't worry, old servant will handle this."
Xia Shi's expression softened a little, and she turned to look at Wei Laopo, softly saying, "Nanny, it's a relief to have you."
Xia Shi had only brought this nanny and a maid with her into the mansion. Wei Laopo was as close to her as her own parents, and naturally, she knew everything about Xia Shi's matters. Many of Xia Shi's tasks were also handled by Wei Laopo.
Wei Laopo, with a loving expression, looked at Xia Shi and said, "I have no children of my own. To be frank, I treat you like my own daughter."
Xia Shi's eyes grew moist as she replied, "Then please arrange for it to be done as quickly as possible. We need someone who can keep a secret, as you know."
"Old servant understands."
The Zhang family never imagined that their greed would cost them their lives.
The news of the incident in the front yard soon reached the main courtyard. The maids were animatedly discussing how the young lady had fought back against the cunning servant.
Su Mu listened, frowning, then showing concern, and finally a mix of shock and joy.
She was shocked that so many of the servants in her own home were hiding malicious intentions.
Her joy came from the fact that her daughter was so capable.
Su Mu looked toward the West Courtyard with disdain.
All these years, she had been plotting, and it turned out she was the fool.
She had been neglectful as a mother and had allowed her daughter to shield her.
"From today onwards, things in the West Courtyard will be simplified. As long as it's passable, everything should follow the standards of a concubine."
"Yes, Madam."
The servants understood that the tides in the mansion were changing.
Su Li went over the house affairs, dismissing those who needed to be removed and promoting those who needed to be elevated.
With clear rewards and punishments, she made it known that as long as the servants were honest and did their work, the Su family would not treat them unfairly.
"Xu Bo, find some trustworthy servants with clean backgrounds as soon as possible."
At this moment, the steward followed Su Li's orders, loyal to her just like her father.
"Miss, rest assured, old servant will arrange it right away."
Su Li added, "Let's wait until tomorrow for that matter. There's something more urgent that requires you to handle it personally."
"Please, Miss, give your orders."
Su Li said, "Do you remember what the flower vendor mentioned, that today there was only the Lingxue flower at the market? Doesn't that seem strange?"
"It is strange. How could such a large market have only one flower? If Wang Tong isn't lying, then the market owner is involved in something suspicious."
Su Li nodded. "Exactly. So, Xu Bo, I need you to secretly investigate who the market owner met with today."
The news of her mother's pregnancy had only spread the previous night. Even if someone moved quickly, they could only have made their move today.
"Old servant will go at once."
As the steward of the Ministry of Rites, Xu Bo was no ordinary person.
Su Li, accompanied by a maid, returned to the main courtyard.
When Su Mu saw her daughter, she pulled her hand and carefully looked her over.
Su Li smiled. "Mother, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just feel useless letting you handle these matters."
Although many wealthy families had their unmarried daughters learn to manage the household, such matters were better handled by the head of the house to avoid gossip.
"Mother, you are pregnant now. Your most important task is to take care of yourself and make sure you can safely give birth to my younger brother. This is something both Father and I have been waiting for."
Seeing how understanding her daughter was, Su Mu felt both comforted and heartbroken.
After having lunch with her mother, Su Mu rested for a while before Su Li returned to her own courtyard.
Not long after she returned, the steward came to her.
"Miss, we found something suspicious! There's definitely something fishy going on!"
"What happened?" Su Li asked.
"Before dawn today, someone saw Summer Concubine's brother go to meet the flower market owner. Our people also got information from the market owner's servants that he received fifty thousand taels of silver and instructed them to gather all the flowers except for the Lingxue flowers."
"Summer Jiang?"
The steward nodded. "Yes, Summer Jiang!"
Su Li nodded. "Got it. Let the flower vendor go this time. Just send him away from the mansion."
Although the vendor was innocent, he nearly caused a huge mistake.
"Understood, Miss."
The steward was about to leave but suddenly turned back. "Miss, should we handle Summer Jiang's matter...?"
"No need, I have my own plans for this. There's no need to tell Father yet. Go ahead."
The steward paused for a moment.
"Xu Bo, I will handle this small matter. Father has enough to worry about. Let's not add to his burden."
"Understood. I'll take my leave."
Summer Jiang?
Good, it seemed that Summer Jiang had already planned to join forces with Xia Shi to take revenge for his son.
Si Qin stepped forward and said, "Miss, why don't we tell Master? Summer Concubine actually dared to harm Madam. Master surely won't let her go."
"No need. If Father finds out, Summer Shi will suffer, but I don't want just her to suffer."
Su Yue, and the Summer family, none of them can escape!
As evening approached, Su Father returned from his duties and was informed that nearly half of the servants had left the mansion. After learning the reason, he quickly gathered the remaining servants for a scolding.
He made it clear that in this mansion, the only people who could make decisions were Madam and the young lady.
At the West Courtyard, Su Yue returned home for dinner as usual.
"Mother, why isn't dinner ready yet? I'm so hungry!"
After walking around for half the day, Su Yue was starving and thought she could eat as soon as she returned, but no food had been brought out.
Xia Shi told the maid, "Go check what's taking so long in the kitchen. Why is it so slow?"
"Yes."
The maid returned quickly and reported, "Madam, Miss, all the cooks in the small kitchen have been dismissed. I asked the steward, and he said that if you want to cook in the West Courtyard in the future, you'll have to pay for the cook and ingredients yourself. If you don't want to bother, you can just order from the main kitchen."
Su Yue's face immediately darkened, dissatisfied. "The main kitchen's food is edible? What's going on?"
The food from the main kitchen was prepared according to the standards for concubines and illegitimate daughters, which could never compare to her private meals, where the best ingredients were freely used.
The maid lowered her head and replied, "The Madam ordered that from now on... all special privileges are canceled. Things will proceed as usual."
The first person to be dissatisfied was, of course, Su Yue.
After all, the difference between legitimate and illegitimate daughters was vast. Before, whatever Su Li had, Su Yue had too.
Clothes, jewelry, monthly allowances, all the same. But now, if everything had to go according to the rules, it was definitely unacceptable!
There's an old saying: "It's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality."
Su Yue immediately stood up. "I'll go find Father!"
Xia Shi quickly stopped her. "Don't go."
"Why? They're being so unreasonable. I don't believe Father will let me be bullied like this!"
Xia Shi knew that these privileges had been granted because of Su Mu's generosity. Now that she had found a way to take them back, she couldn't speak out against it.
"Yue'er, trust me. These things will come back to you one day, and it will be yours without needing to rely on anyone's charity."
Su Yue was beyond listening. She stormed out.
Xia Shi quickly ordered, "Stop the Second Miss!"
The servants immediately blocked her path.
Su Yue angrily turned around and shouted, "What are you doing? If you're too afraid to go, I'll go! I'm not scared of that mother and daughter!"
"You're wasting your time. Do you think Father will stand up for you? He won't! He only cares about those two women!" Su Mu looked at her stubborn daughter, tired to the core.
"He won't! Father loves me! After Su Li lost her beauty, Father will have only me to rely on!" Su Yue shouted.
Xia Shi sneered. "When Father comes back today, he'll support those two women. He'll say they are the true masters of this mansion! What are you? What am I?"
Su Yue looked at Wei Laopo in disbelief. "Nanny?"
Wei Laopo stepped forward. "Second Miss, it's true. If you go, you'll just get scolded. It's better to listen to Madam and plan carefully."
Su Yue slumped down, murmuring, "How did this happen? Why has Father suddenly become so biased?"
Seeing her daughter like this, Xia Shi no longer had the heart to scold her. She instructed a servant to fetch the food from the main kitchen.
Then she sat next to her daughter and said, "Ever since Su Li recovered from her illness, it's as if she's become a completely different person. She never used to get close to Father, but now look, she has him wrapped around her finger."
"She's suddenly so close to the Wei State Duke's family, but treats us with such disdain. How can a person change so much?"
Su Yue thought for a moment and said, "Mother, now that you mention it, I also find it unbelievable. It's not just her attitude towards people that's changed. She can even check accounts, write poetry, and play the piano. It's like she's become a completely different person!"
"If I didn't know her so well, I would have thought it was someone else pretending to be her."
At that moment, Wei Laopo's eyes brightened. She stepped forward and said, "Madam, do you think the young lady might have been influenced by something evil?"
Xia Shi looked at Wei Laopo. "Nanny, what do you mean?"
Su Yue said, "No matter how much someone changes, they can't suddenly do things they couldn't do before. This can only mean her soul has changed!"
Wei Laopo nodded. "Second Miss is smart. We could invite a Daoist to check her out."
Xia Shi thought for a moment and found the idea feasible.
She said coldly, "Yes, even if it's not something evil, I'll make sure she becomes something evil!"