Time flies like a white horse, and soon it was mid-October. The Yao Wang Temple incident had passed for almost a month. Shengjing also had several small snowfalls. But Shen Muqing became increasingly restless.

  First, it was the wound on her foot that had not healed for a long time. Taking advantage of Mr. Liu's visit to treat Mrs. Li, she also asked him to take another look. Mr. Liu told her to continue using the red jade ointment and said that it was all because she had delayed treatment with Qingfeng San in the past.

  Then it was Jinxiu, Mr. Liu said that she had no major problems, but she was dizzy and confused every day, rarely having a clear-headed moment. When she was confused, she would call out for Mr. Min's name, and when she was clear-headed, she would talk about her affairs as if she were giving instructions on what to do after she passed away: which clothes should go to whom, which jewelry should be given to whom, and all of her silver was handed over to Luomei to buy a coffin and a memorial tablet. "Remember to burn incense for me every year on Qingming Festival." It's unknown who told Li Shi about this conversation, but she called Shen Muqing over and had him move Jinxiu to Xiaoliuyuan to rest and recover.

  The Xiaoliu Garden is located at the west corner of the Shen Mansion, where several old nannies who have served the elder members of the Shen family but are now childless and elderly live. Either they are old or ill, and a gloomy atmosphere fills the place as soon as one enters.

  She's become a servant, originally needed to avoid her, Jin Yu is like this, Li Shi has never spoken up for her, already treating her with kindness, Shen Mu Qing can't say anything else, had to let Luo Mei and Zhu Hui send Jin Yu to Xiao Liu Garden, assigned a personal maid named Chun Lü to serve her, also let Ming Xia go check on her from time to time.

  In the end, it was those few new maids. Lu Jinzhi changed her name to Yuegui, Tao Hui changed hers to Yingxiu, Geng Xianglian kept her original name, and the others were called Ningbi, Buxue, Liuchun, plus Zhu Yu, making a total of seven maids who all moved into Shen Muqing's residence. That Xianglian seemed to have caught Chen Niang's eye; every few days, her maid Xianghe would come sneaking around; Zhu Yu was completely like a stone, heartless and emotionless, telling everything she saw to anyone who asked, from the top to the bottom of the Shen household everyone liked teasing her into talking; the other maids also went from being timid at first to now chattering nonstop, making An Garden lively every day like a marketplace.

  Shen Muqing has been living in a dormitory since she was young, and even going to the toilet didn't have private space. Later, when she went to work at a foreign-funded company, everyone only talked about work and not personal matters, giving her a feeling of freedom like a fish in water, and also cultivating the habit of being particular about privacy. She can tolerate this kind of day for one day, but cannot tolerate it for a month.

  She took the opportunity to lose her temper when several rough maids were teasing Puyu "whether she snored or not while sleeping" and then handed Puyu over to Li Mama for discipline - perhaps because they had a common secret, now Li Mama can be said to be obedient to Shen Muqing, even more respectful than to Li Shi. Also let Yingfen bring Xianglian, Yuegui, Yingshou, Ningbi, Buyu and Liu Chun to learn to recognize characters in the east wing house, if you don't recite "Three Character Classic" completely, no one is allowed to go out.

  With this, Shen Mu Qing's ears were finally quiet.

  She called Zhu Di to buy her some Fructus Gardeniae and mixed it with flour and wine to apply on her feet.

  In just two days, my foot had improved a lot.

  Shen Muqing let out a long sigh, and in his mind flashed the image of Xiao Xiao's slanted gaze.

  If her foot doesn't get better, she really won't know what to do!

  To say, she has been somewhat nervous lately, always feeling that Li seemed to know something.

  Originally, when Mrs. Li handled household chores, she would always stand in front of the kang to show humility. However, after the Medicine King Temple incident, Mrs. Li no longer allowed her to stand and instead had Wang Mama bring a small stool for her to sit on at the edge of the kang. She was also not allowed to follow the wealthy daughter-in-law to learn how to cook, but was instead told to spend her afternoons at home embroidering handkerchiefs for the Town An King's consort, supposedly in preparation for November. As a result, Du Gu Gu began accompanying her every afternoon to do needlework. Unlike their previous leisurely time together, Du Gu Gu would often gaze at her with tears in her eyes, as if she had bullied her... Fortunately, Shen Mu Qing knew better and never gave in, or else she would have gotten herself into another mess.

  She had another worry added to her mind with these thoughts.

  The birthday of King Wang and Queen Wang, the matter of Yaowang Temple, if someone slips up on the seat, how can it be rounded!

  Shen Muqing wanted to find Shen Zhen to talk about this matter and see if they could think of a way to avoid going.

  Shen Zhen seems to be very busy during this period, going out early and returning late, and hasn't returned to the inner house at all. Shen Muqing has looked for him several times but hasn't met him.

  She had no choice but to ask Director Wang to arrange a meeting with Shen Zhen and say hello.

  After waiting for a few more days, her foot injury had healed, but there was no news from Director Wang.

  Shen Mu was quietly sensing that Shen Jian was definitely busy with his plan to strike Wang Shengyun. But she couldn't wait any longer, so she had Zhu Di ask Zhou Bai Mu: "When the master returns, think of a way to send him a message."

  Pearls and jade may have gone, but when they came back, their faces were as red as Lord Guan.

  Shen Muqing's heart was slightly moved, but he had no time to ponder it carefully. Because Wang Mama led Chang Shifu's widow to pay respects to Shen Muqing.

  The woman was only twenty-seven or eight years old, with a tall and beautiful figure, wearing a white silk jacket with a high collar, a dark blue skirt with a horse face pattern, revealing a pair of bound feet in dark blue shoes. Although her eyes had a sorrowful color, she looked resolute, completely overturning Shen Muqing's impression of the weak and pitiful widow.

  When she saw Shen Muqing, she first bowed slightly and then smiled faintly: "Miss has found me, I don't know what instructions you have?"

  Shen Mu Qing saw her strong appearance and had a good impression of her. After hearing her speak straightforwardly, he also had the intention to make friends with her.

  She invited Chang Shifu's widow to sit on the kang.

  Chang Shifu's widow did not decline and sat down beside Shen Muqing with a calm and collected demeanor.

  Dai Luo Mei poured tea, and Shen Mu Qing didn't stand on ceremony. He handed over the two silver ingots, each weighing twenty-five taels of snowflake silver, wrapped in a handkerchief, to Master Chang's widow: "Because my mother is ill, I didn't dare let her know about this matter, so I couldn't personally go to pay respects. Although the silver is little, it's for the children to make some clothes. Please don't despise me, Auntie Chang."

  Chang Shifu's widow smiled and accepted it: "Then thank you, miss!" But there were sparkling tears in her eyes.

  Shen Muqing's heart didn't feel good either.

  This is Master Chang's hard-earned money!

  For a moment, both of them fell silent, and all that could be heard was the ticking sound of the self-sounding clock's gear friction in the western wing.

  "Haven't asked Auntie what to call her yet?" Shen Muqing asked a relatively safe question in order to break the silence in the room.

  "My maiden name is Lu, and I'm the sixth child in my family. You can call me Liu Mama." Lu Liu's voice was choked with sobs.

  "Are the kids all right?" Shen Muqing regretted as soon as she spoke.

  Is it possible for the children to be well after their father has passed away?

  She quickly changed the subject: "I heard you're going back to Cangzhou in a few days, is there anything I can help with?"

  Lu Liu'niang gazed deeply at Shen Muqing and said, "We don't plan on returning to Cangzhou."

  Deeply shocked and saddened.

  "I may have come from a poor background, but I've never farmed before. If I go back to Cangzhou to farm, I'm afraid the harvest won't even cover the cost of hiring help. And now that the kids are older, they need to start school too - going back to Cangzhou would mean they'd have to attend a private school with inferior education compared to Kyoto's. Lu Liu'niang said slowly, "The kitchen at Weiyuan Security Bureau is still short one person, and my cooking skills aren't bad either. I've spoken to the head of the bureau, and temporarily working as a cook in the bureau will earn me 1-2 silver coins per month. The house was bought by him back then, just enough to get by."

  Shen Mu Qing saw that Lu Liu Niang's mind was clear and her arrangements for the future were both reasonable and in line with her actual situation, and she felt that Lu Liu Niang was not simple.

  "It's often said that distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors. After this, Sixth Lady has been coming to our house frequently when she has free time. If there's anything, we can also take care of each other." Shen Muqing said sincerely.

  Lu Liu's mother smiled and said, "Miss, don't blame yourself. He was a man who walked by the river, and one day he would inevitably get his feet wet. This is also a case of seeking benevolence and getting benevolence, seeking righteousness and getting righteousness." Although she spoke in this way, her tone still carried an unbearable deep sorrow.

  Shen Muqing's tears fell immediately, and Luo Mei and Zhu Ji, Ying Fen, who were standing beside her, also covered their faces and wept.

  Lu Liu's mother smiled and comforted them without stopping: "Hurry up and don't cry, you cry and my tears won't stop either... I finally figured it out..."

  Everyone sat for a while longer, then Lu Liu'niang made an excuse that there was something at home and wanted to take her leave.

  Shen Muqing didn't dare keep her either, fearing Li Shi would find out, so he personally escorted her to the second gate and had Luo Mei and Zhu Ji see her off at the corner gate.

  The two of them went out for half a day and still hadn't returned, until Shen Yuesong waited till they did.

  During this time, she often ran back and forth between An Garden and Gong Garden where Chen Yiniang lived.

  Shen Muqing was extremely displeased with this situation. In the past, if she didn't want Li to know something, it was easy for her to control the situation, but now, when seeing Lu Liu'niang, someone had to be sent to spread the word.

  Shen Yue came over and asked Zhen'an Wang's wife about her birthday.

  "It depends on the lady's intention." Shen Muqing invited her to sit on the kang and drink tea, "Sometimes I will go, but if I'm not feeling well or the weather is bad, I may not go."

  "Everyone is going, but our family isn't... won't the Wang Manor of Town An blame us?" Shen Yuesong said with some confusion.

  Shen Mu Qing smiled and said: "Everyone in the whole city knows that the lady of the Shen Mansion spends nine out of ten days lying in bed, if she goes, it would be a huge honor."

  Shen Yue smiled and said, "Aren't you going either, little sister?"

  "If you go, I'll naturally go too. If you don't go, I'll stay by your bedside and nurse you back to health."

  Shen Yue's face fell slightly as he said, "I was planning to have my sister come along and experience it with me... an opportunity like this, I'm afraid I won't encounter again in this lifetime."

  Shen Mu Qing's heart softened slightly.

  All she wanted was a way out for her own feelings...

  Shen Muqing covered her mouth and smiled: "In the future, when Sister is conferred with a noble title, will there be fewer invitations from the Town An Wangfu?"

  Shen Yue's tears fell as she spoke: "Good sister, where does my sister have that fate? Now it can only be dragged on, dragging through the three-year mourning period."

  "Parents' orders, matchmakers' words. Without seeing Second Uncle, it's not good for the mistress and master to say anything." Shen Muqing comforted her, "Sister, please put your mind at ease, after all, there are still three years, there is plenty of time, everyone will think of a way."

  Shen Yue nodded silently with tears streaming down her face.

  Huang stood behind Shen Yue, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief and sobbed: "Sisters or not, please say something to Madam on our behalf!"

  It seems Chen's mother-in-law's road is not going through!

  Although she thought so in her heart, Shen Muqing still decided to help Shen Yuerong. Her marriage would be settled earlier, and she could also settle down earlier, so as not to jump around like this, making people feel annoyed at the sight of it.

  (Tomorrow will be updated normally (*^__^*) Hehe......)