An ugly girl starts off, then becomes a beauty

Sang Ling really saw how busy Madam Zhaoyu was.

These past two days, after greeting everyone in the morning, they all wanted to go to Yunyue Pavilion to get close to their mother-in-law, but she was always busy. In recent days, Cheng had established some private relationships with Fang with her unique personality charm, and thus had also found out the news in Yunyue Pavilion.

The eldest lady of the Marquis' Mansion was not pretending to be busy, and she was not shirking her duty when she said she had no time to see Sang Ling. She was now in charge of the affairs of both the Marquis' Mansion and the Chief Secretary's Mansion. Although Shen was also in charge of the affairs of the West Mansion, the accounts of the two mansions had been combined over the years. All the expenses of the third and fourth uncles' families were counted in the East Mansion, and the matters of the fields and fiefs had to be added. In the end, the total accounts of the income and expenditure of the several families had to be reviewed by Madam Zhaoyu.

It was the end of the month, the time to settle accounts, so she was naturally busy.

There were also a lot of things to do at the beginning and middle of the month. At the beginning of the month, the two mansions had to report to the emperor, and the first lady had to be aware of the situation. In the middle of the month, it was time to go out for social activities. The mansion of Marquis Muwu was a big place that attracted many people, and many people came to make friends. It was impossible to be completely self-sufficient. For example, in the first half of the year, Madam Zhaoyu held a horse racing meeting and made friends with noble ladies through these activities. In addition, she had to visit several ladies in the palace from time to time, and deal with some unexpected events in the mansion. With such a full schedule, she had almost no time to rest in January.

If Sang Ling wanted to talk to her, he could only find a time during the month to do so.

Nie Ce was also very busy these past few days. He was so busy that he didn't even go to the Hall of Disputes to pay his respects to his grandfather. He didn't come back to rest for two nights. One of the nights he came back, he mentioned to Sang Ling, "I will be leaving for Jiaozhou the day after tomorrow. You should be more patient and go to the Hall of Disputes to pay your respects to your grandfather alone."

What's so hard about this? She had been following Nie Ce to pay respects these days, and she was already familiar with the process. Normally, when Mrs. Nie asked questions about the younger generations, she was basically asking Nie Ce. Usually, there were no more than four or five conversations between the families. Sometimes when the uncles were not around, the women might chat a little longer, but it would not exceed half an hour.

She just went there to have breakfast to wake herself up.

He just nodded and said "OK."

"I asked my mother about your maid." Nie Ce, who was still wearing his black robe, talked to her in the other tent. "She said they are still investigating. I told her that after finding the murderer, she will ask for your opinion. At that time, it's up to you to decide how to deal with her."

She didn't expect Nie Ce to mention this, and he really did what he said. He said he would keep an eye on this matter, and he really was keeping an eye on it.

Then he said "hmm" softly.

After the words fell, I thought that today's conversation would end here. I didn't want to look over, but I saw that the young Marquis Nie seemed to have something else to say, so I waited for a while. ——In fact, since the two of them formed a tacit agreement to stay in different rooms, they didn't talk much. Occasionally, they would communicate in daily life: before going out, he would ask "Are you done?"; when he went to rest at night, he would ask "Do you want to turn off the stove?"; at the very least, when he went to pay his respects, he would communicate a few words symbolically in front of several elders.

This is the first time we talk about other things today.

"If..." He hesitated, "If Second Aunt comes to talk to you later, avoid her if you can."

Why did they mention Shen's again? Could it be that they had a feud with this family? She didn't say anything, but just cast a curious look.

Nie Ce sat up straighter and was about to speak when he glanced out the window.

On a winter night in October, frost and snow appeared. Sang Ling knew that no one was outside, but his behavior was suspicious, so he pulled his legs back into the tent. Nie Ce hesitated for a while, then came over and sat down beside the couch - it was the first time for the two of them to stay so close in the bedroom.

Perhaps because the atmosphere was too tense, Sang Ling forgot about the embarrassment for a moment and only sighed, "Second Aunt is a woman with a sharp tongue."

She naturally asked, "How do you say it?"

"She and her niece often come here. When I leave, they will definitely come looking for you. It's better for you not to see her."

Shen's niece was Shen Huajun that Fang had mentioned before. She had been paying respects at the Hall of Right and Wrong these past few days, and Sang Ling had seen her every day... She crossed her legs and leaned back slightly, and said teasingly, "Is someone interested in you?"

In fact, I had already guessed it. How could I take a relative from my aunt's family who was fostered in the mansion with me even though I visited him every morning and evening? Isn't this the rhythm of training him as a family member?

The girl's dark eyes rolled slightly, recalling the time she saw Shen Huajun. She was pretty and fair-skinned. In fact, judging from her appearance alone, she was a good match for Nie Ce. One was pretty and graceful, the other was imposing and imposing. They were a good match.

"Earlier, I wanted to marry her to me." Nie Ce was also frank. As he spoke, he forgot about the awkward relationship between the two of them, just like when they were classmates. He put one arm on the couch, "Later, it didn't work out. Second Aunt kept bringing her here, and she even made things difficult for several servants because of this. Before you came, there was no maid to serve here."

"Why didn't it work?" Sang Ling raised his eyebrows, a little curious.

"I don't want to marry her, let alone take her in."

This is a very profound statement, and I'm afraid there is a complicated story behind it.

"How did they trouble the maid in your room?" She changed into a slightly more relaxed posture.

"It's not the room." The young man beside the couch squinted at her. "This room has always been cleaned by the uncle. During those days when he was recovering from his injury, I sent the maid from the courtyard to clean it. I was afraid that things would be messed up, so I watched for a while. Who would have thought that Second Aunt brought Shen Huajun here? I thought--" He took a deep breath, and seemed to feel very puzzled, "I thought she wanted to serve me."

Unknown - Sang Ling recalled that it seemed to be the attendant following Nie Ce. She had heard Nie Ce call his full name before: Ying Bushi. This name was strange... "What happened next?" She simply leaned on the edge of the couch with her chin propped up, listening very carefully.

"Later, that maid was taken away by Second Aunt. I heard that she was sent to the farm to get married within two months. After that, whenever I had contact with any maid alone, they would always find an excuse to send her to another room. Later, I didn't let Wuyuan keep any young maids."

"Don't you know, Madam?"

After all, Shen is from the West Palace. It is absurd for her to interfere in the East Palace. Madam Zhaoyu is such a powerful figure, can't she see the strangeness and just let her do whatever she wants?

"Mother stopped caring about Wuyuan a long time ago. A few years ago, I made an agreement with her that she would not assign her staff to Wuyuan and would not ask anyone to inquire about my daily life."

This is the behavior style of an adolescent boy. As people get older and feel that they are independent, they start to distance themselves from their elders. No wonder Zong Xiang and Wei Chu said at the time: They would not communicate with the other courtyards.

Madam Zhaoyu respected her son's ideas very much.

"But..." She frowned again, "You didn't let your mother manage the affairs of your yard, and your second aunt came to manage it and took away the maids in your yard. Didn't you resist?"

"The first maid was taken away by Second Aunt after she promised to give her some benefits. The others were either coaxed away or they wanted to make trouble, slandering her for doing something wrong and wanted to be taken away." He sighed, "I'm not in the mansion all the time, so I can't support them. I don't want to trouble mother for this, so I didn't mention it to her."

In the feudal era, it was indeed difficult for a man to focus on the affairs of the inner house if he had his own official duties on hand. The other party was also an elder. Over time, it was understandable that Nie Ce had no choice but to resort to this last resort.

Just saying that, could it be that Shen Shi killed Ya Nu just to give a warning to the new member? Was Shen Shi the murderer? Sang Ling shuddered suddenly, and his voice became lower, "Then tell me, was she the one who did what happened to Ya Nu?"

"Not necessarily." Nie Ce denied it quickly, "Second Aunt just acted a little bit stubborn in these matters, but she hasn't killed anyone yet."

It's hard to say. After all, they were all slaves before, but now Sang Ling has taken the position of Marquis's wife. It's not unreasonable to kill the maids around her for this. Human nature is complicated. It is very likely that she is a good person during the day and suddenly becomes bad at night.

However, she did not reveal her guess in front of Nie Ce. She pursed her lips and said, "Then following a master like you is also a way to endure."

"That's exactly what I thought," he said honestly. Hearing her teasing, he naturally agreed. However, his tone was still full of helplessness. He stared at the incense burner in the corner for a moment and said with emotion, "Later, all the young maids in this courtyard were sent away."

No wonder she had seen servants or maids in Wuyuan these past two days. She originally thought that this Nie Jialang was a very pure and ascetic man, with no maids in his room. But now it seemed that he had experienced such a thing.

She thought for a while and then stopped talking. The sound from the fire bell rang out, and the person in front of her shook his head helplessly, "The family situation is complicated. Grandfather only wants the family to be harmonious. He would rather turn a blind eye to many things than cause disputes among the uncles and aunts. So I won't bother with Second Aunt. Mother does the same, so -" He raised his head to look at her, and his tone suddenly became obviously heavy, "You'd better keep a low profile too."

If the conversation between the two just now was still similar to when they were classmates, now when they talked about this, they immediately returned to the relationship of husband and wife. No matter what the status between them was, since she had married into the family, they were one body in the two mansions, prospering together and suffering together, and everything was tied together.

Her heart stagnated for a moment, but in an instant, she put on a polite and distant smile, "I understand. If she wants to come, I will find a reason to avoid her."

After saying that, he sat up straight. Nie Ce said "hmm" and stiffly withdrew his arm. He turned his eyes and glanced out the window. "You should rest earlier."

After saying this, he went to the side room.