Quickly wear salted fish, she won by lying down

Chapter 1701 The Country Girl Looked Down Upon 22
Although the King of England thought that Li Yu's grandmother was old, he wanted her to be a concubine before she died, and then make the eighth wife's mother a concubine after she passed away.

But now that Linlang has arrived, she certainly won't let Consort Zhang die early, so the plans of the Prince of Ying and that concubine from the Eighth Household are definitely going to fall through.

Of course, that's not necessarily true. Perhaps the other three concubines won't live long either, since life expectancy is unpredictable in this era.

Li Yu's father was not considered a lecherous man in this era; he had only one wife and two concubines, and they had three sons and two daughters.

Li Yu was the eldest son of the second wife (Li Yu's father was the eldest son of a concubine, and he was the second son in the family), so he was very much loved by his grandmother, Consort Zhang. Consort Zhang would give him some of her private savings from time to time.

Li Yu was a low-key person who did not publicize his private affairs, so outsiders did not know that Consort Zhang often gave Li Yu his private money. It was only when Linlang came that Li Yu gave those private money to Linlang for safekeeping that he found out about it.

Although Li Yu's personal savings were not as much as Linlang's hidden stash, he had a salary while Linlang did not. Unless Linlang had other sources of income in the future, she would naturally not have the same stable income as Li Yu.

It's quite remarkable that Li Yu was able to save up some money. Most members of the imperial family, because of their guaranteed salaries regardless of the circumstances, would spend all their money as soon as they received it. They figured if they used it all up this year, they would have more next year, so what was there to be afraid of?

Many people, like the late Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, gamble away their fortunes, squandering not only this year's salary but also their future salaries, without considering the future at all.

Then, when they were starving, they started running to the Imperial Clan Court to complain about their low rank and meager salary, demanding an increase in their pay.

Of course, the Imperial Clan Court wouldn't care.

In fact, starting from the late emperor, as the imperial family population has grown over the past hundred years, they have begun to feel that the current system of demoting and inheriting titles is too slow. They want to implement a system of succession, which means that princes and the like are not allowed to inherit titles without demotion for five generations, but rather all of them should be demoted.

The imperial court is already planning to further reduce the expenditures of the imperial clan. Those incompetent members of the imperial clan who can't even see the current situation have the nerve to go to the Imperial Clan Court to complain about their meager salaries. Who will pay attention to them? After all, how many ordinary people have such a secure income as they do? One day, when their titles are reduced even faster and they receive even less, that's when they'll have their turn to cry.

Without mentioning that Li Yu had a private stash of money, it was only said that Li Yu had never been to the countryside and was very curious about the situation there, asking Linlang about the countryside every now and then.

If it were someone else, they might feel that Li Yu was looking down on them, or that asking such a question was an insult, and they might get angry because of it.

But Linlang wouldn't. Linlang could tell that Li Yu was just curious, so when he asked, she naturally told him.

Linlang was a good talker, often able to make a dull thing sound interesting, which made Li Yu yearn for the countryside—just like modern people, he longed for poetry and distant places.

"If you have money, it would be really nice to build a manor in the countryside and enjoy the scenery of the four seasons. But if you don't have money, life would be miserable. Before I came to the capital, there was a lean season and we had no food to eat. We could only eat wild vegetable pancakes. Moreover, there are no bustling streets in the countryside. If you want to buy something, you have to go to the city, which is too troublesome. Unlike in the capital, where you can just go to the street to buy whatever you need. It's so convenient."

Li Yu listened to Linlang's words and found them reasonable, thus giving up the idea of ​​living in the countryside. After all, he had nothing to do every day and liked to wander around the city. If he were in the countryside, there wouldn't even be anywhere to go, and he would go crazy. Seeing that he had nothing to do and was bored, Linlang found him something to do and asked him to help inquire where she could find cheap and good servants.

The Duke of Zhenguo's mansion had already sent away ten stewards, each with about ten people, which meant that about a hundred people had left.

Although they had sent about a hundred people away, the Zhou family had always lived a life where no one served them. Now that they were short a hundred people, they could make use of the other servants and not feel that they were lacking in manpower.

Next, there will be fewer people to confiscate. At that time, the Duke of Zhenguo plans to send most of the remaining people away, leaving only those who seem decent over the past period. After all, there were so many people in the mansion before, and it is impossible for everyone to be bad. There must be some who are passable.

Although some people would remain, most would be dismissed. The manor would definitely be short-handed then, so Linlang asked Li Yu to help her find suitable people.

Since Linlang lives in the inner quarters and cannot run around freely outside, it is natural for Li Yu to handle this matter.

Once the person is found, Linlang will introduce him to Old Master Zhou so that he can take him back to fill the vacant position. After using him for a while, Linlang will use the little bee to observe him. If he is usable, she will use him; if not, she will get rid of him.

Linlang told Li Yu about the potential manpower shortage in the Zhenguo Duke's mansion. Li Yu was happy to do something that would help his wife.

Anyway, he goes out on the street every day, so he just does this kind of thing casually.

On that day, a banquet was held at the Prince Ying's Mansion, and Linlang saw an acquaintance, namely her second aunt.

She was a concubine of Prince Yonghe. Because she had a son and a title, she would have a certain status when she moved out of the family. As a concubine, she was also allowed to socialize. So, she was naturally qualified to attend the banquet held at Prince Ying's mansion.

Upon seeing Linlang, he became very enthusiastic, holding her hand and talking for a long time.

But Linlang knew that her second aunt was not happy at all that she could marry into the Prince's mansion as his granddaughter-in-law, because she did not expect Linlang to marry so well. After all, she thought that Li Yu's parents would not be interested in a country girl and would not marry their son to a country girl. She did not expect that Li Yu's parents would say to their son that Linlang, a village girl, could marry so well.

You see, Linlang's husband will not only inherit the title but will also be a General Who Guards the State, while her son, as the son of a prince born out of wedlock, can only be granted the title of General Who Assists the State. When he leaves the family, Linlang will be the wife of a General Who Guards the State and her son will also be a General Who Guards the State, while she will be the mother of a General Who Assists the State, a lower rank. Naturally, she cannot accept this. After all, she cannot accept that she, the daughter of a duke, will have a lower status than a country girl. Therefore, she is naturally unhappy that Linlang can marry such a person, but she cannot show it on her face.

Actually, Second Aunt has misunderstood. She doesn't even realize that, according to the rules, she is merely the Duke's illegitimate daughter, while Linlang is the Duke's legitimate daughter. Isn't it normal that Linlang married better than her?
Regardless of her past status, she is now the legitimate daughter of a Duke.

After talking with Linlang for a while, the second aunt asked Linlang in a low voice, "Your brother's marriage is still undecided, isn't it?"