Quickly wear salted fish, she won by lying down

The princess's residence that Madam Song the Second and Madam Song the Third brought Linlang to was the residence of Princess Yongning.

Madam Song Er only brought Linlang and her own daughter, but not the eldest daughters of the main wife, Song Yuanniang, Song Erniang, and others.

Of course, the main reason was that the eldest daughter of the concubine knew that Madam Song and Madam Chengen were not on good terms and would not come. Although Song Yuanniang, as the legitimate daughter, dared to come, she did not want to be rude to Madam Song and Madam Chengen because of their discord. She even brought her daughter to the banquet.

The original owner's mother had a bad relationship with the Duchess of Chengen because she couldn't stand how much the old Duke and Duchess doted on her mother and gave her too much dowry.

Although the Cheng'en Duke's Mansion had become quite prosperous at that time, it was not as glorious as it was when Empress Dowager Song came to power, so the amount of money was still limited.

Since money is limited, the Duchess of Cheng'en was naturally dissatisfied with the large dowry that the old Duke and Duchess gave to the original owner's mother.

Why did the relationship between Lady Cheng'en and Lady Song become strained again?
This makes things even more speechless.

According to what Linlang has learned recently, when Madam Song the Second entered the household, she was entitled to a salary as a county princess. Therefore, the wife of the Duke of Cheng'en felt that her salary should be handed over to the public fund. Her reason was that since her parents were still alive, the family was not divided, and everyone's money should be handed over to the public fund.

However, the old Duke and his wife felt that the eldest son's wife only paid his salary, while the eldest daughter-in-law did not. Now that the youngest son had double salaries, he paid two salaries, which was already more than the eldest son's wife. It was a bit excessive to ask Madam Song to pay her salary as well. Moreover, supporting the family has always been the responsibility of men, and women do not need to pay. While the parents are alive, the family is not divided, and everyone's money should be paid into the public fund. This only applies to men; women are not subject to this restriction. After all, no family needs the daughter-in-law's money to support the family. Therefore, they did not ask Madam Song to pay her salary.

Anyway, the Song family had already prospered because the Empress Dowager's son had been made crown prince, and they no longer needed the salary of the second wife of Song to support the family.

But Lady Chengen felt that the old couple were biased. Their family's entire salary was handed over, and they could only receive a monthly allowance. Why should the second wife have her own private savings?

However, while the eldest son's family claimed to have no private savings and could only receive a monthly allowance, in reality, the Chengen Duke's Mansion was managed by the eldest son's family. The Chengen Duke's wife was in charge of the household, and she could easily pocket more than the second wife of Song. Especially in the past few years, when Empress Dowager Song was alive, the family had more money than they could spend, and the Chengen Duke's wife had pocketed an unknown amount.

Even though she had made a lot of money, she was still unhappy that Madam Song's meager salary hadn't been turned over to the public treasury, so her relationship with Madam Song wasn't good.

After entering the house, Madam Song the Second noticed that the Duchess of Chengen was always treating her with disdain. She wasn't some pitiful little thing who could be bullied, so naturally she wouldn't give her face or let her ride on her head. Seeing that the Duchess of Chengen was treating her badly, Madam Song the Second's attitude also cooled down. That's why Madam Song the Second only took Linlang to the banquet and didn't bring Song Yuanniang and the other girls from the eldest branch of the family.

It is said that Princess Yongning and the Rongchang Prince's Mansion, the maternal family of Madam Song, were relatively close relatives—Princess Yongning's father and the Rongchang Prince's father were brothers, except that one became the emperor and the other only became a prince.

Then, the Prince of Rongchang was the second son of that prince, so his title was Prince.

Therefore, Princess Yongning and Prince Rongchang were cousins. This explains why Princess Yongning would invite Madam Song to her banquets, as Princess Yongning was Madam Song's paternal cousin by blood.

Although she was called an aunt, Princess Yongning was actually only about ten years older than Madam Song because she was the youngest daughter of that emperor. The two got along well, which is why Princess Yongning invited Madam Song over, since they were friends despite being of different generations.

Because of their close relationship, Madam Song spoke casually with Princess Yongning and introduced Linlang to her. Princess Yongning naturally gave face to her cousin and close friend, and immediately took Linlang's hand, praising her several times, saying, "No wonder you often mention your niece to me, she is indeed very beautiful. Look at that little face, she looks so lucky."

She immediately took off the gold-inlaid jade bracelet from her wrist and put it on Linlang's hand.

The original owner's appearance was quite in line with the aesthetics of that era, with a face as round as a silver plate. In modern terms, it would be considered a face of peace and prosperity, a face of good fortune. It was inherited from the original owner's father, who also had a round face.

Actually, the original owner's parents died young, not because of any hereditary disease, but for a reason.

Her mother died of a cold, which was common in those days; her father died after being bitten by a snake while visiting the countryside to observe the lives of ordinary people.

Since they all died from acute illnesses, they are different from those who died young due to hereditary diseases. Generally, if people know the situation, they will not be afraid that she is in poor health like her parents and cannot be married.

But she needs to get out and about more so that people know about this. Otherwise, outsiders won't know and will only know that her parents died early and that she is probably in poor health. Who would dare to marry her? This is why Linlang immediately agreed when Madam Song invited her to go out for a stroll.

The original owner of this body was probably a bit socially anxious. Coupled with the death of both parents and living under someone else's roof, she dared not socialize and therefore never dared to accept Madam Song's invitations, which ultimately led to her tragic end.

Now that Linlang dares to socialize, things are naturally different.

With Song San Niang's guidance, Lin Lang quickly became acquainted with a group of friends that Song San Niang knew. Soon, people learned that the original owner's parents died early not because of poor health, but because of an accident.

So even if no suitable target was found afterward, the fact that someone could spread the word about her health condition at this banquet was a success in itself.

This was considered a successful first step, which made Linlang very happy. She returned home happily with Madam Song and Third Sister Song.

Linlang was happy, but Lady Chengen was not.

She was unhappy to hear that Madam Song had only taken her daughter and Linlang out to play, without her daughter.

In the past, when Empress Dowager Song was alive, she naturally looked down on the connections of Second Madam Song. After all, as long as she frequently entered the palace, she could meet better people from Empress Dowager Song's side. Who would care about Second Madam Song's connections?

But now that Empress Dowager Song has passed away, apart from the title, no one in the Cheng'en Duke's family has passed the imperial examinations or served as an official in the court. In reality, they are now just an ordinary noble family. Although the emperor still has to call them uncle and aunt, the emperor has too many relatives, such as the empress's family, the concubine's family, and close relatives in the imperial clan. Therefore, the favors that can be given to the Song family are much less than when Empress Dowager Song was alive.

Moreover, unlike the Empress Dowager, who could gather female relatives for conversation and tea, introducing her daughter to them, the Emperor couldn't do such a thing. Therefore, he couldn't be relied upon and the Emperor had to bring his daughter to the banquet himself. (End of Chapter)