I'm already a concubine, who wants to fight with you?

Chapter 8: The Wealthy Pei Mansion

Lunch was simple: a pot of snake soup, three charcoal-grilled fish, a serving of stir-fried mushrooms, and a dish of stir-fried wild vegetables.

Xie Fei left a portion for Fu Yu and invited Yuan San to eat together.

Yuan San did not sit down, but stood aside with his bowl and chopsticks, eating with relish.

"The girl is such a good cook, everything she cooks tastes delicious."

Xie Fei took a sip of the snake meat soup, and a light layer of oiliness appeared on his plump lips.

She said slowly, "Eat more if you like. You'll have something to do in the afternoon."

The snake meat is very tender. Just add a little salt and nothing else and the soup will be rich and white. The aroma of meat fills the yard.

After taking a sip of the soup, the fragrance lingers on the lips and teeth, and it feels warm after entering the stomach, as if the tuberculosis patient's stomach finally has something in it.

The wild mushrooms are smooth and delicious on the outside, crispy and firm on the inside. Just using oil and salt is enough to bring out the most original and wonderful flavor.

Xie Fei didn't eat much, just a bowl of soup, a piece of snake meat, a bowl of rice, and some mushrooms.

Yuan San finished most of the pot of snake meat, and ate all the mushrooms and wild vegetables. He even ate Xie Fei's portion of grilled fish.

As soon as he finished his meal, he went back to work.

In the afternoon, he mainly had to dig the ground. Xie Fei wanted to grow some herbs, one for his own use, and the other to sell to the pharmacy in exchange for silver.

The monthly allowance that the mistress of the Pei mansion gave to her concubines was very little, only one or two taels of silver each.

Because Xie Fei's status was special, Xiao Shirong gave her three or four monthly allowances to avoid gossip from the Xie family after they found out and spread the news to all the officials and their wives in Beijing.

In addition, when Xie Fei married into the Pei Mansion, the Xie family did provide her with a dowry.

The mistress of the Xie family was naturally reluctant to give the Zhuangzi shop away. As for the jewelry, she also picked out the most inferior and worthless ones to fill the gap.

All Xie Fei has now is a box of ordinary jewelry and two boxes of cloth.

She kept a few pieces of jewelry that were barely wearable, and asked Fuyu to pawn the rest in town. Clothing materials were hard to sell, so she kept them for autumn and winter clothing.

As for silver, there was actually more than ten taels of it, which he had saved from secretly selling herbs with Fu Yu over the years.

Even though a dozen taels may seem like a lot, Xie Fei knows that money can be spent like water.

You work hard to save money for several years, but if something serious happens, it can be spent in the blink of an eye.

So now that he has this piece of land in the yard, Xie Fei is determined to grow some precious herbs.

You have to have a means of making a living so that even if something unexpected happens in the future, you won't have to beg on the streets.

The yard is not big, but it is still hard to turn the soil.

While Yuan San was digging the ground and weeding, Xie Fei first washed the mushrooms and then put them in a winnowing basket to dry.

The rotten branches covered with wood ears were placed behind the damp eaves and left to fend for themselves.

As for crabs and fish, it is better to keep them in a water tank with water plants and rice. Perhaps they can be fatter.

Fu Yu came back when the sun was about to set.

"The pawnshop owner is such a scoundrel. I tried my best to persuade him, but he only gave me fifty taels of silver for all the jewelry I had!"

Fu Yu had been bargaining for it in the pawnshop for a long time, but the owner refused to give in.

Xie Fei brought out the food and asked her to eat first.

"Fifty taels, it shows that my dowry is quite 'generous'."

Fu Yu drank the soup in big gulps, and when her dry lips were moistened a little, she said, "Miss, our master is at least a fifth-rank official, and you married into the Pei Mansion on behalf of the legitimate daughters. This dowry is so shabby that it is unbearable to look at it!"

It is hard to imagine that if Xie Fei, as a concubine's daughter, had married a poor scholar, would her dowry have amounted to only two taels of silver?
Fu Yu felt deeply sad for Xie Fei.

Xie Fei herself did not feel wronged, or rather, she had gotten used to it. She was the one who was most thoroughly ignored by Xie's father. If it were not for the imperial edict, this man might have long forgotten that there was an insignificant daughter in the backyard.

Fu Yu ate her meal in a huff, and afterwards she kept complaining while cleaning up the dishes.

"I heard that the dowries that the eldest lady prepared for the two legitimate daughters were comparable to those of noble ladies. The house that came with the dowry alone was located in the most affluent area in the capital, not to mention the land, shops, jewelry, and clothing materials..."

When Fu Yu entered the kitchen muttering, Xie Fei took out everything from the backpack.

The lacquer that was promised earlier, a piece of fat pork fat, a can of salt, some vegetable seeds, and other miscellaneous items.

It must have cost a lot, but counting the days, the monthly allowance for Pei Mansion is about to be delivered.

That night, Fu Yu lit a fire while Xie Fei refined the fat into lard.

The fragrance was irresistible and spread throughout the entire village, and the servants were drooling.

Since Fu Yu had gone out openly, no one suspected anything.

A large jar of lard was placed on the table, specially covered with a wooden basin and pressed with thick stones to prevent it from being knocked over by blind wild animals.

Xie Fei asked Fu Yu to tell Mother Liu to ask for some radishes and vegetables.

Soon, Mother Liu came in person carrying a bamboo basket.

Three cabbages full of worm holes, two large white radishes, and a skinny rabbit.

"Thank you, little lady. These radishes and greens are grown by us, and the wild rabbits were hunted by my husband from the mountains. Please don't despise them."

After entering the yard, Mother Liu still didn't look around, her eyes were only focused on the things she should worry about.

Xie Fei accepted the hare and the vegetables and radishes and expressed his gratitude.

Mother Liu delivered the things and left without staying for a moment.

Fu Yu held the hare and looked at it for a long time, then said in surprise, "Girl, this rabbit is a male, and ours is a female, so they are a perfect match!"

Xie Fei ordered, "Let's raise them separately first."

Now that we have radishes, greens and salt, it's time to pickle some kimchi, which is refreshing and appetizing.

Several days passed like this, and the Pei Mansion sent over the monthly allowance.

Xie Fei still had three taels, and Fu Yu, as her personal maid, also had one tael, making a total of four taels.

After getting the first month's allowance, Fu Yu weighed it over and over again and was very surprised.

"Miss, everyone says that Xiao Shirong treats servants harshly, but why do I feel that this is much higher than our monthly allowance in the Xie family?"

When Xie Fei was in the Xie family, he nominally received one or two monthly allowances, but it also had to be delivered in time.

Sometimes the accountant "forgot" and sometimes the money was confiscated because of "making a mistake". It is hard to say whether you can actually get even one or two taels in a year.

As a result, Xie Fei developed a money-loving character. He was thrifty, stingy, and tried to save whenever he could.

She said: "Dad is a minor official, and his salary is not high. The Xie family is not a famous family, so naturally it cannot compare to the Pei family."

Although Pei Yuan had no meritorious service, his father died for the country and his mother was granted an imperial title, so he must receive rewards from the court during festivals and holidays.

He was the grandson of a marquis, and received generous dividends from the marquis's land and shops every year. Add to that the output from his own farm, and his year-round income was many times higher than that of the Xie family.

Inside the mansion, because Pei Yuan was only busy drinking and visiting prostitutes, all internal affairs were decided by Xiao Shirong.

For a wealthy family like this, who was comparable to the royal family, the monthly allowance for their concubine was seven or eight taels, which was not much.

One time, Xiang Xiaoniang was chatting with Xie Fei and mentioned that Xiao Shirong's ordinary maid was paid five taels of silver per month.

In comparison, Xie Fei's three taels were already deducted.

(End of this chapter)