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

Chapter 9: Washing Clothes by the Stream
In any case, as long as the monthly allowance was delivered on time every month, the total of four taels for the two of them was already very wealthy.

Inside Pei's residence, Mother Liu knelt outside the screen with her brows lowered and her eyes submissive.

Xiao Shirong leaned against the soft pillow, took a sip of tea lazily, and asked, "Did Miss Xie really never take a single step out of the manor?"

Mother Liu replied, "There are people guarding the main gate of the manor, and I have never seen you go out of there. Only the maidservants beside me go to the town to do some shopping occasionally."

Xiao Shirong's beautiful face was reflected in the cup. She then asked, "What are you buying?"

"It's just some small things, such as food and drink. I bought a lot of vegetable seeds the other day and opened a vegetable plot in the yard to grow vegetables for myself."

As soon as these words were spoken, the maids around Xiao Shirong all laughed in silence.

Xiao Shirong also sneered and said contemptuously: "After all, she is just a concubine's daughter from a small family. What's the difference between her and those lowly farmers?"

Farming?

How could someone do such a dirty and cowardly thing?

After a pause, Xiao Shirong's eyes narrowed slightly, and she looked at Mother Liu through the screen, and asked again: "Is there anyone suspicious beside her?"

Madam Liu was stunned for a moment, then said carefully, "I am a fool, I don't know who the suspicious person that the lady is talking about is?"

The maid next to Xiao Shirong said arrogantly, "Besides that little girl named Fu Yu, has anyone else appeared?"

Mother Liu thought about it carefully and then shook her head.

"I have never seen such a person."

Xiao Shirong didn't ask any more questions and signaled the maid to send Mama Liu out.

An old woman bowed and walked to Xiao Shirong's side, whispering: "If what Liu said is true, then the matter of the leper must have nothing to do with Miss Xie."

That night, a leper suddenly appeared on Xiao Shirong's bed, scaring everyone in the room.

Afterwards, the old mothers urgently blocked the news to prevent the scandal from spreading.

But no one can tell how leprosy came about.

The Pei Mansion had patrollers and night watchmen, and Xiao Shirong lived deep in the inner courtyard, with maids walking back and forth to keep watch at night.

No one actually discovered where the leper came from.

Even Laizi himself didn't know what happened. He just said that when he reached the city gate, he suddenly felt dizzy and fainted, and then he didn't remember anything.

Xiao Shirong was furious. After searching for several days, she still couldn't find any clues.

She knew very well that it must have been Xie Fei's doing, but how could Xie Fei, a weak woman, do such a thing?

Even if there is someone with great ability to help him, no trace of him has ever been found.

Could it be that it is the blessing of ghosts and gods?
Xiao Shirong frowned and thought hard, but still couldn't get the answer.

Mother Tang also held a grudge against Xie Fei. She was Xiao Shirong's confidant who had received Xiao Shirong's secret order to push Xie Fei into the river in order to destroy his innocence.

After being discovered, Xie Fei dragged her into the alley and beat her so badly that she still has bruises under her eyes.

As long as Xie Fei was around, she felt like there was a thorn in her heart, making her feel very uncomfortable.

"This young lady Xie has been driven to the farm, why don't you kill her in one go, Madam?"

As long as it doesn't happen in Pei's house, the Xie family will have no way to hold them accountable for any "accident" that occurs.

Xiao Shirong said irritably: "She was sent by the Xie family. Even though the Xie family is not even worthy of carrying shoes in front of my Fanyang Xiao family, she was married by the emperor after all!"

The concubine died in unclear circumstances. Not to mention the palace, even the Xie family would not let it go because of the shame.

In the evening, Mother Liu returned to the village.

She was frowning, and Shui Huaiyu approached her and asked, "Mother-in-law, did the mistress of the Pei family give you a hard time?"

Mother Liu said, "I am just an old woman of low status, why would I be troubled by you?"

But before she left, an old lady caught up with her, dragged her to a deserted place, and gave her some instructions.

It was said that the mistress wanted to tell them not to be too nice to Xiao Niang Xie, and that they didn't need to send her food or clean her clothes, and that they should be left to fend for themselves. Madam Liu was in a dilemma.

After all, Xie Fei is a concubine and the daughter of an official. The emperor has arranged a marriage for her, so we cannot be too neglectful.

But the mistress had given such an order, and she absolutely could not disobey it.

What should I do?
Songyue Curie, Xie Fei knew nothing about it.

She is now only interested in growing herbs and raising rabbits. In her spare time every day, she reads medical books and digs wild grass to feed her rabbits.

Sometimes they dug the soil and weeded, and sometimes Yuan San took them out to walk around the mountains.

Breathing in the fresh mountain air makes even my lungs feel like they are relaxing.

However, Fu Yu was becoming more and more irritable.

In the afternoon, Fu Yu came back with a pile of dirty clothes and threw them on the ground angrily.

"Girl, the clothes we sent the day before yesterday have not been washed today! I went to find Mama Liu, but she avoided me. Then I went to ask Madam Shui, but she was hesitant and couldn't explain anything!"

Recently, Zhuangli has been too lazy.

No one cared to clean the house, no food or firewood was delivered, and now even the clothes that were delivered were not washed.

Even if I'm a lowly concubine in Pei's mansion, I don't have to wash clothes or clean the house by myself!

Xie Fei was reading a book. He closed it upon hearing this and said with a smile, "The government must have given the order. Don't embarrass the people in the village. If they don't want to wash it, we can go by ourselves."

Fu Yu wanted to say something but stopped.

Xie Fei's clear and lively eyes turned twice, he put the dirty clothes into the wooden barrel, and then carried the bucket out of the yard.

I bumped into a few men head-on. They were all startled and quickly moved to the side of the road without even daring to raise their heads.

Xie Fei found out where Mother Liu was and went there.

"Mother Liu, there is no place to wash clothes in the village. You have to let me go to the river to wash clothes, right?"

When Mother Liu saw that she was carrying the bucket and Fu Yu was following behind her empty-handed, a look of surprise flashed across her face.

After a moment's hesitation, Mother Liu wiped her hands on her apron and said, "You don't know the way. I'll ask my eldest daughter-in-law to accompany you."

At least he could leave the village, so Xie Fei did not refuse.

Shui Huaiyu came over quickly, walking in front with her big belly, leading Xie Fei out of the village.

This was the first time Xie Fei went out of the manor house.

The area around here was nothing but fields and weeds. A shallow stream flowed down from the mountainside and meandered in front of the village.

Today is also a good day. The blue sky is very clear, and even the clear stream water seems to have warmed up a little.

As soon as she reached the stream, Xie Fei couldn't wait to take off her embroidered shoes and waded into the water.

She lifted up her skirt and tied it, and rolled up her trouser legs to her knees, revealing her fair and tender calves.

Her warm jade-like feet stepped on the slippery water plants, stepped on the mossy pebbles, slipped and fell back into the water.

A few frightened little fishes scurried past her ankles in a panic, then bumped into the rocks in a daze, making her laugh so hard that she couldn't straighten her back.

I haven't been so happy in the past fifteen years.

Shui Huaiyu said anxiously on the shore: "Xie Xiaoniang, people may pass by here at any time, you can't do this!"

Legs and feet are private parts. How could a married woman like Xie Fei let other men see them?

Unfortunately, Xie Fei was having so much fun that he ignored him.

Shui Huaiyu was so anxious that he was sweating profusely. He wanted to find Fuyu to persuade her, but Fuyu had already taken off his shoes and socks and stepped into the stream with a splash.

(End of this chapter)