Raising a wife? The mistress of the Hou family divorced and remarried her younger uncle

Chapter 58 Toast
Soon, more than a dozen people gathered around to taste the wild fruit. Some people preferred this kind of fruit, while others didn't. Even if they didn't like it, the girls would smile and coax them and they would be willing to pay for it.

Five cents could buy two taels, and ten cents could buy half a catty, which was not too expensive for the people in the towns and villages near Kyoto.

Lu Yunshu received the money with great satisfaction. It was the first time in her life that she earned money on her own. She felt the money was heavy in her hands, and she felt excited and happy.

Not far away, Lu Jing, a knife hanging on his waist, stood with his arms folded, looking in surprise at the women in the mansion hawking their wares in this rural area.

Nowadays, women are reluctant to show their faces in public. The second sister lives a secluded life and usually doesn't dare to look him in the face. How could she dare to sell wild fruits in the countryside with the maids without wearing a veil?

If her uncle and aunt saw this, they would definitely punish her by making her kneel in the ancestral hall and reflect on her actions. Aunt Zhou would probably faint if she knew about this.

"Master, the eldest young lady... wants the women in the mansion to sell their bodies." Li An had just heard what Su Qingwan said. The reason why these wild fruits sell so well is mainly due to the beauty of the girls.

Lu Jing snorted coldly, his eyes fell on Su Qingwan. His eldest sister-in-law was the one who was selling her beauty.

They randomly chose a piece of land by the riverbank, and all the people coming and going were merchants. Su Qingwan was wearing a green long dress with a front opening, fresh and pretty. Her hair was in a girl's style, not a married woman's bun. She tied her hair with a jade hairpin and a smoky green headband.

She leaned against the railing, looking lazily and relaxed, with her elbows on it, eating wild fruits and smiling. The summer breeze came through the river, blowing up her hairband, and her smiling eyes and brows were indescribably charming and unrestrained.

This was completely different from the sister-in-law he usually saw in the mansion. She didn't seem like a girl trapped in the backyard, but more like a free and easy girl who had traveled around the world since childhood.

Most of the people who came to sell wild fruits would look at Su Qingwan, admiring her or drooling over her. She didn't care. She would occasionally look up at the sun, lazily relaxing...

Lu Jing thought to himself, like a lazy cat.

Realizing that his eyes stayed too much on his eldest sister-in-law, Lu Jing's heart skipped a beat and he forced himself to look away.

The place where they were standing was relatively hidden and difficult for others to notice.

Lu Jing had Lin send his sister-in-law to the manor intentionally. She was very cautious in everything she did in the mansion, and only when she was away from his sight could his sister-in-law relax her guard.

Unexpectedly, my sister-in-law slept until noon and brought my second sister to sell wild fruits.

Whether it was his sister-in-law or his second sister, he had never seen them smile so relaxedly, as if the mansion was a cage that imprisoned all the joys, sorrows, anger and happiness of the female family members.

Away from the inner house, it turns out they are all living so happily.

It is not going to be smooth sailing for a group of weak girls to sell wild fruits in the countryside. Some people who covet their beauty insult them with words, and Lu Zhu does not hold back and directly draws her knife.

Since Su Qingwan wanted the female members to show up in public, she had to protect them herself.

The fruit sold very well, and the last basket was bought by the proprietress of a restaurant in the town. She asked Lu Yunshu if she had any wild fruits so that she could continue to supply them to her. Lu Yunshu agreed and said she would send them to her the next day.

Lu Yunshu counted the coins happily and found that she had earned a full tael of silver. Her monthly salary was only two taels of silver. She bought wild fruits for half a day and earned one tael of silver. She was very happy and the girls who followed her to sell fruits all gave her about a hundred coins.

"Sister-in-law, today is really interesting. I am so happy."

On the way back, Lu Yunshu said excitedly, "Teachers often say that for the inferior businessmen, it is more gratifying to make money by doing business than to write an article praised by the teachers." It is rare for a girl in the boudoir to make money by her own ability, and she is excited about it. She was also so happy when she earned her first sum of money. She can understand Lu Yunshu.

"You come to the countryside to relax, just be happy."

Lu Yunshu thought that if it weren’t for her sister-in-law, she would never have had such an experience.

It was still early when they returned to the farm, so Luzhu took a few people to prepare dinner. If the old women on the farm knew that wild fruits could be sold for money, they would definitely rush to pick them first. Lu Yunshu and Xuedan took the others to pick them overnight. Except for the half-ripened wild fruits, they picked almost all of them and picked more than ten baskets.

Such a large amount could not be digested by one town. Su Qingwan suggested that she go to several more towns, and Lu Yunshu followed her advice and decided to go to other towns to sell the next day.

When Mrs. Zhuang heard that they sold several baskets of wild fruits that she disliked for one or two taels of silver, she became so jealous that her eyes turned red. She wanted to follow their example and pick wild fruits to sell, but Lu Yunshu had already picked most of the wild fruits.

Mrs. Zhuang was angry and secretly mocked Lu Yunshu, saying that it was damaging to her reputation for a lady from a noble family to show up in public and do such low-class business, and asked her not to learn bad things from the eldest young master's wife.

Lu Yunshu did not listen to Mrs. Zhuang's instigation and continued to do as she pleased, selling all the fruits and vegetables in a few days. Su Qingwan had nothing to do, so she accompanied her every day, just to relax and have fun.

On the contrary, Li An, who followed them every day, lost his patience. He tactfully told Lu Jing that perhaps they were just overthinking it, as the young lady was doing very well at the manor and did not seem to be conspiring with anyone.

The Jinyiwei were busy with their duties, and Lu Jing could not come to the manor to keep an eye on them every day, so Li An was the one who stayed in the dark. Li An was good at gathering intelligence, and Su Qingwan and Lu Zhu had not been alarmed during this period.

Lu Jing was much more patient than Li An, so he ordered Li An to wait and not interfere no matter what happened.

On the eighth day after Su Qingwan was banished to the manor, Mrs. Zhuang tried to make things difficult for her several times, but was always blocked by Lu Zhu. Either she was suppressed by Lu Yunshu, who came to the manor to relax, or Mrs. Zhuang's attitude was not good enough for being too tough.

Mrs. Zhuang was no pushover. She was furious after being repeatedly contradicted by Su Qingwan and incited the tenant farmers, saying that Su Qingwan was driven out by the master to do farm work but was enjoying herself on the farm every day.

She also secretly picked wild fruits from the farm and sold them for dozens of taels of silver. These wild fruits belonged to the tenant farmers, but she took them all for herself.

As an old woman with little influence, she had no other choice but to ask these tenant farmers for help.

Mrs. Zhuang secretly gave them money and asked them to teach Su Qingwan a lesson.

That night, this group of strong men surrounded the farm.

"Since the eldest young lady has come to the farm to be punished, she should listen to Mrs. Zhuang and work in the fields with us tomorrow." The sturdy man holding the torch was wearing a coarse cloth shorts and had a fierce look on his face.

Su Qingwan looked down at the group of tenant farmers. Mrs. Zhuang was standing among them, looking confident that she would win. Su Qingwan couldn't help but laugh, "Oh, what if I don't want to?"

Su Qingwan was surrounded by green bamboos. There was not even a man in Qingqing's group of girls. Mrs. Zhuang relied on her large numbers and had no scruples. She said calmly, "Madam, since you are here to be punished, you should be obedient. Don't refuse a toast and drink a penalty wine. If you are asked to work in the fields, you should work in the fields. If you are asked to wash clothes, you should wash clothes. You have come to the manor to be punished. You are a slave, not a master."

"I am a rebellious person by nature. I like to drink wine without accepting it. I am curious, what kind of wine are you going to give me as punishment?"

(End of this chapter)