They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 75: Still a Person?

Zeng Xiaoyan sneered: "Heh!"

She was already furious and wasn't going to tolerate Lou Er's veiled insults. "The Zeng family has servants to do chores. Does my brother-in-law want my sister to serve dishes and wash plates? We sisters haven't seen each other for so long, what's wrong with chatting? What do you mean by 'having free time to wander around'? When did the Zeng family become so poor that they can't afford servants and need their married daughter to come back and do chores to prepare this birthday gift? I don't believe it, I'm going to ask my father!"

Zeng Xiaoyan was about to leave when she said that.

"Don't!"

"You stop!"

Zeng Xiaojuan quickly pulled her younger sister back.

Lou Er also became anxious.

Lou Er, enraged, retorted, "Don't talk nonsense! I didn't mean that! It's one thing for you to talk nonsense, but if you cause trouble and implicate your second sister, don't blame me for being impolite."

Zeng Xiaoyan sneered: "I'd like to see how impolite you are."

She hadn't expected Lou Er to act like a rogue, and she sneered, "I can't control you, but I can control your second sister. Believe me or not, I'll slap her across the face when we get back!"

Zeng Xiaoyan was shocked, furious, and incredulous: "You dare!"

"Hmph, let's see if I dare."

Zeng Xiaoyan looked at Zeng Xiaojuan.

Zeng Xiaojuan was both ashamed and embarrassed, her face flushing red and then turning pale. Her voice trembled as she pleaded, "Husband, please stop, please stop!"

Let's save her some face in front of her sister.
Lou Er was smug, sneering maliciously: "If it weren't for my father-in-law's birthday today, I would teach you a lesson right now. You ignorant brat! Women are just like that, they don't know what's good for them until they're taught a lesson. You dare to talk back to the men in your family? You've gone too far."

Zeng Xiaoyan was furious. "Are you even human? My second sister is your wife! What kind of nonsense are you spouting?!"

"Our family affairs are none of your business, and you have no right to interfere." Lou Er snorted, clearly determined to be shameless to the end. Seeing Zeng Xiaoyan's anger, he felt a sense of satisfaction and grinned with a face full of fat.

Zeng Xiaoyan was so angry she almost vomited blood.

Lou Er glared at Zeng Xiaojuan and scolded her impatiently, "What are you still standing here for? Hurry up and go help with the work."

Zeng Xiaojuan looked at her younger sister, hesitant to speak, clearly wanting to talk to her for a while longer.

"Aren't you going yet? Are you asking for trouble?"

Helpless, Zeng Xiaojuan could only avoid Zeng Xiaoyan's gaze and walk away with her head down.

Zeng Xiaoyan wanted to call her, but thinking of Lou Er's scumbag attitude and worried that she would be beaten later, she didn't dare to call her and could only watch her go.

Lou Er glared at Zeng Xiaoyan with satisfaction, snorted heavily, and strode away.

Zeng Xiaoyan clenched her fists, "I'm so angry!"

Wasn't the Lou family a thriving family business with a grocery store? How could Lou Er be such a shameless person?

What will happen to my second sister in the future?
Zeng Xiaoyan felt increasingly heavy-hearted as she thought about it, and she couldn't help but sigh softly. What else could she do?

"Xiaoyan!"

Xu Zhichun is back. Zeng Xiaoyan quickly composed herself and put on a smile. "Sister-in-law Zhichun."

Xu Zhichun pulled her to the side and whispered, "I overheard your elder sister plotting against Brother Liang." Xu Zhichun didn't dare to go too far in other people's gardens. After all, the gardens of wealthy families are places where coincidences or unexpected events frequently occur. Better safe than sorry.

The flowers in the garden were blooming beautifully, and the garden itself had clearly been carefully arranged and maintained. However, for Xu Zhichun, who had visited many famous gardens in Jiangnan, admired countless beautiful parks and landscapes, and even toured places like the Forbidden City, Prince Gong's Mansion, and the Summer Palace, the scenery of this small garden was not enough to make her linger.

She casually found a secluded spot with flowers, trees, and rocks and stayed there quietly, giving the two sisters plenty of time to talk.

Unfortunately, someone was discussing something harmful with her across the artificial hill and flowers.

One person called out, "Sister Cuiqiao!" Xu Zhichun immediately thought of the trusted maidservant that Zeng Xiaoyan had told her about her elder sister. So, adhering to the principle of "it's better to avoid trouble," she firmly landed on the ground again, ready to leave quietly.

You not only have to listen to this corner of the wall, but you also have to listen very carefully.

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhichun broke out in a cold sweat.

Cuiqiao subtly hinted to the other maid that this was the young lady's intention—to have Liang Mingliang do something outrageous, to firmly brand him with the accusation of humiliating a Zeng family maid, and to catch him in the act.
If they succeed, not only will Liang Mingliang never be able to hold his head up again and his relationship with his wife break down, but Liang Lizheng and his wife will also never be able to hold their heads up again.

The whole family would be pointed at and gossiped about, and would be branded as having improper family conduct.

Liang Lizheng was an upright man his whole life, and his family was very honest and upright. Everyone praised him. But from now on, it's all over.

Liang Mingliang would never have thought of such a precautionary tactic; he'd probably never even heard of it, let alone seen it before. If no one stopped him, he would have fallen for it without a doubt.

Xu Zhichun was shocked. The two had just left triumphantly after their conspiracy when she rushed to find Zeng Xiaoyan.

Fortunately, Zeng Xiaoyan hadn't gone far and was still here.

Zeng Xiaoyan's face also turned pale, and she stamped her foot in shock and anger: "She's even more vicious than before! How dare she, how dare she!"

Xu Zhichun hurriedly said, "Go find Brother Liang quickly. I'm going back to the women's flower hall in a bit. Go quickly. Don't worry, I know the way and won't wander off."

Zeng Xiaoyan bit her lip and nodded: "I'll report back to my sister-in-law later!"

After saying this, she hurriedly ran off to find her husband.

Xu Zhichun breathed a sigh of relief. Those two schemers had just left; there was still time.
Xu Zhichun returned to the women's flower hall as if nothing had happened. Looking around, he saw that Aunt Liang was still talking enthusiastically with someone, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

She then casually found a secluded corner to sit down.

She didn't seek trouble, but unexpectedly, trouble came looking for her.

She came with the Liang family, and at the gate, she and the village headman clashed with Steward Zeng, which was tantamount to indirectly mocking the Zeng family. It's normal for the Zeng family to want to scheme against her.

For example, if the scalding hot tea were "accidentally" spilled on her, she would suffer and be embarrassed. But if it were spilled on Aunt Liang, the legitimate mother-in-law and elder, it would be considered that the Zeng family was lax in managing the household and that the servants were uncouth.

So Aunt Liang chatted with people for a while without encountering any dirty tricks. Xu Zhichun had only been there a short while when a maid came over with a tea tray to perform.

Xu Zhichun had read countless stories about palace intrigue, so this little trick wasn't particularly clever, but it was effective.

She sensed something was wrong as soon as she saw the girl. She reacted quickly, but was still a beat too slow. The tea didn't spill on her, but some splashed onto the skirt around her waist.

She was wearing a light apricot-colored dress today, and the tea spilled on her was quite noticeable.

At her soft gasp, all the guests turned to look, and the young maid, her face pale with fright, knelt down with a thud, pleading, "Young mistress, spare me! Spare me!"

(End of this chapter)