CHAPTER 136: CHAPTER 136: FINDING A GOOD EXCUSE (1)

Li Yuzhu couldn’t think of anything for the moment.

She shook her head, "You’re urging so urgently, how could I come up with something immediately?"

Shouldn’t you give her a little time?

"Alright then, you all hurry up and think. By tomorrow morning, you must help me come up with a good idea!" The Great Princess’s expression was serious as she looked at her two sisters and two brothers.

The Second Young Master and Li Xing’an couldn’t be bothered with her and simply rolled their eyes.

Isn’t today’s commotion enough? Still want more trouble?

With that leisure time, it’s better to think about how to make money.

The Second Young Master only had two hundred copper coins that Li Yuzhu initially gave him. The amount was too little, almost too shabby.

Li Xing’an had received one hundred and twenty taels of silver, and he gave a hundred taels to the family to buy furniture for the new home.

He also took ten taels for the Princess Consort Luling’s household expenses, leaving him with only ten taels, which might be gone any day.

Both were worried about how to make money and didn’t want to concern themselves with other matters.

"Isn’t it time to make dinner? I’ll take the eggs to the kitchen." The Second Young Master walked away carrying a basket.

A full basket of eggs, must be fifty or sixty at least.

"I have something to discuss with father." Li Xing’an also ran off.

"Run, run, huh, I’ll find my sisters to come up with ideas." The Great Princess glared at the backs of her two brothers.

Then, she turned her gaze back to her two sisters.

The Second Princess rubbed her stomach, "I’m hungry, I’m going to find something to eat."

She ran off.

"I need to milk the goat for Guoguo." Li Yuzhu also left.

"A bunch of selfish misers, hmph!" The Great Princess said angrily.

.

Except for the Princely Heir, everyone else went out early in the morning and didn’t return until late afternoon.

They agreed to lie, saying the road was difficult to navigate, delaying them on the way, and that they bought steamed buns to eat outside, using this as an excuse.

Since the children returned safely, Prince Luling and his wife didn’t ask further questions.

The dinner dishes included steamed egg custard, wild chives scrambled with eggs, stir-fried cabbage, and steamed salted pork slices.

The scrambled eggs were plentiful. Seeing so many eggs, Xue Family scrambled eight eggs, piling them high in the bowl, and the Princess Consort Luling asked about the eggs.

"Where did these eggs come from? I didn’t see them at noon," the Princess Consort Luling asked in confusion.

The incident with the Great Princess hitting someone was unanimously ignored, with only mention of Liu Da Niu’s arm being broken by her mother-in-law.

"Liu the bricklayer’s eldest granddaughter Liu Da Niu had her arm broken by her mother-in-law. Liu the bricklayer entrusted Mu Yuanxiu of the mountain to take Liu Da Niu back to the village. When their ox cart passed by our house, I saw that Liu Da Niu’s broken arm wasn’t bandaged well, so I followed them to her house to re-bandage it. Big Girl’s Mother insisted on giving me eggs, so I brought them back," Li Yuzhu said.

"Ah? What kind of in-laws so cruel as to break the daughter-in-law’s arm?" The Princess Consort Luling was very surprised.

She was the legitimate daughter of a scholarly family, and the inner residence struggles never reached her.

The noblewomen she associated with, and some of the powerful women later in life, were all of noble birth, and even if conflicts arose at home, no one dared to resort to violence.

Because in aristocratic marriages, it’s mostly political alliances.

A mother-in-law hitting a daughter-in-law would challenge the bottom line of another family, leading to instant social ostracism.

If life became unbearable, one could divorce or secretly suppress, but no one dared to hit openly.

So the Princess Consort Luling was very surprised to hear that a mother-in-law broke her daughter-in-law’s arm.

"According to Liu Da Niu, she was late in cooking that day, so her mother-in-law hit her," Li Yuzhu said, then deliberately smiled at Xue Family, "Sister-in-law, thank goodness our mother has a good temper, if you met such a mother-in-law, you would lose both arms."

Today’s dinner was made by Xue Family, but she was sulking, and it wasn’t until dusk turned to nightfall that dinner was finally prepared.

A steamed egg custard, scrambled eggs, stir-fried cabbage shreds, and steamed salted pork slices, with rice. It took Xue Family more than an hour to prepare these.

The day before, during a banquet, Li Yuzhu cooked two tables of dishes, spending just as much time.

"Yes, broken in two," the Great Princess also said, "that wail was even louder than a pig being slaughtered."

The expression on Xue Family’s face gradually turned sour.

"Mother is the granddaughter of a Hanlin Academy scholar, from an aristocratic family. Our family, being part of the Royal Family, has its own rules. How could we compare to countryside families, resolving disagreements with violence?" Xue Family said faintly.

Though she said so, she was growing fearful inside.

Back in the Capital, people cared too much about face to strike others; now in this remote place, who would know who hit whom?

Xue Family worried that the Princess Consort Luling might actually hit her.

Li Yuzhu sneered, "Oh, you say hitting is barbaric, then why did you hit Guoguo? You bully her because she can’t scold you or cry."

Guoguo glanced up at Li Yuzhu, then at Xue Family.

The large, distinct black-and-white eyes showed not a trace of emotion.

Xue Family was so angry she choked, "..."

The Princely Heir mediated, "We’re eating, let’s talk less."

"No talking during meals, no speaking while sleeping." Prince Luling, fearing they might start arguing again, coughed to remind everyone not to quarrel.

So everyone stopped arguing and began to eat.

The Great Princess complained that too much wild leek had been added to the eggs, affecting their flavor.

Li Yuzhu chuckled, "Big sister, Liu Da Niu said her family’s eggs taste better than others, and asked you to have more."

"Oh? Really?" The Great Princess was pleased, feeling her help was not in vain, "Then I’ll eat more."

She grabbed a large portion with her chopsticks, piling it into her bowl, "Mmm, mmm, it’s indeed delicious."

This single scoop took away a third of the eggs, making Xue Family so angry her eyes filled with fire.

The Great Princess always boasted about her grace; where’s that grace today? Hahaha!

.

Having rushed around all day, the Great Princess was exhausted and went to bathe early on.

The new house was spacious, and the bathing area wasn’t set in the bedroom.

It was built in a small room next to the sisters’ bedroom, intended as a bathroom.

The style somewhat resembled a modern bathroom, designed by Li Yuzhu and constructed by the Princely Heir with Liu the bricklayer and his two sons.

The floor inside was covered with non-slip gravel, with a drainage outlet installed in the corner.

A hollow bamboo tube was connected to the outlet, allowing water to drain directly outside the yard.

Once they have the funds, she plans to build a water tower outside the bathroom, so water would automatically flow into the basin by opening a switch, without the need to carry heavy water buckets for bathing.

In the bedroom, Li Yuzhu was sitting under the lamp, keeping accounts.

The Second Princess fished out a dry cake to eat.

Watching her enjoy it so much, Li Yuzhu chuckled and shook her head; the Second Princess constantly lamented about not wanting to get fat, yet she couldn’t stop eating.

"Second sister, eating less at dinner won’t make you fat. You’re about to sleep, yet you’re still eating?" Li Yuzhu reminded her, "Indigestion isn’t good for the stomach."

The Second Princess looked embarrassed, glanced at her belly, "I wasn’t full."

"I’m not full either; I’m still hungry, Second Aunt." Nobody knew when Li Jing had arrived, lying in the doorway, sticking his small head out, and looking plaintively at the half-eaten dry cake in the Second Princess’s hand.

The Second Princess’s heart skipped a beat; oh no, someone had come to snatch food.

"Jingjing, it’s so late, why are you here?" The Second Princess quickly withdrew her hand, slyly tucking the half-eaten cake into her sleeve.

But Li Jing’s sharp eyes still caught sight of it.

"Second Aunt, can you give me some food?" The child looked at her pitifully, extending his hand.

The Second Princess’s heart ached slightly.

Liu Da Niu, who could make this cake, had a broken arm, and Li Yuzhu said it’d take several months before she could make more.

She only had thirty-eight cakes left and had to eat them sparingly.

"I don’t have much left either. The one who makes these cakes, Liu Da Niu, broke her arm and can’t make them anymore, so I can’t give them to you." The Second Princess shook her head.

Li Jing started to cry, "Second Aunt, I want to eat. You ate so much, and I only had one."

"I, I, I, I, only have half a cake left; otherwise, take it." The Second Princess sighed.

Oh my, a crying child is scary; she relented and parted with the cake.

With a sigh, she reluctantly handed over the half cake.

Li Jing happily crawled over the threshold and took it to eat.

Li Yuzhu laughed; is the Second Princess so protective of her food?

But on second thought, it made sense; the Second Princess was only fourteen this year, akin to a second-year junior high student in the modern world.

At this age, when children are growing, eating is a top priority for them.

Her giving up such precious food was already quite remarkable.

Li Yuzhu said, "Second sister, since Da Niu can’t make cakes anymore, perhaps someone else in her family can. Let’s use some money to buy more, so don’t worry."

"But I heard that Liu Da Niu figured it out on her own, and no one else in her family can make them." The Second Princess sighed, "If only I knew how to make them, but I don’t."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuzhu’s eyes lit up instantly.

The Great Princess wanted to go to the Liu Family but couldn’t find a pretext.

The Second Princess wanted to eat cakes, and the cake-making Liu Da Niu had hurt her arm.

Might as well use the excuse of learning how to make cakes to visit the Liu Family every day?