Mrs. Li had been paying attention to her mother-in-law all this time, and since her daughters hadn’t returned, her hungry son could only eat rice paste. The bloating pain in her body prevented her from thinking too much.
She believed that the Tang Family’s young Master would take good care of her five daughters. Besides, even though her daughters were young, they were sensible to the point of heartache and wouldn’t easily get into conflicts with others.
Still, Mrs. Li felt uneasy, as if these farmers visiting a wealthy family were guests who could be criticized or looked down on for their silence.
"Go find the young ladies and bring them back," Mrs. Li said to two little maids.
"Madam, we’ve come to this place, but we don’t know which courtyard the young ladies have gone to. We’re afraid of running into someone important, let alone finding the young ladies," said one little maid, while the other, too scared to speak, kept her head down. In fact, her silence already made it clear: how would they manage if they got lost in this unfamiliar place?
Mrs. Li, in her haste, hadn’t considered this earlier. When they arrived, she had instructed everyone not to wander off, for even after several months as a wet nurse, she still didn’t know every part of the Tang Mansion.
She had only visited the young Master’s and the Madam’s courtyards, such as the outer courtyard and the study room, but she had never been to the private areas of other masters within the Tang Family or to the places where they lived.
One can imagine how large the place is, so sending two little maids to search truly wouldn’t work.
To find her daughters, she would have to do it herself. She asked the maids to watch over Mrs. Lai and then said to Ye Shuzhen, "Little sister-in-law, stay here and keep our mother-in-law company. I’ll go and look for the girls."
Ye Shuzhen nodded and replied, "Alright, sister-in-law."
Mrs. Lai, on the other hand, rolled her eyes and ignored her, her chubby, short legs wobbling back and forth.
As Mrs. Li walked away with her son, Mrs. Lai quietly asked her daughter, "Shuzhen, it’s been a month since you got married, is there any good news in your belly?"
The question from her mother made Ye Shuzhen blush. Her mother wasn’t speaking softly at all, and she could feel the stares of others upon her.
Embarrassed and a little awkward, her face turned beet red as she coyly said to her mother, "Oh, Mom, how can you talk about this here?"
"What are you thinking? Aren’t you worried at all? The question I asked is so common; even if others hear it, they won’t gossip!"
Mrs. Lai said this while casting a pleasing glance at the gossipy wealthy women around, then revealing her big yellow teeth.
Those wealthy women were initially curious, wanting to overhear the mother-daughter conversation. Indeed, gossip about a newly married woman.
This would give them new topics for gossip: if she was happy after just one month of marriage, it might mean she had erred before the wedding.
Some scandalous deeds done in secrecy by smaller households were unlike those of wealthy families, who would confirm a bride’s virtue with a piece of cloth on the wedding night.
The disdainful glances and the stench of rot from Mrs. Lai’s yellow teeth made the wealthy women turn their faces away, though their ears were still tuned in to listen.
"Mom, how can I rush this? I’ve only been married for a month."
Ye Shuzhen didn’t want to continue discussing this subject. Although mother and daughter could whisper secrets, her mother’s words at this moment in front of so many people made her feel embarrassed. If her family found out, it would be too shameful to bear.
Mrs. Lai, somewhat helplessly, could only nod and say, "Then you need to be diligent. Don’t be clueless. If you don’t understand, should I give you some prescriptions?"
Ye Shuzhen was even more embarrassed and shook her head. Her mother always brought up this topic, making it hard for her to cope. She blushed, lowered her head, and whispered, "Mom, let’s not talk about prescriptions. After all, when you gave all those prescriptions to my sister-in-law, she still had five daughters before finally having a son."
Embarrassed by her daughter’s reminder, Mrs. Lai dared not continue on this topic, worried it would affect her daughter’s standing in her husband’s family.
Hongji and his father were visiting on the other side, among the men. Although they were seated together with wealthy men, they formed their own group.
Their arrival, however, did not involve as much roundabout talk as with the women.
This time, the wealthy men present all owned land and had bought more to plant after that group visit.
Previously, some tried to poach from others, aiming to do a better job, but ended up bringing the poached to their place, unable to outperform others.
Their so-called experience was not much different from common farmers, maybe slightly better at best, because running an estate is not the same as a farmer’s home crops.