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Ye Muyu knew exactly what Chu Jin was up to. She stepped into the courtyard, glanced towards Chu Jin's window, and said, "Lil' Jin, you won't get any meat for lunch unless you finish your writing."
With those words, Chu Jin's initial thought of trying to slack off immediately vanished.
Nothing was more important than having meat!
He wiped away his tears, his fingers trembling, and continued to write the dreadful black characters.
"Sister Ye, I can embroider the skirt myself," Madam Tang followed her in, seeing no one was paying attention and without spotting Chu Heng, her eyes flashed, and she offered.
"Alright, I'll get you a needle and thread." Ye Muyu went to the west wing room, her sleeping quarters, and fetched a needle and thread.
She led Madam Tang into the main hall, "You can sit here, I'll go make lunch."
"Sister Ye, go ahead, I won't trouble you," Madam Tang replied with a very considerate smile.
Ye Muyu left the main hall and entered the kitchen.
Chu Ziluo quickly followed her, "Mother, I'll help you light the fire."
"No need, go keep the guest company. There's tea on the table, just pour a cup."
"Oh, okay, Mother." Chu Ziluo took a couple of steps and then paused, "Mother, the tea on the table is cold."
"It's fine, the guest prefers it cold."
"Okay, then I'll go. Mother, if you need help, just call me," Chu Ziluo obediently replied, not questioning Ye Muyu's words.
Ye Muyu knew that Madam Tang had some motives, so how could she be patient enough to entertain her?
She boiled water to blanch the meat first.
She wasn't very skilled at burning firewood, but fortunately, with the original owner's memories, it wasn't too difficult to manage.
After blanching, she fished out the meat and placed it in cold water to cool.
The house had green onions and ginger; she always treated herself well. She planned to make some pork belly with twice-cooked pork and minced eggplant, along with a tomato egg soup, which would be enough for the four of them at home.
Ye Muyu worked methodically in the kitchen, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Madam Tang had come out of the room.
Chu Ziluo had been sent off, and seeing her just return to the room, she didn't call out to the child.
Instead, her gaze fell on Madam Tang, noticing her as she reached the study's door.
The study was just in front of the kitchen, separated from the main hall by a large open space.
So, if Madam Tang wanted to go to the study, she had to pass by the kitchen entrance.
However, after that, she couldn't be seen.
Ye Muyu was extremely surprised at that moment. It turned out that Madam Tang's target was Chu Heng...
Although, in this era, the original owner's husband, with his decent looks and the title of scholar, had a relatively high status, but... it wasn't enough for an unmarried maiden to fancy him and want to marry him, was it?
It was known that during this dynasty, although scholars had the privilege to use servants, they could not take concubines.
Admittedly, there were a few who maintained mistresses, but for the sake of their future, such scholars were rare.
At least, according to what the original owner had learned from Chu Heng, that was the case.
After all, if one could frequent brothels, why maintain a mistress and leave a blemish on their career?
And these ladies knew it well.
Therefore, scholars who were married, unless stubbornly foolish, wouldn't think of becoming a mistress. Given that scholars were neither high nor low, most of them remained stagnant at that level for their entire lives. Becoming the mistress of a poor scholar offered no future.
Even Chu Heng, being the first place in the county's examination, theoretically had a great chance of passing as the first place in the examination.
But he encountered problems twice during the exams.
The first time, at sixteen, while traveling to the exam, he encountered a heavy rain. By the time he reached the exam hall, he had a fever and was nearly burned out of his mind, naturally failing that examination.
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