After breakfast and tidying up the courtyard, Xie Linlang finally headed out to the Qiao Family.
At this hour, the Qiao Family members had already gone out to work. Even Qiao Daya had followed Aunt Qiao to set up their stall, leaving only Sister-in-law Qiao at home with Shitou.
Seeing Xie Linlang arrive, Sister-in-law Qiao first asked if she had been scared staying home alone last night. Xie Linlang smiled and replied, “I was quite unaccustomed to it at first, but after you came by, I felt much more at ease.”
Sister-in-law Qiao immediately beamed with joy. She was increasingly convinced that Xie Linlang was a remarkable person—despite her noble background, she carried not a hint of arrogance. Most importantly, she knew how to be grateful.
Unlike the daughter-in-law of the Li Family in the Back Alley, who looked down on others just because her family ran a shop and never bothered to befriend them.
Before Xiao Ji’s wedding, the daughter-in-law of the Chen Family had even said that Xie Linlang wouldn’t last long with Xiao Ji after marrying him. But now, not only had Xie Linlang married Xiao Ji, but the couple was also living quite well together.
She chuckled happily and said, “Even when Aunt Xiao was still around, our two families were close. Now that you’ve married into the family, I finally have someone to talk to. If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to come find me.”
Xie Linlang happily agreed. Although the Xiao Family had few members and no farmland, meaning there were rarely situations requiring help, West City was different from Qinren Lane. No one could live completely isolated behind closed doors, and maintaining good relations with neighbors was part of life.
When it came to the wisdom of neighborhood interactions, Xie Linlang felt she still had much to learn.
“There is actually something I’d like to ask you, Sister-in-law.”
Xie Linlang was someone who acted on her thoughts. Last night, while sitting in the courtyard, she had considered getting a dog to raise at home, and this morning, she was already putting the idea into practice.
Sister-in-law Qiao set down the work in her hands and asked, “What is it? Just tell me.”
“I’d like to get a puppy to raise at home. It can keep me company when Xiao Ji isn’t home, and when it grows up, it can guard the house. Do you know if anyone in our lane keeps dogs?”
Though it might seem like a simple matter of getting a puppy, Xie Linlang couldn’t just wander around West City’s streets and alleys looking for one. It was better to ask around directly. In such situations, someone like Sister-in-law Qiao, who knew West City inside and out, was the best person to turn to for a quick answer.
Sister-in-law Qiao thought for a moment and felt that Xie Linlang was still quite young, and with Xiao Ji often away on official duties, having a dog for company wasn’t a bad idea.
“Not many families in our lane keep dogs. They eat a lot, and people are afraid they might bite. If you’ve made up your mind, I can bring one back for you from my parents’ village.”
Sister-in-law Qiao’s parents lived in a village near the capital, where space was ample, and every household kept dogs for guarding their homes.
Xie Linlang naturally had no objections. “Then I’ll trouble you, Sister-in-law Qiao. I won’t take it for free—whether they want grain or silver, I’m willing to pay.”
Sister-in-law Qiao didn’t refuse either. After all, raising dogs and their litters in farming households required food, so giving one away would naturally require some compensation.
“No need for silver. When the puppy is brought back, you can give some grain as you see fit.”
With the matter settled, Xie Linlang wasn’t in a hurry to leave. She took a stool and sat down to help Sister-in-law Qiao pick vegetables.
In the Qiao Family, Aunt Qiao usually ran the stall, but Sister-in-law Qiao, who stayed at home, was far from idle. Not only was she responsible for all the household chores like washing and cleaning, but she also spent her days preparing the odds and ends Aunt Qiao needed for the stall.
Take, for example, the vegetable toppings for the cold noodles sold in summer. Sister-in-law Qiao would spend over two hours just from buying the vegetables to washing, cleaning, and shredding them.
Seeing Xie Linlang about to lend a hand, Sister-in-law Qiao hurriedly reached out to stop her. When she couldn’t dissuade her, she had no choice but to let her help. It was just as well—working together gave them a chance to chat.
Perhaps because she felt a connection with Xie Linlang, Sister-in-law Qiao couldn’t help but share her own story.
“When I married into the Qiao family back then, I made all the girls in the village green with envy. Everyone knew the Qiao family had a business in the capital, and I thought I was incredibly lucky to marry into such a household.
But it’s only after living the life that you realize every family has its own troubles. Everyone works from dawn till dusk, yet my mother-in-law still often thinks I’m not diligent enough.”
Seeing the gloom on Sister-in-law Qiao’s face, Xie Linlang knew there must be hardships in her life with the Qiao family. But since it was a family matter, she didn’t want to pry.
Instead, she simply echoed Sister-in-law Qiao’s words and began sharing some gossip about wealthy families in the capital. When Xie Linlang mentioned how the young mistress of a certain family, right after marrying in, was constantly harassed by her mother-in-law—forced to rise early every day to pay respects and even having to serve meals without being allowed to eat herself—Sister-in-law Qiao’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“How could they not let her eat? Besides, don’t wealthy families have servants to do all the work?”
“They do have servants, but think about it, Sister-in-law. In ordinary families, when a mother-in-law wants to assert her authority over a new daughter-in-law, she makes her work nonstop, never letting her rest. But in wealthy families, they care about appearances and can’t use such crude methods to torment someone. So, they come up with other ways to impose rules on the newcomer.
Things like morning and evening greetings, having the daughter-in-law tend to the mother-in-law when she’s ill, or finding excuses to make her copy sutras for blessings—all are excellent ways to torment someone. When word gets out, no one can accuse the mother-in-law of deliberately mistreating her, yet it truly makes life miserable.
If the new daughter-in-law comes from a slightly less influential family, with no reliable backing from her own kin, the in-laws’ methods of torment become even more endless.”
Xie Linlang spoke lightly, for although she had never become anyone’s daughter-in-law, she had experienced all these things firsthand under Madam Xie and Xie Yurou.
Not to mention the distant past, just after Xie Yurou’s coming-of-age ceremony when she began meeting potential suitors, Madam Xie often took the sisters to various banquets. If Xie Yurou made any mistakes at these events, Madam Xie would never punish her upon returning to the manor. Instead, Xie Linlang, the daughter of a concubine who tagged along like a shadow, would be blamed for being unruly and playful, dragging her eldest sister down. Sometimes, even when the blame couldn’t be pinned on her, she still couldn’t escape punishment—after all, why didn’t she advise her eldest sister properly while out in public? Was she deliberately trying to see her eldest sister humiliated?
In high-ranking families, if those in power take a dislike to you, no matter how clever you are, you can never escape their schemes.
Sister-in-law Qiao listened, stunned and amazed, completely forgetting her own troubles and even feeling a bit unsatisfied when the stories ended.
After talking with Xie Linlang, Sister-in-law Qiao’s desire to marry her daughter into a wealthy family to live a young mistress’s life diminished considerably. She had once thought that if her daughter married into a wealthy family, she would have servants for everything and wouldn’t have to work tirelessly from dawn till dusk.
But now, hearing Xie Linlang’s words, she felt such families might not be suitable for her eldest daughter.
As the two chatted idly, Xie Linlang had no idea that the very things she spoke of were currently unfolding in Qing’an Marquis Manor.
Xie Yurou seemed to have come to terms with things since returning from Xie Manor that day, and she proactively promoted a second-class maid from her own courtyard to serve the Heir Apparent.
She herself then settled down to focus on nurturing her pregnancy, but before many days had passed, an incident occurred. That maid had the audacity to secretly pour out the Anti-conception Decoction that Xie Yurou had sent over.
Upon discovery, Xie Yurou was furious and ordered the matrons to hold the maid down and beat her in the courtyard.
Up to this point, it was merely a minor matter, but somehow that maid caught the Heir Apparent’s eye, and he personally came to plead on her behalf: “Madam, please calm your anger. Xiaolian is foolish—she must have simply had a momentary lapse in judgment.”