First, Ganlin Courtyard came to raid once, and then the two yiniangs, not sure who they listened to, also sent people over, turning the kitchen upside down. The things they took were one thing, but they also smashed things around, making the already not-so-wealthy days even worse.

Granny Zhao spat in her heart, thinking they were just taking advantage of the fact that Boye and Liu Yiniang were not around. When the cat’s away, the monkeys play! Usually, when Liu Yiniang is in the residence, where do these two yiniangs even have a say?!

In the residence, there were also the two little ancestors, Shen Chun and Shen Song, who couldn’t be neglected. Shen Chun wasn’t feeling well, and if a meal didn’t go down smoothly, he would start cursing. These days have been really tough. Finally, when the lockdown was lifted, and the farm sent over some vegetables, they hadn’t even left the residence when they encountered the grand entourage from Ganlin Courtyard.

As soon as Granny Zhao saw Shen Qian, her scalp tingled, and it felt like a ladle of hot porridge was hanging over her face, the steam rushing towards her. She wanted to stop them, but deep down, she was scared. Although there wasn’t a pot of porridge nearby for Shen Qian to use, the lake wasn’t far.

She heard that the eldest gongzi wanted to throw the third gongzi into the lake for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. She was afraid that if Shen Qian went crazy, he might throw her in to soak as well.

While she was hesitating, Shen Qian had already started rummaging through the carts: “There are quite a few good things here. Oh, there’s milk, take it all. The last time it got smashed, it broke my heart. Take it back and make some double-skin milk for the gongzi. Let me see what else is good…”

Granny Zhao’s sister-in-law, Zhang Erniang, nudged her several times in the back, but she didn’t move an inch, her feet seemed glued to the ground. With no other choice, Zhang Erniang bravely stepped forward: “Zhan’er girl, Die brother, let’s forget about last time. We didn’t serve the eldest gongzi well before, it’s our own fault, and we won’t talk nonsense. But today, Liu Yiniang will definitely return, and if you keep making a fuss, we won’t be able to explain ourselves.”

“Don’t go overboard, or we’ll all be in trouble. Please, brothers and sisters, have mercy.”

Although they were somewhat afraid of Shen Qian and the others, they ultimately didn’t have the years of accumulated authority that Liu Yiniang had, who was also a very difficult master to serve!

Shen Qian’s hand paused for a moment, but soon, he remembered Li Xun solemnly telling them that he could definitely protect them. He recalled the letter sent out in the middle of the night and Hua Xiangming’s assurance that everything would be taken care of… Shen Qian smiled at Granny Zhao and Zhang Erniang: “As I told you before, our gongzi is the legitimate master. It seems you didn’t take it to heart?”

The few of them had embarrassed expressions. The county magistrate is not as good as the current manager, no matter who the legitimate master is, the household management is in Liu Yiniang’s hands.

Some even thought to themselves, the eldest gongzi only dares to show off in front of us servants. If you’re the legitimate master, why is the household management in someone else’s hands? Aren’t we all under Liu Yiniang’s control?

Shen Qian dusted off his hands and said lightly, “It’s just because she’s not back yet that it’s more convenient for us to take things. Otherwise, we’d have to argue about it. Since that’s the case, might as well…” He curled his lips, uttering words that sounded like a devil’s whisper to Granny Zhao and the others: “Only children make choices, our eldest gongzi wants it all. Take everything!”

Granny Zhao and the others: “?????”

They never expected things to turn out this way, frantically begging and trying to stop them while glaring at Zhang Erniang: You should have let him take some, why did you provoke him!!!

But Shen Qian’s heart was as hard as stone, saying he’d take everything and he really did. The kitchen staff chased after them all the way to Ganlin Courtyard, only to see the eldest gongzi standing in the courtyard with disheveled hair, looking sinisterly at them as Shen Qian and the others pulled the carts into the courtyard.

Granny Zhao and the others shivered and reluctantly stopped: “…Forget it! Liu Yiniang will be back soon, we’ll just tell her.” Let the masters fight it out themselves!

The carts were indeed loaded with plenty of goods—enough for the whole residence. Dozens of chickens and ducks, half a cart of meat and eggs, a whole cart of fresh vegetables… The people from Ganlin Courtyard hurriedly divided the work to handle it, the small kitchen couldn’t hold it all, so they cleared out an empty room to store the goods.

Li Xun looked at the food on the carts with some confusion: “…Why did you bring so much?”

Shen Qian awkwardly said, “I got carried away…” The conversation just led to that point, it’s all Zhang Erniang’s fault for provoking him!

Li Xun: “…………”

“I’ll go make something delicious for gongzi!” Shen Qian grabbed a milk can and dashed into the kitchen. Li Xun was speechless for a moment, then finally smiled and shook his head: “Forget it, since we have it, we have it.” This Xiao Die still has a child’s heart.

Shen Qian said he would make something delicious, and he really planned to show off his skills. Besides the promised double-skin milk, he also planned to make some milk tea: it’s late autumn, who can resist a cup of hot milk tea!

Milk tea and double-skin milk aren’t difficult, but Shen Qian took some tapioca flour to make some caramel pearls.

First, he added brown sugar with a little water in a pot to make caramel, taking half of it for later use. The rest was mixed with tapioca flour quickly, and after mixing evenly, he continued to add tapioca flour until it formed a dough, then took it out to roll pearls. Shen Qian had the little maid roll the pearls while he went to steam the double-skin milk. Seeing the leftover egg yolks from making the double-skin milk, he also steamed a bowl of egg pudding.

He added water to the caramel he made earlier, brought it to a boil, then added the pearls to cook for twenty minutes, stirring occasionally. After reducing the sauce, he turned off the heat and let it sit for fifteen minutes, and the caramel pearls were done. They were delicious in a cup with fresh milk or milk tea.

Shen Qian also put pudding in the milk tea—it’s just a pity there were no straws to sip it with. He topped the double-skin milk with cut fruit, served portions for them, and gave the rest to the little maids: “You all saw how to make it earlier, if it’s not enough, make it yourself.”

The little maids cheered: ever since Xiao Die brother went out of the residence, he came back knowing how to make so many delicious things!

Shen Qian brought the fruit double-skin milk, caramel egg pudding, caramel pearl fresh milk, and caramel pudding pearl milk tea into the main room: “Gongzi, try and see which one you like?” He thought for a moment and added, “It’s better to drink less of this milk tea.” He made the milk tea with tea leaves, worried that drinking it might cause sleeplessness and affect rest.

Li Xun looked at the double-skin milk: “This looks like sugar-steamed cheese.” Sugar-steamed cheese is a common dessert made with rice wine and milk, most wealthy families make it, so it’s not considered rare. He tasted it and found that although it looked similar and had a similar texture, the taste was quite different from sugar-steamed cheese. Although it was also made with milk, it didn’t have the slightly sour taste of rice wine, just a sweet aroma.

Hmm, couldn’t figure out the mystery, better try another bite…

This caramel fresh milk and milk tea are also good. Li Xun paused, he usually didn’t like sweets much, feeling sick after eating a few pieces of dessert, but now he didn’t know if it was because of the new body or if this little brother’s skills were really good…

This caramel pudding is also fragrant and smooth…

Zhan’er and Xiao Die were even more conquered: “So you can use milk to make tea, this is too delicious!”

Right, in the modern world, who isn’t obsessed with milk tea, let alone these ancient people who have never tasted it… Shen Qian silently watched Li Xun, thinking that drinking more of these high-sugar drinks might help him gain weight faster?

Although the lockdown was lifted at night, Shen Yi’an and Liu Yufu still slept in Yuxiang Pavilion until the sun was high before getting up. Thinking about their plans, Liu Yufu used the excuse of being tired of eating at Yuxiang Pavilion and insisted on going to a teahouse in the north of the city for breakfast, deliberately dragging out the time.

It wasn’t until near noon that they slowly returned to the residence.

The servants in the residence, seeing them return, finally felt they had a backbone. Liu Yufu pretended to ask, “I wonder if anything major happened in the residence during the lockdown in the capital?”

There was so much! The steward glanced at Liu Yufu, then at Shen Yi’an, full of words but not knowing where to start, he just whispered, “The third gongzi fell ill, and because the whole city was locked down, we couldn’t call a doctor. As soon as the lockdown was lifted this morning, we sent the master’s name card to the imperial hospital, but the person hasn’t returned yet.”

“How unfortunate! Falling ill right when the whole city is locked down, it’s been delayed for days?” Liu Yufu said, her face full of concern suddenly paused: “…Who did you say fell ill?”

The steward was sweating profusely: “The third, third gongzi!”

Shen Yi’an, furious, strode towards Ganlin Courtyard, Liu Yufu hurriedly followed with small steps: “An Lang, An Lang, don’t be impulsive, there might be some misunderstanding…”

“What misunderstanding could there be!” Shen Yi’an said angrily: “Isn’t it just because he disciplined the servants in his courtyard, and they splashed water on his brother, even wanting to throw him into the lake! Does he have any brotherly love in his heart! I know that in the capital, some frivolous families often talk about legitimate and illegitimate, bullying and mistreating illegitimate siblings, but I didn’t expect my family to have such a person! I used to pity him for losing his mother at a young age and didn’t bother much, letting Chun’er and Song’er endure many times, but it only made him worse! Now it seems, as a father, I haven’t disciplined him enough!”

Since learning that it was Shen Chun who was ill, Liu Yufu’s expression changed, and Shen Yi’an was also quite anxious. The two hurried to Ningxiang Courtyard where Shen Chun lived—on the way, they encountered Granny Zhao and others, who complained about Ganlin Courtyard again. But Liu Yiniang was focused on her child and couldn’t care about anything else.

Shen Chun was only splashed with a basin of water, so his illness wasn’t severe, he didn’t even have a fever, just a headache, sneezing, and a runny nose.

But he was a bit scared that day, the big brother holding a broken porcelain piece to his face, looking like a fierce ghost, appeared in his nightmares every night, making him even more listless. Seeing his parents now, he started crying, adding fuel to the fire with his grievances. With Liu Yufu beside him, pretending to scold Shen Chun but actually fanning the flames, a few words made Shen Yi’an furious.

Liu Yufu: “Chun’er, as a younger brother, respecting and yielding to the elder brother is only right. This time it’s also his fault, even if there was something wrong with the servants in Ganlin Courtyard, they are the eldest gongzi’s servants, how can a younger brother have the right to interfere in the elder brother’s courtyard, no wonder the eldest gongzi is unhappy… It’s all my fault for not teaching the child well, when we used to live in Liuzhi Lane, Chun’er was also the eldest brother. This child can’t sit still, if he sees something wrong in Song’er’s courtyard, he always wants to help manage it, which is why he developed this habit, overstepping his bounds…”

“You’re just too soft-hearted!” Shen Yi’an’s heart was filled with sourness. Yufu often felt inferior due to her poor background, and she was very tolerant of the legitimate son from the original wife. He didn’t know how much they had suffered when he wasn’t aware, this time it was a big deal, so they couldn’t hide it. “I brought you from Liuzhi Lane to the boye’s residence so that we could live well as a family, not for you to suffer,” Shen Yi’an gritted his teeth: “Today I must properly teach this ungrateful wretch a lesson!”

Ganlin Courtyard had already received the news, Xiao Wan ran back in a panic—even if they were prepared, they were still scared when the time came, her voice trembling: “The master is back, he’s coming to our courtyard, and he looks very angry, cursing as he walks… Gongzi, are we really going to be okay?”

Li Xun was leaning on the bed, gently blowing on a bowl of medicinal soup: this was the last dose of medicine Shen Qian brought back.

Actually, he felt his body was already well, but since this medicine was hard-earned by Xiao Die, he didn’t want to waste his effort: “Don’t worry, nothing will happen.”

Zhan’er brought clothes: “Gongzi, quickly drink the medicine and get ready to see the master.”

“Get ready for what? I’m sick, can’t get up, let him come to the bedside if he has something to say.” If he got up, he’d have to salute Duke Fuchang with this body, does he deserve it?

Seeing Li Xun so calm, Shen Qian felt more at ease, pulling Zhan’er to signal her to step back. He was just curious, what method did he have to be so sure he could suppress Duke Fuchang?