Prince Jin's body stiffened, but he quickly regained his composure. He reached out and patted Concubine Liang's slender back and softly comforted her, "Imperial Mother, it was I who wanted to go. It's not your fault. Besides, didn't I come back safely?"

As early as when Prince Jin was fostered under the name of Concubine Liang, he followed the second prince and called Concubine Liang mother.

Listening to Prince Jin's comforting words, Concubine Liang finally put away her tears: "Yi is right, I was looking at the face. Come, sit down, I will order the dishes to be served. Today's dishes were personally cooked by mother. You two should eat more later."

The palace maids quickly set up the dining table, and the 'mother and son' sat around the table. According to the rules of the palace, it was not appropriate to talk while eating.

The meal was quiet. Concubine Liang didn't eat much. She just picked food for the Crown Prince and Prince Jin.

After the meal, Concubine Liang asked the palace maid beside her to bring out a brand new robe.

Bai Zhi pulled Prince Jin in front of her and said with a smile: "Come, try it and see if it fits. I made it for you before the New Year, but you didn't come back for the New Year, so I kept it until now."

As usual, Prince Jin received Concubine Liang's care.

The Crown Prince said sourly, "Fourth Brother, you don't know, but only you have this robe made by Mother. Even I don't have one."

Liang Fei immediately slapped the Crown Prince's shoulder, "What are you saying!

You already have a family. If you want a new robe, ask your Crown Princess to make it for you. Ah Yi is still alone. As his mother, of course I will favor Ah Yi. "

When it was nearly midnight, Prince Jin returned to Prince Jin's mansion.

Behind him, his trusted eunuch was holding a brand new robe and asked, "Your Highness, shall I give this robe to the nanny to put away?"

Monarch Jin's voice suddenly became cold, "Burn it!"

The eunuch was startled and immediately complied. He then ordered someone to find a brazier and threw the robe that was brought back from Consort Liang's place into the brazier.

Prince Jin stood by the bed. There was no light in the room. The silvery moonlight shone through the window and fell on Prince Jin.

Concubine Liang's words echoed in his mind before he left.

"Yi, your second brother isn't as capable as you. You have to help your second brother more in the future."

Heh!

Help him?

Chu Lian was drinking honey water in the courtyard when Xiyan rushed in with a smile on her face.

Chu Lian glanced at her. "Why?

Isn't it a good thing? "

Xiyan nodded like a chicken eating rice. "Third Madam, I heard that Guilin Restaurant is going to close soon."

Chu Lian almost spat out the honey water in her mouth.

What?

That was way too fast!

"What happened?"

Even if Guilin Residence had lost her staff, it shouldn't have closed so soon. In the past, Guilin Residence had been incurring huge losses, but it had never said that it was going to close.

Xiyan leaned in and said: "I heard that he was reprimanded by a high-ranking official in the capital."

Chu Lian suddenly understood. No wonder she had received Madam Yang's letter two days ago. In the letter, she had asked about Guilin Residence. Madam Yang had only tactfully said that Guilin Residence had been handed over to her grandmother and that she was no longer managing it.

Come to think of it, when Guilin Restaurant first opened, its main customers were the upper class of Shengjing. Now that Guilin Restaurant had been replaced, the first to bear the brunt were the rich and powerful. Although Matriarch He had a certain status in the capital, she was still nothing in front of those who were truly of high status. It was only a matter of time before Guilin Restaurant closed down.

Xiyan took out a letter from her sleeve pocket and handed it to Chu Lian. "Third Madam, this is a letter from the Northern Region. It's from Steward Qin."

Chu Lian opened the letter and immediately skimmed through it.

After reading it, she smiled. "The incident in Jian City has come to an end. Steward Qin and the others are already on their way back to the capital."

Everything was going smoothly. Xiyan also smiled.

The atmosphere in Songtao Court was harmonious and cheerful. However, the atmosphere in Qingxi Hall was gloomy.

The Matriarch slammed the letters in her hands on the small table and said angrily, "Outrageous!

How can these people be so bold! "

Eldest Grandaunt He Ying wiped her tears. "Mother, don't be angry. It's all because I'm useless. I couldn't find a good cook. That's why Guilin Residence is being criticized."

Beside her, Senior Servant Liu patted the Matriarch's back to calm her down. At the same time, she looked at Eldest Grandaunt disapprovingly.

"Alright, don't cry. It's not all your fault. San Lang's wife transferred all the original people away. What could you do about it?"

Eldest Grandaunt wiped her tears and nodded pitifully. "Mother, what should we do? We still need money at home!

We can't just borrow money from others, can we? "

There wasn't much money and shops in the public domain to begin with. After the Matriarch took over, Mu Xiang and He Ying took some from them. Now that there wasn't much income, they really didn't have enough money to use.

The Matriarch frowned. She didn't expect that at such an old age, she would have to worry about these things that she couldn't bring with her when she was alive or dead.

Seeing that the Matriarch's expression wasn't good, Pan Nianzhen, who was sitting next to her mother, whispered, "Maternal Grandmother, I heard that Aunt's health has improved a lot. She can get out of bed and walk around normally now. She's also managing the affairs in the courtyard!"

With Pan Nianzhen's reminder, He Ying instantly understood.

She looked at her daughter approvingly. "Mother, Nianzhen is right. You're already old. It's time for you to enjoy your leisure and happiness. It's not your turn to manage the affairs of the residence. In the past, Eldest Sister-in-law's health wasn't good. Now that she's healthy, isn't it only right that she manages the household?"

The Matriarch's health wasn't as good as before. She really couldn't manage the affairs of the residence anymore. When she heard her daughter's suggestion, she felt that it was reasonable. She really didn't want to manage such a terrible mess, so she might as well hand it over to her daughter-in-law.

Her daughter-in-law had been idle for so many years. It was time for her to manage the household.

Eldest Grandaunt started calculating in her heart. She was thinking about how she could earn another sum of money when she handed over the accounts to Countess Jing 'an.

When the accounts were handed over to Eldest Sister-in-law, she would be the one to clean up the mess. It wouldn't be her business anymore.

He Ying was still thinking when she suddenly heard the Matriarch ask, "Sister Ying 'er, how's Nianzhen's marriage going?"

Ever since the Little New Year, Matriarch He had been looking for families for Pan Nianzhen. The madams who were on good terms with Pan Nianzhen also suggested a few candidates. However, none of them were willing when she mentioned it to her daughter and granddaughter.

Actually, she wasn't very satisfied when she heard it. Most of the candidates were from low-ranking officials' families or the children of poor families. If they were rich, they were just lowly merchants.

However, the Matriarch didn't think about Pan Nianzhen's own status.

Other than her uncle's family in Count Jing 'an's estate, she had nothing else. Her mother was a widow who had sought refuge with her maiden family. When she was young, her mother had a bad reputation in the capital.

It wasn't easy for her to find these clean families.

Actually, He Ying didn't like these families because she had already taken a liking to He Erlang.

She sneaked a glance at her mother and pretended to be angry. "These people are looking down on us. Look at what kind of family they're talking about. Sister Zhen has suffered hardships with me since she was young. How can I marry her off so casually and let her continue to suffer hardships when she's with her in-laws?"