On the Difficulties of Escape in Ancient Times

Chapter 425

Fourth Madam Gu smiled sweetly and said, "Mother, you are worrying too much. First Madam Li can go to the palace and ask the Empress for help. Then we will have money and food."

This is to force Xiao Xiao into a desperate situation, crying and shouting that she doesn't want to take over the charity.

Charity halls are a burden to most people.

But to the Gu family, it was all money.

Xiao Xiao straightened her back and said nothing, with a stubborn look on her face, stubbornly confirming her inability to socialize.

Madam Li could only laugh it off: "Doing good deeds is originally a good thing to do good and accumulate blessings. There are many kind-hearted women in our imperial city."

She now knew very well that the Gu family wanted to trip them up.

If it were usual, she would actually enjoy watching Xiao Xiao make fun of herself.

But it’s not possible now. If Xiao Xiao embarrasses herself, it will bring shame to her and the Li family, and will also implicate the Queen.

Everyone would think that the Queen Mother has no ability to judge people and acts on impulse.

Therefore, at this moment, Mrs. Li was already thinking about spending some money herself and organizing a flower-viewing banquet, and also asking the ladies she was familiar with to contribute a little.

She felt a little regretful in her heart for letting Xiao Xiao take over this hot potato. Now she had to spend a lot of time and money on it.

She didn't think these little girls could earn money, she just thought they were money-losing goods.

I only hope that the Empress knows how loyal they are and will whisper in the Emperor's ears more and promote her son more.

That’s right, now Madam Li is willing to spend money and food just to win the favor of the Emperor and Empress.

After Madam Gu and the others left the charity hall, Nanny Xu, who was following Xiao Xiao, couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Grandma, you just let them go like this? Didn't Nanny Song go back to the palace to ask to see the Queen?"

Xiao Xiao explained to her: "I haven't found any evidence against the Gu family yet, so the Queen will not issue an order."

"Song Mama's entry into the palace could not be hidden from the people in the Gu Mansion. I just want to use this to make the Gu family panic."

The Gu family has a good reputation over the years because of taking over the charity.

The emperor has just ascended the throne, so he prefers stability. He will not rashly send his ministers off, lest people think he wants to get rid of them.

The Queen Mother had just entered the palace and her foundation was not stable, so she had to be more prudent. If she wanted to have a good reputation for being magnanimous, she would not act rashly without solid evidence.

Xiao Xiao asked Nanny Song to enter the palace in order to alert the enemy. She wanted the people in the Gu family to panic and make them make mistakes, which would give them an opportunity to catch her.

Aunt Xu blushed and said, "It is my stupidity."

"Mammy, you are joking. This is not something I came up with. My mother taught me." Xiao Xiao did not dare to treat these two maids from the palace as slaves. Instead, she treated them as colleagues. She said gently, "Besides, every man has his own strengths and weaknesses. How can I trouble you to take care of my life?"

Of course, she was flattering Madam Li. In fact, this was Li Yan's reminder to her that she should not alert the enemy. If the Gu family got in a panic, they would not be able to act cautiously.

After all, you need to use your brain on the battlefield.

Anyway, after hearing this, Xiao Xiao felt that the other person was putting the Thirty-Six Stratagems into practice.

For this reason, she had cram last night and carefully read Li Yan's military book.

Mrs. Li originally wanted to give Xiao Xiao a cold look, but she didn't expect that when she walked over, she heard Xiao Xiao saying good things about her in front of the nanny.

This made her unable to vent her anger.

Thinking of Aunt Xu's identity, Madam Li could only swallow what she wanted to say and frowned and asked, "What are you going to do now?" Fearing that Xiao Xiao would ask for too much, she spoke first, "I can only give you one warehouse's worth of grain and one thousand taels of silver. You can figure out the rest yourself."

Previously, Madam Li had asked her confidant, Madam Zhou, to follow Xiao Xiao, so today Madam Zhou followed Xiao Xiao dutifully.

Of course, today Zhou's mother followed Xiao Xiao diligently.

However, with the two maids from the palace present, Mother Zhou had to give up her seat again. But she was still following behind, so naturally she heard that the charity hall was running out of money.

So she took the opportunity when her lady was seeing the Gu family off to rush over and make a report.

When she heard that everyone in the charity hall had no food to eat after the last meal, even Mrs. Li, who thought she had a wealthy family, felt guilty and short of breath.

That's why she simply told Xiao Xiao what she could give her, so that Xiao Xiao wouldn't come to her for help when she had difficulties in the future.

At this moment, Mrs. Li was extremely grateful. Her eldest daughter-in-law had a generous dowry, and she heard that her family had made some money by running a shop.

Madam Li really didn't want to take over this hot potato, so she said to Xiao Xiao, "In the past, my house had a lot of affairs, and I really couldn't take care of this. How about leaving it all to you?"

"I think the Queen is more interested in you. You must not disappoint the Queen."

"If you are too busy, you can ask your sisters to help, or you can buy some people who are needed."

In the past, she despised Xiao Xiao's elder and second sisters for marrying ordinary people, and didn't want them to come to her house, fearing that they had something to ask of her.

Now she was secretly glad in her heart. Although Xiao Xiao's elder sister married the young master of a medical clinic, it was also a wealthy family and should be able to help a little.

Mrs. Li finished speaking and added, "If you want to hold a banquet, I will come with your brother and sister-in-law to help."

You have to come even if you don't want to, otherwise people will gossip about you.

More importantly, the Queen must not feel that she is holding him back.

After hearing what she said, Xiao Xiao almost couldn't help laughing.

I didn't expect that my mother-in-law was willing to bleed heavily, which could solve my urgent problem.

She knew that ever since the last turmoil in the capital, when her stepmother-in-law almost starved, she had been particularly keen on hoarding food.

Mrs. Li has two granaries, and even if one of them is less, there would be at least 30,000 kilograms of rice.

More importantly, what Mrs. Li stockpiled was this year’s new grain.

Add to that the more than 20,000 kilograms of rice and flour that I prepared privately, and I'll be able to survive for ten days.

These ten days should be enough for her to catch the Gu family in trouble and make them return all the embezzled funds.

Therefore, Xiao Xiao agreed very happily: "Mother is really generous and kind-hearted. She gave so much at once. I will definitely keep a clear account book and present it to the Queen when the time comes."

Moreover, Xiao Xiao really hoped that Madam Li would not interfere in other people's affairs, and that she would just come out and help take care of things when organizing the ladies to donate money, materials and grain.

Otherwise, if the two of us are not on the same wavelength, I would have to spend the effort to convince her.

At this moment, both the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law felt that their wishes had come true. Xiao Xiao was even particularly filial and sent Mrs. Li to the carriage.

After the carriage left, Xiao Xiao told the servant to invite her brother-in-law and others over.

Two days ago, she had privately greeted Mr. Jiang and others, and agreed that after she took over the charity, she would invite them to come and see the children.