The next day, at the crack of dawn, the masters of each courtyard of the Prime Minister's residence got up and busied themselves cooking and serving porridge. After about half an hour, the carriage carrying buckets of porridge drove away from the Prime Minister's residence. Lei Shi, Shen Yingxue, Aunt Zhao, Shen Caixuan and others walked slowly to the carriage, preparing to take it to the porridge distribution site.
Lei Shi was the first to board the carriage, followed by Shen Yingxue, Aunt Zhao, Shen Caixuan, and then the first-class maids and matrons from each courtyard. When their eyes fell on Shen Lixue appearing at the entrance of the Prime Minister's residence, Shen Caixuan lifted the carriage curtain and said provocatively with a smile, "Sister Lixue, I'm sorry, there's no room in the carriage. Look here..."
Shen Yingxue sat in the carriage and sneered. It was quite a long way from the Prime Minister's residence to the street where the porridge was being distributed. She figured by the time Shen Lixue arrived, the porridge would already be distributed, and she would be embarrassed in the process...
Shen Lixue smiled: "Thank you for reminding me, sister, but the carriage is too bumpy, I had no intention of riding it at all!"
As she spoke, a magnificent sedan chair arrived in front of Shen Lixue. The curtain was opened, and the luxurious interior dazzled Shen Caixuan's eyes. This sedan chair is so beautiful. It must be much more comfortable to sit in than a horse-drawn carriage. You bastard, you were prepared all along!
Ignoring her angry gaze, Shen Lixue helped Qiu He into the sedan chair. Her cold gaze swept over Shen Caixuan's dark face, and she sneered inwardly. The same method was used twice. How foolish!
The sedan curtain was lowered, and the sedan bearers carried Shen Lixue away quickly and steadily. Shen Caixuan glared at the sedan chair resentfully before lowering the curtain.
To demonstrate frugality and a pleasant atmosphere, Shen Minghui specially ordered his wife, concubines, and daughters to ride in one carriage. With so many people, the carriage was a bit crowded. Lei Shi, Aunt Zhao, and Shen Caixuan were fine, but Shen Yingxue kept moving around, finding it uncomfortable no matter how she sat. Thinking of Shen Lixue riding in a comfortable sedan chair, her eyes were filled with anger that almost spit fire. "You bitch, you've gotten into trouble at Buzhou Street. Let's see how smug you are then."
As dawn broke, Shen Lixue arrived at Buzhou Street first. After getting off the sedan chair, she looked around and saw seven or eight buckets of porridge neatly arranged on a corner of the street. The awakened beggars, smelling the aroma of the porridge, had already gathered around in twos and threes.
They were all dressed in tattered clothes, emaciated and pale, clearly often starving. Their sunken eyes gleamed as they stared at the fragrant porridge bucket. The guards of the Prime Minister's residence stood watch closely with long swords in hand, and they could only watch helplessly.
Shen Lixue stepped forward, about to open the lid of the porridge bucket, when Ding Mama, who had come with the porridge cart, hurriedly stopped her: "Miss, we must wait for Madam to arrive before we can serve the porridge!"
Shen Lixue looked at the street behind her, but the Prime Minister's carriage was nowhere to be seen. "Madam will probably not arrive for a while. They are all starving. Let's serve the porridge first!"
Shen Lixue stepped forward, but Granny Ding stopped her again: "Miss, Madam instructed me..."
"Granny Ding, the porridge is for them to drink, not for them to look at. They're already starving, how much longer are you going to wait?" Shen Lixue questioned sharply. Lei Shi, Shen Yingxue thinks she can gain a good reputation by spreading porridge? Dream on!
"Yes, yes, we're so hungry..."
"We will remember that this is porridge from the Prime Minister's residence. Please open the container as soon as possible..."
The beggars echoed Shen Lixue's words, and Granny Ding's old eyes gleamed with a sharp light: "The madam is coming soon..."
"Ding Madam specifically instructed that the porridge bucket should not be opened until Ding Madam arrives?" Shen Lixue's gaze was cold, her expression a mixture of amusement and smirk. Lei Madam wanted people to remember her as the dignified and virtuous wife of the Prime Minister, but she was determined not to let her have her way.
"No, no..." Granny Ding denied repeatedly, her anxiety flaring: Why hasn't Madam arrived yet? She couldn't hold on much longer...
"If you don't want that, then get out of the way!" Shen Lixue walked straight past Granny Ding, opened the bucket lid, and ordered the guards standing nearby, "You guys, come and help spread the porridge!"
060 Scumbag Mother and Scumbag Daughter Fall into the Porridge Bucket
When Lei Shi, Shen Yingxue, Aunt Zhao, and Shen Caixuan arrived at the porridge distribution street by carriage, Shen Lixue, Granny Ding, and several guards were already standing in front of the porridge buckets distributing porridge. The ragged beggars, holding broken bowls, lined up in a fairly orderly fashion, one by one stepping forward to receive the porridge. After receiving the porridge, they smiled broadly and thanked Shen Lixue and the guards repeatedly.
"Madam!" Seeing Lei get off the carriage, Ding Mama hurriedly handed the spoon to a guard and walked over quickly, her eyes shining, but she lowered her head and dared not look into her eyes.
Lei's brows furrowed deeply: "What's going on?" Hadn't she been instructed to wait for her arrival before serving the porridge? Why did it start ahead of schedule?
Granny Ding lowered her voice and embellished the story, absolving herself of responsibility and placing all the blame on Shen Lixue. She concluded by adding, "I tried to stop her, but I couldn't. The eldest young lady threatened to kick me out of the manor. In front of everyone, I had no choice but to..."
It's Shen Lixue again!
Lei squinted and looked over. Shen Lixue stood gracefully in front of the porridge bucket, skillfully serving porridge to the beggars. Her warm smile was like a spring breeze, and her bright face was more dazzling than the morning sun. Her light green clothes fluttered in the wind, making her look like a fairy who had stepped out of a painting.
A whiff of shabby clothing wafted over, and two elderly beggars, supporting each other, walked past them. Their slightly excited whispers reached their ears: "That young lady from the Prime Minister's mansion has such a kind heart..."
"Yes, she's beautiful, she'll definitely be rewarded..."
Shen Yingxue gritted her teeth in anger. The porridge was cooked by their people, and the carriage and driver were also arranged by them. Shen Lixue only rode in a sedan chair and arrived here before them, yet she took all the credit and became the benefactor of the beggars. Why? Why?
Lei's expression changed slightly. Distributing porridge was a plan she devised to enhance her and Shen Yingxue's reputation, but she never expected Shen Lixue to interfere and turn this porridge distribution into a stepping stone for her to become famous...
"Mother, let's expose Shen Lixue's hypocrisy!" Shen Yingxue's beautiful eyes blazed with anger. Taking credit for other people's hard work, she was a hypocrite who would surely be cursed by everyone.
"No!" Lei Shi hurriedly stopped them. They were the mistresses of the Prime Minister's residence, and Shen Lixue was also the daughter of the Prime Minister's residence. In a sense, they were family. In front of so many beggars, blaming each other for the sake of distributing porridge would be like shrewish women cursing in the street. It would only make them a laughing stock. Shen Lixue's reputation was already bad, and they would be no better off. It was better not to do something so foolish as to hurt the enemy a thousand while hurting themselves eight hundred.
"Then everything we've painstakingly built up is just going to be handed over to Shen Lixue like this!" Shen Yingxue's beautiful eyes blazed with anger, filled with resentment and exasperation.
"Of course not!" Lei smiled slightly and walked gracefully towards the porridge bucket: "It's not too late to serve the porridge now!"
"Madam, Sister Yingxue, you've arrived!" Shen Lixue greeted Lei Shi and Shen Yingxue with a smile while serving porridge to the beggars. "I was serving porridge earlier and couldn't come to greet you, Madam and Sister, please forgive me!" Shen Yingxue didn't even come over to make a fuss; she was truly composed!
The beggars all looked at Lei Shi and Shen Yingxue with questioning eyes, unlike their friendly attitude towards Shen Lixue: Why did the young lady in green arrive so early while they arrived so late when they were all from the same family distributing porridge?
Shen Yingxue's beautiful eyes were spitting fire with anger. It wasn't that they arrived late; it was that Shen Lixue had used a scheme and gotten there first...
Lei was much calmer, with a kind smile: "Li Xue's distribution of porridge has brought peace to the people. I'm too busy praising her to blame her. I was a little tired from cooking porridge at home and arrived a little late. I hope I didn't delay the distribution of porridge?"
Shen Lixue smiled: Lei Shi is really clever. She pretends to care about her, but doesn't forget to indirectly tell the beggars that she cooked the porridge and that she was late because she spent a lot of effort cooking it!
"The porridge distribution has just begun, Madam is not late!" Shen Lixue's sedan chair was not much faster than a carriage, and with Ding Mama's obstruction, time was very tight. She had only distributed less than one-fifth of the pot of porridge...
"Yingxue, Caixuan, help spread the porridge!" A figure flashed from the corner. Lei Shi's gaze darkened, but she said nothing more. Leading Shen Yingxue and Shen Caixuan to the porridge bucket, they took the spoons from the guards and began spreading the porridge. Although they were a little late, and Shen Lixue had stolen most of the limelight, their purpose in spreading the porridge was not just that...
Lei quietly raised his head, glancing at a window not far away, a strange smile playing on his lips...
Behind that window was a luxuriously decorated private room. From inside, one could see the scene of several streets. A middle-aged man of about forty or fifty stood quietly by the window, looking down at Lei and the others distributing porridge. His gaze was unfathomable, and a mysterious smile appeared on his lips: "The Prime Minister's family is indeed charitable!"
His voice was steady and calm, making it impossible to discern the true meaning behind his words.
“Yes!” Dongfang Zhan stood opposite, his gaze sweeping over Lei Shi, Shen Yingxue, and Shen Lixue who were distributing porridge. His answer was vague, especially when he saw Shen Lixue’s bright smile. A strange doubt flashed through his mind: could this porridge distribution really be completed smoothly?
Lei Shi had always been pampered and had never done such rough work before. Moreover, as the wife of the Prime Minister, she was of noble status and should not overwork herself. She symbolically served a few bowls of porridge, made a show of it, and then handed the work over to the nanny and sat down to rest.
Shen Caixuan had always considered herself superior and disliked the poor the most. She had only come here reluctantly in order to gain a good reputation. The stench emanating from the beggars almost made her faint. Seeing that Lei Shi was resting, she made up an excuse and went to serve Lei Shi.
On the contrary, Shen Yingxue, graceful and polite, with a slight smile, looked like a typical young lady from a well-to-do family. She tirelessly served porridge to the beggars without complaining of being tired at all.
Shen Lixue smiled. Shen Yingxue, as the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister's family, had always been pampered and had never done any work before. Why was she so patient today? Although her posture with the spoon was not quite right when she served the porridge, and the amount of porridge she scooped was uneven, she was still doing a good deed...