Riya stopped in her steps and looked back at her fuming grandmother.
She already knew that this old woman hated her. That was why, after her mother died, she forced Master Wen to marry her stepmother.
Even so, whenever her uncle brought money or gifts, she was always the first to rush forward and take the lion's share, self-righteously saying, "This is my filial piety money."
That was why she was even more hateful than her stepmother.
First, she married her mother off for money. After that, she tormented her until her weak body finally gave out, and she died.
Even then, she never thought she had done anything wrong. Instead, she transferred all that hatred onto the original owner and punished her in many ways.
Riya would definitely deal with this old woman later.
Right now, the original owner's wish was only to live well, without suffering or grievances. That was why she had accepted this world.
Riya also liked to live a leisurely life and lie flat. But she hated this kind of scum even more and loved slapping their faces and watching regret appear on them.
So she completely ignored their ugly expressions and walked out.
None of the people in this family was good. Nobody ever stood up for the original owner when she was treated worse than a servant. On the contrary, they added fuel to the fire and bullied her even more.
The original owner could tolerate them. She would not.
The Old Madam yelled, "Guards! Stop this unfilial girl!" as she pointed with her wrinkled finger.
Riya stopped as guards surrounded her.
Just then, the servants she had brought from the Prime Minister's mansion rushed over and broke her free.
Her face turned cold as she said,
"Let's go. There's no need to give this family any face. If anyone tries to stop us, hit them."
Thankfully, she had also brought several muscular guards from the Prime Minister's mansion.
Just then, those maids rushed over and knelt.
"Madam, please forgive us! But don't leave us here!"
They had never expected this to happen. When Riya brought them to the Wen family, they thought she was just visiting her family. They were even happier, thinking they could complain to Madam Wen and get Riya punished, which would satisfy them.
Who would have thought she would really dare to leave them here?
They truly regretted it now.
In the Prime Minister's mansion, they had lived a good life—good food, stable work. Of course, they didn't want to leave this job.
But Riya completely ignored them and left.
After returning to the Prime Minister's mansion, she took out her money pouch, handed it to the head maid, and asked politely,
"Can you help me buy some good servants?"
Hearing this, the head maid didn't object and left.
Riya wasn't afraid she would embezzle the money. She had already investigated this head maid. She was in charge of buying servants for the mansion and was known to be upright and strict, so Riya wasn't worried.
Besides, she had already sent her bees to monitor her. If she did anything wrong, Riya would know.
Right now, she didn't have many choices, so she could only make do for now.
Before today, she had already realized that Madam Wen was that kind of person. She might have been bullied even more before marriage. No wonder she married into the Wen family—at least here, she could live without worry.
---
The next day, Riya checked her dowry.
She didn't receive much, but to save face, they still gave her five hundred gold and a restaurant.
She asked her new maid to make tea. Yesterday, she had also told the head maid to buy two cooks for her. Since she was a vegetarian, she couldn't eat what everyone else ate.
Now that she had the chance, she took it.
So now she had seven maids and two cooks.
"Now I can lie flat," she thought.
But before that, she needed to find a way to earn money. This amount wouldn't last long.
She also needed to fight for favour like the other concubines. Just thinking about it made her shiver.
For now, the restaurant was her best option to earn money.
From what she heard, the restaurant wasn't doing well, and the Wen family had even thought about closing it. That must be the biggest reason they gave it to her.
She needed to check it herself.
Luckily, women weren't overly restricted in this territory. They could go out and even do business. Even if most shops were managed by subordinates, many still belonged to women from different households.
Before this, she didn't even have time to sleep more than five hours while handling the household. Even so, she was criticised again and again.
It was better now. She was finally free all day.
Riya decided to go and check it out—but before that…
"Here, uproot this!"
"And this—clear the whole yard. Nothing should be left!"
All the maids moved left and right, busy like bees.
The commotion in the courtyard was so big that the head maid was sent to check what was going on.
Hearing this, Riya explained seriously,
"It's nothing. I just thought such a big area was being wasted."
"So I decided to grow some vegetables here. That way, I can save some money on vegetables."
The head maid: "…"
She was stunned for a moment.
A prime minister's wife so poor that she needed to grow vegetables?
If people in the capital found out about this, they would laugh their heads off at her mistress.
But then she remembered Riya's poor relationship with her maternal family. It was likely they didn't give her much dowry.
She also heard that Madam Wen's dowry shop was doing badly as well.
Feeling pity, the head maid looked at Riya again.
Riya didn't care. As long as they didn't stop her, she could handle all kinds of gazes.
Just then, a sharp and mocking voice came from behind.
"Oh? Where did this country bumpkin come from?"