Their expressions became a little strange, but they didn't say much. They just looked at each other, prepared all the things on the list, and helped Honglian load them in the car.

"Thank you." Seeing that all the things were packed, Honglian thanked them and pulled the cart out.

After walking for a while, she suddenly remembered that after placing the order yesterday, Xia Mingyue thought that the quantity of pepper was not enough, so she asked her to add some more pepper today.

Pepper is one of the seasonings always available in the central kitchen. It is always available. Honglian turned back and prepared to get some more.

Before entering the central kitchen, Honglian heard the two or three people who had just loaded goods for her in the central kitchen laughing and joking.

"Thank you."

The voice was deliberately pinched to sound very coquettish, and as soon as the words were spoken, they immediately caused a burst of laughter.

"Don't say it, sister-in-law, you really imitated it. I've been to Madam Xia's residence several times, and I heard her talk like this. It gave me goose bumps all over my body!"

"Hey, I heard that Honglian was not originally a proper maid. She was specially trained to be a concubine or a toy. It's natural for her to speak like this. Otherwise, how could she seduce men?"

"No wonder people always say that the business of this big pot of mutton soup is so good. It seems to be because of this little red lotus hoof?"

"Of course, once this little voice yells and her hips sway, it attracts people. Don't you think our Lady Xia is really something? She keeps such a thing with her. Isn't she afraid of ruining her reputation?"

"Nothing else matters, but you husbands who walk the streets all the time, you have to be careful not to let your husband's soul be seduced away by that little bitch..."

When Honglian heard this, it was like a bolt from the blue and she stood there in a daze.

A feeling of grievance suddenly surged into my heart, and tears welled up in my eyes.

She thought that now that she had been bought back, she had escaped the fate of being bought as a concubine or a plaything. After being with Xia Mingyue for many days, she had lived a normal life. She could earn money with her own hands like Yin Qiao or Zhuang Cui and get normal respect from others.

But she obviously thought life was too good.

Her past has become a brand that cannot be washed away, and will always be remembered by everyone, and even exaggerated...

Just as Honglian's tears were pouring out and she was completely at a loss, someone patted her shoulder gently.

Honglian was startled. She turned around and saw that the person coming was none other than Xia Mingyue. She quickly wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeves, "Madam Xia."

"What's wrong? Why are you crying like this?" Xia Mingyue was a little surprised to see Honglian crying like this.

"No, nothing..." Honglian responded panicked.

This look obviously means something.

What could make Honglian so sad must be something that she cares about very much.

If you were to say what Honglian cares about most...

Xia Mingyue did not ask Honglian any more questions, but walked forward to the gate of the central kitchen. However, she did not go in, but stopped to listen to the movement inside.

The people inside did not stop talking about Honglian, but instead talked more and more about her. They started by saying that Honglian was not a decent person, and began to speculate that the reason why Honglian wanted to set up a stall to sell mutton soup was that she must be thinking of hooking up with a wealthy family so that she could take him back home to live a good life.

They even started to discuss whether Honglian was still a virgin at this time...

Xia Mingyue frowned, walked into the yard, and coughed loudly.

When the few people saw that it was Xia Mingyue, they quickly fell silent, stood up, and said respectfully, "Hello, Madam Xia."

"Madam Xia, what brings you here now? Is there anything?" Chen, the oldest lady in the group, smiled warmly.

"Indeed, there is something going on." Xia Mingyue said in a deep voice, and raised her hand to point at the four people who were talking nonsense just now, "You, you, you, and you, go to the accounting office to settle the money and leave immediately."

The four of them were stunned when they heard this.

When they realized that Xia Mingyue was going to chase them away, they immediately looked sad.

Chen even argued, "Why did Madam Xia chase us away for no reason?"

"Yes." Liu also agreed, "We have always worked hard in the central kitchen and have never made any mistakes. It's unreasonable for Madam Xia to suddenly drive us away."

"Talking and slandering others behind their backs, throwing dirty water and accusing others for no reason, damaging others' reputation, aren't these enough?" Xia Mingyue's voice was cold and stern. "Although my Xia family likes to employ hardworking people, I also value whether their character is upright. I will definitely not keep people who can't distinguish right from wrong and hurt others with their words at will."

The four of them suddenly realized what was going on.

Madam Xia, are you here to support Honglian?

Honglian is such a bitch. Madam Xia doesn't care about her past and protects her like this. She really has a lucky life!
"Who am I supposed to be? It turns out it's because of this..." Chen said, "We were just talking casually. If Madam Xia feels it's inappropriate, we won't say anything."

"Yeah, yeah, let's just not talk about it." The other three echoed, "It's not a big deal."

"Just a casual remark? It's not a big deal?" Xia Mingyue's face was visibly angry. "Then tell me, what is a big deal?"

"This..." The four were speechless and didn't know how to answer.

Xia Mingyue continued in a stern voice, "You think you are just saying it casually, but you don't know that these words hurt people more than a knife. You just said it casually, and you put a hat on others for no reason, and established a stigma. This word spreads from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred. It turns out that there is nothing wrong, but people think there is something wrong. How can the people who are talked about by you still live?"

"Have you ever thought that if Honglian couldn't bear the uproar caused by your casual words and ended her life, wouldn't you be the murderer?"

"Even if Honglian can bear it, the rumors will spread about things that never happened. How can she continue to live? I'm afraid she will have to live a hard life for the rest of her life. And all of this is because of what you said casually!"

After Xia Mingyue's scolding, three of the four people understood the pros and cons of the matter and showed some regret on their faces, but they also felt that this matter was not so exaggerated and had never happened, so they just stopped talking and stopped quibbling.

On the contrary, Chen still disagreed with Xia Mingyue's point of view. "Although Madam Xia said so, it was not us who started it. We just heard it from others. Besides, no fly will nest in seamless eggs. Since someone said it, there must be something wrong. We can't allow others to do it and not allow us to say it."

Xia Mingyue glanced at Chen and did not answer her. Instead, she said, "I heard that your parents-in-law are both bedridden, and your husband is having a lot of trouble doing things outside." (End of this chapter)