Back in Jingyang, Xu Shaoqing had tried to find Jiang Shi several times after that day in the courtyard, but she never saw her again. She was always stopped by Granny Gui.

Three days later, the adopted son of her third uncle's family was left to study in their hometown of Jingyang, while she returned to the Anbo Mansion with her parents.

It's May, and the Dragon Boat Festival is just a few days away.

As soon as the Marquis's family heard the news of their return, they hurriedly sent an official matchmaker to propose marriage within a few days.

The person who came to put the hairpin in her hair was not the second wife. Ever since Zheng Jin learned the whole story from the first wife, she had been claiming to be sick and not going out.

Second Master Gu Xiao was almost driven mad with anger, but Madam Zheng went to the small Buddhist shrine in the old lady's courtyard on her own.

It was said that she was truly ill. Every morning after washing up, the maids would leave behind those who served Zheng Shi, while the rest would go to the Buddhist hall.

Upon arriving at the Buddhist hall, the first thing to do each day is to kneel before the Buddha and recite the sutra 100 times. Zijuan is literate, so she also has to copy three volumes of sutra every day.

When the message was relayed to inquire, those senior maids, regardless of who they met, maintained a calm and kind demeanor.

“I’m being given herbal medicine every day, but the doctor examined me and said that I’m brooding over something and it will take some time to come out.”

The second master sent people to question him repeatedly, even sending over his personal wet nurse.

But the second wife claimed she was afraid of catching her illness and refused to see him.

She was in the old lady's courtyard, but she couldn't force her way in. Three days later, Gu Xiao gave up.

He went to find a relative by himself, and then persuaded the old lady to open the storeroom. He then took a double-layered spring gold hairpin with kingfisher feather inlay, which was bestowed by the emperor, to the Anbo Mansion to present the gift.

After that, all that's left is to wait for the betrothal gifts from the Marquis's mansion to arrive, and then it's time to go and place the betrothal. This time, the Second Madam can't hide anymore, can she?

Unexpectedly, Zheng really didn't care and shamelessly kept making excuses about feeling unwell.

Aunt Yang wanted to step forward and make arrangements, but she had neither the key to the second wife's storeroom nor a legitimate identity.

The time for the betrothal had already been arranged, but as usual, Madam Zheng hid in the main courtyard and refused to come out. Gu Xiao was furious, but he still lowered his head and went to the old lady's Ronghua Garden.

Zheng did see him, but she was only wearing her undergarments, her face was pale, and she had lost a lot of weight.

After seeing it, he refused to give any response or hand over the warehouse keys. Enraged, Gu Xiao smashed a tea set, disturbing the old lady who was drinking tea.

"What are you doing? She's still sick, and you've come to your wife's bedside to show off!"

Gu Xiao knelt down with his head down, "Mother, please forgive me. It is my fault that I am anxious about Ting-ge'er's engagement day. I hope Mother can forgive me."

Finally, the old lady sent Steward Rong and his personal maid, Granny Lu, to make the arrangements. Madam Zheng handed the storeroom keys to Granny Lu.

In this way, with just a little inquiry, one could find out what Zheng had done.

Even if there's resentment, his own actions will likely lessen it somewhat. Giving the key to Granny Lu means he won't have to worry about not getting it back later. Excellent!

Three days before the Dragon Boat Festival, the Marquis's mansion sent out betrothal gifts with great fanfare, totaling six loads.

Two loads of wedding cakes, one portion of four-colored sugar, two packets of tea, and one pair of incense sticks, totaling ten items.

The bride price was two loads, and the two boxes were filled with jewelry, goldware, and satin.

Two bundles of gifts were included: lotus seeds, lily bulbs, wine, fruit, and tea cakes. Also included were eight kinds of seafood: abalone, scallops, shiitake mushrooms, sea cucumber, shark fin, and fish maw.

There were also two wild geese, which cost a lot of money to hunt. In terms of betrothal gifts, they certainly put a lot of thought into it.

Four sheets of gold-flecked colored paper with three different wedding announcements written on them, plus a gift list.

The first two wedding notices had auspicious words written on them, and the third one was a gift certificate.

Two copies of each document were written, placed in eight boxes, wrapped in colorful brocade, and delivered to the woman's home.

After the woman accepted the gifts, she returned some gifts in return, thus completing the ceremony. The marriage arrangements went relatively smoothly.

Xu Shaoqing embroidered some shoes, socks, belts, purses, and other items herself and included them in the return gifts.

The two families agreed on a wedding date, set for early August. Gu Xiao walked away, laughing arrogantly and triumphantly.

Seeing the disdain and smugness in her future father-in-law's eyes, Xu Shaoqing felt a pang of sadness because of her parents' forbearance.

……………………………………

Wang Ying found an embroidery job at a needlework shop. The chili peppers on the mountain had started to bear fruit one after another, and she was planning to go up the mountain with her parents to keep an eye on the chili pepper business.

But when Wang Xing returned and said that the Third Young Master was getting married, the number of people in the courtyard would have to increase, for fear of being blamed on her.

He had vaguely heard rumors these past two days that Aunt Yang wanted to find two experienced maids to come back, and that two maids who had already married out of the outer household had been brought back to take care of things.

If the additional maidservant really does find Wang Ying, then there's nowhere to cry.

After all, the reason she left the manor in the first place was to treat her foot so as not to delay the master's use of servants. But now Wang Ying's foot is almost healed, and the whole street in the backyard of the Marquis's manor knows about it.

After all, only Wang Ying had left his family. If he were to buy her back, the others would think that the Third Young Master was kind-hearted for not separating family members.

No, no! After discussing it with my parents.

Having no other choice, she went and got two more gold coins and a few handkerchiefs, and found the current head of the embroidery workshop in the inner courtyard, who arranged for her to work as a temporary worker in the embroidery workshop.

When Wang Xing came to deliver a Dragon Boat Festival sachet containing the five poisonous creatures to Wang Yan, he heard her say that her sister was very irritable these days.

She used to be free and easy at home, earning quite a bit of money by embroidering purses and the like, but now she's working in the mansion again.

So Wang Yan thought about making some snacks to appease her, but she couldn't think of anything to make.

A few days later, my wife started frequently ordering bird's nest stewed with milk. As a result, there was always a lot of milk left over in the small kitchen every day.

Wang Yan looked at the remaining milk and a brilliant idea popped into her head: ginger milk curd.

Take out the small stove used for brewing tea, place a copper kettle on it, and pour milk into it.

Take two pieces of high-quality turmeric, grind them, and then filter the ginger juice through fine gauze. About three or four spoonfuls should be enough for one bowl.

When the milk is almost boiling, quickly remove the copper kettle, pour the hot milk into a bowl, cover it, and let it sit for 15 minutes.

Drizzle another layer of honey on top and sprinkle with some chopped fruit. The milk is rich, creamy, and smooth, and tastes absolutely delicious.

Wang Yan carried a large bowl, as big as a large bowl, and went to find Wang Ying.

I ran into Sister Manjing as soon as I arrived, and she joked,

"Ever since your sister Ying sprained her ankle, sister Manqing has been completely forgotten. She hasn't eaten any of the delicious food that our Yan'er sent her for months."

"My heart is chilly in May," she said, clutching her chest with both hands.

Wang Yan replied with a grin, "Who said that? I'm afraid Sister Manjing has forgotten about me, her little sister. Otherwise, who delivered the spicy snacks ten days ago?"

She paused, then smiled mischievously, "I was thinking that when the flowers bloom in a few days..."

I was going to make a Duanmu pancake for my sister and send it over. Now it seems that's settled; I don't need to go anymore, since my sister has forgotten who I am anyway.

After saying that, she pretended to be sad and wiped away non-existent tears, making everyone in the room laugh.

Xiu Li, who was also in the sewing room, smiled and looked at Wang Ying, "I never expected that our little sister would be so interesting."

Manjing smiled and glanced at Wang Yan, "That's right, not only are you skillful with your hands and mind, but you're also very quick-witted."

After saying that, he pulled her over and saw that her ears were bare, so he took off the golden lilac he was wearing and put it on her ears.

Wang Ying reached out to stop her, but Manjing laughed and scolded her, "They're just two earrings, worthless little trinkets. Why are you stopping me?"

Wang Yan chatted and laughed with them for a while, then gave each of them a portion of ginger milk curd before taking the large bowl back home.

After a while, Xiuli and the others went to work. Wang Ying deliberately stepped back a few paces and stayed a little later to see Manjing off.

"Are you telling the truth? What grudge does Liu Xiang'er hold against me? Why is she so troublesome?"

Manjing also found it strange. When Wang Ying was in the courtyard, she couldn't wait to get rid of her. Now that she was out, Liu Xiang'er was trying her best to get her to go back.

This is really strange!

"..." Anyway, Wang Ying was still quite fortunate that her brother had thought things through and sent her to the sewing room in advance.

She and the others are currently embroidering a pine and crane painting to be presented to the old lady on her birthday. It will take five or six months to finish the painting, and no one can ask her to come and ask them to finish it.