Chapter 109: My Mother's Home (Part 1)
Two days later, Eleventh Lady's day came. She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. To be honest, her days had never been on schedule, and she was worried about it. Unexpectedly, there was a sudden turn of events, and she was in a good mood. Mother Tao reminded her: "Who are you going to let be your concubine?" Eleventh Lady was stunned for a moment. After getting married, she felt that Xu Lingyi was not a man who valued beauty very much. In addition, the two of them were husband and wife, and there were three concubines living next door... She didn't feel that Xu Lingyi had to have a concubine. Seeing that Eleventh Lady didn't say anything, Mother Tao thought she was unhappy. She hurriedly advised in her ear: "No matter how old she is, she is still a servant in your house. Whether she lives or dies, whether she is promoted or suppressed, it all depends on your words. I think Dongqing and Amber are both suitable. Madam should also consider it!" Dongqing? Why mention her? Shiyi Niang was very surprised.
Mother Tao smiled and explained, "I saw that Dongqing was still unmarried at this age, so I thought..."
Eleventh Lady hurriedly shook her head: "No, no. She has served me since she was a child, and I want to pick a good one for her."
Mother Tao didn't quite believe it, but she couldn't say much on the matter. She just repeated a few words and then left.
Is it necessary to prepare a concubine?
Eleventh Lady feels very tricky.
The main reason is that there is no one trustworthy to discuss this with. I don’t know if this is the rule of the Xu family or just what Mother Tao thinks personally?
She decided to see Xu Lingyi's attitude first.
But she couldn't bring herself to tell Xu Lingyi about her physical condition.
After thinking about it, he asked Mother Tao to go and talk to her.
When she returned to the house at night, Xu Lingyi was no different from usual. He saw her reading and asked her where she was.
Eleventh Lady didn't know whether Mother Tao had told him or not. She smiled and said a few words to him, and then Xu Lingyi fell asleep first.
The next day she asked Mother Tao, "What did Lord Hou say?"
"Just say you know!" Mother Tao's expression seemed a little confused.
Since the protagonist has no opinion, the supporting characters don't have to worry about it!
Eleventh Lady sent Mother Tao away.
The matter of the concubine was left there.
The Lady Dowager watched Shiyi Niang greet her calmly and on time every day, and she couldn't help but feel a little grumbling in her heart. She specifically asked Mother Du to go to the laundry room to ask. Knowing that she didn't move, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed: "Didn't they say that the two of them were doing well?"
Mother Du laughed softly: "How can it be that fast? Especially since he is still young, it is not easy."
"I'm old now, and I don't know what will happen tomorrow." The old lady said with some regret, "I don't know if I can see it."
"I am prepared to serve you for another thirty years." Mother Du said with a smile, "I have never accepted my old age, but you have!"
"Thirty years!" The old lady laughed when she heard it: "You are still planning for me to live like a monster!"
"An old man in the family is like a treasure." Aunt Du smiled and helped the old lady to comb her hair. "The fourth lady is still young, you have to help take care of her for a few years! When you have grandchildren in the future, there will be more things to do. How can these young people understand these things!"
"That's true." The lady smiled confidently and said, "I can't say anything else, but I'm best at taking care of children..."
…
In October, the emperor issued an edict and gave out winter clothes, but Qiao Lianfang's condition did not improve.
Eleventh Lady called her maid Xiuyuan to ask about it, and she said that she had trouble sleeping at night and felt hot and cold. She also specially invited Doctor Liu Zheng from the Imperial Hospital to examine her.
Doctor Liu prescribed a heart-nourishing soup.
Eleventh Lady looked at the prescription and asked Dr. Liu to come for a follow-up visit every five days. Then she asked Mother Tao to send the patient away and sent a maid to take the prescription to the outer courtyard to arrange for the medicine to be dispensed.
Just then Xu Lingyi came back and asked, "Who's feeling unwell?"
"Aunt Qiao," Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "I specially invited Doctor Liu to come for a consultation. He prescribed Yangxin Decoction. I saw that they are all medicines that can replenish qi and spleen, calm the mind and soothe the nerves, so I asked the maid to get the medicine."
Xu Lingyi nodded and went to see Qiao Lianfang.
Eleventh Lady followed along.
She lived in the middle courtyard on the east side, with a small black lacquer door on the west side. There were three main rooms with side rooms, three side rooms on the east and north sides, and corridors on all sides. There was a hibiscus tree next to the steps of the main room, which was full of buds. There was a small flower bed in the courtyard. Because it was autumn, various chrysanthemums and azaleas were in full bloom.
Seeing Xu Lingyi and Shiyi Niang coming, the two maids standing in front of the curtains ran in to report and ran over to greet them. When they entered the house, Qiao Lianfang had already come out with Xiu Yuan supporting her.
"My Lord, Madam." Her face was pale and she looked much thinner. Her originally slim and graceful figure had become as slender as a willow.
Xu Lingyi was obviously surprised.
"Why are you so sick?"
Qiao Lianfang smiled bitterly: "It's all my fault. I was reading in the middle of the night without closing the window. I made the Marquis and the Madam worry about me." Her beautiful eyes were fixed on Xu Lingyi, and she was unwilling to leave for a moment.
Eleventh Lady had seen many such situations when she was handling cases, and she immediately understood what was going on.
She suddenly understood why Qiao Lianfang was fooled...
I was married to her legally and I didn't have any hope, let alone her being a concubine... When people can't find their place, they are most likely to fall into the abyss.
Eleventh Lady couldn't help but sigh slightly.
Xu Lingyi didn't seem to feel much, or maybe he had seen so many such looks and was used to it...
He said a few words indifferently, such as "be careful with Yi Renxi and be careful in the future", and then went to the lady's place with Shiyi Niang.
During this period, everyone had dinner together. The lady was in a good mood and it gradually became a habit.
After dinner, everyone went to Xikan Room to drink tea.
The Lady Dowager asked Eleventh Lady: "How many days do you plan to stay back?"
Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "If mother agrees, I would like to go back and stay for four days."
She had already asked Mother Tao about this. The Third Lady went back and stayed for four days, Yuanniang went back and stayed for six days, and the Fifth Lady went back and stayed for twelve days.
The lady nodded slightly and said, "Then go back and stay for six days! My dear wife is still sick, you can go back and take care of her."
Eleventh Lady gratefully replied "yes".
I was in a good mood at night and read a book while leaning over.
Seeing that she had returned to normal, Xu Lingyi smiled and went to sleep.
Two days later, Luo Zhenxing came to take her back to her parents' home.
She left Amber at home, took Binju with her, and Zhu Xiang resigned from her job as the lady and returned to Gongxian Hutong.
Si Niang and Wu Niang had been waiting in the house for a long time. They went to see the eldest wife and presented her with shoes and socks. The eldest wife and several people surrounded Shiyi Niang and took care of her original room. The maid opened the box and took out the bedding and utensils brought from the Xu Mansion to set up the house. Ju Ze helped Shiyi Niang clean her face and change her clothes, and then sat and talked with the eldest wife, Si Niang, and Wu Niang. Mother Hang came to report that the banquet had been arranged, and everyone moved to the courtyard of the eldest wife to have lunch. Shiyi Niang went back to the room to rest, and the eldest wife arranged Si Niang and Wu Niang to take a nap in the place where Wu Niang originally lived. In the afternoon, I got up to see the eldest wife. Everyone sat around the bed. The eldest wife and Si Niang gave advice to the pregnant Wu Niang. Shiyi Niang listened with a smile on her face and liked this homely feeling very much.
The eldest wife's spirits were obviously much better, so the banquet was set up in her room in the evening.
After dinner, Si Niang and Wu Niang went back home, and Grandma Da Yi sent Shiyi Niang back to her residence.
Bin Ju instructed the maids to pour water and boil soup, and helped Eleven to bathe and change clothes.
"It's only been a month, but I feel like this place is too small and inconvenient to move around in!"
Eleventh Lady laughed and said, "It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality."
"Then let's not make it hard on ourselves!" Binju smiled and made the bed for Shiyi Niang, "Serve the Marquis well and stay in Xu's house."
"Oh?" Eleventh Lady smiled, "You want to stay in the Xu Mansion!"
Bin Ju nodded: "At least I don't have to worry about being chased away or sold for no reason."
Eleventh Lady smiled slightly.
She feels the same way.
It's like the dust has settled, and all the worries and fears are just trivial matters that have nothing to do with life or death.
She lay down on the bed contentedly: "Finally I don't have to get up at such an ugly time!"
As a result, I woke up at an ugly time the next day.
The biological clock has been adjusted.
Eleventh Lady smiled as she stared at the dark tent ceiling. She thought of Dong Qing. She wondered how she was doing in the Goldfish Lane in the west of the city. Wan Yi Zong's eldest son Wan Daxian looked good. She wondered if they would like each other. If Dong Qing got married, she would have to buy something for her.
Thinking of this, I thought of my empty wallet!
When will it be filled up?
I fell asleep while thinking about random things, and woke up at three o'clock in the morning. I hurriedly got up to greet the first wife.
The eldest grandmother had already prepared breakfast. Seeing Shiyi Niang, she teased her, "Is it more comfortable to sleep in your mother's bed?"
Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Of course."
After breakfast, we just talked and chatted.
Eleventh Lady took out the needle and thread and started working.
The grandmother saw that it was a child's big red cloak, and beside the immortal with a staff in one corner of the cloak were three deer with different expressions. She pulled them and looked at them for a long time: "Look at your skillful hands, the deer are about to run out."
Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "This is for Fifth Sister. If Eldest Sister thinks it looks good, I will also make one for the Lady of Danyang County. She asked me to do some embroidery for her unborn nephew two days ago."
The grandmother whispered, "Just make some shoes and socks for the children. You are not from the needlework room in their house."
"We still have the Madam at home!" Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "The old lady is looking forward to having a grandson!"
"When are you going to have one?" The grandmother looked at her with a smile.
Shiyi Niang blushed slightly: "It's not the right time yet! We have to wait until Brother Zhe is older."
After hearing this, the eldest lady's eyes dimmed slightly. She said that the pears were very sweet these two days, so she had to send someone to West Street to buy some for Eleventh Lady to taste.
Shiyi Niang knew that she was trying to change the subject, so she followed her lead and said, "Sister-in-law, please buy some fresh lotus roots so that we can make glutinous rice and lotus roots."
The grandmother nodded repeatedly. She smiled and said, "Not only lotus roots, but also some old corns. We will roast them and eat them."
Speaking of food, everyone became happy. The grandmother gave Xinglin five silver coins and asked her to send someone to buy some food. In the afternoon, they steamed glutinous rice and roasted osmanthus halite and hawthorn halite. Everyone picked what they liked and poured it on the glutinous rice and lotus root to eat.
For a moment, the house was filled with laughter and joy.
The next day, Wu Niang was specially brought back. Corn was roasted, and people were sent to buy mutton head, braised pork elbow, and crystal sashimi for dinner. In the evening, Qian Ming came to pick up Wu Niang. Luo Zhenxing invited Qian Ming to drink and went back at dusk. He came again the next day. It was very lively. The first wife even asked the eldest grandmother with difficulty: "Buy the crystal sashimi from Chunxilou."
Luo Zhenxing laughed: "Mother likes Fifth Aunt the most now."
The eldest wife also forced a smile on her stiff face.
Qian Ming pretended to be arrogant: "Of course. Where can you find a son-in-law as talented and handsome as me?"
It made everyone laugh.
Eleventh Lady couldn't help but sigh.
It is truly rare for Qian Ming to have achieved what he has today.