Chapter 111 West Mountain
When Eleventh Lady came out after washing up, Xu Lingyi had already gotten into bed. The two of them leaned against the head of the bed and talked.
"Fifth brother's wife moved to the garden, and second sister-in-law went to the other courtyard in the West Hill. I called back the servants from each room. Otherwise, there would be chaos at home..." Xu Lingyi told Eleventh Lady what had happened at home in the past few days, "Mother is old, and second sister-in-law is not around, you have to help take care of her more!"
Eleventh Lady quickly agreed. Thinking of how the Lady Dowager and Xu Lingyi had always treated the Second Lady with courtesy, she discussed with Xu Lingyi, "Should we send someone to greet her? See if the Second Sister-in-law has anything she wants, so we can bring some back."
Seeing her so sensible, Xu Lingyi smiled and nodded, and his eyes softened when he looked at her: "It's good that you think so. She is alone, and we, as brothers and sisters, should take better care of her. You can also go to her place if you have nothing to do." As he spoke, he mentioned Shiyi Niang's land, "There is a chief clerk named Chen Ping in the Ministry of Works. Although he is a judge, he is very good at water control. I once heard that he was planting some fruit trees in Daxing. I asked him about it. I originally wanted to ask him to go to your farm to take a look, but he was very interested when he heard that I had 500 mu of sloping land. I want to rent it for 100 taels of silver a year. I think the price is not bad. What do you think?"
Eleventh Lady did not expect Xu Lingyi to act so quickly. Her mind was spinning rapidly: "The Marquis is well-informed. Since he said that this price is acceptable, I think it is not wrong. But I think if I rent the land to this Lord Chen, the maid in the house will have nothing to do. If she is idle every day, I am afraid that something will happen. I heard from Manager Jia that the slope is best for planting fruit trees. I wonder if he has discussed the rental method with the Marquis in detail? I think fruit trees will not generate income in one or two years. It must be rented for many years. Can the Marquis help me ask how many years Lord Chen wants to rent it? Is the rent fixed? Or will it be adjusted with the rise and fall of the surrounding low prices?"
Her voice was as clear as a silver bell. She said a lot, but her words were clear and to the point.
Xu Lingyi's eyes lit up when he heard this. He sat up straighter, looking at her with a new respect, and said, "Chen Ping wants to rent the place for ten years. The annual rent is fixed at one hundred taels of silver. You have to pay the rent for three years in one go. If you want to renew the lease after ten years, he will be given priority."
Eleventh Lady understood something.
The land cost five taels of silver per mu, and five hundred mu of land would cost two thousand five hundred taels of silver, but Chen Ping paid three hundred taels in one go...
She pondered and said, "There shouldn't be many sloping lands around Yanjing like mine that can cover 500 mu in one go, right?"
Xu Lingyi couldn't help but laugh: "Not bad. Otherwise, he wouldn't have paid three years' rent right away."
Eleventh Lady felt more confident.
Although it was a bit like drinking poison to quench thirst, she could do something else with the three hundred taels of silver, including developing the three hundred mu of sandy land. Fortunately, Xu Lingyi had a wide network of contacts and found a way out for her immediately.
"Lord, send someone to talk to Lord Chen!" Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "It's easy to talk about renting the land, but he has to use my people to help him manage the garden!"
Xu Lingyi smiled and said, "You want to steal someone's skills, but ten years is too long, right? Why not free someone up to do something else?"
"It can't be considered stealing a master's skills." Eleventh Lady smiled. "It's just that the opportunity is rare. Let them learn a skill so that they can have a meal in the future. It's better to teach a man how to fish than to give him a fish."
Xu Lingyi looked at her with a hint of admiration in his eyes.
"Let Manager Bai go tomorrow!" he said with a smile, "But don't worry, it's almost the beginning of winter now, so we can only rent it next year."
"Let's make a decision on the rent in the next few days!" Eleventh Lady thought about the three hundred taels of rent, "I can also arrange a few rooms for the guests early. It's almost the beginning of winter."
"I understand." Xu Lingyi said and lay down.
Knowing that he was going to sleep, Eleventh Lady blew out the light.
In the darkness, she listened to his rustling movements and wanted to ask Xu Lingyi if he would still follow the previous rules, with each concubine resting in her room for five days, or if he would set a new rule? But as she listened to his gradually calming breathing, she decided to find another opportunity to talk about this.
Early the next morning, after sending Xu Lingyi to the morning court, Amber and the others were packing their boxes at home. He took two second-class maids, Luyun and Hongxiu, to pay their respects to the lady dowager.
The lady was instructing Madam Du: "Bring more charcoal. Send Madam Ding from our small kitchen over there. She makes the best hot pot. The weather is getting colder and hot pot is warmer. Also bring the moon-white plum, orchid, bamboo and flower satin that the palace appreciated last year."
As soon as Eleventh Lady heard it, she knew it was talking about the Second Lady.
Seeing her coming, the lady waved at her and said, "Let's go see Yizhen together later!"
Eleventh Lady was very surprised.
Last night, the Madam did not mention going to the West Hill Villa. It seemed that it was a spur of the moment idea. Xu Lingyi went directly to court early this morning and he definitely did not know that the Madam was going to the West Hill Villa.
She smiled and greeted the lady, "Mother, do you want to tell the Marquis about this? He can also send a few more people to accompany him."
"Don't worry!" The lady smiled, "This is in Yanjing, not Miaojiang. Are you afraid of being kidnapped?"
Eleventh Lady naturally agreed with a smile, and under the pretext of going back to change her clothes, she hurriedly sent Amber to the outer courtyard to find Chief Steward Bai, asking him to report to Xu Lingyi that the Madam was going to the West Hill Villa. She also hurriedly changed into a green jacket with a four-happiness pattern and went to the Madam.
I met the third lady when I entered the door.
She just came out of the lady's room with the account book in her hand.
"Fourth brother's wife is lucky enough to be able to go out for a day. Unlike me, I have no free time every day." There was a hint of disapproval in his tone.
If it doesn't hurt, there's no need to be stubborn.
Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Those who are capable should do more work. Without Third Sister-in-law, we wouldn't be able to live so carefree."
The Third Lady was very pleased with what she heard, and a hint of pride flashed in her eyes. She chatted with Eleventh Lady for a few words, and then left on the pretext of being busy.
As soon as Eleventh Lady entered the Lady Dowager's room, Fifth Lady arrived.
When he heard that they were going to Xishan Villa, he also shouted that he wanted to go: "I want to see my second sister-in-law."
The lady laughed and scolded, "We are going to deliver something to Yizhen, not to go out for fun. You stay at home and don't run around."
She pulled the lady's sleeve and acted coquettishly.
This time, the lady was determined not to let her go out: "The roads outside Yanjing are bumpy..." I guess she thought she was pregnant and was afraid that she would get a miscarriage.
When the Fifth Lady saw this, her smile became very obedient and her tone was very sweet: "Then let my maids accompany me to Lijingxuan to pick flowers." She looked like a spoiled child.
"Okay, okay, okay." Taking the next best step, the madam responded hurriedly, "Be careful, don't let any insects sting you."
The Fifth Lady smiled like a flower: "No, no."
The lady shook her head: "Why are you so naughty?" But her face and eyes were full of smiles.
…
Although the entourage was light, there were more than a dozen black flat-top carriages lined up in a row, with three layers of guards inside and outside. The scene was already quite impressive.
Pedestrians on the road avoided it.
A group of people went to Xishan Villa in a mighty manner.
Eleventh Lady and the Lady Dowager were sitting in a carriage, still looking a little dazed.
I didn't expect to leave Xu's house without any preparation...
She served the lady carefully, fearing that she might feel unwell - after all, she was old, and the carriage had no shock-absorbing measures, so it might not be able to withstand the bumps.
The lady laughed at her nervousness and said, "It's okay, it's okay." But Eleventh Lady's filial piety still made her feel very happy.
After walking for about an hour and a half, we arrived at Xishan Villa.
A servant had already reported to the steward of the other courtyard, and when he entered the hanging flower gate, the maids and old women fell to the ground.
The Second Lady came over with a guilty look on her face: "Mother, it's all my fault!" She then greeted the Eleventh Lady, "I let the Fourth Brother's wife hold me back."
Eleventh Lady hurried forward and greeted the Second Lady.
The lady laughed and said, "I came to see if you are used to living here!" and looked around.
The ancient trees in Xishan Villa are deep, and the whitewashed walls and green bricks dot the ground, just like an elegant and distant ink painting. The bluestone corridor in the courtyard is clean and tidy, the black pillars and floor pillars are polished to a shine, and the stone railings are decorated with newly opened chrysanthemums.
The old lady nodded with satisfaction and was helped into the house by the second lady.
On the painting table were scattered red, yellow and brown ink, brushes, ink, paper and inkstone. It was obvious that the second wife was painting before they arrived.
The lady walked to the drawing table.
It is a picture of red leaves on the Western Hills, and I am about to color it.
The second wife smiled and said, "Mother, don't worry about me. I'm fine here."
The lady looked at the white curtains in the room that were as bright as moonlight, the cloisonné three-legged elephant-trunk incense burner, and the osmanthus and hibiscus in the blue and white vase on the high table, and smiled and said, "As long as you like it."
"The scenery here is unique." The second wife helped the old lady sit on the big kang by the window in the east room. The maid Jiexiang offered Laojunmei to everyone to drink. "Every day, I get up and walk in the woods, and then go back to the room to paint or read. It's very comfortable."
The lady's smile deepened as she listened.
The Second Lady chatted with Eleventh Lady: "You just came back yesterday, right? How is the First Lady?"
"Everything is fine." She exchanged a few polite words with the Second Lady.
The lady asked Madam Du to bring in the things that the second lady had brought.
Maids were coming in and out. There were large, soft pillows, crystal plates, filigree enamel hand warmers, jade-like sheep-horn palace lamps, silver-gilt hairpins and inkstone boxes... all sorts of things filled up half of the kang.
The second wife was very uneasy: "Mom, I don't need so many things."
"It's not like home here. It's inconvenient to get anything here." The lady disagreed. "If you need anything, don't keep it to yourself. Just tell me."
The Second Lady quickly knelt down to thank the Grand Lady, asked Jiexiang to take the things away, and accompanied the Grand Lady for tea. She asked about her health, and then the mother asked, "Where is the lunch?" The Second Lady looked at the Grand Lady.
The lady smiled and said, "Just put it here!"
The old woman smiled and bent her knees before retreating, having the table brought over. The Second Madam herself placed the chopsticks in the table.
Of course, Eleventh Lady would not be idle either, and helped out.
Just when the arrangements were almost complete, a servant came running in and said, "Is the Marquis here?"
So fast?
Eleventh Lady was slightly surprised.
Then Xu Lingyi walked in with big strides.
He was wearing a bright red official uniform, with the lion on the patch holding its head high and chest puffed out, looking majestic.