When Eleventh Lady came out of the shower, 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 mountain. I called back the servants from each room. Otherwise, the house would be in chaos..." 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 Madam Tai and Xu Lingyi had always treated the Second Madam with courtesy, she discussed with Xu Lingyi, "Should we send someone to say hello? See if the Second Madam wants anything, so we can bring some back."

Seeing her so sensible, Xu Lingyi smiled and nodded, 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 go to her place when 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 juren, 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 wanted to ask him to go to your farm to take a look, but he heard that I have 500 acres of sloping land and was very interested. He wants to rent it for 100 taels of silver a year. I think the price is okay. What do you think?"

Eleventh Lady didn't expect Xu Lingyi to act so quickly. Her mind raced, "The Marquis is well-informed. Since he said this price is acceptable, I think it can't be wrong. But if I rent the land to this Lord Chen, my maid will have nothing to do. If she stays idle every day, I'm afraid something will happen. I heard from Manager Jia that it's best to plant fruit trees on that slope. I don't know if he has discussed the rental method with the Marquis in detail. I think fruit trees won't generate income in one or two years, and they 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 according to the rise and fall of the surrounding land 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 straight with a rather new look on her 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 three years' rent in one go. If you want to renew the lease after ten years, he will be given priority."

Eleventh Lady understood something more.

The land cost five taels of silver per mu, so 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 people around Yanjing who have 500 acres of sloping land like mine, right?"

Xu Lingyi couldn't help but laugh: "Not bad. Otherwise, he wouldn't have offered 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 acres of sandy land. Fortunately, Xu Lingyi had a wide network of contacts and found a way out for her right away.

"My Lord, please 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 my skills, but ten years is too long, right? Why not free people up to do something else?"

"It can't be considered stealing someone's skills." Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "It's just that this 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 settle 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 companions 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 lights.

In the darkness, she listened to him turning over and over, and wanted to ask Xu Lingyi whether he would follow the previous rules and let each concubine rest in her room for five days, or whether he would set a new rule. But as she listened to his gradually calming breathing, she decided to find a chance to talk about it.

* * * * * *

Early the next morning, after sending Xu Lingyi to the morning court, Amber and the others were sorting boxes at home. She took two second-class maids, Luyun and Hongxiu, to pay their respects to the lady dowager.

The lady was instructing Madam Du: "...Pull more charcoal. Send Madam Ding from our small kitchen over there. She makes the best hotpot. The weather is getting colder and hotpot is good for keeping warm. Also, bring the white plum, orchid, bamboo and moon-shaped satin that we admired in the palace 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: "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 like it was a spur of the moment decision... Xu Lingyi went straight to court early this morning and definitely did not know that the Madam was going to the West Hill Villa.

She smiled and greeted the lady, saying, "Mother, do you want to tell the Marquis so that he can send 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 four-happiness patterns and went to the Madam.

When I entered the door, I met the third lady.

She had just come out of the lady's room, holding the account book in her hand.

"Fourth brother's wife is lucky enough to be able to go out and play for a day. Unlike me, I have no free time every day." There was a hint of disapproval in his tone.

It's not a big deal, don't be stubborn

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Those who are capable should do more work. Without our Third Sister-in-law, we wouldn't be able to live so freely."

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 go 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 have a miscarriage.

When the Fifth Lady saw this, her smile became very obedient and her tone was very sweet: "Then I will ask the maids to accompany me to Lijingxuan to pick flowers." She looked like a spoiled child.

"Okay, okay, okay." As a second choice, the lady hastily agreed, "But be careful not to get stung by any insects."

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-painted flat-topped carriages lined up in a row, with three layers of guards inside and outside, and the scene was already quite impressive.

Pedestrians on the road avoided it.

A group of people went to the villa in Xishan.

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 smiled at her nervousness and said, "It's okay, it's okay." But she still felt very happy about Eleventh Lady's filial piety.

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 they 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, "It's because the Fourth Brother's wife was holding 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 West Hill Courtyard is dotted with ancient trees, pink walls and blue bricks, just like an ink painting. The bluestone corridor in the courtyard is clean and tidy, the black pillars and floor pillars are polished to a shine, and there are newly opened ** on the stone railings.

The old lady nodded with satisfaction and was helped into the house by the second lady.

There were red, yellow and brown scattered on the painting table, as well as brushes, ink and paper. 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, "Mom, 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 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 when I get up, I 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 greeted 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 dowager asked Madam Du to bring in the things she brought for the second lady.

The maids filed in and out. There were large, soft pillows, crystal plates, cloisonné hand warmers, jade-like sheep-horn palace lanterns, silver-gilt hairpin inkstone boxes... all of which covered half of the kang.

The second wife was very uneasy: "Mom, I can't use 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 and bowed to thank the Grand Lady. She asked Jiexiang to put the things away, and accompanied the Grand Lady for tea. She asked about her health, and then a mother came in and asked, "Where is 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. She had the table brought and the Second Lady placed the chopsticks herself.

Of course, Eleventh Lady would not sit idle either, and helped out.

Just as the arrangements were almost complete, a servant came running in and said, "The Marquis is here?"

So fast?

Eleventh Lady was slightly surprised.

Then he saw Xu Lingyi walking 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.

※

I recommend a book to you:

Title: Branches of Beauty

Author: Take the red envelope

Book number: 1692369

Content: Yu Yang, the daughter of the Sang family, entered the Yinggong Mansion as a maid. She thought she would spend her life like this. Who knew that things would not turn out as she wished...

It's very interesting to write about the friendship and love between two girls! (*^__^*) Hehehe...