When Eleventh Lady heard Third Lady say that she wanted to join her in business, she was surprised: "What kind of business? So profitable?"
The third lady smiled mysteriously and said, "You will know when the time comes."
Seeing that she was unwilling to reveal the secret, Eleventh Lady pretended to be very distressed and said, "But I don't have the capital!"
"How can you not have the capital?" The third wife's eyes flickered. "Didn't you say there was a dowry of 20,000 taels of silver?"
Eleventh Lady sighed, "Mother said that I was young and didn't need so much money. I spent it all on farms, yards, and jewelry."
The third lady smiled and said, "It's not that difficult. Just put the jewelry in the pawn shop and redeem it when you make money."
Eleventh Lady couldn't help but sneer in her heart.
If I were really a fourteen-year-old girl waiting for money, I would definitely fall into this trap!
"This, this is not good!" Eleventh Lady widened her eyes, as if she had never heard of such a thing before, "If others knew about this, they would think that the Marquis was cheating us..."
"If you don't tell me and I don't tell you, who else would know?"
Eleventh Lady listened and smiled secretly.
If it really comes to pass, I'm afraid it will be you, Gan, who will tell others about it!
She couldn't help but become more alert.
The Third Madam looked very anxious. The only thing that made people care about her was the title of "Madam of Yongping Marquis". Could it be that this matter had something to do with Xu Lingyi?
"Third sister-in-law, let me think about it!" She showed a panic and helpless expression.
The Third Lady thought that she had never experienced such a thing before, so it was normal for her to be undecided. She smiled and said, "Then you better reply to my letter as soon as possible. I am waiting for the money. If you don't mean to, I will have to go to the Fifth Brother's wife. You know, if you miss this opportunity, you will miss it forever."
Eleventh Lady nodded hurriedly: "I understand."
He looked up at Qiu Ling.
I noticed that she kept her eyelids drooped.
She was moved. She thought of how Qiu Ling looked like when the Third Madam asked Dong Qing to leave because of the "incompatible zodiac signs".
Eleventh Lady nodded secretly.
The third lady told her to "hurry up" a few more times, then stood up and said goodbye.
Binju rushed out from the east room with slightly red cheeks and pulled Shiyi Niang to sit on the big kang by the window in the east room.
Amber and Holly stood side by side, covering their mouths and laughing.
"What's going on?" Eleventh Lady asked in surprise when she saw their expressions.
Bin Ju's eyes sparkled: "Madam, fifty taels. Your monthly allowance is fifty taels."
Eleventh Lady was also quite surprised.
Thinking about how much he could do with this money, he couldn't help but smile: "So much!"
Amber smiled and said, "Ma'am, we can finally take a breath."
Bin Ju nodded repeatedly: "Adding the fifty taels of silver returned by Sister Dongqing, we will have one hundred and four taels and six cents. There will be another fifty taels of silver coming in on the fifteenth of next month, so we will have one hundred and fifty-four taels and six cents. By the twelfth month, we will still have fifty taels..." She counted on her fingers, which seemed like she was just trying to appease her hunger.
Eleventh Lady couldn't help laughing: "One year is six hundred taels, two years is one thousand two hundred taels, ten years is six thousand taels..."
"Yes, yes!" Binju nodded.
Everybody laughed.
The atmosphere became very cheerful.
Dong Qing served tea to Shiyi Niang: "That's good now. We don't have to worry anymore."
"That's not necessarily true." Amber said, "I'm afraid it's just in one hand and out the other."
Bin Ju didn't like seeing Amber in the first place, and retorted, "The visits to each other are all public affairs. Madam, at most, is just adding some luster. It's just a few bucks."
Amber glanced at Binju and said, "Last time the Fifth and Sixth Masters went to Shanxi, Madam took fifty taels of silver and two Duan inkstones. I saw the Third Madam's expression, and it seemed as if it was natural to give so much. The Fourth Aunt gave ten taels of silver, and the Third Madam was very grateful. Madam is not the same as before. She is too stingy. Being laughed at is a small matter, but being known as 'stingy' is a big deal!"
Bin Ju was speechless for a moment.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the room became depressing.
"Alright, alright." Eleventh Lady smiled and encouraged everyone, "Trees are dead, but people are alive. Are you going to worry to death over this little bit of silver?"
"Yes, yes." Dong Qing hurriedly smiled and tried to reconcile, "Think about it, we used to get two taels of silver a month, but now we get fifty taels of silver a month... there will always be good days ahead."
Binju smiled a little embarrassedly.
Amber laughed too.
Seeing that the atmosphere had eased, Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Let's go to the garden and take a look at the greenhouse."
* * * * * *
Because the Fifth Lady lives in the back garden, the maids and wives in each room, regardless of whether they were born in the Year of the Ox or not, now actively avoid it. Now it is late autumn, and the back garden seems very deserted.
Eleventh Lady led Amber for a long time before they saw two wives pushing a bicycle. Amber hurriedly asked where the greenhouse was. Although the two wives didn't know Eleventh Lady, they saw her gorgeous clothes and pointed to Lijingxuan timidly: "It's next to it."
Amber thanked him, and they saw a huge glass greenhouse behind Lijingxuan. There were lush flowers and trees inside.
"How much does this cost!" Amber stood outside the greenhouse, staring at the glass in amazement.
Eleventh Lady was also surprised.
I didn’t expect the greenhouse in Xu’s mansion to be so large.
She was feeling somewhat excited.
Eleventh Lady wants to open a shop selling floral dew.
In this way, there would be no shortage of raw materials for the experiment. If the scented dew could really be extracted, the technology to grow flowers in large areas would also be available.
The two were looking around when a woman came out of the greenhouse and saw Eleventh Lady. She was startled and said, "Fourth Lady!"
Eleventh Lady looked in the direction of the voice.
It was Mrs. Shi who was beside the Fifth Lady. She was holding a pot of purple Phalaenopsis orchids in her hand.
"Mother Shi," Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "Fifth Brother's wife wants to decorate the house!"
Mother Shi glanced at the orchid in her hand and smiled, "Yes!"
A woman came out from behind Mother Shi, and Mother Shi hurriedly said to her, "Mrs. Ji Ting, this is the Fourth Madam."
Ji Ting's wife was only in her early thirties, very stout, wearing a coarse cloth gown and holding a small hoe. When she heard that the person in front of her was the fourth wife, she immediately panicked, her face flushed red, and she didn't know what to do.
Mother Shi smiled and explained to Shiyi Niang: "She has never seen the world, please don't be offended, Madam Four." She then said to Ji Ting's wife, "Why don't you bow to Madam Four?"
Only then did Ji Ting's wife drop her hoe and kneel down to kowtow to Eleventh Lady.
Amber hurried forward to help Ji Ting's wife: "Sister-in-law, don't panic. Our wife came here specially to see you."
Ji Ting's wife muttered for a long time but no one could hear what she said.
Eleventh Lady smiled and said to Mother Shi: "Go and get busy! I'll make sure Fifth Brother's wife won't get anxious. Let me see what we have planted at home."
Mother Shi said goodbye to Shiyi Niang with a smile, and Shiyi Niang was led into the greenhouse by Ji Ting's wife.
Amber was talking to Ji Ting's wife nearby.
Seeing that Shiyi Niang was in a good mood, Ji Ting's wife gradually felt more at ease. She told Amber that her husband, Ji Ting, was in charge of the greenhouse in Xu's mansion. Because the greenhouse was in the back garden, in order to avoid making money, he only came to the back garden at the beginning of the morning and the beginning of the morning. Usually, she took care of the greenhouse with her sisters-in-law, brother's wife and nephew's wife. As she was talking, Shiyi Niang saw the shadows of several women among the green trees and red flowers. Ji Ting's wife hurriedly called over to salute Shiyi Niang.
Eleventh Lady exchanged a few pleasantries, asked everyone to leave, and continued to visit the greenhouse with Ji Ting's wife.
There are fragrant orchids, elegant camellias, delicate apricot blossoms...but there are only two or three pots of each.
She was a little disappointed - it was obvious that this greenhouse was used by the Xu family to decorate the house.
“Can I grow jasmine?”
Ji Ting's wife hurriedly said, "Yes!"
"How about planting ten acres?"
Ji Ting's wife's face immediately turned red: "I haven't planted so many... I've only planted about ten pots."
"If Ji Ting is allowed to plant ten acres, I'm sure he can make it survive."
"I want to ask my husband."
It's an honest answer.
Since we are in the back garden, it would be rude not to say hello to Princess Danyang.
Eleventh Lady nodded and went to the Fifth Lady with Amber.
Madam Wu was indeed angry and asked, "Sister-in-law Si is willing to come now?"
Eleventh Lady just smiled.
Madam Wu hurriedly had tea served.
The two sat down and talked for a long time. Seeing that it was almost noon, they went to the lady's place together.
When she heard that Eleventh Lady had gone to the greenhouse, the lady smiled and asked, "Do you want to wear flowers?"
Eleventh Lady told the Madam that she wanted to make perfumed dew: "...I have seen it in a book before, but I don't know if it can be made."
The lady dowager was very supportive: "Okay! From now on we don't have to buy it outside, we can just ask Eleventh Lady directly." There was a bit of doting in her tone, and it was obvious that she just regarded this as a hobby of Eleventh Lady.
Eleventh Lady is already very grateful for this.
Upon hearing this, the Fifth Lady immediately shouted, "I'll come and help the Fourth Sister-in-law."
"As for you, you're helping by taking care of yourself." The old lady smiled and patted the fifth lady's hand.
Zhen Jieer asked Shiyi Niang quietly, "Do you make your own incense like Second Aunt?"
Eleventh Lady didn't know that the Second Madam could make incense, so she laughed and said, "Really? Second Madam can also make incense?"
Sister Zhen nodded: "During the New Year, our family uses the incense made by my second aunt."
Eleventh Lady’s mind was racing.
How could I forget this big Buddha?
I'll have a good chat with the Second Madam someday. Maybe she has something with very sophisticated craftsmanship...
* * * * * *
Luo Zhenxing and the eldest lady came as scheduled. Eleventh Lady had already told the dowager about this matter. After paying her respects to the dowager, they sat in the hall waiting for Lu Yonggui.
Less than a quarter after midnight, Mother Tao brought Lu Yonggui in.
He looked to be about thirty-four or thirty-five years old, of medium height, with dark skin, bright eyes, and a calm demeanor. Shiyi Niang took a liking to him at first sight.
After greeting everyone, he explained, "We have a herbal medicine shop at the west gate. July and August are the time to collect herbs, so we didn't have time to rush over."
Luo Zhenxing and Shiyi Niang looked at each other, neither of them knowing that Yuanniang also had a herbal medicine shop.
Lu Yonggui looked at her with a slightly gloomy look in his eyes, and handed a blue cloth bundle to Shiyi Niang: "This is the account book I have used to help my aunt manage her property over the past ten years."
Amber went to answer it.
Lu Yonggui hurriedly whispered, "It's very heavy, girl, be careful."
Amber listened and smiled: "Thank you, Manager Lu." She really hugged the bundle tightly and placed it on the black lacquered square table between Luo Zhenxing and Shiyi Niang.