Chapter 133: Companionship (Part 1)

When Eleventh Lady arrived at the Dowager's place, Third Lady had already arrived and was sitting on the big kang by the window with the Dowager, talking: "...There are 150 pots of plum blossoms, 150 pots of golden oranges, 200 pots of holly trees, and 100 pots of camellias..."

Hearing the noise, she looked over and found that it was Shiyi Niang who came in. She smiled and stopped talking, then stood up and greeted her enthusiastically: "Fourth brother's wife is here!"

Eleventh Lady smiled and called out "Third Sister-in-law", bowed to the lady-in-law, and bowed to the Third Lady.

The Third Lady said to her very warmly, "I know you like to eat pickled fish cubes, so I specially asked someone to make this dish today."

"Thank you for your trouble." Eleventh Lady thanked the Third Lady. A maid brought a chair over and Eleventh Lady sat on it. She smiled and chatted with them: "Are you discussing the flowers and trees for the New Year?"

The third wife nodded and said, "The weather is bad this year, and the prices of things have increased." She looked very embarrassed.

"No matter how expensive the things are, we still have to celebrate the New Year." The lady smiled and said, "Just prepare everything!"

The third lady responded with a smile.

Eleventh Lady then talked about the maids: "...I have found five of them. When are you free? I will bring them over to you for a look."

The lady smiled and said, "Then let's do it in the afternoon!"

Eleventh Lady handed over a piece of paper with the names of the little girls written on it: "Here are the names!"

The lady received it in the small drawer behind her.

The Third Lady's eyes rolled when she heard this and she said with a smile, "Since the lower-ranking lady is free, I will also bring the selected little girl over for you to take a look. Please help Qin'er take a look."

The lady smiled and said, "Okay!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the wet nurse came over with Zhen Jie'er and Zhe Ge'er.

The adults dropped the topic and accepted the gifts from the two people with a smile.

The lady smiled and stood up: "It's a big deal, let's talk about it after dinner!"

The third lady hurriedly smiled and helped the old lady, and the group went to the east room to eat.

After dinner, the children were taken away by their wet nurse to take a nap, and the lady-in-waiting asked the Third Lady and the Eleventh Lady to go to the west room to talk.

"In two days, the Zhongshan Marquis family will marry off their daughter," she said, smiling at the Third Lady, "You have to prepare for the New Year celebrations. Danyang is pregnant again," and then she turned her gaze to Shiyi Niang, "Shiyi Niang, please accompany me!"

Eleventh Lady was stunned.

Ever since Xu Lingyi returned from his great victory in the northwest, the Xu family has closed the door to welcome guests. All weddings and funerals of relatives and old friends are attended by the third master or the managers of the office. I didn't expect that the wife of the Marquis of Zhongshan would attend the wedding of their daughter. Not only did she attend, but she also took me with her!

She felt something in her heart, and vaguely felt that the lady's behavior had a lot to do with her...but she couldn't find the reason for this change.

But the result is optimistic.

This at least shows that the lady-in-waiting is willing to give her a chance to prove that she is qualified for the position of the wife of Marquis Yongping.

Eleventh Lady recalled what happened early this morning.

At that time, she was lying comfortably in the quilt when Xu Lingyi suddenly came.

She got up in a hurry, washed and dressed, and served him breakfast.

He sent everyone around him away, but hesitated several times to speak.

Eleventh Lady thought about how he went out with Third Master last night and didn't come back until midnight. She also thought about what Mother Tao had just told her quietly, saying that Xu Lingyi was staying in Qiao Lian's house, but the light in the east study was on. She guessed that he might have talked to Third Master about something in his heart, and then his thoughts were in turmoil, and he couldn't sleep at night. He wanted to say something to her early in the morning, but he didn't have this habit, so it was difficult to open his mouth.

Being able to think of myself when I think of something to say is a big step forward.

She simply broke the rule of "no talking in bed, no talking while eating" and told him some trivial things around her with a smile: "...Wan Yizong has three sons. The youngest one is not very good. The eldest and the second are very capable. Especially the eldest, he is diligent and practical in his work. He was afraid that the house would collapse if the snow was heavy, so he took his younger brother to sweep the snow in the middle of the night. Otherwise, the house in Jinqian Lane might have more than one collapsed ear room!"

Since Xu Lingyi is going to purge the outer courtyard, if we can find a job for Wan Daxian and Wan Erxian, Dongqing will be able to live a more comfortable life after she marries. It is definitely not appropriate to force it, the best way is to do it quietly.

Xu Lingyi felt much more relaxed after hearing this. Although he didn't respond to her, he didn't frown at her, implying that she had broken the etiquette of dining.

Now the lady asked me to accompany her to social events...

Eleventh Lady was in a very good mood and replied "yes" with a smile respectfully. Suddenly, she felt that everything in front of her eyes became bright.

The third wife listened with a bitter tone.

The status of the Taifu is noble, and the Xu family is the first among the nobles, and seriously speaking, the Zhongshan Marquis is two generations younger than the Taifu in terms of age and qualifications. When their family marries off their daughter, the Taifu goes, which is a respectable thing for them. If she doesn't go, it's also reasonable. After the Xu family closed the door to visitors for more than half a year, the Taifu changed her usual low profile and personally took Shiyi Niang to attend the wedding banquet. What else could it be if she didn't want to personally guide Shiyi Niang?

She is not someone who is without self-awareness.

Trying her best to keep a proper smile on her face, the Third Lady stood up and asked, "When will mother and Fourth Brother's wife go? I can have someone prepare the carriages and horses."

"I'll be leaving early tomorrow." The lady laughed, "Just in time for dinner."

Eleventh Lady heard the teasing tone in the lady's voice and joined in the fun, saying with a smile: "Okay, I'll eat less in the morning."

Everyone laughed.

The third wife stood up and said goodbye: "I will go and tell Li Quan's wife to prepare the carriage."

"Go ahead!" The old lady nodded with a smile, and the third lady retreated.

The lady pointed at Jinwu who was standing beside her and said, "Sit down and talk!"

Eleventh Lady smiled and sat on the brocade stool.

The lady then took out a few large red and gold-sprinkled scrolls from the drawer on the kang nearby.

"The families written on it are of prominent status. When they visit each other, they need to dress up according to their status." The lady handed her a slip. "These families, just don't lose the courtesy." The lady handed her another slip. "These families are good friends. It's best to be easy-going and generous." After saying this, she handed her another slip. "These families, if you have time, go to them. If you don't have time, let the people in the back office go." She handed her another slip... After talking all the way, she handed her seven or eight slips of paper. Some only had four or five families written on them, but had a long list of titles, and some had more than ten families written on them, but only some names. Among them, the Zhongshan Hou family was within the scope of "just don't lose the courtesy."

Eleventh Lady knew that this was the Xu family’s social circle.

She took it solemnly.

The lady smiled and said, "Although the Office of Responsibility has a list, if we have to let the people in the Office of Responsibility make the decision on everything, they will inevitably become careless over time. It is better to keep it in mind. When something happens, just say it casually, so that they know you are not a fool. After a long time, even if you are negligent, they will not dare to deceive you casually under their prestige."

In other words, you need to be familiar with your business so that the people below you will not dare to bully you for your ignorance.

Knowing that the lady was teaching her bit by bit, Eleventh Lady suppressed the slight excitement in her heart and responded with a serious expression.

The lady-in-waiting saw that Eleventh Lady had changed her cheerfulness and became serious. She knew that she understood what she meant and was very satisfied with her cleverness. She smiled and nodded: "Among us nobles, the Zhongshan Marquis family has the widest circle of friends. I'm afraid that by then, you will meet most of the people on this post. You should remember how to speak and act, so that you will have an idea in mind by then."

Eleventh Lady answered "yes" respectfully, helped the lady lie down, and returned to her room. She did not even take a nap, but began to recite the names and titles on the post. Her body was younger, and her memory was much better than before.

By the time Mother Tao came over, she had memorized three or four posts.

Mother Tao looked at the name card on her bed with a complicated expression: "Madam, do you want to follow the Madam to the secret room?"

Eleventh Lady smiled and nodded: "The Marquis of Zhongshan is marrying off their daughter, and the Madam will take me with her."

"Madam... you have won the favor of the Madam so quickly." Her smile was a little forced.

Eleventh Lady understood her feelings very well.

She had to fully support herself for the sake of her brother, but that didn't mean she was willing to grow stronger day by day. Once their interest chain broke, the first person to jump out and embarrass herself might be Mother Tao. This was also an important reason why she had to carefully bypass Mother Tao to cultivate her own power in the mansion.

Eleventh Lady had no interest in this, nor did she have the time to pay attention to Mother Tao's sigh. She smiled and said, "Have you brought the little girl here? Let's call her in to have a look!"

Mother Tao regained her original gentleness and composure, and called the little girls in with a smile.

There were five little girls, the oldest was no more than ten years old, the youngest was only seven. They all had their hair combed, dressed neatly, and were clean. Wenzhu was thin, just as her name suggested; Mixiang had a round face with baby fat, very cute; Taoliu had delicate eyebrows and looked very quiet. Lianyao had a timid look between her eyebrows, which made people feel sorry for her. Taohua looked very similar to Wei Zi, and was a bit carefree.

Eleventh Lady nodded secretly.

These girls all have their own characteristics, and the lady always finds one she likes.

She said a few words in a friendly manner, such as "Don't be afraid" and "Just answer whatever the lady asks you later," and then she and Mother Tao led them to the lady's place.

The Third Lady arrived earlier than her. Madam Gan led five little maids to stand on the eaves and wait. The little maids were only twelve or thirteen years old, and the youngest was about ten years old. They all looked very pretty. When she saw the Eleventh Lady and the others, Madam Gan immediately came up to them with a smile: "Fourth Lady, you are here!" But her eyes were rolling behind her.

Eleventh Lady smiled and nodded to her, leaving Mother Tao and several little maids waiting with Mother Gan, while a little maid lifted the curtain and went into the house.

The old lady was talking to the third lady about the maid: "...I think that Fantine is not bad. Just keep her as you wish!"

It seems that the lady has already met those little girls.

It was hard for her to spend so much time and effort to decide on a maid for Qin Ge's room before she arrived, so that she wouldn't be there and cause trouble by inserting an outsider in, as happened to Yuan Niang.

Eleventh Lady smiled and walked forward to greet the lady.

——End of this chapter——