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 wintersweets, 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 Eleventh Lady coming 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 Madam said to her very affectionately, "I know you like to eat pickled fish cubes, so I specially asked someone to make this dish today."
"Thank you for your concern, Third Sister-in-law." Eleventh Lady thanked Third Lady. A maid brought a grand master's chair over, and Eleventh Lady sat on it, smiling and chatting with them: "Are you discussing the flowers and trees for the New Year?"
The third lady nodded and said, "The weather is bad this year, and the prices of things have gone up." She looked very embarrassed.
"No matter how expensive the things are, we still have to celebrate the New Year." The lady smiled, "Just buy everything!"
The third lady responded with a smile.
Eleventh Lady then talked about the maids: "...I have found five. When are you free? I will bring them over to you to have a look."
The lady smiled and said, "Then let's do it in the afternoon!"
Eleventh Lady handed over the slips of paper with the names of the little girls written on them: "Here are the names!"
The lady put it in the drawer of the small table behind her.
The Third Madam's eyes rolled when she heard this and she said with a smile, "Since Mother is free this afternoon, I will also bring the selected little girl over for you to look at. Please help Qin'er to take a look."
The lady smiled and said, "Okay!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the wet nurse brought Zhen Jie'er and Zhun Ge'er over.
The adults dropped the subject and accepted the gifts from the two 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 lady-in-waiting to support her, and the group went to the east room to eat.
After dinner, the child was taken away by the 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 for the whole family. Danyang is pregnant again," she said, turning 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 its doors to visitors. All weddings and funerals of relatives and old friends are attended by the Third Master or the managers of the Office of Relations. Unexpectedly, the wife of the Marquis of Zhongshan would attend the wedding of their daughter. Not only did she attend, 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 results are encouraging.
This at least shows that the lady is willing to give her a chance to prove that she is qualified for the position of Lady of Yongping Marquis.
Eleventh Lady thought of what happened early this morning.
She was lying comfortably in bed when Xu Lingyi suddenly came.
She got up in a panic, washed and served him breakfast.
He sent everyone around him away, but he hesitated to speak several times.
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 his inner thoughts, and then her thoughts were in turmoil, and she couldn't sleep at night. She wanted to say something to him early in the morning, but she didn't have the habit of doing so, so it was difficult to open her 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 younger one is not obvious. The eldest and the second are very capable. Especially the eldest, he is diligent and practical. 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 over in Goldfish Lane might have more than just collapsed ear rooms!"
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 marrying them. It is definitely not appropriate to force them, the best way is to let them do it quietly.
Xu Lingyi looked much more relaxed after listening to her. Although he didn't respond to her, he didn't frown at her, implying that she had broken the etiquette of dining.
Now the Madam asked me to accompany her to social events...
Eleventh Lady was in a good mood and responded with a respectful smile, "Yes". Suddenly, she felt that everything in front of her became bright.
The third lady felt a bitter taste in her mouth when she heard this.
The status of the Grand Madam is noble, and the Xu family is the first among the nobles, and seriously speaking, the Zhongshan Marquis is two generations younger than the Grand Madam in terms of age and qualifications. When their family marries their daughter, the Grand Madam goes to give them respect, and 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 Grand Madam changed her usual low-key style and personally took Shiyi Niang to attend the wedding banquet. If she didn't want to personally guide Shiyi Niang, what else could she do?
She is not someone who is without self-awareness.
Trying her best to put on a generous and proper smile, the Third Lady stood up and said, "When will mother and Fourth Brother's wife go? I can also 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 followed suit, saying with a smile: "Okay, I'll eat less in the morning."
Everybody laughed.
The third lady 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 sat on the brocade stool with a smile.
The lady then took out a few bright red scrolls with gold sprinkled on them from the drawer of the table next to her.
"The families written on these are of prominent status. When they visit each other, they need to dress up according to their status." The lady handed her one. "These families, just don't lose etiquette." The lady handed her another. "These families are good friends. It's best to be easy-going and generous." After saying this, she handed her another one. "These families, go if you have time. If you don't have time, let the people in the reception office go." She handed her another list... She talked all the way and handed her seven or eight notes. Some only had four or five families written on them, but had a long list of titles. Some had more than a dozen families written on them, but only some names. Among them, the Zhongshan Hou family was within the scope of "just don't lose etiquette."
Eleventh Lady knew that this was the Xu family’s social circle.
She took it solemnly.
The lady smiled and said, "Although the Huishi Office also has a list, if we have to let the Huishi Office make the final decision on everything, over time, those in charge will inevitably become careless. It is better to keep it in mind. When something happens, just say it casually, so that they know you are not a fool. Over time, even if you are negligent, they will not dare to deceive you casually under their accumulated power."
In other words, you have to be familiar with your business so that the people below you will not dare to bully you for not knowing the business.
Knowing that the lady was teaching her bit by bit, Eleventh Lady suppressed her inner excitement and responded with a serious expression.
The lady 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: "The Zhongshan Marquis family has the widest social connections among us nobles. I am afraid that by then, I 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 replied "yes" respectfully, helped the lady to lie down, returned to her own room, and without even taking a nap, began to recite the names and titles written on the post.
My body feels younger and my memory is much better than before.
By the time Mother Tao came over, she had already memorized three or four posts.
Mother Tao looked at the name card on her bed with a complicated expression: "Madam, are you going to visit relatives with the Madam?"
Eleventh Lady smiled and nodded: "The Marquis of Zhongshan is marrying off their daughter, and the Madam will take me with you."
"Madam... you have won the favor of the Madam so quickly." Her smile seemed a little forced.
Eleventh Lady could understand her feelings very well.
For Zhun Ge's sake, she had to fully support herself, 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 her 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, and the youngest was only seven. They all wore buns, dressed neatly and cleanly. 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. Lianjiao had a timid look between her eyebrows, which made people love her. Taohua looked very similar to Wei Zi, and was a little 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.
Gan Mama led five or six little maids to stand under the eaves and wait. The little maids were no more than twelve or thirteen years old, and the youngest was about ten years old. They all looked very pretty. When she saw Shiyi Niang and the others, Gan Mama immediately came up to them with a smile: "Fourth Madam, you are here!" But her eyes rolled behind her.
Eleventh Lady smiled and nodded to her, leaving Mother Tao and a few little maids to wait with Mother Gan, while a little maid lifted the curtain and entered the house.
The old lady was talking to the third lady about the maid: "...I think that Fantine is not bad. Let's keep her as you wish!"
It seems that the lady has already met those little girls.
It was hard for her to put so much thought into deciding on a maid for Qin Ge's room before I arrived, so that I wouldn't be there and create trouble by inserting an outsider into the room, as happened to Yuan Niang at that time.
Eleventh Lady smiled and walked forward to pay her respects to the lady.