"That's good." Eleventh Lady smiled, "The New Year is coming soon, and Auntie should get better soon. Then the Marquis will be happy to see you."

Qiao Lianfang smiled slightly, her face like peach blossoms in March.

The two walked forward, and Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Do you want to ask another imperial physician to take a look?"

Find another doctor and give him some medicine, and then take advantage of the opportunity to get better.

Qiao Lianfang shook her head and smiled, "No need. Doctor Zhang is good enough."

Eleventh Lady sighed in her heart.

I have given myself the opportunity...

She smiled faintly: "Mrs. Qiao hasn't come to see you for a long time, right? Why not send someone to ask Mrs. Qiao to come and see you. With her by your side, you'll feel better. Maybe your illness will be cured!"

There was a hint of surprise in Aunt Qiao's eyes, but Eleventh Lady's words hit the nail on the head as she missed her mother day and night. She smiled and thanked Eleventh Lady.

Eleventh Lady instructed Amber beside her: "Go and make arrangements to pick up Mrs. Qiao to come over for a chat tomorrow."

Amber hurriedly replied "yes".

The group returned to the yard.

As soon as Eleventh Lady returned to her upper room, Madam Wen came to ask for a meeting.

She thought about it and asked the maid to bring Madam Wen in.

Madam Wen had a smile on her face. As soon as she entered the room, she praised Eleventh Lady earnestly, saying things like the Marquis asked the madams to see him off when he went out, which showed that he was magnanimous, something she had never seen in her life.

Eleventh Lady thought of how she had been smiling everywhere when she first started looking for customers, so she simply said, "Aunt, it's not convenient for me to see Madam Wen San."

Madam Wen's smile froze on her face: "At least for my sake, please come and see me."

Eleventh Lady had a stool brought to the side of the kang and said, "Auntie, I am the daughter-in-law of the Xu family and the daughter of the Luo family. I know your situation. I am a fool with foolish ideas. I think being a daughter-in-law is the same as being a court official. The court is like the husband's family, and the clan is like the wife's family. Only by being loyal to the court and working hard for the country can you get a high position and enjoy a generous salary, be respected by the world, bring glory to the family, and have your wife and children be honored. By the same token, as a daughter-in-law, you must wholeheartedly protect your husband's family, know how to be filial to your parents-in-law, treat your brothers and sisters-in-law well, and educate your children, so that you can be respected by your husband's family. The husband's family dare not neglect the daughter-in-law, so naturally they dare not neglect the daughter-in-law's family. Auntie, think about it, is what I said reasonable?"

Madam Wen was stunned when she heard this. She said, "But I am not the daughter-in-law of anyone..."

"Then you should be strict with yourself and follow the rules!" Eleventh Lady laughed, "There are many different kinds of people. Even though they are all maids, they are divided into different levels; even though they are all daughters-in-law, their mothers-in-law treat them differently. This is not something that falls from the sky, it all depends on one's luck!"

Madam Wen lowered her eyelids and said nothing for a long time.

You can't become fat by eating all at once.

When Eleventh Lady saw Nan Yong's wife come in, she knew it was already midday and she would have to go to the Madam's place to pay her respects, so she sent her away: "Aunt, go back and think about what I said carefully."

Madam Wen stood up to say goodbye, her eyes somewhat dim.

Back in the house, Qiu Hong whispered, "What does Madam mean by this? Why would she talk about us instead of scolding Aunt Qiao?"

Madam Wen was deeply touched by Shiyi Niang's words. She was not interested in what Qiao Lianfang was like. Could it be that if she fell out of favor, she could replace her? Anyway, if she suppressed one Qiao Lianfang, there would be many more waiting in the future. Moreover, the more high-profile Qiao Lianfang was, the better it would be for her - Shiyi Niang would definitely win over these concubines who had given birth to children, and their lives would only be better.

Madam Wen told Qiuhong everything that Shiyi Niang said, "...She is the legal wife, so it is easy for her to talk. If I were in her position, I would think clearly like her - after all, this family is mine, and the gains and losses are like doing business. If I lose today, I will make it back tomorrow. It is always better to make more money and lose less when you make money. If we didn't have Luo Yuanniang, would we be able to do those businesses? What if the Marquis knew about it? He still protects Luo Yuanniang and regards me as a thorn in his side. He thinks that it is me who disturbs the family. He doesn't think that I am the one who made the love potion, and Luo Yuanniang must drink it willingly in order to succeed. If something goes wrong, I will bear the blame. In the final analysis, it is only because Luo Yuanniang is the wife and I am the concubine. I am afraid that I have been dead long ago if I have been devoted to the Xu family!"

Qiu Hong hesitated and said, "Then, what should we do? We had Luo Yuanniang to support us before, but now she is gone... The Marquis has said that the Xu family has no relatives doing business. If someone says that they are Xu's relatives and finds the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they are all fake official wives and will be put in jail directly without saying anything to him. With such heavy snow this year, the cotton business will definitely be very profitable. At least 170,000 or 180,000 taels of silver can be made. The third wife is narrow-minded and has the heart of a thief but no courage. The fifth wife has too deep nails. She didn't invest a penny, but actually asked for four or six accounts... Without Luo Yuanniang's relationship, we can only watch the cooked duck fly away!"

"Who said it wasn't!" Madam Wen looked at the spreading snowflakes, "I see that what's falling from the sky is not snow, but silver. Unfortunately, we don't have the ability to get this silver into our hands. You don't know, I feel so heartbroken when I think about it, and I can't sleep."

As they were talking, Qiuhong had already served hot tea to Madam Wen: "According to your tone, our new Fourth Lady is going to be a virtuous and kind person?"

"I don't care whether she is a good person or not." Madam Wen frowned. "If Third Madam can't see her when she goes to Beijing this time, I'm afraid that the 200,000 taels of silver that the Wen family gives us every year won't be so easy to get. This is a big problem."

"No way!" Qiu Hong hesitated, "Speaking of which, you have done a lot for the Wen family. If it weren't for you, how could the Wen family's rice be exchanged for salt permits so smoothly? And it's a one-to-one exchange, which is the first in the whole Zhou Dynasty. How much money have you made for them!"

"That's why I get a bonus of 200,000 taels of silver every year!" Aunt Wen sighed helplessly, "Do you really think there will be such a thing as a pie falling from the sky?" She stroked her forehead and said, "It's really a headache."

"At worst, we can just give up the two hundred thousand taels of silver." Qiu Hong said, "I just don't believe that they won't have any use for us!"

"What do you know?" Madam Wen smiled bitterly. "We didn't accomplish what we were asked to do. What does this mean? This means that I don't have the right to speak in the Xu family like before. A person without the right to speak is equivalent to an abandoned child for the Wen family. Your father was my foster brother, and you grew up in front of me. I have never looked down on you and never hid anything from you. I will tell you the truth. Madam Wen San picked two or three girls from the family a few years ago and raised them by her side, just for this day, when I am old and ugly and can no longer look decent in front of the Marquis, and send them in. Do you still think that the Wen family must have me? This is why I must find a way to let Madam Wen San meet Eleventh Lady. I'm afraid she will be suspicious and think that I am blocking her from sending people in. If something really happens to the Wen family, I will be the eternal sinner. I can't bear this reputation!"

Qiuhong was dumbfounded.

Madam Wen looked at her and smiled self-deprecatingly: "Everyone else knows that the Wen family in Yangzhou sent their legitimate daughter to the Yongping Marquis's mansion to be a concubine. I don't know how many people envy them secretly, and I don't know how many people want to follow this path. But the Marquis is a man who never visits people he doesn't know well, and he doesn't go to brothels or other brothels. He doesn't have any young and beautiful concubines at home, so no one knows his temper. Luo Yuanniang is worried about the issue of offspring, and is afraid that someone outside can't support the family and that giving birth to a son will ruin her plans. She only looks for a concubine for the Marquis among her personal maids, and always pretends not to understand when encountering such things. That's why no one is unscrupulously trying to build relationships. Otherwise, how could Wen be willing to give me 200,000 taels of silver every year!

Speaking of which, I admire my grandfather the most. If it weren't for him, how could the Wen family be what it is today!

Back then, the Xu family was just the prince's in-laws. The current emperor was thousands of miles away from the throne, not to mention the throne. No one expected that the emperor would inherit the throne? Who would have expected that one day the eldest aunt of the Xu family would become the queen? She also gave birth to the eldest prince, the third prince, and the fifth prince. And if the second master of the Xu family had not died in January and Luo Yuanniang had a miscarriage in the spring, the old man would not have fallen ill due to depression. If the old man was not terminally ill, the Xu family would not have been in a hurry to take a concubine for the marquis and stop the medicine for the concubine. If time was not urgent, even if the Wen family sent me here, it would probably not be my turn to enter the house. Sometimes I think about it, this is all fate, and it is not up to us at all!" There was a deep sense of disappointment in his voice.

Qiuhong grew up in the Xu residence, and had heard all this vaguely. Now that Madam Wen told her bluntly, she didn't know what to say. After a long while, she said hesitantly, "Let's look for another opportunity! Maybe there will be a turning point in a few days?"

After hearing this, Madam Wen pondered for a long time and asked Qiuhong softly, "I remember that Eleventh Lady has an elder sister named Fifth Lady. She seems to have opened a dried fruit store on West Street, renting the shop of Prince Shun. On the day of the opening, the Marquis even went to have a cup of tea... You think of a way for us to establish a relationship with her. I don't believe that Luo Eleventh Lady, a little concubine's daughter, would not show off in front of her family when she had the chance. Can she really see through fame, wealth and honor?"

Qiuhong's eyes flickered as she listened, "Aunt, what a good plan. I heard that Wu Niang married a poor scholar and lived on her dowry. Otherwise, why would she, a lady from an official family, be so anxious to open a shop to do business? This year's winter is long, and her dried fruit shop must be doing bad business..."

* * * * * *

Yongnan's wife carefully put the red gold hairpin with the pattern of Chang'e flying to the moon on Shiyi Niang, and then put away the comb.

Eleventh Lady looked at herself in the mirror.

She was wearing a moon-white silk jacket and a rose-purple jacket with embroidered patterns. The corners and cuffs of her jacket were embroidered with large pink peonies. Her skirt was dark green with a rose-purple hem. She had glittering jewelry on her head. Although she looked dignified and gorgeous, she looked three or four years older than her actual age.

However, this is exactly the effect she wants.

After all, she appears as a mother, so those delicate things should be left to Sister Zhen!

Eleventh Lady took Luyun and Hongxiu to the lady's place.

Zhen Jieer was wearing a white silk jacket, an apricot-yellow plain jacket with a narrow cloud pattern embroidered on the edge with gold thread, a white silk skirt, her black hair tied up in a bun, and two pearl flowers on her head. On her wrist was a pearl bracelet given by Shiyi Niang.

The lady was looking her up and down, and when she saw Shiyi Niang coming in, she waved at her and said, "What do you think?"