Chapter 158 Invitation (Part 2)

At two quarters before the hour of You, Xu Siqin, Xu Siyu and Xu Sijian arrived.

Zhenjie looked at the three Xu brothers, then at the smiling Eleventh Lady standing beside them, and immediately understood - no wonder the lady wanted to keep the third uncle and the third aunt to play mahjong... Before she could thank the Eleventh Lady, Xu Sijian shouted, "Sister, your room is so beautifully decorated."

Xu Siqin also came forward to bow to Zhen Jie'er and said, "Congratulations, sister, on moving into a new house." Then he gave Zhen Jie'er a pair of handwritten couplets as a gift, while Xu Siyu gave her a moon-white zither tassel. Xu Sijian also took out his own gift after seeing it - a pair of enamel plates with yellow background and red flowers.

"How's it going?" He said with some pride, "This year's new style of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Doesn't it look good?" Then he glanced sideways at Brother Zhun, "What gift did you get for your sister's move?" This matter was hidden from Zhun to begin with. Brother, where did he prepare any gifts?

After hearing what Xu Sijian said, her face turned red, her eyes turned red, and she was about to cry.

Eleventh Lady calmly took out a crystal paperweight and said, "This is not a gift from Brother Chan."

When the brother saw it, he immediately ran over and hugged the crystal paperweight in his arms: "This is a gift for my sister!"

Xu Sijian knew that this was not what Zhege had prepared, but was just teasing him. He pretended to take a look and said, "It's not as good as mine... Yours is an old style."

After hearing this, Zhege pouted and looked at Shiyi Niang with a face full of grievance, as if she was about to help him out.

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "The style is good, but look at the crystal, it's crystal clear, it's top quality."

After hearing this, Brother Zhe said hurriedly: "Yes, yes, yes, it is top grade."

Xu Sijian was about to say something, but Shiyi Niang was afraid that it would never end, so she smiled and hugged her brother: "Big brother sent us a couplet, let's go and put it up, it will be more festive."

Brother Zhe hugged Shiyi Niang's neck and shouted, "Let's go put up the couplets. It's New Year's Day. Let's go put up the couplets."

"This is a couplet to celebrate my sister's move." Shiyi Niang corrected him, "It's not a couplet to be posted during the New Year."

Having said that, he carried his brother out of the door.

A clever little maidservant nearby brought a stool and found some Huhu, unfolded the couplet and pasted it on the door.

The first line reads "pear blossoms rustle in the courtyard", and the second line reads "the house is filled with guests' smiles and laughter".

The couplet was indeed very mediocre, but the characters were neat and powerful, showing a great deal of skill, which surprised Shiyi Niang.

"Is the "Jiucheng Palace" that the eldest master asked about in Ouyang posted?"

Xu Siqin said somewhat embarrassedly: "It's not well written. Please forgive me, Auntie."

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Avoid the dense and go to the sparse, avoid the dangerous and go to the easy, avoid the far and go to the near, there is already some divine rhyme."

Xu Siqin was stunned.

"Then according to mother's insightful opinion, what's the shortcoming?" Xu Siyu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said with a flash of his eyes.

Eleventh Lady smiled slightly: "The European style of writing is round and upright, with great strength and power. The eldest young master has an upright character, with more strength than calmness."

Xu Siqin was stunned: "The teacher also said so."

Xu Siyu didn't say anything, but his eyes were very distant when he looked at Shiyi Niang. Shiyi Niang ignored Xu Siyu. For a child like him who was so thoughtful, the best way was to remain unchanged in the face of all changes.

She smiled and said to Xu Siqin: "Writing is not a one-day job. Young Master, if you spend more time practicing, you will naturally make progress."

Xu Siqin nodded repeatedly.

It was very cold outside, and with several children to take with her, Shiyi Niang hurriedly smiled and invited everyone into the house: "Today we have Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. We use abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, fish maw..." When she turned around, she saw Zhen Jie'er standing there looking at her with bright eyes.

"What's wrong?" Eleventh Lady asked her with a smile.

Zhen Jie'er smiled and shook her head, but Xu Sijian on the side said, "Fourth Aunt is really amazing. In addition to embroidery, she also knows calligraphy." Seeing his undisguised expression of surprise, Shiyi Niang felt relieved as well.

She joked, "Don't you know what I'm best at?" As soon as she finished speaking, the house and yard became quiet, and even the rustling sound of snow falling from the trees could be heard clearly.

Xu Sijian shook his head and asked unwillingly, "Is it cooking?"

Eleventh Lady glanced at Xu Siyu. He was staring at her with a serious expression.

Eleventh Lady said seriously: "I am best at writing petitions."

Xu Sijian laughed out loud after hearing this: "Auntie Si's words are very interesting."

Xu Siqin also laughed: "Third brother has met his nemesis now!"

Only Xu Siyu looked at Shiyi Niang seriously. Shiyi Niang's heart shuddered. This child was very careful and meticulous.

Intuitively, she disliked him. She felt like he was always lurking in the dark, spying on others, while others could only see his ambiguous eyes.

"Okay, okay." Mother Du was also worried that the children would catch a cold, "Go inside quickly, the food will get cold." Everyone went into the house with a smile and sat down in the south side room.

A table had already been set up there, and Shiyi Niang arranged for them to sit down, saying with a smile: "I'll go to the Madam's place to join in the fun, you guys can stay here and have fun!" Everyone was stunned. Zhen Jie'er said uneasily: "Mother, it's so late, you should have dinner with us first!" Shiyi Niang smiled and said: "I'm afraid of noise, and I don't want to be disturbed by you guys here.

She decided to go to the lady's place, leaving the space for these young people, and let Zhenjie be the host to receive them.

The lady was having dinner with the third master and the third lady, and she was very surprised to see Eleventh Lady coming.

"Even my mother avoided me, so how could I be the exception?" Eleventh Lady took off her cloak with a smile.

The lady smiled and said, "You are too generous as a mother!"

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "There is nothing to worry about. Qin Ge is kind and gentle, Yu Ge is smart, Jian Ge is generous, Zhen Jie'er is sensible, and Zhen Ge is simple and honest. What's more, we have Madam Du and Madam Tao watching over us." As she said that, she stepped forward, knelt down, saluted the lady dowager, and greeted the Third Master and the Third Lady.

The Third Master and the Third Lady were delighted to hear Eleventh Lady praising their children.

The lady laughed: "Have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet!" Eleventh Lady laughed, "That's why I hurried to come to you in order to avoid confusion."

The lady was so busy that she asked for more seats, set the table, and told Wei Zi to go to the kitchen and say, "...make some pickled fish for the fourth lady, it's her favorite!"

Eleventh Lady thanked him hurriedly and sent Amber to check on Zhen Jie'er before sitting down to have dinner with the lady dowager.

When the meal was almost over, Amber came back and said, "...the eldest lady and several young masters were enjoying their meal. They asked the kitchen to send some potatoes over and asked the maids to bring in a brazier, saying that they wanted to roast the potatoes."

The third wife was shocked when she heard this: "What if it gets burned somewhere? We can't do this!" She was about to get up and go over there to take a look.

The lady stopped her and asked Amber, "Are the maids and servants by your side?"

Amber said hurriedly, "Mother Du and Mother Tao stayed there closely, and the eldest lady and several young masters did not send anyone to serve them."

The lady nodded: "They are all sensible people." She then instructed Amber, "Go over there and watch. If anything happens, report to us immediately."

Amber responded and left.

"It's normal for children to jump around. There's no need to be surprised." The old lady said calmly to the third lady.

The third wife did not dare to refute and replied "yes" reluctantly.

The lady suddenly changed the subject: "I think the family affairs have been dealt with, so starting tomorrow, I will let Eleventh Lady accompany you to help manage the household."

The decision was sudden, even though it was the Third Lady who brought up the matter, and she had been looking forward to Eleventh Lady taking over as soon as possible, so that she would not be unable to follow her husband to take up his post. Even so, she still felt it was a bit sudden.

"It's almost the eighth day of the eighth month." The lady's tone was as if she was solving a problem but also as if she was giving an order. "There are so many things to do at home. In previous years, Yizhen helped, but this year it's just you. Eleventh Lady is still staying at home at this time, are they going to push you out alone like this?"

The Third Lady immediately smiled and said, "Mother is very thoughtful."

The lady nodded, and everyone lowered their heads to eat.

After dinner, we moved to the west room to drink tea.

Eleventh Lady personally handed the tea brought by the maid to the Madam, and was about to stand up and say goodbye with a smile: "Several boys have to go to school early tomorrow morning, and they would usually be dismissed at this time. Although today is another happy day, you can't lose your temper."

The lady agreed very much and nodded repeatedly: "Go ahead!"

Eleventh Lady said goodbye to the lady-in-waiting and returned to the courtyard. There was a lot of noise in the east chamber, and from a distance she could hear the sound of Xu Sijian and Zhege fighting.

She went into the house smiling.

The children's faces were rosy and their expressions were happy and cheerful.

"Why is Fourth Aunt here at this time?" Xu Siqin, who was sitting facing the main hall, was the first to notice Eleventh Lady and hurried forward to pay his respects.

Eleventh Lady smiled and nodded, saying, "I'm here to chase you away—you still have to go to school early tomorrow morning!"

Xu Sizhen groaned loudly: "Auntie, although this is a man's job, when men can't do it, women have to think of a way - you can tell Uncle Si that we will be like other families and close the museum in winter and reopen it at the beginning of spring."

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "A real man should hide when he encounters difficulties. Fourth Auntie doesn't like that. Hurry up, pay your respects to the Madam and go back to rest! You can come and play with me during the New Year."

Although Xu Sijian liked to joke, he was not someone who did not know the seriousness of the matter. He muttered a few words but did not say anything else.

Eleventh Lady took the children to pay respects to the Madam. When she and Zhen Jie'er came back, it was already past midnight. Eleventh Lady was so tired that she just wanted to go to bed. Zhen Jie'er saw her and wanted to help her rest. Eleventh Lady hurriedly pushed Zhen Jie'er out of the door and said, "You go and rest. I have Amber and the others here. You don't need to serve me, and you won't need to serve me in the future."

She felt like one of those black-hearted landlords who exploited child laborers.

Seeing that Shiyi Niang was determined, Zhen Jie'er bowed respectfully to her and retreated.

Eleventh Lady sat beside the mirror and was helped by Binju and others to remove her makeup. Early the next morning, she took Zhen Jie'er to pay her respects to the Dowager Lady. The Dowager Lady left Zhen Jie'er and Zhe Ge as companions and took Eleventh Lady to the Third Lady. In front of the twenty or so mothers in charge of the family, she said casually: "...It's almost New Year's Day, and the Third Lady can't handle it alone. The Fourth Lady is here to help the Third Lady." But no one dared to be indifferent to Eleventh Lady just because of the Dowager Lady's indifferent tone. No one showed her a flattering, attentive, or enthusiastic smile.