On the way to the lady's house, Eleventh Lady deliberately walked with Xu Lingyi. Zhen Jie'er felt a little embarrassed and fell far behind.

Eleventh Lady scolded in a low voice: "With Sister Zhen here, you should at least give her some face. How will Madam Wen feel if you show such a displeasure to her?"

Xu Lingyi remained silent for a long while. When Shiyi Niang wanted to persuade him again, he said in a deep voice, "Got it!"

Eleventh Lady felt relieved and turned around to walk together with Zhen Jie'er.

"All household matters are handed over to Mother Du. If you need anything, just tell her directly." She told Zhen Jie'er in detail, "Starting from today, we will mourn for five days. Everything will be fine after these five days!"

Zhen Jieer nodded: "Don't worry, mother. I will take good care of Zhun Ge at home."

Eleventh Lady was relieved about this. She secretly stuffed a purse into her hand and said, "There are ten taels of silver in it, not much, save it for emergency use."

Zhen Jie'er was stunned and quickly declined: "I don't want it. I have money in my hand."

"Take it!" Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "This is what I gave you. If you really don't need it, save it as your own pocket money."

Zhen Jie'er thought about it and didn't refuse. She smiled, thanked him and took it, then went to the lady's place shoulder to shoulder with Shiyi Niang.

Xu Lingyi listened to the soft whispers behind him, and his mood suddenly became very happy. After entering the house, he saw the well-dressed Fifth Master Xu Lingkuan, with a solemn face supporting Danyang, as if he suddenly understood things, and was in a better mood, with a satisfied look in his eyes. Xu Lingkuan, who had been paying attention to Xu Lingyi, saw this and knew that his early rise today was not in vain, and he became happy too. Seeing the Second Madam supporting the Madam Tai, he hurriedly helped his wife out of the hanging flower gate and into the carriage.

There was just a hint of light outside when the Xu family members arrived at Sishan Gate.

The ladies of state were inside the gate, and the civil and military officials were outside the gate.

Xu Lingyi took the Third Master, the Fifth Master, and said goodbye to the Dowager, the Second Madam, and others.

The time for mourning had not yet arrived, but most of the mourners had already arrived, gathering in groups of three or five and whispering.

When they saw the people from Xu's house, someone came to greet them immediately.

When Eleventh Lady saw that it was Madam Huang with the women of the Huang family, including the Third Mistress of the Huang family, she hurried forward to greet them with the Madam Dowager.

The two families were originally familiar with each other.

Everyone greeted each other, and just as I wiped my eyes and cried a few times for the Fifth Prince, someone else came over to say hello.

For a moment, the women of the Xu family were surrounded by people. The second wife was always supporting the old lady, while the fifth wife had other people surrounding her. Only the third wife followed behind the old lady with a forced smile.

Grandma Huang San pulled Shiyi Niang aside and secretly pointed at a small group of people standing not far to their left and looking at them: "See? They are the people from the families of Marquis Jianning and Earl Shouchang."

Eleventh Lady looked over and saw Tang Family Third Young Lady Yang standing among them, looking over here. When Eleventh Lady looked over, she turned her head and whispered to the people around her, pretending that she didn't see anything.

I don't know what the Yang family thinks of me. Even if it was for Xu Lingyi, didn't the Yang family not want to do it in the first place?

While she was thinking, someone called her in a low voice: "Fourth Madam!"

Eleventh Lady looked over and saw that it was Grandma Lin.

She quickly bent her knees and bowed: "Grandma Lin."

Grandma Lin returned the greeting and said to her, "I never thought that the Fifth Prince would be gone like this!"

The official news was that it was a misdiagnosis.

Eleventh Lady greeted her: "You are so anxious that you don't even have the chance to find a folk remedy!"

"This Imperial Hospital needs to be properly rectified." Grandma Lin nodded, and Madam Gan came over with a woman. Everyone greeted each other and introduced each other. Eleventh Lady then learned that this woman was the wife of Madam Gan's brother and her sister-in-law from her mother's family. Her husband was the Minister of Public Administration, a senior official of the imperial court.

Eleventh Lady felt quite emotional.

With such a brother supporting her from her natal family, it seemed that Mrs. Gan's life in the Gan family was not easy.

As soon as they stood still, they saw Madam Zhou and Madam Liang walk in.

Mrs. Zhou said from a distance: "I was just talking about it, how come I didn't see you!"

Eleventh Lady stepped forward to pay her respects to Madam Zhou and Madam Liang. Madam Zhou took Eleventh Lady's hand and went with her to see the Madam Dowager.

The second lady saw Mrs. Zhou and nodded slightly.

Mrs. Zhou also nodded slightly. She changed her friendly attitude towards everyone and became very cold towards the second wife.

Eleventh Lady looked strange.

Mrs. Zhou did not hide the truth from her and whispered, "She thinks we are a bunch of ignorant hens, but I think her legs are too long and weird - why embarrass yourself!"

This was the first time she heard someone say that Second Madam was not buying into her. If it wasn't for the wrong occasion, she would have laughed out loud.

Just then, the lady had finished talking to Madam Liang and asked Madam Zhou, "Where is your mother-in-law?"

Madam Zhou hurriedly said respectfully, "I am in Kunning Palace talking with the Queen!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a eunuch hurried over and said, "Madam, the Queen has an imperial decree. Please come to Kunning Palace to talk with the wives of the emperor's uncles."

Many people present looked at them with envy, and the women of the Xu family became the focus.

Eleventh Lady sighed slightly.

As long as a woman is like this, her vanity will be infinitely satisfied. It is no wonder that everyone is eager to pursue power and status.

The Second Lady called to Eleventh Lady softly, "Help the Madam and walk in front."

Eleventh Lady is the wife of Marquis Yongping!

After hearing this, the lady nodded slightly and let Eleventh Lady support her to go to Kunning Palace.

Kunning Palace was all white, and the palace maids and eunuchs were all covered in mourning clothes. It was Thunder God who welcomed them in again.

However, after not seeing each other for a night, the Empress seemed to be more haggard. When she saw the Xu family, her eyes turned red and she called out "Madam". Her eyes fell on the Second Madam: "Yizhen, we haven't seen each other for a long time!"

The Second Lady's eyes immediately filled with tears and she called out "Empress".

The two of them started crying facing each other.

Someone nearby advised, "Your Highness, please show your condolences. Otherwise, the Madam will be sad again."

Eleventh Lady looked in the direction of the voice.

The person who spoke was a woman who was about the same age as the lady, of medium build, plump and fair, with regular features, and looked very wealthy.

Upon hearing this, the Second Lady immediately knelt down and apologized: "Yi Zhen is so rude!"

The Queen said hurriedly, "It's been a long time since we last met!" She even looked as if she was afraid that someone would blame the Second Madam. It was obvious that the relationship between the two was not just that of an aunt and sister-in-law...

The old lady hurriedly led the Xu family's women to pay respects to the Empress. The Empress asked someone to give the old lady a seat. The old lady thanked her and led the Xu family's women to pay respects to the eldest princess.

The eldest princess nodded slightly as a return gesture.

A maid brought a brocade stool. The Dowager declined and half sat on it. The Second Madam, the Third Madam, the Eleventh Madam, and the Fifth Madam stood behind the Dowager. Before she could say anything, a maid came to announce, "The Empress Dowager is here!"

Upon hearing this, the Queen stood up to greet her, followed by the Princess Dowager, the Lady Dowager and others.

After a round of bowing and kneeling, everyone sat down according to their status.

An eunuch came to report: "It's time to mourn!"

The lady had no choice but to take the women of the Xu family and say goodbye.

The Empress was about to speak when the Queen Mother said, "The Madam is old and she is also the grandmother of the Fifth Prince. Although there is a difference between the monarch and his subjects, there must be order in terms of seniority. Madam, please accompany me to the Cining Palace for a visit! It's windy and snowy here, and it will be troublesome if you get frozen." As she spoke, she stepped forward and took Madam's hand, "You and I are both old people, and we can't stand this kind of hardship." She looked very affectionate with Madam, and then instructed the eldest princess, "Take Danyang and her sisters-in-law to Sishan Gate!"

The eldest princess replied respectfully, "Yes."

He didn't even give the Xu family and the Queen a chance to speak.

Eleventh Lady glanced quickly at Second Madam.

But she was as calm as water, without any sign of abnormality.

She couldn't help but admire him secretly in her heart.

No wonder Xu Lingyi handed this matter over to the Second Madam. His calmness alone was enough to impress others. You know, the Xu family is like ants on a hot pot right now. The most important thing is to contact the Queen quickly and convince her. Over time, someone with ulterior motives will definitely say something to the Queen. No one dares to predict what will happen at that time.

The lady said "I dare not" repeatedly and politely refused.

The Empress Dowager looked slightly annoyed: "Madam Tai is not the same as before, and she is not as close to me as before."

Having said that, if the lady still refuses, it would be an insult to the Empress Dowager.

"Your Highness, I am deeply grateful for your love." The lady said in a gentle manner, "To be honest, I have been thinking about you for the past two years. But I have a lot of things to do at home and I can't leave for the time being. I am afraid that if I go to your place, I will complain a lot and make you uncomfortable. That's why I go to the Cining Palace less often."

"Oh!" The Queen Mother's eyes turned as she listened, "I didn't know you were unhappy. Then we should talk it over!" She turned around and urged the eldest princess: "You go first!"

The eldest princess did not dare to delay and led the female members of the Xu family out of Kunning Palace and went to Sishan Gate.

The crying sounds at Sishanmen were so deafening that Shiyi Niang was frightened. When she looked carefully, she saw that all the women in the family had their faces covered with handkerchiefs and no tears could be seen.

When they saw Shiyi Niang and the others coming, they raised their eyelids from behind the veils that covered their faces and peeked at them.

The Second Madam hurriedly pulled Eleventh Lady's sleeve and said, "Cry quickly!" As she said that, she immediately knelt down in the seat reserved for them, took out a handkerchief and began to wipe her tears.

Eleventh Lady really didn’t expect this.

She thought the Second Madam would disdain it, but unexpectedly, she cried more sadly than anyone else... and yet her look was so sad and beautiful that it didn't seem vulgar at all!

Eleventh Lady didn't know what to say, so she knelt down, took out a handkerchief and started crying.

But in my heart I was worried about the Fifth Madam.

I wonder if anything will happen to her?

Fortunately, she hadn't cried for a few minutes before a eunuch came to convey the Queen Mother's oral order, asking the Fifth Lady to go to the hall nearby to rest.

Looking at the back of the Fifth Madam, Eleventh Lady felt relieved, but she accidentally glanced at the Second Madam's face and found that she looked relieved.

Eleventh Lady seemed to be thinking about something.

* * * * * *

Everyone howled for more than half an hour, and when the time was up, they slowly stopped and a eunuch led everyone to a hall nearby to rest.

The eldest princess and other royal family members went to the back hall with eunuchs serving them, while the others stayed in the front hall.

The Fifth Madam sat on the armchair in the front hall with a pale face.

The second lady hurried over and said, "Danyang, are you okay?"