On the fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, the fifth prince was temporarily moved to Huangye Mountain outside the city, and the prince's guards were set up along the way. On the sixth day, the fifth prince was given the posthumous title of "Prince Daomin". Officials of all ranks and women inside and outside the palace also ended the mourning ceremony.

During this period, the Second Lady met the Queen once more.

The Queen Mother remained silent and did not say a word about the matter.

The second wife couldn't help feeling a little anxious.

"This silly child." The lady wiped her eyes.

Xu Lingyi was silent for a long time.

"Just follow the Queen's wishes!"

The Second Madam hesitated to speak, and finally said: "In this case, please make plans early, my Lord."

Xu Lingyi nodded and began to frequently meet with his staff at Banyuepan.

Eleventh Lady wrote "Gu Feng" from the Book of Songs, which was one foot long and wide, and two feet long, and was embroidered into a folding screen with gauze.

This was inspired by the birthday screen that the eldest wife embroidered for the old lady. She planned to use this to seduce Hui Jie'er to be interested in embroidery. Unexpectedly, Zhen Jie'er also liked it very much after seeing it, and asked repeatedly: "Is this the famous double-sided embroidery of Xianling Pavilion?"

Eleventh Lady nodded and said, "Please help me divide the lines!"

Zhen Jieer readily agreed. When she went to have dinner with the lady, she told her mother about this matter: "... the thread must be very thin, like a hair. Dong Qing, who is by my mother's side, is very good at this."

The lady smiled and nodded: "With such a good master by your side, you should remember to learn from him."

Everybody laughed.

The Second Lady also said, "It's OK for me to make shoes and socks, but embroidery is mediocre. Zhenjie, you should study hard with your mother."

Seeing that everyone encouraged her to learn embroidery from Shiyi Niang, Zhen Jie'er no longer had any worries and smiled happily all night. So much so that Zhun Ge also said, "I want to help my sister divide the thread."

"What division?" The Second Madam chuckled. "After the New Year, I'll find you a teacher, and you can go to the outer courtyard to study with your brothers."

Everyone started talking about the gentleman.

When Eleventh Lady thought of Mr. Zhao, she couldn't help feeling a little regretful - it would be great if the teacher in the mansion was her own.

"I think you should take some time to write a letter to Mr. Deng and ask him to recommend a gentleman." The lady pondered, "Although Mr. Deng is now retired, he has been in the Hanlin Academy for more than 30 years and was once the emperor's teacher. It is better than us who are groping in the dark."

Xu Lingyi said, "I wrote to Mr. Deng last month. Mr. Deng replied that there are many people who deceive the world and steal reputation, but few who devote themselves to learning... From the accent, there is no suitable candidate."

"Mr. Deng has become the emperor's teacher, and his prestige is growing day by day." The second wife listened and said indifferently, "Look, all the scholars in the world are just like him!"

Xu's mother and son fell silent.

After returning home, Eleventh Lady helped Xu Lingyi to sleep and made her own bedding.

"What's wrong?"

We have been sleeping in the same quilt these days, why are we sleeping separately now?

Xu Lingyi was puzzled.

I didn't cross that distance.

Eleventh Lady blushed slightly: "I, my life is coming..." Her voice was so low that it could not be heard, "It smells of blood... In case you feel uncomfortable."

Xu Lingyi couldn't help but rub her head: "Silly girl." He hugged her into his quilt and covered her abdomen, "Does it hurt?"

It took Eleventh Lady a moment to react.

Xu Lingyi was asking her if she had menstrual cramps.

She was very uncomfortable: "I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with me."

"Why are things not going well for me?" Xu Lingyi whispered.

"I don't know." It was normal for her to be young before. Later, Dongqing told Xu's mother, and Xu's mother said, wait and see. In the end, she got married before waiting for two years... The Xu family invited doctors from the Imperial Hospital to see a doctor, or asked the emperor for an order, or asked familiar doctors to see a doctor privately, which was always troublesome. How could she have the nerve to mobilize a large number of people for this matter when she first arrived...

"I'll ask the imperial physician to come and see him tomorrow!" As expected, he asked for the imperial physician.

Eleventh Lady pondered and said, "Tomorrow is Laba Festival. The palace has Laba porridge as a reward for offering. I have also asked Mother Du to pierce Zhenjie's ears."

"Nothing is more urgent than this." Xu Lingyi said, "Let's put it aside and let the imperial physician take a look."

"I'm afraid it's unlucky to take medicine in the first month of the lunar year." Eleventh Lady was afraid that the Madam would be afraid of this. "Besides, tomorrow is Laba Festival. Why not wait until the first month of the lunar year is over?"

"Third brother will be leaving in the spring, and you will be even busier." Xu Lingyi insisted, "It's settled."

Eleventh Lady could no longer refuse and responded in a low voice. Xu Lingyi leaned over to blow out the lights, and the two of them stopped talking.

The next morning, after seeing Xu Lingyi off, Zhen Jieer came to greet Shiyi Niang. As soon as she sat down, the three concubines came. After a few words, Shiyi Niang took Zhen Jieer to the old lady.

The third wife was talking to the old lady about celebrating Laba Festival, and the second wife sat beside them with a cup of hot tea, listening.

When the lady saw the two people coming in, she called them over to sit down and said, "You all listen too!"

Eleventh Lady replied respectfully, "Yes," but Zhen Jie'er blushed slightly.

After greeting the Third Lady, everyone sat down according to their rank. The Third Lady glanced at Eleventh Lady before continuing what she had just interrupted, "...Wanxiang will be in charge. We started cooking it last night. According to custom, the rewards from the palace will be offered to the Buddhist temple, and then to the trees in the garden and the stove. As for the Laba porridge to be sent to the Yongchang Marquis' Mansion, the Zhongqin Earl's Mansion, the Weibei Marquis's Mansion, etc., according to custom in previous years, the porridge boxes will be filled with preserved fruits, lychee meat, cinnamon meat, peach kernels and pine nuts, arranged into auspicious patterns and delivered before the beginning of the morning. The Laba garlic and pickled cabbage are also ready. We'll start cooking as soon as we eat the Laba porridge."

The lady nodded slightly and ordered: "Don't forget to send people to the South China Sea to make ice."

The Third Lady smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't forget it. Otherwise, there will be no iced sour plum soup to drink in the mansion next summer, and you will be nagged until you have no place to stand." As she said that, she smiled and glanced at the Second Lady.

The old lady looked at the second lady and sighed: "You really don't want to stay! The New Year is coming soon..."

On the 11th, the Second Lady will return to Xishan after the Fifth Prince's "first sacrifice ceremony" - on that day everyone will go to the altar to read the sacrificial text, drink libations, and perform rituals.

She smiled and said, "When spring comes and the flowers bloom in a few days, I'll invite you to come to my place for an outing." She politely declined the lady's invitation.

The Madam's eyes darkened, and she told the Third Madam: "Whatever is available at home, prepare a portion at Xishan as well."

The Third Madam seemed to have anticipated this and said with a smile, "I have already prepared it. The Second Sister-in-law will definitely be there when the time comes."

The Second Madam smiled at the Third Madam and said, "Thank you, Third Sister-in-law, for your concern."

"What are you talking about, sister-in-law? This is my job."

As the two of them exchanged pleasantries, a servant came in and announced, "Doctor Liu from the Imperial Hospital is here."

Everyone was stunned.

Xu Lingyi believed that wind was rain and invited the imperial physician early in the morning.

Eleventh Lady was a little unprepared, so she had to bite the bullet and stand up and said, "I am feeling a little uncomfortable."

The lady heard this and said hurriedly, "What's wrong with you? Why didn't you tell me? You've been running around in front of me these past two days!"

Eleventh Lady's face turned red, and she didn't know how to answer.

The Third Madam exclaimed, "Ah!" and said with a look of surprise, "Could it be that Fourth Brother's wife is pregnant?"

"No, no." Eleventh Lady explained hurriedly, "I just feel a little uncomfortable."

She knew that the old lady wanted the family to be lively, and she was afraid that the third lady had misled the old lady - the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment, and she was afraid that the old lady would be sad.

Even so, a look of disappointment still flashed across the lady's face.

* * * * * *

Doctor Liu was checking Shiyi Niang's pulse through the handkerchief, and the lady asked nervously, "How is it?"

"You are still young, and your body is a little weak." Doctor Liu said with a smile, "You will be fine after one or two years."

The lady breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, that's good."

He personally accompanied the sixty-year-old Doctor Liu to write a prescription, and told Mother Du to hand the prescription to Chief Steward Bai: "Prepare the medicine according to this prescription, and come back to show me before boiling it."

Mother Du left immediately.

Eleventh Lady was very embarrassed - she had made the Lady Dowager feel uneasy and she personally intervened.

The lady thought that Eleventh Lady had arranged her life before her daily life, and thought that she was unhappy, so she comforted her: "It's okay, it's okay. Our family is not one of those poor families who can't afford ginseng and bird's nest."

Eleventh Lady was very grateful that the Madam could comfort her in such a situation, and hurriedly said, "I will take the medicine well."

The lady smiled and nodded: "This is the truth."

As they were talking, the Laba porridge given by the palace arrived.

Everyone accepted the porridge, rewarded the people from the palace, and served the porridge according to the previous custom. The whole family gathered around to eat the porridge. Eleventh Lady's medicine arrived.

The lady carefully identified the medicine for a long time before handing it to Madam Du: "Brew it in my courtyard and serve it to Madam Si when she comes to greet me every day."

Mother Du took it with a smile, and Eleventh Lady hurried forward to thank the lady.

"Just take care of your health," said the old lady, "don't worry about anything else." Then the second lady accompanied him to take a nap.

Eleventh Lady invited Mother Du to her home and used a thimble to help Zhen Jie pierce her ears.

"Does it hurt?" She looked at Sister Zhen and her face turned pale.

She had pierced ears when she woke up, and since she had never had them pierced in her previous life, she didn't know what it felt like to have them pierced.

Zhen Jie Er shook her head: "It doesn't hurt!"

It hurts, but there is nothing I can do. I am afraid that my mother-in-law will dislike me in the future.

Eleventh Lady gave Mother Du a pair of red gold bracelets, a pair of red gold longevity character-filled bluestone hairpins, and a pair of jade bracelets as thank you gifts.

Mother Du didn't hesitate to say thank you with a smile and said goodbye.

Eleventh Lady personally sent Mother Du to the door, then turned back to the house to embroider a screen with Sister Zhen.

It was two quarters before the beginning of the evening and Xu Lingyi had not returned yet, nor did he send a servant to tell him.

Did something happen?

Eleventh Lady was very worried and took Zhen Jie'er to the lady dowager's place.

After the greetings, the Second Lady immediately noticed something different about Zhen Jie'er. She smiled and opened the box, and took out a pair of small red gold pomegranate earrings for Zhen Jie'er: "Before I knew it, our Zhen Jie'er has grown up."

The lady also noticed it and said with a smile, "It must be Eleventh Lady's idea again!"

Zhen Jie'er blushed slightly: "Mom said it's good to get your ears pierced on Laba."

The lady asked Wei Zi to take a pair of small red gold ginkgo leaf earrings to Zhen Jie'er and said, "Wear them alternately!"

Sister Zhen thanked her and took it.

The third lady smiled and said, "I'll make it up another day."

Sister Zhen still thanked him.

A servant came running in: "The Marquis is back!"

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I have written about many wedding scenes, but only when I was there did I realize how trivial and tiring the affairs were. But when my brother and sister-in-law appeared in perfect shape and embraced each other affectionately, I suddenly felt that everything was for this moment... condensed into beautiful memories!