Eleventh Lady carefully hung the jade pendant on the rhino horn belt, then stood up and looked at Xu Lingyi, who was wearing a bright red silk official uniform, for a moment, and smiled: "Alright!"

Xu Lingyi nodded: "Then I will go to court!"

"My Lord, please be careful on your journey." Eleventh Lady helped Xu Lingyi put on his cloak and walked him to the door.

Xu Lingyi said "hmm" and walked out of the door with Zhaoying serving him.

Looking at the big red lanterns getting farther and farther away, Eleventh Lady stood there for a while before returning to the house.

The maids were tiptoeing to clear the table, and Amber helped her into the inner room.

"Madam, would you like to sleep a little longer?"

"No!" She has been busy making folding screens these days. "I'll just embroider some flowers! I can just take a nap at noon."

Amber responded by moving her flower stand onto the kang, sat down to help her divide the lines, and chatted with her.

"Liu Yuanrui's family came to see me a few days ago. I saw that you were busy, so I kept silent."

"Is it because of Daxian's marriage?" Shiyi Niang asked her calmly without stopping her hands, "Wanyi clan is unwilling to give in?"

"No." Amber smiled, "The Wanyi clan thought you were going to punish a disobedient maid, so they didn't dare to agree. Later, they heard that it was someone close to you who had reached the age to be released, and they were overjoyed and agreed immediately. They begged Liu Yuanrui's family to propose marriage. Seeing her like that, I deliberately delayed it. Let them be anxious too."

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but laugh: "You!"

Amber covered her mouth and smiled: "Liu Yuanrui's family has been coming to tell you the news. When do you think you will have time to see her?"

Eleventh Lady pondered and said, "Let's do it tomorrow! Dongqing is already twenty this year. If we can settle it before the New Year, we can get it done in the spring of next year. Then she won't have to stay in the house like this and can't even go out."

Amber immediately responded with a smile.

Just then Holly came in, and Amber couldn't help but look at her and smile.

Holly Fox: "What's going on?"

There was still one stroke missing from the eight characters, and she was afraid that Dongqing would be shy, so Shiyi Niang hurriedly said, "It's okay, it's okay." Then she asked her, "Have you finished embroidering the handkerchief I asked you to embroider?" Most embroidery is about complicated flowers and birds, and most beginners are afraid of the difficulty. She drew a few very simple flower and grass patterns to seduce Hui Jie'er, and because she didn't have time, she asked Dongqing to help embroider.

Dongqing hurriedly took the handkerchief from the wicker basket and showed it to Shiyi Niang.

Nice embroidery!

Eleventh Lady smiled and put away the handkerchief.

Nanyong’s wife came over.

"Please make a high bun for me!" She usually wore her hair in a bun. "There were a lot of things going on at home the past two days, so my second sister-in-law couldn't leave. She will go back to Xishan after breakfast today. I will go to see her off later."

Nan Yong's wife smiled and replied "yes", and helped Shiyi Niang to sit down at the mirror table and comb her hair. Shiyi Niang changed into a pink jacket and a blue-green hemline skirt and went to the lady's place.

The second lady had already packed her boxes and was saying goodbye to the lady dowager.

Eleventh Lady greeted the Lady Dowager and bowed to the Second Lady. The Third Lady and the Fifth Lady came in one after the other. Everyone reminded the Second Lady to be careful on the road and to send someone to report to the house if anything happened... It was not until the 9th hour that the Second Lady was sent out.

The Second Lady had been accompanying the Grand Lady these days, and once she left, she felt a little disappointed. Fortunately, Xu Siqin, Xu Siyu, and Xu Sijian no longer had to go to school, and they played around in the Grand Lady's room every day. Eleventh Lady also brought Zhen Jie'er to the Grand Lady's room to do needlework, and the room was very lively. The Grand Lady's mood soon improved. Seeing that the sky had cleared up, she specially asked Mother Du to invite the Fifth Master and the Fifth Lady to come over to play cards.

Wu Ye kept making jokes and making everyone laugh.

A servant came running in to look for him: "... He said he was an old acquaintance of mine. When I was singing "Rolling Tower" with Liu Huifang at Cuiqing Tower, he played the huqin for me."

Wu Ye's face changed drastically when he heard this. He asked, "What is he doing here?" Then he stood up in a hurry and said, "I'll go take a look!"

The Fifth Lady looked thoughtful.

The lady's face darkened: "Stop right there!"

When Master Wu heard this, his steps paused and his face looked a little pale.

"It's almost the New Year." The lady's eyebrows were stern, "What good can these people do to you?" Then she ordered Madam Du, "Go and get twenty taels of silver." Then she said to the servant, "Go and tell that the fifth master has a guest and can't go out to greet him. These twenty taels of silver are the fifth master's invitation to him for a drink."

The servant took the silver and left.

The Fifth Master was a little restless: "Mom, should I go and take a look?"

"Why?" Madam Tai looked at Master Wu sharply, "Do you think I gave you too little?"

"No, no." Wu Ye said hurriedly, "I'm just afraid that he will quarrel..."

"This is outrageous!" The lady said angrily, "Why is he making such a fuss? Are you hiding something from me?"

"No, no." A trace of panic flashed in Wu Ye's eyes.

"Mother," Mrs. Wu suddenly laughed, "Master Wu has always been kind to others. He gave them money like this. I think he is afraid that people will think he is arrogant. He is just a little uneasy!"

After hearing this, Master Wu nodded quickly: "That's right, that's right. I have always treated them like my own brothers..."

When the lady heard this, she slapped the table and asked, "Treat them like brothers?"

Seeing that the situation was not right, the children who were playing in the room all stood aside quietly and held their breath.

"Master Wu just can't talk." Madam Wu smiled and pulled Madam Tai's sleeve, "Don't bother with him." She called Master Wu again, "Why don't you hurry up and accompany your mother!"

The Fifth Master reacted with a start and stepped forward to apologize to the Madam.

Looking at her son's depressed face, the lady's good mood disappeared.

She put down the leaf card: "It's getting late, you should go back to the back garden early! Otherwise, the road will be slippery in the evening."

After hearing this, Mrs. Wu got off the kang, put on her shoes, chatted with the lady-in-waiting for a few words, and returned to the back garden with Mr. Wu.

On the way, the Fifth Lady asked the Fifth Master: "If there is anything you can't tell mother, you can tell me as well. We are husband and wife, and we can always find a solution!"

Master Wu didn't say anything for a long time, but his brows were tightly furrowed.

After returning to the house, Uncle Wu was lying on the big kang by the window, looking very bored.

Madam Wu personally brought over some hot tea: "Sir, come and have a cup of tea."

"I don't want to drink!" Fifth Master said sullenly.

The Fifth Lady did not force him and stayed by her side doing needlework.

The Fifth Master has been tossing and turning in restlessness.

When it was time to eat, he took a few bites and stood up to look for Xu Lingyi: "...I can't stay at home like this every day, right?"

The Fifth Lady smiled and saw him out the door: "Do you want me to come find you later? Otherwise, the Marquis will keep scolding me!"

The Fifth Master lowered his head and took the Fifth Madam's hand: "Danyang..." He looked very grateful.

Madam Wu hid her sleeves and smiled: "Master Wu and I are husband and wife. If I don't help Master Wu, who else can help him?"

Wu Ye nodded and urged her: "Go back quickly! It's cold outside!"

"Be careful on the road!" Madam Wu nodded and stood at the door watching Master Wu go away.

As if sensing something, Wu Ye turned around and saw his wife's calm face under the big red lantern at the door from afar. He smiled and waved his hand: "Come in!"

The Fifth Lady smiled and waved at him until she could no longer see her husband, then she returned to the yard.

Mother Shi immediately stepped forward and helped Madam Wu onto the kang.

"How? Now we can find out!"

"We've found out!" Mother Shi whispered, "That person is Liu Huifang, who comes from a family of opera performers. Her two uncles and one cousin are all famous actors in Beijing. But she has a bad character and likes to drink. Three years ago, she damaged her throat due to drinking. From then on, she can no longer perform on stage."

Madam Wu frowned as she listened: "What is Master Wu afraid of?"

"From what he said, it seems that Master Wu is generous and has a lot of face..." Mother Shi said slowly, "I guess he can't ask anyone else for help, so he has to ask Master Wu for help."

"It's that simple..." Madam Wu didn't believe it, but she didn't want to think about it in a dirty way.

Mother Shi understood, and simply said, "My master is not that kind of person. Otherwise, why would the Changsheng Class send Xiao Haitang to the third young master of the Zhongshan Marquis's Mansion... Besides, when I look at Liu Huifang's current appearance, he is full of beard, fat and plump, and there is no trace of his former charm..."

"What do you know!" Madam Wu said worriedly, "If Liu Huifang becomes like this and still makes me miss her, it will be more worrying than accepting Xiao Haitang as my daughter!"

As long as she doesn't take it to heart, the Fifth Lady doesn't care at all about her husband's flirting.

"Well, I'll go ask around..."

The Fifth Lady nodded.

* * * * * *

Xu Lingyi was talking to Eleventh Lady over there: "...I said I have foot paralysis. This year's weather is colder than previous years. It really hurts so much that I want to resign from the post of commander-in-chief of the Five Military Commandery."

"What did the emperor say?" Eleventh Lady asked nervously.

"The Emperor disagrees." Xu Lingyi smiled bitterly, "He also asked me if it was because of the Fifth Prince's matter?"

"And what do you say?"

"I told him about family matters," Xu Lingyi said, "especially Zhun Ge. He has had deficiencies since childhood, and fought in wars in his early years. Later, he was busy with government affairs, and was very spoiled by mother and Yuan Niang. Now all he does is play cat's tumble and throw sandbags with his sister every day. Although we don't expect him to be a master of both civil and military affairs, he can't be raised to be a dandy. While he is still young, I want to spend more energy to teach him well, so as not to embarrass the Xu family!" His tone was helpless, and it could be seen that he was not just talking about Zhun Ge just to resign from his official position. "The emperor's eyes turned red as he listened. He said that he had originally wanted to send Zhun brother to the palace to accompany the fifth prince to study when he was older..." At this point, he paused, "and asked about my foot paralysis. I said that I had seen several imperial doctors in the imperial court and also looked for some folk remedies, but it was getting worse. Then he talked to the emperor about the northwest. He said that although the northwest is peaceful now, it will inevitably break out in chaos again in five or ten years. He asked the emperor to take this opportunity to transfer those guards and generals he trusted to the area to give them some experience. First, they have been with the emperor for many years and are loyal and capable. Second, the emperor has rewarded these old people with futures, and the newcomers will naturally know what to do after seeing this; third, it will prevent the northwest from having no successors. He also took the opportunity to tell the emperor that he wanted his third brother to take up an official position. He said that in this way, it can be regarded as a dignified division of the family..." His tone was very sad.

Xu Lingyi completely and thoroughly let go of the power in his hands!

Eleventh Lady was stunned, and then fell silent.

After a while, he asked, "Has the emperor agreed?"

※

I'm back!

O(∩_∩)O Haha~

I saw everyone's comments about adding more chapters. Let me explain to everyone here. Because there are several things that have been decided in October. One is my brother's wedding, which has been prepared for half a year; the other is that I was notified in mid-August that I need to go on a business trip for a week in October. Time is not in my control, and I dare not mention adding more chapters, so I arranged the additional chapters in August. If it has caused any misunderstandings to everyone, please forgive me!

To be honest, I was really touched to see so many votes for me. A friend said, "Strategies for Concubines" and "Strategies for Paying Off Debts". When I think about it, it really makes sense.

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