Chapter 178: Gathering (Part 1)

Seeing Eleventh Lady looking back at her, the eldest wife twisted her mouth and hummed a few times at her with a trembling voice.

Eleventh Lady was shocked. She had never thought that the eldest wife's illness was so serious that she couldn't even speak...

If that's the case, why bother with such a big gathering? Wouldn't it be enough for a few people at home to get together? The thought flashed through his mind, and he stepped forward, knelt down, and called her "Mother." Zhen Jie'er also stepped forward obediently and called her "Grandma."

The eldest wife didn't even look at Zhen Jie'er, but stared at Shiyi Niang. Aunt Xu, who was serving beside her, said hurriedly, "Eleventh Aunt, the eldest wife has something to say to you!"

Eleventh Lady walked forward. The first wife looked at her, her face flushed, and after a long while she uttered a few words, but she couldn't understand a single word, so she couldn't help but look at Mother Xu. Mother Xu explained: "The first wife is asking about the resignation of the Marquis!"

Are you worried about Zhuge? Eleventh Lady slowed down her voice: "Don't worry, mother. The Marquis has arthritis in his feet. The weather is cold this year, and it is really tiring to attend the court every morning, so he proposed to resign. It's not for any other reason, and the emperor has repeatedly tried to keep him." The eldest lady's eyes softened as she listened, and Eleventh Lady breathed a sigh of relief. The eldest lady looked at her with a harsh look again, and said something in an "ah-ah-ah". Eleventh Lady had no choice but to look at Mother Xu again. Mother Xu didn't quite understand either, and put her ear close to the eldest lady's mouth. The eldest lady ah- ...

Eleventh Lady nodded, thinking it was not a good time to say these words - the room was full of people, who knew what would happen if the words were passed around. She smiled and changed the subject: "The Madam knew that I was coming to see my mother, so she specially asked me to bring two ginsengs for you to replenish your body. The Marquis also sent someone to prepare some medicinal herbs such as Gastrodia elata, Panax notoginseng, and Angelica sinensis for me to bring over. Everyone is looking forward to your early recovery!"

The eldest wife nodded slightly. Seeing that the two had finished talking, Si Niang smiled and stepped forward to greet the eldest wife, saying, "Last time, your seventh brother-in-law brought you some donkey hide gelatin from Shandong. How did you eat it? Do you want him to bring some more?"

The eldest wife forced a smile with a stiff expression. Mother Xu answered for her: "Please ask Fourth Madam to tell Seventh Aunt that our wife thanks him. The donkey hide gelatin is very good and the one she brought last time has not been used up. If Seventh Aunt and Seventh Aunt are free to come to Beijing, please come to our house to play."

"I will definitely bring it." Si Niang smiled and exchanged a few words with the eldest wife.

Liu Niang smiled and pulled over a young woman wearing a red dress with long sleeves and makeup: "You two ladies haven't met her yet, right? This is our new fourth grandmother."

Eleventh Lady and Fourth Lady looked at the woman. She was said to be about twenty years old, but she looked three or four years older than her actual age. She was of medium build, with skin that was not white but not black either. She had a rectangular face, willow-like eyebrows, and a pair of very clear and bright eyes. She looked very energetic and calm. She had a peony bun on her head, a pearl headband, and two apricot-yellow silk flowers inserted diagonally. When Sixth Lady introduced her, she knelt down and saluted the two of them: "My name is Zhou, and I am honored to meet you two ladies."

Eleventh Lady and Fourth Lady knelt down to return the gift. Fourth Lady smiled and said a few polite words like "Our Fourth Brother is so lucky to marry such a capable daughter-in-law", and took a pair of pure gold earrings. Eleventh Lady first gave the South Pearl Flower on behalf of the Madam, and then took out the gift she prepared for the meeting - a pair of pure gold bracelets with a drop of oil. Zhou Shi did not show joy because of the South Pearl Flower given by the Madam, nor did she show dismay because of Fourth Lady's pure gold earrings. She accepted them neither humbly nor arrogantly, thanked the two with a smile, and took two pairs of shoes as a return gift. Eleventh Lady could not help but look at her with admiration. It seems that the eldest wife has found a good marriage for Fourth Master. She took Zhen Jie'er to meet Fourth Aunt. Fourth Aunt gave Zhen Jie'er a silk handkerchief as a meeting gift: "I embroidered it myself, take it for your daily use."

Zhen Jieer thanked her, and Shiyi Niang introduced her to the Third and Fifth Aunts. The two aunts smiled and nodded slightly. The Third Aunt gave Zhen Jieer a silver and pearl hairpin as a gift, and the Fifth Aunt gave her a emerald green jade pendant.

Zhen Jieer knew that Fifth Aunt was Shiyi Niang's biological mother, so she couldn't help but look at her a few more times, then looked back at Shiyi Niang. Seeing that the two looked about 70% similar, she showed a curious look.

A little maid came in and reported: "The Third Master and the Third Madam are here."

After all, he was her own brother, so Si Niang greeted him with a smile: "Why did you come just now?"

Third Grandma smiled and glanced at Third Master, saying, "Lun is leaving the house. He said he hasn't had hot and sour soup for a long time, so he asked someone to make it for him."

The third master has lived in Yanjing for a long time and his living habits have become the same as those of the people in Yanjing.

Si Niang laughed and said, "Why are you still like a child?"

The third master smiled naively. Seeing the room full of women, he bowed to the first wife with all his heart and hurried out to see the eldest master, Luo Zhenxing.

The Third Lady and the Eleventh Lady exchanged greetings, and the Eleventh Lady asked Zhen Jie'er to come and greet the Third Aunt. The Third Lady had not expected to meet Zhen Jie'er, so she gave her the ruby ​​knot on her head as a gift. The Sixth Aunt brought the Fourth Lady to greet the Third Lady. The Third Lady gave the Fourth Lady a pair of red gold willow leaf earrings that she had prepared earlier as a gift, and the Fourth Lady gave two pairs of shoes in return.

The grandmother asked everyone to sit down and have tea.

Qian Ming and Wu Niang are here.

The eldest wife smiled happily when she heard this.

It was obvious that she really liked Qian Ming. Qian Ming bowed to the first wife and leaned over to talk to her: "...You look much better than yesterday. Illness comes like a mountain falling, and it goes away like pulling a thread. Don't worry. Anyway, you have your eldest uncle and aunt to take care of the family. You just need to recover from your illness, which is a great blessing for us as your children..." He smiled handsomely and had a gentle attitude, making people feel like spring breeze. The smile in the first wife's eyes became even deeper.

After a few words, Qian Ming stood up and said, "I'll go see my elder brother. I'll come back to talk to you later." The eldest wife nodded repeatedly and uttered a few words. Mother Xu hurriedly said, "The eldest wife said that the gentlemen should drink less." The intimacy was self-evident.

Qian Ming quickly assured, "No, no. With my uncle here, we won't do anything rash." The eldest wife smiled and nodded. Qian Ming lowered his eyelids and bowed to the people in the room, then quickly went to Luo Zhenxing, leaving the chubby Wu Niang behind.

The Third Aunt hurriedly brought a chair for her to sit on. She sat down with her back supported, and Ziyuan was serving her.

"Where is Ziwei?" Third Aunt asked her with a smile.

"Oh!" Wu Niang said indifferently, "Mr. Han from the Hanlin Academy had no one to take care of him. I saw that Ziwei was getting old, so I gave her to Mr. Han as a concubine."

Shiyi Niang was stunned. Seeing that everyone else in the room also showed surprised expressions, she knew that everyone, like her, was hearing this news for the first time. She couldn't help but look at Ziyuan - she saw that she lowered her eyelids and her face was a little wooden. Shiyi Niang felt a little uncomfortable. She had served her since she was a child and was married as a concubine. How could she be given away as a concubine like this... But this was Wu Niang's family affair. Even if she had an opinion, it was not her turn to ask.

Maybe everyone felt the same way. For a moment, the atmosphere was a little strange. The eldest grandmother looked at them and smiled and came out to smooth things over: "Hey, why haven't the tenth aunt and the tenth aunt come yet?"

The Sixth Aunt immediately joined in the fun: "Yeah, why hasn't he come yet? I'll go and see!" Then she smiled and went to the Chuihua Gate.

With this interruption, the atmosphere in the room eased a lot. Si Niang took the hand of Fourth Grandmother Zhou: "This is our Fifth Aunt, come and meet her!" Zhou respectfully knelt to salute Wu Niang, but Wu Niang's expression was indifferent. She took a pair of red gold brocade bracelets as a gift, and Zhou's return gift was still two pairs of shoes. Wu Niang smiled, and Ziyuan stepped forward to receive them. She turned her head and spoke to Shiyi Niang: "...When did you come?" She smiled and greeted Zhen Jie'er: "Zhen Jie'er is a rare guest."

Zhenjie came forward and saluted Wuniang. Shiyi Niang frowned slightly. After all, Wuniang and Siye were born of the same mother. Siye was a concubine and it was not easy for him to live in the Luo family. He should be more cordial and respectful to the new sister-in-law and respect the Siye and his wife. But she acted as if she wanted to kill Siye's prestige... Fortunately, she was just an aunt. If she was a mother-in-law, I don't know what tricks she would use!

While she was thinking, Sixth Aunt came in with a smile: "Grandma, someone from Duke Mao's Mansion came to say that Tenth Aunt has to go on errands today and can't come. Tenth Aunt is not feeling well, so she won't come."

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

Eleventh Lady glanced at the First Wife—her eyes were full of mockery.

Seeing this, the eldest grandmother covered her sleeves and smiled, "This Shi Niang, if Shigu Ye doesn't come, she won't come either. When a nephew is born, I, as his aunt, will also have to take care of him and urge him to come."

"After all, you still have to go!" Si Niang teased.

Everyone laughed.

Si Niang pulled Si Nainai's hand and said, "Don't laugh. We are used to joking with each other, and we are always disrespectful to each other."

Fourth Grandma laughed and said, "What are you saying, Fourth Aunt? When I see everyone being so affectionate, I can only feel jealous and make fun of them." Her words were very pleasant to the ear.

Si Niang joked with the grandmother: "Did you see that? He is another capable person. You better be careful and don't let your younger brother and sister-in-law laugh at you."

The grandmother didn't take it seriously and smiled, "Two hands can't beat four punches. I wish I had someone who could help me."

Everyone was chatting and laughing, and the atmosphere became relaxed and cheerful.

Eleventh Lady saw a flash of gloom in the eyes of the Grandmother, and thought of the scene she saw when she entered the room. She felt that there was something wrong... But before she had a chance to ask the Grandmother, a servant came in and said, "Eleventh Lady, the Grand Master wants you to go to the study to ask questions."

Eleventh Lady was startled. She asked Amber to accompany Zhen Jie'er and gave Zhen Jie'er some instructions before going to the study with the servant.

In the study, besides the eldest master, there was also the eldest master Luo Zhenxing. Both of them had solemn expressions, which seemed like a three-party trial.

The only thing that could make them take it so seriously could be Xu Lingyi's.

She knelt and saluted, and the old man pointed to a small stool in front of the door and asked her to sit on it.

"Why didn't the Marquis come? I invited you to meet him."

Eleventh Lady was very surprised. She thought the party was to introduce Fourth Grandma Zhou to everyone.

"The Marquis has foot paralysis..." she said in a clichéd way.

"Is there really a foot paralysis disease?" The eldest master's face was full of disbelief, and then his brows were tightly locked. "Although the Marquis didn't dare to say that he could sweep away 180,000 soldiers with his silver spear, he rarely met an enemy. How could he resign because of a minor foot paralysis disease?"