It’s easy to find a wicker basket, but it’s hard to find someone to look after the children?

For a moment, Eleventh Lady became worried again.

Dong Qing volunteered: "How about I go! The place is a million miles away from Madam Wu, so it shouldn't be a problem."

Amber also agreed: "After all, that is the Marquis's place, and the Fifth Madam is his brother's wife. She would not go there even if she went by mistake."

Eleventh Lady thought about it and it made sense. Amber went to the kitchen and found a rattan basket for apples. She also deliberately extorted more than ten kilograms of apples and planned to put them in the basket later. When people got closer, they could smell the fragrance of the apples, which could dispel other people's suspicions.

She did a good job, but new problems arose.

How to put Feng Qing into the basket?

He huddled up in a ball, looking at them warily, his face revealing a fierceness that was not typical of a child.

Eleventh Lady tried to communicate with him as she would with those problem children: "...we will send you to where you live. Don't be afraid." She pointed at Dong Qing and said, "This sister will go with you. She will take care of your meals and sleep, and will also bathe you and wash your clothes..."

It can be seen that Feng Qing is a very smart child. He immediately understood what Shiyi Niang meant, but he also immediately revealed his attitude - he tightly grasped the foot of the kang table beside him, looking like he would never leave.

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but stroke her forehead and told Dong Qing, "You stay here and watch him! I still need to meet with the Third Lady to discuss the New Year's matters." Then she thought of the bite Dong Qing had just received from Feng Qing and said, "Call Bin Ju in! It will be easier to get things done with more people."

Dongqing was also afraid that he couldn't take care of the child alone, so he immediately called Binju in.

When Bin Ju came early in the morning, she heard that the Marquis and his wife were talking in the house, and they ordered that no one was allowed to enter. Later, Dong Qing was called in, and soon there were screams. Then the Marquis left, but the Fourth Madam and Dong Qing did not come out, and no one came forward to serve them. Then Dong Qing came out and called Amber in... No one knew what was going on, and everyone held their breath. Bin Ju was worried, and when she saw Dong Qing calling her, she quickly followed him in. When she raised her eyelids, she saw a strange child sitting on the kang in the inner room, with a pair of phoenix eyes like Xu Lingyi. She was tongue-tied and stammered: "What, what's going on?"

Before Eleventh Lady could open her mouth to speak, a maid came to report that the three concubines had come to pay their respects to her.

She asked Dongqing to explain to Binju that she went to the hall to accept the greetings from the three concubines, said a few words and then sent them away.

Back in the house, Bin Ju, who already knew the situation, came up to her anxiously, "Madam, you can hide it for a while, but you can't hide it forever. I think it's better to tell the truth as soon as possible."

Eleventh Lady knew it very well.

"Let's wait until the Marquis comes back!" She murmured, "We don't know what the Marquis means now. If we act rashly and ruin his plans, I'm afraid we won't have a good life then."

Bin Ju nodded and reminded Shiyi Niang: "It's almost time to go to the Madam!"

Eleventh Lady nodded, handed the child to them, put on a cloak, and went to the lady with Luyun and Hongxiu.

The Third Madam had already arrived early in the morning. After greeting the Grand Madam, Eleventh Lady went to the Third Madam as agreed.

When she arrived, all the mothers in charge were already there. They were all waiting in the hall for the Third Lady's instructions. When they saw her come in, they all came forward to bow and greet her, talking in a flurry, and their attitudes were very attentive.

Eleventh Lady still respected the Third Lady's status as the head of the household. She asked the maid to report, and she chatted with the housekeepers for a few words. After the maid came to report, she smiled and nodded, said goodbye to the housekeepers, and went into the east side room.

The third wife's smile was a little forced, and she looked unhappy: "My sister-in-law is here. Come and sit on the kang!"

Qiu Ling hurriedly led Shiyi Niang to sit opposite the Third Lady, and quickly served her tea.

The Third Madam looked at Qiu Ling, who was acting calmly, and thought of Dong Qing. She said, "...I heard that she was married to Wan Daxian. Will the date be set in the spring of next year?"

I don't know who spread it? After all, there is no three books and six ceremonies. Eleventh Lady doesn't want to say it so absolutely. She said vaguely: "It depends on whether they have this fate!"

The Third Madam smiled and said, "Speaking of which, she is the first one you let out of your house, so you must take good care of her."

Eleventh Lady said conservatively: "These are all based on old precedents."

Seeing that she was not speaking clearly, the Third Lady lost interest and asked Qiu Ling to hand the account book to Eleventh Lady and changed the subject: "You watch from the side first. If you don't understand anything, you can look through the account book or ask me."

"Please do as you please, Third Sister-in-law!" Eleventh Lady's tone was very polite, which made Third Lady very satisfied - speaking of which, Eleventh Lady was also very smart and well-behaved. If it weren't for the status gap between the two of them, she would be very willing to visit Eleventh Lady often.

The thought flashed through her mind, and she instructed Qiu Ling: "Filial piety comes first. Let's first ask the mother who manages the ancestral hall to come in and tell us how the preparations for the sacrifice are going?"

Qiu Ling responded and left.

Eleventh Lady perked up and watched Third Lady handle household chores.

* * * * * *

The morning passed quickly. The Third Lady asked Qiu Ling to sort out the things that had been handled and the decisions that had been made in the morning. Then she stood up and went to the Grand Lady with Eleventh Lady: "…while we are serving her lunch, we can talk to her so that she can have an idea of ​​what is going on."

Eleventh Lady, however, was still thinking about the hot potato at home, so she made an excuse: "I'll go back and change my clothes first! I've been flipping through the account books all morning, and my hands are covered in dust."

Those account books are quite old. They are usually kept in the warehouse, and only taken out for reference when I encounter something I don't understand. Fine dust has fallen between the pages.

The third lady herself had once flipped through the account book, and upon hearing this she smiled and said, "Then I'll go first!" She has always been very active in doing things that would allow her to overshadow her other sisters-in-law.

Eleventh Lady said goodbye to the Third Lady with a smile and returned to her own courtyard.

The servants were standing at the door of the main hall or under the eaves, just like when she left. The inner room was quiet and empty, as if what happened in the morning was just an illusion.

Shuangyu stepped forward and said, "Madam, Sister Dongqing, Sister Amber, and Sister Binju have gone to Banyuepan."

So, the child was taken away successfully?

She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled as usual, "Why did you suddenly go to Banyuepan?"

"It's said that the New Year is coming soon, and Zhaoying from Banyuepan wants to ask a few sisters who are good at tidying up to go over there. Sister Amber said that it's the Marquis' study, and they were afraid that the illiterate maids wouldn't know which things to take and which to leave, so they brought Sister Dongqing and Sister Binju over there."

It's not clear.

It seems that I can only wait until the three of them come back to ask.

Eleventh Lady nodded, went into the house to change her clothes, and asked again: "Is the Marquis back?"

"The Marquis has not come back yet." Shuangyu replied respectfully.

It seems that Wang Li can use this excuse.

Eleventh Lady thought about it and went to the lady's place.

* * * * * *

When the lady came back from lunch, Amber was already waiting in the house.

Before Eleventh Lady could speak, she nodded to her, meaning that the matter had been settled.

Eleventh Lady felt relieved. She sent the servants around her and asked about the details.

"...He started biting us when we got close to him. We had no choice but to use brute force to block his mouth, tie his hands and feet, and put him in a rattan basket." Amber whispered to Eleventh Lady about what happened. "It was still early, and we didn't meet anyone along the way. Zhaoying was shocked to see us. I told him what happened, and he was very decisive. He immediately let us into the house and asked for hot water for us. Dongqing and I forced Master Fengqing to take a bath, and we changed the water three times before we got him clean. Binju went to Nanyong's wife to ask for some clothes. Only then did we reluctantly settle him down. Sister Dongqing and Sister Binju were guarding there. I was afraid you would worry, so I came back to tell you the news."

"Young Master Feng Qing?" Eleventh Lady was slightly surprised.

I didn't expect it to be a boy.

Amber's eyes flickered: "Yes. He is a young master."

Eleventh Lady looked at him and asked in a deep voice, "Anything else?"

Amber hesitated for a moment, then lowered her voice and said, "Master Feng Qing is injured!"

There are injuries!

Eleventh Lady thought of how slovenly he looked when he came... and frowned tightly, "What kind of injury?"

"It looks like he was beaten with a bamboo strip that's two fingers wide. There are blue and purple lines all over his back. There are new wounds from the past two days, and some are old wounds from the past." Amber considered, "There are also some on his thighs... all in places that can't be seen because he's wearing clothes."

Does Xu Lingyi know about this?

Eleventh Lady's gaze suddenly became sharp.

She despises people who bully women and children the most.

"How is the child now?" Her voice was cold.

"She curled up in a ball in the corner of the bed and wouldn't let anyone get close to her." Amber's tone was a little sad. "She fell asleep like that when I came. She didn't even have lunch."

This reminded Eleventh Lady.

"Have you all eaten yet?"

"We ate!" Amber said, "Zhaoying helped prepare the food and dishes. In front of the people outside, he just told us that he had invited us to help."

Eleventh Lady nodded: "Let's wait until the Marquis comes back to discuss everything!" But the anger in her heart could not be dispelled.

Amber responded, "Madam, let me help you take a nap! Sister Dongqing and Sister Binju are over there, so you don't have to worry."

Eleventh Lady couldn't sleep at all. She leaned on the pillow and talked to Amber: "The more I think about this, the more strange it seems. If the Marquis had the child outside, given the Marquis's character, although he is not gentle and considerate, he would have arranged for someone to take care of it. The child would not have ended up like this. I'm afraid there are some problems with the child's origins."

Amber personally brewed hot tea and served it to Eleventh Lady.

"Maybe the Marquis didn't know about it before?" She guessed, "Otherwise, the Marquis wouldn't have suddenly decided to go out in the middle of the night?"

Don't know? Under what circumstances would one not know? Could it be an accidental product of a romantic encounter...

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Second update... time to be confirmed... ⊙﹏⊙b Sweat... everyone should get up early tomorrow morning to read it!