On the way back to the house, Eleventh Lady asked Xu Lingyi: "What did the Zhu family send?" She smiled and seemed very interested.

"The gift list is at the address." Xu Lingyi asked his maid to call Butler Bai, "Just ask and you'll know!"

Manager Bai had just personally directed the servants to load the car. When he heard Xu Lingyi asking for a gift list, he thought for a moment, went to the reception office to get the gift list, and then asked someone to find the list of return gifts. Then he hurried all the way to the main house.

"...10 catties of white sugar, 10 catties of brown sugar, 10 catties of lotus seed rice, 10 catties of white fungus, 10 catties of black fungus, 2 catties of black pepper, 2 catties of white pepper..." Eleventh Lady smiled, "Now that we have all the New Year's goods, we can start cooking now."

Xu Lingyi also smiled and said, "Bring it here so I can see it."

Eleventh Lady handed over the gift list.

Butler Bai, who had been bowing his head, took out a gift list from his sleeve and said, "Madam, please take a look. This is our return gift."

Lvyun on the side took it and handed it to Shiyi Niang, who flipped her hand and opened it: "... ten catties of donkey rolls, ten catties of pea yellow, ten catties of poria cocos cake, ten catties of crabapple preserves, ten catties of jujube preserves, ten catties of pear preserves..." They are all famous specialties of Yanjing, but they are not worth much money.

She was secretly surprised.

Manager Bai, who had been observing Eleventh Lady out of the corner of his eye, smiled and said, "Madam, the gifts sent by the Zhu family are all local specialties, with a total value of two hundred taels of silver. I thought that since they were so thoughtful, it would be disrespectful if we sent them some ordinary things. So I specially picked up some specialties from Yanjing that looked similar and sent them over. It can be regarded as a small token of our appreciation."

Two hundred taels of silver… Fourth Lady, Fifth Lady, Tenth Lady, she, and the eldest brother, third brother, and fourth brother, that’s one thousand four hundred taels of silver… Eleventh Lady was sweating. However, from what Manager Bai said, the Xu family should have paid back the corresponding amount.

In front of Xu Lingyi, she naturally had to give face to Manager Bai.

"Manager Bai has always done a good job." Shiyi Niang smiled and handed the list of gifts to Lu Yun, who then handed it to Manager Bai respectfully, "It would be best if we sisters each gave corresponding specialties. Both families can have a taste of the new things."

Manager Bai glanced at Xu Lingyi calmly - when he saw him nod slightly, his heart immediately brightened up as if a light had been lit.

"Thank you for the compliment, Madam. This is all my job. I have been doing this for decades, so there is no reason why I can't do it well." He replied to Eleventh Lady respectfully.

"You don't have to be so modest." Xu Lingyi handed the Zhu family's gift list to Chief Steward Bai, "You also deserve the compliment from the Madam."

The smile on Chief Steward Bai's face could not be stopped: "This is all thanks to the guidance of the Marquis. I worked diligently and didn't make any big mistakes."

Look at this expression and these words, what a character he is!

Eleventh Lady admired slightly in her heart.

"You work diligently, what does it have to do with me?" Xu Lingyi rarely smiled and joked with Manager Bai, then called Lin Bo over, "You and Manager Bai go to Banyuepan and tidy up the place."

Should we let Lin Bo tell Manager Bai about the child?

As Shiyi Niang pondered, she heard Xu Lingyi instruct Lin Bo, "By the way, move all the things I use every day to Madam's place."

Bring your daily stuff to your place...

Her expression froze. Was this like shooting herself in the foot?

Lin Bo responded respectfully and led Manager Bai out.

Butler Bai glanced at Eleventh Lady and then retreated.

Xu Lingyi smiled apologetically at Shiyi Niang: "The child lives in Banyuepan, so he has to trouble Chief Steward Bai for his food, drink, and defecation. What's more, he is injured..."

Is he explaining to her why he asked Lin Bo to take Manager Bai to Banyuepan?

The more people who know about it, the greater the possibility of the news leaking out, and correspondingly, the smaller your own risk!

Eleventh Lady looked at Xu Lingyi with a smile: "I am really relieved to have the help of Chief Steward Bai. Otherwise, some things would be really difficult to handle!"

Xu Lingyi nodded and was about to say something when a maid came in and reported, "My Lord, Madam, the Third Madam of the Qiao Mansion is here!"

Qiao Lianfang's mother!

Eleventh Lady was stunned and looked at Xu Lingyi.

Xu Lingyi also looked at Shiyi Niang in surprise.

Eleventh Lady's mind was working quickly, and she said with a smile, "The New Year is coming soon. I think Mrs. Qiao is worried about Aunt Qiao, so she came to check on her." She added, "However, there is food and drink at home, and the money and clothes for the New Year have also been distributed. Mrs. Qiao is worrying too much."

Xu Lingyi listened without saying anything. He said lightly, "I'll go into the house first," and went straight back to the inner room.

Eleventh Lady smiled slightly and told the little maid: "Please ask Madam Qiao to come in."

Mother and son are connected by heart, so she doesn't mind Mrs. Qiao visiting Qiao Lianfang - on the premise that she doesn't interfere in the Xu family's affairs and doesn't treat the Xu family as the gate to her own vegetable garden where she can come and go as she pleases.

After a while, the maid brought Mrs. Qiao in.

She was wearing a plain purple jacket with floral patterns on it, and her expression was still dignified.

The two of them greeted each other. Without waiting for Mrs. Qiao to speak, Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Mrs. Qiao, are you here to see Aunt Qiao?" Then she glanced at the clock in the east room and said, "The Marquis and I are going to the Dowager's soon. We won't see you off, Mrs. Qiao." She was very polite.

Since she has already been let in, there is no need to make things difficult for her, which would make one appear petty. Instead, just let her go to meet Qiao Lianfang.

Mrs. Qiao was quite surprised at Eleventh Lady's straightforwardness. She glanced at the curtain in the inner room and said thoughtfully, "Thank you, Madam! She is weak and has been restless in the winters of previous years. I was a little worried and came to see her specially."

"Oh!" Eleventh Lady smiled. "Maybe it's because she took a lot of tonics this year. I haven't heard that there's anything wrong with it. Madam Qiao, why don't you send someone to pass on the prescriptions that Aunt Qiao took in previous years? I can ask an imperial physician to take a look and make some ointments for this old illness to regulate her body. It's not a good thing to be unwell every other day."

Mrs. Qiao smiled coldly in her heart as she listened.

You are such a treacherous person, Luo Shiyi Niang!

You're just trying to hold me hostage.

If I take out the prescriptions from previous years, I'm afraid people will say that Lianfang is in poor health and not suitable for having children; if I can't take out the prescriptions from previous years, it will imply to others that Lianfang is faking illness.

You have a plan to climb up the wall, and I have a ladder to climb over it.

A few days ago, Madam Qiao asked about Lian Fang's situation. Knowing that she hadn't made any progress, she asked the Imperial Hospital to prescribe a body-toning ointment for Lian Fang. When the time comes, I'll show you the prescription and see if you have anything else to say!

The thought flashed through her mind, and she smiled and thanked Eleventh Lady, "Thank you, Madam. I was just worrying about this matter. Now that you have said this, I feel relieved. When I go back, I will bring the old recipe that Lian Fang used in previous years to show Madam, so that you can follow it."

What a quick reaction!

Eleventh Lady replied, "Then please ask Mrs. Qiao to send someone to deliver it one day," and then served the tea.

Mrs. Qiao knew that they were going to send the guests away. She knelt and bowed, then followed the maid to Qiao Lian's room.

Qiao Lianfang had received the news long ago, so she asked Xiu Cheng to wait at the door. She brewed the best Tieguanyin tea and put some snacks such as winter melon honey, peach preserves, and spiced melon seeds in a red lacquered plum blossom box and waited in the house.

Mrs. Qiao first asked Xiu Li: "Is the Marquis treating your young lady well?"

Xiu Yuan hid her sleeves and smiled: "Don't worry, Madam, the Marquis is the first in this courtyard to treat our young lady well."

Mrs. Qiao felt relieved and went into the house with Xiu Li.

Qiao Lianfang hurried forward to pay her respects, and invited Mrs. Qiao to sit on the big kang by the window, and personally served tea to her mother.

Mrs. Qiao looked out through the glass window at the holly leaves that were clearly visible outside and sighed deeply, "Your house is no worse than that of the proper young ladies and wives of the Qiao family."

Qiao Lianfang smiled and picked up a piece of preserved peach with a toothpick and handed it to her mother: "Everyone lives in a similar place."

Mrs. Qiao had just come from Eleventh Lady's place. That place was just a little more spacious than this one, but in terms of refinement, they were almost the same.

She didn't know that the place where the three concubines lived was originally the courtyard where the second wife was newly married, and the Xu family had renovated it well. Later, because the second master died here at a young age, no one wanted to live here, so Yuanniang specially rewarded concubines Qin and Wen, and when Qiao Lianfang moved in, she also set aside a room for her here...

Mrs. Qiao took the preserved peach and took a small bite. "Why did you call me here?"

A few days ago, Qiao Lianfang asked Xiu Li to bribe a servant with one or two taels of silver to deliver a message to Mrs. Qiao.

Qiao Lianfang blushed slightly when she heard this and whispered, "That year when my uncle came back from Xuantong, he brought back several gauze curtains. I was there at the time. Among them was a curtain with ink painting, very beautiful. I want mother to help me get it."

Mrs. Qiao was stunned: "What do you want that tent for?" But she was thinking that the tent was like smoke and clouds, and when folded up it would be no bigger than a fist. Mrs. Qiao always treated it like a treasure, and only took it out to dry in the sun in June every year. She was afraid that it would not be so easy to get it.

In front of her mother, Qiao Lianfang was still a little embarrassed. She said shyly, "The Marquis thinks the gauze curtains are stuffy... Eleventh Lady has already changed to fine gauze... I heard that Madam Wen also has one..." As she spoke, her tone revealed a bit of disdain, "These people only know that fine gauze is good, and gauze is too thin and gaudy, and it looks vulgar, but they don't know that gauze woven into ink paintings or calligraphy is the most elegant thing..."

Mrs. Qiao sighed as she listened: "You're going past Eleventh Lady like this... it's really too much of an eye-opener."

Qiao Lianfang didn't care: "She won't come to my room...even if the maid tells her. This is my thing, and it caught the Marquis's eye, so what if I give it to her? I'm afraid if the Marquis finds out, he'll think she took it by force. Will she look at me differently if I don't hang this curtain?"

Mrs. Qiao thought her daughter's words made sense, but it was not appropriate to do so. She advised her, "How about you go to the Marquis and tell him that you didn't know that the Marquis thought the gauze curtains were stuffy, and that you had a pair of gauze ink curtains that you really liked in your boudoir, and that Mrs. Qiao asked you to bring them over when you came here. You had been putting them at the bottom of the box and didn't dare to hang them up..."

Qiao Lianfang smiled brightly after hearing this: "Mother is still very thoughtful."

"You are such a worry-free child." Mrs. Qiao was happy to see her daughter smiling as usual, and asked her in a low voice, "Did you take the medicine I brought you last time on time?"

Qiao Lianfang blushed slightly: "I ate on time as you instructed!"

Mrs. Qiao gently stroked her daughter's head and said, "You have to give birth to a son as soon as possible. Otherwise, it will always be empty."

Qiao Lianfang said nothing, lowered her head and played with the corner of her clothes, but there was an unconcealable joy in the corners of her eyes and eyebrows.

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I'll add another update tonight...