Xu Lingyi spent the whole day welcoming and seeing off guests, and even had lunch and dinner in the outer courtyard.

As usual, Eleventh Lady went to the Lady Dowager first.

The third wife had arrived earlier and was talking to the old lady with a smile on her face. The old lady looked a little depressed and was listening absent-mindedly.

Seeing Eleventh Lady coming in, the lady sent Third Lady away and kept her to talk.

"...That child, does he really have a pair of phoenix eyes?" He seemed to still not believe it was true.

Eleventh Lady nodded. She wanted to fight for Feng Qing in front of the Madam Dowager. She told the Madam Dowager about his injury.

The Madam was silent for a long while, then she started talking about Zhun Ge: "... He will start his education in the spring of next year. I will let Wei Zi accompany him to draw red characters in the warm room."

Seeing that the lady was trying to avoid the issue, Eleventh Lady was not in a hurry and followed her words, "It's better to get the pen earlier, so as not to be frightened when you see that the teacher doesn't know anything, and then be unwilling to learn."

"That's exactly the truth." The lady smiled, "Children, if they have a head start, will become more and more motivated to learn. The fourth brother wanted to hire a teacher to give lessons to Qin'er, Yu'er and Jian'er, and Zhun'er would also follow the three brothers. But I think it's better for them to go to the clan school. After all, Qin'er and the others are older and have more to learn. If Zhun'er follows them, he will be suppressed everywhere. I'm afraid he will be afraid..." and then she talked to Eleventh Lady about the children going to school.

Eleventh Lady chatted with him for a while, then went to see Zhun Ge with the Lady Dowager, then sent the Lady Dowager to the Buddhist temple, and then went to Feng Qing.

Bin Ju came out to greet her: "Madam, everything is packed and we can leave anytime."

She stayed with Dongqing at Banyuepan yesterday.

Eleventh Lady nodded and went to the bedroom with her.

Feng Qing changed into an old pink silk jacket of Nan Yong's daughter Niu'er. His hands and face were clean, and his lips were red and his teeth were white, like a girl, very beautiful. Dong Qing was half squatting beside him and talking to him. Hearing the noise, he raised his eyelids and saw Shiyi Niang. He immediately held the food box beside him in his arms and looked at Shiyi Niang with vigilance.

Dong Qing knew that it was Shiyi Niang who came in, so he quickly stood up and bowed to Shiyi Niang, and said with a wry smile: "Madam, Bin Ju and I have been trying to persuade Master Feng Qing for a long time, but Master Feng Qing just refused to put down the food box. He carried it with him wherever he went. We have no choice."

Bin Ju hurriedly said, "Yes, ma'am. We all advised."

"There are some snacks in the lunch box, right?" Eleventh Lady asked after thinking for a while.

Bin Ju nodded: "There is also a pack of donkey rolls, a pack of Aiwowo, and a pack of pea yellow."

This child is really scared of being hungry!

Eleventh Lady sighed, "Take out the snacks, and he will naturally lose the food box." Then she told them that Feng Qing would stay in the mansion for the New Year, "... temporarily living in Banyuepan. Binju will come to visit every now and then and help." She also reminded them, "There are wells and rivers here, you must be careful, and never let Master Feng Qing out of your sight."

The two of them said "yes" respectfully, and Bin Ju smiled brightly and said, "The Second Madam lives in West Hill. There are many rules and regulations. Sister Dong Qing was worried that she would be impolite yesterday! Fortunately, she doesn't have to go."

Dong Qing blushed as he listened: "I'm just afraid of losing Madam's face, right?"

Eleventh Lady can understand their concerns.

The second lady looks noble and elegant, and ordinary people would feel ashamed in front of her.

She smiled and encouraged them: "Do what you need to do, there is nothing to be afraid of." She urged them, "Take out the snacks in the food box, put them in the paper box, and let Feng Qing take it with her." As she said this, she sighed and touched Feng Qing's head, "In the future, when you have food every day, this won't happen again."

Dongqing and Binju's smiles gradually faded and they looked at Feng Qing with sympathy.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Feng Qing hugged the food box even tighter.

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but sigh slightly, squatted down to help him straighten his clothes, and told him his decision not to go to Xishan for the time being: "...You have to be obedient and live here with Dongqing. If you want to go somewhere to play, don't run around alone, tell Dongqing and let him take you there."

Feng Qing didn't understand the explanations given by Shiyi Niang. He only knew that he would continue to live here.

He nodded to Shiyi Niang frequently, his smile as bright as the sunshine in June, and took out Aiwo Wo from the lunch box for Shiyi Niang to eat.

Shiyi Niang refused, but Feng Qing forced it into her mouth: "It's delicious!" Shiyi Niang had no choice but to take a small bite, and then took the opportunity to move the snacks in the food box into the paper box. She then gave Feng Qing, Dong Qing and Bin Ju a few more instructions, and went to the Third Lady.

All the orders that needed to be given have been given, and now all that needs to be done is to deal with emergencies. The third lady is actually more free than usual.

Inviting Eleventh Lady to sit opposite her, she lowered her voice: "Why did you come at this time? Is mother okay? You don't look well!" There was a hint of probing in her tone.

Eleventh Lady evaded the question vaguely, told her something about the New Year, then found an excuse to go back to her room. She then asked Luyun to move the embroidery frame to the kang, and began to embroider the screen with her heart set.

Just after she had embroidered a few stitches, a little maid came to report: "Mrs. Qian from the Imperial College is here."

Eleventh Lady was stunned.

It was not known whether she avoided them intentionally or because she was pregnant, but Wu Niang had never come since she married into the Xu family. And since she had a mother-in-law above her and a husband below her, it was not easy for her to go out, so she had never visited Wu Niang.

She thought of Luo Zhenxing who suddenly came to visit her early in the morning... Could it be that she also heard something?

Eleventh Lady pondered over it and told the maid, "Please go to the east room for tea."

Then she went to the dressing table, fixed her makeup, and went to the east room.

Wu Niang was wearing a bright red jacket with long sleeves and peony flowers on it. She looked a little plumper than the last time I saw her, but she looked even more gorgeous and bright.

"Fifth sister!" Eleventh Lady bowed to her with a smile.

Ziyuan helped Wu Niang, who was in discomfort, and bent her knees as a return gesture.

Eleventh Lady came forward and helped her sit on the big kang by the window. The little maid brought tea and personally took it and served it to her before sitting opposite her.

"Sister, why are you free to come and sit with me today? Where's your brother-in-law? Why don't you come over?"

"I would like to come," Wu Niang pointed to her slightly bulging belly, "but it won't let me." She added, "The New Year is coming soon, and I need to visit Prince Shun, Minister Du of the Ministry of Works, the chief academic officer of the Imperial College... I need to go there. Your brother-in-law is so busy that he has no time to rest." There was a hint of pride in her tone.

Eleventh Lady smiled and agreed with her, "Although it hasn't snowed in the past few days, the north wind is blowing hard. Sister should also tell brother-in-law to take care of his health."

"Of course." Wu Niang's expression was somewhat proud. "Your brother-in-law still has the temper of a child. I have to take care of everything, including what to wear and what to eat. Sometimes I just want to be lazy and let Ziyuan serve me, but he won't agree..." With a bit of shyness between her brows, she spoke of her happy life after marriage.

Eleventh Lady listened quietly as before, smiling appropriately and occasionally interjecting to make her talk more enjoyable.

Soon, the topic turned to children.

Wu Niang winked at Shiyi Niang, indicating that she should ask all the servants around her to leave.

Eleventh Lady understood what was going on - she must have heard the rumors as well.

I just don't know if she wanted to come here on her own or was asked by Qian Mingzhi to come here?

Eleventh Lady thought about it and sent the servants away.

"Eleventh sister," she looked at Eleventh Lady with sympathy, "Do you know that the Marquis has a mistress outside and has a son..."

Although the versions are slightly different, the content is basically the same.

Eleventh Lady and Fifth Lady had never gotten along, so naturally she didn't want to talk to her any more. She just said, "Big Brother came here early in the morning. He told me everything."

Wu Niang was very surprised.

As soon as Qian Ming heard the news yesterday, he advised her: "…Eleventh sister is in the inner courtyard, so I'm afraid she doesn't know about this yet. Go to Yongping Hou early tomorrow morning to give her a message and have a private conversation with her."

She still remembers how anxious she became when she heard this: "How could this happen? I need to tell my father and eldest brother as soon as possible so they can make plans early."

"You!" Qian Ming laughed. "Why are you like a child, only thinking about the present and not the future?"

She listened in amazement.

Qian Mingyi said with a smile, "Think about it, when something like this happened to the Xu family, how can ordinary people have a say? But you are different. You and she are sisters who grew up in the same house. When we opened the dried fruit shop, the Marquis contributed both labor and money. Even if it's just to return the favor, we have to go and see. What's more, we are planning to form a business partnership with the Wen family. When the time comes, there will be many places for us to ask for help from Eleventh Sister. You should take this opportunity to get closer to Eleventh Sister. There will only be benefits, no harm."

She couldn't help but feel moved when she heard it.

Qian Ming met the third master of the Wen family at a banquet. When the third master heard that Qian Ming was marrying the fifth daughter of the Luo family, he was very affectionate. Later, knowing that Qian Ming was short of money, he took out the IOU for 5,000 dan of grain from Xuantong Prefecture: "... I will only take 2,800 dan of salt permits, the rest are yours." Qian Ming was very surprised. The third master only said: "Go back and think about it carefully." Qian Ming later found out that if 5,000 dan of grain were exchanged for salt permits, apart from the tributes from various places, at most 3,200 dan would be left. But if the general of Xuantong came forward, the loss would be at most 500 dan of grain, and the rest would be all his own...

The last time she opened a dried fruit shop, she was scared of the losses.

If I hadn't stopped early and sold the shop for a small profit, if I waited until the lease of the shop expired next year, I would have lost all the five hundred taels of silver.

This kind of business that requires no capital investment and only makes a profit from the price difference is most suitable for them.

However, in order to complete this deal, Xu Lingyi, who was on good terms with Xuantong General Fan Weigang, had to come forward. Unfortunately, they could not find a suitable opportunity to bring it up with Xu Lingyi, so the matter was delayed.

Now that the Xu family has such a thing, if Eleventh Lady knew about it, she would definitely be very confused and helpless. When the time comes, I will help her with some ideas, and she will definitely be grateful to me... and then mention her own difficulties...

But when she thought of her father and brother, she felt uneasy again.

If I don't tell my father and elder brother, and something really happens, how can I face going back to my parents' home?

As if he knew her worries, Qian Ming pinched her beautiful nose affectionately and said with a smile, "Silly girl! Don't I still have you at your father-in-law's and eldest uncle's place? It won't be too late for us to go to Gongxian Hutong after you come back from the lotus garden!"

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Everyone has made their debut...O(∩_∩)O~