Chapter 210: Celebrating the Festival (Part 2)

The lady sighed inwardly, then said to Xu Lingkuan with a cold face, "Your fourth sister-in-law has been running around for this matter all day."

Xu Lingkuan felt a trace of guilt when he heard this and murmured, "Fourth sister-in-law."

The lady said to Shiyi Niang, "You are tired too. Go and have a rest! Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. You should take a break."

Eleventh Lady smiled and replied “yes”, looking at Xu Lingyi - to see what other arrangements he had!

Xu Lingyi thought for a moment and said, "Mom, you should go to bed early too! I'll talk to Xiaowu and then we'll go."

The lady knew that he was trying to teach Xu Lingkuan a lesson. Under normal circumstances, she would have kept the two brothers and would have been able to be a peacemaker if anything happened. But this time, she knew that she could no longer act on emotion, so she nodded heavily and said, "You two brothers need to have a good talk."

Leaving Zhe Ge to accompany the lady, Xu Lingyi, Xu Lingkuan and Shiyi Niang, who was holding Xu Siyi, went out together.

Amber was waiting outside the door. When she saw everyone coming out, she immediately went to greet them: "Lord Marquis, Fifth Master, Madam, Young Master Fengqing!" There was anxiety in her eyes.

Just now, Mother Du quietly took people to "Banyuepan" and took Fengqing away. They didn't know what she meant. Dongqing couldn't show up because she had to take care of the Fifth Madam, so Amber brought Binju over.

Eleventh Lady glanced at Binju, Luyun and others who were following behind Amber, and said with a smile: "You can't call him Young Master Fengqing anymore. The Marquis has chosen "Xu Siyi" as his name, so you should now respectfully call him "Fifth Young Master."

So, I admit...

Amber and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

Who knows what will happen if we keep it hidden like this? Now it is finally out in the open.

Several people knelt and responded "yes", and from then on they called him "Fifth Young Master".

Xu Lingyi took Xu Lingkuan back to his own courtyard. Eleventh Lady always felt that although "Banyueban" was safe, it was located in a remote place and was very deserted. On the one hand, she ordered someone to go to Aunt Qin's place to see if the kang in the place where Xu Siyu lived was burned, and on the other hand, she asked Binju to take the child to Dongqing House. She sent away the servants in Xu Lingkuan's study and brought in hot tea herself.

As soon as she entered the room, she heard Xu Lingyi's blunt questioning: "...Can you bear it? Tell me, how can you bear it?"

"Anyway, I'm the one who caused the trouble. I'll find a way to explain it clearly to everyone..." Xu Lingkuan's face flushed red, and he stared at Xu Lingyi with his neck stretched out.

"Don't you think things are not chaotic enough?" Seeing Xu Lingkuan's unwillingness to admit his mistakes, veins popped out on Xu Lingyi's forehead. "Why don't you explain it clearly to everyone? What? How? Say that the child is yours? Let others think you are standing up for me? Or say that the child is not from the Xu family at all? You are shirking your responsibility..."

Eleventh Lady coughed lightly.

The two brothers went by reputation.

Xu Lingkuan's face was filled with shame and he murmured, "Fourth sister-in-law."

Xu Lingyi's face brightened slightly: "The child has been arranged!"

"I want to temporarily put it in the place where Brother Yu used to live..." Shiyi Niang served tea and briefly explained the arrangement for Xu Siyi, then winked at Xu Lingyi, "But what do the concubines say? We still need to discuss it with the Marquis!"

Xu Lingyi turned around and went into the warm room in the study with Shiyi Niang.

"What is it?"

Of course, he didn't believe that Eleventh Lady was discussing herself with her aunt.

Eleventh Lady laughed and said, "I saw that the Marquis scolded the Fifth Master and made him startled. Could it be that the Marquis usually talks to his colleagues like this?"

Xu Lingyi was stunned.

"Of course not..." After hesitating for a moment, he added, "He is my brother!"

One of the mistakes people often make is to be more critical, strict, and demanding of those close to them than of strangers.

Seeing that Xu Lingyi had realized something, Shiyi Niang smiled and said, "Do you want me to help you boil some wine? It's winter, and it would be good to warm yourself up."

"Okay..." Xu Lingyi answered hesitantly.

People’s habits cannot be changed overnight, but being willing to try is a good thing!

Eleventh Lady smiled and went out, telling the maid to ask the kitchen to prepare a few side dishes and warm a pot of Jinhua wine and send it in, then she returned to her room.

Amber was waiting for her to come back and give instructions.

"Mrs. Qin's place doesn't have a heated kang. I heard that the Fifth Young Master is going to move in, so he is leading the maids to clean up the house."

"Oh!" Eleventh Lady was somewhat surprised at Aunt Qin's obedience. "She heard that the Marquis had adopted a child, so she didn't say anything?"

After hearing her say this, Amber also felt a little strange.

When she first saw the child, she was completely stunned; when Madam Du took the child to the Dowager Lady, she was even more frightened, afraid that the Dowager Lady would blame Eleventh Lady for helping the Marquis hide the truth from her; later, when she heard that the Marquis finally adopted the child and raised him at home, she felt sorry for Eleventh Lady, thinking that she had a great responsibility and that it was her duty to teach the child well. If anything went wrong, it would all be Eleventh Lady's fault... Her own feelings were so complicated, let alone Aunt Qin, whose own interests were involved.

"She seemed stunned for a moment..." Amber recalled, "Then she smiled and told the maid to clean up... She also asked me if I wanted some of the old clothes that the Second Young Master wore when he was a child..."

"She also asked if she wanted the old clothes that the Second Young Master wore when he was a child?" Eleventh Lady pondered, "It seems that she knows the whole story of the Fifth Young Master very well."

This question involved too many things, so Amber couldn't answer it. She smiled and changed the subject: "Madam, now that the Fifth Young Master has his own courtyard, do you think we should add a few servants to serve him? Sister Dongqing is getting old and will get married at any time. We should make plans early!"

If it weren't for the Xu Siqi incident, her marriage would have been settled long ago.

"The New Year is coming soon, and there is no suitable candidate for the time being." Eleventh Lady nodded with a smile, "I will choose someone after the Lantern Festival. I will decide before she gets married."

Amber agreed, and a maid came in and said, "Three concubines are here to pay their respects to the Madam."

Eleventh Lady smiled slightly and told Amber, "Bring the Fifth Young Master here and let the concubines recognize him."

Amber responded and left. Eleventh Lady then ordered the maid, "Please invite the three ladies in!" Then she sat upright on the armchair in front of the hall.

The one walking in front was Madam Wen, smiling and full of joy. Madam Qin followed behind her, lowering her head and tiptoeing, looking honest and kind. Qiao Lianfang was the same as usual, with her back straight and her head slightly raised, looking reserved and a little proud.

The three of them bowed, and Eleventh Lady asked them to sit on the armchair beside them.

When the maid brought tea, Madam Wen immediately smiled and said, "Sister, I heard that the Marquis adopted a young master and raised him under the name of Madam Tong. Is that true?"

She was honest.

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Aunt Tong appeared in the Marquis's dream, so he took the child and raised it under her name. He named him Siyi, the fifth child in the family. He will write it in the family tree when we offer sacrifices to our ancestors tomorrow."

As she spoke, she glanced at the expressions of Aunt Qin and Qiao Lianfang.

Aunt Qin listened with a smile on her face, but her fingers were intertwined, and she seemed a little uneasy; Qiao Lianfang's eyes flashed with surprise, and then she tilted her ear to listen, looking very concerned.

"Oh my!" Aunt Wen looked overjoyed, as if she had a son in her name. "Aunt Tong is so lucky. She has been gone for more than ten years, but the Marquis still remembers her. However, it is because my sister is kind to others that she has this blessing..."

Eleventh Lady smiled as she listened to Madam Wen praising her endlessly, but her eyes never left the other two people in the room.

Aunt Qin's smile began to seem forced, but Qiao Lianfang's expression changed slightly and she lowered her head in thought.

Kind of interesting!

There was a smile on Eleventh Lady’s lips.

Madam Wen was always well-informed, so it was no surprise that she knew. Qiao Lianfang had obviously just heard about it. Where did Madam Qin get the news from? Why was she so uneasy? After all, Madam Tong was her sister in the same room...

As she pondered, she nonchalantly responded to Madam Wen: "... I have served you since I was young, so we are so close. When I was young, I was busy with this and that, so I didn't notice it. Now that I have some quiet time, I think of how you cared about me. You are still young and beautiful, so how can you not miss me..."

Aunt Qin's smile was stiff, and Qiao Lianfang clenched her fists.

The atmosphere in the room gradually became depressing, making people feel irritated.

Fortunately, Amber's arrival broke the solemnity.

"Madam, the Fifth Young Master is here!" She walked in smiling, holding Xu Siqi in her arms.

Everyone in the room looked at him.

He stared around with his big phoenix eyes, as if he was looking for something.

"Oh! You are so beautiful." Madam Wen came forward, touched his little hand, and took out a pair of small red gold bracelets from her sleeves. "Here, Fifth Young Master, these are for you to wear for fun."

Xu Siqi looked at Madam Wen with eyes full of vigilance.

Amber said hurriedly, "Fifth Master, this is Madam Wen. She gave you something, you should say "thank you" to her."

Xu Siqi said nothing, just blinked his big eyes and looked at Shiyi Niang.

Eleventh Lady smiled and told him: "Tell Madam Wen, thank you very much."

"Thank you!" He whispered his thanks to Madam Wen, his voice clear and melodious, pleasant to the ear.

Madam Wen was slightly distracted, and after a moment she whispered, "What a beautiful voice."

At this time, Amber had already met Aunt Qin and Qiao Lianfang with Xu Si'e.

Aunt Qin gave a silver necklace with a Ruyi lock as a gift, but Qiao Lianfang was totally unprepared. She looked at the child's eyes and said in a daze, "...I'll ask Xiuyuan to bring it over later."

After they met, they explained what needed to be said. Eleventh Lady asked Amber to carry Xu Siqi down, and after a few words with the concubines who all had different expressions, she served tea and went to the study.

Because the two brothers were talking to each other, they sent away the servants in the house and only left one servant waiting under the eaves.

The weather was cold, and he was stamping his feet with his hands folded in his sleeves. When he saw Shiyi Niang coming, he stood up quickly. Just as he was about to report, Shiyi Niang made a gesture to him to be quiet, then asked Luyun to give him a few coins, lifted the curtain, and tiptoed in.

There was only a goat-horn lantern lit on the kang by the window. Looking through the falling flower shade, I couldn't see clearly. I could only hear Xu Lingyi's voice: "...If it weren't for your fourth sister-in-law's kind nature, how could the matter be resolved so smoothly!"

Is Xu Lingyi talking about her?

Eleventh Lady was stunned.

She didn't expect to be judged like this in front of her brother...