Chapter 216: The First Month (Part 2)

After the Imperial Concubine led the ladies of the inner court to congratulate the Empress on the New Year, the princesses came next, and finally the ladies of the outer court.

By the time we came out of Kunning Palace, it was already noon.

Since they were all acquaintances, they had to greet each other warmly and make plans to pay New Year's greetings to each other.

The lady promised this family but didn't care about the other one, and promised that family but didn't care about this one. She simply said she was in a bad mood and declined all the offers.

When everyone thought about what happened in the Xu family in the past few days, they all showed an "understanding" look, and comforted the lady in some subtle or direct ways. A few princesses from the princess's tent came out of the palace, and everyone came forward to greet them.

Amidst the laughter and chatter, Shiyi Niang saw Shiniang's mother-in-law, Old Lady Wang from Duke Mao's Mansion, walking towards the east gate alone.

Feeling someone watching her, she turned around.

When he saw it was Eleventh Lady, he smiled and nodded, but his expression seemed a little forced.

I haven't seen you before, but now that I've met you, I should go over and say hello.

"Mother, I'll go over and pay my respects to Old Madam Wang." Eleventh Lady whispered to the Dowager who was talking to the eldest princess.

The lady nodded and continued to talk to the princess: "...You have to admit that you are old. Yesterday, Xiaowu was setting off fireworks, but he fell asleep halfway through..."

The eldest princess nodded: "That's right. So you should come too. Let's get together as old sisters. Drink some golden stem dew and listen to some songs..."

Seeing that the two were very excited and didn't notice her, Eleventh Lady tiptoed towards Old Lady Wang.

Who knew that just after she took two steps, Madam Zhou, who was following behind the eldest princess, pulled her sleeve and said, "My mother-in-law invited your mother-in-law to come over for a drink on the sixth day of the first lunar month. You should come too! Your third sister-in-law is in charge of the household at this time. I'll introduce a few people to you."

Those who can associate with the eldest princess's family are either rich or noble, and women in this era are all noble because of their husbands. Seemingly ordinary interactions often reveal unusual information. Although Lord Zhou and Xu Lingyi are childhood friends, Mrs. Zhou's familiarity with everyone makes Shiyi Niang feel uneasy.

She laughed and said, "How can I make the decision? It depends on what mother and Lord Hou think."

Mrs. Zhou smiled slyly: "As long as you agree, I'll figure out the rest!"

Madam Zhou was born into a noble family and married to a princess. Although she was warm and considerate to others, she was a bit reckless at heart.

She was afraid that Mrs. Zhou would say something that would cause misunderstanding and make the lady think that she wanted to get into Mrs. Zhou's circle.

"Look at what Sister Zhou said." Eleventh Lady smiled, "My mother-in-law is not an unreasonable person - I just want to ask if there are any other arrangements at that time. You know, our Marquis's foot paralysis has not been completely cured yet!"

"Yes, yes, yes." Mrs. Zhou smiled with her hands covering her mouth, revealing a "smile of tacit understanding," "Then remember to give me a definite answer in advance. I can make arrangements as well."

Eleventh Lady nodded, but when she looked up again, she could not see Old Lady Wang.

"Who are you looking for?" Seeing her looking around, Madam Zhou followed her gaze and saw the two sisters-in-law, Marquis Jianning and Earl Shouchang, following the eunuchs to the direction of Cining Palace. She smiled and said, "The two ladies of the Yang family are really filial. It is said that they go to the palace to visit the Empress Dowager on the first and fifteenth day of every month." She also teased Eleventh Lady, "Speaking of which, you are far behind. Not even as good as your second sister-in-law. She used to go to the palace to talk to the Empress Dowager every now and then. You, on the other hand, have disappeared without a trace."

Eleventh Lady had no choice but to remain unchanged in the face of ever-changing circumstances: "Don't I still have to take care of the Marquis?" But she felt vaguely uneasy in her heart - after all, the Duke of Mao's Mansion is also a family of nobles, so why don't they seem to interact much with others?

"Strange," she murmured, "Just now, Madam Wang from Duke Mao's mansion was still here, how come she disappeared in the blink of an eye!"

"What's so strange about that?" Madam Zhou whispered, "Ever since Wang Lang got into that situation, how can Madam Wang still have the nerve to be friendly with everyone? Naturally, we have to leave early..." Before she finished speaking, thinking that Wang Lang was Shiyi Niang's brother-in-law, she smiled awkwardly and said hurriedly, "It's New Year's Day, why are we talking about this! Remember to go back and ask, and give me a definite answer as soon as possible."

Everyone said that Wang Lang was not good. When asked why, they were vague. It was rare to meet someone as straightforward as Madam Zhou. Eleventh Lady pulled her sleeve and asked curiously, "Sister Zhou, what's wrong with my brother-in-law?"

Mrs. Zhou laughed and said, "Nothing, nothing! I just don't like him!"

Yanjing was a small place, and Madam Zhou was born and raised in Yanjing. Among the people I knew, no one was more familiar with the gossips of the nobles than her. She couldn't keep secrets from the Wang family in the past, and she probably couldn't keep secrets from them now.

Eleventh Lady understood, and simply pulled her a few steps toward the palace wall: "Sister Zhou is not an outsider, let me tell you the truth! One of my sister's personal maids was pregnant, and she angered my brother-in-law with a word, so he beat her up and the child is gone..."

This was half true and half false, but Mrs. Zhou had no doubts. She raised her eyebrows and showed a bit of anger on her face: "This guy..." After saying this, she hesitated for a moment and said, "You just came to Yanjing, there are some things you don't know. If you stay for a long time, you will know it sooner or later. This evil man, just look at..." Mrs. Zhou looked around, and whispered in Eleventh Lady's ear,... He started playing with his husband at the age of twelve or thirteen..."

Abnormal sexual orientation? Shiyi Niang was stunned.

Is this why he has a bad temper and likes to hit people?

"Everyone knows this. There are also things that everyone doesn't know." Mrs. Zhou lowered her voice even lower, "..." I don't know what means were used to force the only son of a former official in the Ministry of Rites into their hands. The young man couldn't bear the humiliation and hanged himself on the old locust tree at the back door of their house. The official was so angry that he fell ill and died a few days later, following his son... The Wang family only said to the outside world that Wang Lang owed the young man a debt, and the young man was angry for not being able to collect the debt, so he did this desperate thing..."

"How dare you force a good family girl..." Eleventh Lady's heart skipped a beat as she listened, and she thought of Xu Lingkuan...

"He is so brave! He once beat a maid to death." Madam Zhou sighed, "If he hadn't killed someone for a trivial matter and dragged your fifth son into the case, and was severely reprimanded by the Marquis of Yongping, he would not be so honest now. He just likes to play husband and beat women..." She looked at Shiyi Niang with some sympathy, "When I heard that the Luo family was actually married to their family, your two families had already exchanged name cards. As the saying goes, it is better to demolish a temple than to ruin a marriage. I can't say anything, I can only feel sorry for your sister secretly..."

Eleventh Lady was silent.

She knew that Wang Lang was not a good person, but she didn't expect him to be so despicable.

Mrs. Zhou saw that she looked gloomy and knew that she was not feeling well. She smiled and comforted her insincerely, "You don't have to worry. This man is outside and at home. Your sister is the first wife. No matter what Wang Lang does, those respects still need to be taken care of. It's just that they can't live in harmony, which is a pity. However, having said that, there are more couples in this world who are in harmony than those who live in harmony..." As she spoke, she suddenly remembered that Xu Lingyi had just brought a child home a few days ago, and hurriedly changed the subject, "You will be out of mourning in May next year, right? You and the Jiang family should discuss the matter, right?"

Eleventh Lady felt heavy in her heart after listening to this.

Now that she is married, Shi Niang is unwilling to ask for help from others. "You are not a fish." It is useless for those around her to get anxious and angry! Although she thought so, she felt heavy in her heart. Hearing that Mrs. Zhou wanted to change the subject, she didn't want to say more and continued with her words: "The Jiang family's New Year gift this year was sent by Manager Zhao from the Huichu. In addition to mourning, we should start discussing marriage."

Madam Zhou nodded: "Then you should also pay attention to the marriage of your brother Yu and sister Zhen. Brother Zhe's situation was special at the time, and it can be said that it was your sister's will. Now let Brother Zhe get ahead of Brother Yu again, you should be careful of gossip."

Eleventh Lady nodded: "We must always listen to the opinions of the Marquis and the Madam. Even if I am in a hurry, I don't have a suitable candidate!"

“That’s also…”

As they were talking, a princess came over and invited the eldest princess to pay her respects to the Queen Mother.

Madam Zhou was busy serving, and after the eldest princess and the dowager lady said hello, she accompanied the eldest princess to the Cining Palace. The dowager lady also took her wife to bid farewell to the ladies of state, and met with Xu Lingyi and his three brothers at the Meridian Gate, and returned to the Lotus Garden together.

It was already two quarters before noon, and everyone was hungry. They went back to their rooms to remove their makeup and change clothes, and then went to the lady's place to eat dumplings.

Eleventh Lady was sitting in front of the mirror and dressing herself when she heard a series of tiny footsteps approaching, mixed with a woman's low cry of surprise.

She turned around in a somewhat strange manner.

Then a small figure ran in and almost bumped into Shuangyu, a little maid who was carrying a steaming copper basin.

"What's going on?" Eleventh Lady's voice was a little serious.

Bin Ju's figure appeared in the inner room.

She said anxiously: "Madam, it's all my fault. I didn't stop the Fifth Young Master..."

Before Binju finished her words, Xu Siqi, who had come in, stopped in front of Shiyi Niang.

His face was flushed, and his eyes and brows were filled with joy as he reached out to Shiyi Niang.

There was a rose-colored candy stick in my palm, or maybe it had been held in my hand for too long and had melted a little. The rose-colored sugar juice stuck to my palm, making it look very dirty.

"This is..." Eleventh Lady looked at Xu Siqi in astonishment.

"For you." He smiled and raised his hand to stuff the candy into Shiyi Niang's mouth.

Eleventh Lady turned her head away subconsciously.

Bin Ju, who had rushed in behind him, had already run over. She grabbed Xu Siyi and brought him to a distance where Shiyi Niang couldn't reach him. She asked nervously, "Fifth Young Master, what are you going to do?"

Xu Siqi stared at Shiyi Niang in a daze, his eyelids slowly drooping, and a kind of sadness that was extremely inconsistent with his age appeared on his face.

Eleventh Lady felt as if something hit her heart.

A little painful, and a little stuffy...