On the 18th day of the first lunar month, the year evil is in the west. It is suitable for breaking ground, repairing graves, building, marrying a son-in-law, traveling, seeking wealth, and seeking medical treatment. It is not suitable for getting married, raising the beam, settling down, separating, and accepting marriage proposals.

As day broke, the gates of the Luo Mansion were opened. Leading the way was a carriage with a green canopy, pearl tassels and eight treasures, followed by two carriages with red wheels and a canopy, and then more than twenty black lacquered flat-head carriages followed closely behind. They were guarded by guards in three layers inside and outside, and the sound of horse-hoofed carriages and the rolling wheels made a noisy sound as they rushed towards the post road in the east.

The entire Yuhang city was awakened, and some people who had gotten up early to go shopping gathered in groups to watch the excitement.

"Look, it's the Luo family's carriage..."

“What a magnificent sight!”

"It's just after the New Year, where are we going?"

"I heard he was going to Yanjing to visit his daughter and son-in-law!"

Eleventh Lady sat upright in the carriage, unable to hear the discussions outside. She tucked her hands into her sleeves, and her fingertips gently stroked the icy yet mirror-smooth cut surface of the gemstone, but her heart was like the turbulent river and could not calm down.

It was a sapphire the size of a pigeon egg.

It was given to her by Fifth Aunt when she went to say goodbye last night.

"The only things in my room are the gifts from the first wife. They can be found in the account books and cannot be touched. Only this sapphire was given to me by the first master when I first went to Fujian. No one else knows about it... You are going to Yanjing this time, thousands of miles away, and I can't be with you. You should keep this. You can exchange it for some silver to protect yourself if anything happens. You must listen to the first wife on the way and don't make her angry. Get along well with the fifth lady and don't argue with her. Be tolerant in everything... Be careful in everything..." At the end, tears were falling like rain, "I have also figured it out. You should come here less often. Only if the first wife likes you can you have a good future... In this life, I just hope that you can have a good destination..."

Have you really figured it out?

I'm afraid it's just a last resort!

Thinking of this, Eleventh Lady felt a slight soreness in her nose.

The Fifth Aunt had long fallen out of favor, and when I was sick, she had almost used up all her private money. This sapphire was probably left by her for self-defense and life-saving...

"Don't worry, Auntie. Mother has been very generous to me in recent years. She even made me some new jewelry. I don't lack money... You can keep this!"

I already feel guilty for occupying this body, so how can I take her things!

Fifth Aunt insisted on giving it to her: "...Although you haven't come to see me often in the past two years, you have come to pay your respects to me every Dragon Boat Festival, August 15th, and Spring Festival. You have never missed it. When you see me, you are only happy and have no worries. No matter how stupid I am, I know in my heart that you are afraid that we are too intimate and make people feel uncomfortable...At this time, you still don't tell me anything..." She cried like raindrops hitting pear blossoms, "You are grown up and have your own ideas. Since you don't say it, I won't ask. After you leave, I don't know if we can see each other again...I just want to tell you something from my heart. Don't worry about me. No matter what happens, you must live. As long as you are alive, it will be worth it for me to give birth to you with all my efforts...you will have a good life."

It was like something was suddenly thrown into her heart, causing waves to surge and shatter her hard barriers. The emotions hidden deep in her heart poured out... Her tears welled up without warning.

The Fifth Aunt wiped her tears awkwardly: "Don't cry, don't cry. This thing is of no use to me. As long as I am obedient, the eldest lady won't do anything to me. You are different. You are away from home and have no one to rely on... The things given by the eldest lady are all visible things. If you have this for self-defense, it may save your life. How can I feel at ease if you don't take it... Put it away quickly, don't let anyone see it..."

Eleventh Lady sat in the carriage in a daze, thinking about the scene when Fifth Aunt stuffed the blue stone treasure into her hands. She felt mixed emotions in her heart and couldn't describe how she felt.

She only knew that she owed Fifth Aunt too much...

Amber looked at the silent Eleventh Lady and felt confused.

Yesterday at noon, Mother Xu suddenly came to tell them that Binju could also go with them!

There was joy in the room at that time.

She still remembers Miss Eleven's smile - not the kind of gentle smile that makes people feel like a spring breeze, but a smile like the sky after the rain, clean, clear and bright.

In a flash of lightning, she suddenly understood.

It turns out that this is Miss Eleven's smile from the heart.

Her heart was slightly hurt.

Miss Eleven would only behave like this in front of someone she trusts!

So after Mother Xu delivered the message, she took the initiative to see Mother Xu out, wanting to avoid the joy that was about to come in the house.

Who would have thought that after they walked out of Lujun Building, Mother Xu held her hand and looked at her for a long time with a smile. She looked at her for a long time and said something that shocked her: "Amber has grown up and become beautiful. But you must remember that you have received the grace of someone for what you have today!"

Mother Xu would not say such a thing for no reason.

As she thought about it, she felt a chill down her spine.

No one knew what had happened in Yanjing. What was the real reason why the first wife took them there? If something happened between the first wife and the young lady... not to mention that she would be a nobody, she would be the unlucky one who would take the blame!

The carriage was quiet, and the sound of the galloping carriages outside could be clearly heard. Miss Eleven closed her eyes and tried to rest, but she felt very depressed.

*

The carriage slowly stopped after traveling for more than an hour. A woman named Jiang who was beside the lady came to ask Shiyi Niang: "Miss, do you want to go to the toilet?"

Eleventh Lady lifted the curtain and saw a simple teahouse on the side of the road. The teahouse was surrounded by the Luo family's guards. Several burly old women were using dark coarse cloth tents to surround the teahouse.

"The place is shabby, but if you want to use the toilet, you'll have to wait for an hour. Miss, you'd better make do with it!" Mother Jiang advised Eleventh Lady.

Eleventh Lady saw the eldest lady, accompanied by Madam Xu, get off the carriage and walk towards the teahouse.

"Thank you, Mom!" Eleventh Lady thanked Mother Jiang with a smile, then put on a veil and got out of the car with the help of Amber.

As soon as she got off the carriage, Wu Niang, who was sitting in the carriage in front of her, also got off the carriage with the help of Ziwei.

The two of them smiled at each other through their white gauze veils and walked towards the teahouse.

The teahouse was divided into two parts, with a bamboo shed outside and a small house inside.

The two stood in the shed and waited for a while. The eldest wife came out with the help of Xu Mama. Seeing that Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang were wearing veils properly, she nodded slightly and said with a smile: "It's not like home on the road. You all have to be more responsible."

The two of them knelt and responded "yes".

The eldest wife got on the carriage. Eleventh Lady asked Fifth Lady to go first, and waited until Fifth Lady came out before she went in.

The house was divided into two rooms, the front was a small tea room, the back was a stove, and a red lacquered toilet was placed in the middle of the tea room.

Eleventh Lady endured the discomfort and solved her physiological problem, then walked out of the tea room and waited for Amber to come out, and the two of them got back into the carriage.

After a while, there were chattering sounds coming from the teahouse. Eleventh Lady lifted the curtain and saw Dujuan, Du Wei, and Fifth Lady's maids Zhuo Tao and Sui'er, who were sitting in the carriage at the back, entering the teahouse talking and laughing.

A bit like a service station on a motorway…

Eleventh Lady raised the corners of her mouth and smiled.

Then I heard Jiang's mother's voice: "Girls, be careful not to make fun of yourself."

The maids either stuck out their tongues or made faces, and finally quieted down.

The carriage stopped for about half an incense stick of time before it started again.

After noon, their carriage arrived in Hangzhou Prefecture, but did not enter the city. Instead, it went around the city to the north and arrived at the dock.

There was already a three-masted red-painted sailing ship waiting there. The stewards had already enclosed a passage with tents and sent a servant woman to stand on the red-painted ladder to help them get on board.

The carriage stopped in an empty space in front of the passage. A man in his thirties, an old man with white hair and beard, and a handsome young man in his early twenties came forward to pay their respects to the eldest lady. The eldest lady spoke a few words to them through the curtain of the carriage, and the old man and the young man respectfully retreated far away.

Amber explained behind Eleventh Lady: "The middle-aged man's surname is Tao, and he is the general manager of the Luo family in Hangzhou. The one with gray hair is the general manager Niu. He opened a small silk shop in Hangzhou and bought goods from the Luo family's main store. Every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Spring Festival, he would go to pay his respects to the eldest wife. Following behind him is his youngest son Niu Jin, who manages the Niu family's silk shop."

Everyone left, but the tea was still hot. It seemed that this Niu Daguanguan was really a capable person...

Eleventh Lady nodded slightly, lifted the curtain of the carriage and continued to look out.

Then I saw two bearers carrying a sedan chair with a tin black cover and a black curtain coming towards this side. A capable woman in her forties followed beside the sedan chair, and there were seven or eight yamen runners in black robes in front and behind the sedan chair.

Amber smiled and said, "She is the wife of Mr. Zhou, the prefect of Hangzhou."

As soon as she finished speaking, Eleventh Lady saw the eldest wife, supported by Xu Mama, get off the carriage and go to the sedan chair. The maid next to the sedan chair looked at her and whispered a few words to the person in the sedan chair. The sedan chair stopped, and the yamen runners scattered around to protect it. A woman in her forties wearing a royal blue embroidered jacket and a large emerald green flower on her head got off the sedan chair. The two of them greeted each other from a distance, and shook hands with smiles on their faces. After a few words, Xu Mama presented a few boxes of gifts. The eldest wife saw the woman off to the sedan chair, watched the sedan chair go away, then turned around to instruct Jiang Mama a few words, and went to the boat with Xu Mama.

Mother Jiang first ran to the carriage of Fifth Lady and whispered a few words, then ran to the carriage of Eleventh Lady: "Miss Eleventh, the eldest lady asked us to get off the carriage and get on the boat."

Eleventh Lady watched Wu Niang step on a footstool and get off the carriage with the help of Ziwei, and then she also got off the carriage with the help of Amber.

The two followed the eldest wife and boarded the boat one after the other.

The boat was very large and had two floors. The guards and maids lived upstairs, and they lived downstairs. The eldest wife had four rooms, and she and Wu Niang had two rooms each.

Someone had already prepared steaming hot meals in the cabin.

The eldest wife ordered them: "...We will set off in half an hour."

Neither of them was hungry, and they had some snacks on the way. But they didn't dare to displease the eldest wife, so they ate half a bowl each. During the meal, heavy footsteps could be heard from time to time passing through the corridor beside the cabin. When they put down their bowls and chopsticks, the sound had disappeared. Mother Xu went out to take a look, and came back to report to the eldest wife: "The cages and boxes have been packed up."

The eldest wife nodded and told Madam Xu: "Then set sail! Try to stay in Suzhou tonight."

Mother Xu left in response, and soon returned to say, "We can set off in half an incense stick."

The eldest wife nodded and said to the sisters, "You are all tired from the journey, go down and rest!"

Eleventh Lady bowed and retreated, but Fifth Lady said, "Mother is tired too, how about I help massage her legs?"

"No need!" The first wife smiled, "This is your first time on a boat, and you don't know if you will get seasick. Just take care of yourselves."

Seeing that the eldest wife had made up her mind, Wu Niang smiled and retreated.

Luoqiao was busy fetching water to help the eldest lady wash up and go to bed, but Mother Xu wanted to count the boxes and cages with Shanhu, Daimao and others.

When Eleventh Lady returned to the room, Dongqing was also counting the boxes.

Thinking that they were on the boat with Jiang's mother, she couldn't help but ask, "Have you all eaten?"

Bin Ju's face still showed the joy of being able to go to Yanjing, and she immediately smiled and said, "No. But we are not hungry, so we had some snacks on the way."

Dong Qing also smiled and said, "Miss, don't worry about us. Mother Jiang said that we should go to the cabin in half an hour. She has arranged food and asked us to count the things in each room first."

Seeing that everything was arranged in an orderly manner, Eleventh Lady said nothing more. Binju and Qiuju helped her to go to bed and she had a good sleep.

(I'm climbing up and up the grid... there will be another update in the evening!)