The Imperial Household Department was responsible for the administration of horse breeding and was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War. Horses were raised and fostered in the six counties of Shandong and Henan. If grasslands were reclaimed into farmland for some reason, the Ministry of War would be responsible for collecting rent every year. In case of disasters, the rent would be used to subsidize the sale of horses.

This year, the snow was heavy, and Jinan, Dongchang, Kaifeng, Weihui and other places were severely affected. The temple secretaries from the four places came to Beijing for help. Princess Changning's only son Ren Kun was the doctor of the military department, responsible for the ceremonial guard, post and stables. Several temple secretaries had to go out and about. He was a famous handsome man in Yanjing, who loved male love and was not interested in women. The place to receive him was naturally moved from the brothel to the small prostitute's house. After a few visits, he got to know Wang Lang, a frequent visitor to the small prostitute's house...

"Since the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, the two have disappeared!" Mrs. Zhou said as she looked at Eleventh Lady's expression.

"So, Wang Lang is not at home at all... On the second day of the Chinese New Year, Shi Niang certainly can't go back to her parents' home..." Shiyi Niang was a little stunned. Thinking of Madam Jiang Gui's sudden return to Yanjing, "... Is this the reason for her to return to Yanjing?"

Madam Zhou couldn't hear her mumbling, but reminded her, "Princess Changning is ten years older than the emperor. When the emperor was a child, he was taken care of by Princess Changning. Only Princess Changning dared to use the excuse of being unwell as an excuse to not go to the Cining Palace to pay respects."

Eleventh Lady smiled bitterly.

Even if Wang Lang's partner is not Ren Kun, apart from the Wang family and Shi Niang, who else has the right to control him...

This is a good thing. Now that Wang Lang has someone he likes, he will naturally pay less attention to his family, and Shi Niang can have a few days of peace and quiet.

She heaved a long sigh. After finally making it to dinner and returning home, she found that her yard was brightly lit and filled with laughter.

A little maid had already reported: "It's the fourth young master who is teaching the fifth young master how to play shuttlecock!"

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but look up at the stars on her head: "At this time?"

The little maid smiled and said, "The fourth young master came here in the afternoon and had dinner here as well."

"Has the Madam not come back yet?" She hurried into the house. "Has the Marquis come back yet?"

The little maid replied, "The Madam has not come back yet. The Marquis went out with you and has not come back yet."

As they were talking, Eleventh Lady had already entered the house.

"Did you see it? Just like that..." The maids and old women in the room surrounded Zhun Ge and Xu Sijie. Zhun Ge was holding a bright chicken feather shuttlecock and demonstrating how to kick it. However, Xu Sijie, who was sitting opposite him, seemed a little absent-minded, looking around casually.

Suddenly Xu Sijie's eyes lit up: "Mother!"

He shouted and rushed towards Eleventh Lady.

Eleventh Lady hugged Xu Sijie and asked Zhun Ge's wet nurse, "Does the Madam know that the Fourth Young Master is here?"

The nurse quickly knelt and saluted, saying respectfully, "I know. Miss Wei Zi knows."

Zhun Ge has stepped forward and saluted to Shiyi Niang: "Mother!"

Eleventh Lady nodded, and seeing that his forehead was sweaty, she touched his back and asked, "Are you sweating?"

Zhun Ge struggled for a while and then calmed down: "No!"

Eleventh Lady carried Xu Sijie to the inner room and said, "You are sweating all over. Come in and have a cup of tea."

Zhun Ge thought about it and followed Shiyi Niang into the inner room.

The maids served them to the kang and served them tea, and the concubines came in to greet them. Just as they were talking, Xu Lingyi came back.

Seeing the lively atmosphere in the room, with Zhun Ge and Xu Sijie sitting next to Shiyi Niang and lying in her arms respectively, the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously.

"You're back so early!"

Everyone stood up and saluted.

"Princess Ancheng is afraid of noise, so everyone played cards for a while and then dispersed."

Xu Lingyi nodded and went to the bathroom to change clothes, and Qiao Lianfang followed him.

Aunt Qin lowered her eyes, pretending not to see anything, while Aunt Wen looked at Shiyi Niang.

I am just a servant with a higher status than a maid. What is there to care about?

Eleventh Lady remained calm and ordered the maid: "Go see if the Madam has returned?"

The little maid ran away.

Eleventh Lady asked Zhunge Qingtian: "Didn't the three brothers accompany you? What did they do?"

Zhun Ge pouted: "They didn't let me follow. They were so secretive and talked in a locked room."

Children usually like to play with children who are older than themselves.

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "So you came to play with Brother Jie."

He nodded and said unhappily, "I told my fifth brother to play shuttlecock, but he never learned it well."

Maybe Xu Sijie has no interest in this?

Eleventh Lady smiled, and then she heard the man's mellow voice: "Why learn to play shuttlecock? Memorize the "Youth Education" well. After the first month of the lunar year, you will go to the clan school."

She looked up and saw Xu Lingyi, wearing a dark green brocade Taoist robe, walking out of the bathroom, followed by Qiao Lianfang, who was looking respectful.

Children also have self-esteem.

Eleventh Lady immediately smiled and said, "It's getting late, let's all go!"

Xu Lingyi wanted to say something about Zhun Ge, but when he saw Shiyi Niang opened her mouth, he swallowed his words.

However, Eleventh Lady was afraid that he would continue to scold Zhun Ge, so she personally sent Zhun Ge to the door.

When he came back, he asked Xu Lingyi, "How have you been these days?"

"Not bad." Xu Lingyi leaned lazily on the big pillow. "Even the censor's impeachment is not to the point. I plan to arrange for someone to write a memorial tomorrow - you know, the more people impeach me, the more uneasy the emperor will feel."

Eleventh Lady understood this sentence.

No emperor likes his ministers to form factions. Xu Lingyi's case could be big or small. If many people are holding on to it, the emperor will have to consider the mystery involved.

"Is the Qu family not making any moves?" She pondered, "Such a good opportunity, the Qu family can't give up! If they really give up...then the Qu family really can't be underestimated."

"It's not that they gave up." Xu Lingyi said calmly, "It's just that they can't do what they want in Yanjing like they did in Fujian." Seeing that Shiyi Niang was in a bad mood, he asked, "What's wrong? Are you tired?"

It took Eleventh Lady a moment to realize that he was asking her. So she smiled and said, "It's okay. But the princesses have a lot of rules. It's not as comfortable as in the Yongchang Marquis's house." Then she told him about Wang Lang's affairs, "...I don't know if it's good or bad? Is it a blessing or a curse?"

"Ren Kun and Wang Lang are together." Xu Lingyi was very surprised to hear this, "Why did Ren Kun fall in love with Wang Lang?"

Judging from Xu Lingyi's tone, he thinks better of Ren Kun than Wang Lang. However, considering that Wang Lang and Xu Lingkuan have a feud, it is understandable that Xu Lingyi dislikes him.

She sent Amber back to Gongxian Hutong the next day. One reason was to tell Luo Zhenxing about this matter, so as to prevent the Luo family from having a deeper misunderstanding of Shi Niang; the other was to take the opportunity to visit Fifth Aunt to see how she was doing.

Everything was fine with the Fifth Aunt, and the Sixth Aunt took good care of her. However, Luo Zhenxing was very angry when he received the news. Regardless of the New Year, he asked the eldest grandmother to go to the Wang family. The matter could not be concealed, and the Wang family was very ashamed. Not only did Mrs. Jiang Gui personally apologize, but the Wang family also sent a steward to deliver a gift worth a thousand taels of silver. Luo Zhenxing was still not satisfied, and the eldest grandmother advised him: "Can you bring Shi Niang back?" This sentence made Luo Zhenxing deflated, and he could only urge the Wang family to bring her back.

Such a matter worthy of discussion on the streets and alleys was caused by the incident of Xu Lingyi's illegitimate child. It was like a small stone thrown into a lake. Although it caused ripples, it was just ripples and soon disappeared. However, Xu Lingyi's matter became more and more serious. From lack of moral character to collusion with the enemy country, from impeachment by the censor to mutual accusations among court officials. As the center of the storm, the Xu family reacted slowly to this crisis, responded in an unorganized manner, and acted in a chaotic manner. The only saving grace was that the brothers were still in harmony - Xu Lingkuan had several fights with others because of this matter.

For a while, there was a lot of discussion inside and outside the city of Yanjing.

Eleventh Lady was not greatly affected. Apart from accompanying the Lady to attend several family banquets with close friends, she stayed in her own yard and did needlework for the children with Dongqing and Binju.

Zhun Ge would come to play with Xu Sijie every afternoon, but Xu Sijie would rather sit next to Shiyi Niang and watch her embroider than play with Zhun Ge. Zhun Ge couldn't help complaining: "... my eldest brother and second brother were whispering to each other, so they let third brother hear it but I can't."

Seeing him pouting and looking very aggrieved, Eleventh Lady looked at the humble maids and old women around him, and then looked at Xu Sijie who would rather break his fingers than leave her side. She smiled and put away her needlework: "Brother Zhun, can you tell me how to play shuttlecock?"

"Really, really. Mother, would you like to learn to play shuttlecock with me?" Zhun Ge was very excited when he heard it.

Eleventh Lady nodded. Fearing that others would find it inappropriate, she left only Luyun and Hongxiu behind, sent a little maid to guard the door, changed into a small jacket, and followed Zhun Ge to learn how to play shuttlecock.

It was unknown whether she had no talent or she was not serious about taking care of the child, but Shiyi Niang could not get the hang of it no matter how hard she tried. She either kicked the shuttlecock away or kicked it into the air. Zhun Ge was sweating profusely in anxiety. As long as Xu Sijie was with Shiyi Niang, he would do anything. He smiled and helped her pick up the shuttlecock, and he was very happy.

"How about we do Baisuo?"

Jumping rope is also called skipping rope.

Shiyi Niang thinks that this can be a better way to exercise the body than kicking shuttlecock, especially for a child like Zhun Ge who is a bean sprout. The goal of fitness can be achieved by gradually increasing the amount of movement, and it is relatively low-key and inconspicuous.

As she spoke, she looked at Zhun Ge with hope.

Zhun Ge immediately puffed out his chest and said, "Okay, let's do the Baisuo dance!"

In fact, he found hopping sled very tiring. But his mother was clumsy and couldn't learn to kick the keys, so she wanted to play hopping sled instead. He always had to give her some face.

Xu Sijie didn't care. As long as Shiyi Niang felt good, he felt good. He clapped his hands and said, "Jump the white rope, jump the white rope."

Eleventh Lady smiled and rubbed his head, and asked Manager Bai to make three white ropes according to their heights. Then she moved the armchairs in the hall away, clearing the space in the middle, and she and Zhun Ge each took a white rope and tried to dance.

Xu Sijie was running around holding a rope.

Eleventh Lady smiled and called Xu Sijie: "Come, I will tell you how to jump the hundred ropes!"

Xu Sijie immediately ran over with a smile on his face.

Eleventh Lady asked him to stand in front of her and shout "one, two, three", then swing the rope around, stop, and shout "one, two, three" again and swing the rope.

At first, Xu Sijie had no idea what was going on. After kicking several times, he gradually figured out Shiyi Niang's intention and knew to jump when Shiyi Niang shouted "three". Because he was young, he couldn't stand steadily and swayed like a tumbler. Zhun Ge watched and laughed. Xu Sijie looked at Zhun Ge and accidentally stepped on Shiyi Niang's foot. Shiyi Niang was caught off guard and cried "Ouch!". The rope tripped Xu Sijie's foot and they both fell to the ground.

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My niece Maomao’s baby is one month old today… I can only update once!