Qiao Lianfang bowed and called out "Madam".

Eleventh Lady smiled faintly and led her to the inner room: "The Marquis is here too, please sit in the aunt's room!"

Qiao Lianfang walked into the house with a smile.

Xu Lingyi was quite surprised to see Qiao Lianfang: "It's so late, what do you want?"

After hearing this, Qiao Lianfang's expression froze and she lowered her head.

The slender white neck has graceful and attractive curves.

Eleventh Lady heard Xu Lingyi sigh slightly.

"What's the matter?" He said in a softer tone.

Eleventh Lady saw Qiao Lianfang lowering her head and smiling with her lips pursed.

She also laughed. She asked Amber to bring the brocade stool over: "Auntie, please sit down and talk!" Then she asked the little maid to bring tea, "I'll go see if Brother Jie is asleep." She got up and left with an excuse.

"Madam!" Qiao Lianfang stopped her, "I'm here to see you." Her eyes flashed.

Eleventh Lady smiled and sat opposite Xu Lingyi.

Qiao Lianfang stood in front of the two of them.

"Madam, I haven't seen my mother for some time. I want to go see her. Please give Qiao Lianfang this favor."

Is it about pregnancy?

Eleventh Lady looked at Xu Lingyi with a faint smile.

Xu Lingyi pondered for a moment and nodded slightly, almost imperceptibly, towards Shiyi Niang.

Eleventh Lady immediately smiled and said, "I wonder when Auntie is going to leave? Since you are going back to take a look, you should at least prepare some things to bring back so as not to be disrespectful. I have to prepare something too."

When Qiao Lianfang saw that Eleventh Lady was acting according to Xu Lingyi's instructions, she snorted coldly in her heart.

Even if you become the second wife, what does it matter? Not to mention that the Luo family is getting worse day by day, and it is no longer as prosperous as when Old Master Luo was here. Even if it is still prosperous, a wife regards her husband as her heaven. Can she still surpass the Marquis?

He thought so in his heart, but said respectfully: "Tomorrow is the day when my cousin returns to her parents' home. She and I were best friends when we were at home. I was unable to see her off when she got married. If Madam agrees, I would like to go back tomorrow. I can also take the opportunity to meet my cousin."

It seems quite urgent!

Eleventh Lady glanced at Xu Lingyi again. Seeing that he had no objection, she nodded and said, "Then let's do it tomorrow!" Then she called Amber to arrange a carriage and gifts for Qiao Lianfang to take back.

Qiao Lianfang bowed to express her gratitude, exchanged a few words of greeting, and then stood up to take her leave: "I won't disturb the Marquis and his wife from resting." As she spoke, she glanced at Xu Lingyi.

Xu Lingyi nodded, and Shiyi Niang smiled and asked Luyun to take her out.

Amber prepared the gift list for Qiao Lianfang to take back overnight, and brought it to Xu Lingyi and Shiyi Niang early the next morning while they were having dinner: "My Lord, Madam, please take a look, is there anything else to add or subtract?"

Eleventh Lady looked at Xu Lingyi.

"It's up to you to decide." Xu Lingyi said.

Eleventh Lady took it and looked at it, comparing it to the gift list that Madam Wen gave back to the Wen family. She smiled and handed the list back to Amber: "You have a good memory."

Amber smiled and said, "I am not as good as Madam said. I was just afraid of delaying Aunt Qiao's time, so I went to Third Madam's place last night to look through the account books of previous years. Since there was no gift list for Aunt Qin's return to her parents' home, I followed Aunt Wen's. For this matter, I also specially consulted Third Madam. Third Madam also said that Aunt Qiao and Aunt Wen are sisters in the same room, and it is the most suitable for her to follow Aunt Wen. That's why I dare to show my ugliness in front of the Marquis and you."

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but secretly praise it in her heart after listening to it.

This Amber is getting smarter and smarter. She knows what to do and what to say after I just give her a hint.

Concubine Qin was born a maid, and there were no people in her family. Naturally, there was no question of returning to her parents' home. The Wen family was one of the few wealthy and wealthy families in the Great Zhou Dynasty. They were always generous to the Xu family who could help them in business. The Xu family would naturally not be stingy and make a fool of themselves. Therefore, when someone from the Wen family came to visit, they would give them very generous rewards. Logically, Qiao Lianfang's situation could be compared to Concubine Wen, or to Concubine Yi of the third room, or to several deceased old concubines. But Amber compared it to Concubine Wen. Not only did she compare it to Concubine Wen, but she also took the gift list to discuss with the third lady. Since the third lady was in charge, she must have discussed such a large expense with the lady alone. Amber actually took this opportunity to let everyone in the Xu family know how "generous" Eleventh Lady was to Qiao Lianfang.

You know, the Wen family dared not take in the things from Madam Wen without giving them out. It's hard to say about the Chengguo Mansion. First, it's a question of who to give Qiao Lianfang's things to - if she gave them to her mother, would Mrs. Qiao give her such a large sum of money as a return gift? Second, Qiao Lianfang's father is no longer alive after all, and it's still a question whether the Chengguo Mansion will stand up for this niece - the Qiao family is not a poor family, and they have their own rules. How a married daughter should give gifts must also follow precedents. No one can be sure whether Mrs. Qiao will break the convention for Qiao Lianfang.

In this case, if the Qiao family sent a return gift according to the gifts Qiao Lianfang brought back, she would just be the second Concubine Wen, nothing special. If they did not send a return gift according to the gifts brought back, it would not be impossible for Qiao Lianfang to do so as a concubine. However, in this case, the Chengguo Mansion would be clearly inferior to the Xu family, confirming the suspicion of "climbing the high branch". And with the Third Lady's temperament, whether the Qiao family returned the gift or not, I'm afraid it would be known to everyone.

This is equivalent to digging a hole for Qiao Lianfang!

It depends on whether Qiao Lianfang is smart or not and whether she jumps down or not.

However, whether she jumps or not will not affect Eleventh Lady - in this matter, she is both reasonable and virtuous.

"Then rewrite the gift list on red paper sprinkled with gold, and give it to Xiu Li who is beside Aunt Qiao."

Shiyi Niang felt that given Qiao Lianfang's personality, if she gave her the gift list in front of Xu Lingyi, she would definitely think it was vulgar and would probably let the maid take it without even looking at it. So she specifically told Amber to give the list to Xiuli - after all, what you think in your heart and what you do in public are two different things.

Amber responded and left.

Xu Lingyi smiled and said, "You are quite generous."

Eleventh Lady hid her sleeves and smiled: "It is because the Marquis earns a lot that I dare to be so generous." She added, "Besides, Aunt Qiao serves the Marquis. If she returns to her parents' home in glory, it will also bring honor to the Marquis."

Xu Lingyi was a bit chauvinistic in this regard, so he said nothing more and just lowered his head to eat.

After a while, Qiao Lianfang came to say goodbye to Xu Lingyi and Shiyi Niang.

She had her hair done in a peony bun, a pearl headband, a red gold pearl hairpin, a pink butterfly flower jacket, a light powder on her face, a smile on her face, and a lively look. She was no longer cold and aloof. She was like a bird released from a cage, full of joy and happiness.

It can be seen that Qiao Lianfang was very happy from the bottom of her heart to be able to go back to visit her mother.

"My Lord, Madam, if you have no other instructions, I will take my leave." She saluted Xu Lingyi and Shiyi Niang gracefully. However, Amber, who came in behind her, nodded slightly to Shiyi Niang at this moment, indicating that the matter had been completed.

Eleventh Lady looked at Xu Lingyi calmly.

"When you see Mrs. Qiao, give her my regards." Xu Lingyi said in a gentle voice.

Qiao Lianfang quickly knelt down and saluted.

Eleven asked Amber to give Qiao Lianfang a purse of silver ingots: "Use this to send away the maids and old women. It will also be a respect for the Marquis."

A hint of surprise flashed in Qiao Lianfang's eyes, and she thanked him with a smile. Xiu Li immediately stepped forward to take the purse, and then the master and servant were escorted out the door by Amber.

Xu Lingyi went to the outer courtyard - the stones and bricks for building the house were transported in one after another. Xu Lingkuan still had work to do, so he would sometimes go and take a look with Manager Bai.

Eleventh Lady and Amber went to the warm room.

"I gave the gift list to Xiu Li. Xiu Li took it and was about to put it into her sleeve. I deliberately said, "Take a look too. If there is anything that you haven't thought of and needs to be added or subtracted, I can do it immediately. Otherwise, we will be laughed at when we return to Cheng Guogong's mansion. Not only will Aunt Qiao lose face, but our lady will also lose face. Xiu Li wanted to be polite, but I insisted on my attitude, so Xiu Li took a look at the gift list." Amber smiled, "Her face changed at that time. Then she responded to me absent-mindedly for a few words and took the gift list to see Aunt Qiao. I didn't care about anything else. She followed shamelessly. Xiu Li naturally couldn't say anything to Aunt Qiao. She pointed to the gift list and showed it to Aunt Qiao."

Eleventh Lady nodded seriously.

"Aunt Qiao was shocked when she saw it. She asked me whose idea it was. I said it was Madam's idea. She should do it the same way as Madam Wen. If Aunt Qiao felt there was anything wrong, I would report it to the Marquis and Madam." Amber recalled, "Aunt Qiao looked a little uncertain when she held the gift list. After a long while, she looked up and smiled at me, saying, since it was Madam's grace, how could I dare to refuse and let her down. Then she asked Xiu Li to accept the gift list."

Eleventh Lady thought about Qiao Lianfang's generous behavior just now, and said thoughtfully: "It seems that Aunt Qiao is really pregnant."

Amber was stunned.

Eleventh Lady explained to her: "Even Xiu Yuan can see that this gift is too rich, so how can Aunt Qiao not see it? Since she dared to accept it after thinking about it, she must have something to rely on. If you don't believe me, just wait and see. When you come back, the Chengguo Mansion will at most send a four-color or eight-color gift box as a return gift."

Giving birth to a child is the greatest contribution a daughter-in-law can make to the family. No other gift can be as confident as this.

In the evening, Qiao Lianfang only brought back eight-colored gift boxes.

Eleventh Lady ordered Amber: "Can you help me call Mother Tao? I have something to say to her."

Amber went to call Mother Tao in a depressed mood.

Most of the maids in this courtyard were recommended by Mother Tao. Amber has some tricks. Seeing that Eleventh Lady is gaining power day by day, some maids think that they are not Eleventh Lady's confidants after all, and they will leave sooner or later, so they pretend to be foolish when encountering things; some maids think that they did not get good treatment when Yuanniang was here, and now that she has changed her wife, they may not be worse than others, so they get very close to Amber when encountering things; and some maids think about how good Yuanniang was to them when they entered the mansion, and think about how powerful Mother Tao is, so they can't help but ask Mother Tao for advice when encountering things. Therefore, Mother Tao also heard some rumors about Qiao Lianfang. Seeing Amber coming to her with an unexpected look, she understood a little in her heart. When she arrived in the inner room, she saw that Eleventh Lady looked calm and confused. Instead, she was unsure about Qiao Lianfang's pregnancy.

Eleventh Lady invited Mother Tao to sit in the warm room and said straight to the point: "Aunt Qiao is pregnant. What do you think, Mother?"

※

On Wednesday, I went to study...