Xu Lingning felt that the Third Madam was too nervous and said with a smile, "Although there are many guests at home, he is no less than seven or eight years old. Moreover, he is with Xu Siyu. He may have gone out to play."

As he was talking, Xu Siqin and Xu Siyu popped up and said, "Dad, you're looking for me!"

"Since there were so many people around, the two of us hid in the warm room in the back garden and read books!" Xu Siyu explained with a smile.

Xu Lingning glanced at the Third Madam and said with a smile, "I'll tell you!"

Seeing that Xu Siyu was present, the third lady did not dare to ask any questions, so she scolded him a few words and let Xu Siqin go.

"You see, right? If we don't take Brother Qin away, he and Brother Yu will get involved like this, and who knows what kind of trouble they will cause?" The Third Madam couldn't help but complain, "You have to take the child away anyway. A nest of gold or silver is not as good as your own dog."

Hearing his wife talking about Xu Siyu, the third master was a little unhappy: "What are you talking about? They are brothers of similar age, and it's a good thing that they can play together..."

The Third Lady knew she had crossed a line, and hurriedly said with a smile: "That's not what my Lord meant. I meant that if the two of them were together like this, it would inevitably delay their studies. My Lord has great connections, so Brother Yu naturally doesn't have to be afraid. But we are different. If we don't choose the path of studying, what else can we choose!"

This touched the Third Master's heart. He thought for a long time and said, "I'll talk to Fourth Brother tomorrow - he's more suitable to go to Mother's place."

The child is the apple of the Third Lady’s eye. Although she heard what she wanted to hear, she still urged the Third Master: “Why don’t you go and talk to him now!”

"Let's talk about it tomorrow!" The Third Master yawned. "Fourth Brother hasn't seen any guests for a while. Some people in the Ministry of War who used to work under him took this opportunity to get him drunk. I saw that he even walked with a bit of a shaky step."

Xu Lingyi did drink a little too much. His expression didn't show anything, except that his eyes looked brighter than usual. As soon as he entered the room, he asked Shiyi Niang to make him some sobering soup: "... I'll go to the east side room to take a rest, so that I won't stifle you." After saying that, he staggered to the east side room without waiting for Shiyi Niang's reply.

Eleventh Lady, along with Luyun, Yanrong and others, helped him change his clothes, make his bed, and served him sobering soup.

Fortunately, Xu Lingyi didn't make a fuss even when he was drunk, but just slept quietly.

Eleventh Lady was a little worried at first, but later, seeing that he seemed to be fine, she asked the little maid to serve him on the side, and asked Luyun to invite Amber, Zhuxiang and others to the hall to discuss the handover with the Third Lady in the next few days.

Luyun left in response, but Yanrong took a few steps forward and whispered, "Madam, I saw Xiuyuan from Aunt Qiao's side peeking around the east corner gate."

Eleventh Lady pondered for a moment and said, "Go and take a look. If she is still there, ask her what's the matter. If she hesitates, don't be polite, just refute her according to the rules - you are a second-class maidservant beside me, and Xiuyuan is a third-class maidservant beside Aunt Qiao." She reminded Yanrong, who had just been promoted, "If she came to see whether the Marquis has returned, just tell her directly that the Marquis has drunk too much and has gone to bed. Let her come to me to talk."

Yan Rong thought about it, nodded and retreated.

Amber, Zhuxiang and Luyun came in.

Luyun now assists Amber in managing the personnel affairs in Shiyi Niang's room, while Hongxiu and Yanrong assist Zhuxiang in managing her. Hongxiu manages the laundry and food in Shiyi Niang's room, while Yanrong manages Shiyi Niang's clothes and the storeroom. Not seeing Yanrong, Hongxiu sighed, "Where did you go?"

As he was speaking, Yanrong came in.

Eleventh Lady bowed slightly towards her.

Yan Rong immediately reported, "Xiu Yuan said that she was taking a break from serving Aunt Qiao and heard some noise over here, so she came to take a look."

Eleventh Lady raised her eyebrows: "What are you going to do?"

Yan Rong said, "According to the rules, the key to the east corner gate should be unlocked immediately at 15:00. Now it is already 15:00. I fined the gatekeeper half a month's salary. I also told her that if she does it again, she will be kicked out."

"Not bad, not bad." Eleventh Lady smiled. She had only thought Yan Rong was generous, but she had never thought that he was also capable.

Everyone knew what happened. Hongxiu opened her mouth to ask, but Shiyi Niang had already asked everyone to sit down: "Everyone should remember the matter of handing over the warehouse to the Third Madam tomorrow. It is better to spend more time than to be careless. You know, it is difficult to prevent thieves at home even if you guard against them day and night. The most feared thing is that someone will take advantage of the situation at this time. But you also have to pay attention to some things. You just check the things according to the account books. If there is any discrepancy, hand it over to the Third Madam's people for disposal. Don't say too much or interfere to ask the original song. You must know that the Third Madam's account books were taken over from the eldest sister. Don't pull out the radish with mud when the time comes. It will make us look bad. We just need to verify the actual accounts and let the Third Madam's people escort them to the Madam for review." She pointed at Amber and said, "You are responsible for this matter." She instructed the other maids, "If there is anything, talk to Amber first. Don't speak up and shout there."

Everyone responded respectfully with "yes", and she gave a few more instructions before serving tea.

As a result, the next afternoon, Yan Rong came to see her in a hurry: "Madam, the eldest lady of the Gan Mansion of Earl Zhongqin is here. The third lady has called Madam Gan and Qiu Ling back. I'm afraid the accounts today can't be settled."

There are many guests in the third room these two days.

Eleventh Lady nodded and asked her, "Is there anything wrong with the account?"

"No!" Yan Rong said, "There are thirty-six account books in total. We have now checked the twelfth one, and all the accounts match the actual accounts."

"What does the Third Madam say? Should we reconcile the accounts later? Or tomorrow?"

"They just sent him away without telling him anything!" Yan Rong was a little disappointed. "If this continues, I'm afraid it will take a few more days."

"Let it be delayed!" Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "The Third Master has a deadline for taking office. Even if we can wait, the Third Madam can't." She also told her a few more words like "be careful" and "be careful", and then went back to the inner room - Zhen Jie'er was following her to do needlework these days.

Seeing Shiyi Niang coming in, she showed her half-finished orchid embroidery to Shiyi Niang and said, "Mother, look at how I embroidered it."

Sister Zhen is very careful and serious in her work, and she is making rapid progress.

Eleventh Lady looked at it carefully for a moment and said with a smile, "You have improved a lot faster than I did back then."

This is the truth.

At that time, I was full of resentment, and I embroidered only to calm my anger. Later, when I calmed down and embroidered more, I gradually felt the joy of it.

Zhen Jie'er blushed: "Mother is teasing me again."

Children who are well-behaved and sensible like Zhen Jie'er should be praised mainly, but praise should not be given randomly.

Eleventh Lady pointed to the orchid embroidery in front and said, "Compare it to the other one. Isn't it much better?"

Sister Zhen took a closer look and found that the stitches were indeed much smoother.

Her eyes sparkled slightly and she smiled.

Eleventh Lady also laughed.

The two of them did some needlework for a while, and seeing that it was getting late, they went to the lady's place.

Zhun Ge was holding Xu Sijie and reciting the Three Character Classic. When he saw Shiyi Niang, he immediately ran over and said, "Mother, mother!"

Eleventh Lady bent down and touched his head: "You should walk properly. It's easy to fall like this, and it's not pretty."

Xu Sijie nodded with a smile.

Zhun Ge came over and saluted Eleventh Lady.

Several people entered the inner room together.

Mother Shi was talking to the lady dowager about Xu Lingkuan's eldest daughter: "...her eyes are like black grapes, and the Fifth Master can't let go of her. He wishes he could hold her day and night." Glancing at Xu Sijie who was beside Eleventh Lady, she faded the smile on her face and walked forward to salute and greet Eleventh Lady.

Mother Du brought an embroidered cushion to Shiyi Niang and said, "The Madam is worried about her little granddaughter, so she specially called Mother Shi to ask about her."

Eleventh Lady followed Mother Du's words and asked about the child's condition, and for a moment, she was smiling and talking happily.

But when the third lady and Xu Siqin, Xu Siyu and Xu Sijian did not come, not only that, but no maid or servant came to report.

Mother Du smiled and said, "I'm afraid there are too many guests over there and I can't leave for the time being!"

The lady said calmly: "Then we won't wait any longer, let's eat!"

Eleventh Lady helped the lady dowager, and the children followed her to the east room.

Just as everyone sat down, Qiu Ling from the Third Madam's side came over and said that there were many guests at the Third Madam's place and it was very lively, so she and her three children would not come over.

The lady raised her eyebrows and looked up.

When Eleventh Lady saw Qiu Ling's pale face, she was secretly surprised, but she couldn't ask too many questions in front of the old lady. She served the old lady dinner, sat with her and chatted for a while, then said goodbye with Zhen Jie'er and Xu Sijie.

Who knew that just as they walked out of the Madam's courtyard, someone flashed over and said, "Fourth Madam, our Third Madam invites you to have a cup of tea!"

Eleventh Lady looked carefully and found that it was Qiu Ling who had come to report the news just now.

Thinking of the account reconciliation that was interrupted in the afternoon, the eldest lady from Zhongqinbo Gan's house who came to visit suddenly, and the three Xu Siqin brothers who did not come to the dowager's place for dinner... and then looking at Qiu Ling who was waiting outside the door, she had a feeling that things were not simple, but she could not connect these things together.

She smiled at Qiu Ling without revealing her feelings: "I'll go after I settle the child!"

Qiu Ling hesitated for a moment, forced a smile, bowed, and left.

Eleventh Lady hurriedly called out to Lu Yun, "Go and see what the Marquis and the Third Master are doing? Where is the Second Young Master? When did the Grandmother of the Zhongqin Marquis's Mansion leave?"

Green Cloud left immediately.

By the time Eleventh Lady had settled the two children, Lvyun had already replied: "The envoy Sima Zuowen, Master Ma, has arrived. The Marquis and the Third Master are drinking with Master Ma in the flower hall of the outer courtyard. The Second Young Master is not in the room. Wenzhu, who serves in front of him, said that he went to the First Young Master's place early in the morning with Qinxiang serving him. I also went to the First Young Master's place to ask. The little maid in the First Young Master's room said that the First Young Master and the Second Young Master were playing around with the Third Madam. The eldest lady of the Zhongqin Marquis's house just left in less than a cup of tea. I heard from the maid serving in front of the hanging flower gate that the eldest lady of the Gan Mansion was angry when she came and went. Madam Gan, who saw the guests off, kept smiling."

Eleventh Lady still couldn't figure out what was going on, so she took Amber to the Third Lady.

Red lights were shining brightly in front of the Third Lady's courtyard, the maids were all smiling, and there was a peaceful and festive atmosphere, with nothing unusual to be seen.

Qiu Ling was waiting on the steps. She came over and bowed, then took Shiyi Niang to the Third Madam's main room. The maids and servants all half-knelt and bowed respectfully along the way. However, the closer they got to the Third Madam's main room, the fewer people there were, and the more solemn the atmosphere became. When Qiu Ling lifted the curtain of the East Side Room, which was usually used by the Third Madam as a banquet and resting place, Shiyi Niang couldn't hide her surprise and called out "Yu'er".

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Sorry! It's late...