Xu Lingyi woke up suddenly and found no one in his arms.

He couldn't help but call out "Eleventh Lady" in surprise and reached for the quilt beside him.

It's cold!

We stayed up late yesterday and felt exhausted, so I planned to take a nap and get up to help her clean up...but when I woke up, I didn't see anyone.

As soon as he thought of this, a clear voice outside the tent answered him: "The Marquis is awake!"

Eleventh Lady walked in prettily wearing a moon-white silk shirt and a sand green jacket, holding his underwear in her hands.

I overslept...

Xu Lingyi was embarrassed. Then he acted as if nothing had happened and asked, "What time is it?"

"It's past three quarters past midnight!" Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "Today is Brother Jie's birthday. I invite everyone to come and have a bowl of longevity noodles together. My Lord, please get up quickly!" As she said that, she placed her underwear on a small stool beside her, and asked the maid to fetch water for him to wash.

But Xu Lingyi saw that she was smiling and radiant, and did not feel displeased at all. He calmed down and let Shiyi Niang help him to dress.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a faint pink mark on her collar. Thinking of what happened last night, he felt a pang in his heart and whispered in her ear, "Are you okay?"

Eleventh Lady glanced at Xu Lingyi and lowered her head to help him dress. But she didn't realize her face was as red as the morning glow.

Xu Lingyi was in a good mood. Just as he was about to tease her, a maid came in to make the bed.

He quickly straightened his face, put on his clothes and went to the bathroom.

When he came out, he saw Xu Sijie sitting in the middle of the large kang table by the window in the inner room. In front of him was a red-bottomed and black-faced enamel sunflower box filled with noodles, meatballs, fish, mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots and other sauces, as well as a small longevity character carved out of a carrot.

Zhun Ge sat on the right side of the kang table; Zhen Jie'er, Madam Wen, Xu Siyu and Madam Qin sat on the armchairs beside the kang, one on the left and one on the right. The same noodles were placed on the coffee table, but they were served in a large red bowl.

Eleventh Lady invited Xu Lingyi to sit on the left side of the kang table, and sat next to him herself. Luyun served noodles to the two of them.

She smiled and raised her chopsticks: "Today is our brother Jie's birthday, we are all here to share in his good fortune and eat a bowl of longevity noodles."

Xu Lingyi looked at the smiling faces in the room and felt very happy. He picked up the chopsticks and put a mouthful of noodles into his mouth.

Everyone then started to eat.

The noodles were very chewy and the sauce was delicious. He finished it in no time.

Looking at Xu Sijie again, he was eating noodles. Feeling Xu Lingyi looking at him, he raised his head and smiled, with a drop of noodle soup on his chin.

Xu Lingyi sighed inwardly as he watched, then took a handkerchief and wiped his mouth: "Don't worry, eat slowly!"

Then he looked at Zhun Ge.

He was eating noodles in small bites, looking very gentle.

Xu Lingyi nodded slightly with satisfaction and looked at Xu Siyu.

He stood straight with a serious expression. He had finished his noodles and was eating the sauce.

Look at Sister Zhen again, she picked up the noodles with a spoon and brought them to her mouth, her delicate look exuding a touch of elegance.

Xu Lingyi nodded slightly and asked about Xin Jie'er: "...Send someone to find out what's going on."

"I sent someone to inquire about it early in the morning." Eleventh Lady smiled, "After taking Liu Yizheng's medicine and curing the yellow fever, Xin Jie became quiet in the second half of the night. She slept all night until dawn. She started breastfeeding in the morning. She's still a little sluggish, but nothing serious is wrong with her."

"That's good!"

Eleventh Lady talked about Fifth Lady giving birth: "...Tomorrow is the third day of the lunar year. I'm afraid I'll have to make time to go."

"Oh! Zichun has become a father!" Xu Lingyi laughed and said, "You should go there. Just tell mom when the time comes."

That's all we can do!

Eleventh Lady nodded, and the two chatted for a while. When they saw that everyone had finished eating, they took the children to the lady's place.

Unexpectedly, the lady remembered that today was Xu Sijie's birthday, and gave Xu Sijie two small silver ingots as a birthday gift, and said: "Get a top-ranking ingot, and pass the exam to become a top-ranking scholar!"

After the children had greeted their parents, the Second Madam, Xu Lingkuan, the Fifth Madam, and Xin Jie'er arrived.

The Fifth Lady's eyes were slightly red, while the others looked normal.

After asking about well-being, the Second Madam smiled and said, "I feel lonely and alone in Shaohua Courtyard. Let Xinjie keep me company!" Then she smiled at Xu Lingkuan and the Fifth Madam and said, "You can also watch the show peacefully."

Xu Lingkuan and the Fifth Madam looked at the Madam Dowager.

The lady laughed and said, "Okay! This is a win-win situation for everyone."

Eleventh Lady stood aside with a smile, knowing that they had discussed this long ago because they were afraid that the child would be frightened again. She then talked about the matter of Fifth Lady having a child.

"She gave birth to a big fat boy!" The lady laughed, "You go, you go. I'm here." She pulled the fifth lady's hand, "And your fifth brother's wife. It's just a playful thing, it would be bad if it delayed the serious things!" She asked Eleventh Lady with great interest, "I remember your fourth sister, the one who married the third place winner, I think she gave birth to two sons, right?"

Eleventh Lady smiled and nodded: "Fourth sister gave birth to two sons!"

The lady nodded with a smile. A maid ran over to report that Madam Huang had arrived. Eleventh Lady left first and went to the flower hall to receive the guests.

Hui Jie'er came today, but Grandma Lin didn't.

"...Mother is going to entertain the guests, so let me come and pay my respects to aunt." She greeted Eleventh Lady.

Eleventh Lady smiled and led her to Zhen Jie'er.

Hui Jie'er and Fang Jie'er are not only familiar with each other, but also good friends. When she saw her, she complained: "The exam will not start until next year, but you came to Yanjing at this time. I don't know if you are here for fun, or if you are not good at martial arts and need to use connections in advance. I am annoyed when I see you. You followed grandma here shamelessly. If I had known you were all here, I should have come yesterday."

Fang Jieer covered her mouth and laughed as she listened: "Men and women should not touch each other. Do you think they can show off in front of you? What are you worried about?"

These words made Hui Jie'er blush.

Sister Zhen hurriedly tried to smooth things over: "Are we still going to sit in the hall and bask in the sun today?"

"I don't want to bask in the sun." Hui Jie'er said immediately, "You can go bask in the sun if you want. I want to go fishing."

Fang Jieer agreed with Hui Jieer: "Then let's go fishing today!" As she said that, she looked at Xian Jieer.

Sister Xian nodded.

When Fang Jieer saw this, she called out to her mother who had come with her: "Go and get us some fishing gear."

The serving mother responded and left.

Miss Li looked very uncomfortable and said loudly, "I want to go boating."

Fang Jie'er didn't even look at her, and directly told her mother beside her: "Take the eldest daughter of the Li family to go boating."

Miss Li's lips trembled with anger.

Twelve Lady smiled and took her arm: "I want to go boating, too. Let's go together!"

Miss Li's face brightened up after hearing this.

Fang Jie'er glanced at Twelve Niang.

Zhen Jie'er excitedly stepped forward and squeezed Twelve Niang's hand.

Madam Wen, who was a little worried that it would be difficult to arrange for Zhen Jie'er, breathed a sigh of relief. On the one hand, she arranged for the maids to help Miss Li and Twelve Niang arrange the boat and the mother who rowed the boat. On the other hand, she had someone bring a brocade stool and place it by the Taishi beside the Biyi River. She also sent a maid who was good at fishing to serve by the side and help sprinkle fish food on the lake and set up bait.

Sister Zhen personally brought a box of ten brocades to Miss Li and Twelve Niang: "Enjoy the scenery while you eat the fruit."

Miss Li opened the box and saw the honey-glazed plums inside and she was delighted: "I love them the most!"

"I'm glad you like it!" Zhen Jie nodded towards Twelve Niang, signaling her to be more tolerant.

Twelve Niang smiled at her and said that she would help her entertain the guest.

Fang Jie'er, who was sitting on the armchair cracking melon seeds, snorted softly, "I don't know where she came from. She doesn't know what she's saying and she doesn't know how to behave. Her mother praises her for being gentle and virtuous all day long. It's really hilarious."

"You should at least restrain yourself a little!" Hui Jieer said, "Don't look at the monk's face, look at the Buddha's face. This is a guest in Zhen Jieer's house."

Sister Fang said nothing.

Xian Jie'er and Hui Jie'er started talking about Shiyi Niang: "...The sand green dress she wore today was embroidered with all kinds of flowers in the same color, in different shades - I think she knows how to dress well."

Hui Jieer smiled and said, "When I came last time, she was wearing a dark brown jacket with pink plum blossoms embroidered on it... Oh, it was so beautiful."

"Is this true?" Fang Jie'er came over and said, "I've always thought that dark brown can only be used for shoe uppers. No, it can only be used for shoes after people are over 60 years old."

"Really." Hui Jie'er said hurriedly, "It's a casual jacket with a pink skirt underneath. It's so pretty." As she was talking, she saw Zhen Jie'er coming over. She raised her chin at Zhen Jie'er and said, "If you don't believe me, ask Zhen Jie'er."

"What do you want to ask me?" Zhen Jie'er instructed the maid to place the carved red lacquer nine-piece food box next to them. "There are homemade preserved apples in it. Have a taste."

"We were just about to talk about your mother's dress." Fang Jie'er smiled and told her what they had just discussed.

Zhen Jieer laughed, "My mother is very good at sewing. I once went to pay my respects to her..." At this point, she froze a little and changed the subject, "She often told me how to dress."

Fang Jie'er was very smart and picked up the part of Zhen Jie'er's sentence that she had left out: "Tell me quickly, what happened?"

Sister Zhen just smiled.

Fang Jie'er went over and tickled her.

Zhen Jie'er smiled all the way and hid in the octagonal warm pavilion next to her, but Fang Jie'er still didn't let her go.

Hui Jie'er also wanted to know, so she helped Fang Jie'er, and the three of them laughed together.

Xian Jie'er looked at him and laughed with her hands covering her mouth, but she couldn't go over - she was engaged.

Madam Wen looked at her with a slightly bitter smile.

"Are the two young ladies playing a joke with the eldest young lady?" Qiu Hong was afraid that she might be suspicious, so she hurriedly said, "This is what you do when you are intimate!"

"I still need your teaching!" Madam Wen said angrily, but she sighed deeply.

Qiuhong looked at Madam Wen eagerly.

Madam Wen looked at her with amusement and said, "I mean, I make so much money, but no one says a good word about me. But she becomes popular just because of a few pieces of clothes." Her tone was very melancholy.

Qiuhong had no way to answer this question. She stared in a daze at the three little girls laughing and playing in the warm pavilion.

Sister Zhen, however, did not beg for mercy. She panted and said, "Sister Fang is bullying me. She only knows to ask me. Why doesn't she ask Sister Hui why she hid in our house?"

Fang Jie'er was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Ask about both things! Ask yours first, then ask hers!"

Sister Zhen refused to agree: "I'll tell you what Sister Hui says!"

"Why are you pulling my strings?" Hui Jie'er's face was so red that blood seemed to drip out, which made people suspicious.