Eleventh Lady saw it clearly, but remained calm and found an opportunity to leave the hall.

Grandma Luo Si was waiting under the eaves.

The two went to the water pavilion.

"What's wrong?" Eleventh Lady asked her softly.

Fourth Grandma Luo smiled and said, "I heard you say last time that Fifth Aunt and you didn't make a deal. So I wanted to ask Eleventh Aunt. If there is a chance in the future, will Eleventh Aunt still do business with Fifth Aunt?"

Eleventh Lady didn't know why she asked this question, so she tactfully emphasized her attitude again: "The Marquis is now unemployed at home, so I can't get involved in such business."

Grandma Luo smiled after hearing this and said, "I'm just asking." Then she took Shiyi Niang's arm and wanted to go back to the main room together.

But that smile seemed forced.

Although they had not met much, Shiyi Niang felt that Luo Si Nainai was not the kind of person who would make wild guesses. She did not move, but instead pulled Luo Si Nainai's hand and said frankly: "As the saying goes, three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang. If you have anything to say, please tell us and we can discuss it."

Fourth Grandma Luo hesitated for a while, then whispered, "Fifth Auntie invited your fourth brother to do business with her."

Eleventh Lady thought about her previous question and couldn't help but frown.

"You also know your fourth brother. When he was so important, he didn't even consult me ​​and insisted that I give him fifty taels of silver for his travel expenses. After the fifth aunt's full moon, he and the fifth uncle will go to Xuantong. He also promised me a huge profit and bring back five thousand taels of silver." Fourth grandmother Luo looked a little solemn. "I heard something wrong, so I asked him what the business was. He said that you were the first one to come forward, and the fifth uncle was helping to run errands. He followed the way of General Fan and used grain to exchange for salt permits." At this point, she glanced at Eleventh Lady, "But I heard you say last time that it's not good to interfere in this matter... I'm afraid you changed your mind at the last minute, so I came to ask."

It turns out you haven’t given up yet!

When Eleventh Lady thought of the extravagance of the third-day baptism ceremony for Fifth Lady's child, she couldn't help but suspect that Qian Ming had followed Fan Weigang's path under his own name.

If that was the case, why didn't Xu Lingyi mention it? Was it because he couldn't say anything in front of him? Or was Qian Ming's business small and within Xu Lingyi's tolerance range?

She couldn't help but feel angry.

Even if Wu Niang doesn't know how serious it is, don't you, Qian Ming, know it too?

Eleventh Lady couldn't criticize Qian Ming in front of Fourth Lady Luo, so she suppressed her displeasure and said with a smile, "I was wondering why you invited the chef Bao Wai from Chunxi Tower to prepare the third-day bath ceremony. It turns out you made a lot of money!"

When Grandma Luo Si saw that she neither said it happened nor said it didn't happen, and thinking of her previous attitude, she felt a little uneasy and her face turned red with anger. She simply said, "You don't know. After you left for the third-day bath that day, Fifth Aunt took the eldest sister-in-law aside and talked to her for a long time in private. After she went back, the eldest sister-in-law asked Mother Hang to bring two hundred taels of silver notes to Fifth Aunt. I asked Xinglin, and she said that Fifth Aunt said that the money she had was used in business, and she was temporarily short of cash flow, so she borrowed some silver from the eldest sister-in-law. She would pay it back at the end of the year. I was puzzled at the time. Fifth Aunt is a shrewd man, and he would not invest all his money in any business. Later, Fifth Aunt called your fourth brother and said that they wanted to do business together. I paid attention to it and asked someone to inquire. It turned out that fifty taels of silver was just the cost for two people to go back and forth to Xuantong Mansion." When she said this, she was so angry that she trembled, "Speaking of which, your fourth brother is the weakest among you sisters, and he and she are from the same mother... I haven't slept well these days, and I dream that I am too worried!" Her eyes turned red.

Eleventh Lady was very shocked.

Although the dowry given by the eldest wife was not much, it was not shabby. It had only been two years, why did he have to borrow money to live? Did he misunderstand? Wu Niang's money was actually spent on daily expenses, so Qian Ming wanted to go to Xuantong?

Thoughts came to her mind one after another, and she couldn't help but ask, "Fourth sister-in-law, please explain clearly. What is going on?"

Now that things have come to this, Grandma Luo Si doesn't want to help Wu Niang hide it anymore.

She whispered, "You also know that Fifth Aunt gave birth prematurely. In fact, she didn't fall down. It was because Fifth Aunt was about to give birth, but the family had no money. In a rage, she quarreled with Fifth Uncle. Fifth Uncle said Fifth Aunt was 'unreasonable', threw the curtain and left, and didn't come back for two days. Fifth Aunt was embarrassed and angry, and threatened to jump into the river... That's why the child was born prematurely." As she spoke, she sighed softly, "Ziyuan saw that things were not going well, so she secretly came to ask Third Aunt for help. Third Aunt was afraid that people would know and laugh at her, so she took out eighty taels of silver from the bottom of the box and asked me to bring it to Fifth Aunt... Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll have to pawn it."

"How could this happen?" Eleventh Lady couldn't help but cry out, "Fifth Sister is also a smart person, and she is about to give birth, how could she let Fifth Uncle make such a fuss?"

"Who said it wasn't!" Grandma Luo smiled bitterly, "The Fifth Aunt has a lot of social engagements. He has to keep the bill when he eats at Chunxi Tower; he has to have the servants deliver the goods when he buys things at Duobao Pavilion... Can the stewards come to settle the bill when they arrive home, and can the Fifth Aunt still say that she has no money? Or can she let those stewards ask the Fifth Aunt for money? In that case, how can the Fifth Aunt still have dignity? What's more, there are social engagements with classmates. Those are all debts, and she has to pay for them even if she loses everything. One by one, there is no way the Fifth Aunt can do anything about it no matter how strong she is!"

Eleventh Lady felt mixed emotions after listening to this and didn't know what to say.

"Fortunately, although Fifth Aunt is in trouble, it is only temporary. Fifth Uncle is a juren after all. It will be fine when he passes the imperial examination and becomes an official." Seeing this, Fourth Aunt Luo turned around and comforted Eleventh Lady, "As for business matters, Eleventh Aunt, don't worry. Now that I know what you mean, your Fourth Brother will definitely tell him to give up. As for Fifth Aunt, I will also help persuade her."

Now that he has even plotted against his own brother, I'm afraid it's useless to persuade him.

Eleventh Lady secretly sighed, and was afraid that Fourth Lady and Luo Zhensheng would argue about this matter. She said, "Fourth Brother, Sister-in-law should keep quiet. Why don't I talk to Big Brother and let Big Brother persuade Fourth Brother to avoid embarrassing Sister-in-law."

Grandma Luo Si was very surprised to hear this.

Eleventh Lady did not mention asking Grandmother Luo to talk to Luo Zhenxing, but decided to talk to Luo Zhenxing herself, which was clearly to save her own face. Thinking about it carefully, Luo Zhenxing and Luo Zhensheng were brothers after all, and he was more persuasive than himself. She could not help but show gratitude: "Then I'll leave it to Eleventh Lady."

"There's no need to be so polite between us, sister-in-law."

Both of them returned to the main house in a somewhat depressed mood.

Early the next morning, after seeing Zhen Jie'er off, Eleventh Lady sent someone to write a letter to Luo Zhenxing.

Luo Zhenxing came during his lunch break just like last time.

Eleventh Lady had four dishes and a soup prepared for him. Then she told him the reason for calling him: "... After thinking about it, I can only ask my eldest brother to come!"

After hearing this, Luo Zhenxing frowned and said, "Don't worry, I will persuade Zichun." He did not mention Luo Zhensheng.

However, even if he solved the problem of Qian Ming, given Luo Zhensheng's personality, he would not have the courage to do such a deal even if he wanted to.

Shiyi Niang breathed a sigh of relief and personally refilled Luo Zhenxing's cup of tea.

Luo Zhenxing told her about Yuanniang's property: "Even if you don't look for me, I want to look for you. Lu Yonggui told me a few days ago that after hearing that the court was going to lift the ban on sea trade, many big merchants went south and opened branches in Quanzhou and Guangzhou. He wanted to ask you if you want to go south as well?"

Eleventh Lady was a little surprised. She had only heard that Wang Jiubao had submitted a ten-thousand-word letter a few days ago. How come some merchants were moving south?

"I don't really understand this kind of thing." She considered, "Should I ask the Marquis what he thinks?"

Luo Zhenxing listened and said in silence: "Since you haven't heard any rumors, I'll go and ask the Marquis what he thinks!"

Eleventh Lady thought this was a good idea, and called Amber in: "Just tell her that the uncle is here, and ask him to come back!"

Amber responded and left.

Eleventh Lady asked about inviting the master: "...is there any news?"

Luo Zhenxing said, "I was afraid that I couldn't invite him. So I sent Mother Hang's son to see Elder Liu and asked him to write a letter to Mr. Zhao's uncle." Then he asked about Zhun Ge's situation, "How is he now?"

"She used to get up every morning, eat breakfast and go to school happily. Now she starts to dawdle after getting up, and even drags her feet when eating breakfast." Eleventh Lady said helplessly, "It's obvious that she doesn't want to go to school."

Luo Zhenxing couldn't help but feel anxious after hearing this, and started talking about his own study as a child.

Seeing that Amber didn't turn back when they were almost at Shangguan, Shiyi Niang was surprised: "Even if we were at West Street, we would still turn back!"

Just when I was about to find Mother Song and then go look for her, Amber came back: "Madam, Uncle, the Marquis is talking to the Second Madam in Shaohua Courtyard. He asked Uncle to wait a moment."

Eleventh Lady was stunned.

Why did Xu Lingyi suddenly go to Shaohuayuan?

Luo Zhenxing couldn't wait any longer, so he stood up and said, "Then I'll come back another day!"

Eleventh Lady endured the confusion in her heart and sent her brother out. She turned around and asked Amber: "Is the Madam also in Shaohua Courtyard?"

"Madam Tai is not here." Amber said, "I heard from Lin Bo that at noon, Manager Zhao from the Hui Office came to give the Marquis a reply, and the Marquis went to Shaohua Courtyard after hearing it."

Could it be that the Xiang family really encountered some difficulties?

As she was thinking, she saw Xu Lingyi rushing over.

"Where's Zhenxing?" he asked, "Has he left?" He then complained, "Why didn't you let him wait for me for a while?"

"Brother, it's time to go to the restaurant." Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Say you'll come back another day!"

Xu Lingyi nodded and went into the inner room with Shiyi Niang.

"What does Zhenxing want from me?"

Eleventh Lady told Lu Yonggui what he meant.

Xu Lingyi thought for a moment and said, "Let's wait and see!"

Eleventh Lady asked him about his visit to the Second Madam: "...But what happened to the Xiang family?"

"After you said that the other day, I asked someone to find out." Xu Lingyi sat on the big kang by the window. "The Xiang family not only has no financial difficulties, but has been getting better and better over the years. It's just that when Mr. Xiang was alive, he didn't care much about these mundane matters. Those old houses were not well repaired, and when they came into the hands of Mr. Xiang, they were all dilapidated. The money to repair the houses is not much different from the money to rebuild a yard. Mrs. Xiang wanted to sell a few houses and keep a few. Use the money from the sale of the houses to renovate the remaining yards. Not only does it not have to come up with a large sum of money again, but it can also save some manpower to look after the house. Because it is the ancestral house, Mr. Xiang asked Mrs. Xiang to ask the second sister-in-law to see if there is any special meaning that needs to be kept."

"What does the second sister-in-law say?" Eleventh Lady didn't expect that things would be completely different from what she thought.

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I wish you all a happy Christmas!

O(∩_∩)O~