After leaving Yuanniang's place, they still sat in the green-curtained carriage they had come in, and walked west for about an incense stick's time, then turned left onto an alley, turned left again after exiting the alley, and stopped in front of a Guangliang door.

Gray tiles, plain walls, black painted doors, and an eight-character wall outside the door, with a "Fu" character carved on the left and a "Shou" character carved on the left and right, both as tall as a person. There are five stone blue steps in front of the door, carved into the shape of five Fu holding a longevity flower. Two little maids were playing on the steps, and when they saw the carriage stop, one ran in quickly, and the other came forward to greet it.

Zhun Ge called out "Xiao Shao" to the little maid.

It can be seen that he is very familiar with everyone in the lady's courtyard.

Xiao Shao agreed with a smile, and Mother Xu took out a few coins from her sleeves and gave them to the maid. The maid thanked her for the reward, and then several maids wearing official green vests came out, surrounding a maid wearing ivory yellow vests.

"Madam, I am Wei Zi, who works for the Madam." The maid in the ivory-yellow vest bowed respectfully to the Madam and the others, and then bowed to Zhun Ge with a smile: "Master Zhun, are you accompanying your grandmother to see the Madam?"

Zhun Ge smiled shyly.

Mother Xu took out her purse and gave rewards to everyone. Wei Zi and the others thanked them generously and the group went in.

Facing you is a rocky rockery with corridors on both sides.

The rockery is covered with vines that sway like green ribbons or twist like green threads. The foot of the mountain is covered with lush vegetation, dotted with small yellow, red or blue flowers. Although it is full of wildness, it is a scene of spring flowers in full bloom.

Eleventh Lady was shocked. After a closer look, she discovered that among the plants there were dark red large square pottery grids crisscrossing like a chessboard. It turned out that these plants did not grow in the soil underground, but were planted in square pottery jars.

It must have been grown in the greenhouse and then moved here.

While she was thinking secretly, she followed the eldest lady with a smile on her face through the corridor on the right to the hall.

There are three rooms in the hall, and in the middle stands a four-panel rosewood glass screen with pine and crane patterns welcoming guests. Around the screen, there are corridors on both sides, and in the middle is a small three-room hall.

Yao Huang smiled and said, "You have worked hard, moms. Come with me and have a cup of tea!"

It turns out that, if it’s not important, don’t follow him.

Mother Xu winked at Ziwei, Amber and the others and said with a smile, "Thank you, Miss Yao Huang." Then she took them and followed Yao Huang through the corner door beside the small hall to the bridal chamber at the back. Zhun Ge was held by the wet nurse, while the First Lady, Fifth Lady, Eleventh Lady, Madam Wen and the two maids who followed Zhun Ge followed Wei Zi through the small hall to the main courtyard at the back.

The upper room of the five-room building has black painted floor-to-ceiling pillars, large glass windows, snow-white brocade curtains, stone-blue philadelphus plywood curtains, and various parrots, thrushes and other birds on both sides. There is a cross-shaped bluestone corridor in the middle of the courtyard. In the northwest corner, there are two towering trees with branches and leaves that cover the roof like umbrellas. In the northeast corner, there is a tree as tall as a person, without leaves or flowers, and the brown branches are twisted. In the southeast corner, there is a flower stand covered with green vines, and there are stone tables and stone pillars underneath, which are elegant and simple.

The maids who had received the news stood at the steps. When they saw them coming, some helped to open the curtains, while others reported inside: "Master Zhun is here with his wife."

They entered the room, and a large group of women dressed in red and green came in, surrounding a tall woman.

Zhun Ge was already shouting: "Grandma!"

Eleventh Lady knew that this person was Yuanniang's mother-in-law, the Dowager Lady of the Yongping Marquis's Mansion, and she couldn't help but look at her carefully.

The old lady looked two or three years younger than the first lady. She wore a dark blue jacket with a golden melon and butterfly pattern and a ginger-colored skirt. Her black hair was tied into a bun, and she only wore two coral, turquoise and beeswax beads on her temples. She had fair skin, a slightly plump figure, and a pair of very gentle eyes on her round, white face.

She smiled at Zhun Ge, then took a few steps forward and bowed to the eldest wife: "Sister, I am really ashamed to ask you to move."

When the old lady squatted down, the eldest wife also squatted down to return the greeting to the old lady: "Sister, you are embarrassing me by saying that." She also introduced Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang to the old lady: "These are my two useless daughters. The older one is Wu Niang, and the younger one is Shiyi Niang."

Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang hurried forward to pay their respects to the lady.

The eldest wife smiled and looked at the two carefully: "As bright as pearls in the morning dew, they are really two beautiful girls."

"Thank you for the compliment, Madam." The eldest wife said modestly.

The old lady introduced to the first lady a woman in her forties who was wearing a dark lotus-shaped satin embroidered with cloud and crane patterns: "This is Madam Qiao from the Chengguo Mansion."

The two men greeted each other.

The lady pointed to a young girl with bright eyes and white teeth beside Madam Qiao and said, "This is the sixth young lady of Duke Cheng's mansion."

The eldest wife smiled and nodded at the little girl, politely calling her "Miss Qiao".

Miss Qiao bowed to the eldest lady, and then to the fifth and eleventh ladies.

Mrs. Qiao pointed at Madam Wen and said, "This is..."

The lady smiled and said, "It's Si'er's little star."

Aunt Wen hurried forward to pay her respects to Madam Qiao, who smiled and nodded, then gave her a purse and said, "My Lord, you are so lucky. Look at Aunt Wen, so petite and cute, so lovable!"

The old lady smiled and invited the first lady and Mrs. Qiao to the west side room where they usually rested. The old lady and the first lady sat on the kang by the window as host and guest, and a maid brought a chair to Mrs. Qiao below the old lady, and brought a brocade stool to Miss Qiao, Wu Niang, Shiyi Niang, and Madam Wen.

Zhun Ge greeted the Madam and Mrs. Qiao. Mrs. Qiao held Zhun Ge in her arms, looked him over, praised him, gave him a purse, and handed Zhun Ge to Miss Qiao, asking her to give the child to the Madam.

I don’t know if it was because the purse given by Mrs. Qiao was so interesting that it attracted Zhun Ge’s attention, or because he would be able to return to his grandmother’s arms soon, but Zhun Ge struggled for a while in Mrs. Qiao’s arms, but when Miss Qiao held him in her arms, he didn’t move at all.

Mrs. Qiao smiled and said, "Brother Zhun and our Sixth Sister are destined to be together."

The lady said nothing, but smiled and touched Zhun Ge's head, and told Wei Zi: "Take Zhun Ge to the warm room to play!"

Wei Zi hugged Zhun Ge in response, and Madam Wen stood up with a smile: "Madam, I will go and accompany Zhun Ge!"

The lady smiled and glanced at her, saying, "Then be careful not to bump the child!"

Mrs. Qiao at the side suddenly interrupted and said, "How about you, Sixth Sister, go and accompany Brother Zhun as well?" Then she said to the Lady Dowager, "Our Sixth Sister just likes children. Several nephews and nieces at home clamor for her when they see her."

Miss Qiao blushed slightly and said coquettishly, "Aunt... you really are..."

The lady smiled and said, "Sixth Miss is a guest! How can we trouble her?"

"You are the elder and she is a junior, you just need to give orders, how can it be called 'labor'!" He looked as if he was determined that Miss Qiao should accompany Zhun Ge to the warm room.

The lady smiled and said, "How about Miss Qiao, please help me accompany the two young ladies! The older ones like us can talk together, so that the younger ones won't be bored!"

Miss Qiao immediately stood up and said "yes" obediently, and moved Jinwu to sit with Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang. The lady and the eldest lady talked about the journey. When did they set out from Yuhang, when did they arrive at where, and when did they arrive in Tongzhou...

She was talking about accompanying Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang, but no one dared to interrupt when the adults were talking, let alone whisper. Miss Qiao just sat next to Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang.

A maid came in and reported, "Madam, Lin Bo, who is beside the Marquis, said that the emperor kept the Marquis to talk, and he might come back late today, so he asked me to tell my wife to visit her in person tomorrow when I am free."

"I don't know what this kid is busy with!" The old lady sighed after hearing this, and turned to the first wife and said, "Please don't blame me, madam."

The first wife was about to say something, but Mrs. Qiao smiled and said, "The Marquis is a pillar of the country, so he should put state affairs first. How could the wife blame me?"

After hearing this, the old lady smiled apologetically at the first wife and said, "Duke Cheng's Mansion and our family are old friends." It was as if she was explaining Mrs. Qiao's enthusiasm to the first wife.

"That's right." Madam Qiao laughed after hearing this. "When our Duke entered the Tiger Camp of the Imperial Guard, the old Marquis was the leader, and our Duke was a camp guard, following the old Marquis around every day. At that time, we hadn't gotten married yet, and he didn't go home either. He followed the old Marquis to my sister's place every day to eat..." As she said this, she laughed, "After we got married, he always said that the smoked venison in my sister's house was delicious, and he once sent someone to ask my sister for a piece to take back. Do you still remember it, sister?"

"Remember." The lady smiled faintly, not as enthusiastic as Mrs. Qiao.

Madam Qiao sighed softly: "Later, the old marquis passed away, and our Duke was also sent to the northwest. My sister closed the door and refused to see visitors, so we came less often..."

The eldest wife, however, heard something.

Since they were old friends, how could they have less contact just because their husband was sent to the northwest? Moreover, before the old marquis passed away, Xu Ling'an, the prince that the Xu family had always placed high hopes on, died of illness. Xu Ling'an's widow, Madam Xiang He, could not bear the blow and fell ill. Suddenly, her daughter took over the household affairs. The third grandmother of the Xu family, Gan, had never taken care of things and was pregnant. She could not even help at her mother-in-law's bedside. She specially brought Madam Xiang's cousin to her house to accompany Madam Xiang for more than half a year.

Thinking of this, she glanced at the lady.

The old lady felt the gaze of the eldest lady, so she turned her head to the eldest lady and smiled helplessly.

The eldest wife suddenly understood.

Something else happened that year.

The "Witch Case" in the 46th year of Jianwu implicated several adult princes. After the empress and the crown prince died of poison, the late emperor had not appointed a queen or a crown prince. That year, someone wrote a letter suggesting that the tenth prince, born to the imperial concubine Ye, be appointed as the crown prince. The emperor was furious and ordered the cabinet minister Li Qing to investigate the matter thoroughly. Afterwards, everyone found out that Li Qing had an affair with the ninth prince and took the opportunity to attack the other princes. But at that time, the "Witch Case" had been investigated for five years, and it was unknown how many ministers were involved. The Xu family, as the seventh prince's in-laws, was also involved. If it weren't for his father-in-law's protection, and the old marquis died of illness, I'm afraid things wouldn't be so easy to settle.

At that time, she was in Yuhang taking care of her sick mother-in-law and could not come to Beijing. She was cut off from news and felt anxious. She even complained that her father-in-law should not marry her daughter to the Xu family...

If the Qiao family and the Xu family had no contact at that time, it means that the Qiao family supported other princes at that time!

The eldest wife couldn't help but smile coldly in her heart.

Now I know that I voted for the wrong person and I am rushing to curry favor with him. Haven't you ever heard that "it is easier to add flowers to a brocade than to send charcoal in the snow"?

Eleventh Lady also noticed something wrong.

Although this Mrs. Qiao looks generous and elegant, she acts and speaks in a way that flatters the old lady. Could it be that she has something to ask for?

Her mind moved, and her eyes fell on Miss Qiao.