When I came out of the lady's room, the sky was full of stars.
Xu Lingkuan and the Fifth Madam carried Xin Jie'er to the north, while Eleventh Lady, Xu Lingyi, the Second Madam, Zhen Jie'er, Xu Siyu and Xu Sijie slowly went to the back garden.
Xu Lingyi and Xu Siyu walked in the front, the Second Lady and Shiyi Niang walked side by side, Zhen Jie'er lagged behind a few steps, and Nan Yong's wife followed behind Zhen Jie'er holding Xu Sijie.
The Second Madam suddenly turned around and told Nan Yong's wife, "After dinner, take a walk to help digest the food. Put the Fifth Young Master down on the ground! Let him move around too."
Xu Lingyi, Xu Siyu and Zhen Jie'er all looked at Nan Yong's wife.
Nan Yong's wife looked at Shiyi Niang.
Eleventh Lady nodded slightly.
Nan Yong’s wife smiled and said “yes” and put Xu Sijie on the ground.
Xu Sijie immediately ran to Shiyi Niang and grabbed her skirt.
Eleventh Lady smiled and held his hand.
When the Second Lady saw Xu Sijie following Eleventh Lady obediently without saying a word, a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes: "I didn't expect this child to become so quiet now."
Nan Yong's wife, who was standing by, smiled as she heard this.
The Fourth Lady spent a lot of effort to help the Fifth Young Master get rid of some of his bad habits.
Eleventh Lady touched Xu Sijie's head and said, "As long as he's full, he'll be very well behaved." There was pity in her voice that she herself was not aware of.
The Second Madam nodded and whispered to Eleventh Lady about the Madam's birthday banquet: "...Has it been decided?"
"It's all in accordance with the practices of previous years. We can proceed as soon as the list of guests is finalized."
"Has the guest list not been finalized yet? Isn't it too late?"
"I don't think so!" Eleventh Lady smiled, "I have arranged everything else. I will finalize the list tomorrow morning, deliver the invitations, prepare the dishes, and contact the troupe. It will only take one afternoon."
The second wife looked surprised when she heard this.
Eleventh Lady explained, "The families we are inviting to the banquet are all in Yanjing, and there are not many of them. We can get it done in one afternoon. The shops that deliver the dishes are all famous in Yanjing. If they don't have the dishes, other places will have them even less. We can just draw up a list and ask them to prepare them. As for the opera troupe, with Fifth Master's help and a ready-made stage at home, the troupe only needs to arrive half an hour in advance. Two days of preparation will be enough."
The second lady listened with some admiration in her eyes.
She told Zhen Jie'er: "Take your fifth brother to play in front, so that he won't always drag your mother along."
Zhen Jieer nodded and walked forward to take Xu Sijie's hand.
After all, Xu Sijie was still young, and he must have found it boring to follow the adults walking at a leisurely pace. When Zhen Jieer wanted to take him out to play, he immediately took Zhen Jieer's hand and skipped forward, occasionally reaching out to hit the small branches outside the corridor, looking very happy.
Nan Yong's wife, Xiaoli and others hurriedly followed him. Xu Lingyi and Xu Siyu's attention was also attracted by him.
Eleventh Lady looked at her and laughed.
Suddenly, the Second Madam's voice, a little lower than usual, rang in my ears: "Sister Zhen is going to discuss marriage, right?"
Eleventh Lady suddenly realized.
It turned out that the Second Lady asked Xu Sijie to go to the fields and asked Zhen Jie'er to take care of her younger brother, all in order to say a few words to her in private that Zhen Jie'er could not hear.
She looked over with some surprise.
Under the moonlight, the second lady's expression was as pure as a white chrysanthemum.
"After the mourning ceremony, Zhen Jie'er should discuss marriage!" She said softly, "I think, after the Madam's birthday, I will temporarily stop my homework and let Zhen Jie'er concentrate on learning needlework from you!"
Eleventh Lady also had this intention, but she saw that the Second Lady was very concerned about Zhen Jie'er's studies, and was afraid that if she brought it up, the Second Lady would have some misunderstandings. She was thinking about whether to test the Madam's mood first... Since she took the initiative to bring it up, Eleventh Lady naturally agreed: "Last time when Lan Ting got married, Sister Zhou told me that she wanted to be an ice man, but she hasn't taken off her mourning clothes yet, so some things can't be said in depth. I was thinking about this too. I don't know what kind of mother-in-law Zhen Jie'er will find in the future. In any case, it's always better to be good at sewing."
The Second Lady nodded and said, "It's settled then. Let her practice calligraphy with me every ten days, and on the other days she can go to your place to learn needlework."
"Just follow what Second Sister-in-law said." Eleventh Lady thought this was not a bad idea. She couldn't stand sitting at home doing needlework every day.
The Second Madam said "hmm", took a few steps forward to Sister Zhen'er's side, and said, "It's getting late, let's go first!"
Zhen Jie'er hurriedly handed Xu Sijie to Nan Yong's wife.
The Second Madam greeted Xu Lingyi and took Zhen Jie'er through the gate of the back garden to Shaohua Courtyard.
Xu Lingyi, Shiyi Niang, Xu Siyu, and Xu Sijie entered the gate of the back garden and headed east. Xu Lingyi went straight back to Chui Lun Waterside Pavilion, while Shiyi Niang first sent Xu Sijie back to Lijingxuan before returning to Chui Lun Waterside Pavilion.
As soon as she entered the room, Xu Lingyi asked, "What happened to Sister Zhen?"
Eleventh Lady was stunned.
Xu Lingyi said, "You and your second sister-in-law sent Zhen Jie'er away to talk privately. It must be because you didn't want Zhen Jie to hear what you said. But what happened?"
Quite attentive!
"It's no big deal!" Eleventh Lady smiled and told Second Madam what she meant.
Xu Lingyi smiled and said, "I was just about to tell you about this!" Then he pulled her to sit on the big kang by the window in the inner room, "Lord Wang came over today and said he wanted to be a matchmaker for Zhen Jie'er."
"Lord Wang Li?"
"Yeah!" Xu Lingyi nodded.
Eleventh Lady asked hurriedly, "Who is the other family?"
"You know him too." Xu Lingyi said, "He's the second son of General Li."
The family of General Li that forbids taking concubines?
Eleventh Lady was very surprised.
"General Li once served under me, and our two families know each other well." Xu Lingyi pondered, "But General Li originally relied on his mother's family to get to where he is, and I have heard rumors that he is very henpecked. I'm afraid I need to think about this matter carefully!"
No wonder the Li family doesn’t take concubines!
Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "There's no rush anyway." She told her about Madam Zhou's matchmaking for Zhen Jie'er, "...we can just take our time choosing."
Xu Lingyi was surprised when he heard this: "From the tone of your voice, it seems like you are not very satisfied with the Li family?"
"That's not the case!" Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "I just feel that my mother-in-law's rules are too strict, and as a daughter-in-law, I can't help but feel restrained."
Xu Lingyi nodded slowly: "I think so too." He added, "Then let's see which family Madam Zhou says it is! Zhen Jie'er is not a child anymore, we can't delay any longer."
"Early booking is still twelve years old, late booking is still twelve years old." Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "As long as we book it before the end of this year, it will be fine. You can't eat hot dumplings in a hurry."
Xu Lingyi laughed.
Eleventh Lady wanted to ask about Xu Siyu's marriage, but when she thought about the day they came back from the Xiang family, neither the Madam nor Xu Lingyi mentioned anything about the Xiang family, as if they really just attended a family banquet. She swallowed the words back.
The next day, Eleventh Lady went to the Dowager's place early in the morning and showed her the prepared banquet guest list.
The lady looked at Mrs. Xiang's name and hesitated for a long time. Finally, she returned the list to Shiyi Niang intact: "Just post according to this list!"
Eleventh Lady responded and left, and immediately sent Mother Song to deliver the note to the place where the matter was addressed.
The response was faster than she had imagined.
After lunch, there was a reply saying that all the invitations had been delivered. The servant from the Fifth Master's side also replied: "... Geng Changsheng from the Changsheng class will come in person to sing in the hall." Then Madam Li sent the menu. At the beginning of the third month, everything was ready, and Shiyi Niang was free. She sat on the kang and began to embroider the unfinished Gu Feng.
Yanrong was helping to divide the lines and said of Aunt Qin: "She asked the maid to come and measure your shoes and picked out a few patterns. She said she would make shoes for you at home!"
"Forget it!" Eleventh Lady laughed, "I look down on ordinary craftsmanship."
Yan Rong smiled and said, "I've only heard that Madam's needlework is good, but I've never seen it. Today, when I was helping you sort the threads, I realized that there are thirteen kinds of white. Even in our house, there are only three kinds of white, and that's really exquisite. Can you let me serve you when you sew in the future? I'll learn from you, so that I can have someone to brag about when I go out."
Eleventh Lady found it quite strange that she suddenly mentioned "going out" when she was only thirteen or fourteen years old.
Yan Rong's face turned slightly red: "I have been engaged to my cousin since I was young. We agreed to leave home at the age of 20." She seemed to be explaining something.
Eleventh Lady understood immediately. Looking at her pretty face, she smiled and said, "Is your cousin working in the mansion?"
Yan Rong said hurriedly, "My cousin's name is Cao An. He is currently working in the warehouse, running errands for Manager Fan, who is in charge of the gifts sent to and from various mansions."
Eleventh Lady nodded: "I understand!"
A hint of secret joy flashed in Yanrong's eyes.
Shiyi Niang saw this and thought of Bin Ju. She called Zhu Xiang over and asked, "...Do you know what she is doing?"
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "I do needlework at home every day!"
Eleventh Lady muttered, "Why don't you come and see me!"
Zhu Xiang couldn't help but smile: "Madam is so busy, even if Sister Binju came, she wouldn't be able to talk to Madam!"
Eleventh Lady said, "It will be good if June comes soon - the house can be in good order again!" Then she asked Yanrong to give Zhuxiang the silk threads that she asked the steward of the outer courtyard to buy two days ago, "... They are all government-made. Although they are not as good as those from Caixiufang and Lingxian Pavilion, the embroidery is brighter than ordinary ones. She has just established a relationship with Xipu, so she will inevitably suffer some losses. She should work harder on the quality."
Only then did Yanrong realize that this package of silk thread was bought by Shiyi Niang specifically for Binju.
"That's perfect. I can borrow your name to go to Sister Binju's place and have a meal!" Zhu Xiang responded with a smile and went to Binju with the silk thread.
A maid came in and said, "Madam, Madam Wang, who is in charge of the equipment in the warehouse, is here!"
Eleventh Lady went to the water pavilion.
"Madam." Madam Wang shrank half a head when she saw her. "I can't find the black lacquered peony screen you ordered yesterday. I saw a black lacquered ivory carved peony screen in the storeroom that is about the same size as the black lacquered ivory carved peony screen. How about we use the black lacquered ivory carved peony screen for now, and then look for it after the Madam's birthday banquet is over?"
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Finally the call came...~~~~(_