Chapter 332 Reunion (Part 2)

"Don't cry." Shiyi Niang took out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes. "Didn't you also say that the inability to have children is not necessarily entirely due to women? Besides, you just got married. Aren't there many people who get married for several years before having children? Look at me, haven't I moved?"

After listening to this, Qi Niang pulled out a handkerchief and wiped her tears: "You and I are different." She pouted, "The Marquis has a son and a daughter, but Zhu Ping'an is the only child in the family..." She became even more depressed.

"Then you should not have run out." Eleventh Lady thought that she was a person with a short temper. "If you run out like this, if Seventh Brother-in-law gets angry and takes a concubine in the room, won't that make people even more angry!"

Qi Niang sat up, bit her lip, and sat there in deep thought with a handkerchief tied around her neck.

Eleventh Lady took the opportunity to give her a chance to step down: "You can stay at my place for a few days, so that Seventh Brother-in-law can be anxious. When Seventh Brother-in-law comes to pick you up, you can go back with him happily. If you feel uncomfortable, just tell him that Shandong is close to Yanjing, so you can come to my place to relax, or stay at Fourth Sister's place for a few days. Don't make things difficult for yourself."

Qi Niang said nothing, but her expression softened.

Eleventh Lady smiled and was about to urge her to go to bed quickly when Mother Song came back.

"The Marquis said that he had rested in Banyuepan, and asked Madam and Seventh Aunt to rest early as well."

Eleventh Lady nodded and was about to say "I understand", but Seventh Lady on the side snorted and said, "He knows what's best for him!" as if she was targeting Xu Lingyi.

Although Qinniang is delicate, she is not coquettish.

Eleventh Lady smiled, lifted the quilt and lay down: "What are you hiding from me?"

Apparently, the issue of buying horses still left some aftereffects.

"Don't worry about it!" Qi Niang said fiercely, "I didn't call him brother-in-law, I was giving him face!"

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but stroke her forehead.

This Qi Niang... Because of the relationship between Yuan Niang and her, the Luo family simply called Xu Lingyi the Marquis.

She couldn't help but change the subject and talked to Qi Niang about going to see Si Niang tomorrow.

Perhaps Qinnan was too tired from the long journey, so she agreed to a few words and then fell asleep.

When she got up the next day, Qinniang's quilt had been pushed aside. It was still a little chilly in the early summer morning, and she huddled beside him, pouting, sleeping like a child.

Eleventh Lady smiled as she helped her put on the quilt, got up quietly, told the maids not to disturb her, asked Mother Song to put breakfast at Xu Lingyi's place, washed herself, and went to Banyuepan.

"Is Seventh Aunt still angry?" Xu Lingyi was wearing a lake-colored Hangzhou silk Taoist robe. A night's rest made him feel refreshed. In the morning light, he looked especially fresh and clean.

Shiyi Niang served a bowl of porridge made from millet and snow frost and placed it in front of Xu Lingyi: "I don't know why you are not so happy!"

Facing Shiyi Niang, Xu Lingyi showed an embarrassed expression: "I was wrong in this matter. If you see something she likes or wants, just buy it for her! It's my compensation." He still didn't say what happened.

Eleventh Lady looked at the two people fooling around in front of her. For some reason, she felt at ease and peaceful in her heart.

She stopped asking questions and started talking about Zhen Jie'er's marriage.

Xu Lingyi ate the bean noodles slowly and listened to Shiyi Niang talking about the situations of several families.

"…When you came back yesterday, Grandma Lin was talking to me about this, so she left a little later on purpose."

Xu Lingyi listened and groaned, "If it's the Shao family, it's good. They are a century-old family with many talented people. But there is an unspoken rule in their family that the eldest son must stay to take care of the business. I'm afraid he won't leave Cangzhou. If it's the second son, it would be good..."

Sure enough, it was the problem that Grandma Lin was concerned about.

Eleventh Lady did not mention the matter of the fan to avoid unnecessary trouble.

"Let's take a look at the second son of the Li family first!" Xu Lingyi said, "If it doesn't work, we can talk about it later."

"Yeah!" Eleventh Lady nodded and drank half a bowl of porridge with Xu Lingyi. When she returned, Seventh Lady was still asleep and Mother Du was waiting for her in the hall.

Knowing that Qi Niang Zhu had not gotten up, he whispered, "The Madam said that you should go first.

Shiyi Niang didn't know what was going on, so she told a maid to call Mu Fu to help Qi Niang get up, and then followed Madam Du to the lady's place.

"Did Qi Niang have a quarrel with her husband?" The lady revealed the secret.

"You have a very sharp eye!" Eleventh Lady said with a smile.

"I've seen a lot!" The lady laughed. "I think Qi Niang is a person who can't stand being wronged. Since she wants to hide here, you should pretend you don't know and let her live at home. Otherwise, if she fails to rely on you, she will run to other places and cause trouble. But this couple quarrels at the head of the bed and makes up at the foot of the bed. You should send someone to Qinggao to tell them. You can accompany her to walk around for a few days to relax. When they come to pick her up and the couple meet, you can persuade them to reconcile. When she thinks of the kindness in the past, no matter how angry she is, she will subside. She will be happy to return to Gaoqing."

Eleventh Lady knew that the Lady Dowager was teaching her how to behave.

She nodded repeatedly and said with a smile, "Isn't Fourth Sister feeling unwell? Seventh Sister asked me to go with her today to see her. I will go there after lunch. Then I will discuss with Fourth Sister how to report the news to Shandong."

"This method is more reliable." The lady said approvingly, "After all, they are from the same mother, and Fourth Aunt is the elder sister. There are some things that she can say but you can't say, and some things that she can do but you can't do."

Eleventh Lady smiled and replied “yes”, and Seventh Lady came.

The lady waved to Qi Niang: "I'm waiting for you to have breakfast!"

Qi Niang was a little embarrassed: "I didn't expect to get up so late."

"Not late, not late," said the lady, "your sister has a lot to do, so she got up earlier than the rest of us." Then she asked the maid to serve breakfast. Eleventh Lady ate half a bowl of rice with her.

The fifth lady came over holding Sister Xin.

The little guy can now lift his neck up and look around, which is so adorable.

Qi Niang looked at it with great surprise.

She gave Xinjie a red gold necklace yesterday. Shiyi Niang looked like it was worth more than ten dollars.

The dowager kept Qi Niang to talk, and Shiyi Niang went to West Flower Hall to arrange some household affairs. She had lunch at the dowager's place, and then went to Si Niang's place with Qi Niang.

Si Niang looked much better than the last time she saw her, but she looked seven or eight years older than before, and was very different from the sister that Qi Niang had imagined. Si Niang was very excited to see her little sister, who had grown up in front of her since she was a child, suddenly come from Shandong to see her. The two sisters hugged each other and cried for a while before they started talking.

Knowing that Si Niang's illness could be cured by taking medicine, and knowing that Shiyi Niang often sent people to ask about Si Niang's condition, Qi Niang was very grateful. She said generously: "Forget it, I won't care about the Marquis's affairs!"

Eleventh Lady felt ashamed after hearing this.

Si Niang kept asking her what was going on.

"It's okay, it's okay." Qi Niang told Si Niang about Xu Lingyi buying a horse from her. "...It was also Eleventh Sister's coming-of-age ceremony, so I went to Xu's house first. The lady invited me to stay, and it was too late, so I stayed there."

Si Niang was surprised but did not ask any further questions. She just listened to Qi Niang happily telling about Gao Qing's interesting stories and what she had seen along the way.

When Fourth Sister-in-law Yu Yiqing came back, while Seventh Sister was talking to him, Fourth Sister whispered to Eleventh Sister, "What happened?"

Eleventh Lady briefly explained the matter.

Si Niang thought for a moment and said what Taifu said: "...You should keep her calm first. I will go and report to mother and Third Brother."

Shiyi Niang nodded, feeling relieved. After having dinner at Si Niang's place, she and Qi Niang returned to the lotus garden.

After greeting the lady, Qi Niang took the initiative to suggest going to Liufangzhuang to take a look.

It was early summer, and Liufangyuan was surrounded by mountains and rivers, with lush flowers and trees. The five-room main house had a boat dock in front and three back rooms. The things she brought were arranged according to her preferences, and the maids and servants were respectfully sitting under the eaves. She was very satisfied and planned to go to Huguo Temple to eat rice sausage tomorrow.

Eleventh Lady asked someone to go to the outer courtyard to talk to Chief Steward Bai and arrange arrangements for tomorrow's trip.

Qi Niang covered her mouth with her hands and smiled, and hurried her back: "...lest he really stay in my concubine's room and you come to settle the score with me."

"Is this what my sister said?" Eleventh Lady glanced at her and went back to her room.

Xu Lingyi was not in the room, but left Linbo waiting for her.

"The Marquis said that you are invited to go to Banyuepan." But his eyes were looking behind her, obviously to see if Qi Niang had followed her.

Eleventh Lady went to Banyuepan with a smile.

Xu Lingyi was in the study, reading a stack of papers. When he saw her come in, he called her over.

"I asked Ouyang Ming to check for me." He handed the paper to Shiyi Niang, "This Li Ji is really good. Take a look!"

Eleventh Lady took the paper.

It was all about Li Ji, the second son of the Li family. From his birth to the present, the investigation was very detailed, even the fact that when he was a child, he was nicknamed "Second Miss Li" because of his good looks, which motivated him to practice martial arts was clearly written.

"What does the Marquis mean?"

"Let's pick Li Ji!" Xu Lingyi said, "I think this kid is something special."

Eleventh Lady thought of Shao Zhongran's sad look: "What about the young master of the Shao family?"

"In terms of family background, Mr. Shao is more suitable." Xu Lingyi said, "But there is no such thing as a special breed for a general or a minister. Whether he is a dragon or a phoenix depends mainly on the child's own luck. Besides, Mr. Shao is far away in Cangzhou." He denied the possibility of marrying into the Shao family. "I will take some time in the next few days to carefully observe the boy from the Li family to see if he is as smart and capable as everyone says. Then you can meet Mrs. Li and it won't be too late to see each other!"

How could I, who was in the inner house, have as many people and channels as Xu Lingyi to inquire about the background, character and knowledge of those who proposed to me?

She nodded yes.

Xu Lingyi stood up and said, "Let's go to mother's place. Let's tell her about this matter. Let her help us make a decision."

He had already made up his mind, and he told the lady about it only out of respect.

Eleventh Lady smiled and went to the lady's place with Xu Lingyi.

The lady looked at the papers carefully and asked with a smile, "What does the second son of the Li family look like?"

"I haven't seen him yet." Xu Lingyi said with a smile, "However, General Li is handsome, so the second son of the Li family should not be too bad."

The lady nodded slightly and said with a smile: "Seeing the second son of the Li family reminds me of your childhood. When you are naughty, you are a headache, but when you are doing serious things, you are also very steady."

Hearing his mother's praise, Xu Lingyi felt a little embarrassed.