The lady returned the paper to Xu Lingyi and said to Shiyi Niang, "Since you all know what's going on, just do it according to your own judgment!"

Xu Lingyi and Shiyi Niang smiled and said "yes", chatted with the lady for a while, then stood up and said goodbye when it was getting late.

The moonlight outside the door is bright, and the air is filled with rich floral fragrance, which is passionate and warms the heart.

Xu Lingyi and Shiyi Niang walked slowly along the alley in the garden, hearing the chirping of summer insects from time to time, and felt quiet and peaceful in their hearts. Although they both felt that they had a lot to say, they didn't want to break the tranquility at the moment, and chose to remain silent without any prior agreement. The atmosphere was not dull, but rather added a bit of peace.

After entering the garden gate and walking along the corridor, to the north is the Half Moon Pavilion and to the east is the Chui Lun Waterside Pavilion.

At the T-junction, Xu Lingyi paused, and both of them showed some hesitation.

He only brought a few followers with him and rode back to Yanjing in a hurry. Because he had to travel overnight, he lost several horses. The horses at the post station were not as good as the horses he brought. So when he saw several strong horses pulling a very gorgeous carriage with colorful glazed canopy and green curtains and a large cart loaded with boxes and cages walking slowly on the road like a spring outing, he suddenly wanted to buy a carriage. He immediately ordered his followers to take a few hundred taels of silver notes to buy it. Who knew that the other party was very difficult to talk to, not only mocking and ridiculing, but also took out a bag of gold beans, claiming to buy his mount.

He is never afraid of people being arrogant in front of him.

He left the silver note behind and rode away.

The opponent's guards came out to stop them, but they were of course no match for his followers. They defeated the opponent in no time. The coachman was so scared that he whipped the horse and wanted to run away, but his followers were just untying the reins... Not only did the carriage overturn, but Qinnan's foot was also broken. She had to stay in the carriage for four or five days before she recovered.

With this reason, it is not difficult to understand why Qi Niang wanted to make things difficult for him!

Therefore, he did not ask Qiniang whether she would stay overnight at the Chui Lun Water Pavilion.

He has his self-esteem.

She didn't want to move to Banyuepan just because Qi Niang stayed overnight at Chui Lun Water Pavilion, so she rested at Chui Lun Water Pavilion when she was in Liufangwu.

But he was a little reluctant to leave this gentle atmosphere that made him feel like a spring breeze...

If Xu Lingyi wanted to go back to Chui Lun Waterside Pavilion with her, he would naturally walk side by side with her. But he stayed here at this moment, naturally because he wanted to go back to Ban Yue Pan.

Eleventh Lady was thinking about it.

Was he going back to Banyuepan to deal with something, or was he worried that Qi Niang would stay at Chui Lun Waterside Pavilion tonight?

Asking her to tell Xu Lingyi that Qi Niang was staying at Liufangwu tonight... that was simply a naked invitation. Even if she lived two lifetimes, she would not be able to say it out loud.

She hesitated for a while, but finally took a few steps forward and stood at the intersection heading north.

"How is the matter going on with the Marquis's trip to Zhangqiu?"

Under the starlight, her eyes flickered, like the stars in the sky, flickering in brightness.

Xu Lingyi looked at Shiyi Niang in surprise, and his eyes and brows slowly relaxed.

"I didn't buy the land!" He whispered, and walked up the corridor to Banyuepan. "A lot of things happened again. I don't know how to tell you right now!"

Eleventh Lady looked down at the bluestone paving the corridor: "I saw that the Marquis came back so quickly, and I guessed that things were either going smoothly or there were difficulties. Listening to the tone of your voice when you left, I felt that things would not be that simple..."

"It's more than simple." Xu Lingyi said, "I was a little puzzled at the time. Why did they spread the word that they were going to sell the land, but the price was so ridiculous that ordinary people would not dare to ask for it. It was clearly a trap set against our family."

"Then you're still going?"

"Since you've got your eyes on me, I won't get involved this time. There will be a next time. It's better to solve it all at once." Xu Lingyi said calmly, "Fortunately I went. It turns out that someone wanted to interfere in overseas trade and used those hundreds of acres of land to test the waters. They wanted me to say hello to the Quanzhou Maritime Customs. I've been dismissed from office and am at home now. It's better for me to stay out of this kind of thing. Of course, I can't take that land!"

The two of them went to Banyuepan while talking.

* * * * * *

Eleventh Lady stood up quietly.

"Is it time?" Xu Lingyi's vague voice suddenly came from behind.

Unexpectedly, I woke him up.

"Well!" Eleventh Lady resumed her original range of motion and rustled into her clothes, "My Lord, please sleep a little longer!"

Anyway, I am idle at home and don't have to go to court. But it's not good to say this in front of him.

Xu Lingyi sat up, picked up the white silk undergarment that was thrown on the corner of the bed and crumpled like pickled mustard greens, and put it on: "Are you going to Huguo Temple with Seventh Aunt today?" He thought of Qi Niang's carriage and her temper, "Send someone to tell the abbot to close the gate when the time comes!"

Eleventh Lady blushed as she looked at his underwear: "Let me get another one for you, Lord!" Then she turned around and opened the black lacquered high cabinet, found a neatly ironed underwear and handed it to Xu Lingyi. "Seventh Sister is going to the Huguo Temple to eat rice sausage. I'm afraid it will be useless if the gate is closed!"

Xu Lingyi was a little stunned, and after a while he said, "Is she like this at home?"

Eleventh Lady said tactfully: "Seventh Sister has a lively personality."

Xu Lingyi nodded and stopped talking about it. He told her, "In that case, bring more guards with you."

Eleventh Lady nodded and called a maid to come in to help her wash and dress. She had breakfast with Xu Lingyi before returning to the Chui Lun Waterside Pavilion.

Mother Song saw her with a smile on her face.

"Miss Mufu from Aunt Seven came to ask when we'll leave early this morning."

Eleventh Lady answered irrelevantly: "Go and call Amber in."

Mother Song didn't understand what was going on, but she still responded respectfully and left.

Eleventh Lady pulled out a red ribbon from her lapel, on which hung an oval jade pendant.

That was the one Xu Lingyi hung for her last night. She was a little embarrassed at the time and didn't look closely, but now she realized that it was a piece of Hetian jade with three goats carved on it.

I am born in the Year of the Sheep.

Eleventh Lady took the jade token and stroked it carefully.

Is it a birthday present?

But Xu Lingyi didn't say anything when he hung it on her. And he did it when she was tired. If the jade pendant wasn't a little cold and the bed wasn't a little hard, she wouldn't have noticed it if she wasn't used to it and was very sleepy.

While she was thinking, Amber came in through the curtains: "Madam, what do you want?"

Eleventh Lady hesitated for a moment and said, "Forget it. I was planning to ask you to help me make a necklace, but I'd better do it myself! Just ask the maid to come in and change clothes!" Then she hung the jade pendant around her neck again.

Making silk threads is Master Jian's specialty, and Shiyi Niang has inherited her skills. Not to mention them, even the masters of Lingxian Pavilion who make a living from this are probably not as skilled as Shiyi Niang. She couldn't help but laugh and said, "This thread is indeed too simple, it needs to be made into a beautiful silk thread." Then she said, "Is this a gift from the Madam? It looks like the finest Hetian jade. There is no impurities at all, it is really rare."

Eleventh Lady responded ambiguously, changed her clothes, and went to Seventh Lady.

Qi Niang had already dressed up, and she and Shiyi Niang paid their respects to the lady-in-waiting and went to the Huguo Temple.

Eleventh Lady watched as the guards surrounded the carriages in three layers, more strictly than usual. She knew that Xu Lingyi had given the order. After burning incense in the main hall, she and Seventh Lady asked for a lot of amulets for the family.

Qinnan also brought back several bags of rice sausage for everyone to eat.

Eleventh Lady was afraid that the food was not clean and that the Madam would get sick from eating it, so she only let the Madam have a bite.

The lady really just took one bite and put down her chopsticks with a smile.

Qi Niang encouraged a few children to try it.

Xu Siyu, like the Madam, put down his chopsticks after taking a bite, while Zhen Jieer looked embarrassed and didn't dare to eat for a long time. Only Zhun Ge and Xu Sijie ate with gusto. The former even said, "This is not as delicious as what Mr. Zhao bought from Baiyun Temple!"

"Really!" Qi Niang's heart, which had been hit hard by the Madam, Xu Siyu, and Zhen Jie'er, immediately perked up and asked, "Does Baiyun Temple still sell rice sausage? How come I didn't know about it?"

The gift Qi Niang gave to Xu Siyu was a copy of the Four Books Annotations from the previous dynasty, a set of four treasures of the study from Duobao Pavilion to Zhun Ge, and a gold necklace to Jie Ge. She was also lively and cheerful, and the children liked her very much.

"Of course you don't know." Zhun Ge said disapprovingly, "Mr. Zhao said where there are delicious foods, which opera is the best, where is suitable for fishing, where is suitable for plum blossom viewing, these elegant things, only men know."

Xu Siyu remained silent.

Qi Niang whispered to him: "Then tell me, where can I find delicious food? Which opera is the best..."

Zhun Ge put down his chopsticks and started talking about it in detail.

Qi Niang was a little shocked when she heard this and asked Shiyi Niang: "Has he been to all of them?"

Eleventh Lady was persuading Xu Sijie: "Don't eat it anymore. Leave some of the rest for Daddy, Fifth Uncle, Fifth Aunt, and Sister Xin." Only then did Xu Sijie reluctantly put it down.

How could Zhun Ge know all this? Of course it was Mr. Zhao who told him.

She heard this and said, "I plan to go and see it later!"

Zhun Ge'er felt that Shiyi Niang's answer made him very proud, and he puffed out his chest and said, "I will bring you rice sausage from Baiyun Temple when the time comes. I guarantee it will taste better than this!"

When Xu Sijie heard that there was food, he jumped aside and said, "I want some too, I want some too!"

This made everyone burst into laughter.

Wei Zi came in and reported, "Madam, Yan Rong said that the Marquis asked you where he put his deerskin clogs?"

Why wear clogs in summer?

Eleventh Lady left the house with Wei Zi in a coquettish manner.

Yanrong was standing in the middle of the yard waiting.

Seeing Eleventh Lady coming out, she knelt and saluted, accompanied her out of the Madam's courtyard, and then whispered, "The Marquis asked you to go to the outer study. He said that Seventh Uncle-in-law is here!"

That "Jun Xueyi" Zhu Anping!

Eleventh Lady nodded, and she and Yanrong walked through the small hall behind the main hall of the Xu family to Xu Lingyi's outer study.

This is her first time here.

Unlike the vast collection of books in Banyuepan, the outer study is more like a small reception room, with low-key and gorgeous furnishings and comfortable and solemn layout.

Xu Lingyi introduced her to a tall man wearing a royal blue Hangzhou silk gown with calamus pattern.

"This is the seventh uncle Zhu Anping."

He addressed Zhu Anping using the name given by Qi Niang's family.

Zhu Anping's eyebrows moved slightly and he bowed to Eleventh Lady.

Xu Lingyi introduced Shiyi Niang to Zhu Anping: "This is my wife."

Eleventh Lady half-knelt and performed a blessing ceremony.

Xu Lingyi told Shiyi Niang: "It's rare for the Seventh Uncle to come to Beijing. Ask the kitchen to prepare a few dishes for us and we can have a nice drink."

Eleventh Lady responded "yes" in a low voice and stepped back, officially meeting Zhu Anping.

※

I can’t open my eyes anymore, I’ll catch some bugs tomorrow!