Chapter 349 Death (Part 2)

In autumn, it is cool in the morning and evening, hot at noon, and the sun is more glaring than in summer.

Shiyi Niang looked at the baby in her arms, who was wrapped tightly in three layers of red swaddling clothes, and asked in confusion, "Is he wearing too much?"

After giving birth, the Fifth Aunt became much plumper. She leaned on the pillow at the head of the bed and looked at her daughter and son with a smile. There was less lightness and more steadiness between her brows.

"Seventh Master is still young and doesn't know the difference between hot and cold. It's better to wear more clothes!" Sixth Aunt smiled and touched the baby's dark and shiny hair. "Look at this little mouth. He really looks like our Eleventh Aunt."

My fifth aunt gave birth to a son on August 10th. He has not been named yet, and he is the seventh among my cousins. Today he was baptized, and everyone in the family has already started calling him Seventh Uncle.

After hearing this, Eleventh Lady looked at the child carefully.

His face was red, like a monkey's bottom. His eyes were closed, and I couldn't tell if they were big or small. His small mouth was bright red, like a curled water chestnut. As if he felt someone was looking at him, he twitched his mouth and blew out a small bubble.

"Auntie, look, look." She thought it was very interesting and held the child in front of Fifth Auntie. "He can even blow bubbles."

"Maybe he's hungry!" Fifth Aunt laughed. Then a wet nurse came over and took the child away.

The fifth concubine pulled the eleventh concubine to sit beside the bed and talk, while the sixth concubine left on the pretext of going to entertain other guests.

"Have you been okay these days?" Fifth Aunt looked at her with some worry.

"I'm fine!" Eleventh Lady shook Fifth Aunt's hand and said, "Everything at home is going smoothly. I take two days off every five days. Sometimes I have nothing to do in the afternoon, sometimes I do needlework in the house, and sometimes I tell my brother to learn about Yu. If I don't want to do anything, I go to play cards with the Madam. I live a carefree life. The marriage of Zhen Jie'er and the marriage of the prince are also settled. Aunt Wen is helping to arrange Zhen Jie's dowry. She ordered a batch of porcelain from the official kiln a few days ago. I saw that it was better than those made in the palace. She is very dedicated to her work, and I don't have to worry too much. Although the prince is young, he is a kind child, and he is brought up by the Madam herself. I just need to ask about his situation every now and then.

The Marquis is a polite man, and the concubines are also well behaved. You don’t have to worry about me.”

"That's good!" Fifth Aunt heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this, "Because I have to give birth, the schedule of my family has been delayed. The eldest master said yesterday that we will set off as soon as the seventh master is one month old. You will be alone in Yanjing in the future and you can only take care of yourself..." As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes.

"Isn't there still a month left?" Shiyi Niang hurriedly took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears, "You are in confinement, be careful not to hurt your eyes."

The Fifth Aunt was afraid that the Eleventh Lady would worry about her, so she sobbed and stopped crying.

Eleventh Lady stuffed a purse into her hand and said, "Here are three hundred taels of silver notes, all in denominations of ten or five taels. When you are short of money, send someone to the bank to exchange them for money. When your seventh brother turns one, I will send a steward to congratulate him and bring you some silver notes. Don't be reluctant to use them and treat yourself badly."

The Fifth Aunt was shocked: "Where did you get the money?" She said anxiously, "Don't touch the public money. If people find out, you will lose your dignity for the rest of your life!"

"I know." Eleventh Lady hurried to comfort her. "I am in charge of the government subsidies. In addition to the expenses of the family, I also have an extra 100 taels of silver every month. I also have a monthly allowance of 50 taels of silver, and the Marquis gives me another 50 taels. Moreover, the watermelons and peanuts on my farm grew well this year. Although I didn't complain about the money, I didn't lose money either. Now I have no shortage of money. Even if I have trouble with cash flow occasionally, I can make up for it when the monthly allowance is issued. Aunt, don't worry about me."

Fifth Auntie didn't believe it. She stared at the tender green twig pattern embroidered on her moon-white hemp shirt and said, "Is this another new dress? Since you got married, I have never seen you wear the same dress twice!"

"We have our own sewing room in our house. According to the custom in our house, I have 24 sets of clothes made to order all year round. If you want to make more, you don't have to pay, just give me the fabric. When I got married, the eldest wife gave me some fabric, and when I went to the Xu family's harem, the dowager often gave me gifts. The dress you see today was made with the fabric given by the Empress Dowager." Seeing that the Fifth Aunt didn't believe her, the Eleventh Lady explained in detail, "I usually dress casually at home, and I will dress up when I go out to save face for the Xu family. I don't wear new clothes every day."

Fifth Aunt believed that her daughter was not the kind of person who could not stand the sight of wealth and status, and she believed her words because she saw that what she said made sense. But she still did not want her silver: "Master gave me fifty taels of silver two days ago. I have food and clothing from the public treasury, so I don't need this."

"Just take it if I give it to you." Eleventh Lady said angrily, "The eldest grandmother is in charge here, and I am also in Yanjing, so naturally everything will be easy to negotiate. When you return to Yuhang...if not for yourself, you should also think about Seventh Brother."

There was some hesitation on Fifth Aunt's face.

Eleventh Lady took the opportunity to stuff the purse under Fifth Aunt's pillow and said, "It is the right thing to do to raise Seventh Master well."

The Fifth Aunt said nothing more.

Someone knocked on the door: "Fifth Aunt, Fifth Aunt and Seventh Aunt are here."

When the Sixth Aunt went out, she sent the servants away from the room. Eleventh Lady got up and opened the door. Seeing that it was the little maidservant who was close to the Fifth Aunt, she asked her, "Your name is Jinju, right?"

The maid blushed, bent her knees to salute Shiyi Niang, and said nervously: "When I go back, I will tell you that I am Jinju."

Eleventh Lady nodded: "Serve Fifth Aunt well. When you get married, I will buy your dowry. If you have any difficulties, you can also ask someone to bring a letter to me. I will make the decision for you!"

Jinju was so excited that he was speechless and could only say "yes."

Eleventh Lady went to greet Fifth Lady and Seventh Lady with a smile.

Wu Niang brought Xin Ge with her, but it was Qi Niang who held the child.

Seeing Shiyi Niang, Xin Ge's nurse came forward to hold the child, but Qi Niang held the child and refused to give it to her: "Let me hold the child for a while longer."

Wu Niang found it funny and told the nurse, "Don't worry about it. If she wants to hold the baby, just let her hold it!" Then she greeted Shiyi Niang, "You came so early!"

When Eleventh Lady saw that Brother Xin had a small gold lock hanging around his neck and a pure gold necklace with a gold medal that read "Everything Goes Well" on it, she knew that the necklace must have been given by Seventh Lady. While greeting her two sisters, she smiled and squeezed Brother Xin's hand, saying, "Brother Xin is getting more and more handsome." The child was chubby and very cute.

"That's right!" Qi Niang was not used to holding a child, and her arms gradually slid down, and the child fell to her chest and licked the jade pendant hanging on her jacket. Everyone laughed. Wu Niang took the opportunity to hold the child in her arms, "You'd better stop causing trouble for me. If Brother Xin has a stomachache today, I'll settle the score with you."

Qi Niang smiled awkwardly and asked Shiyi Niang, "Is Danyang at home?"

When did she become so familiar with the Fifth Madam that she called her "Danyang"!

Eleventh Lady was confused and said, "You are well-informed. She just came back from Hongdeng Hutong two days ago!"

"I heard her say she's going back to Lotus to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival," said Qi Niang, "According to the date, she should be back soon.

Wu Niang, who was standing by, had a twinge of envy in her eyes: "When did you become friends with the Lord of Danyang County?"

Qi Niang said indifferently: "As long as we get along well, we can get along!"

On the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, Zhu Anping invited Xu Lingkuan to release river lanterns. Xu Lingkuan took Danyang with him and left Xin Jie'er to the lady.

Shiyi Niang was afraid that the lady would not be able to handle it, so she helped take care of the child for half a day. When the couple came back, they found that Qi Niang had also gone. The two couples set off fireworks by the river, went to a restaurant to eat, listened to music, and had a great time.

"What do you want to see the Fifth Madam about?" Eleventh Lady asked her.

"Didn't you say last time that you would introduce a doctor to her?" Qi Niang said, "Now that the doctor is here, I'll bring him over to show her!"

Eleventh Lady felt sweat on her forehead: "Can that old lady doctor help? Even the imperial doctors in the Imperial Hospital couldn't cure Xin Jie'er's illness!"

"Oh!" Qi Niang was dissatisfied with Shiyi Niang's caution, "Don't worry about this matter. Xin Jie'er is Danyang's daughter."

Eleventh Lady was speechless for a moment.

Go back and tell Xu Lingyi: "...please don't make any mistakes!"

"Danyang is not such a careless person!" Xu Lingyi turned around to comfort Shiyi Niang, "There are many talented people among the people. Maybe Qi Niang is Xin Jie'er's chance!"

“I hope so!”

Xu Lingyi asked her about her return to her parents' home: "Have you sent out the Mid-Autumn Festival gifts? Was your seventh brother's third-day baptism ceremony lively?"

"Yes!" Eleventh Lady replied, "All the relatives are here." She paused and added, "Even Fourth Sister is here too."

The two of them were the best married sisters. When they sat down at the banquet, they sat at the head of the table. Si Niang had told her in a casual way that there was a scholar who rented a house next door to her family. His wife had never given birth and was now over fifty years old and still had no children. He had always wanted to take a concubine, but he could not afford too much dowry. Si Niang made the decision, without a penny of dowry, but gave 20 taels of silver as a dowry, and sent Xiangyun to the scholar as a concubine. The scholar was so happy that he kept bowing to her, but the scholar's wife looked stern and said nothing.

"Is she feeling better?" Xu Lingyi casually sat on the brocade stool next to the mirror table and chatted with Shiyi Niang. "I heard that the emperor intends to transfer Yu Yiqing to the Xingren Department. Is this true?"

Because she was going back to her parents' home to attend her brother's third-day bath banquet, Eleventh Lady had specially combed her hair into a fallen horse bun, with her jet-black hair piled at her temples, making her small face look particularly crystal-clear.

"The Marquis didn't mention it beforehand. I didn't ask!" Hongxiu helped her take off the comb and Cuihua stuck in her bun.

"The grandmother of the Liang family came today. She didn't meet your people. She left a message for Mother Song!"

"Lanting?" Eleventh Lady was startled. "Did she come here specially?" She asked Hongxiu to call Mother Song, and she quickly let her hair down and tied it up into a bun again.

These days, the Gan family often asked Lanting to go back to discuss the division of the family property, hoping that the Liang family would speak for them. This one is a brother, and that one is also a brother, which made Lanting very distressed, but she couldn't just leave it alone, and once came to her to complain.

"Shen Zheng came here this afternoon. I ran into him in front of the Chuihua Gate." Xu Lingyi said, "It didn't look like he came here on purpose!"

Is he here to complain to me about the Gan family again?