After returning to the Xu residence, Xu Lingyi asked Shiyi Niang tactfully, "Did you go to see the Gan family's Madam Dowager and see Madam Gan?"

"Yes!" Eleventh Lady said calmly, "She was very unhappy when she saw me bringing the flowers and trees. However, no one is perfect. Who can please everyone?" She smiled and changed the subject: "Is there any news from Tongzhou yet?"

"Not yet!" Xu Lingyi said, "Manager Zhao has sent a manager and four servants to take turns guarding the dock. They shouldn't miss anyone."

Shiyi Niang felt relieved for the time being and waited for another two days, but no one showed up. Then Jinju from Gongxian Hutong came to see her.

Normally, when there was something going on, it was always Mother Hang who came over. Even if Mother Hang had something going on, she would definitely not ask a little maid to come to the Xu family.

Eleventh Lady calmly called Jinju in.

Jinju had only heard that the eleventh aunt was blessed in Luo's house. When she saw the grandeur of the Xu family, she immediately felt a little inferior and didn't know where to put her hands and feet. Although there was no one in the room, she trembled for a long time before speaking: "Auntie said to let Madam go back."

"What happened?" Eleventh Lady grabbed a handful of candy and gave it to her.

Jinju took it tremblingly, and said shakily: "I don't know either. Auntie just told me to go out and buy some brown sugar in front of the grandmother. Please give me a bag of brown sugar when I go back to report."

Eleventh Lady asked Amber to take Kumquat away, said hello to the lady, and went to Gongxian Hutong.

"It's Master Jian who wants to see you." Fifth Aunt explained, "She wants to see you before entering the Xu Mansion. She is now staying in the Gaosheng Inn next to our alley."

Eleventh Lady went to the inn.

After not seeing him for several years, Master Jian has not changed much. He is of medium height, thin, fair-skinned, and has a gentle and calm look.

Qiu Ju also came with Master Jian.

As she bent her knees to salute Eleventh Lady, tears fell down her face.

"You came with us too?" Eleventh Lady helped her up.

She nodded with tears in her eyes: "I have accepted the Master's orders and will serve Him."

In other words, Qiu Ju will be the true successor of Master Jian in the future.

Eleventh Lady smiled and nodded.

Zhu Xiang hurriedly pulled Qiu Ju to the outer room to talk.

Eleventh Lady and Master Jian held hands and sat in the bedroom talking.

"Qiu Ju is hardworking, serious, and has some talent. You have introduced me to a good apprentice." Master Jian said with a smile, "I have already made an agreement with her family. She will follow me from now on. Her family will have nothing to do with her weddings and funerals. She will be treated as a daughter of mine."

"It is her blessing to be the master's successor." Eleventh Lady asked about Master Jian's health: "Are you still strong?"

"Not as good as before." Master Jian said with a smile, "My eyes don't work very well anymore!"

"Then come to Yanjing to enjoy your old age!" Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "I dare not say anything else, but I can still afford to provide you with a meal and porridge."

Master Jian showed a gentle smile, and instead of answering her directly, he asked about her situation. Knowing that she was doing well, he nodded slightly: "You have had your own ideas since you were young. You can survive adversity." Then he talked about his own affairs: "I was originally planning to come at the end of the year. But the eldest prince of the emperor got married, and Jiangnan Weaving wanted to offer a wedding dress. In the past, all this business was done by Xianling Pavilion. In recent years, Caixiufang has also begun to get involved in the embroidery business, intending to compete with Xianling Pavilion. Xianling Pavilion was afraid that I would work for Caixiufang, and sent people to ask about my intentions many times. I didn't want to be involved in the dispute between the two families, so I came to Yanjing in advance."

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but sigh after listening to this.

Master Jian is actually an honest craftsman, but he still can't avoid getting into trouble.

"So what are your plans?"

Master Jian asked her after hearing this: "Are you in any trouble?

Eleventh Lady was puzzled.

Master Jian explained, "Yanjing is under the emperor's feet, and the Yongping Marquis' Mansion is a royal family, so how can there be a lack of needlework?" He added, "That year, Master Chen asked me to teach his concubine embroidery. If you hadn't helped me out, he would have smashed my embroidery shop. I didn't say a word afterwards, but I have always kept it in mind. Although I am just a small embroiderer, I also know how to repay kindness. If you need my help with anything, just tell me."

The concubine of Master Chen was a good woman who had been working in a brothel, and Master Jian did not want to ruin her reputation. At that time, she just used the name of the Luo family to scare people away. And even if she had not shown up, Master Jian might not have had no way to escape. Afterwards, Master Jian did not mention it, and she did not say anything either. Unexpectedly, Master Jian still remembered it.

Eleventh Lady quickly told Master Jian what the Lady Tai meant: "...She thought my needlework was good. That's why she wanted to meet you."

Master Jian was very surprised.

Eleventh Lady also told Xu Lingyi about sending someone to pick her up: "I didn't expect that he missed someone!"

"No one was missed!" Master Jian said a little embarrassedly, "I saw that posture... I didn't expect that the Marquis sent someone to pick me up, so I deliberately avoided him!"

Eleventh Lady couldn't help laughing and assured Master Jian again, "I'm fine. Nothing happened. I brought you to Yanjing just to ask you to help the people in the mansion with needlework."

Qiu Ju, who was outside, heard Shiyi Niang's hearty laughter and whispered to Zhu Xiang, "Don't tell Madam what I told you. Madam will be sad if she knows." Then she sighed softly, "Thinking back then, Madam treated Dongqing so well!"

Zhu Xiang's eyes darkened: "Don't worry, I won't tell my wife!"

Qiu Ju listened and said, "Bin Ju, you can't tell her either! She is very straightforward. She will definitely tell the lady when the time comes!"

"I won't tell you anything." Zhu Xiang promised, "And remember not to say anything."

"I know." Qiu Ju nodded. "If anyone asks, I will say that I have been following Master Jian and have never been back to Yuhang, so I don't know that Dong Qing has returned to Yuhang!"

Zhu Xiang nodded and asked Qiu Ju: "Are you going back to Yuhang?"

Qiuju told Master Jian about the agreement between him and his family.

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Eleventh Lady walking out with Master Jian.

The two of them stood up quickly.

Master Jian told Qiuju: "Pack your things, we are going to Yongping Marquis' Mansion."

Qiuju agreed, and Zhuxiang hurriedly called the old woman who followed the car to help carry the things, and the group went to the lotus flowers.

Seeing that Master Jian had clear eyes, calm demeanor, and neither arrogance nor servility, the lady knew that he was not a person who had gained fame for nothing, and she was very fond of him. She told Shiyi Niang to clean up two rooms in Lijingxuan for Master Jian and Qiuju to live in.

"Just treat me as a guest. Give me five taels of silver per month and help teach Zhenjie her needlework."

Master Jian thanked the lady and went to Zhenjie's place with Eleventh Lady.

Zhen Jie'er knew that she was Shiyi Niang's master, so she naturally showed extra respect. Master Jian was relieved to see that Zhen Jie'er was not a spoiled person. Bin Ju's eyes filled with tears when she saw them: "I have been thinking about you since I heard that you were coming. I didn't expect to see you in person!"

Qiuju pulled Binju and called her "Sister", unable to say anything else.

Xiaoli and others came forward to persuade them and fetched water for them to wash their faces.

"Once you are settled, come to my house and play for a day!" After the initial excitement, Bin Ju invited Master Jian and Qiu Ju, and then looked at Zhu Xiang, Xiao Li and others, "You can also go and keep me company."

"We know that sister Binju is married, but we haven't met her brother-in-law yet!" Qiuju said with a smile, "Of course we have to go and get to know him." Binju blushed.

Zhu Xiang sighed secretly in her heart, and recalled Qiu Ju's words in her mind: "... When she came back from Yanjing, she was wearing gold and silver hairpins and silk and satin. She was personally sent home by Wu Dazongguan. She didn't look like a down-and-out person. Her sister-in-law confiscated her bag that night and took away the clothes, jewelry and the three hundred taels of silver that the lady usually gave her. On weekdays, she either shouted that she had no salt to buy or that she had no oil to fight for. She only ordered her around but didn't give her a penny. If Dongqing was slightly unhappy, she would make indirect accusations, saying that Dongqing wanted to keep the things for her dowry, which made Dongqing dare not speak. Not only did she make a fuss about Dongqing's mother and father, but she also spent all the small change in Dongqing's hand.

Dongqing's mother asked someone to find a matchmaker for her.

The better families, seeing that she was so old and had no one to marry but was sent back by her master, guessed that she had bad behavior and refused to agree. Of those who agreed, eight or nine out of ten were playboys in the village. Not only did they have no money, but they couldn't afford the bride price. It happened that there lived a silk merchant from Suzhou next door. Seeing that Dongqing had some potential, he sent someone to propose marriage. He said that his wife died early, leaving only a young daughter, and he wanted to marry a second wife. Dongqing's father and mother saw that although this man was the same age as them and was short, he was willing to pay a bride price of fifty taels of silver, so they agreed.

A few months later, their family found a house in the county. Her sister-in-law took her nephew to borrow some money from Dongqing and go to Suzhou for fun. When they arrived in Suzhou, they found out that the merchant's wife was not dead at all. Not only was his wife not dead, but he also had three legitimate sons. In front of outsiders, they only said that Dongqing was a bought concubine. Dongqing's sister-in-law came to the door and was scolded. Not only did she get a bad scolding, but she also ordered the housemaid to beat Dongqing's sister-in-law out with a stick. Her sister-in-law asked around and found out that the merchant was away from home all year round, and the eldest wife had the final say in the family affairs. This eldest wife was also a famous shrew in the neighborhood. It was common for her to beat the maids and scold the servants if she was not happy. It was not a problem to drag the concubine to the yard and make her kneel all night. When the concubines in the family saw her, they were like mice seeing a cat. When Dongqing just came in, the eldest wife was punishing her. Now she has been tossed around like a human being, and she has no color as before..."

Others didn't know what was on Zhu Xiang's mind. After Master Jian and Qiu Ju settled down, Shiyi Niang and several maids around Zhen Jie'er went to Bin Ju's house together. They ate and drank for a long time. Daxian asked Bin Ju to play cards with him while he washed the dishes in the kitchen, sweating profusely.

Qiu Ju was very moved, but could not say a word. However, because of this, she and Zhu Xiang became closer and closer.

However, Master Jian was very interested in the embroidery that Binju placed on the kang.

Bin Ju hurriedly explained with a smile: "I helped some wedding shops in Yanjing to embroider some things, and earned some small change to supplement the family expenses."

"Well done!" Master Jian asked her, "How much can a door curtain like this sell for?"

"I can sell the fabrics and needlework for two to three taels of silver. The fabrics and needlework provided by Xipu can be sold for one or two taels of silver."

"It's even higher than what Hangzhou Prefecture offers!"

"They like Su style here. They think our styles and looks are newer."

Just then Qiuju brought in lotus seed and osmanthus soup, and the two of them stopped talking.

When they returned home at night, they did not see Shiyi Niang.

"Tenth Aunt's father-in-law passed away, and the Marquis and his wife went to the Duke of Mao's Mansion!"

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Because I have been revising the article repeatedly, it is late... Sorry, sorry. I will still update it in the evening, but it will be a little late. Everyone should get up tomorrow morning to read it!

O(∩_∩)O~