After sending his son-in-law away, the eldest master returned to the main house. The eldest wife couldn't help but sneer: "Is it because the house is too shabby that the uncle of the emperor finds it filthy to sit here?"

The eldest master frowned: "What nonsense are you talking about? The Marquis is not that kind of person. It is true that the emperor has something to discuss with him - you know that Elder Liu has retired and there are many things to do in the court. In public, he is an important official in the court, and in private, he is the uncle of the emperor, how can he stay out of it..."

"I don't know when he became a Grand Secretary?" Although the eldest wife's tone was sarcastic, it was much milder than before.

"You have come to Yanjing and haven't seen Madam Liu yet?" The old master didn't want to talk too much with the eldest wife, so he reminded her, "They will leave early tomorrow morning. You can take some time to go and see them! And see if there is anything you can do to help your third brother's wife."

"I don't need you to say anything more." The eldest wife said angrily, "I have prepared everything a long time ago. I'm just waiting for you to come back and go there together." She also called Luoqiao to help the eldest master change clothes, and the couple went out to the Liu Mansion.

Wu Niang was applying facial mask and washing her hair in the room, while Shiyi Niang was making clothes for Zhun Ge in the room.

*

The next day, the Xu family's carriage to pick them up arrived at the third quarter of the first lunar month, and the eldest wife had just given instructions for household matters.

Grandma Luo and the first wife got on the first carriage, Fifth Lady and Eleventh Lady got on the second, Mother Xu, Brother Hui and Brother Hui's wet nurse got on the third carriage, Amber, Holly, Ziwei and Ziyuan got on the fourth carriage, and the mother and several servants of the Luo family who were sent by the lady to pick them up got on the fifth and sixth carriages. Together with more than thirty guards, they left Gongxian Hutong and headed towards Hehuali in a mighty manner.

It was early noon when we arrived at Xu's house.

They went to see Yuanniang first.

Madam Wen had arrived a long time ago. After everyone greeted each other, Zhun Ge and Xiu Ge hugged each other with smiles on their faces. They held hands and went to the back garden to see the koi.

"Today you have to accompany Brother Xiu to have dinner at Grandmother's house." Yuan Niang said softly, "After dinner, let Sister Wei Zi take you to see the koi. Okay?"

Zhun Ge nodded obediently, and Xiu Ge also said "OK", winning praise from the adults.

After chatting for a while, everyone went to see the lady, accompanied by Madam Wen.

The lady was waiting in the hall with a little girl of eight or nine years old wearing a red silk jacket.

When Zhun Ge saw the little girl, he happily shouted "Zhen Jie'er", then struggled out of the wet nurse's arms and ran towards the little girl.

The little girl walked up to him with a smile, took his hand, and said, "Why did you lose Brother Xiu?"

Zhun Ge lowered his head embarrassedly and called out "Xiu Ge" in a low voice.

Brother Xiu didn't mind. He ran over, took Brother Zhun's hand, and called the little girl "Cousin".

In the Xu family, only Madam Wen gave birth to a girl in Zhun Ge's generation. Without thinking too much, Shiyi Niang knew that this little girl was Xu Lingyi's eldest daughter.

She couldn't help but look at Sister Zhen carefully.

She seemed to be taller than other children of the same age, with fair skin, thick eyebrows and big eyes, completely different from the petite and delicate Madam Wen.

Or, looks like his father?

While Eleventh Lady was thinking, Zhen Jie'er had already called Aunt Wen "Aunt".

Madam Wen smiled as she listened and called out "Miss".

The lady had already smiled and asked someone to give silver ingots to Brother Xiu as a reward.

Brother Xiu thanked the old lady in a baby voice. The old lady hugged Brother Xiu and kept praising him: "This child is so adorable!"

The eldest wife's eyes were full of smiles. After being humble for a while, Grandma Luo, Fifth Lady, Eleventh Lady and Madam Wen came forward to pay their respects to the dowager. They chatted and laughed as they went to the wing where the dowager usually rested and banqueted.

As soon as everyone sat down, a little maid came to report: "Mrs. Cheng and Miss are here."

"Please come in!" As soon as the lady's voice fell, Mrs. Qiao walked in with the sixth young lady of the Qiao family whom she had met last time.

Mrs. Qiao wore a red jacket with full sleeves and gold everywhere, and had her hair done in a peony bun, with a red gold phoenix holding four pearls in its mouth, and a large ruby ​​on her right. She was dressed very gorgeously. Miss Qiao wore a goose yellow jacket with green persimmon buds embroidered on it, had her hair done in a horse bun, had a gold hairpin, wore a beeswax stone pearl flower, and a pair of red gold and purple pendants on her ears. She looked gentle and charming.

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but glance at Fifth Lady beside her.

Today she wore a pomegranate red jacket with gold all over it, her hair was tied up in a high bun, and she wore three cloisonné and red coral gold hairpins. On her ears were red gold and emerald cat's eye pendants, making her look gorgeous yet dignified.

Look at yourself again.

She had her hair in double spiral buns, and wore two pomegranate red silk flowers the size of fingernails, a pair of red silver pearl pendants on her ears, and a pea green jacket with cloud pattern... She looked a little childish.

Eleventh Lady was very satisfied with the effect, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

Everyone greeted each other and sat down. The maid served tea and snacks. Wei Zi took Zhen Jie'er, Zhun Ge and Xiu Ge to the greenhouse.

There was a laughing voice coming from outside the door: "I'm late, please don't blame me, distinguished guest." As soon as the words fell, a group of maids and wives came in, surrounding a young woman of about twenty-five or twenty-six years old.

She had a graceful figure, and was wearing a bright red jacket with hundreds of butterflies embedded in its flowers and gold. She had her hair in a heart-shaped bun with a branch of red gold inserted in the middle, and a precious flower inlaid with Atlantic pearls and jade leaves on the right. She had willow-shaped eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes, and was slightly made up. She looked energetic, lively, and capable.

Eleventh Lady looked unfamiliar, but she recognized Miss Qiao Liu. She stood up and called out "Third Madam" with a smile.

The third wife? That must be the wife of Xu Lingyi's half-brother Xu Lingning!

Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang also stood up after hearing this.

The eldest wife had already greeted the visitor: "Third Madam, long time no see?"

The third wife hurried forward and bowed to the first wife, saying with a smile, "I am late, please don't blame me, first wife."

The first wife hurriedly took the third wife's hand and said, "Yes, you are getting more beautiful!"

"Thank you for the compliment, Madam." The Third Madam politely exchanged a few words with the First Madam, and then exchanged greetings with Madam Qiao. Then, she smiled and greeted the Sixth Miss of the Qiao Family: "Lian Fang, you are a rare guest!"

It turns out that the sixth young lady of the Qiao family is called Lianfang!

Eleventh Lady pondered in her heart.

Mrs. Qiao glanced at the old lady and said, "She never leaves the house. She spends her days either sewing or teaching her nieces to read."

The Sixth Miss Qiao's face turned red as she heard this, and she asked the Third Madam, "Why don't you see my two nephews?"

The Third Lady smiled and said, "She hasn't finished school yet." Then she turned around and looked at the Fifth Lady and the Eleventh Lady: "Who was I wondering? From a distance, she looked like a fairy. It turned out to be my relative's daughter!"

After hearing this, the first wife quickly introduced the fifth and eleventh ladies to the third wife.

Eleventh Lady heard from the eldest wife that the father of the Third Lady of the Xu family was the illegitimate son of the Zhongqin Earl Gan family. He studied hard and passed the examination for a scholar at the age of 21 and a juren at the age of 44. Now he and Luo Zhenxing are studying in the Imperial Academy...

From her tone, she seems to be very familiar with the Qiao family... Is it that Mrs. Qiao has a wide social circle? Or are all the powerful families in Yanjing intertwined?

She believes more in the latter.

Eleventh Lady’s eyes turned slightly.

After everyone exchanged greetings, Grandma Luo greeted the Third Madam with a smile.

The third lady smiled and took her hand, saying angrily, "Sister-in-law misses you so much that she doesn't come over more often."

Grandma Luo smiled and said, "Now that mother has come to Yanjing and there is someone to take care of the family, I will definitely come over more often. I'm afraid you will dislike it by then."

The two exchanged a few pleasantries, and the Third Lady came forward to pay her respects to the Grand Lady, and explained to her with a smile, "The Third Master is back, and I was helping him wash and dress, so I was late. Please don't blame me, mother."

The lady nodded amiably and asked, "Is the third brother back?"

"Yes!" The Third Lady said respectfully, "I just came back. I wanted to come and pay my respects to mother right away. But when I heard that mother had guests, I went to bed first." She then explained to Mrs. Qiao and the First Lady, "Our Third Master went to Tianjin to collect a debt."

Xu Lingning was born a scholar. The Xu family donated a fourth-rank Tongzhi position to him. He did not work as an official, but helped with household chores.

The lady nodded slightly, smiled and stood up: "Madam, you must be hungry sitting here listening to my gossip. Let's go to the flower hall, and you can have a taste of our Yanjing cuisine - although it's not as good as Jiangnan, it has its own flavor."

The third lady hurried forward to support the lady.

"You are too polite, Madam." The eldest wife said politely, "Yanjing is an important place in the capital, how can it be compared with our small town in the south of the Yangtze River!"

Wu Niang stepped forward to support the eldest wife, while Shiyi Niang followed them silently, leaving Zhen Jie'er, Zhun Ge and Xiu Ge in the lady's room. They chatted and laughed as they went to the newly built five-room flower hall behind the lady's room.

On the way, Mrs. Qiao smiled and said to the first wife, "This was originally an unused study. The fifth master was filial, so he turned the back room into a flower hall last year and built a stage for the lady in the yard. It was called 'Dianchun Hall'." She raised her head and asked the lady, "Is that the name? Am I remembering it correctly?"

"That's the name!" The lady's smile reached her eyes. It was obvious that she was very happy that someone had mentioned this. "He just likes to mess around. He also wants to buy a few children and hire someone to teach him how to play opera, so that he can form an inner troupe. He said that if there are any happy events in the future, he won't need to invite outsiders to avoid being shabby."

"That's a good thing!" Mrs. Qiao said with a smile, "If you don't find anyone you like, I still have a few smart and clever maids who haven't had their hair cut yet. I think they look better than the ones in the 'Deyin Troupe' who come to the palace to sing for the Empress."

Whenever the old lady spoke, Mrs. Qiao would join in the conversation, and she would talk about people and things that they were just acquainted with, intentionally or unintentionally ignoring the first lady. The old lady looked as if she knew nothing about it, and would occasionally say a few words to the first lady.

"Do you like to watch operas, madam?" She said with a smile, "In the past two years, a 'Deyin Troupe' has emerged in Yanjing. They are from Yangzhou and specialize in singing Yiyang Opera. On the Queen's birthday, the Emperor personally selected them to perform in the palace. Now people all over Yanjing are chasing after the Deyin Troupe's operas. I heard that the 'Jiuyuan Pavilion' where they perform is always sold out and it's hard to get a seat!"

The eldest wife laughed and said, "The Deyin Troupe once performed in our Hangzhou Prefecture and was also very famous. But I spend most of my time at home and have never heard the Deyin Troupe's plays."

The lady laughed when she heard this and said, "How about we invite someone to sing at home in a few days?"

"How can I do that?" The eldest wife declined politely, "In the inner courtyard of the mansion..."

"I think this is a good idea!" Mrs. Qiao interrupted the eldest wife with a smile, "You don't know, our Fifth Master loves to listen to opera, but the Marquis hates it being noisy. Every time the Fifth Master sees the Marquis, he gets so scared that he flies like a swallow..." She whispered, "Instead of letting the master go outside, it's better to just stay at home and play."

※

When will the days without electricity end?