Xu Lingkuan stepped forward and bowed respectfully to Eleventh Lady: "I just wanted to say a few words to Fourth Brother." He said it in a nonchalant tone, then smiled and said goodbye: "Fourth Brother, I'll leave first!"
Xu Lingyi nodded, watched Xu Lingkuan leave, then turned around and went into the inner room with Shiyi Niang.
Eleventh Lady helped him change his clothes.
"The Queen Mother's illness is not yet healed. I'll ask Xiaowu to tell Fifth Brother's wife." Xu Lingyi whispered, "Let Fifth Brother's wife go to the palace in the next two days to take a look - she may be more familiar with some of the palace affairs than the Madam."
Eleventh Lady thought of the expression on the lady's face when she mentioned the Queen Mother's illness, and said thoughtfully, "Does the Marquis also suspect that the Queen Mother's illness is fake?"
Xu Lingyi didn't say anything and just accepted it.
Even if it was a fake illness, apart from causing a little ripple in the eldest princess's happy event and making the emperor a little uncomfortable, what real impact would it have?
Eleventh Lady was a little confused.
"The selection will be held in the spring." Xu Lingyi reminded her softly, "This time it's to enrich the emperor's harem."
Eleventh Lady suddenly realized.
The Empress Dowager tried several times to have Yang's daughter enter the palace, but the Emperor politely refused.
"Are you afraid that the Empress Dowager will pretend to be sick and weak to threaten the Emperor?" She thought, "If that's the case, I'm afraid we would have taken precautions long ago. The Fifth Madam is a junior. I think it's better to let the Madam go and take a look."
There was a relationship of superiority and inferiority between them and the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother could decide whether to meet or not, whether to reward her with a brocade stool to sit beside her and talk, or to answer a few words from afar through a pearl curtain. With the fifth lady's qualifications, the Queen Mother might not take her seriously. Even if she was familiar with the situation in the palace, what could she do if she couldn't meet him?
Xu Lingyi knew what she meant. He lowered his voice and said, "I also know a few people in the Cining Palace. But the Empress Dowager has been ill these days and has a bad temper, so no one dares to move around freely. If the Fifth Brother's wife goes, she will definitely ask about her condition. Someone will naturally answer her questions when the time comes."
It turns out that the message couldn’t be delivered!
If this is the case, then it won't make any difference whether or not I meet the Queen Mother.
She nodded slightly and rested with Xu Lingyi.
The next morning, the Fifth Lady went to the palace. She came back from the palace at noon and stayed directly at Eleventh Lady's place.
Eleventh Lady sent someone to the outer courtyard to invite Xu Lingyi and invited her to the inner room to sit down.
When the Fifth Lady saw Eleventh Lady's look, she knew that she understood the purpose of her entering the palace, and she couldn't help but glance at her.
The corner of his eye swept across the windowsill of the kang next to the window.
A foot-high purple jade flower was filled with bright red hibiscus flowers, as gorgeous as the flowers of April. Next to the flower was a basin-sized glass fish tank, which housed four or five rare black goldfish, which were leisurely swinging their large tails like skirts.
She couldn't help but be secretly surprised.
Just these two things are worth a fortune.
Especially the purple water jade flower jar. She had only seen a yellow flower jar of the same size in the bedroom of the late emperor's Empress Wu in her early years.
She couldn't help but look around.
The kang table, high cabinet, armchair, and floor-standing shade were all painted black, while the curtains, kang, and armchair cushions were all half-new and half-worn gamboge brocade with swastikas. There was no incense burner or lily sticks in the room like in other wealthy families, but a pot of wintersweet flowers about the height of a person was placed in the corner. The tender yellow petals were crystal clear, and the dark brown branches were intertwined and twisted, giving off a wild charm and a floating fragrance, making people feel warm and comfortable, and they wanted to take a nap on the fluffy pillow on the kang.
The wintersweet in Eleventh Lady's room was specially planted by Ji Ting's wife. She saw Fifth Lady's eyes lingering on the wintersweet for a moment, so she greeted Fifth Lady with this topic: "It's winter, the doors and windows are closed, and the incense is choking, so I moved this wintersweet from the flower room."
The Fifth Lady was moved when she heard this.
With the help of the doctor, Xin Jie'er's illness improved a lot. So when the doctor said that Lijingxuan was surrounded by flowers and trees, which was not good for Xin Jie'er, she chose the day when Shiyi Niang moved back to her parents' home. The matter of changing houses was left unresolved. Xu Lingkuan was very unhappy when he found out, but seeing that Xin Jie'er was getting better day by day, he pretended to be deaf and dumb and didn't mention it. A few days ago, Xin Jie'er fell ill again, and the doctor said that the incense in the house was too choking...
"The scent of wintersweet flowers is indeed pleasant." She smiled and sat on the big kang by the window. "But the doctor said that our sister Xin can't smell the fragrance of flowers. I want to ask her."
Only then did Eleventh Lady understand why Fifth Lady had clearly agreed to it, but when it was time to move, she went back to her parents' home...
Is this a belated explanation?
Eleventh Lady smiled and agreed with her, saying, "We have to ask carefully. Xin Jie'er's health is the most important." Then she asked the maid to serve tea and snacks.
Just as the Fifth Lady brought the teacup, Xu Lingyi came back.
She quickly stood up and called out, "Fourth Brother."
Eleventh Lady avoided it.
The two of them talked in the inner room for about a cup of tea, and then the Fifth Lady stood up and said goodbye.
Eleventh Lady smiled and sent Fifth Madam to the gate of the courtyard before returning to the inner room.
Xu Lingyi was sitting cross-legged on the big kang by the window, looking deep in thought.
Eleventh Lady quietly took the teacup and made another cup of tea for Xu Lingyi.
Xu Lingyi picked up the teacup and took a sip, then sighed and said, "The Empress Dowager is really sick." He looked very disappointed.
Eleventh Lady sat opposite him and said hesitantly, "So, what are your plans?"
Sometimes people can stand firm in the face of might, but rarely can they remain compassionate in the face of suffering. So when the Madam thought the Queen Mother was pretending to be ill, she could ignore it, but when Xu Lingyi found out that the Queen Mother was really ill, he had to look solemn.
“If it comes to that, we have to agree to something that is valuable!” Xu Lingyi’s expression was grim and firm.
These are not her business.
Eleventh Lady quietly refilled Xu Lingyi's cup of tea.
* * * * * *
From that day on, Xu Lingyi would sometimes go out to visit friends. After finishing her work at the wedding shop, Eleventh Lady welcomed Xu Siyu home.
Xu Siyu's appearance has not changed much, except that he is a head taller than when he left home.
Seeing Aunt Qin standing in the crowd looking at him with tears in her eyes, Xu Siyu turned his head slightly, lowered his eyelids, bowed his hands, and saluted to Eleventh Lady.
Xu Sizhun had a holiday on the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, but he was not idle. Mr. Zhao, who was still editing a book, assigned him a lot of homework. He even went to ask the second wife for advice. The second wife did not give him an answer, but pointed to the study and asked him to find it himself. He searched for three or four days before finding the source of the allusion. Then he was very happy and asked Cha Ming, the new servant who came to work in his room, to secretly go to the street to buy Mr. Zhao’s favorite pork head meat and called Xu Sijie to go with him on the pretext of telling Xu Sijie to paint. Who knew that Xu Sijie turned around and told Shiyi Niang.
Eleventh Lady thought it was a little secret between the children and pretended not to know. As a result, Xu Sijie was alive and kicking after eating the pig head, but Xu Sizhun had diarrhea for two days. Cha Ming was also beaten with ten boards by the lady. If Xu Sizhun had not come forward to plead for him, and Cha Ming was recommended by Bai Zongguan, he would have been driven out long ago.
Knowing that Xu Siyu would be back this afternoon, he went to Shiyi Niang's room early in the morning, took out the literacy cards made by Shiyi Niang to teach Xu Sijie how to recognize words, and then stayed in Shiyi Niang's room to have lunch.
Seeing Xu Siyu bowing to Eleventh Lady, he pulled Xu Sijie forward to bow to his brother.
Xu Sijie followed behind Xu Sizhun and bowed in the same manner.
"The prince has grown taller!" Xu Siyu politely bowed to Xu Sizhun.
The unfamiliar name and tone made Xu Sizhun a little stunned.
Xu Siyu had already touched Xu Sijie's head: "Fifth brother!"
He greeted Xu Sijie with a smile.
That was an action that Eleventh Lady often did. In the Xu family, only Eleventh Lady would and dared to touch his head like this.
Little Xu Sijie didn't understand why this brother who seemed familiar but strange to him wanted to touch his head like his mother. He instinctively turned his head to avoid Xu Siyu, then tightly grasped Xu Sizhun's hand, opened his eyes exactly like Xu Siyu's, and looked at him with a little caution.
Xu Siyu's hand stopped awkwardly in mid-air, his eyes fell on Xu Sijie's hand which was tightly clasped by Xu Sizhun, a trace of bitterness flashed quickly in his eyes.
Eleventh Lady looked at this and sighed secretly in her heart.
Xu Siyu used to be close to Xu Siqin and Xu Sijian, but he was not close to Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie. Later, she arranged for Xu Sijie to live in Lijingxuan, which also meant that he and Xu Sijie would get closer. However, Xu Siyu lived in the front yard and Xu Sijie lived in the back yard, so he would not easily step into the back yard. It was no wonder that Xu Sijie was unfamiliar with him.
She was about to say a few words to help Xu Siyu out of this predicament, but Zhen Jie'er came forward with a smile and bowed to Xu Siyu: "Second brother!"
When Eleventh Lady saw Xu Siyu withdraw his hand, a sincere and joyful smile appeared on her lips.
"Sister Zhen!" He called his sister affectionately, and his face brightened up.
Sister Zhen pursed her lips and smiled.
Xu Siyu's expression became much more cheerful.
He greeted Aunt Qin, Aunt Wen and Aunt Qiao politely.
"Second Young Master!" Aunt Qin's lips twitched slightly, and she looked very excited, but she murmured and could not utter a word.
Madam Wen smiled with her hands covering her mouth, looking very happy: "I haven't seen the Second Young Master for some time. He has become more stable than before. It is true that 'reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling a thousand miles'. We should go out and see the world..." Her words were as long as before, so that Xu Siyu lowered his head slightly and listened for a long time with a smile on his face before he finished.
Qiao Lianfang's reaction was much more straightforward.
She nodded slightly at Xu Siyu and stepped aside.
Eleventh Lady smiled and called Xu Siyu: "Let's go see grandma! She has been talking about it since early morning!"
Xu Siyu responded respectfully with a "yes" and, surrounded by maids, servants and old women, went to the old lady together with Xu Sizhun, Xu Sijie and Zhen Jie'er.
Aunt Qin stood there, staring at Xu Siyu's back and wiping her eyes with a handkerchief: "The second young master has lost a lot of weight!"
Mingming has a rosy complexion and looks full of energy.
Qiao Lianfang listened with disapproval, curled her lips sarcastically, and returned to the house with her maid.
Madam Wen was always considerate and sympathetic: "The return of the Second Young Master is a great joy. Don't cry, sister. The Madam will take the Second Young Master to see the Madam now, and he will come to see you after that. Anle is far away, and the customs and habits here are different from ours. I think you should go back to your room and ask someone to make some of the Second Young Master's favorite food. When the Second Young Master comes to see you, you can also satisfy his cravings."
"I was confused, I was confused." Aunt Qin wiped away her tears, bowed to Aunt Wen with gratitude, and hurried away with her maid.
Madam Wen looked at the yard that was bustling just now but now deserted and empty, smiled and shook her head, then slowly walked towards her own yard with Qiuhong.
"You just said that there was something strange about the parrot that the eldest brother-in-law gave to the eldest lady. What was it?"