Eleventh Lady felt that there was something else behind the words.

Xu Lingkuan, the fifth master of the Xu family, is only 18 years old this year. He is the captain of the Tiance Camp of the Imperial Guards and a fourth-rank military officer. Three years ago, he married the daughter of Dingnan Marquis Sun Kang. In the eyes of the first wife, Xu Lingkuan is an unlearned and unskilled dandy who only knows how to fly eagles and ride horses by relying on the influence of his ancestors...

Could it be that Mrs. Qiao was talking about Xu Lingkuan?

The lady smiled but did not answer, and led everyone into the flower hall.

There was a floor heating in the flower hall, making it as warm as spring. The table was placed in the west side room of the flower hall, with dishes and chopsticks already laid out, and the maids and old women who were serving stood solemnly by the side.

The third lady warmly invited everyone to sit down.

After some pushing and shoving, the old lady, the first lady, Mrs. Qiao, and the third lady sat at the same table.

Grandma Luo, Fifth Lady, Sixth Miss Qiao, and Eleventh Lady sat at the same table.

Madam Wen retreated outside the hall.

The maids brought water soaked in osmanthus flowers to wash everyone's hands, and served Junshan Yinzhen to the table of the Madam, and Lushan Yunwu to the table of Grandma Luo. Then the maids brought up snacks, platters, side dishes, cold dishes, hot dishes, hot pot... in an endless stream.

The third wife poured Jinhua wine for the dowager wife, the first wife and others.

The lady-in-law politely said to the eldest wife, "It's a home-cooked meal, please don't be disgusted, madam," and then raised her glass to toast everyone.

The first wife and Mrs. Qiao returned the greeting.

The banquet officially begins.

Although there were a lot of dishes on Eleventh Lady's side, no one was too embarrassed to stare at them from afar - if the people helping to serve the dishes saw them, they would definitely stretch out their long chopsticks to pick up some, which would inevitably give people the impression that they were greedy... So everyone ate the dishes in front of them obediently.

As for the Tai Madam, she said she was not feeling well, and drank another small cup of wine, then put down her glass and stopped drinking. The Third Madam took her place. Although Tai Madam looked about the same age as the First Madam, she was actually over 60 years old, so no one dared to persuade her. The First Madam stared at Madam Qiao. After a few glasses of wine, Madam Qiao's face was red, but the First Madam remained calm.

I didn’t expect that the eldest wife could drink so much!

Eleventh Lady sat aside and watched the show.

Soon, Mrs. Qiao could hardly speak clearly.

Seeing that something was not right, the old lady winked at the third lady. The third lady took the wine cup and was about to drink for Mrs. Qiao, but the first lady didn't want to cause trouble at the in-laws' banquet, so she gave up.

After the meal, it was already late in the evening, so everyone moved to the west room to drink tea.

Maybe it was because she was drunk, Mrs. Qiao talked a lot.

"...Everyone who can be your in-law is blessed. Let's talk about the Sun family. If it weren't for you, her daughter would have to spend half a month at her husband's house and half a month at her parents' house after she got married."

The old lady laughed, and seeing the first wife's confused face, she explained, "Marquis Dingnan has only this one daughter, who is as precious as a treasure. He married her to our family because we have many sons, so that she and her son-in-law can visit her parents' home more often. I am also a person who raises children. Parents are pitiful. Let them stay at home for half a month, and live in Marquis Dingnan's mansion in Hongdeng Hutong for the first half of the month. Both sides want to experience something new. You came at an unfortunate time, as it is the second half of the month, and they are still in Marquis Dingnan's mansion. Wait for them to come back and let them pay their respects to you!"

"I dare not, I dare not." The first wife said hurriedly, "The Fifth Madam is the Princess of Danyang County appointed by the late emperor. She is of noble status. How can we let her pay her respects to me!"

The elder sister of Marquis Dingnan was the favorite concubine of the late emperor. He had no children, so when he was alive, he often summoned Sun to the palace to keep him company. The late emperor liked her and conferred the title of "Princess of Danyang County" on her, which was the first among the families of marquises, dukes and ministers.

"You're too polite, Madam." Madam Qiao said with a smile, "The emperor has several poor relatives, let alone you and me? Besides, our princess is a first-class virtuous woman. Since she married into the Xu family, she no longer allows people to call her 'County Princess'. She has always been generous among relatives and friends, and everyone likes her..."

The eldest wife became angry as she listened to her increasingly outrageous words, but she could not show it as she was a guest at the old lady's house, so she could only sneer in her heart.

What a frog in the well, so arrogant. It has been more than a hundred years since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty. In the later years of Emperor Taizong's reign, the so-called founding heroes were killed, demoted, or stripped of their titles on the pretext that "Prince Zheng An plotted against An". Most of the family property was sold off, and the remaining families were trembling with fear like dogs that had lost their homes. Finally, during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong, although a few families restored their titles, they were already frightened birds, and they only wanted to save their lives and did not dare to make contributions to the court. Over the past hundred years, most of them were strong on the outside but weak on the inside, relying on their ancestral land to barely maintain their daily expenses. How can they compare with these officials whose descendants have become successful, not only buying land and opening shops, but even using the treasury money of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to do business... If Duke Cheng had not made some money in the Northwest Army in those years, the Qiao family would have been just one of them. He actually spoke nonsense in front of her...

The more she thought about it, the uglier her face looked.

The lady saw it clearly, sighed inwardly, and stood up with a smile: "Why not go and see the newly built stage, it will help digestion!"

The eldest wife knew that the old lady was trying to help her out, so she looked at her with gratitude, and the group went to the newly built stage.

The stage was very small, with two rooms, white walls and gray tiles, and the four corners of the eaves were raised high like flying swallows. The screen wall of the stage was painted with large peony flowers in five colors, which was very gorgeous. Behind the stage was a row of seven side rooms, with three side rooms on the left, a hall on the right, and seven main rooms opposite, with corridors on all four sides and a roll-up shed.

The Third Lady smiled and said, "It's the Fifth Master's idea. In summer, we can hang curtains on the eaves, and fan ourselves while listening to opera. The breeze can help relieve the summer heat. In winter, we can hang plywood curtains, either hanging or rolling them up, and then light a fire, roast sweet potatoes and beans, and have fun, enjoying ourselves..."

Grandma Luo praised repeatedly: "It's really a wonderful idea."

Everyone said "OK".

Wu Niang's eyes were filled with envy, Miss Qiao Liu smiled faintly, and Shiyi Niang looked carefully at the furnishings around her.

The door rails and window lattices are all made of colorful gold, with carvings of flowers, birds and beasts, hundreds of infants, or antiques. They are very different from the commonly used patterns such as five bats holding longevity or five sons passing the imperial examinations. There is solemnity in the lively atmosphere. It can be seen that a lot of effort was put into it.

The lady laughed, "I don't know how much effort was put into building this stage." She pointed to the seven side rooms behind the stage and said, "If this row of rooms had not been built, it would have led directly to the garden." She pointed to the hallway and said, "Half of Xiao Si's study was demolished. Fortunately, he has a good temper. If he had met the old marquis, he would have been beaten up."

Mrs. Qiao said "Oh" and turned her eyes away: "If we start singing over here, won't it bother the Marquis?"

"What are you arguing about?" The lady laughed, "We moved a long time ago. When Xiaowu got married, we moved to the Banyuepan in the back garden. Otherwise, Xiaowu would never have dared to build a large building here."

Everybody laughed.

The lady simply led them into the hall.

There is a small courtyard inside, with only three main rooms facing south and north, with gray tiles, white walls, black painted floor-to-ceiling pillars, and white lattice window paper. There are a few Taihu stones in the middle of the courtyard, a few bamboos on the left, and a few banana trees on the right, which is quiet and elegant.

The eldest wife praised it as a "good place".

"That's right." The old lady smiled and looked at the third lady. "If Xiao San hadn't stopped her and said that if there were distinguished guests, they could come over here to rest, Xiao Wu would have demolished it long ago."

The Third Madam covered her mouth and laughed: "Our master came out to stop the Marquis because he saw his face turn blue."

Everyone laughed as they left the courtyard, the side room behind the stage, and walked up a corridor paved with bluestone. On the left side of the corridor was a wall of lattice windows, with windows in round, square, or crabapple shapes, from which one could see the mountains, clear springs, and strange rocks in the garden. Walking along the way, one could feel the flavor of a Jiangnan garden with a different view from each window.

Mrs. Qiao smiled and said, "Master Wu really put in a lot of effort to even change this wall."

The lady laughed and pointed to a few green branches sticking out from the pink wall not far to the right: "That's where Lao Wu lives."

Eleventh Lady looked and saw a five-step staircase where two or three hairless little maids were throwing sandbags.

Seeing the Madam approaching, they all stepped forward to pay their respects to her. A fifty-year-old woman wearing a lilac-colored jacket took out candies from her purse and gave them to the maids. The maids all ran away with smiles on their faces. The Madam pointed to a section of the white wall in front and said, "That's Yuanniang's yard."

Bamboo tops appear on the wall.

The third lady pointed to the pink wall at the end of the corridor and said, "I live there!"

Behind the lady's house is the flower hall, and next to the flower hall lives Xu Lingkuan, next to Xu Lingkuan is Xu Lingyi, and further away is Xu Lingning... The Xu family should also have a widowed sister-in-law, I wonder where she lives?

Shiyi Niang pondered. She followed Yuanniang's courtyard and saw a wide and bright door in the lattice window wall. The main door and the side door on the left were closed. The side door on the right was opened. Two maids were sitting on the spring stool in front of the door and talking. When they saw the lady, they immediately ran over to pay their respects.

The old lady spoke a few words to the two women in a friendly manner, pointed to the bright gate and said to the eldest wife, "Enter from here and you will reach the back garden."

The eldest wife nodded.

The third lady smiled and said, "After walking for a while, why don't you go to my place and have a cup of tea!"

The old lady looked at the eldest lady, who was afraid that the old lady might be tired, so she smiled and said, "Okay!"

They walked south along the path that the Third Lady had pointed out and arrived at her residence.

The residence of the third wife has five rooms and four courtyards, which is larger than the house of the Luo family in Gongxian Hutong. The walls are white and the tiles are gray, and the door is painted black. The back house is divided into a study and a flower hall, and the front is the hall. Entering the hall, there is a cross-shaped bluestone corridor, with banana and apricot trees planted and flower racks set up. There are three main rooms with side rooms, and a corridor connecting the east and west wing rooms. Xu Siqin and Xu Sijian, the eldest grandsons of the Xu family, live in the third courtyard. Xu Lingning and his wife live in the yard. Magnolia trees and pine trees are planted in the yard. The fourth courtyard is the back room.

They drank tea in the main room where the third wife lived.

The clear and bright light golden tea soup is dotted with green leaves and filled with the rich fragrance of osmanthus.

Eleventh Lady was slightly stunned.

Take a gentle sip.

The unique bean curd aroma of Longjing tea and the sweetness of osmanthus are intertwined together, making it mellow and sweet, leaving a lingering fragrance on the lips and teeth.

It's osmanthus tea.

Although the taste was unique, she didn't like it.

Eleventh Lady likes plain tea - each tea has its own characteristics, and if other things are mixed in, it always feels like it lacks the original purity.

As she pondered, someone had already praised her, "What a great tea!"

Eleventh Lady looked in the direction of the voice—it was the Sixth Miss of the Qiao family.

"This is the new scented tea that Lingxiu Tower has launched this year!" She narrowed her eyes slightly, with a satisfied expression.

The Third Madam smiled and said, "Sister, you are such an elegant person. However, this is not the tea from Lingxiu Tower. It was made by Second Sister-in-law herself last autumn, using the flowers from the century-old osmanthus tree in the garden."