Eleventh Lady asked the maid to bring brocade stools for the concubines to sit on.

Nanyong's wife brought Xu Sijie to greet him.

Eleventh Lady was slightly surprised.

It's only three quarters past midnight and it's not even daybreak yet. How come you're here so early!

She looked at Nan Yong's wife, but Nan Yong's wife lowered her eyelids and put Xu Sijie on the ground.

Xu Sijie bowed to Shiyi Niang. He did not throw himself into her arms as usual, but stood aside with his hands hanging down.

Shiyi Niang felt a little strange, but she didn't take it seriously when she thought about how Mr. Zhao had been teaching her etiquette these days. She pointed at Yang and told Xu Sijie, "This is Yang Yiang." She then introduced Xu Sijie to Yang, "This is the Fifth Young Master!"

After hearing this, Yang smiled and called Xu Sijie "Fifth Young Master" and bent her knees to greet him.

However, Xu Sijie didn't even look at her. He looked at Shiyi Niang and called her "Aunt Yang" perfunctorily. Then he turned around to look at Nan Yong's wife, then looked at Shiyi Niang, and pouted in grievance.

This must be what Nanyong’s wife asked!

She often held Xu Sijie in her arms, and was said to have spoiled Xu Sijie too much, lacking the dignity of a mother. Today was the first day that Yang had greeted her, and she was afraid that Yang would look down on her because of this!

Eleventh Lady smiled at Nan Yong's wife and waved to Xu Sijie: "Come, come to your mother!"

Xu Sijie smiled brightly and threw himself into Shiyi Niang's arms like a bird out of a cage.

"Mother, mother, can I play the flute for you today?"

Yesterday, as they were busy with Yang's marriage, Eleventh Lady asked Nan Yong's wife to coax Xu Sijie to rest early.

"Sure!" Eleventh Lady smiled and touched his head.

Xu Sijie smiled happily when he heard this.

A maid came in: "Madam, the fourth young master is here to greet you!"

"Please come in!" Eleventh Lady ordered with a smile.

Xu Sijie, who was leaning against Eleventh Lady, stood on tiptoe and looked around.

Xu Sizhun, wearing a royal blue Huhang Taoist robe, walked in.

"Mother!" He bowed respectfully to Eleventh Lady, but when he looked up he saw an unfamiliar young woman. Knowing that she was his father's new concubine, he looked at her curiously.

Eleventh Lady introduced Yang to him.

Yang knew that the child in front of her was the eldest son of the Yongping Marquisate.

She knelt and saluted, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.

He looked no more than six or seven years old, with fair skin and a thin body, looking quite frail.

He bowed to herself casually and ran to Eleventh Lady.

"Fifth brother!" He and Xu Sijie hugged each other, and Xu Sijie smiled and hugged Xu Sizun back. Then the two whispered a few words, and Xu Sizun pulled Shiyi Niang's sleeve and acted coquettishly: "Mother, I haven't come to your place for lunch for several days. Please let me come to your place for lunch at noon today! I want to eat the pork, bean sprouts and corn dumplings that we had last time."

"Mother, mother," Xu Sijie, who was standing by, also pulled Shiyi Niang's sleeve, "I want to eat too, I want to eat too!"

The atmosphere in the room immediately became cheerful.

"Okay, okay, don't tear my sleeves!" Eleventh Lady teased the two brothers with a smile, "I'll ask Zhu Xiang and the others to make pork, bean sprouts and corn dumplings for you at noon!"

The two little guys cheered.

Xu Sizhun took Xu Sijie's hand and said, "Mom, let's go to school!"

"Your father drank too much yesterday and is resting in the inner room." Eleventh Lady smiled and helped Xu Sizhun straighten his clothes. "Go and pay your respects to your father before going to school."

When Xu Sizhun heard this, he put on a bitter face and lingered beside Shiyi Niang.

When Qiao Lianfang, who was standing behind Shiyi Niang, heard this, her eyes fell on the door curtain of the inner room.

Madam Wen, who was watching coldly, couldn't help but secretly curse Qiao Lianfang for being stupid.

Even if he wanted to curry favor, he shouldn't have done so when Yang came to greet Eleventh Lady for the first time after she entered the house.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but look towards Yang.

Yang was sitting upright on a brocade stool, her eyes on her nose, her nose on her heart, as if she had not heard what Eleventh Lady said, and she was as still as a mountain.

Madam Wen couldn't help but smile bitterly.

I'm afraid this person is not an easy person to deal with!

While he was thinking, he heard Aunt Qin's smiling voice: "Fourth Young Master, the Madam is here, just go. The Marquis will not scold you."

Everyone in the palace knew that the Marquis was very dissatisfied with Xu Sizhun's cowardly behavior. Whenever he met Xu Sizhun to pay his respects, he would lecture him seven or eight times out of ten.

What Aunt Qin said in front of Yang was very meaningful.

If the Marquis didn't scold, it would just be a scene of loving mother and filial son; if the Marquis scolded...

Madam Wen sighed slightly in her heart.

Did Aunt Qin want to tell Yang that although Xu Sizhun was the prince, he was not favored? Or did she want to say that Shiyi Niang was just a small concubine and the Marquis did not take her seriously?

She looked towards Xu Sizhun.

Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie both leaned on Shiyi Niang's side. One had beautiful eyebrows and eyes, somewhat similar to Shiyi Niang; the other had bright eyes, somewhat similar to Xu Lingyi. Both had the hanging gallbladder nose of the Xu family men, and those who didn't know them would think they were brothers.

These two brothers standing in front of the Marquis...

Madam Wen smiled slightly.

I'm afraid Aunt Qin has made the wrong decision this time!

The thought flashed through her mind, and she felt a little annoyed. She smiled and continued, "Yes, Fourth Young Master, your wife is here, so just go!"

Eleventh Lady looked at Madam Wen with some surprise.

Aunt Qin's words had a hidden meaning. Others may not know, but Aunt Wen, with her intelligence, must have heard it. She has always been a person who does not interfere, so why is she following Aunt Qin and adding fuel to the fire?

When Madam Wen saw this, she winked at Eleventh Lady.

Eleventh Lady didn't understand what she meant, but she could feel that she had no ill intentions, and her suspicion deepened.

How could the two children know what the adults were thinking? Xu Sizhun felt that what Qin Yi Niang and Wen Yi Niang said made sense. Shiyi Niang had always protected him. If he was really scolded, Shiyi Niang would definitely speak for him. Besides, he should have gone to greet his father.

His expression brightened up, and he took Xu Sijie's hand and went to the inner room.

Amber calmly went over to help open the curtain, then followed the two brothers into the inner room.

Eleventh Lady felt relieved, picked up the teacup and took a few sips of tea, looking at Yang out of the corner of her eye.

For a moment, the hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

From the inner room came Xu Lingyi's voice, which was softer than usual, and Xu Sizhun's stuttering answers, occasionally mixed with Xu Sijie's laughter.

Eleventh Lady saw Yang's hand on her knee move.

She smiled slightly and looked at Madam Wen.

Madam Wen looked at Madam Qin with a smile on her face, her eyes full of mockery.

How can Madam Wen be so sure that Xu Lingyi will not scold Xu Sizhun this time?

Eleventh Lady was very puzzled, but she knew that the silence was not suitable to continue. She smiled and said to Madam Wen, "This is the Wuyi tea that the palace gave us before the New Year. What do you think of it?"

Madam Wen was a master at making fun of others. She immediately said with a smile, "I don't know much about tea. Any good tea tastes like a cow chewing a peony in my mouth. Madam Qiao, you are the most particular. What do you think of this tea?"

Qiao Lianfang felt like her heart was being fried in a frying pan at this moment.

When she heard that the Marquis had stayed in Shiyi Niang's room last night, she was secretly glad that either the Yang family's daughter was ugly and could not please the Marquis, or the words she said in front of Shiyi Niang worked, and Shiyi Niang had used some tricks to keep the Marquis in the room. But when she saw Yang this morning, her heart sank.

No one expected that the Queen Mother would give such a charming beauty to the Marquis. What was even more unexpected was that Eleventh Lady could still keep the Marquis in her room and give Yang a warning.

Then she thought about how the Marquis had been treating her like a veil since she had ruined his offspring. Now that another beauty had come into his house, if she didn't work harder, the Marquis would never think of her again.

But if he wanted to deal with Yang, he could only rely on Eleventh Lady's position as the main wife.

Because there are some things that can only be justified if they are done by the principal wife.

Having made up her mind, she took the arm of Eleventh Lady affectionately as soon as she entered the room, hoping to ease the relationship between them. She also hinted to Yang that she and Eleventh Lady were as close as sisters and had a close relationship.

Unexpectedly, Yang offered her shoes and socks as soon as she entered the room, and knelt down to Shiyi Niang without hesitation, even lower than Qin Liubao, who was born as a maid.

She couldn't help but tremble with fear.

If this continues, I'm afraid Eleventh Lady will become friends with Yang.

She thought again of the grievances between her and Eleventh Lady.

If Eleventh Lady uses this Yang to deal with me... then where will I be able to stand?

While she was still frightened, she suddenly heard Madam Wen calling her.

Qiao Lianfang was shocked, and it took her a while to come back to her senses. Seeing that everyone in the room was looking at her, she tried hard to recall what Madam Wen had just said, while forcing a smile: "I, I..."

I said "I" for a long time but there was no further response.

The door curtain of the inner room was suddenly lifted, and Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie walked out happily.

Everyone's eyes were on the two brothers.

Qiao Lianfang secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mother, my fifth brother and I are going to school!" Xu Sizun shouted loudly to Eleventh Lady, with unmistakable excitement in his voice.

Eleventh Lady stood up to see them off: "Be careful on your way."

The two brothers nodded at the same time, Sister Zhen came.

"Big sister, you are late!" Xu Sizun seemed more lively than usual. "My fifth brother and I have already greeted mother and father, and we are going to school."

Zhen Jie'er blushed slightly and said, "I'm going to pick flowers for my mother."

Only then did Xu Sizhun notice that the little ori following behind her was holding a sky-blue vase with four or five red camellia flowers as big as bowls in it.

Sister Zhen stepped forward and bowed to Eleventh Lady.

"Mother," she took the vase from Xiaoli's hand, "Poinsettia, do you think this is pretty? I specifically asked Ji Ting's wife to raise it - use this to temporarily replace the hibiscus. After a few days, there will be magnolias."

Everyone in the family knew that Eleventh Lady loved to put big flowers on the windowsill. Although there was a greenhouse, it was not available all year round due to technical limitations. This camellia lacked the spontaneity of the hibiscus, but it was more solemn, not to mention that it was specially sent by Zhenjie.

"It looks good!" Eleventh Lady took the vase with a smile, "Very good looking!" She added, "At this time of year, ask Ji Ting's wife to help you grow camellia. I guess Ji Ting's wife must have a headache because of your nagging?"

Sister Zhen listened and smiled, but did not answer.

※

Sisters, I’m really sorry. I attended the rectification meeting and didn’t dare to leave!

Everyone please read the early draft first, I’m going to catch bugs!