Eleventh Lady had no idea what Xu Lingyi was thinking.

After the second day of February, he first summoned Chang Jiuhe to inquire about matters at the farm, and then summoned Wan Yizon to inquire about matters at the orchard.

After finishing the business, Wan Yizong said, "Jiang Bingzheng has become the shopkeeper of another shop, and Liu Yuanrui and his wife often help out in the Xi shop. My orchard is busy only during the fruit harvest season, but there is nothing to do at other times. If Madam likes it, why not let our Erxian go to help you look after the house!"

Eleventh Lady was worried about this matter.

The two dowry houses were a bit old and had not been taken care of, so they were gradually falling into disrepair. Last winter, there was only a moderate snowfall, but it collapsed the roof of the east wing.

"We'll talk about this in a few days." She smiled and sent Wan Yizong away, waiting for Xu Lingyi to come back and discuss with him: "...I want to ask Manager Bai to help sell the two dowry houses, and pool the money together to buy a better house."

Xu Lingyi thought for a moment and said, "The one in Goldfish Lane is pretty good. The alley is spacious and the place is quiet. I think it would be better to sell the other one and renovate the one in Goldfish Lane. It would be more cost-effective than buying a new one."

She was Xu Luoshi now. Even if she wanted to stay in a separate courtyard to relax, the Xu family had plenty of houses. It was not her turn to live in Goldfish Lane. Regardless of the distance, it was indeed a good place. In addition, Liu Yuanrui's family was now also responsible for the night watch of the wedding shop, so the place was basically empty.

"Then I'll talk to Manager Bai tomorrow." Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "We'll have to renovate Goldfish Lane before summer."

Xu Lingyi nodded and talked about the brothers Xu Siqin and Xu Sijian: "... Calculating the date, it will be mid-March at the latest. They are both old enough to live in the inner house. I asked someone to clean up the Yuanxiang Pavilion in the outer courtyard for them to live in. For the time being, they will study with Mr. Zhao together with Zhun and Jie."

"Zhun Ge has just started learning, and Jie Ge is just following him to get by." Eleventh Lady hesitated, "Qin Ge and Jian Ge are different. They both learned eight-part essays from the teacher in the clan school. I'm afraid the Marquis and the Third Master need to have a good talk about this matter. See what plans the Third Master has for the two children. If they are going to take the imperial examination, it will inevitably waste time to read idle books with Mr. Zhao. It's better for them to go to Jinxi Academy with Yu Ge; if they are going to take the Yin En, that's fine too."

"That's what I thought, too!" Xu Lingyi smiled bitterly. "It's just that Third Brother was hesitant and didn't give a clear answer, so I had no choice but to settle the children first."

The two of them chatted about family matters for a long time before they blew out the lights and went to bed.

As she was thinking, the atmosphere became more and more ambiguous... Eleventh Lady... did not receive the same love and care as before... She could not help but get angry and threw off the quilt and jumped out of bed.

Xu Lingyi hurriedly hugged her from behind.

"Why are you so angry!" He smiled and hugged her in his arms, then put his face against hers affectionately.

Eleventh Lady turned her head away and ignored him.

"Okay," Xu Lingyi kissed her hair, forehead, and lips... His movements were gentle and full of careful love, "Don't be angry!"

Eleventh Lady felt better now that she had a way out, but she still couldn't help but asked coquettishly, "My Lord, do you think it's fun to tease me like this?"

Like a child who has been wronged.

As the thought came to his mind, Xu Lingyi felt a tingling sensation in his heart.

"Silly girl!" His voice was so gentle and doting that he didn't expect it to be so. "I only tease you because I like you!"

Both of them were stunned by these words, like a bolt of lightning hitting the sky.

For a moment, the room was silent, with only the ticking sound of the pendulum.

Feeling uneasy and embarrassed, Xu Lingyi shrank his arms around Shiyi Niang, but felt that this was too cold, so he stopped and said awkwardly, "It's getting late, and you're feeling sleepy again. Go to bed early!"

Eleventh Lady was in a state of confusion, afraid that he would say something that would be difficult to answer. She said "hmm" softly and quickly closed her eyes.

The room fell silent again. They could hear each other's shallow breathing.

Coincidentally, the two turned around and lay sideways with their backs facing each other.

After a while, I felt a not-so-cold breeze blowing behind me.

Eleventh Lady grabbed the corner of the quilt tightly and kept counting the little sheep in her mind.

...One thousand two hundred and eighty-four... No, it should be one thousand three hundred and eighty-four... No, it should be one thousand two hundred and eighty-four. I just counted one thousand one hundred and eighty-four not long ago, so the next number should be one thousand two hundred and eighty-four...

Her mind was a mess.

Decide on the restart count.

As soon as I counted to forty-eight, I felt a warmth on my back.

It was Xu Lingyi who came over!

The thought flashed through his mind, and his stiff body slowly softened.

Eleventh Lady opened her eyes wide, looking at the sachet hanging on the curtain, of which she could only see a faint outline. She didn't know when she fell asleep.

*

In the following days, although the two talked and laughed as before, and discussed selling the house that Shiyi Niang had brought as a dowry, ordered the wood, bricks and stones, hired a master to do the work, and set the date of April 16 to start the construction, but at night, when they slept on the same bed, they felt a little unnatural. They had to talk about this and that. Or they talked about how Xu Siyu had been studying very hard these days and would definitely pass the college entrance examination; or they talked about how happy Xu Sizhun was when he knew that the two brothers Xu Siqin and Xu Sijian were coming back; or they talked about how they should increase Mr. Zhao's salary... They got tired of talking and fell asleep naturally. When they woke up the next day, sometimes Shiyi Niang threw the square pillow to one side and tilted her head to rest on Xu Lingyi's shoulder; sometimes Xu Lingyi lay on his side with his arm on Shiyi Niang.

Every time this happened, Xu Lingyi wanted to just tease her like he did before.

It was just that Eleventh Lady was particularly sensitive. She woke up as soon as he moved. She asked "What time is it?", then hurriedly got up, washed and dressed, talked to the aunts and children who came to greet him, served him breakfast, greeted the lady, went to the main hall to give instructions to the mothers in charge... There was no time to rest. She also sent Wan Erxian to help her renovate the house in Jinyu Lane, and designed the layout of the house with Amber and Zhuxiang. She went to the warehouse where her dowry was placed to search for porcelain and screens, and called Ji Ting's wife to ask whether it was better to plant a magnolia tree or build a wisteria in front of the main house... And Fifth Lady posted a notice inviting her to go to Sixiang Hutong to eat a bowl of longevity noodles on Brother Xin's birthday, and helped match the niece of Lady Gan and Fourth Lady's eldest son Yu Cheng, and was busy all the time.

Xu Lingyi couldn't help but frown slightly, but simply kept silent. He went to the outer courtyard every day to deal with some business matters, or went out to socialize with old friends, and he spent less and less time at home.

Others didn't notice it, but Amber and the other close servants had sensed Xu Lingyi's change and couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. Every morning when serving Xu Lingyi breakfast, they were a little more nervous.

Eleventh Lady saw this and suddenly felt uncomfortable.

So-called “like” is just like this!

She lowered her head and ate her breakfast in silence, and spoke even less.

Xu Lingyi saw that she looked gloomy. She scooped a mouthful of porridge into her mouth and took a long time to swallow it. If he didn't talk to her, she would never speak first. It was as if she was angry with him. The thought flashed through his mind, and his heart, which had just hardened, softened. Instead, he felt that he was a little petty.

Xu Lingyi sighed secretly in his heart and pushed the fresh cold cucumber in front of her: "It's not my favorite food usually, why didn't you touch it today?"

Eleventh Lady looked up in surprise and saw Xu Lingyi's smile, which was helpless but also somewhat doting.

"Eat quickly!" Xu Lingyi helped her pick up a piece of cucumber and put it on the small golden plate. "We have to go and greet mother later."

Eleventh Lady felt mixed emotions. She hummed softly and put the cucumber in her mouth.

The cucumber was refreshing, and mixed with vinegar, it tasted sour and sweet, very refreshing. She ate several chopsticks of it in a row.

Xu Lingyi smiled and shook his head.

A maid came in and said, "My Lord, Madam, the Outer Court's Manager Zhao sent a servant to ask if the invitations for the Spring Banquet on March 3rd this year will still be sent out according to the invitation list from last year?"

To urge Eleventh Lady in a tactful way.

Her face felt hot.

These days I have been so busy matchmaking for Yu Cheng that I have put this matter aside.

Eleventh Lady stood up and said, "I'll give him the banquet list right away!" Before she finished her words, she felt the world spinning and everything went dark before her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Xu Lingyi, who was sitting opposite Eleventh Lady, saw her body sway and suddenly her face turned pale. Her hands frantically held onto the table. Knowing that something was wrong with her, he quickly got up and helped her up.

Eleventh Lady closed her eyes and slowly opened them after a while.

"It's okay." She gave a pale smile, "Maybe I got up too hastily!"

Xu Lingyi's heart trembled.

Only people who are very weak would feel uncomfortable if they got up too quickly. Thinking that she was arguing with him, he didn't care about anything else and picked up Eleventh Lady horizontally.

Eleventh Lady screamed and felt dizzy again. She felt weak all over. She hugged his waist and fell into his arms.

The servants in the room filed out.

"Shiyi Niang, Shiyi Niang!" Xu Lingyi was a little flustered. Shiyi Niang was shy, and she would never lie in his arms like this at other times. But now she must be very uncomfortable. "Where do you feel uncomfortable?" Without waiting for Shiyi Niang to answer, he called Amber again, "Go get a piece of ginseng!" and ordered Lvyun, "Go get a doctor!" Then he carefully placed Shiyi Niang on the bed, touched her forehead and asked her softly, "Where do you feel uncomfortable?"

I feel uncomfortable all over.

Eleventh Lady lay weakly on the bed, but answered irrelevantly: "My Lord, please ask Yanrong to come in and help me take off my jacket."

Xu Lingyi was both amused and confused: "You are still thinking about these things at this time." As he spoke, he helped her take off her jacket and put on a thin blanket according to her usual habit.

Amber brought in the ginseng slices.

Xu Lingyi helped Shiyi Niang up: "Here, take a pill, and you'll be fine when the doctor comes!"

Eleventh Lady nodded and put the ginseng slices in her mouth. Before she lay down, she suddenly stood up, pushed Xu Lingyi away, and leaned over the bed to vomit.

※

Post the draft first!

PS: It’s too late today, and there are still some things that need to be sorted out, so I can’t update it. I’ll update it tomorrow!

O(∩_∩)O~