Chapter 408: Desire (Part 2)

Xu Siqin and Xu Sijian first settled down in Yuanxiang Pavilion, and then went to the lady's house for dinner.

Except for Eleventh Lady, everyone has arrived.

The nephews and brothers met and had a lively time before they dispersed.

The brothers Xu Siqin and Xu Sijian went to Xu Siyu's place. The half-grown boys asked the kitchen in the outer courtyard to help them prepare a few dishes, grabbed a jar of Jinhua wine, and closed the door to talk about Qi Kua.

Xu Sijian was young and straightforward, and he was with his brother and cousin, so he was drunk by Xu Siqin and Xu Siyu in no time. Xu Siyu asked Xiaoluzi to wait on him and then he talked to Xu Siqin.

"Don't hide it from me. Why did you suddenly want to go back to Yanjing?" Xu Siyu was used to playing with his classmates in Le'an. He had long since mastered a set of tricks to avoid and drink. He was far from being comparable to Xu Siqin and Xu Sijian, who had always lived under the supervision of their parents.

Xu Siqin was already a little drunk and smiled bitterly when he heard this.

"You know my mother, she always wanted to make further progress. As a result, she offended my father's superiors. My father had no choice but to send us two brothers back to Yanjing."

"Offended the superiors?" Xu Siyu was a little surprised. "What exactly happened?"

Xu Siqin sighed, "The prefect of Shangzhou has a daughter who is the same age as my brother. She wanted to marry into our family. But my mother thought the family was too low and didn't agree. Instead, she fell in love with the daughter of the Shaanxi Provincial Education Commissioner..." At this point, he paused, "The Shaanxi Provincial Education Commissioner thought that my brothers had no achievements..."

Xu Siyu felt that the situation would not be that simple, and said thoughtfully: "That's not an offense!"

Xu Siqin was a little embarrassed: "My mother asked the wife of the commander of Shaanxi to act as a matchmaker. Who knew that the Shaanxi provincial education commissioner was very arrogant and rejected the proposal out of hand, which made the commander's wife feel embarrassed. She came back and told my mother. My mother was also a little angry, so she told the commander's wife that the governor of Shangzhou wanted to marry his daughter to our family, but we didn't agree. Somehow, this matter was spread around and it became known that the governor of Shangzhou wanted to marry his daughter to our family, and it didn't matter if it was me or my brother..."

Xu Siyu was somewhat stunned: "What you said is too hurtful!"

"That's right!" Xu Siqin said helplessly, "Dad is a kind person. When he saw that some families really couldn't afford to pay the public grain tax, he turned a blind eye and exempted them. Therefore, the public grain tax for the past two years has not been completed. The Shangzhou prefect never said anything. Since this rumor came out, Dad was reprimanded by the Shangzhou prefect for two consecutive months. When I came, Dad's performance was rated 'poor'."

Xu Siyu was speechless for a moment and had to pour a glass of wine for Xu Siqin.

The room was quiet.

Xu Siqin drank two cups in a row. Suddenly he asked, "Sister Xian... is she okay?"

"I don't know either!" Xu Siyu's eyes dimmed, "Not long after you left, I also went to Le'an..." As he spoke, he picked up the cup and took a big sip, and whispered, "Mother should know, right? I heard that she was very close to the Gan family's wife!"

Xu Siqin remained silent for a long time, then took a deep breath and said with a smile, "By the way, what disease did your mother have?" and changed the subject.

"I'm not sick!" Xu Siyu lowered his eyelids and murmured, "I'm pregnant."

"Ah!" Xu Siqin was a little surprised. Seeing Xu Siyu's bitter expression, he smiled and poured a glass of wine for Xu Siyu. "Hey, didn't you write to me last time and tell me that you are now only thinking about how to pass the imperial examination? Fourth uncle will leave some dignity for Aunt Qin in view of your hard work, so you will have nothing to regret.

What? Are you saying these words of apology? "

Xu Siyu glared at Xu Siqin and said, "Can we still have a heart-to-heart talk?"

"Then why do you care?" Xu Siqin said with a smile, "Even if the fourth aunt has ten or eight children, what does it have to do with you?"

"I didn't care in the first place!" Xu Siyu argued, "When did I ever say I cared?"

"If that's the case," Xu Siqin asked, "then why are you so anxious?"

Xu Siyu was speechless, his lips twitching, and after a while he said: "You always misunderstand me..."

When Xu Lingyi returned to the house, Eleventh Lady was drinking millet porridge with the spiced garlic sent by Madam Gan.

He smiled and touched her head, then went to the bathroom to change clothes. When he came out, Eleventh Lady was picking up a clove of garlic, with a hesitant look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Xu Lingyi sat on the kang opposite Shiyi Niang.

"I think it's delicious." Eleventh Lady said, putting the garlic cloves back into the small dish, "but I'm afraid it's not good to eat too much."

Xu Lingan laughed: "How about some apples?"

Eleventh Lady shook her head: "Forget it, in case I feel uncomfortable again."

Amber helped Shiyi Niang to wash and dress, and when she came back, the maid had already made the kang (a bed) for her - for the past few days, they all slept on the big kang (a bed that was located next to the window) in the east room.

Xu Lingyi asked about Yu Cheng's marriage: "...Is it done?"

"It will probably work!" Eleventh Lady got on the kang, wondering in her heart why Xu Lingyi suddenly thought of asking this. "Fourth Sister is very satisfied." As she spoke, she suddenly had an idea and smiled, "Could it be that Third Master wants you to help Qin and Zhao find a good marriage?"

Xu Lingyi helped her put on the quilt: "You didn't ask me to do it. You asked mom to do it!"

She actually guessed it right.

"Mother must be in a difficult situation too!" Eleventh Lady's mind raced. "It's a matter of choosing a matchmaker. On one side is the woman, and on the other side is the man. We have to have families that are similar to each other to be matchmakers. I'm a matchmaker for Cheng Ge'er because Fourth Sister has a gentle personality and is kind. Madam Gan's niece won't make things difficult for her without reason after she marries him.

If it were someone else's family, I wouldn't dare to intervene." Then he told Xu Lingyi about how the Third Lady and his sister-in-law got angry, which led to Xian Jie'er's hasty engagement, "... The Third Sister-in-law and his sister-in-law can't even get along, let alone others?"

Xu Lingyi was looking at the lady's embarrassed look as she held Xu Lingning's letter. Thinking of Eleventh Lady acting as a matchmaker for Fourth Lady, he wanted to remind her, but he didn't expect that she understood much more than he thought.

"You!" He smiled and took off his shoes and got on the kang, "You always have your own way of doing everything."

Eleventh Lady pursed her lips and smiled.

She was afraid that Xu Lingyi would entrust her with the marriage of Xu Siqin and Xu Sijian. If the new daughter-in-law got married, and the third wife acted like a mother-in-law and made the new daughter-in-law suffer, how would she explain it to the girl's parents?

Seeing that Xu Lingyi didn't continue the topic, she quickly lay down: "Let's rest early!"

Seeing that she had eaten well and wanted to sleep, Xu Lingyi smiled, blew out the light and lay down. However, his hand naturally reached into her clothes and fell on her still flat belly.

Eleventh Lady moved her body, found a comfortable position and fell asleep.

On the third day of the third lunar month, knowing that Eleventh Lady was not feeling well, everyone came to see her and then went to the Flower Hall to eat. After the meal, they moved to Dianchun Hall to listen to stories.

Mrs. Zhou ran to Eleventh Lady's side.

"Are you pregnant?" She said with sharp eyes.

"The imperial physician said that the pulse is not very clear yet." Shiyi Niang smiled and said, "We will know after a few days of repeated examinations."

"That gang of doctors," Mrs. Zhou said with a smile, "are afraid of taking responsibility. I have experience in this matter and I can't make a mistake."

Eleventh Lady smiled and asked the maid to serve tea to Madam Zhou.

"You must have felt bad these few days!" Mrs. Zhou sat beside the kang and talked to her, "You will feel better in a few days. It is spring now, and there are many eggs. Eat more eggs..." She shared her experience for a long time, and then asked her, "What are your plans for the Marquis?"

Eleventh Lady was embarrassed to say that Xu Lingyi had been staying in the inner house these days, so she said ambiguously, "I don't have any plans!"

"That won't do!" Madam Zhou whispered, "You have to be careful and choose your concubine as soon as possible." Then she pointed to the east courtyard and said, "Don't let anyone take advantage of the opportunity to enter."

Eleventh Lady smiled and said nothing.

There are some things she can't refuse, but she won't take the initiative either.

Mrs. Zhou thought she understood. She sighed and said, "Our concubine Yang has passed away. I have to comfort our master and help him find a concubine."

Eleventh Lady could not hide her surprise.

"So that he wouldn't think that I couldn't tolerate Yang." Madam Zhou said with a smile, "So this time I didn't raise the maids around me, but found him a daughter of a scholar with a clean family background. Not only that, but she is also very beautiful, not inferior to Yang."

As they were talking, Grandma Huang San came.

"I knew you were hiding here and whispering to Shiyi Niang." Grandma Huang San looked at Shiyi Niang with a smile, "Are you pregnant?"

But the truth cannot be hidden from these mistresses in charge.

Eleventh Lady explained it again.

Before he could finish his words, Grandma Lin arrived.

"I was wondering why you looked like you were pregnant." Grandma Lin smiled, "That's good, you've finally made it." Then she said frankly, "Don't worry about those messy things. Your health is important, and having a son is important." She then asked about her diet and daily life.

Eleventh Lady didn't feel uncomfortable while talking to them. They sat together until dusk when it was time for dinner before leaving.

A few days later, Doctor Liu came to check her pulse again, and this time he was very sure that it was a pregnancy pulse, so the lady and others dared to make it public. Xu Lingyi even wrote a letter and asked someone to take it to Yuyao. The second and fifth wives brought supplements to see her. Xu Sizhen and Xu Siyi chattered around Shiyi Niang and guessed whether it was a younger brother or a younger sister. Xin Jieer walked back and forth in front of a floor-length dressing mirror, looking at her own shadow. Zhen Jie took a few patterns and asked Shiyi Niang to choose: "Do you want to make a bellyband that means surplus every year? Or a bellyband that means happy reunion?"

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Just embroider whatever you think is beautiful!"

As he was speaking, the Empress and the Crown Princess sent eunuchs to inquire about the situation and bring some supplements.

As soon as she landed, Si Niang, who had received the letter, came to see her with some medicinal herbs.

"I wonder how happy Fifth Aunt will be when she finds out?" She held Eleventh Aunt's hand and thought of Seventh Aunt, feeling somewhat emotional.

Eleventh Lady also thought of Seventh Lady who had not made any movement yet, and only talked to Fourth Lady about happy things: "I heard that Cheng'er's marriage has been decided?"

Si Niang didn't want to spoil everyone's fun by talking about Qi Niang, so she said with a smile, "We'll get engaged in May, and we'll get married when the girl reaches the age of marriage. Our Cheng'er can also study peacefully for a few years." She added, "I came here this time, first to see you, and second to ask the Marquis to be a matchmaker!"