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.

Nephews and brothers met and had a lively time before leaving.

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 prepare a few dishes. They grabbed a jar of Jinhua wine, and closed the door to chat about their past.

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 Xiao Luzi 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 the skills of avoiding alcohol and toasting. 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 go further. 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 happened?"

Xu Siqin sighed, "The prefect of Shangzhou has a daughter who is the same age as Jian'er. She wanted to marry into our family. But my mother thought the family background 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 matter would not be so simple, and said thoughtfully: "That can't be considered as offending the superiors!"

Xu Siqin was a little embarrassed: "My mother asked the wife of the Shaanxi commander to act as a matchmaker. Who knew that the Shaanxi education commissioner was very arrogant and refused outright, 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 Shangzhou prefect 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 Shangzhou prefect wanted to marry his daughter to our family, and it would be okay for either me or Brother Jian..."

Xu Siyu was somewhat stunned: "Such words are 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 paid. The Shangzhou prefect never said anything. Since such a rumor spread, Dad was reprimanded by the Shangzhou prefect for two consecutive months. When I came, Dad's performance evaluation 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, "Yuan Jie'er...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 lady!"

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

"She's not sick!" Xu Siyu lowered his eyelids and murmured, "She's pregnant."

"Ah!" Xu Siqin was very surprised. Seeing Xu Siyu's bitter expression, he smiled and poured a glass of wine for Xu Siyu. "Hey, didn't you write to tell me last time that you are now only thinking about how to pass the imperial examination? Fourth uncle will also leave some dignity for Qin Yi Niang because of your hard work, and you will have no regrets. What? Are you saying something against your will?"

Xu Siyu glared at Xu Siqin and said, "Are you and I still saying something against our will?"

"Then why do you care?" Xu Siqin said with a smile, "Even if Fourth Aunt gives birth to eight or ten children, what does it have to do with you?"

"I didn't care about this in the first place!" Xu Siyu argued, "When did I 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 room, Eleventh Lady was drinking millet porridge with the preserved garlic sent by Madam Gan.

He smiled and touched her head, then went to the bathroom to change clothes. When he came out, he saw Eleventh Lady picking up a piece 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 Lingyi laughed: "How about some apples?"

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

Amber helped Shiyi Niang to wash and dress, and when she came back the maid had already made the bed - these past few days, they all slept on the big kang next to the window in the east room.

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

"It's probably going to 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 asked you to help Qin and Jian find a good marriage?"

Xu Lingyi helped her put up the quilt: "It's not me. It's my mother who did it!"

She actually guessed it right.

"Mother must be in a difficult situation too!" Eleventh Lady's mind raced, "Matchmaking, one side is the woman, the other side is the man, only families of similar size can be matchmakers. I am matchmaking for Cheng Ge'er because Fourth Sister is gentle and kind, and Mrs. Gan's niece will not be troubled for no reason if she marries him. If it were someone else's family, I wouldn't dare to intervene." Then she told Xu Lingyi about how Third Lady and her sister-in-law got angry with each other, which led to Sister Huan'er's hasty engagement, "... Third Sister-in-law and her sister-in-law can't even get along, let alone others?"

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

"You!" He smiled, 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 the marriage of Xu Siqin and Xu Sijian to her. If the daughter-in-law got married, the third wife would act like a mother-in-law and make the new daughter-in-law suffer. How would she explain this to the girl's parents?

Seeing that Xu Lingyi was no longer talking about this 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 went to the Flower Hall to eat. After the meal, they moved to Dianchun Hall to listen to stories.

Mrs. Zhou came to Eleventh Lady's side.

"Are you pregnant?" She spoke with her sharp eyes.

"The imperial physician said that the pulse is not very clear yet." Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "We will know after a follow-up visit in a few days."

"Those doctors," Mrs. Zhou said with a smile, "are just afraid of taking responsibility. I have experience in this matter, and I will definitely be right."

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

"You haven't felt well these past few days!" Madam Zhou sat beside the kang and talked to her, "You'll be fine in a few days. It's spring now, eat more eggs..." She shared her experience for a long time and asked her, "What are your plans for the Marquis?"

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

"That won't do!" Madam Zhou whispered, "You have to be careful and choose the 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 were some things she couldn't refuse, but she wouldn't take the initiative either.

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

Eleventh Lady couldn't 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 flatter the maids around me, but helped him find a daughter from a scholar family with a clean family background. Not only that, she is also very beautiful, not inferior to Yang."

As they were talking, Grandma Huang San arrived.

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

It can't 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 what's important, and giving birth to a son is the most important thing." She then asked about her diet and daily life.

Eleventh Lady was talking to them, and perhaps her attention was diverted, so she didn't feel any discomfort. She sat there until dusk when Dianchun Hall urged them to have dinner, and then they dispersed.

A few days later, Doctor Liu came to take the baby's pulse again, and this time he said with certainty that it was a pregnancy pulse. Only then did the Madam and others dare to speak out.

Xu Lingyi wrote a letter and asked someone to take it to Yuyao. The second and fifth wives brought supplements to see her. Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie chattered around Shiyi Niang, guessing whether it was a younger brother or a younger sister. Xin Jie walked back and forth in front of a floor-length dressing mirror, looking at her own shadow. Zhen Jie took out a few patterns and asked Shiyi Niang to choose: "Do you want to make a bellyband with 'Year after year of abundance'? Or a bellyband with 'Happy reunion'?"

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

As they were talking, the Queen and the Crown Princess sent eunuchs to inquire about the situation and bring some supplements.

As soon as she settled down, Si Niang, who had received the news, came to see her with 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 a little emotional.

Eleventh Lady also thought of Seventh Lady who had not made any move 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 brother can 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!"

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It’s a bit late, ⊙﹏⊙b sweat!