"The buds are very small." Ji Ting's wife explained tremblingly, "They are sandwiched between the leaves and stems, and you can't see them at first glance. They bloom in March and April and emit a fragrance like orchids. So I planted more in front of the yard and behind the house." As she spoke, she looked at Shiyi Niang for help, "Not only did we plant some in Madam's room, we also planted some at Madam's place."

The culprit that caused Shiyi Niang to vomit continuously was just a few modified orchids planted in the yard. Who would have thought that Shiyi Niang would be particularly sensitive to the smell of orchids after she became pregnant!

The grass seeds were planted at the beginning of spring, when Eleventh Lady showed no signs of pregnancy.

The lady thought about it and breathed a sigh of relief. She told Ji Ting's wife, "Clean up all the flowers and plants at home. Don't plant those messy things anymore."

Ji Ting's wife retreated in fear. Lu Yun begged her to see her out: "My dear girl, I wonder who found this orchid? The most important thing right now is to pull all the orchids out. It's already afternoon, and we can't finish it today with just the few maids in our greenhouse. Please lend me this first." Then, she knelt down to salute Lu Yun, "My dear girl, I will repay you for your kindness after I'm done with these few days."

"Look at what sister-in-law said." Luyun smiled, "They are all busy with the madam's affairs, talking about great favors. But the matter of transferring the maids needs Sister Amber's approval. Sister-in-law, wait a moment, I will go ask Sister Amber right away." As she was about to turn around, the plywood curtain in the hall was lifted and Yuban walked out.

"Sister Luyun, the Madam wants to know who discovered the orchid and asks us to come in and talk."

Luyun responded with a smile and called out "Shuangzhu" to the maids standing nearby.

A little maidservant about seven or eight years old ran over.

Lu Yun pointed at Yuban and said, "This is Sister Yuban who is beside the Madam. She is here to ask you to speak to her on the Madam's orders."

The little maid named Shuangzhu followed in timidly.

Seeing that the little maid was fair, thin, and small, but with a pair of lively eyes, the lady smiled and took her hand, stuffed a few candies into her hands, and asked her kindly what her name was, how old she was, what her mother and father did, when she entered the mansion, and where she first worked...

Although Shuangzhu was nervous, she was also very articulate.

Knowing that she was a family-born child, whose mother and father both worked at the farm and who was introduced to the mansion by Chief Steward Bai, the lady was a little surprised. Curiously, she asked her, "How do you know this orchid?"

Shuangzhu said, "I often cut grass to feed pigs on the farm. This is not green grass."

The lady laughed as she listened, and turned to Eleventh Lady and said, "You may be naughty, but you are also a lucky child. You know, there are only a few maids in our yard who know what green grass and orchid grass are. And you happened to meet them."

When Xu Lingyi came back and heard about it, he also laughed and stroked Shiyi Niang's forehead: "It must be a girl. Otherwise, how could she be so delicate!"

Eleventh Lady was half lying on the pillow at the head of the kang. By turning her head, she could see through the glass window the maids and old women who were bending over and pulling orchids in front of the house.

Thinking of the lady's mobilization, her face flushed, and she changed the subject awkwardly, asking Xu Sizun who was standing beside her, "Are we still going to the temple tomorrow?"

Xu Sizhun said: "Master said that I don't have to go. But I want to go!"

The nature of mother and child is an unbreakable blood relationship.

Eleventh Lady nodded and said softly, "Then go down and rest! You have to get up early tomorrow morning!"

Xu Sizhun bowed and retreated.

Just after leaving Eleventh Lady's courtyard, a little maid ran over and said, "Fourth Young Master, Fourth Young Master, Mother Tao asked me to come and ask you, are you still going to the Nian'en Hall to worship today?"

Xu Sizhun recognized the little maid as one of Tao Mama's servants and said, "I was just about to go there!"

The little maid led the way to Yuanniang's former residence.

On the east wall of Yuanniang's inner room when she was alive, there was a half-silhouette of Yuanniang hanging.

Xu Sizun stepped forward, bowed, and burned incense. Mother Tao invited him to sit on the big kang by the window in the second room and poured him tea personally.

"Mom, please sit down and talk too!" Xu Sizhun said politely, "It's my mother's old house, thanks to you for taking care of it."

Mother Tao did not sit down. She stood in front of Xu Sizun and said respectfully, "This is my job." As she spoke, she saw that Xu Sizun's eyes were slightly wet. After hesitating for a while, she whispered, "The fourth young master has grown taller than he was two months ago!" He was very emotional.

Xu Sizhun smiled and said, "Mr. Zhao asked me to walk around the small courtyard in the back room ten times every morning." As he said that, he happily jumped off the kang and skipped a few times on the spot.

"Mom, do you think I am stronger than before?"

Mother Tao thought that if Yuanniang was here, she would be so happy to see Xu Sizhun like this. Her eyes became moist and she nodded repeatedly: "Stronger than before, stronger than before!"

As Xu Sizhun listened, his eyes suddenly brightened up and he smiled with a bit of innocence and childishness, just like Yuanniang in her youth.

Mother Tao was stunned and felt sad.

Xu Sizhun had already started gossiping with Mother Tao: "What have you been doing these days, Mom? Why didn't you come to see me?"

Mother Tao quickly collected her thoughts and said with a smile, "I am old. I caught a cold a few days ago. I was afraid that I would pass the disease on to the Fourth Young Master, so I didn't go to pay my respects to him." As she spoke, a little maid brought in the Fuling cake. Mother Tao took it and placed it on the table with her own hands, "This is made by me. The Fourth Young Master, please try it. Is it to your taste?"

The Fuling cake was sweet and glutinous, with a few raisins in it. Xu Sizhun nodded with a smile: "Delicious!"

Mother Tao smiled and poured Xu Sizun a cup of tea. "Putting raisins in the Fuling cake was your mother's idea. If the Fourth Young Master finds it delicious, I will make it for him often in the future."

Hearing that he learned it from his deceased mother, Xu Sizhun ate two more pieces.

Mother Tao asked about Xu Sizhun's visit to the temple.

"Originally, we planned to hold the water and land ceremony in the side hall, but when Master Jining saw that my father had passed away, she changed it to the back hall of the main hall. There were 28 people, with Master Jining's eldest disciple as the head, leading the chanting of the Lotus Sutra and performing the Samadhi Water Repentance."

If my father didn't go, my mother's ceremony would be held in a side hall.

Thinking of this, Xu Sizhun revealed some disappointment in his words.

If only my mother wasn't sick...

When Mother Tao heard this, a trace of hatred flashed in her eyes, and she sighed softly: "If this were a family, there wouldn't be only 4728 people, there would be at least 5735 people!"

Xu Sizhun shook his head: "But Mr. Zhao said that when the Madam is here, the number cannot exceed five or seven."

"So it's better to be at home!" Mother Tao laughed, "At home, there's no need to be so particular. It's not impossible to do a 57th." She sighed again, "Fortunately, the Marquis passed away, otherwise, how could the funeral be held in the back hall of the Great Hall? It's also our eldest aunt's bad luck that she met the fourth lady who was not in good health. Otherwise, the lady would not have decided to hold a ceremony at Ciyuan Temple at the last minute, and the eldest aunt's memorial day would not have been so lonely."

Xu Sizhun comforted Mother Tao after hearing this: "It's just a little special this year. We always made it at home in previous years!"

Seeing that he looked ignorant of worldly affairs, Mother Tao became even more anxious. After a moment's thought, she asked, "Fourth Young Master, I heard that the Fourth Madam smelled the fragrance of some flowers, so she was not feeling well!" Then she continued, "Speaking of which, our Fourth Madam is an elegant person. Not only does she like to play with daffodils herself, but she also often asks Ji Ting's wife to plant some rare things according to her wishes. Let's not talk about anything else, just the gardenia. That is a flower from the south, and it is not easy to keep it alive in the north. She specially took out money to give to Ji Ting's wife and forced Ji Ting's wife to raise it. She also gave it away everywhere. As a result, others envied our greenhouse and said it was better than the Fengtai greenhouse that was exclusively for the inner palace. People are afraid of being famous, just like pigs are afraid of being fat. I was very nervous when I heard this, for fear that the palace would blame the Marquis for this!"

The old lady had always told Xu Sizun to be low-key and not to show off. He listened to what Mother Tao said and felt that it was somewhat similar to what the old lady said. He said seriously: "Don't worry, Mom. I will tell mother about this in private. If mother knows, she will definitely not send flowers everywhere." As he said this, he thought of Eleventh Lady's frightened look, and then she would show an expression of sincere admiration and gratitude for his reminder... He felt a little excited in his heart.

Mother Tao was very surprised that Xu Sizhun was not on guard against Shiyi Niang. She pondered and said, "The Fourth Madam is the elder, the Fourth Young Master should be careful with his words. Otherwise, the Marquis will think that the Fourth Young Master is not respectful enough to the Fourth Madam. I think you should remind the Fourth Madam, but you should tell Mother Du. In this way, with a middleman, the Fourth Madam will feel better."

Xu Sizhun felt that this was not right. After thinking for a while, he said, "If this happens, grandma will know about it too!"

"You don't know that." Mother Tao said with a smile, "Mother Du is the most capable person around the Madam. She knows what to say and what not to say. Otherwise, she would complain to the Madam about everything. If it's a good thing, it's easy to talk about it. If it's a bad thing, wouldn't the Madam be annoyed to death a long time ago?"

Xu Sizhun knew that the maids would carefully consider what they heard based on the principle of "reporting good news but not bad news".

Xu Sizhun nodded slightly.

Mother Tao smiled deeply in her eyes and added: "People who like flowers and plants almost hurt themselves because of them. Such twists and turns can be regarded as drowning in water while being good at swimming!"

* * * * * *

"I went to Mother Tao's place!" Eleventh Lady leaned lazily on the pillow, "Do you know what they said?"

Yan Rong shook her head slightly and said, "At that time, the servants in the room were sent away. However, when the fourth young master went in, he was still happy, but when he came out, he looked worried. After returning, he barely ate a few mouthfuls of food and said he was full!"

Eleventh Lady nodded slightly and said thoughtfully: "It seems that I have to talk to Mr. Zhao!"

Yan Rong heard this and whispered, "Madam, I think we should find an excuse to send Mother Tao back to her son..."

"What excuse do you think we should make?" Eleventh Lady looked at Yanrong after hearing this.

Yan Rong was embarrassed for a moment, and murmured, "Now, except for paying respects to the Fourth Young Master, she doesn't go anywhere... Now that you are pregnant, I am afraid that people with ulterior motives will think that you are relying on the fact that you have a child and cannot tolerate any sand in your eyes..."

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Only one update today!