Someone proposed marriage to Amber, and Xiu Yuan also heard about it.

She didn't take it to heart.

Among the people of similar age, Amber is the most capable one around Eleventh Lady. Whoever can marry Amber can rise to fame overnight. I don’t know how many people are watching. Eleventh Lady has always loved Amber. Ordinary people would probably not agree to the marriage. Naturally, her future is bright. As for Hongxiu, although she does not have a backer like Amber, she is a servant in the main house after all. Unlike her and Qiuhong, she is a maid around the concubine. And she and Qiuhong are a little different. Concubine Wen is popular in the mansion. She is from the Wen family of Yangzhou and has abundant private savings. Even if she can’t stay in the mansion, she can still rely on the Wen family. As for her, she has no one to rely on and no money. Concubine Qiao was sent to the temple for meditation because she rebelled against Eleventh Lady. Who dares to cause trouble to her... Maybe Eleventh Lady is unhappy and it is not impossible that she will marry herself to a blind or lame man.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel a little unhappy.

Zhu Rui was peeking at the door.

"What's wrong?" Xiu Li put down the needle and thread in her hand, "You are so frivolous."

Zhu Rui walked in, her face a little serious: "Sister Xiu Yuan, Auntie only ate a bowl of white porridge and a small plate of vegetables today."

After listening to this, Xiu Li's face darkened. She dropped her needle and thread and went to Qiao Lian's room.

Qiao Lianfang's jet-black hair was neatly tied into a bun, and she wore a half-new, moon-white jacket. She looked a little thinner than she had been during the Chinese New Year. Her facial features were distinct, and her pair of large eyes looked lonely and a little out of place.

The leftovers on the kang table had not been cleared away yet.

Xiu Li took a look, smiled and walked forward, calling "Auntie". She said, "I specially asked the kitchen to make you some egg tofu today. Why didn't you touch it? Did the kitchen not cook it well?"

Qiao Lianfang had already put down the bowl: "The eggs smell very strong today."

The day before yesterday, he said the meat smelled bad, yesterday he said the fish smelled fishy, ​​and today even the eggs smelled bad... Her heart sank, and she smiled and said, "How about having someone stew some chicken soup tomorrow!"

Qiao Lianfang had no interest in this and got up and went to the inner room.

"Give me a cup of tea!" she ordered Xiuzhen, and sat on the big kang by the window. She opened a copy of the Lotus Sutra on the kang table and began to read it carefully.

Xiu Li gently placed the tea next to Qiao Lianfang's hand. Qiao Lianfang stared at the pages of the book without even raising his eyes.

There was some anxiety in Zhurui's eyes when she looked at Xiu Li.

Qiao Lianfang hasn't had any meat for almost a month. She gets up early and goes to bed early every day. When she has nothing to do, she reads or copies scriptures, just like a lay Buddhist, which makes them feel scared.

Xiuzhen had no choice but to step back and take a bite of the egg and tofu soup unwillingly.

It is smooth, tender and very refreshing, without any fishy smell.

"Sister Xiuzhen, what should we do?" Zhurui said anxiously, "How about we talk about what happened in the mansion? Maybe after listening to it, Auntie will cheer up..."

"It's better not to tell." Xiu Yuan disagreed, "Mother Tao was driven to the farm by Madam, and the original manager of the Fourth Madam's room was replaced by Madam Tai's people, and all the furnishings were put away... It's better not to tell, I'm afraid that after saying this, Auntie will feel even colder."

"That's not it!" Zhu Rui whispered, "I mean the Marquis..."

Xiu Li was surprised: "My Lord? What happened to my Lord?"

"I heard from Madam Tian that Madam will be well in June," Zhu Rui said softly, "By then, the Marquis won't stay in Madam's room every day. Madam hasn't taken a concubine for the Marquis. Then we, the aunt, will have a chance!"

Xiu Li was quite moved by what she heard. She looked up and was about to ask for details, but she saw Qiao Lianfang standing quietly in front of the door curtain. She didn't know when she came or how much she heard.

"Aunt!" Xiu Li and Zhu Rui stopped the topic at the same time. They both felt a little uncomfortable talking behind her back.

Qiao Lianfang walked out quickly: "It's time to pay respects to the Madam!"

Zhu Rui said "Oh" quickly and followed quickly.

When they arrived, Madam Wen, Madam Qin and Madam Yang had already arrived.

Qiao Lianfang bowed and sat silently on the brocade stool that was left empty for her, listening to what Madam Wen, Lady Yang, and Eleventh Lady were saying.

A servant came in and reported, "Madam, the Marquis said that he will set off at 3:00 pm tomorrow and asked you to send a capable mother to accompany the Fourth Young Master."

Eleventh Lady nodded, and the servant retreated respectfully.

Aunt Qin calculated the days and found out that Yuanniang's twenty-one-day ritual would be completed tomorrow, and Xu Sizun was going to burn incense for Yuanniang.

Eleventh Lady sent Mother Song to go.

Xu Lingyi and Xu Sizhun stayed in the temple for a whole day and returned home at dusk.

Xu Sizun went to Yuanniang's old residence.

The leaves of the holly tree in the yard were thick and still green and lovely, but the glittering ornaments in my mother's room were gone, leaving only the bare black lacquered furniture and the empty black multi-treasure cabinets, with the half-new and half-old beautiful blue curtains hanging next to them, making the gold bricks that were originally as smooth as a mirror become dim and no longer bright. The whole room was like a beauty in her twilight years who had taken off her makeup, suddenly losing its luster and becoming old.

Xu Sizun stood in the middle of the hall, staring blankly at the five main rooms which seemed quite spacious to him, and was speechless for a long while.

Mother Wang explained in a low voice, "Fourth Madam said that those things are very valuable, and they were left by the Crown Prince's mother. It would be a disaster if one of them was lost. She asked us to store them in the warehouse. We will give them to the Crown Prince after he gets married."

There must be someone who covets such a good thing.

Xu Sizhun nodded, but for some reason, he still felt a little uncomfortable.

He stood in front of his mother's half-figure, unwilling to leave for a long time.

* * * * * *

After dinner at the Madam's, everyone sat in the west side room to drink tea. Xu Lingyi mentioned Xu Siqin's mountain climbing: "... these days are full of colorful flowers, and brother Yu has such a happy event. You brothers should discuss and celebrate, which is also a good thing. But there are older and younger brothers among you brothers, and mountain climbing is too tiring for brothers Zhun and Jie. I think it's better to let Mr. Zhao accompany you to the West Mountain Villa for a day. Brother Qin and the others who want to go mountain climbing can go by themselves, and the two younger brothers Zhun and Jie can stay in the villa and stroll around."

Xu Siqin and the others were surprised and disappointed when they heard this.

They were surprised that Xu Lingyi knew about this and arranged a schedule in a serious manner. They had planned to sneak out for a day under the pretext of accompanying Xu Siyu to visit a co-defendant. They were disappointed that not only did Xu Lingyi know about this, but he also arranged for Mr. Zhao, their mentor, to accompany them. They would be tied up by then, and there would be no happiness at all. But when Xu Lingyi spoke, they could only bow their heads and say "yes".

Xu Sizhun was secretly happy, knowing that what he said to his mother had worked. He couldn't wait to send Xu Sijie back to Shiyi Niang before the people who were drinking tea left.

"Mother, mother," Xu Sizhun pulled Shiyi Niang's sleeve, "Daddy said today that we should go to West Hill." He added, "But he didn't say that we should barbecue. Please talk to Daddy again, and then we can barbecue in the back yard."

"You can have barbecue!" Shiyi Niang considered that it was spring now, "but you can only eat a small piece."

Xu Sizhun nodded repeatedly to assure him.

His stomach was not very healthy, so he wanted to barbecue more for fun than for eating.

"I'll ask Yanrong to prepare it for you when the time comes." Eleventh Lady responded with a smile.

Xu Sizhun had no regrets and went back happily.

We passed Yuanniang’s former residence on the way.

His steps stopped unconsciously.

"Fourth Young Master, let's go back!" Cha Xiang didn't like that room. She heard that the late Fourth Madam died there, and she felt a little scared. "It's too late, and I have to get up early to go to class tomorrow!"

Xu Sizhun did not listen to her advice and knocked on the door.

The maid who answered the door was an old woman. When she saw that it was Xu Sizhun, she immediately ordered people to light up all the lanterns under the eaves, and then she carried an octagonal palace lantern and accompanied Xu Sizhun to the inner room.

Xu Sizhun stood in front of his mother's portrait for a moment before returning to the lady.

The next morning, when he went to pay his respects to Shiyi Niang, he seemed a little unhappy and asked Shiyi Niang, "When will Mother Tao come back?"

Eleventh Lady was a little surprised.

The room was full of people, but it was dead silent.

Xu Sizhun murmured, "I want to eat the Fuling cake made by Mother Tao."

"When Tao Cheng's leg gets better, he should be back soon!" Shiyi Niang smiled and patted Xu Sizun's shoulder. "I'll make you some Fuling cake when you get out of school at noon!"

Xu Sizhun said "hmm" and became happy again. He discussed with Xu Sijie what food to bring to Xishan in a few days.

At noon, Shiyi Niang made Poria cocos cake as instructed.

Xu Sizhun broke it open and the middle was snow-white.

He lowered his eyelids and ate the Poria cocos cake in small bites.

Shiyi Niang saw this and asked someone to find out how Mother Tao made her Poria cocos cake.

The second time I used some raisins in the Fuling cake.

Xu Sizhun ate two of them and never asked for Poria cocos cake again.

A few days after the children came back from Xishan, it was the birthday of the lady, and then they sent Xu Siyu off to Le'an to prepare gifts for the Dragon Boat Festival in May. When they saw the mother from the Shao family coming to pay respects, there were so many things to do. Although Shiyi Niang didn't want to do it herself, she couldn't just ignore it. She had to ask Yanrong to pay more attention to Xu Sizhun: "... If there is anything, report it to me first. Don't think it's a small matter and just ignore it."

Yanrong responded respectfully and became very close to Chaxiang, the maidservant beside Xu Sizun.

Time flies and it is the beginning of May. A letter arrives from Yuhang. Whether it is Luo Zhenxing or Fifth Aunt, the words between the lines reveal the joy of Shiyi Niang's pregnancy. Xu Lingyi heaved a sigh of relief, handed the letter to Amber and put it in his study. He sat on the kang and looked at Shiyi Niang's slightly bulging belly and smiled: "She is a lucky one!" His tone was quite emotional.

Eleventh Lady was stunned.

Xu Lingyi smiled and held her hand: "Your birthday is coming soon, is there anything special you want?"

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Post a draft first!

PS: I tried my best to write, I don’t know if I can update it today.

But no matter what, don’t wait any longer.

~~~~(_