Ever since Xu Sizhun's accident that night, Shiyi Niang has never seen the fragrance of tea again.

In the face of survival, everyone is an ant.

Eleventh Lady didn't want Xu Sizhun to be exposed to these things too early, but she didn't want to lie to him either.

"Chaxiang is your personal maid, and her responsibility is to take good care of you. In the middle of the night, she took you out without informing the Madam and Mother Du, and made a decision she shouldn't have made. She has failed in her duty. It is impossible for her to come back to serve you."

Xu Sizun was stunned.

He asked many people, including Mother Du, and they all said that as long as he took good care of himself and recovered, the lady might let Chaxiang come back to serve him if she was happy. This was the first time someone told him so clearly that Chaxiang would never come back.

"But," Xu Sizhun couldn't help but defend Chaxiang, "I asked her to take me out. Chaxiang was just following orders."

"She is older than you and knows more than you. That's why the lady let her serve in your room and take care of Biluo and the others." Whether it's adults or children, it's a rare opportunity for people to communicate like this. Eleventh Lady answered Xu Sizhun patiently and carefully, "You are wrong. She should have pointed it out and stopped you. If she couldn't stop you because of the difference between master and servant, she should have told Madam Du who is in charge of her. Instead of making a decision privately and taking you out."

Xu Sizhun lowered his eyelids.

What his mother said made sense, but for some reason, he always felt something was weird!

After thinking for a long time, he said, "But, but she is just a maid?"

"Yes!" Eleventh Lady laughed, "So some maids and servants become housekeepers and mothers, some maids are sent out to marry when they reach a certain age, and servants can only run errands for the housekeepers until they are old. Some maids and servants can get two taels of silver per month and often receive rewards from their masters, while some maids and servants have no monthly allowance and are often punished. This also has to do with whether the person doing the work is diligent or not."

Xu Sizhun listened and nodded slowly.

Eleventh Lady smiled and put her arm around his shoulders: "Okay, let's go to bed early! Tomorrow morning, we have to ask the steward of the outer courtyard to help Mother Tao deliver the three sacrificial animals!"

Xu Sizhun's face showed sadness again.

Some things need to be done slowly.

Eleventh Lady watched Xu Sizun lie down, covered him with a thin quilt, moved the lamp to the outer room, gave the wet nurse a few instructions, and then left the room.

The old lady hadn't rested yet, and was talking to Mother Du. When she saw Eleventh Lady come out, she smiled and waved at her: "Come and sit down!"

Eleventh Lady smiled and sat down next to the Taifu Lady, who took her hand and asked, "Did you go and tell Zhun-ge about Mother Tao?"

Mother Du personally brought a cup of hot tea.

Eleventh Lady nodded: "Yes!" She added, "I came out only after he rested."

The lady sighed softly, and then said, "Mother Du went to see Aunt Qin today, and she is not in a good condition. Not only did she speak incoherently, but even Mother Du didn't recognize her. I think you should send someone to Le'an to get Yu Ge'er back as soon as possible."

Everyone present knew whether Aunt Qin was ill or not. When Mother Du came back from Luoye Mountain, Aunt Qin's illness worsened... Eleventh Lady's expression was slightly gloomy, and she replied "yes".

At night, thinking about what had happened during this period, he couldn't sleep at all, but he didn't want to wake up Xu Lingyi beside him, so he stared at the sachet on the top of the tent in a daze.

Xu Siyu is not Xu Sizhun, who can be easily persuaded with a few words.

Reading a thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. In the past two years, he has traveled between Yanjing and Le'an, and studied with the world-famous Mr. Jiang. He is no longer the second young master who was raised by women in the mansion. Unfortunately, the people in the mansion rarely communicate with him and don't know much about his changes. Telling him everything that Aunt Qin did, for Xu Lingyi, the lady, and even herself, although the responsibilities have been clearly divided, what about the feelings?

Can feelings be separated by responsibility?

Who will comfort and enlighten this boy who is only fourteen years old?

Eleventh Lady thought of the Second Lady!

She still remembered that when Xu Siyu wanted to change his servant, Aunt Qin had hurriedly sent a letter to the Second Madam who was far away in Xishan... Aunt Qin did not look for the Madam Tai or Xu Lingyi, but only went to the Second Madam, and the Second Madam lived up to her trust and immediately arranged Xiaolu to serve Xu Siyu. Is it true that in Aunt Qin's heart, the Second Madam is a person she can trust more than the Madam Tai and Xu Lingyi? And Xu Siyu, after listening to the words of the Second Madam, put his worries aside and went to Le'an happily. Every time he came back from Le'an, he would respectfully pay his respects to the Second Madam and discuss academic matters with her. Is it true that in Xu Siyu's heart, the Second Madam is a person who is more trustworthy than Xu Lingyi and Aunt Qin?

When everything Qin's concubine did was laid out before Xu Siyu, given the relationship between the Second Madam and Qin's mother and son, could she be asked to come forward to appease Xu Siyu?

While she was thinking, a pair of strong arms gently embraced her.

"What are you thinking about?" Xu Lingyi's mellow voice sounded in her ears, bringing a calming warmth. "Can't sleep?"

"Hmm!" Eleventh Lady leaned into Xu Lingyi's arms, "Thinking about what happened these days..."

Xu Lingyi was silent for a moment and said, "I know... you are pregnant now... there are some things that your mother should help you with... but you will have to take over these things sooner or later..." There was a rare hesitation in his tone.

"My Lord, don't worry about me." Indeed, this is one of her responsibilities. Shiyi Niang whispered, "I'm just a little worried about Yu Ge'er. I'm afraid that when he finds out that Concubine Qin..."

Xu Lingyi lowered his head slightly and kissed Shiyi Niang on the forehead.

"Brother Yu is not like Brother Zhun." He said in a low voice, "He is smart, meticulous, and determined. It is still unclear whether he was involved in this matter."

Eleventh Lady was stunned.

Xu Lingyi said, "Even if he has understood the truth after following Mr. Jiang for the past two years, if you don't tell him clearly, he will definitely guess and it will easily cause some trouble. Maybe, in a few years, he will accidentally bring up the matter of witchcraft, which will make things worse. If you tell him clearly, even if he is sad, he will be able to get over it quickly with his personality. It will be better for him in the future."

This was the first time that Xu Lingyi evaluated Xu Siyu so frankly in front of her.

If we ignore the difference between legitimate and illegitimate children, in Xu Lingyi's heart, he probably thinks that Xu Siyu is more suitable to be the heir to the Yongping Marquisate than Xu Sizhun?

Is it because of this that his feelings are so deep?

Eleventh Lady held Xu Lingyi's big hand that was placed on her waist: "I don't think Yu Ge'er is that kind of person!"

Xu Lingyi knew what she was referring to.

Emotionally, he didn't believe it.

But rationally, he would doubt even without evidence.

This kind of thing makes people feel uncomfortable just thinking about it.

Xu Lingyi didn't want to talk more with Shiyi Niang.

"Go to sleep! If you have anything to say, wait until he comes back."

Yes, anything we say now is groundless worry. We will know the truth only when Xu Siyu comes back.

The day soon came to late June, and the lotus flowers in Biyi Lake were in full bloom. The whole yard was filled with the rich evening fragrance of lotus flowers.

Someone from Cangzhou came to discuss the betrothal gift.

There are many etiquettes for a wealthy family to marry off their daughters, and they also emphasize that they should raise their heads to marry a girl and lower their heads to marry a daughter-in-law. In addition to being reserved, it is also possible that a marriage can be discussed for three to five years. Calculating the date agreed upon with the Shao family, it is time for the two families to sit down and discuss the marriage.

At this stage of marriage, it is no longer the women's business. Xu Lingyi and the stewards of the outer courtyard will take care of it. But Madam Wen was very nervous and repeatedly checked the dowry list with Donghong and others, fearing that something was missed.

Eleventh Lady did the math. Xu Lingyi first took out 20,000 taels of silver, and later added another 10,000 taels. But looking at the dowry that Madam Wen prepared for Zhen Jie'er, it would be impossible to get it without 40,000 or 50,000 taels of silver. In addition, Xu Lingyi also prepared about 20,000 taels of silver worth of land and real estate for Zhen Jie'er... Zhen Jie'er, it seems, has become a little rich lady.

She couldn't help but wonder in her heart, with Xu Siyu, Xu Sizhun, Xu Sijie, plus the one still in her belly, how much money would Xu Lingyi have to spend to complete all these tasks!

When she had some free time, Eleventh Lady went to the palace.

The eldest princess was pretty, lively and lovely. The emperor and the empress loved her like a treasure. Contrary to their usual practice, they did not set up a separate palace to give her to a nanny to raise her, but instead kept her in Kunning Palace with the empress.

When Eleventh Lady went there, the eldest princess, who was over one year old, was practicing walking while being led by the Queen.

The Queen Mother exempted her from the formalities and went to the side hall to talk to her.

"It's such hot weather and such a heavy month. If you have anything to say, just send General Xu to the palace and tell me."

Captain Xu is Xu Lingkuan.

Eleventh Lady thought that the Empress and the Second Lady had a good personal relationship, and that the Second Lady was a relatively straightforward person, so she smiled and said, "I would never come to the Palace without a request, so how could I dare to trouble the Fifth Master?"

The Queen Mother was not angry at all, and she even started to laugh. She asked the palace maid to bring her a brocade stool to sit on, and ordered the female official Huang to bring lotus seed and lily soup to Shiyi Niang.

Eleventh Lady thanked him, half-sitting on the brocade stool, and after eating the lotus seed and lily soup, she explained her purpose: "...Sister Zhen is about to discuss marriage with the Shao family, and would like to ask for your blessing to reward the three elders of Fu, Lu and Shou in the first table."

"What's going on? I need you to come to the palace." The Queen said with a smile, "I'll go to the storehouse and take a closer look. I'll find three statues that are small but exquisitely crafted."

This was exactly what Shiyi Niang wanted, and the expression on her face relaxed a little.

The Empress nodded secretly and started chatting with her. The topic naturally turned to pregnancy and childbirth: "...It's the beginning of October, right? The Marquis is having trouble having children, and Doctor Liu came to report to me, so I calculated the date. There is a woman named Peng in the palace. She was the one who delivered me when I gave birth. She also knows some medical knowledge. I think she is a good candidate, so I kept her in the palace temporarily, just to prepare for your delivery. When the time comes, let her deliver the baby for you. You don't have to worry about the wet nurse. When the time comes, I will choose two or three good-looking ones from the wet nurse's mansion to serve you."

As he was speaking, a eunuch came over from the Crown Princess's side.

"Congratulations, Queen, the Crown Princess is pregnant."

"Ah!" The Queen Mother and Eleventh Lady were both surprised.

The Queen even smiled and said, "These two children have such a good relationship..." Then she said to Eleventh Lady, "I hope that this time, God will give birth to a child."

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O(∩_∩)O~ I’m too tired, I’ll take a rest today, only one update!

PS: The previous chapter and content are a bit inconsistent, so I changed the chapter title and let everyone know.

Post a draft first and catch the bugs right away!