When the brothers Xu Siqin and Xu Sijian arrived at Luoye Mountain, Xu Siyu was reading.

Seeing the two of them, he came out to greet them happily.

When Xu Siqin saw the books piled on his desk and the pens placed on the inkstone, he felt quite unhappy.

He has been here several times since Xu Siyu came to Luoye Mountain. Every time he comes, Xu Siyu is either reading or writing. Compared with their relaxed and comfortable life of taking a short break every five days and a long break every ten days, it is much harder. But it also gives people a sense of steadiness that they are slowly approaching their goals. And the distance between him and this brother who grew up with him is getting bigger and bigger!

He couldn't help but ask, "Second brother, Mr. Jiang, what are the conditions for accepting students?"

Xu Siyu was slightly stunned, thought for a while, and said, "It seems that there are no conditions. As long as you can pay the tuition and follow the rules of the academy, it will be fine." After saying this, he felt that something was wrong, "Some people who can't pay the tuition, Mr. Jiang will let them owe it." This didn't seem right either, "There are also people who owed and didn't pay it back. Mr. Jiang asked people to burn the account books." He thought of the intention of Xu Siqin's question, and whispered, "Brother, do you also want to go to the academy to study?"

Xu Siqin nodded and said softly, "You are so motivated. If I am still just muddling along, I am not worthy of being your brother."

Xu Sijian listened and said hurriedly: "Big brother is very good to us and always takes care of us. How can you say he is not worthy of being an elder brother?" Then he said to Xu Siyu, "Second brother, how about we go to Jinxi Academy to study together? Maybe we can also pass the examination and become a scholar!"

"Bringing honor to the family is the most important thing to be filial." Xu Siyu nodded slightly. "If my eldest brother and third brother are willing to go, I will have someone to accompany me, which is great. However, it is better to ask my third uncle in private first!"

Xu Siqin nodded, feeling that sitting here was a waste of good time. He borrowed Xu Siyu's pen to write a letter to the Third Master, and when he returned home he sent someone to deliver it to Shanyang.

Eleventh Lady, on the other hand, was greeted by Madam Zhou.

"If I remember correctly, your mother will hold a mourning ceremony next month, right?"

Eleventh Lady ordered the maid to pack out some of the persimmons that were given to her in the womb a few days ago, and said, "The mourning ceremony will be held in the middle of next month."

Mrs. Zhou smiled awkwardly, holding the teacup and whispered, "I know I came a little early. But Wang Ze's mother has been ill since she caught a cold last year. She was supposed to be married..."

Eleventh Lady understood immediately.

Although the first wife's mourning period will not end until next month, Yuhang is thousands of miles away from Yanjing, and it will take at least more than a month to send her off. If we don't discuss it soon, the wedding will be at the earliest next summer or autumn.

"Is the prince's mother seriously ill?"

Wang Ze is five years older than Twelve Niang, and he is eighteen this year, which is considered old for a boy. If the mourning period comes, it will be postponed for another two years... and by then, the Yu Sacrifice and the Daxiang Sacrifice will be held, and all the relatives in the family will come to burn incense. The Wang family is a large family, and if there is no one to manage the household, it will be a mess.

"It just hasn't gotten better." Mrs. Zhou's expression was gloomy. "My sister-in-law has been working so hard these past few years!"

The Wang family is in need of people right now, so it would be unreasonable to stick to the original agreement.

"Don't worry, Sister Zhou. I'll send someone to Yuhang with the letter."

After all, it’s a bit rude to talk about this.

Mrs. Zhou breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this. She went to pay her respects to the lady-in-waiting, chatted with her for a few minutes, and then stood up to say goodbye.

Shiyi Niang sent Song Mama to take some tonics to see Wang Ze's mother, and wrote two letters to Yuhang, one to Luo Zhenxing, telling her about Shiyi Niang, and one to Luo Da Niang, asking her to find a way to tell Shiyi Niang some housekeeping tips even if it was just a last-minute effort. She also asked Zhu Xiang to prepare a silver note of 1,000 taels of silver: "Give Shiyi Niang a box when the time comes. This money can be used for big and small things, and it can be used for several years."

Zhu Xiang responded with a smile and was about to go downstairs to prepare when Yang came over.

"Today I went to the greenhouse and saw that the golden ruyi was growing well, so I cut two branches for her." She held a red lily of the valley in her hand and inserted a yellow lily. The color combination was very bright and in line with Eleventh Lady's "small furnishings are particular about being bright and beautiful". It was obvious that she had put a lot of thought into it. "It's just right for Madam to put on the kang table for her to enjoy."

Eleventh Lady asked Qiuyu to put the flowers and the flower bag in the banquet area in the east room: "I have two jade linked branches on my windowsill." Then she asked the maid to bring a small stool for her to sit on.

Yang smiled and half sat down, asking about the work in the embroidery shop: "I was busy with the young master's swaddling clothes day and night some time ago, and I didn't ask much. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, there is the Double Ninth Festival. I don't know if I can catch up with the work in the shop."

Eleventh Lady's embroidery shop now handles the patches for the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Not only that, but it is also well-known. People say that the patches in her shop are well embroidered. All those who have been sent out or have just arrived in Beijing have to order patches from her shop, and the business of wedding curtains has also improved. After the Spring Festival, ten embroiderers were added. In the summer, twelve more were added. Two days ago, Master Jian came to discuss with her and wanted to add fifteen more. In this way, not counting the work taken by the maids and wives of the Yongping Marquis's Mansion or the work they embroidered and consigned, their wedding shop has more than fifty embroiderers. When they settled the accounts in the middle of the year, they made more than two thousand taels of silver, which shocked Madam Gan. She kept shouting that she wanted to take back the shop next door to make an embroidery shop. However, Master Jian wanted to buy a house not far from the wedding shop to accommodate the embroiderers who came from Jiangnan. In this way, more money would be needed. Both Eleventh Lady and Madam Gan were confident, and they each contributed five thousand taels of silver. Master Jian was busy looking at houses with the people from the dental office.

"I haven't been there for a while." Eleventh Lady smiled, "It's all managed by Master Jian. From the sound of it, the business in the shop is pretty good."

Yang took out a few patterns and said, "I drew them when I had nothing to do these past two days. Madam, do you think they are suitable?"

One set is "Man Chi Jiao", one set is "Xi Xiang Feng", and one set is "Shi Yang Jin", all of which are very festive.

Eleventh Lady accepted it with a smile, and Xu Lingyi came back.

Yang quickly stood up and saluted.

Xu Lingyi nodded, and seeing the embroidery on the table, he said, "Didn't you say you wouldn't use needlework these days? Why are you doing embroidery again?"

"It's just some fancy stuff." Eleventh Lady stepped forward to take Xu Lingyi's official uniform and handed it to a maid beside her, asking her to bring in some iced mung bean soup. She wanted to ask the Queen why she wanted him to come to the palace, but when she saw Yang respectfully helping the maid to bring water, she swallowed back what she was about to say.

Xu Lingyi went to the bathroom to wash his face, changed into a casual Taoist robe made of fine gauze, and sat on the kang with a bamboo mat by the window. He took a sip of the mung bean soup brought by the maid and talked about entering the palace: "Guess what the Queen wants me to do?"

Eleventh Lady glanced at Yang and said nothing.

Xu Lingyi sensed something was wrong, followed her gaze, and ordered the people in the room: "All of you go down!"

When the maids heard the Marquis mention the Empress, they thought it must be something important, so they quickly bent their knees and said "yes", and filed out of the inner room. Yang pursed her lips and followed him out.

Eleventh Lady then smiled and said, "What instructions does the Queen have?"

Xu Lingyi looked at her and laughed, "I was allowed to enter the palace and brought back two midwives and a doctor."

Is that the doctor Peng we talked about last time?

After hearing this, Eleventh Lady hurriedly asked, "Has anyone entered the mansion?"

Xu Lingyi said, "They still have to go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to get their badges. They should be here soon."

Eleventh Lady called Mother Song in and asked her to arrange for the people to move to the east wing of the front yard: "...their food and other necessities are the same as those of Mother Du who is by the side of the Madam."

When Mother Song heard that the Empress Dowager had rewarded people, she was overjoyed. When she went out, she saw Yang standing there talking to the two new maids, Xiulian and Yumei. She smiled and greeted them, saying, "The Empress Dowager has rewarded two midwives and a doctor to serve the Madam. I'm in need of help to clean the house..."

Yang was slightly startled, then quickly said with a smile: "If you don't mind my slowness, I'll go and help you!"

Mother Song smiled and said, "I was just thinking of borrowing the help of Aunt Yang!" Then she told Xiulian, "Go and call Donghong from Aunt Wen's room and Xiuzhen from Aunt Qiao's room. The maids who come out of the palace are not ordinary, and the clumsy little maids are not trustworthy. We have to borrow these capable maids from the aunts' rooms to lead you."

Xiulian thought that she was also a new maid in the mansion, so she blushed, bent her knees and said "yes", then quickly went to the east courtyard.

Mother Song looked at Yang with a smile: "Aunt Yang, let's go to the east wing in the front yard!"

Yang snorted coldly in her heart.

What's the point of asking the maidservant to be accompanied by the concubine's personal maid? It's obvious that she wants to show off the Queen's favor to the lady in front of the concubine.

She didn't show any emotion on her face, and smiled as she took Mother Song's arm, "Our Madam is truly favored by the Empress. Not only has she been given people to serve her, but she has also provided two midwives and a doctor. She has thought of everything for Madam."

Mother Song was very pleased: "Of course. Not only that, the Queen also said that when the baby is born, she will let Madam choose a wet nurse from the Wet Nurse House. What is the Wet Nurse House? It is a place where wet nurses are prepared for the princes in the inner palace..."

Yang listened with a smile, but her mind was working rapidly.

The lady over there heard about it and came over in person to meet the three people from the palace.

The two midwives were both plump and looked very honest. The doctor's surname was Peng, she had a long face, was dark and thin, and wore an eggplant-colored jacket, which made her look very rustic.

The lady-in-waiting privately advised Eleventh Lady: "That man named Peng is either very lucky to have won the favor of the Empress, or he is very capable. No matter which one it is, it is fate that he can come to our house. You should treat him with respect." She was afraid that Eleventh Lady would judge people by their appearance.

In fact, the lady also found two midwives for Eleventh Lady.

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Don't worry, mother. Since it is a reward from the Queen, I will instruct the maids and old women to treat it politely."

The lady nodded and said, "I think it would be better if the delivery room is located in the wing."

In ancient times, childbirth was considered an unclean thing, and families who could afford it would set aside a special room for it.

Xu Lingyi thought of how Shiyi Niang always paid attention to details, and asked her, "What do you think?"

Eleventh Lady felt that the ear room was a little shabby, but the layout was the same: "Mother is an experienced person, it's right to listen to mother."

Xu Lingyi nodded, but the next day he found that Shiyi Niang had opened the warehouse to decorate the ear room. After a moment of pause, he couldn't help laughing.

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I'll post a draft first, and correct any typos tomorrow!

O(∩_∩)O~