Xu Lingyi walked forward and hugged his son, smiling to Shiyi Niang, "Our Jin'er is in the limelight today!" His tone was full of pride as a father, "Old Zhuo's loud voice didn't wake him up. Jiang Feiyun praised him for 'not changing his expression even when Mount Tai collapsed in front of him'!"

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "They were just being polite!"

"I know it's just a polite remark." Xu Lingyi smiled and sat down on the bed. "But Jin Ge'er is also quite courageous. In the past, in the military camp, everyone was most afraid of Lao Zhuo's voice. When he shouted excitedly, it sounded like thunder. Not to mention sleeping, even just listening to him made people feel uncomfortable." As he spoke, he kissed Jin Ge'er who was sleeping soundly. "It seems that what Jiang Yunfei said makes some sense."

Eleventh Lady laughed.

After all, Xu Lingyi still felt that Jiang Feiyun's praise for Jing'er made sense.

As a parent, are you always partial to your own children?

"My Lord, please change your clothes quickly! Be careful not to let the alcohol on your body fumigate the child."

Xu Lingyi said "hmm" and still carried Jing'er for a long time before going to the bathroom.

Eleventh Lady asked Mother Gu to bring in some warm water and wipe Jing'er's face.

Mother Gu smiled and said, "Our Lord, his eyes lit up when he saw Brother Jin, I wonder how much he likes him!"

Eleventh Lady paused for a moment while holding the handkerchief, and whispered after a while, "Don't say such things again in the future - children are often spoiled because of being pampered. Don't raise him to be spoiled and arrogant!"

Mother Gu was born in the countryside and didn't think much about it. She smiled and said "yes", flattering Shiyi Niang: "Madam, you are comparable to Meng Mu. I heard that she moved three times for her children!"

Eleventh Lady listened and laughed, "Meng's mother is not as good as him. But you should learn from her. Don't be hypocritical. If the child sees me being serious, he will behave one way in front of me, and sees you being doting on him, he will behave another way in front of you. In the end, he will never become a great man, and his life will be ruined."

Mother Gu said hurriedly, "Madam, rest assured. I will not disobey your instructions."

Eleventh Lady smiled and nodded.

* * * * * *

Now that the confinement period is over, it is necessary to visit your parents every morning and evening.

Early the next morning, Eleventh Lady took Mother Gu, who was holding Jing'er, to the Lady Dowager's place.

When the lady saw this, she said angrily, "Child, why are you in such a hurry? Get yourself well first." She took her hand and sat on the kang.

"It's just from the main house to your place." Eleventh Lady smiled, "Don't cause any trouble. Besides, lying in bed every day will make you moldy. It's a good time to walk around."

"Even if you're going to walk around, you don't have to come so early." The lady said, motioning to Mama Gu to hold Jing'er in front of her. "I know you are filial, but there are thousands of kinds of filial piety. Paying respects every morning and evening is one kind. You take good care of yourself, take care of the fourth child, educate the children, and manage the household affairs, so that I can live out my old age in peace. This is also one kind." As she spoke, she held Jing'er in her arms. "Listen to me, take good care of yourself for three to five months. When you are better, it won't be too late to come and pay your respects to me."

Eleventh Lady felt a little ashamed after hearing this.

Since I was ill, all the household affairs were left to the lady. If you think about it carefully, her filial piety was superficial.

Her face flushed slightly, and she whispered, "That's what mother said."

The lady smiled and nodded slightly when she saw it, then looked down at Jing'er who had his eyes open: "Look at these eyes, they are so black and bright, I wonder how energetic they are."

Seeing the embarrassment on Eleventh Lady's face, Mother Du hurriedly said in a playful tone, "That's right. The more I look at her, the more I think she looks like the Marquis when he was a child."

As she was speaking, the mother who was in charge came to ask the lady for instructions.

Eleventh Lady stood up and said goodbye.

But the lady wanted to keep Jing'er: "...you should go and have a good rest! Jing'er can keep me company." She seemed to like him very much.

Old people all like children, and Jing'er is the youngest in the family.

Eleventh Lady thought that the Fifth Lady was pregnant.

Maybe after the birth of the baby, the lady paid less attention to Jing'er.

Although she was reluctant, she couldn't bear to make the lady sad, so she had to repeatedly instruct Gu Mama, Wan San's wife, Hong Wen, A Jin and others to take good care of Jing'er, and she bowed and retreated.

When I went out, the sky was covered with dark clouds and a north wind blew over, bringing a biting chill.

"It looks like it's going to snow." Amber looked up at the sky.

Eleventh Lady tucked her cape in and said with a smile, "Auspicious snow means a good harvest. We can enjoy the snow scenery just in time." Then she went to the backyard, "Let's go see Fifth Madam - she is pregnant. I was in confinement before, so it was inconvenient to visit her. Now that I am out of confinement, I must go and see her anyway."

"Yes!" Amber responded and helped Eleventh Lady to go to the Fifth Lady.

The Fifth Lady was somewhat surprised to see her, and politely invited her to sit on the big kang by the window, and asked the maid to serve tea and snacks.

Eleventh Lady smiled and asked, "Where is Sister Xin? Why don't I see Sister Xin?"

When someone mentioned her precious daughter, Madam Wu's expression relaxed and she said with a smile, "She can't sit still. She'll definitely go out and play with her mother!"

Eleventh Lady asked about her health.

"I am completely different this time than last time." The Fifth Lady laughed, "I vomited a lot last time, but this time I didn't have any reaction at all. I'm fine." She added, "You are not in good health, so don't worry about these things. It's more important to take care of your health."

The two of them exchanged greetings for a long time, and then Sister Xin came back. For some reason, she seemed a little upset. She refused to call anyone when asked to do so, and even insisted on being held by Lady Five. So Eleventh Lady said goodbye and went back to her room.

Zhu Xiangying came out and said, "I was just about to look for you - Grandma Lin is here. She knew you went to the Madam's place and has been waiting for you for half an incense stick of time!"

Eleventh Lady was a little surprised and walked quickly into the house.

Grandma Lin came over to greet them. Before Shiyi Niang could speak, she smiled and said, "I am a person who cannot wait. When I knew that Zhongran passed the imperial examination, I immediately ran over to tell you!"

That being said, the Lin family also knew about it.

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Since he is your nephew, he is also our eldest brother-in-law. We are happy for him, happy for him."

Grandma Lin smiled and covered her sleeves when she heard this: "We two are just like Wang Po, praising our own family."

The two smiled at each other and sat down on the big kang by the window in the west room.

Grandma Lin talked about how filial Shao Zhongran was and how calm he was in his actions.

Eleventh Lady understood her purpose and followed her words.

Seeing that Eleventh Lady spoke sincerely, Grandma Lin felt relieved.

Everyone knows about Li Ji's marriage. Others may not know, but Grandma Lin knows it very well. If she hadn't intervened, Li Ji might have been the son-in-law of the Xu family. Although she thinks Shao Zhongran is no worse than Li Ji, now Li Ji is successful and well-known. Shao Zhongran lacks recognition after all. She was afraid that Shiyi Niang would feel uncomfortable, so she came to congratulate Shiyi Niang in person, and also meant to report the news.

Eleventh Lady thought that since there was news about Shao Zhongran from Cangzhou, there should be news about Hui Jie'er. After talking about Shao Zhongran, she changed the subject and asked Hui Jie'er: "...Is she adapting to life in Cangzhou?"

"The Deng family and the Shao family are close friends." Grandma Lin's eyes were filled with joy when she thought of her daughter. "She has done well. After she went there, she was filial to her parents-in-law and respected her husband. She also got along well with the aunts and sisters-in-law in the clan. I don't know how much Grandma Deng likes her. Not to mention me, even Hui Jie'er's uncles and aunts were shocked. They didn't expect her to be where she is today."

"A child is always a child in the eyes of his parents." Eleventh Lady smiled, "In fact, without you, she has her own ideas."

"That's not the truth." Grandma Lin nodded as she listened, and said of Zhen Jie'er: "...you should let go." She added, "I was hoping that she would get married soon, so that our Hui Jie'er would have a companion."

Eleventh Lady was mainly worried that Zhen Jie'er would give birth too early - she herself had encountered such a hurdle. But she couldn't tell Grandma Lin. Most of the girls around her got married at the age of fourteen or fifteen. If she told too much, people would inevitably think she was weird. She smiled and said, "I'm just teaching her how to manage the household!"

"You'd say I'm the same as you are now."

The two talked and laughed.

A maid came in and said, "Madam, the medicine is ready."

Grandma Lin stood up after hearing this and said, "Then take the medicine first! I'll go to the old lady and talk to her."

After running around like this, Shiyi Niang felt a little tired. She smiled and sent Grandma Lin out, told Zhu Xiang to send Grandma Lin to the lady's place, and went back to her room to drink medicine, change clothes, and fell into a deep sleep.

* * * * * *

When she woke up again, Eleventh Lady caught a glimpse of Jing'er sleeping beside her pillow out of the corner of her eye.

She hurriedly sat up and said to Qiu Yu, who was serving by the bed, "Why didn't you tell me that the Sixth Young Master is back?"

Qiuyu hurriedly said, "Madam saw that you were sleeping soundly, so she didn't let us wake you up." Just as she finished speaking, a little maid said through the curtain, "Madam, Gan Laoquan's family is here to greet you!"

Ever since Gan Laoquan secretly bought a house in Yanjing for the Third Master, Eleventh Lady has been unsure whether Gan Laoquan spends more time in Shanyang or Yanjing.

/"Please ask her to come in!" Eleventh Lady leaned on the pillow and said lazily.

The little maid replied "yes" and opened the curtain. Gan Laoquan's wife came in and kowtowed three times to Eleventh Lady: "The New Year is coming soon. The Third Madam sent me and my wife to lead people back to Yanjing to give New Year gifts to the Madam and the Marquis. This servant came in to kowtow to the Madam and ask about her well-being."

Eleventh Lady asked a maid to bring a stool for her to sit on, and asked about the situation of the Third Lady and her husband.

"Master and Third Madam are both fine." Gan Laoquan smiled, "It's just that I feel sad that the eldest and third young masters' marriages have not been settled yet. I sigh and lament when I talk about it."

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but wonder whether Gan Laoquan's family came to the inner courtyard to pay respects on behalf of the Third Lady, urging them to help the Xu Siqin brothers arrange their marriage as soon as possible.

While thinking, the Gan Laoquan family laughed and said, "Fortunately, the Third Master's superior acted as a matchmaker a few days ago and betrothed the eldest daughter of the neighboring county magistrate Fang to our eldest young master!"

Eleventh Lady was very surprised.

Didn't the Third Lady want a daughter-in-law from a rich and powerful family? Why did she suddenly agree to a matchmaking deal with the higher-ups to marry Xu Siqin off to the daughter of a county magistrate?

※

Zhigong was ill and couldn't drive, so he got a ride from someone else. It was very inconvenient. After a whole day, he didn't get home until 7:30 in the evening. I wrote a chapter in a hurry, and my upper eyelids have started to fight with my lower eyelids - I'm really tired. I'll take a rest today and can only update one chapter. Sorry!

PS: Thank you all for your support. I won first place in pink votes in April!

O(∩_∩)O~