Eleventh Lady smiled helplessly.

She returned to the house and told Xu Lingyi what had happened: "...I don't know why Third Sister-in-law chose me. She asked me, a person with no experience, to be a matchmaker for Qin Ge'er." She spoke with a smile, trying to make the matter sound casual and relaxed.

Xu Lingyi laughed and said, "You have no experience? Didn't you match Zhen Jie'er? Didn't you match Twelve Auntie? If you don't have experience, who else dares to say they have experience!"

"That's different." Eleventh Lady argued, "I'm just matchmaking. Whether it works or not depends on the fate of the two people. Third sister-in-law asked me to be a matchmaker - how do I know how much tea is considered a generous gift? How many sets of clothes are considered a generous dowry? When I go to talk to the matchmaker of the Fang family about these things, can I still bring Mother Song with me? If the matchmaker of the Fang family says something, can I go back and discuss it with Mother Song in private?"

Xu Lingyi found what she said so interesting that he couldn't help laughing.

The little maid brought in the medicine.

Shiyi Niang ignored him and went straight to the small blue and white bowl, drinking it all in one gulp, holding a salted olive in her mouth.

Xu Lingyi asked her, "Are you feeling better now?" with a very gentle expression.

"Much better!" Eleventh Lady nodded with a smile.

Xu Lingyi's expression became even gentler as he looked at her.

Mother Gu came in carrying Jing'er who had eaten his fill.

Xu Lingyi's mouth curved into a happy arc as he watched, and he carefully held the child.

Jing'er immediately laughed and said "oh oh" to him happily.

Xu Lingyi kissed his son's face, sat on the kang, and reminded Shiyi Niang: "Go wash up! Go to bed early today, and go to mother's place early tomorrow. Since Third Sister-in-law has this idea, there's no guarantee that she won't get up early tomorrow to tell mother. It's better to destroy a temple than to destroy a marriage. Unfortunately, you are not in good health, and mother will be in trouble if she agrees or not... It will make everyone embarrassed."

Eleventh Lady had already thought of this.

She smiled and said, "I have already asked the maid on night duty to help me keep an eye on Third Sister-in-law's movements - no matter what, I must pay my respects to the Madam before Third Sister-in-law does!"

"So clever!" His face was full of smiles.

Eleventh Lady turned around and went to the bathroom.

Jing'er was screaming "ah ah" in his father's arms.

"You are also quite clever!" Xu Lingyi smiled and kissed his son again. He carried him off the kang and walked around the room. He stopped to look at the asparagus fern on the flower table, went to the hall to look at the five-linked red lanterns, and went to the long table to look at the jade grape bonsai.

Jing'er calmed down and looked around curiously with his big round eyes.

* * * * * *

The Third Master and the Third Madam have already gone to bed.

"Eleventh Lady won't agree!" Third Madam frowned, looking a little unhappy, "What should we do about this?"

The Third Master disagreed, "There's nothing to worry about. Since Fourth Brother's wife doesn't agree, then let's find your eldest niece's wife from your mother's family to be the matchmaker! Didn't you say before that your eldest niece's wife is smart and capable? Are you assured that she will come forward to help negotiate?" The fatigue of the journey made him yawn, "You should go to bed early! Remember to tell mother about this when you pay your respects to her tomorrow." He muttered and lay down, "The Fang family specially invited the wife of Minister Liu of the Ministry of Justice to be the matchmaker. Now that we have arrived in Beijing, we should visit Mrs. Liu earlier, lest others think we are not sincere. Anyway, Magistrate Fang is a good person, and you also said that Miss Fang is very beautiful, unlike the daughter of the prefectural government, who is short and stupid..." His voice gradually became lower, and when the Third Master leaned over to look, he was already snoring softly.

The third lady couldn't help but feel angry.

She couldn't help but push the Third Master: "Don't go to sleep yet! I still have something to say!"

After being disturbed by her, the Third Master opened his eyes sleepily: "If you have anything to say, we can talk about it tomorrow!"

"Third Master!" The Third Lady couldn't help but raise her voice, "This concerns Brother Qin's future. Are you going to take care of it or not?"

After hearing this, the Third Master opened his eyes wide and said, "Why wouldn't I care? You talk, you talk, I'm listening!"

The Third Madam's face lightened up slightly. She whispered, "Thinking back, if the prefect hadn't rated your performance as 'poor', how could I have gone to the prefect's wife? If I hadn't gone to the prefect's wife, how could I have met Magistrate Fang's wife?" At this point, she thought of the prefect's wife's disdainful expression, and she gritted her teeth, "If the prefect's wife had been polite and talked to me, why would I have approached Magistrate Fang's wife? If I hadn't approached Magistrate Fang's wife, why would I have talked about our children's marriages - Magistrate Fang's wife wouldn't have to complain that Magistrate Fang had high standards and kept her daughter until she was sixteen, and I wouldn't have mentioned Qin Ge'er, saying that he was called back to Yanjing by the Madam, who wanted to personally act as a matchmaker for Qin Ge'er..."

The Third Master has heard these words many times.

When the wife went to ask the prefect's wife for help, she still didn't forget to save face, which irritated the prefect's wife. After seeing off County Magistrate Fang's wife, she gave her wife some bad advice, saying that County Magistrate Fang's brother and the prefect were not only in the same department, but also close friends for many years. Instead of asking her to talk to the prefect, it would be better to ask County Magistrate Fang to speak for her - after all, this is a man's business, and talking to the prefect may not work. She also said that County Magistrate Fang was upright and would never speak for others on such a matter. But County Magistrate Fang had a problem, that is, he was a trait of his own. As long as it was Mrs. Fang's words, County Magistrate Fang never dared to disobey. And Mrs. Fang was a sensible and virtuous person, and she never interfered in official affairs. If it was in the past, it would naturally be impossible. But now, Mrs. Fang had a worry, which was the marriage of her eldest daughter... If the two families became in-laws, it would be a different story... She also said something sarcastic like "Your family likes others, but they may not like your family."

Thinking about the character and appearance of the daughter of the prefect, they were very condescending when they wanted to marry their daughter to Qin'er. What's more, the Fang family was a family of scholars and had a good reputation among the upright people... No matter how good Qin'er was, he would not be good without the fame and honor that these scholars valued - this was a truth that the couple understood after they had encountered many setbacks in their efforts to arrange marriages for their two children in recent years.

The wife knew that the prefect's wife was taking the opportunity to humiliate her, and she returned home with a purple face.

But within a few days, word spread that "Xu County Magistrate wanted to marry Fang County Magistrate's eldest daughter to his eldest son, but was ruthlessly rejected by Fang County Magistrate's wife"...

The couple knew who spread the rumor, but there was nothing they could do.

Unexpectedly, Magistrate Fang and his wife came to visit them in person to clarify the matter to them.

This is how the two families came to know each other…and when his wife saw the eldest daughter of County Magistrate Fang, she actually wanted to marry her. What was even more unexpected was that things went very smoothly—whether it was his performance evaluation or his son’s marriage.

The Third Master closed his eyes.

To be honest, he was very satisfied with this marriage, no matter the character of his in-laws or the background of his daughter-in-law.

If the eldest son's marriage is arranged well, the second son's marriage will naturally go smoothly.

He doesn't want any accidents and wants to bring his wife home as soon as possible!

The Third Lady, who was leaning on the pillow at the head of the bed, did not notice her husband's little move. She continued, "I have thought about it carefully for a long time these days. Although the Fang family is a noble family, they still have to eat and wear clothes, right? Besides, the uncle of my in-laws is already a thing of the past. The Fang family agreed to this marriage, and they must have taken a fancy to the reputation of the Yongping Marquis's Mansion. Now that the marriage has not been completed, those people say that the young lady of the Fang family is marrying down. If the marriage is completed, how can our Qin'er still be a husband in front of his wife? Eleventh Lady has always been good at talking. If we can ask her to come forward to act as a matchmaker, our family will definitely not suffer when discussing the dowry. Maybe it can also put pressure on the Fang family; secondly, it can let the Fang family see that our Qin brother is the favorite of the lady in Yongping Marquis Mansion. Then the Fang family should also think twice. "At this point, there was a hint of excitement in her tone, "Third Master, let me tell you. Last time when I went to Magistrate Li's house for a wedding banquet, I heard Magistrate Li say that the Fang family prepared 10,000 taels of silver to marry their daughter. I wonder if it's true or not? Magistrate Li's wife has always been honest, I don't think this is false. You say, if Eleventh Lady knew that our daughter-in-law had a dowry of 10,000 taels of silver, she would look up to our daughter-in-law, right?"

After the third wife finished speaking, she waited for a long time but did not get a response from her husband.

She couldn't help but lean forward.

The Third Master has fallen asleep.

The Third Madam pushed the Third Master a few times: "Third Master, Third Master..."

The Third Master turned over and slept even more deeply.

"He always falls asleep when we're doing something serious!" The Third Lady had no choice but to blow out the lights and murmured in the darkness, "Qin'er is the eldest grandson after all, so I should go to the Lady Dowager tomorrow!"

* * * * * *

Early the next morning, Qiuyu helped Shiyi Niang to wash and dress.

"The Third Madam hasn't left yet!"

Eleventh Lady nodded, ate some porridge, kissed her son who was playing with Xu Lingyi in the bedroom, and went to the lady dowager's place.

"Why did you come so early today?" The lady asked someone to bring her some goat's milk.

Eleventh Lady did not hide it from the Madam Dowager and told her that Third Lady had asked her to be a matchmaker for Xu Siqin: "...As an aunt, I should have helped, but the timing was too bad."

"She just wants to save face." The lady comforted her after hearing this, "You don't have to take it to heart. Although you can't help Qin'er find a match, but the fourth son can be the matchmaker when the time comes, which can be regarded as fulfilling her wish. As for matchmaking, if she comes to me for help, I will help her ask Huang Sanniang to go. She is also a very eloquent person."

Eleventh Lady felt relieved.

The lady asked about her condition and found out that she was getting better. She kept telling her to take good care of herself and then invited her to have breakfast.

Just as I put down the bowl, the third lady came.

Seeing Eleventh Lady was there, she was a little surprised. She smiled and said, "I have been away from home for three years. I didn't expect that the rules at home have changed. Fourth brother's wife is not coming to pay respects to mother at the last minute as usual!"

Eleventh Lady smiled and did not respond.

The lady smiled and asked her, "Have you had breakfast?"

"Not yet!" The third lady sat next to the old lady, "I haven't seen mother for a long time, so I wanted to come to her place for breakfast!"

※

Let me post a draft first!

O(∩_∩)O~