When Xu Lingyi came back, he had his hair done up in a bun. Eleventh Lady, who was wearing a lake green floral jacket, was holding Jing'er and feeding him porridge.
Hearing the noise, she turned around and said, "The Marquis is back!"
A sweet smile.
But it made Xu Lingyi slightly stunned.
However, after not seeing each other for a few hours, Eleventh Lady seemed a little different from the person in his memory.
There was a lot of relaxation between his brows, and he looked a bit cheerful.
Like a newly blooming bud, it has quietly blossomed and swayed gracefully without anyone noticing.
Xu Lingyi was quite surprised.
Eleventh Lady had already turned around and put down the spoon. She handed the child to Madam Gu and told the maid to fetch water for Xu Lingyi to wash up. She went to help him change his clothes and said, "My Lord, are you okay? Do you want to eat something and go to sleep? Or do you want to sleep for a while and then get up to eat?"
Once they arrived at the palace, they were all servants, how could they possibly eat and sleep well!
"It's okay!" Xu Lingyi knew she was worried, so he opened his arms and let her help him take off his clothes. He whispered, "The emperor held me and talked all night. He went to the morning court, so I came back first." He saw that there was breakfast on the kang table, and said, "Eat before you go to sleep!"
Eleventh Lady nodded, told the maid to set the breakfast again, and continued to hold Jing'er and feed him porridge.
The little fellow kept his mouth tightly shut just like before. No matter how Shiyi Niang coaxed him, he just refused to eat a single bite. He kept making noises and his body twisted like a twist.
Eleventh Lady couldn't help but feel discouraged.
Mother Gu looked on and whispered, "Madam, a child this old has milk to drink... he doesn't need to eat porridge!"
As he was talking, Xu Lingyi came out from washing up and heard half of the sentence: "What's the matter? You don't have enough milk, so you want to eat porridge?"
"No." Eleventh Lady had just answered when Jing'er in her arms was already dancing and yelling at Xu Lingyi, as if he was greeting Xu Lingyi, and almost knocked over the bowl of porridge on the table.
The servants nearby either tried to hold the porridge bowls or stood beside Eleventh Lady, looking a little flustered.
Xu Lingyi found it interesting and hugged Jing'er: "Do you miss your daddy?"
Jin Ge'er smiled foolishly at Xu Lingyi, which softened Xu Lingyi's heart. He turned around and asked Shiyi Niang: "What happened just now?"
Eleventh Lady asked the maid to collect the porridge bowls, and stood up and said, "I wanted to feed him some rice porridge with vegetable soup, but he wouldn't eat it!"
Xu Lingyi looked towards Mother Gu.
Mother Gu said hurriedly, "My Lord, I eat an old hen, two sets of pig's trotters, and two pairs of pigeons every day... I have enough milk, and the Sixth Young Master can't finish it all!"
"Since the milk supply is sufficient, why eat porridge?" Xu Lingyi said immediately, "Besides, the child doesn't like to eat porridge!"
Don’t children need to eat complementary foods to make up for their nutritional deficiencies when they reach a certain age?
But people in ancient times believed that human milk was the most nourishing thing, and some children drank it until they were seven or eight years old.
She had no choice but to respond vaguely.
Xu Lingyi held Jing'er in his arms and sat on the kang.
Eleventh Lady served a bowl of porridge and handed over the chopsticks.
Jing'er began to get impatient and twisted his body to face the door curtain.
When the weather got warmer, Shiyi Niang would take her child to the back garden for a walk when the weather was good. But after a few days, the child didn't want to stay at home anymore.
Xu Lingyi knew that he wanted to go out, so he patted Jing'er's little butt with a smile and handed the child to Mother Gu: "Take him out to play for a while!"
Mother Gu knelt down and responded, then took Jing'er and went out the door surrounded by seven or eight maids and old women.
"Brother Zhun and Brother Jie went to school?"
Eleventh Lady smiled as she helped Xu Lingyi serve the dishes: "I just left and you're back!"
Xu Lingyi said "hmm", stopped talking and concentrated on eating breakfast.
After the meal, Eleventh Lady served her and went to the inner room to rest.
Xu Lingyi leaned against the head of the bed and told Shiyi Niang about entering the palace: "... Eight hundred miles away in Fujian, there is a village called Da'an. More than a hundred families in the village were plundered and killed by Japanese pirates."
"Ah!" Eleventh Lady looked at Xu Lingyi in horror, "All of them?"
"All of them!" Xu Lingyi's expression was also a little solemn. "I just got the news at dusk. The emperor summoned Chen Ge Lao and Wang Li to the palace to discuss countermeasures. After the two left, the emperor was a little upset, so he summoned me to talk."
Eleventh Lady was a little surprised, but more than that, she felt relieved. She hesitated and said, "So, Fujian is going to go to war again?"
Xu Lingyi asked curiously, "What does this have to do with whether or not to fight a war?"
"When Japanese pirates come ashore and massacre the village, can we just ignore it?" Eleventh Lady was even more puzzled.
"The most urgent task is not to fight a war." Xu Lingyi understood and said, "It is how to deal with the opposition voices in the court."
Eleventh Lady was puzzled.
Xu Lingyi explained, "Think about it. There are still two ministers in the imperial prison who are against lifting the maritime ban. With such a big thing happening, those people should seize the opportunity to write to the emperor and ask him to ban the sea! The emperor is worried about the morning court today, so he summoned Minister Chen and Wang Li to the palace for discussion."
"That massacre in the village..." Eleventh Lady was more concerned about this.
"Even if we want to suppress the pirates, we can't do it at this time!" Xu Lingyi said, "Once the news of the massacre reaches the village, it will give those who oppose the lifting of the sea ban the best excuse. The phrase 'whoever offends our people will be punished no matter how far away they are' will arouse the indignation of the court and the people, and then they will propose closing the country. The general trend is irresistible, and if the emperor insists on it, he will offend the public. In this way, the emperor's painstaking efforts will all be in vain."
Shiyi Niang knew that their concerns were all correct. But giving up like this... Shiyi Niang still felt a little angry.
"Does the emperor want to suppress the news?" she hesitated.
"It's impossible to suppress the news." Xu Lingyi said calmly, with a sharp flash in the depths of his eyes. "The best way is to prove that those Japanese pirates are disguised as people. If we can drag the Qu family into it, and then involve other elders in the court, it will be even better."
Eleventh Lady suddenly realized that she had only the IQ of a child in front of Xu Lingyi.
She hesitated to speak.
After all, she is a woman...
Xu Lingyi looked at Shiyi Niang's hand and said softly, "It's okay. Regardless of whether those who massacred the village are true or false, the court will give the people an explanation. The emperor is also a little uneasy, so he wants me to go to Fujian..."
Eleventh Lady was shocked and held Xu Lingyi's hand, calling him "Marquis".
There was some fear in his expression.
I finally got away, but now I’m being dragged into it again.
Before she could speak, Xu Lingyi hugged her and said, "I have already politely declined the offer from the Emperor and rejected Jiang Yunfei!"
Eleventh Lady breathed a sigh of relief.
"Don't worry!" Looking at Eleventh Lady like this, Xu Lingyi felt warm in his heart, "Since I have withdrawn, I will not get involved again." After saying this, he hesitated for a moment and whispered, "What's more, there is the Crown Prince... Don't think that he is your nephew and forget the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects... Only after passing this level can you be considered to have truly passed..."
These must be the words buried deep in Xu Lingyi's heart!
Eleventh Lady nodded slightly: "Don't worry, my Lord, I will take good care of the children!"
Xu Lingyi smiled with relief when he saw that his wife understood his intention.
Eleventh Lady helped him straighten his pillow and said softly, "My Lord, you didn't sleep all night last night. You should go to bed early! If you have anything to say, it won't be too late to talk later."
Xu Lingyi hummed, lay down, and soon fell into a deep sleep.
Eleventh Lady sat by the bed for a while, looking at Xu Lingyi who had a peaceful expression. Suddenly, she realized that Jing'er's expression when he fell asleep was very similar to his own.
Although she knew that the corners of the quilt had been tucked in, she still helped tuck it in and then walked out quietly.
Mother Gu walked in holding the sleeping Jing'er.
Eleventh Lady took her son with a smile, put him on the kang in the warm room, kissed her son's cheek, and then helped him cover himself with a quilt.
Zhu Xiang walked in quietly.
"Madam!" she whispered, "Madam Wen is here!"
When Yang heard that she was going to be sent to Dajue Temple, her face turned pale. She pulled Shiyi Niang's sleeve and said tearfully, "Madam, no one knows whether Dajue Temple is good or not, and what kind of reputation it has. Madam, why don't you ask Shiyi Niang to come and ask..." But before she could finish her words, Shiyi Niang had already brought tea.
Zhu Xiang immediately asked Yang to go back to her room and rest.
Yang still refused to give up and pulled Shiyi Niang to talk more, but Shiyi Niang turned around and left into the inner room with a firm attitude.
She refused to leave, so Madam Wen called two servants in to carry her away.
Eleventh Lady also wants to meet Madam Wen.
She went to the east room where they rested.
Madam Wen's face turned purple, and she knelt down when she saw Eleventh Lady: "Madam, what happened yesterday was all my recklessness..."
It's enough to learn a lesson, there's no need to push people into a corner with no room for maneuver.
She signaled to Zhu Xiang to help Madam Wen up, and then asked the maid to bring a stool for her to sit on.
"Why did Emperor Taizong put up a sign in Jiaotai Hall that 'the inner palace is not allowed to interfere in government affairs'? It is because we women in the inner house are often unaware of what is happening outside, but we want to step in, which results in big trouble and even ruining our ancestors' foundation." Eleventh Lady said meaningfully, "Auntie, you should think more about what you do in the future." Then she changed the subject, "I heard that Qiuhong's father returned to Yanjing. Is there any good news?"
It would be a great honor not to pursue this matter any further.
Madam Wen was ashamed and said in a low voice, "Mother already knows the whole story. She asked Qiuhong's father to tell me not to worry about family affairs and just serve the Marquis and the Madam. As for moving to the nunnery to be a lay Buddhist, I have to discuss it slowly with my third uncle. My third uncle has always respected my mother. If my mother suddenly wants to move to the temple to be a lay Buddhist, I am afraid she will be ridiculed by the world. We need to take our time." She added, "Anyway, the shop has been sold, and Qiuhong's father has nothing to do. I asked him to go to Yangzhou and serve my mother temporarily. He can help deal with anything."
The Wen family was a prestigious family not only in Yangzhou but also in the Great Zhou. The widowed sister-in-law suddenly wanted to move to the temple without a reasonable explanation, which was indeed damaging to the family's reputation.
Eleventh Lady comforted her: "Since the Madam knows what's going on, she will definitely make proper arrangements."
Madam Wen nodded repeatedly.
The two chatted for a while before leaving.
Jade plate here.
"The Madam asked whether we should invite the Deyin Band, Changsheng Band or Jiexiang Society for the March 3rd celebration. She should ask Fifth Master to let us know."
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More updates will be added tomorrow at noon!
O(∩_∩)O~