After about two cups of tea, Mrs. Qiao came back.

She was pale and dazed. The maid went forward to help her, but she pushed her to the ground.

The maid's face showed pain, but she didn't dare to make a sound as she climbed up and went to help Madam Qiao.

This time, Mrs. Qiao was supported by the maid in a daze, but her eyes were fixed on Qiao Lianfang who was sitting next to the lady. After a long while, she stepped back to her seat.

"Mrs. Qiao," Mrs. Lin saw beads of sweat on her forehead and she looked like she was about to collapse. She couldn't help but ask worriedly, "Are you feeling unwell?"

Mrs. Qiao, who was always lively and agile, turned to look at Mrs. Lin. Her eyes were a little distracted. It took her a long time to concentrate and say, "I feel a little uncomfortable!"

Mrs. Lin hurriedly asked, "Do you want to call a doctor?" As she spoke, she was about to stand up and said, "I'll go tell the lady!"

Mrs. Qiao suddenly grabbed Mrs. Lin's arm: "No, no need. I just have a stomachache. Yes, a stomachache. The fresh peaches that the Fourth Madam sent me…"

Mrs. Lin couldn't help but frowned.

Mrs. Qiao was very strong and her grip hurt her arm. She spoke incoherently and didn't look like anything was wrong.

But she said it was okay, so why should I bother with it!

Thinking about it, she pulled her arm back without leaving any trace and said with a smile: "If you feel uncomfortable, just let me know. I can go call the doctor."

Mrs. Qiao nodded and half-leaned back in the armchair as if slumped.

Eleventh Lady saw it all and vaguely felt that Yuanniang must have told Madam Qiao about Qiao Lianfang's affairs.

Does the eldest wife know about this?

She glanced at the first wife.

The eldest wife was chatting and laughing with Mrs. Gan beside her.

Just as Eleventh Lady was about to turn around, she saw the eldest wife stood up and whispered a few words to Madam Gan. Madam Gan smiled and nodded. She entered the flower hall and called a little maid, "Take me to the clean room." She then told Luo Qiao, "Come with me."

Luo Qiao bent her knees and bowed, then followed the eldest lady, and was led by the little maid to the bathroom behind the flower hall.

The eldest wife stopped in front of the bathroom and stuffed a small silver ingot into the servant girl's pocket: "You don't have to serve here anymore. I'm not used to it."

The little maid glanced at Luo Qiao, happily took the silver ingot, and retreated.

The eldest wife whispered to Luo Qiao: "You stay here. If anyone comes, wait for me outside. Got it?"

Luo Qiao said hurriedly: "I know."

The eldest wife nodded slightly, stood at the door of the bathroom and looked around for a moment, and saw that there was indeed no one around. Then she went out from the corner door next to her, passed through Dianchun Hall, and hurried to the small courtyard.

Two maids stood on tiptoe in front of the steps leading to the hall to watch the fun. Seeing the eldest wife coming, they stepped forward and bowed: "Where are you going? Our fourth wife has gone to bed early. If you have anything to say, you'd better talk to her tomorrow morning!"

Someone immediately shouted, "It's dark now, are you blinding too?"

The two old women immediately turned around timidly and called out "Mother Tao" respectfully.

In the hallway at midnight, a woman wearing an official green jacket with a brocade pattern came over with a serious face. It was Mother Tao, who served Yuanniang. When she saw the eldest wife, she smiled and said, "Eldest wife, you are here!"

The eldest wife nodded and walked forward impatiently: "How is Yuanniang?"

"We're waiting for you!" Mother Tao responded as she accompanied the eldest wife into the courtyard.

The small courtyard was pitch black, with only two big red lanterns hanging under the eaves of the main house. A little maid was standing in front of the door, snapping her fingernails out of boredom. When she saw someone coming, she immediately widened her eyes and asked vigilantly, "Who?"

"It's me!" Mother Tao responded, and the eldest wife saw the little maid heaved a sigh of relief, turned around and pushed the door: "The fourth lady just asked!"

Mother Tao nodded, helped the eldest lady into the house, turned around and said sternly to the little maid, "Watch carefully," then closed the door with her backhand.

The creaking sound of the door hinge was clear and distant in the silent courtyard, and it startled the little maid.

Yuanniang was resting in the nanmu bed by the window in the west wing. When she saw the eldest wife, a smile broke out on her lips, which was soft and peaceful under the white sheep-horn palace lantern.

"Mother Tao, give the things to me." She said softly. Although she looked very tired, her eyes were sparkling.

Mother Tao responded and took out the white skirt embroidered with bamboo, plum and orchid patterns and with a lace hem.

The eldest wife answered, but sighed: "Why do you have to do this... The Qiao family is not easy to mess with."

"Mother, you should know better than me." Yuan Niang smiled slightly, her dark eyes as deep as an ancient well under the light, "How can I allow others to sleep soundly beside my bed? They thought I was sick, so there was nothing they could do. That's why they came in and out so recklessly. If I didn't pick the hardest one and break it, there would only be endless trouble. This is also the only way. If you think about it seriously, although I set this trap, how could she fall for it if she didn't want to show off in front of the Marquis? Why didn't other girls come to join in the fun? If you want to blame someone, you can only blame yourself for being too anxious. Don't blame me!"

The eldest wife said nothing, obviously agreeing with her daughter.

"Please keep this skirt." Yuanniang said with a smile, "Don't let someone with ulterior motives find it and think that you can rest easy now."

The eldest wife nodded: "I'll save that trouble." Then, in front of her daughter, she took off her skirt, put on the other skirt, and put her own skirt on the outside.

Qiao Lianfang was not as tall as the eldest lady, and skirts at that time all had big pleats, so it was hard to tell that the eldest lady was wearing another skirt underneath her outfit.

"What does the Marquis mean?" she asked as she put on her skirt. "Does he agree with your idea?"

Yuanniang answered the question irrelevantly and said with a smile: "The Madam has agreed to ask the Jiang family for marriage for Zhun Ge!"

The eldest wife showed some surprise on her face. It was obvious that she had not expected Yuanniang to say such a thing. She hesitated and said, "Then the Marquis... and the matter of the second wife..."

"It's not the time now." Yuanniang smiled, "Let's deal with this matter first. That matter is not urgent. Even if it is urgent, it can't be rushed. You have to wait until I die!" She curled her lips, and there was a hint of sarcasm in her expression.

The eldest wife's eyes turned red. She tried to hold back for a moment, but finally couldn't hold it back and tears fell.

"Mom, please don't be like this." Yuanniang pulled her mother's hand, "I didn't come here to make you cry!"

The eldest wife nodded randomly, took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears: "What else do you want? I'm listening. I will definitely help you." She couldn't help complaining, "I really don't understand. The Jiang family has many friends in the court and the country. It's an honor to marry into such a family. Why doesn't the marquis agree? If he had agreed earlier, why would you have been so tired..." As she spoke, as if she remembered something, her tone suddenly became cautious: "Does he really have some ideas? Abolishing the legitimate heir and enthroning a concubine's son is a violation of the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty and will be impeached by the censor! Isn't he afraid that his reputation will be damaged a hundred years later?"

"Mother, after all these years, don't you understand?" Yuanniang said with a smile, "If the law is really so useful, why would we set up a Censorate?"

"That's right." The eldest wife responded unwillingly, with a helpless look on her face.

"So, the most urgent task now is to form an alliance with the Jiang family." Yuanniang said indifferently, "When the time comes, Zhun Ge will have such a powerful Yue family, and no one will be able to shake his position as the crown prince." Her words were powerful to the end.

"Yes." The first wife nodded. "Have you decided which daughter you want to marry to Zhun-ge? I think Jiang Bai, who is the president of the Hanlin Academy, is the best. He is now the president of the academy. If nothing unexpected happens, he will be appointed as a prime minister in no time."

"Yes!" Yuanniang nodded slightly, "Mother and I are thinking the same thing. They have a young daughter, and she is a legitimate daughter. She is just two years old this year, and is the same age as Zhun Ge. As for Wang, I have sent someone with a valuable gift to Taiyuan Prefecture. In addition, my family is willing to marry Wang Lang, so I believe she will not refuse to be Zhun Ge's nanny."

The eldest wife hesitated, "After all, the Duke Mao's Mansion has fallen into decline. If Wang is asked to be the guardian, I don't know if the Jiang family will give her face." She was afraid that her daughter would think she was unwilling, so she explained, "It's not that I don't want to give up my daughters, but I'm afraid that the Wang family will get it for nothing!"

"There are some things you don't know." Yuanniang smiled, "Although Wang was born in a noble family, she was humble in the Jiang family and was very good at dealing with people. When Jiang Bai was a scholar in Yanjing, Jiang Bai's wife was seriously ill. Not only did she serve him without taking off her clothes, but she also went around looking for doctors and medicine for Jiang Bai's wife and praying to gods and Buddhas. Later, Jiang Bai's wife took the prescription she found and recovered. She was very close to Wang. I once asked someone to pass on the message to the Jiang family, but the Jiang family politely refused. Otherwise, why would I ask her to mediate between them?"

"You understand these things better than I do." The first wife smiled and said, "Just make the decision."

Yuan Niang pondered and said, "Mother, you have to worry about the marriages of my three sisters! After all, there is an order of seniority!"

The eldest wife raised her eyes, her face showing a bit of sternness: "Don't worry, I know what to do!"

Yuanniang heaved a long sigh, and for the first time, there was a look of disappointment on her face: "Sometimes, people can't help but believe in fate! It just happened that she stayed in the flower hall, and it just happened that this thing happened, and she just didn't panic at all... I wanted to see... but the time was not right for me... Now I can only choose her. I just hope that God will bless me and pity my painstaking efforts. She is consistent in her words and deeds, and I didn't make a mistake..."

* * * * * *

While the First Lady was talking to Yuanniang in private, the Third Lady, while serving tea to the Dowager Lady, signaled her and the Fifth Lady to go to the flower hall.

"…We shipped them from Nanjing at full speed, and each one cost twenty taels of silver. Suddenly, they all disappeared. Isn't that strange?" The Third Madam lowered her voice very low. "If I hadn't known the people at Liu's, I would have made a fool of myself today - it was the first family dinner, and the shad that the Madam personally ordered was not served! As a result, I checked and found that the person who served was your nephew who was the maid of your mother's family. To be honest, our mother's family is not an outsider who moved here from somewhere. We have to hire outsiders to do our work, so why would he come to work for the Xu family? Fifth brother's wife, I really can't interfere in this matter, you'd better ask about it yourself!"

Madam Wu smiled and said, "Don't worry, Third Sister-in-law. If the person doing the job is one of mine, I will definitely give you an explanation."

"It depends on what my sister-in-law said." The third lady smiled and said, "I don't want to pursue anything. I just think this matter is too strange! You know, I have just taken over the family affairs, so it is inevitable that there are things I can't do, and it is inevitable that someone will give me a hard time... I have to be careful everywhere!" After saying this, she sighed helplessly, "I really hope that my fourth sister-in-law will get better soon, so I don't have to worry so much, and I can hand over this burden earlier!" She looked reluctant.

Madam Wu listened with a smile and was about to say a few polite words when suddenly someone under the eaves of the flower hall exclaimed, "Madam Qiao, what's wrong with you?"