Mrs. Zhou knew that Eleventh Lady had something to say to her, but she did not turn around and remained calm. She waited until everyone was performing the third-day baptism ceremony before she took advantage of the excitement to stand beside Eleventh Lady.

Shiyi Niang whispered what Xu Lingyi and the Queen meant. Madam Zhou's expression was obviously much more relaxed. When she came out from Fang Jie'er, Princess Fucheng even smiled and nodded at Shiyi Niang.

The lady who had been silent all this time suddenly had a deep smile in her eyes.

She patted Eleventh Lady's hand, which was supporting her, and went to the side hall, chatting and laughing with Fifth Lady and Madam Huang.

When they returned to Lotus Garden, it was already early afternoon. Not only Xu Lingyi but also Luo Zhenxing came to greet them.

"Brother!" Eleventh Lady was very happy.

Luo Zhenxing had a smile in his eyes and eyebrows. He nodded at his sister and walked forward to pay his respects to the lady.

"I've been waiting for you!" Mrs. Wu greeted Luo Zhenxing with a smile, "Sister-in-law Si has been asking why you haven't come yet!"

The lady also laughed and asked, "Why did you arrive at this time?"

"I'm sorry to have made Madam Tai, the county lady, and my sister worry about me!" Luo Zhenxing replied to Madam Tai with a smile, but as if explaining something, his eyes fell on Shiyi Niang, "Something happened on the way and delayed me. I set off more than half a month later than originally planned."

The old lady and the fifth lady didn't want to ask too much. Standing in front of the hanging flower gate was not the right place to talk. The old lady walked in, smiling and chatting with Luo Zhenxing: "I'm glad you arrived safely. Let the fourth son welcome you, you must have a couple of drinks later." She also asked, "Is everything okay at home? I heard your wife is pregnant, how is she? Is she okay?"

"Thanks to you." Luo Zhenxing said respectfully, "Everything is fine at home. My wife is being looked after by the Fifth Aunt, so there is nothing to worry about."

Sixth Aunt has never returned since she came to Yanjing.

Eleventh Lady thought about Fifth Aunt's timid look, and wondered whether what Luo Zhenxing said was polite or sincere!

The group sat for a while at the old lady's place. When the old lady saw that a brother and sister were reunited and one was pregnant, she did not keep her daughter-in-law by her side to serve them, but served tea and sent the guests away.

The Fifth Lady returned to her own room, while Eleventh Lady and Xu Lingyi accompanied Luo Zhenxing to the study.

Before Shiyi Niang could speak, Luo Zhenxing took the initiative to say, "Don't worry. There's nothing wrong at home. The wealthy businessman who used to do tea business with our family suddenly came to Hangzhou with his family and asked me to help him get a citizenship in Hangzhou."

Eleventh Lady's heart skipped a beat when she heard this: "Is the situation in Fujian very bad?"

This kind of thing is not something women should care about.

Luo Zhenxing couldn't help but glance at Xu Lingyi.

Xu Lingyi said, "It's worse than we thought. People in Fujian only report good news and not bad news. The massacre in Da'an Village could not be covered up, so they reported it." He looked calm and composed, as if he was used to it.

"That is to say, with General Li there, the situation in Fujian is not gradually under control as previously thought." Eleventh Lady pondered.

If this is true, then Li Ji's military achievements...

She had a vague bad feeling.

Xu Lingyi hummed, then turned to Luo Zhenxing and said, "You came at the right time - I was just about to write a letter to Yun Fei. Please tell me about the tea merchant."

Shiyi Niang was about to prick up her ears to listen, but she saw Luo Zhenxing looking at her again. She was shocked by her own loss of composure.

She stood up quickly and said, "I'll go get a cup of tea for the Marquis and my brother!"

Xu Lingyi didn't care: "Let the little maid go and pour it! If you are impatient to listen to this, go back to your room and rest for a while!"

Jing'er's hands were getting heavier and heavier, but Shiyi Niang often held him in her arms. But Jin'er was not a quiet person, and she was always worried that Shiyi Niang would run out of strength and drop him to the ground.

"I understand!" Eleventh Lady smiled, but still stood up and avoided her.

Luo Zhenxing was shocked.

When people in the Hanlin Academy talked about Xu Lingyi, they all said that although he was introverted and taciturn, he was very smart and acted carefully. Unexpectedly... he allowed Shiyi Niang to listen to them talking about the affairs of the court.

He lowered his head to drink tea, hiding his expression, but he couldn't help but glance at Shiyi Niang.

She was leaning sideways, instructing the maidservant.

Her slender body is as graceful as a willow, and her face is as fair as a newly blooming magnolia. Such a beautiful person exudes a kind of charm from the inside out, which makes people amazed when they see her.

Luo Zhenxing couldn't help but look at Xu Lingyi.

Xu Lingyi was speaking: "...Success and failure are both due to Xiao He. General Li is good at guessing the emperor's intentions, but he misinterpreted the emperor's intentions. You must know that this land belongs to the king. What the emperor wants is a general who can help him guard Fujian. He has repeatedly argued with the Qu family over trivial matters. He is still a little short-sighted!" He didn't even look at Shiyi Niang.

For some reason, Luo Zhenxing secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly put his thoughts aside and spoke to Xu Lingyi: "You are really putting the cart before the horse!"

Eleventh Lady listened and went out, asking the maid to tell Wu Mama in the small kitchen to prepare a banquet for the two of them. She went back to her room to wash up, changed into her daily jacket and rested for a while.

When I woke up again, the sky was full of sunset glow.

Xu Sijie's voice came from outside: "This thing can't be eaten, it's for playing with!" Then the sound of a few rattles was heard.

These days, Jin'er puts whatever he can get his hands on into his mouth. Shiyi Niang is afraid that he might swallow something like buttons, so she orders the maid to put away all the small things in the house, and especially asks Ajin to pay close attention.

Knowing that this was Xu Sijie playing with Jing'er outside after school, she smiled.

After Xu Sizhun moved to the outer courtyard, the two brothers still went to Shuangfuyuan to attend classes every morning after greeting the old lady and Shiyi Niang. At noon, they would go to the old lady's place or Shiyi Niang's place to eat and take a nap. But after school, Nan Yong's wife would politely refuse Xu Sizhun's invitation and take Xu Sijie back to the main house. Mr. Zhao would also keep Xu Sizhun to teach him his homework for half an hour. As a result, the two were no longer mixed together all the time like before. Fortunately, Xu Sizhun's homework became heavier and he had to spend more time on it. Xu Sijie would play with Jing Ge'er for a while every day, so he didn't feel lonely.

When Eleventh Lady had washed and dressed and went to the west room, Xu Sijie was playing the flute for Jing'er.

Although she didn't know much about folk music, she could tell from Xu Sijie's melodious, smooth and mellow flute sound that Xu Sijie's attainments in the flute had far surpassed Xu Sizhun, who was three years older than him and studied the flute at the same time.

Xu Sijie was very devoted to playing the instrument, and Jing'er also changed his usual liveliness and looked at his brother with his big round eyes.

Eleventh Lady stood at the door, listened to Xu Sijie finish playing the song, and clapped her hands.

"Jie'er's flute playing is getting better and better!"

"Mother!" Xu Sijie ran over and hugged Shiyi Niang's waist, his eyes and eyebrows full of smiles, and said a little embarrassedly, "The teacher said that I need to practice more!"

Eleventh Lady touched his head and hugged Jing'er, who was jumping in Gu Mama's arms: "Go and do your homework. Then we'll have dinner. Go and pay your respects to Grandma!"

Xu Sijie replied "yes" respectfully, then went up to the kang, sat upright at the kang table and started reciting "Youxue".

When the museum opened this year, Mr. Zhao formally enlightened Xu Sijie.

Jin Ge'er naturally became a little impatient when he heard this, and he grabbed Shiyi Niang's earring with a "hmm" sound.

Eleventh Lady smiled and patted her son's butt. After Ajin and the others pulled Jing'er's little hands out, Eleventh Lady handed Jing'er to Mother Gu and said, "Fifth Young Master needs to recite his lessons. Don't let Sixth Young Master disturb him."

Mother Gu smiled and said "yes", then carried Jing'er to the warm room.

After checking Xu Sijie's homework, Shiyi Niang asked the maid to set dinner. After greeting the lady, she accompanied Xu Sijie to trace red characters on the kang table in the west room.

* * * * * *

When Xu Lingyi came back, it was already late. The yard was quiet and the maids and old women were on duty.

The brightly lit windows of the west room reflected the graceful silhouette of Shiyi Niang doing needlework and the small figure of Xu Sijie practicing calligraphy.

Xu Lingyi stopped the maid from communicating, stood there and watched them quietly for a while, then walked into the house lightly.

"The Marquis is back!" Eleventh Lady got off the kang.

Xu Sijie turned around and called out "Father", put down his pen, and walked forward to salute Xu Lingyi.

Xu Lingyi smiled and nodded, but his eyes fell on a large red quilt beside the kang table - Jing'er's little face was rosy and he was sleeping soundly.

"Have you finished your homework?" he asked Xu Sijie with a smile, sat down next to Jing'er, and tucked in the corners of the quilt for Jing'er.

"There is one more word!" Xu Sijie said with a red face.

He was afraid of being blamed by his father.

Xu Lingyi smiled gently and said, "Then finish writing quickly so you can go to sleep!"

Xu Sijie became happy, said "hmm", and climbed onto the kang happily.

Eleventh Lady brought in tea.

Xu Lingyi took a sip, glanced at the small rattan basket beside him, and asked with a smile: "What are you doing?"

Eleventh Lady sat down next to Xu Sijie and packed up the small rattan basket: "I want to make a pair of summer socks for the Marquis."

Xu Lingyi was a little surprised.

This was the first time that Shiyi Niang had made something for her, not to mention that she still had a folding screen of "Valley Wind" that she hadn't finished embroidering... Then she became very interested: "Let me see it!"

Eleventh Lady handed over the socks with a smile.

The socks are made of fine turmeric cloth with black cloud patterns embroidered on the cuffs. They look solemn and elegant.

Xu Lingyi liked the socks very much. He held them in his hands and rubbed them carefully for a while before handing them over.

Eleventh Lady asked Luo Zhenxing: "Brother left?"

"No!" Xu Lingyi said, "I drank a little too much, so I stayed overnight." He added, "Zhenxing has taken a concubine. Prepare some hairpins and rings as a gift for the new concubine tomorrow."

Eleventh Lady was shocked: "How could this happen?" Then she felt that she spoke too hastily, so she took a deep breath and said, "When did this happen? How come Big Brother didn't mention anything in his letter a few days ago?"

"It happened in the past few days." Xu Lingyi said with a smile, "How can he bring up such a thing?"

Eleventh Lady said nothing.

The first wife passed away, and from now on, Grandma Luo would be the head of the family. She had to serve the eldest master Luo at home, manage household affairs, and raise children. It was impossible for her to follow Luo Zhenxing to Yanjing, and it was impossible for Luo Zhenxing to be left without someone to take care of him...

After the initial surprise passed, although she could understand the arrangement, she felt a little unhappy.

The room fell silent.

Xu Lingyi looked at Shiyi Niang, who had a calm expression just now but now had a dim look in her eyes. He thought for a moment and said, "Don't worry. Your eldest sister-in-law arranged for the marriage, and she is a distant relative of your eldest sister-in-law's family. Her ancestors also passed the imperial examinations, and she is a girl from a good family with a clean record."

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There will be more updates tomorrow, only one update today!

O(∩_∩)O~