Soon the room was crowded with people again. Lady Zhongqin greeted Eleventh Lady even more attentively. Eleventh Lady and Fifth Lady exchanged a few polite words with her and then left the bridal chamber on the pretext of having something to do.

It was already midnight, and both of them were a little tired. After talking for a few words, they went back to their rooms.

But just as Eleventh Lady stepped onto the steps of the main courtyard, Jade Plate from the Lady Dowager's side hurried over.

"Fourth Madam," she said, panting a little, "The Madam asked you to come over. She said she had something to say."

Eleventh Lady and she went to the lady's place.

The lights in the lady's room were still on, and under the light, her fatigue was clearly visible.

Eleventh Lady stepped forward and bowed. The Lady had already sent away the servants around her and asked Eleventh Lady in a low voice, "How is the bride?"

So that's what I was worried about!

Eleventh Lady looked at the crow's feet at the corners of the old lady's eyes and felt that she had aged a lot more than when she first met her.

She couldn't help but hold the lady's hand and whispered, "It's OK for now." Then she told the lady everything she had seen and heard, "... He has a good appearance, has read a lot of books, and acts generously and steadily!" Thinking of the two maids, "He's not the kind of person who has never seen the world," and thinking of the eldest cousin's wife, "I'm afraid he's not the kind of relative who would swallow humiliation."

The lady didn't think so: "No matter who the third daughter-in-law marries, even the best-tempered ones will become a little temperamental." But a big stone fell from her heart, and she heaved a long sigh of relief, "Then we can only wait and see if there is any change the day after tomorrow morning!"

The auspicious time was set late, and it was almost dawn when the guests were sent away. The next morning, the relatives had to be recognized, and the wedding night could only be arranged tomorrow night. If there were no unexpected incidents the morning after tomorrow, this would be a good marriage.

Eleventh Lady nodded and comforted the Madam: "Don't worry, nothing will happen." She added, "I see you look tired. Why don't you take a good rest tomorrow morning? I have to get up early to go to the hall to recognize my relatives anyway. If there is anything, please let the mother in charge come to me for instructions!"

"No need!" The lady smiled, with a hint of cunning in her smile, "You can't control her. Let me do it! You should go and rest. It's the right thing to do to take good care of my brother Jing."

Although the lady was kind to Zhun'er, she always showed a bit of pity for him. She was less pity for Jing'er, but had more sincere love for him.

Eleventh Lady didn't know how the family arranged the expenses for Xu Siqin's wedding. Xu Lingyi wouldn't care about it. The Madam hadn't mentioned it, and it was even more difficult for her to ask rashly, otherwise people would misunderstand that she was holding on to something. Now, from the tone of the Madam, it seemed that she was arguing with the Third Lady. It was even more difficult for her to ask.

She wanted to help the old lady rest, but she waved her hand and said, "Mother Du and I have something to say. You should go back now! Don't let the fourth child drink so much. He is not young anymore. Drinking too much will harm his health."

Eleventh Lady replied "yes" respectfully and left. Then she instructed Zhu Xiang: "... find out how the expenses for the eldest young master's wedding are calculated?"

* * * * * *

The next day, Xu Siyu, Xu Sizhun, Xu Sijie, Zhen Jie'er, Madam Wen and Madam Qiao came to pay their respects at dawn. Eleventh Lady dressed in new clothes, accepted their gifts, and, surrounded by a large group of maids and old women, took the children to the small flower hall next to the main hall - where Xu Siqin and Fang recognized their relatives.

As soon as she stood still, the Fifth Lady came with Xin Jie'er and Shen Ge'er.

Xin Jie'er immediately shook off her nurse and ran over to hold Jing'er's hand. Jing'er looked at her and laughed twice, then became impatient, threw her hand away and twisted his body to look at the big red wedding character on the wall.

Xin Jie'er was a little embarrassed, and Xu Sizhun came up to her and asked, "Why didn't I see you at the banquet yesterday? There was a sesame snowball with sweet-scented osmanthus filling inside. I thought you would like it, so I asked Biluo to send some over. Did you eat it?"

Xin Jie'er's expression relaxed after hearing this, revealing a faint smile, and her sweet childish voice was filled with some joy: "The nurse said it was made of glutinous rice, so I was only allowed to eat half of it. It's really as Fourth Brother said, it's delicious!"

Xu Sizhun became happy after hearing this, and the brother and sister lowered their heads and huddled together to talk.

Xu Siyu's gaze fell on Jing'er.

I saw Jinger wearing a red silk crane cloak with five bats holding clouds and flowers, white silk pants, and a red gold necklace with a golden lock on her chest. She was beautiful, with a pair of big black eyes, as cute as the golden boy in front of Guanyin. When her eyes met his, she grinned, but didn't stay for long, and soon her eyes were attracted by the big red lantern with five beads on her head.

The corners of Xu Siyu's mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly, revealing a faint smile.

Zhen Jie'er held Xu Sijie's hand and followed closely behind Shiyi Niang, welcoming Grandma Hongda, Grandma Fuer and Grandma Dingsan from Nanjing. Grandma Hongda and Grandma Fuer both brought their eldest daughters-in-law with them. They hadn't seen each other for several years, so they had to recognize each other and ask about each other's situation. In the midst of the excitement, the Third Lady came in with a smile, accompanied by the Lady of the Earl of Zhongqin and several aunts, great-aunts and aunts of the Gan family.

Madam Gan was standing and talking with Eleventh Lady and several other sisters-in-law with a smile on her face, leaving her own sisters-in-law and aunts aside. Several sisters-in-law of the Third Lady could not help but curl their lips, and then they saw Earl Zhongqin, Xu Lingkuan, and several uncles and sons-in-law of the Gan family, as well as Xu Sijian, walking in with Xu Lingyi.

There was a noise in the flower hall.

Everyone sat down in the side hall, divided into men and women. Gan Laoquan's family brought Xu Siqin and Fang over.

The newlyweds first paid their respects to Xu Lingyi and the others. Except for Xu Lingyi, who presented a pair of red gold dragon and phoenix bracelets as a gift on behalf of the Third Master, the others said something like "husband and wife should respect each other like guests", and then went to the side hall on the right which was filled with women and children to pay their respects.

The third wife looked at her son and daughter-in-law who were kowtowing to her, tears welled up in her eyes. She took the shoes and socks made by Fang and kept praising them, which made Fang blush. Qiu Ling hurriedly handed over the bright red gold-painted box.

Fang took it with both hands, and everyone's eyes fell on Eleventh Lady, who had the highest status in the room.

Eleventh Lady looked at the phoenix hairpin with emeralds, rubies, cat's eyes and lotus seed-sized pearls on the head of the Third Lady. She nodded slightly, took the red gold-painted box from Qiuyu's hand and was about to hand it over, but the Fifth Lady smiled and said, "Wait, wait. Since we are recognizing our relatives today, we can't run away. Come one by one."

Everyone looked towards the Fifth Madam.

Eleventh Lady's hand, which was handing over the box, paused slightly, then she took it back.

"Third sister-in-law married such a beautiful daughter-in-law, I don't know if she really likes her or just pretends to like her?" Fifth Madam smiled and covered her sleeves, "What you say doesn't count, just look at what you gave as a gift today?" She motioned Qiu Ling to open the box, "Seeing is believing, hearing is not."

The third lady smiled slightly after hearing this, and her smile contained three parts of reserve and seven parts of pride.

Qiu Ling opened the box with a smile.

Inside was a set of red gold Man Chi Jiao's distraction, although it looked a bit old, it probably weighed about five or six taels.

The Third Madam's sister-in-law thought the gift was acceptable, and smiled as she looked at it, "How is it? Is the Fifth Madam satisfied?"

"That's better!" Mrs. Five smiled.

Fang lowered her head somewhat embarrassedly.

The third lady's face became even more smug.

Everyone's eyes fell on Eleventh Lady again.

Eleventh Lady showed some hesitation.

The Third Madam's sister-in-law rolled her eyes and said with a smile, "Fourth Madam, everyone in our family is waiting!"

Eleventh Lady smiled and handed the box to Fang: "It's just a small gift, please don't despise me, my nephew's wife!"

The third wife's sister-in-law saw that she didn't open the box and didn't show it in front of everyone, so she thought the things must be bad. Thinking about what good things their family did, the Xu family didn't add any more silver except for the usual practice. She smiled coldly in her heart and immediately said, "The gift from the wife of Yongping Marquis must open our eyes!"

After hearing this, a trace of anxiety flashed in Fang's eyes, and she looked at Xu Siqin for help.

Xu Siqin just stood aside with a smile.

Fourth Aunt was always sincere to others. Even if the things she gave were not expensive, she would usually use ingenuity to make them outstanding. He was not worried.

Fang had no choice but to open the box with a dim look in her eyes.

A red-gold hairpin lay quietly on the purple-red felt cushion. The head of the hairpin was as big as a bowl, and was carved with a flying phoenix. The phoenix was lifelike, with exquisite carvings, flying with its wings spread, mating and looking at each other in the clouds. The clouds were layered and unpredictable, surrounding the phoenix in a circle. Because it was made of new gold, the cut surface was shining with gold, which made people unable to open their eyes.

Some people exclaimed, "It's so beautiful", while others thought, "It must weigh about ten taels."

"This, this is too expensive." Fang looked up at Eleventh Lady as if she had been scalded.

"The phoenix is ​​flying, its feathers fluttering." Eleventh Lady smiled at her gently, "Fourth Aunt wishes you a long and happy life together."

Fang was a little excited.

This sentence comes from the Book of Songs, Da Ya, Juan'a, and is usually used to bless couples to love each other and have a happy marriage. It was the one she often recited in her heart before getting married.

"Thank you, Fourth Aunt!" She bowed deeply with her knees bent.

The Fang family is a family of scholars. Xu Siqin heard the words of the eldest sister-in-law who sent her off, and saw that Fang looked well-read, so he was a little worried that Fang would be arrogant. Eleventh Lady's gift and Fang's sincere gratitude made him feel relieved... But he heard Fifth Aunt laugh teasingly, "Third sister-in-law, this won't do. You are a mother-in-law, how can you be outdone by Fourth Sister-in-law? You should at least give more. Come on, give your nephew's wife two more things."

The Third Lady's face froze. She was happy that Eleventh Lady had given her face, but she was also annoyed that the Fifth Lady was too tactless. Just as she was about to say something, the Fifth Lady had already opened the box she brought with her: "Here are mine. Wait for the Third Sister-in-law to give a gift to her nephew's wife and send it out immediately."

The room was immediately filled with jewels and precious stones.

Some people gasped, some stared with their eyes wide open, and some praised loudly: "They are really more generous than each other."

On the purple felt cushion lay quietly a wine cup-sized flower, with a pure gold base and fingernail-sized rubies as petals, sparkling with dazzling brilliance.

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There is only one update today.

PS: More updates tomorrow!

O(∩_∩)O~

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Thanks!