When they returned to the house at night, Xu Lingyi pinched Shiyi Niang's nose and asked, "What the hell are you doing?"

Eleventh Lady turned her head away and said with a smile, "Did the Marquis see through it?"

"Danyang laughed so flamboyantly that I couldn't pretend I didn't know."

Eleventh Lady smiled playfully, "I just felt that Third Sister-in-law was too stingy, and I wanted to make her feel a little sad. But I didn't want her to lose her vitality, so I thought of this idea. I saved her face, and gave the things to Brother Qin and his niece-in-law - and she didn't suffer any loss!"

Xu Lingyi thought for a moment and said with a smile, "Is this Danyang's idea?"

So sure!

Eleventh Lady said angrily, "How does the Marquis know that it wasn't my idea?"

"You?" Xu Lingyi smiled and tapped her nose, "How could you come up with such a mischievous idea?"

Eleventh Lady laughed: "My Lord, please don't underestimate me!"

Xu Lingyi hugged her and said, "You might make some progress if you study with Danyang for a few years!" He then whispered, "You are missing a hairpin with kingfisher feathers. I will give it to you tomorrow!" Then he smiled and went into the bathroom.

Eleventh Lady looked at Xu Lingyi's back, not knowing whether to cry or laugh.

It turns out that I am so honest in Xu Lingyi's mind.

However, thinking about what happened today, she still admired the Fifth Madam.

She was worried that she might end up making things worse, but the Fifth Madam patted her chest and said, "The Third Sister-in-law will definitely be tempted when she sees the things, and Madam Gan will definitely jump out to help when she hears the Fourth Sister-in-law talking. Don't worry. It will definitely work!"

We did it bit by bit and got it done.

I just don’t know whether Grandma Hongda has joined forces with the Fifth Madam.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but smile faintly.

Madam Gu brought Jing'er over and said, "Madam, look, this is the gift from the eldest young lady to the sixth young master."

Jing'er wore a tiger-head hat on his head. The hat was finely crafted and colorful. Not only did it fit him very well, but it also had a curly tiger tail behind it, which was quite creative.

Maybe the weather was not cold enough to require wearing a hat. Jing'er kept pulling at the hat but couldn't get it off. He was so angry that his face turned red.

Eleventh Lady took off her hat with a smile, and Jing'er immediately threw himself into her arms, pouting in grievance.

"Put your hat away!" Eleventh Lady touched her son's head with a smile. She looked down and saw that Jin'er was wearing a pair of tiger-head shoes. The tiger's whiskers were black and straight. Upon closer inspection, she found that they were made of black velvet wrapped with copper wire.

"The eldest young lady is really thoughtful!" Mother Gu praised again, then took off her shoes and replaced them with black velvet shoes with the word "Fu" on them for Jing'er.

Eleventh Lady suddenly felt a little envious of the Third Lady.

It would be great if Jing'er could marry a wife like this in the future.

The thought flashed through his mind, and he felt a little ridiculous for thinking about getting married so early. There was no sign of Xu Siyu's marriage!

She coaxed Jing'er to sleep.

Over there, the Fifth Lady was having a heart-to-heart talk with Grandma Hongda.

"Every time you are so filthy, if I don't make a scene like this, the Xu family will lose face." Madam Wu served the newly-released persimmons and oranges to Grandma Hongda, "I really don't know what the third sister-in-law is thinking!" She added, "It's just that the three cousins ​​are spending money!"

"It's a rare opportunity to show off like this!" Grandma Hongda picked up a piece of Hang cake with her teeth and said with a smile, "What's the big deal? Your eldest cousin's wife can afford this little bit. I just didn't expect that the fourth brother's wife would agree with you. Otherwise, I want to see how you would end up - maybe you would even lose your hair in vain!"

"Don't make the mistake of the eldest sister-in-law. The fourth sister-in-law is the one who knows how to calculate the accounts the best." The fifth wife disagreed and peeled an orange leisurely. "Don't forget, she has four sons. She can definitely earn back the things she gave away."

Grandma Hongda laughed: "Why do I sound like someone saying the grapes are sour because they can't eat them?"

The fifth lady smiled awkwardly.

He Xiang came in and said, "Madam, Master Wu said he's going to drink with Master Ding San tonight, so he asked you not to wait at the door!"

Madam Wu replied, "I understand," and said to Grandma Liu Hongda, "You can rest here today!"

"I'd better go back first!" Grandma Hongda stood up and said, "This time when Qin'er is getting married, your eldest and second cousins ​​are busy, and your third uncle sent us here. Now he is drinking in the outer courtyard. As the eldest sister-in-law, I can't let my two younger brothers and sisters be left alone! What's more, your nephew's wife is here."

Madam Wu couldn't stay any longer, so she smiled and sent Grandma Hongda to the guest room. The next morning, she went to the guest room to pick up Grandma Hongda and others to go to the flower hall for breakfast. Who knew that Eleventh Lady had already arrived and was talking to Grandma Fuda and others in a gentle voice. Seeing her come in, Grandma Dingsan pulled Madam Wu and said, "I didn't expect you to be such a hot-tempered person. I tell you, when our second son gets married, you better be careful!"

"Don't worry, don't worry." The Fifth Madam smiled and said, "I will go to Nanjing anyway. I will leave it to the Third Cousin to handle it."

Everyone listened and laughed for a while, then went to pay their respects to the lady.

The old lady talked to the two granddaughters-in-law who came from Nanjing for a long time and gave them some gifts. The third lady brought her daughter-in-law to pay her respects to the old lady and brought Fang's Yuan handkerchief for her to look at.

The old lady looked happy, and took Fang, who was too shy to raise her head, to the flower hall for breakfast. Then Xu Lingyi took Xu Siqin and Fang to the ancestral hall to pay respects to the temple and arranged to send the newlyweds back home. The old lady chatted with Grandma Hongda and others, played cards and drank, and had a good time all day until Xu Siqin and Fang came back from the other courtyard of Minister Liu's family, where they had borrowed the Fang family to marry.

While Zhu Xiang was removing Eleventh Lady's makeup, she whispered, "Because the wedding was held in the mansion, the help was from the stewards and servants of the Huishou Office. The gifts from each family were also registered in the Huishou Office. I heard that right after the eldest young master and the eldest young mistress left, Gan Laoquan went to the Huishou Office to ask about the account book. Seeing that it was Steward Zhao who was in charge at the time, he didn't dare to ask, and just turned around and went back. The Third Madam was sulking for a long time."

Eleventh Lady began to understand what the lady meant.

Since the wedding was held in the mansion, the public treasury should pay for it, but in this case, the gifts from each family should also be kept by the public treasury. Naturally, there was no reason to give them out.

Anyone who has ever held a wedding or funeral knows that a funeral requires ceremonies, monks and Taoist priests to perform water and land rituals, tombs to be prepared, funeral attendants to be invited, etc. All of these things cost money, and the bigger the ceremony, the more losses. Unlike weddings, the biggest expense is the banquet. The more people come, the more it will be completed. At the very least, the new bride can also receive gifts from various families. This time when Xu Siqin got married, the Xu family had more than 300 tables, and there was only profit and no loss. No wonder the third wife was anxious.

But from the tone of the lady's voice, it seemed that she had no intention of settling the score with the third lady.

"Keep paying attention," Eleventh Lady instructed Zhu Xiang, "see if there's any movement from the Third Madam's side."

Zhu Xiang responded.

A few days later, Grandma Hongda and others returned to Nanjing. She quietly told Shiyi Niang: "The Third Madam went to see the Madam about Qiu Ling!"

Most people in the mansion knew what the old lady said that day. Some people even jokingly called Qiu Ling "auntie". Qiu Ling rarely walked around the mansion these days.

Thinking of her kindness to herself, Shiyi Niang was a little worried and concerned about her future. Upon hearing this, she couldn't help but say "Oh" and asked, "What did you say?"

Zhu Xiang whispered, "The Third Madam said that she had betrothed Qiu Ling to an attendant of the Third Master a long time ago. Firstly, Qiu Ling's status was humble, so she didn't report it; secondly, the Madam's words came so quickly that day that she didn't dare to refute. Now that the eldest young master's wedding is done, she specifically told the Madam. Since ancient times, it has been difficult to be both loyal and filial, so as not to embarrass the Third Master. She has also become a stupid wife."

Eleventh Lady breathed a sigh of relief and pondered, "Was Qiu Ling's marriage arranged at the last minute? Or was it really arranged a long time ago as Third Madam said?"

Zhu Xiang said: "I've never heard of it before!"

In other words, it might be an excuse to shirk responsibility for the lady. I don't know what kind of person this follower is.

Eleventh Lady frowned and said, "The Madam is just trying to intimidate the Third Madam. After the Third Madam said this, the Madam will definitely not mention this matter again!"

"Yes!" Zhu Xiang smiled and nodded. "The Madam only told the Third Madam a few words, 'Don't let the Third Master be without someone to take care of him while he's in office.' She didn't say anything else. The Third Madam seemed to be afraid of more trouble, so she asked the Madam to help Qiu Ling set a date. The Madam looked up the imperial calendar and set it for October 18th."

"So soon!" Shiyi Niang pondered, "When the time comes, remember to help me get ten taels of silver to add to Qiu Ling's box."

Zhu Xiang responded, and a maid came in and said, "Madam, the Madam wants you to come over and talk."

Don’t know what it is?

Shiyi Niang and Zhu Xiang couldn't help but exchange glances.

* * * * * *

The Madam was leaning on the pillow on the big kang by the window, playing mahjong with Madam Du, Yuban, and another second-class maid named Zhihong. When she saw Shiyi Niang come in, she immediately threw away the cards and patted the scarlet brocade cushion beside her: "Come, come and sit down."

Mother Du and others stood up immediately.

Eleventh Lady bowed to the Dowager Lady with a smile and sat down beside her. The Dowager Lady took her hand. Zhihong had already collected the cards lightly and Yuban served the tea.

The lady sent the people away and said thoughtfully, "Brother Yu is fifteen years old this year, right?"

Could it be that because Xu Siqin got married, he remembered Xu Siyu’s marriage?

Eleventh Lady thought about it, smiled and said "Yes", "On October 25th, I will be fifteen years old, and then sixteen years old."

The lady nodded slightly, a satisfied look in her eyes, and said softly: "He is not young anymore, and he has already gone through mourning. You should pay more attention to the affairs in the house. Pick two handsome and honest people for him to live in the house!"

Eleventh Lady was stunned for a moment before she reacted.

I couldn't help sweating.

Xu Siyu hasn’t graduated from junior high school yet!

However, this was the norm in this era, so she couldn't object. She smiled and agreed, then went back to discuss it with Xu Lingyi.

"There's no need to do it so early! Be careful not to ruin your health."

"Not young anymore." Xu Lingyi disagreed. "It's already late September. If we go back to Le'an, all the time will be wasted on the road. I wrote a letter to Mr. Jiang and told him to go back to Le'an in the spring next year. It's just the right time to get this done!"

Eleventh Lady had no choice but to say, "This can't be done in a short time. We can't let a troublemaker stay in the house. It's better not to let him go."

Xu Lingyi smiled and said, "What's so difficult about this? Once the daughter-in-law is married and obedient, and Yu Ge'er wants to stay, then let her stay. If she's not obedient, just send her away."

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