Afterwards, Xu Lingyi instructed Qiuyu, who was on night duty, to ask the kitchen to cook a bowl of noodles with chicken soup.

"No need!" Eleventh Lady said hurriedly, "We have to light the stove again. There are cakes in the food box outside. I'll just eat two pieces to fill my stomach. Besides, it's almost dawn."

Xu Lingyi ignored her and told Qiuyu to "come back quickly".

Eleventh Lady felt a little embarrassed.

Xu Lingyi scolded her with a stern face, "There are so many maids and old women in the house. You woke up because of hunger!" Seeing her lazy and tired look, he felt a little distressed and hugged her in his arms, "It took a lot of effort to gain some weight. You don't take care of yourself."

Eleventh Lady blushed at what he said and lay in his arms without saying a word.

Xu Lingyi couldn't help laughing when he saw her childish look.

Eleventh Lady blushed and in order to get out of this embarrassment, she told him about family matters: "When I went to pay my respects to my mother in the evening, I met the Third Sister-in-law. Did the Marquis tell my mother what the Third Master meant?"

Xu Lingyi knew she was embarrassed, so he smiled and tucked the corners of the quilt for her, wrapping her up tighter. He followed her words and said, "I told you. Mother meant that since they have made up their minds, if we force them, they will only hate us. If you want to move, then move!"

His tone was indifferent, and he was obviously still a little uneasy about this matter.

Shiyi Niang couldn't help but regret bringing up this topic. Just then Qiu Yu brought in some chicken noodle soup, and Shiyi Niang smiled and asked Xu Lingyi to eat noodles.

"I don't want to eat!" Xu Lingyi helped her put on her small jacket, "Eat it by yourself!" Then he stood up and brought in the noodles, and sat aside watching Shiyi Niang eat.

Under the bright light, Eleventh Lady smiled and ate noodles in small bites with a satisfied look on her face.

The corners of Xu Lingyi's mouth curved into a happy arc.

He liked Eleventh Lady like this very much. A small thing could make her happy and satisfied.

He couldn't help but reach out and smooth her hair that was softly tucked behind her ears: "Slow down, be careful not to burn yourself."

* * * * * *

After eating a small bowl of noodles, I rinsed my mouth and hands and lay down again. It was already getting light.

Xu Lingyi went to the back garden to practice swordplay, and Shiyi Niang stayed in the bathroom for a while before getting up.

A servant came running in: "Madam, the uncle from Gongxian Hutong is here!"

Eleventh Lady was stunned.

He came here so early, could something have happened to Qiniang?

She told the servant to "Please invite Uncle to sit in the study," urged Qiuyu to comb her hair quickly, and then hurried to the study.

Luo Zhenxing paced in the study with his hands behind his back, looking a little solemn.

Seeing Eleventh Lady, he strode towards her and said, "I have written a letter to my father. Please send someone to deliver it to Yuhang as fast as possible." As he said that, he took out a letter from his sleeve.

The master's letter has not been replied yet, so why is Luo Zhenxing sending another letter to Yuhang?

"What happened?" Eleventh Lady asked Luo Zhenxing to sit down and talk.

Luo Zhenxing thought for a while before he slowly said, "I received a letter from my second uncle. From what he said, he was in favor of giving my fourth sister's son to Qi Niang. He also asked me to help Qi Niang talk to the Zhu family. I think this matter involves the affairs of the ancestral temple, and there are some rules that I may not understand. It is still up to Dad to take charge of the overall situation."

In this way, Luo Zhenxing also discovered his second uncle's intention.

Eleventh Lady told Luo Zhenxing the news she got from Fifth Lady.

Luo Zhenxing frowned upon hearing this and scolded Shiyi Niang in a low voice, "Seventh sister is ignorant. Why do you just follow the crowd? Second uncle just felt that the Zhu family didn't take the Luo family seriously and opened the ancestral hall without any prior notice. I'm just holding back. How can we, as the younger generation, criticize our elders like this?"

Eleventh Lady was speechless.

That’s it. We still have to maintain the dignity of the Second Master as an elder.

She whispered "yes" and asked the maid to invite Butler Bai to come.

Luo Zhenxing's expression eased slightly, and he said, "Do you have anything important to do these two days? If not, go and persuade Qi Niang! Tell her not to act recklessly. I'll help her with the adoption matter. Tell her not to say anything to Qi's brother-in-law or to the Zhu family. If the Zhu family comes to her, or Zhu Anping talks to her about the adoption, just push it to me!"

I’m afraid that if Qiniang continues to make trouble like this, things will get out of control!

Eleventh Lady told Luo Zhenxing that she had asked Fifth Lady to persuade Seventh Lady.

Luo Zhenxing was silent for a while, then whispered, "In that case, you should go visit your Seventh Sister more often with Madam Wu when you are free."

This was considered as tacit approval of Danyang's idea.

Xu Lingyi came back from sword practice.

"What's the hurry that brings you here so early?" He smiled and told the maid to prepare breakfast.

"I want to use the Marquis to send a letter to Yuhang." The brother and sister chose the same excuse at the same time. "General Jiang has received frequent good news in Fujian these days. Lord Dou asked us to write some official reports to be sent to various provinces by the six ministries. I still have to rush to the Hanlin Academy. I will come back another day to have a drink with the Marquis." She politely rejected Xu Lingyi's invitation and stood up to say goodbye.

Xu Lingyi heard that he had official business, so he did not stay any longer. He asked about the war in Fujian while seeing Luo Zhenxing off. Then he turned around and called the butler Bai: "Does the uncle often ask you to help deliver letters these days?"

If you don’t ask about some things, you should just pretend you don’t know. But if you ask, you can’t hide anything.

"This is the second time." Manager Bai said, "The first time was when Madam sent us to deliver the letter."

Xu Lingyi nodded and returned to the main house. He found that after Eleventh Lady greeted the Lady Dowager, she took Jing'er to the Fifth Lady.

"Seventh sister asked her personal mother to send a letter saying that Seventh brother-in-law will arrive in Yanjing in the next two days?"

Jing'er, who had just learned to walk, refused to be carried and insisted on walking on the ground. He walked in the spacious hall of the Fifth Madam and refused to be supported. Eleventh Lady followed behind Jing'er with her arms outstretched like a hen protecting her chicks to prevent him from falling. She took the time to look up at the Fifth Madam who was sitting on the big kang by the window in the banquet room.

"Yes!" Madam Wu felt that Shiyi Niang was too nervous about Jin Ge'er. "Just let the wet nurse take care of him. Come over and sit for a while!" Then she said, "Ask me what to do?"

"I came back late yesterday, and he fell asleep and didn't see me. Today, he opened his eyes and wanted me to hold him, not even the Marquis." Eleventh Lady explained, "I'd better take him with me. Otherwise he will cry. You don't know, when he cries, it's earth-shaking, I don't know how scary it is."

The Fifth Lady laughed: "Which child's crying is not earth-shattering?"

"I think Xin Jie is very delicate." Eleventh Lady said, and when she saw Jin Ge'er tiptoeing and grabbing the tassel of the tablecloth, she hurried forward to coax Jin Ge'er to let go. Jin Ge'er finally let go, and then continued to talk to Fifth Lady, "Someone has to come forward and talk to Seventh Brother-in-law." Fifth Lady was not a good choice. First of all, she was an outsider, and there has been a saying since ancient times that family disgrace should not be made public. Zhu Anping knew that even Fifth Lady knew about the incident, and she would lose face. Secondly, she had a mother-in-law and children, and she couldn't run around every few days for Seventh Lady's affairs. "How about letting my fourth sister talk?"

The Fifth Lady asked Eleventh Lady to come because of this matter.

It didn't matter if she came forward to persuade Qi Niang. If she questioned Zhu Anping, it would not be appropriate for her in terms of identity, status or position. But she refused it, and was afraid that Shiyi Niang and Qi Niang would think she was unwilling to help. After hearing what Shiyi Niang said, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Fourth sister is naturally the best." Fifth Madam smiled and said, "As an aunt, you can say whatever you want. If you say too much, there is still fourth brother-in-law who can help to mediate."

"Then I'll talk to my fourth sister." Seeing that Jin Ge'er was holding the armchair and couldn't move, Eleventh Lady thought that he was a little tired, so she hugged her son and said, "Sister-in-law, talk to my seventh sister."

The Fifth Lady gave Qi Niang a good idea that was not only to her liking but also acceptable and feasible for her. To Qi Niang, the Fifth Lady's words were like the teachings of Buddha. Qi Niang might not be able to listen to other words at this moment.

"Okay!" Madam Wu also felt that Qi Niang had some grudges against her sisters, so it would be better for her to talk to them herself. "I'll write her a letter - if Zhu Anping doesn't listen to Madam Yu, I'll ask Master Wu to talk to Zhu Anping. This will also put Qi Niang's heart at ease."

Eleventh Lady nodded, and the two discussed some details. One wrote a letter to Seventh Lady, and the other wrote a letter to Fourth Lady.

Mother Shi was so happy that she kept bringing snacks and fruits. When she saw the two of them talking about Qi Niang, she sent the maid away and served them herself in the room.

When it was almost time for lunch, Eleventh Lady and Fifth Lady took the child to pay their respects to the Lady Dowager.

Yuban winked at them and said, "The third lady is in the inner room."

The two men paused and heard faint crying.

A smile appeared in the eyes of the Fifth Lady.

She asked Yuban in a low voice: "What's going on?"

Yuban glanced at Shiyi Niang, and seeing that she was also listening attentively, he whispered, "Last night, the Third Madam and the maid played mahjong for half the night, and the eldest young mistress was serving beside them. Maybe she stood for too long and her legs were numb. She fell on her way out and sprained her hand. She was a new daughter-in-law, so she didn't dare to say anything. When she woke up this morning, her hand was swollen like a steamed bun. When the Madam found out, she was so angry that she was shaking and was giving her a lecture!"

The Fifth Lady looked at Eleventh Lady in protest and whispered, "What do you think? I told you long ago that she is too harsh on others and something bad will happen to her sooner or later!" She smiled and said, "Our eldest young lady sprained her hand at the right time."

Eleventh Lady also felt that Third Madam had gone too far. After thinking for a while, she asked Yuban, "What does the eldest young master say?"

Yuban was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "It was the eldest young master who informed the Third Madam, and then the Third Madam helped to invite the doctor."

Eleventh Lady sighed in her heart, took her child to play under the eaves, and discussed with Fifth Lady about going to see Fang.

"Of course." The Fifth Lady said, her eyes sparkling. "She became weak right after she got married. How can we just sit there and watch?"

Eleventh Lady couldn't help feeling frightened when she saw this.

* * * * * *

Jin Ge'er took two steps and looked back at Shiyi Niang. Seeing that Shiyi Niang was following him, he took two more steps and then looked back at Shiyi Niang again. He looked like he wanted to leave but was afraid, which was very cute. All the maids and wives in the lady's room smiled. Some maids couldn't help laughing out loud, which startled the people in the inner room.

After a while, the lady used the jade tablet to call them in.

The Third Lady had red and swollen eyes and stood aside with a listless look. When she saw Eleventh Lady and Fifth Lady walking in one after another, a bit of resentment flashed in her eyes.

※

Today is the first day of the college entrance examination. I wonder if you are filled with emotion.

O(∩_∩)O~

PS: There is only one update today!