Qi Niang is also a straightforward person, otherwise, she wouldn't have quarreled with the Zhu family like this even though she had all the advantages of the time and place!

The Fifth Lady thought about it and said bluntly, "I heard from the Fourth Sister-in-law that Lord Yu was also present at the time, right?"

"I also think Zhu Anping is too reckless." Qi Niang nodded. "If he really feels guilty, he can just talk to you in private. Why does he have to do this in front of Fourth Brother-in-law? You don't know that Fourth Brother-in-law looked at me with a bit of displeasure at that time!"

Madam Wu smiled slightly: "You and Zhu Anping have been married for five years, right? Then tell me, what kind of person is Zhu Anping?"

Qinnan was stunned and thought for a long time, as if she didn't know how to describe it!

Because he is your husband, you haven’t thought about it carefully!

Madam Wu pondered over it and asked her again, "Logically speaking, Zhu Anping broke his promise, and the person he should feel sorry for is you. Why didn't he kneel to you, but to Madam Yu instead?"

Qi Niang thought for a moment and guessed, "Is it because I made such a fuss that Fourth Sister was embarrassed?"

"You still have some brains." The Fifth Lady laughed when she heard this. "You're not like tofu that falls into a ash pond, which can't be hit or beaten."

"I'm in this condition now, and you're still laughing at me!" Qi Niang refused and went to pinch Wu Madam.

Madam Wu smiled and hid, and the two of them sat down on the stone bench next to the Taihu stone rockery in the courtyard.

"He knelt, but not to you." Fifth Madam whispered, "He knelt because he broke his promise to you, and he knelt because he was disrespectful to Lord Yu and Madam Yu." She took Qi Niang's hand, "Some things cannot be judged superficially, you have to think carefully." Then she asked her, "I ask you, did Zhu Anping kneel to you? Why do you look so happy?"

Qi Niang felt that the Fifth Lady was the one who understood her heart the best and treated her well. She did not try to hide it and said frankly, "He has always been a man of his word. Now that he has broken his promise, he has knelt down to apologize to our family, which is considered an admission of fault - in the end, he admitted that I was right."

"You only know how to fuss over these little things." Mrs. Wu laughed and thought that Qi Niang was particularly naive.

Qi Niang couldn't help but feel embarrassed and muttered in a low voice: "I can't win over him on big issues, so do I have to give in to him on small matters?"

The Fifth Lady laughed again. After she finished laughing, her expression straightened up and she said, "Tell me the truth. When you asked Madam Yu to give your youngest son to the Zhu family as an adopted son, didn't you feel a little guilty?"

Qi Niang lowered her head and was silent for a long while before she said softly, "I, I just want Zhu Anping to suffer the consequences of his actions!"

The Fifth Lady asked again, "Then do you know what your Fourth Sister has done for you?"

Qi Niang looked up and looked at her in surprise.

The Fifth Lady said solemnly, "She said that you were determined to adopt Qi'er as your adopted son. She loved her sister so much that she had to agree. She was also afraid that the people of the Zhu family would not accept it and would report it to the government, so she asked the Fourth Sister-in-law, your eleventh sister, for help and asked the Fourth Sister-in-law to ask the Marquis to come forward and greet the government. The matter of the ancestral hall is of great importance. The Fourth Sister-in-law was afraid that the Marquis would be involved, so she simply cut off the fire at the source and went to Gongxian Hutong in person to persuade your eldest brother to come forward and ask your uncle to preside over the situation, so as to prevent the situation from getting bigger and bigger and implicating the people in the family..." She couldn't tell the Eleventh Lady that she had asked her to persuade Seventh Lady, for fear that Seventh Lady would feel that the people in the family were united and were against Seventh Lady, so she would no longer listen to what she said. When the Fifth Lady said this, she looked at Seventh Lady deeply, "Think about it carefully, you just said one sentence, but your Fourth Sister put so much thought and effort into it!"

Qi Niang was very shocked.

Her father agreed with her to adopt Qi Ge'er into the Zhu family as an adopted son, so she never thought carefully about whether her fourth sister would agree.

Because in her heart, the fourth sister is a very capable person, and nothing can stop her. Among the children, although her father dotes on her the most, he values ​​the fourth sister the most. Subconsciously, if the fourth sister does not agree to Qi Ge'er being the adopted son, no one can force her. Since she agreed, she naturally thinks this is feasible. So she is getting more and more determined...

The Fifth Lady's words caused her world to collapse in an instant.

Did the fourth sister ask the eldest uncle to suppress her father through Eleventh Lady because she had no other choice?

So what did the father say to the fourth sister that made the clever fourth sister come up with such a plan?

She thought about how her fourth sister had always given in to her since she was a child. She always let her eat the good things first, and would give her anything she liked without hesitation as long as she asked for it... She twisted her fingers and became a little restless.

Madam Wu looked at it and nodded slightly, then simply added some firewood.

"Have you seen our new eldest young lady?"

Qi Niang didn't know why she suddenly mentioned Xu Siqin's wife. She was slightly stunned and said, "I heard that she was born in a wealthy family in Jiangnan. Her appearance, character, and temperament are all outstanding!"

Madam Wu nodded and asked her with a smile, "What do you think?"

Qi Niang thought for a moment and said, "Although this is our first meeting, it can be seen that she is indeed good at entertaining guests. I think the rumors are somewhat credible."

Madam Wu nodded and told Qi Niang everything about the relationship between Madam San and Fang: "... Just think about it, even someone like our eldest young lady had to be subservient to her." Then she talked about herself, "I can't remember clearly about my childhood, but I still remember things when I was seven or eight years old. Because it was hot, I couldn't sleep, so the maids took turns fanning me. At noon, one of them actually fell asleep. I woke up because of the heat. My father dragged the maid to the outer courtyard, stripped her pants and beat her with twenty sticks. The maid went back to her room and hanged herself."

In public, a little girl had her pants taken off and was beaten with a stick... After suffering such humiliation, the only thing left for her to do was die.

Qi Niang had been the apple of her parents' eyes since she was young, but she had never been killed just because the maid fanned her carelessly and woke her up from the heat!

Qi Niang looked at Wu Madam in surprise.

The Fifth Lady said pointedly, "Father loves me so much. Since I married into the Xu family, have you ever seen me act like a county lady?"

Qi Niang couldn't help but shake her head.

The Fifth Lady asked again, "Have you ever seen me turning my face away from the maids around the Madam?"

Qinnan shook her head again.

"Have you ever seen me walking in front of Master Wu?"

"No!" Qi Niang vaguely understood what Madam Wu meant. She stammered, "Master Wu is gentle and considerate to you. He always follows your lead. The maids respect you and dare not neglect you. Madam Tai treats you like a daughter..." As she spoke, she thought of the time when she and Zhu Anping had just gotten married. Zhu Anping would have to guess for a long time if she was a little unhappy. But now...

Qinnan's eyes were wide open and she stood there in a daze.

Madam Wu knew that her heart was in turmoil, so she did not disturb her and just sat quietly with her.

* * * * * *

When it was time to serve the dishes, Fifth Lady and Seventh Lady were still nowhere to be seen, so Eleventh Lady and Fourth Lady became a little anxious.

The Fifth Lady is a sensible person. If there is nothing important, she will never be absent without reason.

Eleventh Lady thought about what had happened in the past few days and felt that in such an occasion, Fifth Lady and Seventh Lady were probably eager to find a place to talk privately.

She didn't dare ask the maid to look for it, and Si Niang didn't want to alarm others, so the two sisters found the courtyard at the same time, one after the other.

The maidservants serving beside them dared not say a word. Eleventh Lady and Fourth Lady heard everything Fifth Lady said clearly.

Eleventh Lady felt that with Fifth Lady's persuasion and Seventh Lady being a smart person, she might change her temper from now on, so she asked Qiuyu to guard outside the courtyard and said, "Fifth Lady and Seventh Aunt, come out. Prepare a table for them separately." Then she tiptoed out of the courtyard.

Si Niang ran after him with her face flushed.

"Eleventh sister..." She felt ashamed and guilty, "I have no other choice..."

A son should not speak of his father's faults.

Eleventh Lady can understand Fourth Lady’s helplessness.

Just like herself. Not wanting Xu Lingyi to get involved, she could only find a way to ask the master to come forward through Luo Zhenxing.

"Don't worry about it, Fourth Sister. Fortunately, this matter can be resolved satisfactorily." She smiled, "Fourth Sister, please go and take a seat! You are the official today. Besides, my Fifth Brother's wife is a calm person. Seventh Sister, follow her, nothing will happen! Fourth Sister, just rest assured."

Si Niang blushed even more.

She followed Shiyi Niang silently to the flower hall. She saw Wu Niang chatting and laughing with Madam Gan: "...The exam will be held in the spring. My husband has studied hard for three years, I think he should be able to get on the list of successful candidates."

Mrs. Gan smiled and said, "Then I congratulate Mrs. Qian in advance. Don't forget to invite us to the wedding banquet in March next year."

"Of course, of course." Wu Niang blushed and smiled happily.

Someone pulled Si Niang's sleeve.

Si Niang looked back and saw it was Twelve Niang.

"Fourth sister, fifth sister has been drinking, please stop her!" She was a little worried.

Si Niang nodded and calmly walked to Wu Niang's side: "What are you talking about? You are so happy!" She then said, "We sisters haven't seen each other for a long time. Is Xin Ge'er okay?"

"I'm fine!" Wu Niang's eyes were a little blurry, and she had obviously drunk a little too much. "My husband studied hard, and our son has grown strong and healthy. Fourth sister, my life will only get better and better in the future!"

"That's good!" Si Niang said, and helped her to the table where the Luo sisters were sitting. "It's rare for us sisters to be together. Let's sit down and talk."

As they were talking, someone at Grandma Lin's table said something, and there was a burst of laughter, which attracted everyone's attention.

Si Niang breathed a sigh of relief.

Then Wu Niang muttered, "Fourth sister, this is a business that is clearly profitable, why do I have to lose money?"

Si Niang couldn't help but frown.

Wu Niang had already filled her glass of wine and drank it all in one gulp.

* * * * * *

After the winter solstice, the New Year will be here soon.

Jiang Yunfei returned to the capital and was promoted to Minister of War.

People in the streets of Yanjing were talking about this matter.

Eleventh Lady took over the affairs of the mansion again, busy counting the New Year's goods sent by the farm and buying things for the New Year. When Xu Sizhun came to greet her, he occasionally mentioned it, and she just smiled and listened.

Just at this time, the wife of Li Zhong, the general of Fujian, suddenly came to visit.

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The update is a bit late, please wait and read it tomorrow morning!

O(∩_∩)O~