Eleventh Lady also got the news.

"It's just that the ranking is too low." Xu Lingyi said implicitly, "I heard that only 340 people were selected this time."

Shiyi Niang suddenly thought of the widely circulated couplet - "Washing the feet of Madam Ru, granting her the same status as a Jinshi". Putting concubines on the same level as officials who were Jinshi, one can imagine the embarrassment and helplessness of people who were Jinshi in the officialdom when they were ranked according to seniority. The bad thing is that it is not like the college entrance examination, where you can retake it if you do not do well, but it is a test that determines your life.

"Maybe my fifth brother-in-law will give particularly brilliant answers during the palace examination?" she hoped.

No matter how well you perform, the possibility of making it into the top two is very small!

But the results haven't appeared yet, so why let these empty things make Eleventh Lady unhappy.

Xu Lingyi smiled and said, "That's right. The results of the palace examination will be out in a month at most. Moreover, the questions asked by the emperor are mostly related to important court affairs. Zichun has been in Beijing for many years and has a certain amount of experience. Maybe he will really be among the top two."

Eleventh Lady knew that Xu Lingyi was trying to comfort her, so she smiled and nodded, and asked if they wanted to go to Sixiang Hutong to congratulate him.

"Send a personal mother!" Xu Lingyi said, "I will go and congratulate Zichun after the results are announced."

Eleventh Lady thought that Qian Ming would need to be rewarded for passing the exam, and that she would have to visit her teacher, and also host banquets with her classmates and peers. There would be many places to spend money, so she sent Mother Song to give him a gift of two hundred taels of silver.

Mother Song came back and whispered to her, "Aunt Wu got so angry because she broke a teacup for Zhuo Tao that she even said she would call the matchmaker. Uncle Qian was so upset that he hid in the kitchen drinking alone!"

I'm afraid he's making an excuse because Qian Ming didn't do well in the exam!

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but frown.

Wu Niang became more and more impatient.

Even if Qian Ming was finally granted the same Jinshi degree, could losing his temper like this change the facts?

She became more and more concerned about the time and results of the palace examination.

Just then, news came from the palace that Fang Jie'er had successfully given birth to a baby boy.

Mrs. Zhou was so happy that she didn't know what to do. Although the street was under curfew, she still rushed to the lotus garden to tell Shiyi Niang the good news.

"I pray to the gods every day. I would rather die ten years later." She started to cry as she spoke. "How can the Crown Princess finally get what she wanted? It's all thanks to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Otherwise, how could the Crown Princess be pregnant three times in a row?"

When Eleventh Lady heard her attribute the credit to the Crown Prince, she could not help laughing, and casually put the tumbler that Jing'er had thrown on the kang into the rattan basket under the kang.

Madam Zhou exclaimed, "Where is our Jing'er? Why can't I see Jing'er?" Then she said, "Speaking of which, the Crown Princess was able to give birth to the Emperor's eldest grandson, all thanks to our Jing'er!" She smiled and instructed Qiu Yu who was standing beside her, "Quick, go and pick up Jing'er, I have a big red envelope for him!"

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but feel ashamed. She hurriedly said, "This is all the blessing of the Crown Princess. What does it have to do with our Brother Jin?"

Mrs. Zhou ignored her and just urged Qiuyu to go and bring Jing'er over.

Qiuyu looked at Shiyi Niang as if asking for help.

Seeing that Madam Zhou was so happy, Eleventh Lady thought it was just a fun thing to do, so she nodded towards Qiuyu.

Qiuyu happily bent his knees and replied "yes", then stepped back.

Mrs. Zhou then took a sip of the teacup. She smiled and said, "I am not like those cabinet ministers - good things are mine, and bad things are the responsibility of the six ministries. If it weren't for our Jin'er's great fortune, how could we have brought in Chen'er first and then the emperor's eldest grandson..." As she spoke, Qiuyu came in holding Jin'er. Mrs. Zhou actually got off the kang to greet him and took Jin'er in her arms.

"Jin'er," she called out, and kissed him on the cheek, "You are so lucky. Do you know that you are my uncle?"

Jing'er was not afraid of strangers at all, and when he saw that someone liked him, he giggled.

Mrs. Zhou liked him even more, and she held him and sat him on the kang. She took out a purse with a red background and a pattern of a birthday god leading a sika deer from her sleeve and stuffed it into Jing'er's hand. "Here, this is a red envelope given by your aunt. Keep it and use it slowly."

"Sister, you are so polite." When you are happy, give some silver to let the people around you share in the joy. Shiyi Niang understood Mrs. Zhou's feelings and thanked Jing'er with a smile. Jing'er had already sat aside and untied his purse. He took out a string of small gold ingots strung with red strings, eight in total, each the size of a peanut.

He was very happy and showed it to Eleventh Lady with exclamations.

Although this thing is valuable, it is not rare.

Eleventh Lady tied it around Jing'er's waist with a smile.

Jing'er sat on the kang and played with the gold ingots without even raising his head.

Seeing that he liked it, Madam Zhou was also happy. She hugged Jin Ge'er and kissed him a few times: "No wonder our Madam is worried about him when she can't see him for a day. Even I would like to take him home."

Eleventh Lady smiled and talked to Madam Zhou about the third-day bathing ceremony: "...We will go together then!"

Madam Zhou nodded repeatedly. Seeing Jing'er struggling to climb onto the kang in her arms, she let go. Jing'er crawled into Shiyi Niang's arms. Madam Zhou touched Jing'er's black hair and said, "And our Jing'er, let's go too."

Entering the palace...

Eleventh Lady could not help sweating and said, "He is at a naughty age. I think it is better not to go. Otherwise, he might bump into things in the palace, which is not good!"

"I have to go, of course I will go!" Madam Zhou insisted, "I will personally help and watch over him when the time comes. I will never let him damage anything in the palace."

She was afraid that her son might get hurt.

Eleventh Lady responded vaguely. But on that day, she handed Jing'er to Xu Lingyi. Madam Zhou complained a little and wanted to send someone to pick up Jing'er before entering the palace. Eleventh Lady had to use the excuse that "it will be too late if you don't enter the palace now" to dissuade Madam Zhou from thinking so. But when they entered the palace, Fang Jie'er asked again. Eleventh Lady said that she was afraid that Jing'er would damage things in the palace. She covered her sleeves and laughed, "Are these things more valuable than our Jing'er?" She ordered the eunuch to pick up Jing'er from the lotus.

The eldest princess heard this and shouted, "We don't want Jing'er to come into the palace. He hurts my ears."

The women in the room, who were wearing bright red phoenix robes and nine-flowered hairpins, looked at each other in bewilderment, then lowered their heads to drink tea.

The Queen's gentle and soft voice rang out in the room: "Jin'er is still young, he didn't mean it. You are his elder sister, you should be more considerate of him..."

Eleventh Lady was secretly delighted and winked at Fang Jie'er.

Fang Jie'er understood and winked at Mrs. Zhou.

As soon as the Empress finished speaking, Madam Zhou smiled and said, "What auspicious time has the Imperial Astronomical Observatory determined? Should we start bathing the Emperor's eldest grandson?"

Princess Changning immediately took over the conversation and ordered the maid: "Go and check what time it is."

The maid bent her knees and replied "yes", then walked out quickly.

Princess Changning talked about Ren Kun's third-day bathing ceremony: "... in the middle of winter, it breaks my heart to watch. Our eldest grandson is so lucky to be born in April when the spring is warm and the flowers are blooming..."

Everybody was talking and laughing, forgetting the embarrassment that had just occurred, and the scene was filled with celebration again.

Eleventh Lady felt like someone was staring at her and didn't move away for a long time.

She remained calm and glanced at him quickly out of the corner of her eye.

It was Jiang Jinkui who was standing next to Princess Changning.

She looked even more depressed, and huddled behind Princess Changning, even more humble than the palace maid standing next to her.

Eleventh Lady was a little surprised.

She thought of Jiang Jinkui who took the initiative to greet her, and also thought of the way Ren Kun killed Wang Lang. Finally, she decided to pretend that she didn't see it and listened to the conversation between the ladies inside and outside the room with a smile.

A palace maid ran in and whispered a few words to Fang Jie'er.

Fang Jie'er's gaze fell on Eleventh Lady, then she shook her head gently and said a few words to the palace maid, who bowed and retreated after hearing her words.

The Queen Mother looked at her and glanced at Eleventh Lady lightly.

Not knowing what had happened, Eleventh Lady felt a little uneasy and looked at Madam Zhou.

Mrs. Zhou nodded slightly at her, indicating that she would take care of the matter.

Eleventh Lady did not dare to be careless. Although the following third-day bathing ceremony was lively, she followed the rules and followed the side of the Madam Dowager, trying to be low-key. After waiting for a long time, the eunuchs came to invite everyone to the side hall to eat the longevity noodles of the emperor's eldest grandson. She saw Madam Zhou sitting there without moving. She had not come out when they left the warm room. Only then did she feel relieved and helped the Madam Dowager to the side hall.

When everyone was seated, Mrs. Zhou walked in and winked at Eleventh Lady.

Eleventh Lady nodded slightly.

After eating the longevity noodles, everyone went to say goodbye to Fang Jie'er.

As Eleventh Lady walked, she came together with Madam Zhou.

"It's okay," Madam Zhou whispered, "It was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who sent someone to ask if Jing'er had arrived. He wanted someone to bring Jing'er over to see him." She then complained, "I asked you to bring Jing'er into the palace, but you refused to listen. You lost a chance to see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Who knew there would be such an opportunity." Eleventh Lady could only smile and say, "It's too late for me to regret now."

As she was speaking, someone called out to Eleventh Lady in a low voice: "Madam Yongping Marquis!"

Eleventh Lady looked back in surprise.

Jiang Jinkui stood beside a big red floor-standing pillar that was as thick as a man's embrace and looked at her timidly.

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but look for Princess Changning in the crowd.

Then Princess Changning was seen walking beside the Queen, listening to what the Queen said attentively.

Why did Jiang Jinkui look for me?

"Madam Ren!" Eleventh Lady complained in her heart and greeted her hesitantly.

"I, I have something important to tell you." She looked around, as if she was afraid of being discovered.

Madam Zhou smiled at Eleventh Lady and quickly caught up with Princess Yong'an in front of her: "Why are you here alone today, Princess..." She walked forward while talking and laughing.

Eleventh Lady had no choice but to stop and asked with a smile, "What's the matter, Madam Ren?"

Jiang Jinkui bit her lip and whispered, "Fang from your family, she, she is a jinx to her husband!"

Eleventh Lady couldn't hide her surprise and couldn't help but look at her carefully.

There was only anxiety in Jiang Jinkui's eyes and worry in her expression.

"Really, I didn't lie to you." Seeing Eleventh Lady's sharp eyes coming towards her like a knife, she couldn't help but shrink back and murmured, "Our family and theirs are related by marriage. You are also from Jiangnan, and Yuhang is not far from Huzhou. If you don't believe it, you can send someone to Huzhou to ask. The man she was engaged to before was surnamed Hu, from a prominent family in Ninghai, and was Mrs. Fang's nephew. Later, the man she was engaged to was surnamed Huo, from Huzhou. Both sons died young. You'd better be careful, so as not to be affected by her bad luck." Her tone was very sincere.

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Post a draft first.

O(∩_∩)O~

PS: There is only one update today!