Chapter 541: Starting a Business (Part 2)
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, giving 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 when they were ranked according to seniority in the officialdom. The worst thing is that it is not like the college entrance examination, where you can retake it if you do not do well. It is a test that determines your life.
"Maybe my fifth brother-in-law will give particularly brilliant answers in 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 result hasn'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 in 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 to go!" Xu Lingyi said, "I will go and congratulate Zichun after the results are announced."
Shiyi Niang thought about the rewards that Qian Ming would receive after passing the exam, the visits to his teachers, and the banquets for his classmates, so there would be many places to spend money, so she sent Mother Song to give him a gift of 200 taels of silver.
Mother Song came back and whispered to her, "Aunt Wu got so angry because Zhuo Tao broke a teacup that she threatened to call the matchmaker. Master Qian looked upset and hid in the kitchen drinking alone!"
I'm afraid he's taking advantage of Qian Ming's poor performance in the exam!
Eleventh Lady couldn't help but frown.
Wu Niang was becoming more and more impatient.
Even if Qian Ming was finally awarded 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.
At this time, news came from the palace that Fang Jieer had successfully given birth to a baby boy.
Mrs. Zhou was so happy that she didn't know what to do. Although the streets were under curfew, she still rushed to the lotus garden to tell Shiyi Niang the good news.
"I pray to God every day and wish I could have a shorter lifespan of ten years." She started to cry as she spoke. "The Crown Princess has finally gotten what she wanted. It's all thanks to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Otherwise, how could the Crown Princess have been pregnant with three children in a row?"
When Eleventh Lady heard her attribute the credit to the prince, she could not help laughing, and she casually put the tumbler that was thrown on the kang by Jing'er into the rattan basket under the kang.
Madam Zhou sighed, "Where is our Jian'er? Why can't you see Jian'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 Jian'er!" She smiled and instructed Qiu Yu who was standing beside her, "Quick, go and pick up Jian'er, I have a big red envelope for him!"
Eleventh Lady was ashamed. She said hurriedly: "This is all the blessing of the Crown Princess. What does it have to do with our brother?"
Mrs. Zhou ignored her and just urged Qiuyu to go and bring Jiang'er over.
Qiuyu looked at Shiyi Niang as if asking for help.
Seeing that Madam Zhou was so happy, Eleventh Lady thought it was something fun and nodded towards Qiuyu.
Qiuyu happily bent his knees and replied "yes", then stepped back.
Mrs. Zhou then took the teacup and took a sip. She smiled and said, "I am not like those great scholars in the inner cabinet - good things are mine, and bad things are handled by the six ministries. If it weren't for our Jin'er's great fortune, how could we have brought in Shen'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 gave him a kiss on the cheek, "You are so lucky. Do you know that you are an uncle now?"
Jian Ge'er was not afraid of strangers at all, and when he saw that someone liked him, he laughed.
Mrs. Zhou was even more pleased with him. She held him and sat him on the kang. She took out a red purse with a pattern of a birthday god and a sika deer from her sleeve and stuffed it into Jiang'er's hand. "Here, this is a red envelope from your aunt. Keep it and use it slowly."
"Sister, you are so polite." When you are happy, you can give some money to others so that the people around you can also share in the joy. Shiyi Niang could understand Mrs. Zhou's feelings and smiled to thank Jiange'er.
Jiang'er had already sat aside and untied his purse. He took out a string of eight small gold ingots tied with red string, each about the size of a peanut.
He was very happy and showed it to Shiyi Niang with a lot of exclamations.
Although this thing is expensive, it is not rare.
Shiyi Niang tied it around Jiang'er's waist with a smile.
Jiang'er sat on the kang and played with the gold ingots without raising his head.
Seeing that he was happy, Madam Zhou was also happy. She hugged Jian'er and kissed him a few times: "No wonder our Madam misses him so much 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!"
Mrs. Zhou nodded repeatedly, "We'll go together then." Seeing that Jiang'er was struggling to climb onto the kang in her arms, she let go. Jiang'er crawled and ran into Shiyi Niang's arms. Mrs. Zhou touched Jiang'er's black hair and said, "And our Jiang'er, let's go too."
Entering the palace... Eleventh Lady broke into a sweat and said, "He is at a very naughty age. I think it is better not to go. Otherwise, he might bump into things in the palace, which is not good!"
"Of course I will go!" Mrs. Zhou insisted, "I will personally help and watch over him, and 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 Jiange'er to Xu Lingyi. Madam Zhou complained a few times and wanted to send someone to pick up Jiange'er before he could enter the palace. Eleventh Lady had to use the excuse that "it would be too late if he didn't enter the palace." When Fang Jie'er asked about who knew about the palace, Eleventh Lady said that she was afraid that Jiange'er would damage the things in the palace. She covered her sleeves and laughed, "Are these things more valuable than our Jiange'er?" She ordered the eunuch to go to the lotus garden to pick up Jiange'er.
The eldest princess heard this and shouted, "Don't let Jian'er into the palace. He hurts my ears."
The women in the room, who were wearing scarlet 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: "Jian'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, "Qin Tianjian has decided on an auspicious time. Should we start bathing the Emperor's eldest grandson?"
Princess Changning immediately took over the conversation and ordered the palace maid: "Go and see when the official is." The palace maid bent her knees and replied "Yes", then walked out quickly.
Princess Chang Ning talked about Ren Kun's third birthday ceremony: "... It's winter, it hurts my heart to see it. But our eldest grandson is lucky to be born in April when the spring is warm and the flowers are blooming." Everyone was talking and laughing, covering up the embarrassment just now, and there was another scene of celebration. Eleventh Lady felt that someone was staring at her, and she 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 maids standing beside her.
Eleventh Lady was a little surprised.
She thought of Jiang Jinkui's initiative to greet her, and also 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 in the room 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 Shiyi Niang, then she shook her head gently and replied to the palace maid, who bowed and retreated.
The Queen Mother looked at her and glanced lightly at Eleventh Lady.
Not knowing what had happened, Shiyi Niang felt a little uneasy and looked towards Madam Zhou. Madam Zhou nodded gently towards her, indicating that she would take care of the matter.
Eleventh Lady, however, 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 keep a low profile. After finally waiting for the emperor to invite everyone to the side hall to eat the longevity noodles for 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 followed the Madam Dowager to the side hall.
When everyone was seated, Mrs. Zhou came 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 nothing," Madam Zhou whispered, "It was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who sent someone to ask if Jian'er had arrived. He wanted someone to bring Jian'er over to see him." She then complained, "I asked you to bring Jian'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 had no choice but to smile and say, "It's too late for me to regret now."
As she was speaking, someone called out to Shiyi Niang in a low voice: "Madam Yongping Hou!"
Eleventh Lady turned around in surprise.
Jiang Jinkui stood beside a large red floor-to-ceiling 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 he saw Princess Changning walking beside the Empress, listening attentively to what the Empress was saying.
What does Jiang Jinan want to do with me?
"Madam Ren!" Eleventh Lady complained in her heart and greeted her hesitantly.
"I, I have something important to tell you." She looked left and right, as if she was afraid of being discovered.
Mrs. Zhou listened and smiled at Shiyi Niang, then quickly caught up with Princess Yong'an in front of her.
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, "Your Fang, she, she is unlucky for 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 his expression.
"Really, I didn't lie to you." Seeing Shiyi Niang's sharp eyes that seemed to be slashing at 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. Her former fiancé was surnamed Hu, from a prominent family in Ninghai, and was Mrs. Fang's nephew. Later, her fiancé was surnamed Huo, from Huzhou. Both sons died young. You'd better be careful, lest you be affected by her bad luck." Her tone was very sincere.