Yes, it was not the time to report back to the capital, nor was it the time for the court to demote him, but the Third Master came back like this, and the Madam could guess a little. Moreover, the Madam had always been tolerant and generous to the Third Master. He went out as an official, not only did he fail to bring honor to the Xu family, but he even failed to keep his job. I don't know how angry she must be.

"Then you should tell mother quickly." Eleventh Lady said, "You talked for most of the day in the academy, and you kept Third Master at home for lunch before returning to Sanjing Hutong. There are so many people at home, how can you hide it!"

"It will only take two days." Xu Lingyi said, "You should discuss Zhen Jie'er's marriage with mother as much as possible these days, and keep her busy. I will tell mother step by step about the third brother coming back. With Zhen Jie'er's wedding in the past, mother will be less angry even if she knows about the third brother's affairs."

Eleventh Lady nodded: "I will follow what the Marquis says."

Jing'er ran in wearing little clothes.

"Sixth Young Master, Sixth Young Master." Mother Gu called softly, and followed him in with a look of panic.

"What happened?" Before Xu Lingyi could finish his question, Jing'er had already climbed onto the bed nimbly.

"Sleep with mom, sleep with mom." Jing'er mumbled and crawled into the quilt. He also pulled the corner of the quilt tightly, as if he was afraid that someone would take him away.

Mother Gu looked at Xu Lingyi and Shiyi Niang anxiously.

When Xu Lingyi saw his son like this, his heart softened and he immediately waved to Mother Gu, signaling her to leave.

Eleventh Lady's face felt a little hot.

It was obvious from the look on Mother Gu's face that she knew why Xu Lingyi sent the child to sleep in the warm room.

She hid her embarrassment and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Jinger immediately got up and threw himself into Shiyi Niang's arms: "Mom, tell me a story, tell me a story!"

She had just told him a story for a long time and finally managed to calm him down. If Qiuyu hadn't come to her and said that Xu Lingyi had something to say to her, she wouldn't have left Jing'er, who was still asleep, to Mother Gu and the others.

Eleventh Lady smiled and patted his head: "Then find Mr. Zhao's album!"

Jing'er immediately and obediently climbed down from her arms, ran to the warm room, and ran back, holding up the picture album in his hand with a proud look on his face.

Looking at his cute appearance, not to mention Eleventh Lady, even Xu Lingyi couldn't help laughing.

"What story does Jing'er want to tell?" Eleventh Lady squatted beside Jing'er and looked at her son straight in the eye.

"Kong Rong gave up the pear!"

"Then turn to the page about 'Kong Rong giving away his pears' and I'll tell you about it!"

Jinger leaned over the bed and quickly flipped to the page with the picture of Kong Rong giving up his pears. Then he gave it to Shiyi Niang and said, "Mom, tell me a story!"

Eleventh Lady was very surprised.

She didn't expect Jing'er to remember it. She just wanted to teach Jing'er to recognize words step by step through the things that Jing'er was interested in.

"How are you so smart!" Before Eleventh Lady could say anything, Xu Lingyi had already picked up Jin Ge'er and lifted him high into the air.

Jing'er giggled, and his little face was like a sunflower, shining directly into Xu Lingyi's heart.

He threw his son twice, just like he had done when he was a child.

Jing'er laughed even more happily.

Eleventh Lady felt her heart tighten.

"No, no!" She stopped Xu Lingyi, "Jin'er is older now, not as old as he was when he was little. Now mother can't hold him anymore... Be careful not to let him fall to the ground."

"It's just a few pounds." Xu Lingyi disagreed, but Jing'er called him "Daddy" in a flattering manner, signaling him to throw more.

Eleventh Lady hurriedly pulled Xu Lingyi's shoulders and said, "It's already the beginning of the night. If you keep making a fuss with him like this, he will have trouble sleeping again."

Xu Lingyi thought it made sense and smiled at Jing'er, "Your mother won't allow it!"

Jing'er turned around and asked Shiyi Niang to hold him, calling "Mom" in a coquettish manner.

Eleventh Lady didn't hug him either, and asked him, "Jin'er, do you want to hear a story? If you want to hear a story, go to the bathroom with your mother. If you don't want to hear a story, play here with your father!"

Jing wanted to play with his father and listen to his mother's stories. He hesitated, looked at his father who looked gentle, then looked at his mother who looked slightly serious, and opened his arms to his mother with a look of tact: "Listen to the story, listen to the story."

Eleventh Lady smiled and held her son in her arms: "Let's talk about the story of Kong Rong giving away his pears."

Jinger sensed his mother's joy and took the opportunity to push the issue further, saying, "Guangguang smashed the jar."

Eleventh Lady couldn't help laughing: "It was Sima Guang who broke the jar."

"Si... smash the jar!"

Sima Guang's name was pronounced vaguely and was still a little unclear.

Eleventh Lady told him again, but he still couldn't read it clearly.

Jing'er spoke four words at the first word he opened his mouth, which surprised people. However, more than a month passed, and he still could only speak four words in one breath, and it was difficult for him to say more than one word.

More haste, less speed.

Eleventh Lady smiled and kissed her son's cheek. She stopped forcing him and wrapped him in a thin blanket and told him stories.

Mr. Zhao's picture album is lively and vivid, with a short story on each page. It is more suitable for children aged five or six, but not very attractive to Jing'er. He spends less time looking at the picture album and more time listening to Shiyi Niang's stories. After the child fell asleep, Shiyi Niang and Xu Lingyi discussed: "There are too few pictures in the picture album. It would be better to have one picture for each sentence."

When Eleventh Lady was telling stories to Jing'er, Xu Lingyi had been patting Jing'er gently, which was why Jing'er fell asleep quickly.

Hearing this, he pondered for a moment and said, "How about this! I'm a bit busy these days, so you and Jing'er can use Mr. Zhao's album for the time being. When June comes and I have some free time, I'll draw an album for Jing'er!"

Eleventh Lady is sweating!

She was planning to draw a picture album for Jing'er herself... and she never thought of letting Xu Lingyi do it.

As the thought flashed through his mind, an image emerged of a hot day when Xu Lingyi was sweating profusely as he lay on the table drawing a picture album for Jing'er, with a servant fanning him desperately beside him.

She found it funny when she thought of this, and felt mischievous.

"Okay! Okay!" Eleventh Lady looked at Xu Lingyi with a smile, "Then I'll trouble you, Lord Marquis, with Jin'er's album!"

It is his responsibility to educate his son. In the past, he was away from home fighting for many years and could not take care of him. Now that he is idle at home, of course he has to take care of him. Why does Shiyi Niang look a bit cunning?

Xu Lingyi looked at Shiyi Niang, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes.

Am I smiling too brightly?

Eleventh Lady pondered and quickly changed the subject: "I heard that Mr. Zhao plans to continue his studies? Is that true?"

Mr. Zhao has settled down in the past two years and started studying hard after teaching. She heard some rumors. If this is the case, she must prepare in advance to find another teacher for Zhun Ge'er!

Xu Lingyi looked at the solemn Eleventh Lady, wondering if he was being overly suspicious. He put his thoughts aside and said, "I asked Mr. Zhao. From his tone, he seems to be planning to take part in the next imperial examination. So I told the office to give Mr. Zhao an additional fifty taels of silver as salary every year."

In this way, Mr. Zhao's annual salary is one hundred taels of silver. As for the treatment of the host, I am afraid that there are few people in the whole Zhou Dynasty who can compare with him.

With such courtesy from his employer, if he passed the exam, would he leave or stay?

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "I'm afraid Mr. Zhao won't accept the money."

Seeing that Shiyi Niang understood his intention, Xu Lingyi smiled and said, "He did politely refuse. However, I also told him that I entrusted him not only the children's studies, but also the future of Yongping Marquis Mansion. Shu Xiu just wanted to tell the world how important he is in my eyes!"

Eleventh Lady was sweating.

After these words were spoken, no matter how many ideas Mr. Zhao had, he probably had no choice but to accept them.

She didn't expect that Xu Lingyi, who usually spoke very little, would say such mellow words.

The thought flashed through my mind and it seemed to make sense.

If Xu Lingyi hadn't said these words, he wouldn't be where he is today.

"Besides, I don't know how many people can be admitted to the Imperial College after studying hard for ten years." Xu Lingyi said calmly, "It will only benefit him in the future if he concentrates on studying for a few more years."

So Mr. Zhao was tricked by him.

Eleventh Lady was complaining in her heart.

The next day, when Qiao Lianfang and Madam Wen came to greet her, she left Madam Wen to say, "Make a complete copy of the eldest lady's dowry list, and come with me to the Madam later to let her review it."

Madam Wen was startled.

Eleventh Lady asked her to help prepare Zhen Jie'er's dowry. She was already grateful in her heart, but she never expected that she would be asked to participate in Zhen Jie'er's wedding.

She hurriedly stood up and said goodbye: "I will go and copy the list of the eldest lady's dowry."

Eleventh Lady nodded.

Xu Siyu came over to greet her.

"I came back too late yesterday and the inner courtyard was locked, so I didn't come to disturb mother." His expression was a little serious. "I have made an appointment with Mr. Fang to come over tomorrow morning." As he spoke, he showed some hesitation.

Brother Fang has become Mr. Fang.

Eleventh Lady nodded secretly.

Xu Siyu had grown up and knew that this was not the time to talk about their private relationship.

"There are no outsiders here." She sent away the servants in the room when Xu Siyu came in. "Although you are Qin'er's younger brother, you are the eldest son of our family. Brothers and sisters will rely on you a lot in the future! Although this matter is small, it is also a dispute between the two families. I am having a headache. If you have any good ideas, you should help me!"

Xu Siyu blushed as he heard this, and replied "yes", then said slowly: "I went to my eldest brother first, wanting to hear what he meant, so that I could talk to Fang Tanhua. As a result, my eldest brother told me that he didn't want to divorce his wife, nor did he want to get a divorce." As he said this, he glanced at Shiyi Niang, and saw that Shiyi Niang was not surprised at all, but a trace of surprise flashed in her eyes, "I got his message, and then went to Fang Tanhua. When Fang Tanhua saw me, he sighed deeply and said, my sister has been smart since she was a child, and was taught by my grandmother. She has a gentle and generous temperament. For no reason, people said that she would bring bad luck to her husband, and she suffered a lot of grievances. My aunt saw that the Xu family was honest and had a big family, so she married my sister to the Xu family. I didn't expect that in just half a year, our two families would become like this!"

As a member of the Fang family, he had a tough expression in front of Xu Lingyi; but as a friend, he spoke to Xu Siyu in a frank tone.

This Fang Ji is indeed very powerful.

Eleventh Lady was afraid that Xu Siyu was not his opponent. She sat up straight and her expression became a little serious: "So what did you say?"

"I said, my eldest sister-in-law is not only loved by the Madam, but also respected by us as her brothers and sisters. It was unexpected that it would turn out like this. I didn't expect Fang Tanhua, as her brother from her mother's family, to come and persuade them to reconcile, but to clamor for my eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law to divorce. Even if there is any problem, the Madam will make the decision, and even my parents will not sit idly by. You are really hurting the elders' feelings by doing this!"

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One update today!