Chapter 558: Bowing (Part 1)

The next day, Eleventh Lady went to Sixiang Hutong with eight colorful gifts.

Wu Niang was directing the family to pack up their boxes. When she saw that someone had arrived, she asked Zhuo Tao to tidy up the big kang in the east room and sat there to talk.

"...I was planning to send someone to tell you this afternoon. I didn't expect you to come here first. I happen to have a few things to entrust you." Then he called the honest-looking couple across from him to come in, "Qian Ercai Kouzi. After we leave, the master’s clan brother will hand over this house to them. "If something happens, we are far apart and can't make a decision. Let Qian Ercai tell you." He then said, "I was going to leave it to my eldest brother." But my sister-in-law is not here, so I feel worried about Auntie Wang, so I asked Sister Eleven to help her."

Wu Niang was just afraid that someone would take her money.

"I'll tell the housekeeper at home," said Eleventh Lady with a smile, "and ask them to come over often."

Wu Niang nodded, pulled her to the inner room, discussed what to bring over, and invited her to have lunch. Only then did Shiyi Niang return to the lotus flower.

The lady was not at home.

Eleventh Lady was a little surprised.

She was fine when she left in the morning, how could she just leave like that?

"Did the Madam leave without telling you anything?" Eleventh Lady asked Yuban.

Yuban shook his head gently: "The Madam was chanting in the Buddhist temple as usual, but when she came out, she suddenly said she wanted to go to Hongdeng Hutong to see Grandpa Sun. She also left me and Zhihong at home, and only brought Madam Du to serve her."

Why would you go to see the Fifth Lady's father for no reason?

Eleventh Lady returned to her room, full of confusion. Before she could sit down, a maid came in and said, "Madam, the eldest young lady from Sanjing Hutong is here."

"Third brother's affairs are all thanks to the care of fourth and fifth uncles." Fang said respectfully, half sitting on the armchair, "I came here on the orders of my father-in-law to thank the two aunts." As she spoke, she asked someone to bring up the gift box, and then took out two silk clothes, "These are made for sixth uncle. The needlework is not good, I hope fourth aunt will not dislike it."

Shiyi Niang smiled and asked Zhu Xiang to put it away, and then asked about what happened in Sanjing Hutong.

"My father-in-law and mother-in-law are very happy." Fang smiled, "My mother-in-law was going to come in person to thank us, but my uncle and his family heard the news and came to congratulate us today. My father-in-law and Fifth Master had to go to the Ministry of War to handle some formalities, so they sent me here." She added, "Originally, my son-in-law was going to come with us, but my mother-in-law said that he is already fifteen years old now, and if he continues to run to the inner courtyard without hesitation, people will say he is frivolous, so she left him at home."

What I said yesterday, everyone in the Gan family knows it today?

This was either an excuse or the Third Lady couldn't help but send someone to report to the Gan family overnight.

Eleventh Lady smiled slightly and asked Fang: "Have you been to Fifth Madam's place?"

Fang was a little uneasy and explained, "When I first came to Fourth Aunt's place, she said she went to Sixiang Hutong. So I chose to go to Fifth Aunt's place..."

Eleventh Lady smiled and nodded, saying, "You should also go to your second aunt's place. I heard that she copied a copy of Jingzhou Zhan and gave it to Qin Tianjian."

Fang was stunned.

Eleventh Lady brought the tea with a smile: "I just came back from outside, and you also have instructions from your mother-in-law. I won't keep you here. Come and play another day."

Fang hurriedly stood up and said goodbye.

Eleventh Lady thought that Fang would go see the Second Lady after hearing her hint, but there was no movement from Fang. She couldn't help but wonder if she was too subtle and Fang didn't understand.

After a few days, the lady went to visit Mrs. Lin, Marquis of Weibei today, and Mrs. Huang, Marquis of Yongchang tomorrow. One day she also went to visit Mrs. Tang, Marquis of Zhongshan, which made everyone feel very strange.

Xu Siyu bid farewell to Xu Lingyi and Shiyi Niang.

"I have sorted out the things that the master asked me to do." He stood straight in front of Xu Lingyi, smiling warmly and brightly. "I haven't heard the master's teachings for more than a year. I want to go back to Le'an as soon as possible."

Xu Lingyi was very pleased with Xu Siyu's proactive attitude: "Then hurry back in September. Then I'll send Zhen Jie'er to Cangzhou."

Xu Siyu bowed and replied "yes".

When he left, Xu Lingyi asked Xu Sizhen to take Xu Sizhen and Jiange'er to see Xu Siyu off.

Xu Siqin and Xu Sijian also came upon hearing the news.

"Have someone write us a letter when you get there." Xu Siqin reminded him. Xu Sijian was immersed in the excitement of being assigned to the Imperial Guards. He patted his chest generously and said, "Next time, my second brother comes back, I will hold a banquet for you at Chunxi Tower."

Xu Siyu laughed and touched Jiang'er's head.

Qin Ge'er was ignorant and did not understand the sadness of parting. As soon as Xu Siyu left, he asked Xu Siyu to play Cuju with him.

After Xu Siqin and Xu Sijian escorted Xu Siyu out of the city, Xu Sizhen smiled and invited Xu Siyu and Qin Ge'er to his courtyard: "... our place is spacious. The servant Wang Shu, who was given to me by my father, is also good at Cuju."

Xu Siyi hadn't visited Xu Sizhen for some time, so naturally he agreed readily.

When the group went to where Xu Sizhen lived, they saw Manager Zhao hurried to the academy with a name card. When he saw Xu Sizhen and others, he hurriedly bowed respectfully.

Xu Sizhen smiled and asked him, "Who is here?"

Manager Zhao said: "Master Fang from Huzhou is here."

"Who is Mr. Fang from Huzhou?" Xu Siqi looked at Xu Siqi blankly.

"It's my sister-in-law's family," Xu Sizhen said, and then asked Manager Zhao, "I just don't know who this Mr. Fang is to my sister-in-law?"

"It's the eldest young master's uncle." Manager Zhao said with a smile, "He used to be a military historian. Later he resigned and returned to Huzhou. This time he brought Fang Tanhua to visit the Marquis."

As he was talking, Jiangeer was already impatient: "Cuju, Cuju!"

Xu Sinye quickly resigned from Mr. Zhao's position and took his two younger brothers back to his own courtyard.

After returning, Xu Si'e told Shiyi Niang about it.

Shiyi Niang secretly calculated the days. It would take more than 20 days to get here from Huzhou. It seemed that the Fang family had been prepared for a long time. However, it was a little surprising that Mr. Fang came in person to apologize.

When it was time for dinner, Xu Lingyi sent someone to inform Shiyi Niang that he would hold a banquet to entertain the eldest master of the Fang family and would not be coming back for dinner.

After dinner, Eleventh Lady took her children to pay her respects to the lady-in-waiting.

The lady was a little absent-minded. When she heard the news, she just said "hmm" indifferently, kissed Jiang'er, asked about Xu Sizhen's homework, and then served tea.

When Eleventh Lady was taking the children out, she happened to meet Mother Du.

She had just come out of the east room, holding an imperial calendar in her hand.

Eleventh Lady laughed and said, "What are you doing?"

Mother Du smiled and said, "Madam Tai said she wanted to see what auspicious days there are these days."

There are auspicious days for traveling and auspicious days for getting married. What auspicious day does the lady look for?

When Shiyi Niang returned to the room, Xu Siyi was practicing calligraphy on the table on the kang, so she sat beside him and told stories to Jin Ge'er. After sending Xu Siyi away and coaxing Jin Ge'er to sleep, Xu Lingyi came back.

"This Mr. Fang can really drink." His face turned red.

Shiyi Niang hurriedly poured some cool water for him to wash his face: "What did you say?"

"I apologized." Xu Lingyi wiped his face and felt much better. "I also gave you some gifts."

"Then go talk to mother tomorrow morning." Eleventh Lady smiled and helped him get some clothes to change into. "As for Third Sister-in-law, I'm afraid mother will have to come forward to talk to her first."

Xu Lingyi nodded, finished washing up, and gave Shiyi Niang the gift from the Fang family - a narcissus hairpin carved from Hetian jade. Not only was the stem of the hairpin as thin as a hair, but the flower was also delicate and lifelike, and it was obvious at first glance that it was an extraordinary product.

"So expensive?" Eleventh Lady was very surprised.

"What's this?" Xu Lingyi smiled and got on the bed. "Do you know what the Fang family gave my second sister-in-law?"

That sounds very unusual.

Eleventh Lady's heart moved: "What did you give to Second Sister-in-law?"

"It's a book called Kaiyuan Zhanjing." Xu Lingyi said, "I didn't know what it was at first. After reading the book, I found out that it was a book about astrology. The Fang family gave my second sister-in-law only three of them. However, I heard from Mr. Yu that these three books are already extremely precious and worth a fortune." Then he pondered and said, "Tell me, why did the Fang family suddenly think of giving my second sister-in-law a book like this? It's a bit too expensive."

Did Fang not follow her advice and visit the Second Madam because she didn't have anything suitable to thank her? Or did she think it was better to thank the Second Madam in this way?

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "A precious sword is a gift to a hero or a beautiful woman. Perhaps the Fang family thinks that such a thing can only be put to good use if it is given to someone as valuable as Second Sister-in-law."

"That's right." Xu Lingyi didn't clear up the confusion in his heart, but he couldn't find the reason. He smiled and chatted with Shiyi Niang, "If you gave it to me, I wouldn't know what it was, and I might just put it away casually."

Eleventh Lady nodded: "Perhaps the Fang family wants to show their sincerity in this way?"

"I didn't see the sincerity." Xu Lingyi smiled, "The Fang family gave the Madam a foot-high black jade statue of the God of Longevity, gave me a Longquan sword, gave Xiaowu a zither made by Zhang Leixiao, and gave my fifth brother's wife a bamboo jade plaque made of mutton-fat jade... We knew nothing about the Fang family, but they knew us very well. It was expected that we would be beaten up everywhere. If the Fang family had not wanted to divorce, who knows how it would have turned out."

The Fang family had already made all the necessary preparations.

Eleventh Lady didn't want to say more, for fear of causing Xu Lingyi to resent the Fang family and making things become repetitive.

"Who will tell mother tomorrow, me or Lord Hou?" She changed the subject.

"Go and talk to mother." Xu Lingyi said, "I originally gave this matter to you."

"Okay then." Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "I'll go tell mother after breakfast tomorrow."

The old lady seemed a little dazed. When she heard that the eldest master of the Fang family had come to meet Fang Ji, she just said "hmm" absentmindedly. When Shiyi Niang took out the gifts from the Fang family, the old lady just glanced at the black jade longevity star lying in the red velvet box, and asked Yuban to put it away. After playing with Qin Ge'er for a while, she served tea.

Eleventh Lady came out with the child.

I ran into Mother Du coming out of the east room, holding an imperial calendar in her hand.

"What is this for?" Eleventh Lady asked with a smile.

"The lady said she wanted to see when would be an auspicious time and day." Mother Du said with a smile.

There are auspicious days for traveling and auspicious days for getting married. What auspicious day does the lady want to choose?