Now that the decision had been made, Eleventh Lady prepared to discuss with the Dowager Lady about who to invite to propose marriage. However, before that, she went to see the Second Lady first.
"…Mrs. Gao's words were implicit, and Mrs. Xiang has not made a clear statement. I'm afraid it's a misunderstanding, so I want to ask my second sister-in-law to help me get a definite answer. If our brother Yu is really so lucky as to have such a marriage contract with your niece, it would be exactly what we wish for!"
She was afraid that Mrs. Xiang might change her mind easily, so she needed someone to act as a guarantor.
The Second Lady's face flushed red. Thinking of Mrs. Xiang's previous breach of trust and Mrs. Gao's silent fawning on Eleventh Lady at the dinner table yesterday, she looked a little embarrassed.
Eleventh Lady is going to act as a guarantor herself!
She stood up with a sense of shame: "I'm going back to my parents' home right now!"
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Second Sister-in-law!" Eleventh Lady also stood up with a smile, "Yu'er will be returning to Le'an in a few days. He is not young anymore. If he can get married soon, he will have someone who understands him and the Marquis and I won't have to worry about him anymore."
The Second Lady nodded and escorted Eleventh Lady out of Shaohua Courtyard.
Eleventh Lady went to the Madam Dowager and said, "...I'll ask Second Sister-in-law to go back and get a confirmation letter. Then I'll ask Third Madam Huang to help propose marriage. What do you think?"
"You make the decision!" The lady did not ask any further questions.
Mrs. Xiang saw the second lady off and immediately went to Mrs. Gao.
"...My aunt-in-law starts lecturing me as soon as she opens her mouth. She even told me not to do the same thing as last time, otherwise our master's reputation would be ruined in my hands. Listen to what she said? The master and I have been married for more than twenty years, and I am everything about him, inside and out?" He seemed indignant.
Just like fire and water cannot coexist, Mrs. Gao was no stranger to the fact that Mrs. Xiang was slightly dissatisfied with the Second Lady. She grasped the key point in a few words.
"So, the Xu family agrees to this marriage?"
Mrs. Xiang nodded: "Let our aunt come to ask for information."
Mrs. Gao listened and thought for a while, then suddenly stood up and said, "Let's go see your eldest brother. Let him find a way to ask the wife of Jin Hanlin from the Hanlin Academy to help propose marriage to the Xu family. If I remember correctly, when the fourth wife of the Xu family got married, the Luo family invited Jin Hanlin to be the guardian. The relationship between her family and Jin Hanlin must be extraordinary."
In this way, wouldn't everyone know that this marriage was proposed by their family?
Mrs. Xiang just felt her head buzzing and didn't hear clearly what Mrs. Gao said next.
"Propose, propose, a marriage?" She stared at Mrs. Gao in amazement. "I, our family will propose a marriage?"
Mrs. Gao couldn't help but glared at Mrs. Xiang. "Since they have forgiven us, you should also show some attitude. Otherwise, even if you marry into the Xu family, I'm afraid there will still be resentment in your heart. You can't just marry Roune off and leave it at that, regardless of whether her life is easy or not, right?"
Mrs. Xiang gritted her teeth and said, "Okay, I'll ask Jin Hanlin's wife to go to the Xu family to propose marriage. Jin Hanlin has a good personal relationship with our master, so there's no need for my brother to come forward..."
She did such a shameful thing, could she expect her eldest brother from her mother's side to humble himself with her as well?
Mrs. Gao said "hmm" in satisfaction, and whispered to her: "Speak more tactfully and be more sincere. Don't ruin Roune's life for a moment of anger..."
Mrs. Xiang nodded repeatedly, hurried home, prepared twelve-color gift boxes, and went to Jin Hanlin's house the next day.
The Jin family was familiar with the Luo family, and this marriage was agreed upon by the two families. Although they were a little surprised by the Xiang family's initiative, they did not mind it when they thought that the Xiang family and the Xu family were originally relatives. They agreed readily and agreed to go to the Xu family to propose marriage together the next day.
Mrs. Xiang breathed a sigh of relief.
When she got home, she was greeted by her mother who was very excited: "Madam, the Xu family has invited the third grandmother of the Yongchang Marquis' Mansion to propose marriage."
Mrs. Xiang stood there in a daze.
Mrs. Gao sighed when she found out, and she became a little worried about her sister-in-law. She was afraid that she would behave in a low-class way and be laughed at by others, so she helped with the matchmaking, the exchange of engagement letters, and the betrothal.
Eleventh Lady didn't know what Mrs. Gao was thinking. She just felt that the marriage with the Xiang family was going unexpectedly smoothly. Whether it was the betrothal gift or the small set of snacks and tea, the Xiang family did not make any additional requests. Even the wedding date, which was the most worrying thing, was fully agreed by the Xiang family. Xu Lingyi was afraid that Xu Siyu would be distracted, so he wanted to get married after the autumn examination next year. However, considering that Xiang Roune would be 19 years old next year, he was afraid that the Xiang family would not agree, so he asked Huang Sanna to discuss it. As a result, the Xiang family only said "it should be so", and set Xu Siyu's wedding date on October 2. Lord Xiang even sent his staff to take a letter to Xu Lingyi, tactfully expressing his apology for Mrs. Xiang's failure to meet last time.
The Madam discussed the new house with Eleventh Lady: "...We need to prepare in advance. I think the yard vacated by the Third Brother is good. It's spacious and close to the East Corner Gate, so it's convenient for entering and exiting. We just need to renovate it."
Eleventh Lady was just about to talk to the Lady Dowager about this matter.
After getting married, she naturally couldn't live in the outer courtyard. Only Yuanniang's former residence and Sanye's courtyard were empty in the inner courtyard. Yuanniang's former residence was furnished with her usual things just as when she was alive, and a maid was arranged to clean it. Shiyi Niang planned to hand it over to Xu Sizhun when he was older. As for Sanye's original courtyard, although Sanye moved out, he didn't make it clear after all. As a sister-in-law, she couldn't use Sanye's courtyard. So she wanted to give Lijingxuan, where Zhenjie'er used to live, to Xu Siyu as a new house. Unexpectedly, the lady liked Sanye's original courtyard.
However, this is also good. Take this opportunity to sort out the relationship with the third room. From now on, everyone will live in their own courtyards and lead their own lives. There will be fewer conflicts, and maybe the relationship will be much better than it is now.
"I think so too!" said Eleventh Lady. "I wonder if Third Sister-in-law has anything else there. I'm afraid she should just let me know in advance!"
Given the Third Madam's personality, since she had moved to Sanjing Hutong to live permanently, how could she have left anything behind here?
The lady understood what she meant and said with a smile, "I'll ask her tomorrow when she comes to greet me!"
As he was speaking, a servant ran in and said, "Congratulations, Madam. Congratulations, Madam. The eldest young mistress has just given birth to a young master."
"Oh!" The lady hurriedly instructed Mother Du, "Reward, reward!" She also extended her hand for Eleventh Lady to help her, "Let's go and take a look!" Her joy was beyond words.
Eleventh Lady was also happy for Fang.
A large group of people went to Sanjing Hutong happily.
The child was just a few hours old, his skin was red, his eyes were closed, and his eyebrows had not yet grown.
Jing'er and Shen'er rushed to the bedside to see the baby. One touched the baby's head and the other poked the baby's face. Eleventh Lady and Fifth Lady hurriedly held their own children.
The third wife held up her grandson to show him to the old lady, and she looked quite proud: "The child weighed 18 pounds when he was born."
The lady nodded with a smile, held the child in her arms and looked at him for a long time, then said to Fang, who was half lying on the bed, "This child looks like Qin'er!"
Fang smiled shyly.
The lady asked, "Did your mother's family send anyone to report the news?"
According to custom, people from the mother's family can only visit the child during the third day of the baby's birth.
Fang said hurriedly: "I have sent someone to report it!"
The old lady talked to the third lady about the baby's third-day baptism ceremony.
The third lady was happily talking about who to invite.
The lady calmly changed the subject to Xu Siyu's marriage: "... We won't start painting the house until next summer, so there's no rush. You can go over any day when you're free and pack up everything that needs to be packed up!"
The room suddenly became quiet, and everyone's eyes fell on the third wife.
The third lady's smile froze on her face. She shifted her feet uneasily and murmured "yes".
* * * * * *
When I got home, the lights were already on.
Xu Lingyi asked her, "What does the child look like? Does he look like Qin Ge'er or his wife?"
"The child is still too young, I can't tell who he looks like!" Eleventh Lady smiled as the maids helped her change clothes. "But he looks very strong... I think he looks like Qin Ge'er!"
The two were chatting and laughing when news came from Cangzhou that Zhen Jieer had given birth to a big fat boy weighing six kilograms.
The lady was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling.
Everyone gathered at the lady's house again and had some fun. It was decided that Xu Siyu and Xu Sizhun would represent the Xu family to go to Cangzhou to deliver the full-moon gift.
The next day at noon, Madam Wen came over.
She was a little surprised to see Xu Lingyi still in the room.
"I heard that the Second Young Master will leave for Cangzhou in two days, so I made a few small clothes and wanted you to help take them over."
"Just ask the maid to hand it over to Mother Song." Eleventh Lady said, "When the time comes, Mother Song will go to Cangzhou with the Second Young Master."
Madam Wen responded with a smile and stepped back.
Eleventh Lady was secretly puzzled.
She told Madam Wen that night and told her to give anything she wanted to take to Mother Song. Why did Madam Wen come to ask about this again?
She couldn't help but glance at Xu Lingyi.
Or, is there anything that Madam Wen cannot say in front of Xu Lingyi?
When Madam Wen and Qiao Lianfang came to greet her, she kept Madam Wen to talk.
"Madam," Madam Wen's face flushed, looking very unnatural, "I will be staying in bed in two days. I would like to invite the Marquis to come to my place and sit for a while!"
Eleventh Lady was shocked.
She didn't expect to encounter such a thing... She felt very embarrassed... She nodded and said, "I will tell the Marquis," and brought the tea.
Madam Wen looked at Eleventh Lady's uncomfortable expression, and hesitated to speak. She bowed her head, bent her knees, and retreated.
After returning from greeting the lady-in-waiting, Eleventh Lady told the truth.
Xu Lingyi was a little surprised. After thinking for a while, he said, "Then I'll go over and take a look!" and went straight to Madam Wen's place.
After a while, the maid from Madam Wen's side came over and said, "Madam, the Marquis said that you should rest early and don't have to wait at the door!"
Eleventh Lady responded, feeling confused, and went to Jing'er's warm room.
Jing'er was lying there listening to Ajin telling stories.
When he saw his mother coming in, he jumped up and said, "Mom, tell me a story, tell me a story!"
Eleventh Lady smiled and hugged the child, then opened the picture album that Xu Lingyi had drawn for Jing'er, reading it word by word, her heart slowly calming down.
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PS: The update is a little late, please get up and read it tomorrow morning!