Listening to this, Jinger felt that the laughter contained a hint of disapproval, so he glared and retorted, "My mother really knows how to play Cuju!"

Seeing that Jin Ge'er was getting serious, Eleventh Lady smiled and said to Seventh Lady, "Jin Ge'er is good at playing Cuju, and Chen Ge'er learned it from him. Since Ji Ge'er doesn't know how to play Cuju, why not let Jin Ge'er teach him? They are cousins ​​who rarely meet, so they will become familiar with each other through playing. Besides, they have their mother and maids to take care of them, so nothing will happen."

Qi Niang smiled and coaxed her stepbrother: "Cousin, can you tell me how to play Cuju?"

Stepbrother was a little hesitant.

Qi Niang smiled and said, "Let the wet nurse stay by your side!"

Only then did Ji Ge'er nod, walked out from behind Qiniang, and tried to hold the hand of a fat woman beside him.

Jing'er grabbed him impatiently and said, "Why are you dawdling like this? Huang Damao and Liu Erwu are still waiting outside!" After that, he dragged him away.

The fat woman hurriedly chased after him.

Qinnan chatted with Xu Siyu, Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie for a while, and Baoger suddenly started crying.

Xin Jie'er and Cheng Ge'er surrounded him. The Fifth Lady hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? What's wrong?" She was afraid that her daughter and son had scared Bao Ge'er.

"It's okay, it's okay!" Qi Niang said with a smile, "He's just sleepy."

Eleventh Lady took Seventh Lady to Jing'er's warm room.

Qinnan breastfed Baoger herself, and Baoger fell asleep quickly.

After handing the child over to the mother who served her closely, Qi Niang and Shiyi Niang returned to the west room.

Eleventh Lady asked Xu Siyu to take the children to the back garden to play, so that they had time to sit down and chat.

"Bao Ge'er is still young, so originally we only planned to bring Zhu Anping to Yanjing to attend the Second Young Master's wedding." Qi Niang laughed, "But my mother-in-law found out and insisted that we bring Bao Ge'er along. She said she was afraid that you wouldn't recognize me and I wouldn't recognize you when we met our cousins ​​in the future. Zhu Anping thought it made sense, and I wanted to see my nephews and nieces, so I hurried over."

"Then why did you bring your stepbrother here?" Madam Wu asked suggestively, "Would your old lady be willing to do that?"

"Things are different now!" Qi Niang sighed. "When my stepbrother was first brought home, my mother-in-law kept him in her own room and wouldn't let me get close to him, as if she was afraid that I would have bad thoughts about the child. I didn't want to do that anyway, so I just left him alone. Later, when Bao Ge'er came, my mother-in-law changed all of a sudden. Not only did she leave my stepbrother to me to take care of, she also sent away all the people who had taken care of him, replacing them with a few old ladies who could barely walk..."

The Fifth Lady interrupted Qi Niang with a cry of "Oh!" "You can't take over this matter. Your mother-in-law knew that you didn't like your step-brother, but she still put the child in your room. She also sent away all the people who were carefully selected to serve your step-brother. It's obvious that she wants to use you to deal with the child. You can't be fooled by this. She does the good things and you bear the bad things. You should have found an opportunity at that time and made an excuse in front of everyone in the Zhu family that you had just given birth and were not in good spirits, and handed your step-brother to your mother-in-law to take care of him." As she spoke, her beautiful eyebrows, like distant ink, slightly frowned.

"I know!" Qi Niang said with a smile, "So I asked Zhu Anping to send the child to my mother-in-law." As she spoke, her smile faded and she sighed, "Who knew my mother-in-law was such a person..." She paused, "Step-brother was so hungry that he went to the kitchen to steal food and almost knocked over the hot fire on the stove. If the maid beside me hadn't gone to the kitchen to get me hot water, the child would have been scalded."

Eleventh Lady and Fifth Lady were both stunned.

"Before my father-in-law died, my mother-in-law was afraid that people in the clan would bully Zhu Anping, who was young, and his family property would be taken away, so she specially invited Zhu Anping's uncle to come, and invited the Zhu family's clan leader and the county's parents and officials to make her the legal wife." Qi Niang said, "So after my father-in-law passed away, she lived in a remote courtyard in the west, and her servants were all her capable people. It's not easy for outsiders to find out how the child is doing there, let alone for me to find out. When the maid brought my step-brother to me, the child was so thin that only a skeleton was left, and he ate anything he could get. When I sent the child back, my mother-in-law said that the child was spoiled and would not eat dragon liver and phoenix gall. It was really worrying!"

"I didn't expect your mother-in-law to be such a person..." Eleventh Lady sighed, not knowing how to describe her for a moment, so she could only say "such a powerful person".

The Fifth Lady even said, "You and Zhu Anping have been making such a fuss but you haven't been divorced yet. You should be content! You should be nicer to Zhu Anping in the future!"

Qi Niang blushed and said, "I know, it was all my fault before. I shouldn't have embarrassed Zhu Anping and made myself look like neither a human nor a ghost."

The straightforward attitude surprised both Eleventh Lady and Fifth Lady.

Qi Niang made a face at the two of them and said, "It is a great virtue to admit one's mistakes and correct them. I have also returned to the right path after straying, so please stop criticizing me."

Eleventh Lady remembered that when she was in Yuhang, she was blamed by the Second Wife, so she turned her back and made a face like this.

The fifth lady burst out laughing.

"Maybe it was because I gave the child a bowl of porridge, and one day my stepbrother came to me again, pulling the sleeve of the maid who was sweeping the floor and calling me sister. I softened my heart and kept him, and found new maids and old women to serve him. This time when I came to Yanjing, I was afraid that if I left him at home, my mother-in-law would have some plans, so I brought him with me."

"You are so stupid!" Madam Wu scolded Qi Niang, but her voice was no longer as firm as before, "If you don't see it, you won't be bothered by it."

"That's what I thought at first." Qi Niang smiled and looked towards Jing'er's greenhouse, where her son Bao'er was resting. "But since I became a mother, I feel very uncomfortable when I see other people's children are skinny and naked. Besides, if Ji'er hadn't come into the family, I wouldn't have Bao'er. Maybe Ji'er is the lucky star for Bao'er and me. With him, Bao'er and I can live in peace and safety!"

Eleventh Lady and Fifth Lady remained silent for a long time.

"Don't talk about me!" Qi Niang smiled and broke the silence, "Let's talk about the second young master's wedding. I came all the way here just to drink in his wedding wine. Don't put the cart before the horse."

"Just come earlier when the time comes." The Fifth Madam said with a smile, "I will help Fourth Sister-in-law entertain the female relatives this time, so don't make me ask you so many times."

Qi Niang smiled and said, "Do you want me to help you entertain the guests?" Then, as if she remembered something, she said, "You can ask Zhu Anping to help greet the eldest brother and the others, and I will greet the fourth sister and the others!"

A few people were chatting and laughing. When Baoger woke up, he went to greet the lady.

The lady looked at Bao Ge'er with great admiration: "What a good name. This is your treasure!"

"I think it's vulgar." Qi Niang smiled sweetly, "But my husband insisted on giving me this name, so I have no choice but to call it that."

The lady laughed and invited Qiniang to have dinner with her. When it was time to light the lamps, Qiniang got up and said goodbye.

Eleventh Lady sends Seventh Lady away.

Before getting on the carriage, Qinnan pulled her hand and said, "I feel really sorry for making you, my younger sister, worry so much about my affairs!" Then she got into the carriage without waiting for her to say anything.

Qiniang must be a little embarrassed!

Standing in front of the hanging flower gate and watching her carriage go away, Eleventh Lady smiled.

* * * * * *

When they returned to the room, Hong Wen came up to them and said, "Fourth Madam, this is the gift from Seventh Concubine to Sixth Young Master." As she spoke, she handed a big red purse embroidered with a pattern of plum blossoms to Shiyi Niang.

When Qi Niang gave the gift just now, it was wrapped in a colorful purse. Based on Qi Niang's style, Shiyi Niang guessed that it was probably filled with small gold ingots or small beans.

She smiled and pressed the purse. It was surprisingly light. When she opened it, she saw a purse full of silver bills. After counting, she found there were as much as five thousand taels.

"Why did you give so much?" Eleventh Lady smiled bitterly.

The gifts she gave to her stepbrother and Baoger were a pair of solid gold longevity locks.

Shiyi Niang took the purse and asked Qiuyu to ask Xu Siyu what kind of gift they got from Qi Niang - this was customary. Those who were not married were considered children. Although everyone got a gift, they had to tell their parents what it was. When the time came, the parents had to return the gift with something of equal value.

Qiuyu came back and said that Xu Siyu and the others each received 100 taels of silver.

The number is too big.

Eleventh Lady told Xu Lingyi about this.

Xu Lingyi thought for a long time and said, "I didn't do anything to help them!"

Eleventh Lady thought of what Seventh Lady said before she left.

Was it to thank her for her help at that time?

Eleventh Lady didn't have time to think about it. Firstly, Seventh Lady was visiting relatives in Yanjing for the next few days and didn't come over. Secondly, there were more and more things to do at home.

She was too busy to take care of it.

On the first day of October, Eleventh Lady got up early, dressed up, and went to see the lady.

The old lady had also packed up, and Shiyi Niang offered her a cup of tea, and the fifth lady came in surrounded by pearls and jade. After a few words, the two went to the small hall behind the main hall of the Xu family - male guests were welcomed to the side hall next to the main hall, and female guests stayed in this small hall.

The stage in the outer courtyard had been set up. In the morning, after the guests had taken their seats, Xu Siqin led Xu Sizhun, accompanied by the matchmaker Yu Yiqing and Huang Sanniang to Xiang's house to urge the bride to prepare the wedding dress. Eleventh Lady invited Lin Daniang and other nobles who had both parents and children to help clean up the new house and put up the wedding characters.

Xu Sijie ran in.

"Mother, mother, the bride is coming tomorrow. Can I go with my fourth brother?"

"No!" Eleventh Lady refused immediately. "Let's set off firecrackers on the way there tomorrow. What if they explode? Besides, your fourth brother and his family are going to the Xiang family to welcome the bride. There will be too many people and noise, and your fourth brother and his family will not be able to take care of you. You stay at home and wait until the new sister-in-law comes back. Then you can go with Zhun'er to ask for red envelopes."

Xu Sijie was a little disappointed.

In the past, he was young and was not allowed to go out for anything. But now he has moved to the outer courtyard, why do people still treat him like a child?

Eleventh Lady looked at him and gently advised him: "If you hadn't helped me and Aunt Five to look after Jin'er and Chen'er, how could we have assuredly helped Second Brother prepare for his wedding. You are also helping Second Brother by doing this!"

But Xu Sijie wanted to watch the fun.

He hesitated there for a while, and seeing that the mothers in charge came one after another to ask Eleventh Lady for instructions, he suppressed the desire in his heart and went to the main house.

Jing'er and Shen'er were lighting firecrackers with incense sticks, and Jing'er's servants were watching them with smiles on their faces.

Xu Sijie was shocked. He asked someone to take away their belongings while he yelled at the servants, "Whose idea was this?"

※

It was so busy yesterday. The neighbors blocked the road because of the power outage... There shouldn't be a power outage today!

O(∩_∩)O~

PS: I'll post the draft first. If everything goes well, you can check the update tomorrow morning. If there are any more accidents, it's hard to say...