"What are you thinking about? Why are you so absorbed in your thoughts?" Xu Lingyi asked her with a smile.

Eleventh Lady organized her words and told him what happened this afternoon: "...I am looking forward to the New Year now. This way I can slowly tell him some things. Otherwise, my heart will jump if there is any movement from him."

So it’s because of these things!

Xu Lingyi felt that both Shiyi Niang and the Madam Dowager were making a big deal out of nothing. But considering that the Madam Dowager was furious about this and Shiyi Niang was exhausted, he gently advised: "Haste makes waste. You should put this matter aside for now. If you keep thinking about it, you will make something out of nothing. Besides, Zhun'er and Jie'er are not the kind of naughty children. If you have advised them with all your heart and soul and they still don't know what is good for them, then wouldn't all these years of studying be in vain?"

This is what people often say, "There is no silver here, but there is a tad bit of silver"!

Eleventh Lady took a long breath.

I feel much better after I got the words out.

Xu Lingyi saw a faint smile on her face, smiled slightly, and changed the subject: "Where is Jin Ge'er? Why don't I see him?"

"Mom, stay over there for dinner!" When mentioning this happy guy, Eleventh Lady's face was full of smiles, "I'm going to pick him up after dinner!"

"Then let's eat!" Xu Lingyi pointed at the small bowls and plates on the table, "The food is cold." He called the little maid in, "Bring another bowl of hot rice for Madam!"

"No need!" Eleventh Lady said hurriedly, "I'm already full. If I eat more, I won't be able to sleep at night!"

Xu Lingyi took out his pocket watch and looked at it.

It was already past three quarters past the hour of Xu, so they had to rest immediately. Eating too much would inevitably cause indigestion. So they said nothing more, and when Eleventh Lady finished her meal, they went to the Madam's place together.

The second wife and Xu Lingkuan's family were also there.

Seeing Xu Lingyi and his wife come in, the lady said, "Why hasn't Yu'er come back yet? Curfew is about to start! I wonder if something happened to him?" He was smiling, and it didn't seem at all like he had lost his temper in the afternoon.

"They have people from the Imperial Guard following them, what could possibly happen?" Xu Lingyi said with a smile, "It's probably because my relative Liu Decheng was delayed there for a while!"

The lady nodded and discussed with Eleventh Lady: "What do you think? Should we invite our in-laws to our home the day after tomorrow? Or should we invite them in a few days?"

According to custom, after the couple gets married, the two families will hold a formal banquet. Usually, the bride's banquet is arranged on the next day. After that, the wedding is officially over. The bride will start to visit her parents-in-law every morning and evening, and the in-laws can also start visiting each other.

The formal banquet is usually arranged on the fifth, ninth or twelfth day after the wedding.

"I think the day after tomorrow is better." Eleventh Lady chose the fifth day, thinking that this would show the man's eagerness and respect for the woman. "What do you think, mother?"

"You make the decision!" The lady said with a smile, "We just want to get it clear so that we can have a feast when the time comes!" She joked with Eleventh Lady.

Everybody laughed.

The little maid came in and reported: "The Second Young Master and the Second Young Mistress are back!"

"Oh! Speak of the devil, and he'll appear." The Fifth Lady laughed.

Everyone laughed again.

Xu Siyu and Xiang Shi, who walked in, were inevitably a little at a loss.

The second wife smiled and came to their rescue: "Okay, okay, stop teasing the children!" She then asked them: "Why did you come back so late? Grandmother just asked about it!"

Xu Siyu hurriedly said, "My uncle came back suddenly. It was already dark when he arrived. We sat with him for a while, so he came back late."

The second wife hurriedly explained to everyone, "My eldest sister-in-law's brother was a Jinshi in the fifty-sixth year of Jianwu. He served as the magistrate of Dingtao County for a year, then resigned and returned home to travel around the country. He must have heard that Roune was getting married, so he hurried back."

Xu Siyu nodded quickly: "My uncle said that when he went to Wuxi Huiquan to fetch water, he heard from the Wuxi prefect, so he rented a boat to Yanjing that night, but he was still a step late and arrived at noon today." As he spoke, he smiled and said, "He also gave us a jar of Huiquan water as a gift."

"That's good that you're back, that's good that you're back!" The lady laughed and asked about their return to the Xiang family.

Xu Siyu answered them one by one with a smile.

Knowing that Madam Xiang had invited her brothers, daughters, and sons-in-law from her mother's family to accompany Xu Siyu, the lady nodded with a smile and said, "You are tired too, go back and rest early!"

Xu Siyu bowed and replied "yes".

Eleventh Lady saw Xiang secretly pulling at the corner of Xu Siyu's clothes.

Perhaps because he was in front of so many elders and in public, Xu Siyu glanced at Xiang but ignored her and turned to leave the banquet room in the west wing.

Xiang followed him reluctantly.

Eleventh Lady was wondering what she wanted to say.

When she returned to the house, she immediately got the answer - Xiang sent her a small sweet white porcelain cup filled with Huiquan water.

"Even though I can only make a pot of tea, it is a token of my appreciation."

Eleventh Lady accepted it with a smile and asked, "Can I send it to Grandmother, Second Aunt, and Fifth Aunt?"

Xiang said respectfully, "I was just about to send it off!"

Shiyi Niang nodded and asked Qiuyu to bring a box of lotus cakes to her as a reward: "This is a reward from the Queen Mother. It tastes very good to me. You can try it too."

Xiang thanked her and went to the lady's place with Wenzhu.

After a round, the old lady gave a box of ginger candy, the fifth lady gave two bunches of gauze palace flowers, but the second lady, probably because she was an aunt, did not show any expression.

Back in the house, Xiang's companion Xiang Mama came up to greet her, winked at Xiang, smiled and stepped forward to salute: "Second Young Madam is back!"

Xiang nodded, and Mother Xiang helped her to wash and comb her hair, and asked Wenzhu to go downstairs to rest.

"What's the matter?" After entering the bathroom, Xiang asked Xiang Mama softly, "You still want to talk about it behind people's backs."

Mother Xiang leaned close to her ear and told Xiang what Eleventh Lady had done today: "Second Young Madam, it seems that although Madam looks kind, I'm afraid she is not the kind of person who can be easily softened." Her tone was quite worried.

Xiang didn't take it seriously and smiled, "My aunt said long ago that my mother-in-law is a smart person. She told me to respect her, obey her, and endure her. As long as we listen to her in everything, I'm sure she won't get angry with me for no reason. Don't worry, mom!"

Before Madam Xiang could say anything, Madam Xiang said, "What is the Second Young Master doing?"

"He's practicing calligraphy in the study!" Mother Xiang said, her eyes narrowed into slits as she smiled. She was obviously very impressed by Xu Siyu's diligence. "I heard from Mozhu that he practices three pages of calligraphy every day. He has never missed a day since he started practicing calligraphy."

Xiang also showed admiration. She thought for a moment and told Xiang's mother, "Take out the century-old ginseng that mother gave me and make tea for the second young master."

Madam Xiang replied with a smile, and asked the maid to help Xiang wash up. She brewed a cup of ginseng tea and brought it in on a red lacquered crabapple tray: "Second Young Madam, this is for you!"

Xiang blushed and went to Xu Siyu's study.

Xu Siyu had just finished writing three pages when he saw Xiang coming in with a cup of tea. He greeted her apologetically and said, "I've delivered everything."

"All are delivered!" Xiang looked at Xu Siyu with tenderness, "My husband, you must be tired. Have some tea to soothe yourself."

Xu Siyu thanked him, picked up the teacup, and immediately smelled the scent of ginseng. He showed a surprised expression.

Xiang couldn't help feeling regretful when she saw this.

I was too careless.

After all, this ginseng was her dowry, and she took it out and used it without asking. It would be troublesome if he misunderstood that she thought he was a bastard of the Xu family and therefore did not have such a good thing.

"My husband!" Xiang's face flushed. "I saw that you were still studying hard so late... I wanted you to rest up, but I was too embarrassed to say anything, so I used my own dowry..."

Seeing his wife explaining so hurriedly, Xu Siyu's mouth curled up.

Just like just now.

There is wine and food, and the gentleman is ready to eat.

He has Huiquan water, so he should first honor his elders.

But considering that the Huiquan water was given by his wife's uncle, he couldn't make the decision and planned to discuss it with his wife when he came back. However, his wife tactfully blamed him and said that he should give the water to the elders to taste first.

"I know." Xu Siyu looked at Xiang with bright eyes, "This tea smells very good, I..." He hesitated for a moment and whispered, "I like it very much!"

It was as if something suddenly hit her heart, making it difficult for her to breathe. She felt a little uncomfortable, a little happy, and a little shy, which made her unable to explain and panic in her heart...

Xiang's face turned even redder.

Suddenly I feel a little scared of this feeling.

She forced herself not to think about it anymore, and said hurriedly, as if trying to hide something, "Should we send some to Fourth Uncle as well?" After she said that, she immediately felt that she had said something out of turn.

My fourth uncle is the prince. I don’t know if my husband will think I am flattering him when I say this.

He then asked hurriedly, "And should we send some to our uncles and uncles as well?"

Xu Siyu didn't think much about it.

The wife had just come home, so she was naturally afraid of being rude.

"My fourth and fifth brothers live in the outer courtyard, unlike Jin Ge'er, who lives with mother. If we want to send my fourth brother off, we must also send my fifth brother off." He pondered, "As for my eldest and third brothers, now that they have been separated, we can send them off or not!"

As she spoke, Xiang's heart gradually calmed down. She whispered "Yes", "Then I'll send some to my fourth and fifth uncles tomorrow!"

Xu Siyu smiled at her and said, "But if we do this, we will be left with nothing!"

Xiang was stunned.

She noticed that there was not much water left, so she didn't send any to her fourth uncle and the others... Who knew that she would say something like this...

Xiang's words are blunt.

Xu Siyu said leisurely: "Fortunately, I am not the kind of person who can't write without a Hu brush and Hui ink. If you don't have it, then forget it! You can send it to your fourth and fifth brothers tomorrow!"

Xiang bit her lip and replied "yes", then lowered her head in frustration, wondering whether she should send Xiang's mother back to ask her uncle for more Huiquan water tomorrow, so she didn't see the smile in Xu Siyu's eyes.

* * * * * *

Eleventh Lady coaxed Jing'er to sleep and then returned to the inner room.

"I didn't expect that Brother Yu's daughter-in-law is such a worldly-wise person." She smiled and sat on the embroidered cushion in front of the mirror. Looking at Xu Lingyi who was leaning on the big pillow reading a book, she said, "Brother Yu has her to help take care of things. We can rest assured." After saying that, she turned around and took off her earrings in front of the mirror.

This way, Xu Siyu won't have to worry about him even if he moves to another prefecture.

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