Yuan Baozhu's daughter wore a dark green Lu silk jacket, had her hair combed neatly, and wore two big red roses on her head, looking bright and capable.

She bent her knees and saluted Eleventh Lady, smiling, "I haven't seen you for a year, Madam, you still look so good." Then she took the scarlet silk cloth bundle from the mother beside her and said, "These are the shoes and socks that our Ninth Miss made for Madam and Sixth Young Master. The craftsmanship is clumsy, so please don't dislike them."

Ever since Xu Sizun and the ninth daughter of the Jiang family got engaged, Yuan Baozhu, who had accompanied Wang Lang's sister Wang Lin to the funeral, has been accompanying the Jiang family to Beijing to pay their respects to Eleventh Lady every year during the New Year's Day.

"I'm sorry to trouble Miss Nine of your family." Eleventh Lady smiled and let Qiuyu take the bundle. She told the little maid to bring stools for the two mothers to sit on and gave them tea.

Yuan Baozhu's wife sat halfway on a small stool, thanked him with a smile, took the tea, and took a sip while leaning sideways.

Eleventh Lady asked, "Are your master and mistress in good health?"

"Thanks to the madam, our master and mistress are both in good health." Yuan Baozhu smiled respectfully, "On the ninth day of the ninth month, the madam took Miss Nine to the Dafu Temple to worship Guanyin Bodhisattva..."

As she was talking, a little maid came in and reported, "Madam, Master Jian is here."

At this time every year, Master Jian would give the Xipu's account books for the year to Shiyi Niang for review.

Eleventh Lady smiled and asked the maid to invite Master Jian in.

Yuan Baozhu's family hurriedly stood up and left.

Master Jian walked in carrying a royal blue silk bag.

She and Shiyi Niang sat down in order of importance and took the tea from the maid. Qiuyu then cleverly led the servants in the room to retreat.

Master Jian untied the silk bundle and pushed it in front of Shiyi Niang: "This is this year's account book."

Seeing that there were ten more account books than last year, Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "It looks like this year's business is better than last year's!"

The current business of the wedding shop is divided into two parts, one is mainly for custom-made patches and official uniforms, and the other is mainly for wedding curtains and wedding curtains. Because patches and official uniforms are of great importance, Master Jian personally took a few skilled embroiderers to take charge, and handed over the wedding curtains and wedding curtains to Qiu Ju. In the past few years, the business has been steadily improving. Not only is it well-known in Yanjing, but also people from Jiangnan come to order official uniforms.

Master Jian nodded with a smile: "If we continue like this, in two or three years, we will be able to buy a shop on East Street." At this point, she hesitated slightly and said, "Madam, there is something I want to discuss with you!" As she spoke, her expression became somewhat solemn.

Eleventh Lady looked at him solemnly and said, "Just say whatever you want to say! We are master and disciple, there is nothing that cannot be discussed."

"There is something I don't know if you have heard about it." Master Jian said carefully, "I heard from the owner next door that Madam Gan sold another shop a few days ago. We are gradually becoming famous now, and it will only get better and better in the future. Most people who mention our wedding shop will say it is the 'East Street Wedding Shop'. If we move to another place, those merchants who come from afar will not be able to find the place. If someone opens a wedding shop in our original place, it will not only take away the business, but also make those merchants mistakenly think it is our shop. If they spend money but don't buy what they want, I am afraid it will ruin our reputation. You see, should we ask around if there are any shops for sale? Use the money earned from the wedding shop to buy it. Then we will have a permanent place to stay."

Eleventh Lady frowned: "Madam Gan has bought another shop!"

Master Jian sighed softly.

Eleventh Lady was silent for a long while, then said, "Your idea is good. I think you should ask around first. If the money is not enough, I will pay it forward first, and you can just pay it back when the time comes. As for Madam Gan, I will go and talk to her."

In this way, even if Marquis Zhongqin forced Madam Gan to take over the shop again, the business would not be affected. Although the dividends from Madam Gan's shop would not allow her to live a life of luxury, at least she would have enough food and clothing.

Master Jian nodded. Seeing that Eleventh Lady was looking serious, he smiled and changed the subject. "I heard that Amber will be back to work after the New Year. How is Zhu Xiang's marriage going?"

When this was mentioned, Eleventh Lady became worried: "I have been looking for a long time, but I still can't find the right person!"

Master Jian laughed, "I think you are worried about marrying Zhu Xiang to anyone. Isn't the family that Madam Song mentioned last time quite good? Both parents are managers on the farm, and the boy runs errands for the big shopkeeper in Shanxi. He is literate, handsome, and of the right age. But you say that the boy is too smart and lacks stability. If you really find a dull one, I'm afraid you will think he is too honest and lacks wit." Then he advised her, "Zhu Xiang is not young anymore. If she doesn't get married, she will become an old maid. Look at our Qiu Ju, isn't she living a good life?"

Qiu Ju was dragged on and on until she became an old maid. Later, the owner of a silver shop on the same street introduced a man who worked as a clerk in the silver shop. His father died early, his family was very poor, and he was the youngest of four brothers. He was willing to marry into Master Jian's family. Master Jian initially disliked the young man's appearance, so he secretly asked Qiu Ju to take a look. Qiu Ju didn't say anything, so Master Jian reluctantly agreed. As a result, after marrying Qiu Ju, all the heavy work and appearances were done by the son-in-law, and the family gradually got into shape. The more Master Jian looked at him, the more he liked him and the more satisfied he was. Last autumn, Qiu Ju gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, and both children took the surname "Jian", which made Master Jian even happier.

Eleventh Lady knew that she was just nitpicking, but when she thought about how everyone who came from Yuhang with her had gone their separate ways, she wanted to keep Zhu Xiang for a few more days.

"We'll talk about it later!" She murmured, "The New Year is almost here, I can't marry her off now!"

Master Jian knew that she couldn't understand it for the time being, so he smiled, drank a sip of tea, talked to her a few words about Qiu Ju's twins, and then stood up to say goodbye.

When Zhu Xiang saw Master Jian coming out, she sent him to the door and then went to Shiyi Niang's place.

"Just like in previous years." She said in a low voice, "Yuan Baozhu's family went to see Mother Song first, and then went to see Mother Du, as well as Mother Shi from the Fifth Madam's side and Manager Zhao's wife. They all brought gift boxes to pay New Year's greetings." Then she said a little embarrassedly, "We also gave Feng Hong."

Eleventh Lady smiled and joked, "Has it increased a bit this year?"

"No!" Zhu Xiang laughed, "It's still a four-cent silver ingot."

"Although it's not a small amount, after going through so many rounds, I'm afraid it's not a small amount." Eleventh Lady smiled and put the matter behind her. "Where's Jin'er? I haven't seen him for most of the day."

"He and the Seventh Young Master are feeding the birds!" Zhu Xiang smiled, "Suifeng, Huang Xiaomao, and Liu Erwu are all serving beside them."

Eleventh Lady said "hmm" and discussed the New Year's Eve with Zhu Xiang. During dinner, she told Xu Lingyi what Zhen Jie'er said.

Xu Lingyi was also a little surprised and said, "I have already found a master for Brother Jin." Thinking that this was the intention of his son-in-law and daughter, "Then let Master Pang come as well! If not, he can go to the guards to work!"

Eleventh Lady asked Zhu Xiang to return to Xiulan, and after the New Year, Shao Zhongran personally accompanied Master Pang to Yanjing.

Xu Lingyi hosted a banquet in the flower hall to entertain his son-in-law. He also tested Master Pang's martial arts and came back to tell Shiyi Niang: "He is indeed skilled in archery and horse riding. It seems that he has not yet used his full strength. It's just that he is not very smooth in military tactics... It's not like Jin Ge'er is going to compete with others in brute force in the future." He was not very satisfied.

"Sun Bin is so weak that he can't even tie a chicken!" Eleventh Lady regarded the martial arts master as a physical education teacher, thinking that it was enough to strengthen the body. Zhao Kuo read so many military books, but he was still defeated on the battlefield. Fighting a war requires some talent. "After all, it's the good intention of the eldest brother-in-law, so let's use it if we can!"

Xu Lingyi thought for a moment and said, "If he doesn't finish reading "Youxue", he won't understand "The Art of War" even if you put "The Art of War" in front of him. It will be fine if he learns the archery and horse riding first!" Then he kept Master Pang in the mansion, and made an appointment with Mr. Zhao to send Jing'er to Shuangfu Academy on the second day of the second month, when the dragon raises its head.

When Jin Ge'er heard that he could go to the outer courtyard, he was extremely happy. He asked Shiyi Niang every day when the second day of the second month would come. The lady laughed and hugged Jin Ge'er and said, "This is what studying is like!"

Brother Chen also clamored to go.

The lady gave Jin Ge'er a box of snacks and said, "Go there at this time next year to keep your brother company."

Chen Ge'er pulled Shiyi Niang's sleeve and said, "Aunt Four, please make me a school bag too!"

Eleventh Lady used the scraps of cloth she had to make a flowery schoolbag for Jing'er. Jing'er put a copy of "Children's Studies" in it and showed it off to Shen'er before coming.

"Okay!" Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "What do you like? I'll make one for you when the time comes."

"Someone like Sixth Brother." Chen Ge'er said immediately, "Prettier than Sixth Brother."

Maybe it’s because he is the youngest son, Cheng’er is already three years old, and Madam Wu always holds him in her arms wherever she goes.

Seeing her son asking Eleventh Lady for something, Fifth Lady, who was wiping Cheng'er's mouth while he was eating cakes in her arms, said angrily, "This child, why does he want everything he sees?"

"Children are all like this." The lady laughed, "The fourth child was like this when he was little. The fifth child was very obedient when he was little. When he saw me sick, he would always sit beside me, touch my hand, and ask if I was feeling better! I thought at that time, how nice it would be if this was a girl!"

Xu Lingkuan was embarrassed by what he said. He smiled and coughed, saying, "Fourth brother, I heard that the eldest brother-in-law introduced a very powerful martial arts master to Jin'er. Otherwise, let's let our brother learn martial arts together!"

"Practicing martial arts is very hard." Xu Lingyi was the only one who persisted in the family. "Brother Chen is still too young. Let's talk about it when he's older!"

The Fifth Lady also said, "Yes! Brother Chen is one year younger than Brother Jin!"

After hearing this, Chen Geer ran to argue with the Fifth Madam: "I want to go, I want to go too. I want to practice martial arts with Sixth Brother!"

The Fifth Lady's face darkened: "Let's talk about it next year."

Brother Chen refused.

The Fifth Lady scolded him, which frightened Cheng'er and made him cry. The Fifth Lady hurriedly picked up Cheng'er and walked around the room, patting the ground to comfort him.

Brother Chen watched as tears welled up in his eyes.

The lady felt distressed and quickly called Chen Ge'er over. She hugged the child and advised the Fifth Lady: "Just let Chen Ge'er go with you! Let him play with you first, and when he grows up, he can formally learn martial arts!"

After hearing this, Brother Chen nodded.

Jing'er pleaded for Chen'er: "Aunt Wu, please let my seventh brother go! I'll give you my San San to play with!"

San San is his dog.

Everybody laughed.

The Fifth Lady could not insist any longer, so she ordered Chen Ge'er: "You must not act naughty, or you will not be allowed to practice martial arts."

Brother Chen cheered and hugged Brother Jing.

※

Calling for pink tickets!

PS: Jinger’s happy childhood is about to end…

O(∩_∩)O~