When she was removing her makeup at night, two delicate peach blossom petals fell along with Eleventh Lady's jet-black hair and floated on the mirror-like bluestone ground.
Xu Lingyi, who was leaning on the bed reading a book, looked at the pink petals next to his wife's dark blue lace skirt and couldn't help but smile and said, "Did you have a good time today?"
"Hmm!" Eleventh Lady turned sideways and looked at Xu Lingyi. "The sun shines lazily on people. The peach and pear blossoms are in bloom, attracting honey and butterflies. Jing'er and Shen'er took a group of pugs to catch butterflies in the peach forest, and we listened to Jie'er playing the flute there. Xin'er and the little maids ran to pick a lot of wild flowers to make bracelets... I was still thinking, should we hold the banquet in the peach forest on March 3rd like today? Then I thought again, there are unknown little bugs in the bushes, it would be terrible if someone gets bitten."
"We can go to Qiongling Villa!" Xu Lingyi put down the book in his hand, "The terrain there is high, and the spring breeze on your face is a different experience."
"I have thought about it." Eleventh Lady tied her long black hair into a bun, "I am afraid that Madam Huang and Madam Zheng will have difficulty crawling - they are not young anymore." After saying that, she sat down beside the bed, "Let's do it in the flower hall like in previous years! If the younger generation like Qin's wife want to walk around and have a look, let Yu's wife accompany them."
Xu Lingyi nodded and talked about Jing'er's homework: "I heard from Mr. Zhao that he knows most of the words in the book "Youxue" and can only write a few simple words..." He seemed quite worried.
"At first I only told him to recognize words, not to write them." Eleventh Lady smiled, "Firstly, he is young and can't hold a pen well, so I was afraid he would develop bad writing habits; secondly, he can't stay still and would start drawing while writing. I was afraid that if I forced him to write, he would get bored and not want to practice, so I just let him do it. Now that he has been taught by a teacher, and he knows a few words, he should be faster than other children in both calligraphy and reading, and he will be interested in learning."
Taking care of this and that. Xu Lingyi felt that Shiyi Niang spoiled the child too much.
When he was a child, he didn't like writing. His father hit his palms with a stick several times, and his hands were swollen, but he didn't dare to say a word and just sat there and traced the red characters. When he grew up, he didn't say he would stop reading and writing.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but frown and secretly paid attention to Jing'er's homework.
After the first few days, Jing'er's studies gradually became regular. He woke up at 3:45 pm every morning. He usually had a cup of goat milk, a golden and silver steamed bun or two steamed dumplings, and half an apple to fill his stomach. He arrived at Xiumuyuan at 1:45 pm, and started squatting at 1:45 pm. He returned to his room at 3:45 pm, washed and changed clothes, and then had breakfast with them, went to greet the lady, and arrived at Fuyuan at 3:45 pm.
In addition to teaching Jinger, Mr. Zhao also taught Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie. The teachings were different in age, and the arrangements were different. He taught Jinger "Youxue" for an hour in the morning, and then taught Xu Sijie "The Analects". While teaching Jinger, Xu Sijie practiced calligraphy. When teaching Xu Sijie, Jinger recited. Xu Sizhun practiced calligraphy or wrote articles on the side.
School was over in the early afternoon. Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie went back to their own rooms for lunch, and sometimes they would eat together. Jing'er went back to the inner courtyard to have lunch with Shiyi Niang, and then took a nap. Then it was the end of the day. Then the maids took him to Shuangfu Courtyard.
In the afternoon, Xu Sizhun's class was all class. He traced the red characters, while Xu Sijie practiced calligraphy or did the homework assigned by Mr. Zhao.
Just as Shiyi Niang said. For the words he knew, Jing'er quickly learned to write. Although he didn't write well, Mr. Zhao was still surprised by his speed of reading and writing.
He had taught Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie for several years and was used to finding the good points in the children. He could find some good points even if there were none. Besides, Jing'er was smart, lively and talkative, so he naturally praised him endlessly.
After being praised by the teacher, Jing'er, who couldn't sit still, began to feel a little proud. In addition, the novelty of the first year of school had worn off, so he didn't practice calligraphy as hard as he did at the beginning. He often stopped writing and muttered to his brothers who were listening to Mr. Zhao's lecture, which seriously affected Mr. Zhao's teaching. Mr. Zhao thought about it and asked someone to tell Shiyi Niang that Jing'er should trace the red characters at home in the afternoon.
After the banquet on March 3, the only important festivals were the Buddha's birthday on April 8, the birthday of the old lady on April 26, and the Dragon Boat Festival on May 5. Eleventh Lady was free, so she immediately agreed when Mr. Zhao mentioned this. She accompanied Jing'er to practice calligraphy every afternoon.
Seeing that Jing'er couldn't concentrate, Shiyi Niang made an agreement with her son: "If you can practice seriously for two quarters of an hour, I'll let you play for one quarter of an hour."
It was the season of colorful flowers and chirping birds. In previous years, he would pick flowers and catch insects, play with dogs and feed birds in the back garden. His mind had long been elsewhere. He smiled and immediately said "OK" loudly, lowered his head, and traced the red characters seriously. After a month, he had made great progress.
Xu Lingyi breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this and focused his attention on the temple.
Some time ago, a group of Japanese pirates fled to Zhoushan area, burning, killing and looting several villages. The emperor was furious. Marquis Jinghai was held accountable, and more than 30 officials of all ranks, including the Fujian general, lieutenant general, Zhejiang general, lieutenant general, etc., were dismissed. Among them, the Fujian general and the Zhejiang general were dismissed and escorted to Yanjing for trial.
Some people brought up the sea ban again, and some talked about Xu Lingyi's experience in suppressing the rebellion in the northwest.
He just laughed it off at first.
Fujian has not been peaceful in recent years. Whenever something happens, someone would bring up such a thing. But unexpectedly, on the birthday of the Madam, Chen Ge Lao and Dou Ge Lao came to celebrate her birthday one after another, but they both asked him privately if he was willing to go to Fujian to suppress the Japanese. He was bored at home. When he heard it, he was quite tempted, but after thinking about it carefully, he gave up the idea and refused it at that time. But he still felt a little uneasy. Chen Ge Lao was the chief minister, and Dou Ge Lao had been very powerful in recent years. He had already surpassed Liang Ge Lao and others who were older than him. He had an attitude of being below Chen Ge Lao and above all the other ministers. If these two people recommended him to go to Fujian together... the consequences would be very serious.
Xu Lingyi took some time to visit Elder Liang, and had a long conversation with Wang Limi, and then waited for news at home.
After the Dragon Boat Festival, the new Fujian and Zhejiang generals took office, and he finally felt relieved. After returning to the house, he talked to Shiyi Niang: "...It won't work this way. We have to find a way to recommend a few generals who can fight water battles to the Ministry of War."
Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Didn't Master Ma Zuowen be transferred to Fujian? Why don't you ask him to help you find out!"
"If he had a candidate, he would have recommended it to the Ministry of War long ago. Why is it so difficult?" Xu Lingyi smiled bitterly. It was inconvenient for him to leave Beijing, and he felt a little irritated. Looking at the tranquility between Eleventh Lady's brows, he didn't want her to be upset, so he smiled and changed the subject: "I heard that Third Sister-in-law is sick. How is she?"
Today, Eleventh Lady took Xiang and Fifth Madam to visit the patient in Sanjing Hutong.
"She just said she had chest tightness and shortness of breath." Eleventh Lady smiled, "We asked Doctor Liu to see her. He said she would be fine after taking a few doses of medicine. We saw that Third Sister-in-law was unhappy and not in good spirits, so we didn't stay long. We drank a cup of tea and left." As she spoke, she laughed, "Fortunately we went to visit her, otherwise we wouldn't have known that Jian'er's wife was more than three months pregnant! It's just that Qin'er's wife has worked hard. She has to take care of Third Sister-in-law and Jian'er's wife. I heard that Jian'er's mother-in-law praises Qin'er's wife for her virtues!"
Xu Lingyi recalled that the Crown Prince had specially summoned Jing’er to the palace for Fang Jie’er to hold him, and couldn’t help but laugh, “Didn’t they ask you for Jing’er’s clothes?” He added, “If the Crown Princess gives birth to a princess this time, I think our Jing’er will be able to rest for a while!”
Eleventh Lady also laughed.
A little maid came in: "Madam, Manager Bai is here!"
Eleventh Lady asked the maid to report to Butler Bai to come in.
Xu Lingyi asked curiously, "What do you want to see Butler Bai for?"
"Zhu Xiang's wedding is scheduled for September, and Xiu Lian is also getting married. I need to add a few more people to my house. I want to ask Manager Bai to help me pick a few and let Amber take care of them."
Eleventh Lady looked around and found no better candidate than Yan Fu mentioned by Mother Song. She wrote a letter back to Yuhang and discussed it with Fifth Lady, and finally agreed to the marriage. However, in this case, Zhu Xiang would have to marry in Shanxi.
As they were talking, Manager Bai came in. Knowing that Shiyi Niang was looking for a maid, he hurriedly and respectfully agreed. Shiyi Niang asked Amber to go with Manager Bai to select someone.
Jing'er ran in with a pout on his face.
"Dad!" He was a little surprised to see Xu Lingyi at home. He bowed respectfully and went to Shiyi Niang's side, "Mom, mom, I want to find an archery master too!"
"An archery master?" Eleventh Lady was puzzled. "Didn't Master Pang say that when you can walk on the plum blossom pile, he will teach you martial arts. When you have mastered martial arts, you can start learning horse riding and archery. Why do you need to find another archery master?"
"Mother," Jing'er said unconvincedly, "Seventh brother's grandfather not only gave Seventh brother a bow and arrow, but also sent someone to serve Seventh brother. That person is very good at boxing and kicking, and can shoot an arrow through a willow leaf from a hundred steps away. When I went to Shuangfuyuan for class, Seventh brother followed that person to learn archery. Just now, Seventh brother shot the plum vase in my room with one arrow. Mother, please find me an archery master! I will learn from the master every day after school, and I will definitely be a better archer than Chen'er!"
Eleventh Lady was very surprised.
A few days ago, the Fifth Lady was still whispering in the Dowager's ear, saying that Chen Ge'er was so young, and he had to get up before dawn every day to practice martial arts, which was too hard. How come after the Dragon Boat Festival in Hongdeng Hutong, the old Marquis Sun sent a martial arts expert to serve Chen Ge'er, and also privately taught Chen Ge'er to shoot arrows...
She looked towards Xu Lingyi.
There was a hint of confusion in Xu Lingyi's eyes, and he was obviously a little confused about this matter.
Eleventh Lady thought for a moment and said with a smile, "Brother Chen only shot at your plum vase, did he break it?"
Jinger said in a depressed tone: "I only shot the plum vase, but didn't break it!"
"That's it!" Eleventh Lady laughed, "Have you seen how to build a house? First you have to lay a good foundation, and then you can lay bricks. It's the same with archery. If you don't train your strength now, your arrows will have no power when you shoot them out, and you won't be able to break the plum vase..."
Before she could finish her words, Jing'er showed an expression of sudden enlightenment, and he ran out of the house: "I'll go tell my seventh brother..."
"This child is too competitive!" Eleventh Lady couldn't help but shook her head as she looked at her son's back, "He wants to win everything."
"Being strong-willed has its advantages." Xu Lingyi disagreed. "If you just muddle through everything, don't strive for progress, and just go with the flow, then what's the point of that?"
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I had a checkup this morning, and the injection was rescheduled to the afternoon. My mother doesn't allow me to stay up late at night, so I have to write when I get back from the hospital. Please forgive me!
O(∩_∩)O~