Is it really that simple?

Eleventh Lady is very suspicious!

She asked Wan Daxian to pay attention to Xu Sizhun.

"The fourth young master has been wandering around the streets these days!" Amber wrote back, "and he bought a lot of things."

As if to confirm what he said, in the afternoon, Xu Sizhun came over and gave Shiyi Niang a peach wood hairpin and Jing'er a set of pitching pots.

"See? The body of the pot is octagonal, the neck is very long, there are no ears, and the bottom of the pot is high and concave." He pointed at Jing'er, "It's an ancient artifact from the previous dynasty."

Jing'er was not interested in these. He hummed a few words and pulled Xu Sizhun to the hall to play pot tossing.

In the room could be heard the sounds of arrows hitting a pot and the occasional cheers from the maidservants.

Amber walked in with a smile: "Sixth Young Master is really good, seven or eight out of ten arrows can be thrown into the pot."

Eleventh Lady was a little surprised.

Amber has already said: "The Second Young Madam is back!"

Eleventh Lady asked her to go to Sanjing Hutong on behalf of Hehuali to invite the Third Master and his family to come back for the festival.

"Let her in!"

Xiang came in wearing a rose-red Hangzhou silk jacket with a pipa button.

"What do they say over there?"

When Eleventh Lady asked her, Amber had already brought a brocade stool and placed it beside the kang, asking her to sit down.

"Third aunt's illness is sometimes better and sometimes worse." Xiang sat down and took the tea Qiuyu offered. "When I went there, Third aunt had just taken medicine and went to bed. She waited for more than an hour before waking up. After knowing my purpose, she said that if she was in good health that day, she would come over. If she was not in good health, she would let Third Master bring Big Uncle, Third Uncle, and Third Brother's wife over."

In other words, he had to keep the eldest grandmother, Fang, by his side to take care of him.

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but sigh.

After so many years, even though they already have a grandson, the third wife still won't give in to Fang.

On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Third Lady and Mrs. Fang did not come as expected.

Everyone's topic revolved around Jin, who was about to give birth. Jin was pregnant for the first time, so she sat aside shyly with her head down and kept silent. Xu Sijian heard that Xu Sizhun, Xu Sijie and other brothers had booked a private room to watch the lanterns, so he wanted to go with them. The third master had been annoyed by the swordplay between the third wife and the eldest daughter-in-law in the past two years. Thinking about his wife's excuse to keep the eldest daughter-in-law today, and his mother asking about his wife's health with concern, and asking Mother Du to send some supplements tomorrow morning... He felt even more annoyed.

"Why don't we join in the fun!" He said to Xu Lingyi, "I think we went to the Lantern Festival in the 58th year of Jianwu, when the late emperor celebrated his 60th birthday. It's been more than ten years since then, right?"

Xu Lingyi nodded: "That year, the late emperor took his civil and military officials to watch the lanterns on the wall of the Meridian Gate... and he died at the beginning of the next year!" It was also the time when the competition for the throne was the most intense. He said with emotion, "Okay! Let's go out for a walk too."

The lady and her friends moved to Qiongling Villa to drink.

The old man was old after all, and he got a little drunk after a few drinks. He fell asleep while leaning on the bed while listening to Eleventh Lady and others chatting.

"You guys go back first!" Second Madam sat beside Luohan's bed. "Brother Jian's daughter-in-law is pregnant, Fourth Brother's wife has to get up early tomorrow to take care of the household chores, Fifth Brother's wife has kids to take care of... I'll just stay here and watch over her!"

It was late at night and Eleventh Lady was a little tired. She said a few words like "Thank you, Second Sister-in-law" and went down the mountain with Fifth Lady.

On the way, Sister Xin wanted Jin to stay in her room to rest.

"No!" Madam Wu hugged Cheng Ge'er who had fallen asleep, "You are so wild, what if you kick your third sister-in-law in the stomach? It's better to let your third sister-in-law go to your second sister-in-law's room to rest!"

"Mom!" Sister Xin refused and just pouted.

The Fifth Lady hired a nanny from the palace to teach Xin Jie'er etiquette, and Xin Jie'er behaved more and more like a grown-up girl.

"What a shame!" Mrs. Five disagreed.

Seeing that Xin Jie'er was not prepared, Jin Shi hurriedly came to her rescue: "How about we all go to rest at the second sister-in-law's place?"

"Okay!" Sister Xin said before the Fifth Lady could speak, "Then we can have a candlelit night chat together."

"I left your third sister-in-law here to rest because I was afraid she would get tired." The Fifth Lady said with a smile, "How can you still talk by candlelight at night? Go back to bed now."

Sister Xin refused, and finally went to Xiang's place to rest with Jin.

Eleventh Lady returned to the room. The moonlight was like a silk thread, no one was talking, and it was quiet, yet it seemed a little empty.

Perhaps she was thinking about the people who were watching the lanterns, so she slept restlessly. She woke up after a short nap and couldn't fall asleep again. She simply got up and asked Qiu Yu, who was on duty, "What time is it now? Have the fourth young master and the others not returned yet?"

Qiu Yu yawned and ran to check the clock in the east room: "It's past the hour of the Ox." Then he said, "I'll go see what's going on outside!"

As he was speaking, there was a noise outside.

"It should be the Sixth Young Master who has returned!" Qiu Yu was suddenly alert and all sleepiness disappeared. "I'll go check it out!" He walked out in two steps and quickly came back. "It's the Fourth Young Master and the Fifth Young Master who brought the Sixth Young Master back who had fallen asleep!"

Eleventh Lady hurriedly put on her clothes and went out, and saw Xu Sijie protecting Xu Sizhun, who was carrying Jing'er, and entering the west wing.

She hurriedly followed him: "Isn't your father back yet?"

Jing'er was sleeping soundly and refused to wake up.

"Father is with my third uncle." Xu Sizhun wiped the sweat from his forehead. "My third brother went to look for him. We came back first!"

"Where's Jin'er?" Shiyi Niang helped Hong Wen change Jin'er's clothes. "Is he asleep? Who sent him back?"

"He went to bed earlier than my sixth brother." Xu Sizhun said with a smile, "We sent Chen Ge'er back first before coming to your place!"

Seeing Xu Sijie standing silently by the side, Eleventh Lady smiled and said softly, "It's getting late, you should go back and rest early!"

The two of them responded in unison and said goodbye to Eleventh Lady.

After leaving the Chuihua Gate, the two went to Danbozhai together. As soon as they entered the inner room, Xu Sijie grabbed Xu Sizhun's hand and asked, "What's the matter?" His voice was tense and his expression was a little gloomy. "No news yet?"

"Don't worry." Xu Sizhun comforted him in a low voice, "After all, it happened more than ten years ago. The Liu family doesn't have any relatives. I don't dare to ask other people for help, and I have to ask indirectly... How can it be so fast!"

Xu Sijie could not hide his disappointment. When he thought of that terrible "possibility", his face gradually turned pale.

"If I... weren't..." His mouth twitched and his body trembled slightly.

"No!" Xu Sizhun said seriously, "You look so much like us, you must be a child of the Xu family!" As soon as he finished speaking, both of them showed a strange look.

If it was really a child of the Xu family... With Xu Lingyi's personality, if he fell in love with the sister of an actor, and he didn't take her as a concubine, could Yuanniang still object? Even if Xu Lingyi didn't want to take her to his house, he should have found a better place to put her... In a place like Wuliugou, you can smell a foul odor before you even walk in, and if you're not careful, you'll step on someone's feces thrown on the roadside...

Xu Lingyi was walking on the road of Wuliugou with a solemn face. Xu Sizhun thought it was ridiculous!

"I remember that Dad seemed to be fighting in the northwest at that time..." He murmured, his face changed, "Mom even went to Ciyuan Temple to worship the Buddha for this matter..."

Could it be that Xu Sijie is really not Xu Lingyi’s son?

The thought flashed through his mind, and Xu Sizhun said anxiously: "It would be great if the people who used to live next door to Liu Kui's house didn't move away now... We can ask Liu's neighbor Liu Kui about him, and we can also find out who interacted with the Liu family back then."

"It's impossible for them all to move away, right?" Xu Sijie looked at Xu Sizhun with a pleading look in his eyes, "We can always find one or two families, right?"

"Yes!" His words also confused Xu Sizhun, "Why did all the neighbors move away? And no one knows where they went? For so many years, no one has come back to Wuliugou to take a look..." Just like Liu Huifang, they all disappeared suddenly. It was as if someone had completely wiped out everything that happened more than ten years ago...

The thought flashed through his mind, and Xu Sizun, who had more experience than Xu Sijie, suddenly became as pale as paper as Xu Sizun.

He just wanted to find a family to inquire about what happened back then, but it was so difficult. Even the people living next door to the Liu family... You can imagine how much power it takes!

Is it possible that Xu Sijie’s life experience is a secret that cannot be known to others?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but think hard.

* * * * * *

Before the Double Ninth Festival, Xu Sizhun tried to go to Wuliugou several times, but like the previous times, he returned empty-handed.

Xu Sijie became more and more uneasy.

"How about asking Tao Cheng to help check it out?" He said desperately.

"No!" Xu Sizhun said, "What if... it's better for one less person to know than one more person to know!"

Xu Sijie remained silent.

Afraid that Tao Cheng would know... Deep down in his heart, did Fourth Brother also feel that he was not his father's son... Otherwise, he would not have said such a thing...

Xu Sizhun certainly didn't think too deeply about it. All he could think about was how to find someone who was familiar with the Liu family to solve the mystery.

Xu Sijie's eyes dimmed: "Fourth brother, I'm leaving first! You should take a good rest too!"

Anyway, I can’t think of it for the time being, so I might as well continue thinking about it tomorrow.

Xu Sizhun said "hmm" and sent Xu Sijie out.

A servant came forward and saluted the two men: "Fourth Young Master! Fifth Young Master!"

Xu Sizhun saw that the boy looked unfamiliar and looked at him for a few times. The boy said hurriedly, "The young one is from Sanjing Hutong. Our third young lady gave birth to a daughter, and I followed our eldest young lady into the mansion to announce the good news!"

"Ah!" Xu Sizhun showed surprise, "My third sister-in-law has given birth."

"Yes!" the servant said attentively, "Our third master said that we want to celebrate with great fanfare. We also want to invite an opera troupe like the Deyin Society to perform in the hall."

Singing in a temple... When we sang in a temple at home, my uncle always helped arrange it... because he was familiar with all the major opera troupes...

Xu Sizhun's eyes lit up.

He pulled Xu Sijie back to the inner room: "Let's go ask Uncle Wu for help! Liu Kui and Liu Huifang are so famous, Uncle Wu can't not know them. Even if he doesn't know them, he must know someone who is familiar with them. And Uncle Wu is the easiest to talk to, and he's a family member...it couldn't be better!"

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It's the end of the month, please vote pink! Please support me, sisters!

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PS: Make up for the extra update on August 14th!