After exiting the hanging flower gate of Laojun Hall, Si Niang and Shiyi Niang whispered, "Mother has no ill intentions. If Jie'er can achieve fame, it will be more attractive for him to marry or work as a minister."

"I know that too." Eleventh Lady smiled, "But you can't force it. Just do your best!"

After all, this is Eleventh Lady's family affair, so Fourth Lady can't say much.

She smiled and nodded, then turned to look for her second son Yu Li and third son Yu Qi.

Yu Li and Xu Sizhun stood side by side on the steps of the Chuihua Gate, talking in low voices, while Yu Qizhe and Jinger were playing and laughing in front of the Chuihua Gate. Only Xu Sijie stood alone under the dripping eaves of the Chuihua Gate, looking thoughtful.

Feeling Si Niang's gaze, he seemed a little uneasy. He smiled at Si Niang stiffly and took two steps forward to the side of Xu Sizhun and Yu Li.

"Second cousin!" he called Yu Li, "Fourth aunt is looking for you!"

Yu Li raised his eyelids and glanced at his mother, then hurriedly said to Xu Sizun, "Please write to me when the time comes." He bowed to Xu Sizun and Xu Sijie, then quickly walked to his mother's side.

"It's getting late. We should say goodbye to your eleventh aunt and go back." Si Niang said, retracting her gaze from Xu Sijie.

Xu Sijie breathed a sigh of relief.

* * * * * *

The carriage swayed out of Laojun Hall.

Jing'er, who was tired from playing, was hugged by his mother and fell asleep quickly.

Eleventh Lady was thinking about Xu Sijie.

It's time to have a good talk with him.

Xu Sijie is different from Xu Siyu. Xu Siyu is the eldest son of a concubine. He is smart and capable, and he is not much older than Xu Sizhun. In order to ensure that Xu Sizhun has an unquestionable status in the family, Xu Lingyi let him live alone in the future. Xu Sijie is the second son and a concubine. He cannot pose any threat to Xu Sizhun, and it is unlikely that he will be forcibly separated. As long as he wants, he can live with the family forever. In the eyes of most people, this is not a bad thing. But from the perspective of Eleventh Lady, there is an essential difference between being forced to live with the family and choosing to live with the family.

If you want the freedom to choose, you must have the ability to survive independently.

Xu Sijie has been in the outer courtyard for two years, and he has a certain understanding of the ways of the world. It is best to talk to him about this now - if he has never thought about his future, he can use the years before marriage to try to find a direction to work towards. After marriage, with a family, there will be responsibilities, and he can no longer do whatever he wants, but must work hard in the direction he has set. If he has thought about his future, it is a good opportunity to discuss whether his consideration is feasible.

It would be best if you could combine interest with survival...

As Eleventh Lady was thinking, the carriage stopped.

Mother Song lifted the car curtain: "Madam, we are home."

Amber got off the carriage first and carefully took Jing'er over. Then Eleventh Lady crouched down and got out of the carriage.

Qiuyu and others were waiting in front of the hanging flower gate.

"Madam," she smiled and walked forward, kneeling and bowing, "The eldest aunt from Cangzhou sent two daughters-in-law to give you a birthday gift. They are waiting in the hall now!"

"Oh!" Thinking of Zhen Jie'er, Shiyi Niang showed a happy smile. She glanced at the big red lantern hanging in front of the hanging flower door, "It's so late, have you arranged for the two daughters-in-law to eat?"

"It's settled." Qiuyu helped Shiyi Niang onto the small oil cart with green curtains, "but the two wives said that they wanted to greet you first before going to eat. The servants couldn't persuade them, so Sister Fangxi had to sit in the hall with the two wives and talk."

Eleventh Lady nodded, went back into the house to say hello to Xu Lingyi, quickly changed her clothes and went to the hall.

The two daughters-in-law, on behalf of Zhen Jie'er, kowtowed three times respectfully to Eleventh Lady, and then presented birthday gifts.

Eleventh Lady asked about Zhen Jie'er's situation.

Knowing that Zhen Jie'er was now in charge of the family, got along well with her sister-in-law Ouyang, and had a good reputation in the Shao family. She was also pregnant and would become a mother again at the end of the year. She smiled even more and rewarded the two daughters-in-law with ten taels of silver each. When she returned to the inner room, she opened the bundle of birthday gifts under the lamp.

Inside were two sets of clothes, two pairs of shoes and socks, and a pair of red gold hairpins inlaid with Hetian jade gourds.

Eleventh Lady picked up the socks made of white Songjiang three-saw cloth.

The sock soles are embroidered with square patterns of the same color, and the sock cuffs are embroidered with water wave patterns of the same color. When closing the stitches, the needle will bury the thread in the opposite direction.

This is Sister Zhen’s habit.

Eleventh Lady was both happy and distressed.

This child, who was already the one in charge of the household chores, also did needlework for her with her own hands.

She looked at the embroidery on the clothes again.

They are all very complicated patterns.

How much effort does this take!

"What's wrong?" Xu Lingyi looked at the clothes in the bundle when he saw Shiyi Niang enter the room, and sat down on the table across the kang, "Are you not good at sewing?"

"What?" Eleventh Lady muttered as she put away her shoes and socks. "The needlework is very good! The color matching is also exquisite. I was planning to take them out and wear them during the Dragon Boat Festival!"

Xu Lingyi looked at her with a smile.

Under the light, the bright eyes sparkled.

Eleventh Lady pursed her lips and smiled.

"You'll be twenty-three in a few days..." He suddenly reached out and stroked her face, "I didn't even have a good birthday for you..." He seemed very emotional.

Have a good birthday?

What is considered good?

They all have elders, so can't they just hold a grand ceremony?

"What are you talking about!" Eleventh Lady said angrily, "To receive such a gift, isn't it considered a good birthday?" As she spoke, she raised the bundle in her hand.

Xu Lingyi said nothing and held her hand tightly.

* * * * * *

After lunch the next day, Xu Sizun and Xu Sisi came together.

Xu Sizhun gave Shiyi Niang a square piece of Shu brocade with a melon pattern on it as a birthday gift, while Xu Sijie gave her a pen holder carved from Xiangfei bamboo with a pattern of plum blossoms in the cold.

The Shu brocade had tiny diamond-shaped patterns woven onto the satin, and was laid on the ground, with brown melon vines, green Tianluo melons, and two tender yellow chickens with their heads together pecking at rice. The pattern was well-proportioned and layered, and particularly vivid.

The pen holder is carved into plum blossoms using the purple spots on Xiangfei bamboo, which is also very unique.

Eleventh Lady looked at the size of the Shu brocade and said with a smile, "Let's hang this Shu brocade on the wall of my study. What do you think?"

"Will it work?" Xu Sizhun hesitated, "I see others put it on the dressing table."

"What's wrong with that?"

Eleventh Lady led the two to the study. She replaced the original sky-blue old kiln pen holder with the bamboo pen holder sent by Xu Sijie, and called the maid to take down the porcelain screen on the wall and hang up a Sichuan brocade one.

While he was busy, Jing'er, who had just woken up from a nap, came to greet Shiyi Niang.

"Mom, didn't you just re-paste the windows a few days ago?" He tilted his head and looked at the three people busying themselves there, "Why are you decorating the house again today?"

Eleventh Lady couldn't help laughing.

Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie also laughed.

The two of them were helping to adjust the height, one on the left and one on the right. They turned their heads and asked him, "Does it look good?"

Jin Ge'er first stood there and looked at it for a while, then ran to Shu Jin to take a look, then turned around and ran to the door of the study to look at it for a long time, and said sincerely: "It's much more beautiful than the peacock feather fan hanging in Daddy's study!"

After a brief silence, a hard-pressed "hum" sound came from the room.

"I'm telling the truth!" Jin'er pouted as he looked at his brothers who wanted to laugh but didn't dare.

This time, everyone couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter.

Xiang just stepped in.

She didn't understand and there was a hint of embarrassment between her brows.

"Mother, the uncles are helping you decorate the house!"

Her words made Xu Sizun and Xu Sijie laugh again.

Xiang looked even more uncomfortable.

"Don't pay attention to them." Eleventh Lady glanced at the two of them in a reproachful manner, then smiled and said to Xiang, "They are being naughty!" Then she pointed at the Shu brocade hanging on the wall, "Does it look good?"

Xiang looked at it carefully for a moment and said seriously: "Very special!"

It's like praising a girl for being cute.

Eleventh Lady laughed.

Xiang looked slightly embarrassed. She quickly took a small carved red sandalwood box from the maid behind her and presented it to Shiyi Niang with both hands: "Mother, this is a birthday gift from the Second Master and me. I wish you a happy birthday every year."

Fortunately, on the old lady’s birthday, everyone has to say “May you live as long as the Southern Mountains and be as blessed as the Eastern Sea”, otherwise, this sentence would have fallen on her head.

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but cough lightly.

Amber has gone forward and collected the box.

The maid brought in tea.

Eleventh Lady invited the children to have tea.

"...I have classes in the afternoon!" Xu Sizun didn't dare to stay for long. Thinking of the joyful atmosphere just now, he felt reluctant to leave.

"I'll just study here with my mother!" Xu Sijie chose to stay.

Jinger came in with his schoolbag: "Mom, I want to trace the red characters here!"

"Okay!" Eleventh Lady smiled and patted her son's head, "But you can't disturb Fifth Brother from studying, got it?"

Jing'er nodded heavily.

When Xiang saw this, she hurriedly stood up and said goodbye.

Eleventh Lady asked Amber to send her off. When she turned around, she saw Xu Sijie standing there with a hesitant look on his face.

"What's wrong?" she smiled.

Xu Sijie hesitated for a while, then stepped forward and took Shiyi Niang's sleeve, and said softly, "Mother, what do you think? Can I take part in the imperial examination?"

Eleventh Lady was a little surprised.

Xu Sijie looked at him with a red face.

"Mother, I know I'm not as good at studying as my second brother." He murmured, "But I will study very hard..."

By then, just like my second brother, there will be a big red piece of good news, and mother will be very happy too!

Eleventh Lady immediately thought of what happened in Laojun Hall yesterday.

"Is it because of what your great-aunt said?" she asked him softly.

Xu Sijie nodded, thought for a while, and shook his head: "I don't want to embarrass my mother... I also want to take part in the imperial examination... In this way, I can also support my mother in the future... My family is poor and my parents are old. It would be unfilial not to work as an official..." At this point, he exclaimed, and explained hurriedly: "I'm not saying that no one will support my mother. My second brother, fourth brother, and sixth brother are all very good. I mean, I want to support my mother..." As he spoke, he looked a little depressed, "No, what I mean is that I should also support my mother..."

Eleventh Lady smiled slightly.

She glanced at Jing'er who was writing seriously at the desk, and pulled Xu Sijie's hand: "Come with me!"

Went to the banquet and rest area opposite the study.

※

I had some urgent business last night, so I went to Wuhan. I didn’t come back until five this afternoon. The update is much late. I’m very sorry!