Eleventh Lady's impression of the Ninth Miss of the Jiang Family still remains in her childhood. White skin, big eyes, and the sound of pearls falling on a jade plate. When she saw this beautiful woman wearing a bright red silk jacket, a peony bun, and pearls and jade rings, she was stunned for a moment before she showed a friendly smile. Jiang had just finished serving tea to Xu Lingyi, and under the guidance of Mrs. Quanfu, Mrs. Huang San, she took the red teacup with auspicious dragons and phoenixes from the big red lacquer tray held by the maid, raised it above her head and knelt in front of her: "Mother-in-law, have some tea!"

The voice is still as clear and pleasant as before.

Eleventh Lady took the teacup with a smile, and like Xiang Shi when she came in, she gave a red gold headpiece worth 99 taels and a silver note worth 999 taels as a gift. However, Xiang Shi's headpiece was in the shape of a lily of the valley, while Jiang Shi's was in the shape of a peony.

Jiang blushed and thanked softly, then gave Eleventh Lady two pairs of embroidered shoes and two pairs of socks as a gift.

Two pairs of embroidered shoes, one green and one purple. The green pair was embroidered with pink plum blossoms and had rice-sized pearls as the core. The purple pair was embroidered with light yellow orchids and outlined with white silk thread. It was obvious that a lot of effort had been put into both the color matching and the workmanship. The Huang family and the Xu family were good friends, and Third Madam Huang was someone who liked to icing on the cake, so she would find something good even if it wasn’t good. Besides, these two pairs of shoes were already very outstanding, so she said “tsk tsk tsk tsk” a few times at the time: “This really proves the old saying, ‘If you are not from the same family, you won’t enter the same door.’ Look at the embroidery work of my Fourth Madam, I think it’s no worse than that of the Fourth Lady.” As she spoke, she laughed, “That’s good now, the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law can discuss the embroidery work together, so there’s no need to worry about having nothing to talk about.”

Everybody joined in the fun and burst into laughter.

Jiang recalled her mother's words: "...your mother-in-law is a concubine's daughter and a stepmother. She is not a simple person to be able to achieve what she has today. Now that you have entered the family, remember to be cautious. Talk less and do more, follow the rules, and don't make your mother-in-law unhappy."

"It took me half a year to make this pair of embroidered shoes," she said with a little embarrassment, "I don't deserve the compliment from Grandma Huang San."

She neither belittled herself nor flattered Eleventh Lady blindly, and also pointed out the importance of giving the unboxing gift to her mother-in-law.

Mrs. Zhou raised her eyebrows slightly when she heard this and glanced at Eleventh Lady who was sitting there with a smile on her face.

Third Madam Huang thought that the new Fourth Young Madam was very talkative. She smiled twice and led Jiang to the Third Madam: "This is your Third Aunt."

Jiang knelt down, kowtowed and offered tea.

The third lady looked unhappy. She took Jiang's hand and praised her as "beautiful" a few times, following the gift that Xiang gave her when she came in.

Jiang thanked him in a low voice and accepted two handkerchiefs as a gift.

Then Huang San's grandmother led her to the Fifth Madam... It took more than an hour to go through the whole process. Although she collected a lot of things, she was exhausted. Jiang Shi not only did not dare to show any emotion, but also tried to make her smile gentle and respectful, and followed her mother-in-law to the flower hall where the banquet was set up.

Among the female relatives who came, Madam Zhou was the most distinguished because she was the mother of the Crown Princess. Eleventh Lady accompanied her and walked in front, while Madam Huang San and Madam Gan chatted and laughed beside them. Madam Wu deliberately lagged behind a few steps and walked with her sister-in-law, Madam San, and Grandma Luo. Jiang was not only pushed aside, but also fell behind everyone else.

Someone squeezed her hand gently and then quickly let go.

Jiang's attention was focused on Shiyi Niang, so she was surprised. She looked up and saw that it was Xu Sizhun.

But Xu Sizhun also looked at her, with concern in his eyes.

She suddenly thought of her wedding night last night...and her face suddenly turned red like a piece of silk.

Xu Sizhun was suddenly at a loss as to what to do.

"Are you okay?" He murmured, "There's a curb next to it... it'll help..."

She felt warm in her heart.

The sadness of marrying far away and the fear of the future all seemed so distant because of his words.

"I, I'm fine..." Jiang said, and suddenly thought that Xu Sizhun should be accompanying her father-in-law to entertain the male guests, so why did he run here? Although the scene just now was a bit chaotic, it was in the public eye, and there was no guarantee that someone saw it. I heard that her husband was a humble gentleman. When she just entered the house, her husband protected her like this. If it was reported to her mother-in-law, she didn't know if her mother-in-law would think she was frivolous... Her eyes fell on Shiyi Niang.

It was unknown what Madam Zhou said, but Eleventh Lady, Grandma Huang San, Madam Gan and others all covered their sleeves and laughed, as if they didn't notice the situation here at all.

Jiang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to ask Xu Sizhun, she heard a "puff" of laughter in her ears.

She felt guilty and looked in the direction of the voice. She saw a pair of eyes that seemed to be smiling but not smiling.

It’s my eldest sister-in-law Fang.

Jiang felt her face burning. She was thinking whether she should go over and take Fang's arm, and then chat with her and pretend nothing happened to cover up the matter. But Fang had already asked Xu Sizun, "Is fourth uncle here to invite fourth brother and sister-in-law to go over and pay their respects to the lady?" She smiled as she spoke.

Although the lady is a grandmother, she is also a widow. At this time, it is not appropriate for her to accept the kneeling worship of the newlyweds in the hall.

Although it was a family dinner, there was a distinction between men and women. The male guests were in the small hall where they had just received the ceremony, while the female guests were in the warm room next to the small hall.

Xu Sizhun was sent by Xu Lingyi to see off the guests. When he came back, he saw Shiyi Niang and the others heading to the warm room. He couldn't help but look for them in the crowd... and happened to see Jiang Shi, who was alone...

Naturally, some people were paying attention to the bride, and as they were asking and answering questions, some people were already looking over here.

"Yes!" Xu Sizhun realized his impoliteness and cast a grateful glance at Fang. He whispered, "Father asked us to go and pay our respects to the Madam."

Eleventh Lady and Xu Lingyi had discussed this. After the newlyweds accompanied the guests to the banquet, they would first pay their respects to the old lady, then return to the table and meet the second lady in the afternoon.

"Then go quickly!" The situation can change at any time. Although the newlyweds did not send the guests to the banquet venue, it is not considered rude to send them there. Eleventh Lady smiled and instructed Xu Sizhun and Jiang.

The two of them responded in unison, nodded to Fang, and went to the lady together.

After returning home three days later, Eleventh Lady saw off the guests from Nanjing and took Jiang, Madam Wen and Zhen Jie'er to visit Daxiangguo Temple, Baiyun Temple and other places. They filled two large carriages with food, clothes, daily necessities and toys. Only then did she reluctantly see Zhen Jie'er off.

Jinger whispered to Shiyi Niang: "Mom, shall we go visit my eldest sister next year? My eldest brother-in-law said that their fields are full of jujube trees. This time next year will be the time to pick jujubes. I have never picked jujubes before!"

It's a good thing for children to go out and broaden their horizons.

It's just that this matter is very difficult.

It was impossible for her to leave the old and young in the family behind and take only Jing'er to Cangzhou, and it was even more impossible for her to take all the old and young in the family to Cangzhou...Xu Lingyi was even more impossible. Once he left the house, he would represent the Yongping Marquis Mansion, and there were some etiquettes that could not be avoided, some social events that could not be missed, and some things that could not be done...The meaning of the trip would be completely lost.

While I was thinking about it, Xu Siyu came over.

"I have already made an appointment with my father. I will leave for Le'an in the next two days," he said a little embarrassedly, "I will have to ask my mother to take care of Xiang's place!"

"Don't worry!" Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "I will take good care of her."

As the two of them were talking, they started talking about Jing'er's matter.

At night, Jing'er squeezed into Xu Lingyi's quilt and whispered to his father: "... Let's go see Big Sister?"

Xu Lingyi laughed and pinched his son's nose: "Tell me the truth, do you want to go see your elder sister? Or do you want to go out and play?"

"Both!" Jing'er muttered, "Jing'er and I have an appointment. If I go to Cangzhou, he will take me to meet his third brother... His third brother has kicked out six martial arts schools in Cangzhou. He is really amazing..."

Xu Lingyi laughed: "Wait until you are older before going!"

Jing'er was very disappointed.

But when the first snow fell in Yanjing, Xu Lingyi took him to Baoding.

The lady looked at the endless heavy snow and couldn't help but regret: "If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have agreed to let him take Jing'er with him. He is tough and has rough skin. Our Jing'er has never seen such a battle!"

"The Marquis and Jing'er both wore fur coats and brought a carriage of silver frost charcoal." Shiyi Niang hurriedly comforted the Madam, "They rested in the post station along the way, and they brought so many guards, nothing will happen."

After hearing this, the lady's brows furrowed tightly.

"Eleventh Lady," the old lady took Eleventh Lady's hand, "You live with him day and night, has he said anything to you?" The lady pondered, "I have thought about this for a long time. It's the end of the year, and shopkeepers from all over the country have to come back to give accounts. If something big hadn't happened at the Baoding horse farm, why would he rush to Baoding at this time? He also asked Jing'er to accompany him, so that he would have someone to accompany him along the way... I think he acted like this probably because he was afraid that I would worry..."

Xu Lingyi said the same thing in front of her, but in her opinion, he didn't want to stay at home at all, and just found an excuse to take Jing'er out for a walk. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so relaxed during the days when he decided to go to Baoding.

"If something really happened at the horse farm, given the Marquis' personality, I'm afraid he would rush over as fast as he could." Eleventh Lady smiled and sat next to the Madam. "Why did he bring Jin'er with him?" She added, "The Marquis has been staying at home for the past two years. It would be good for him to go out for a walk!"

Having been the head of the family for so long, everyone seemed to have forgotten that Xu Lingyi was only in his thirties.

The lady dowager understood a little bit and stopped talking about the matter. She started chatting about family matters with Eleventh Lady.

Jiang came over.

"Mother is here too," she said with a smile, "Just right." Then, she took a red lacquer box with lotus flowers painted on it from the maid and handed it to the lady, "This is nan incense, best used when worshiping Buddha." She then took a red lacquer box with gold paintings and handed it to Eleventh Lady, "This is hundred-flower incense, best used when reading." Then she smiled, "It was made by my mother herself, and it's a little different from the incense on the market. Grandmother and mother, try it and see if you like it."

The Jiang family sent someone to deliver New Year gifts this morning, and this incense must have been brought at that time.

The lady and Eleventh Lady thanked her with a smile.

Jiang pointed to the pile of red lacquer boxes in the maid's hands and said, "These are for Second Uncle and Fifth Aunt!"

"Go, go!" The lady said with a smile, and told her, "Come to my place with Zhun'er for dinner later."

Jiang agreed crisply and went to the Fifth Madam, who was closest to the Madam.

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Post a draft first!

O(∩_∩)O~

There will be more updates for everyone to read tomorrow morning!

PS: Recommended:

Title: Danfeng Chaoyang

Book number: 2049231

Author: Wei Feng

Introduction: From a maid to a queen...