Chapter 670: Gaze (Part 2)
The Xu family is not short of beauties.
The Second Madam, the Fifth Madam, and even Mrs. Jiang and Mrs. Fang were all rare beauties. But Mr. Jian only said that the Fifth Madam was beautiful. Was it because of the saying "blood is thicker than water"?
Eleventh Lady smiled and held Jiang'er in her arms. Early in the morning of the third day of the New Year, she changed him into a bright red silk robe. She got up with Xu Lingyi and took Xu Sizhen and his wife, Xu Siyi, Xiang and others to Gongxian Hutong.
There are bright red couplets pasted on the door, bright red lanterns hanging under the eaves, and even an old plum tree at the corner has a bright red rope tied around its trunk.
Everyone greeted the gift, and the children called him uncle or uncle. The adults responded with a smile and handed out red envelopes, and the children took the red envelopes with a smile, all in a state of annoyance. Only Xu Sizhen waved his hands repeatedly: "No need to give me any. I'm married now, and I'm an adult. I should give red envelopes to my brothers and sisters." Then he asked Jiang to give red envelopes to Yingniang and others.
Grandma Luo, who was wearing a bright red gown with gold sleeves, not only smiled and stuffed a red envelope for Xu Sizhen, but also stuffed one for Xiang: "When we are at our uncle's house, we are all children."
Grandma Luo Si stopped Jiang and said, "What are you doing? Put it away quickly. This is your first year celebrating the New Year at our house!" As she said that, she took out the red envelope she had prepared for Jiang.
It follows that a new bride has to pay New Year's greetings to her relatives during the first year after she gets married, and the relatives have to give red envelopes to the newlyweds.
Seeing that her two aunts were determined, Jiang didn't want to spoil the fun, so she thanked them with a smile and accepted the red envelope.
Twelve Niang's family and Fifth Niang's family walked in one after another.
Everyone was greeting each other and chatting and laughing, making the place lively and lively. Only when a biting cold wind blew through the yard did everyone go to the hall.
The Sixth and Fifth Aunts were instructing the maids to arrange the snacks.
The Sixth Aunt wore a rose-red jacket with brocade patterns, and looked very energetic. The Fifth Aunt wore a light green jacket with plain makeup, which set off her snow-white face, dark hair, gentle eyebrows and eyes. She looked no more than thirty years old, and she didn't look like someone who had a daughter as old as Eleventh Aunt.
Jianger immediately rushed over: "Grandma, Grandma!"
A happy smile spread from Fifth Aunt's eyes to the corners of her eyes and eyebrows.
"Sixth Young Master!" She hugged Jian'er lovingly and said, "The north wind is blowing today. Are you cold?" As she said this, she touched his hand.
"Not cold, not cold." The gentle voice made Jiangeer speak a little lower than usual. "Look, I'm wearing a fur coat." He turned up the collar of his coat to show Fifth Aunt, "It's made of squirrel fur."
The Fifth Aunt quickly grabbed his clothes to prevent him from turning them over: "Be careful not to catch a cold."
Jiang'er let go obediently and nodded repeatedly.
The fifth concubine's smile faded, she stood up and bowed to Xu Lingyi: "My Lord!", but her eyes fell on the eleventh lady, "Eleventh Aunt." "Aunt!" The eleventh lady smiled and bowed to her.
Xu Lingyi moved aside, as a way of returning the Fifth Aunt's gift: "It's been a while since we last met. Are you okay?" "Thanks to the Marquis," the Fifth Aunt said respectfully, "everything is fine!"
Xu Sinye and the others came forward to wish the Fifth Aunt a Happy New Year. The Fifth Aunt handed them red envelopes. Wang Ze, Twelve Niang, and the children came forward to greet the Sixth Niang, who also prepared red envelopes for the younger generation. The Fifth Niang looked at Luo Zhensheng with a bad look on her face.
Luo Zhensheng didn't dare to look her in the eye and quickly lowered his head.
As soon as Wu Niang returned to Yanjing, she severely reprimanded Luo Zhensheng: "Aren't you responsible for managing the household affairs? Why did you leave the Third Aunt at home when the Sixth Aunt came?"
Things are different now. The Third Aunt cannot compare to the Fifth Aunt, so can she not compare to the Sixth Aunt who didn't give birth to a son?
"It was Third Aunt who wanted to stay and take care of Father." Luo Zhensheng murmured to explain, but Wu Niang didn't believe a word he said and scolded Luo Zhensheng, "What on earth have you been doing in Yuhang? Last time, I finally agreed with my eldest brother to let you follow your brother-in-law to work as a paymaster, but you didn't go? I thought that the Luo family was big and powerful, and Third Aunt was in the mansion, it would be great if you could have a place in the Luo family. But I never thought that you didn't have any ability at all..."
Luo Zhensheng wanted to go.
But Luo Si's nanny didn't want her husband to go.
Since I can't make a living at home, why should I go to such a remote place and rely on my brother-in-law for a living!
Seeing her husband being scolded, Fourth Grandma Luo tried to persuade him, but was scolded by Fifth Niang instead.
Seeing the scene in front of her, Fifth Aunt must have thought of Third Aunt again, right?
Grandma Luo was thinking about it, pretending not to see it, and took Xiang's arm with a smile: "You are about to give birth, right? What's wrong? Are you okay?" "My mother specially assigned an experienced mother to take care of me." Xiang was very impressed by this straightforward fourth aunt. She joked to herself, "I eat and sleep every day, and my face has become a big pancake."
Grandma Luo Si smiled and said, "It will be fine after the baby is born."
Grandma Luo looked at everyone, regardless of gender, standing in the hall and hurriedly asked everyone to sit down.
The men were in the hall, while the women took their children to the banquet room in the east corner. The men discussed state affairs, the women talked about family matters, and the children played together happily. The atmosphere was very lively.
The Sixth Aunt looked so happy that she drank tea with the maids in the room. The Fifth Aunt quietly returned to her room when no one was paying attention. At first, everyone thought she was going to do something and didn't pay much attention. After she didn't show up for a long time, Qin Ge'er looked around... Hey... said: "...Where is grandma? Why is she gone?"
Eleventh Lady had already noticed it, but she didn't say anything.
Fifth Aunt must be very uncomfortable with having to entertain them like this!
"Grandma is tired, so she's going back to the house to rest." She smiled, "You can go play with your brothers!"
Jian'er said "Oh" and ran to Xu Si'e obediently.
While speaking, Shiyi Niang kept her eyes on Luo Zhenhong.
When Jian'er was looking for his fifth aunt, he raised his head and looked around, as if he was looking for her.
But when he heard that Fifth Aunt went back to her room to rest because she was tired, his expression relaxed and he continued to talk to Luo Jiageng beside him with a smile.
During lunch, Grandma Luo toasted everyone with wine enthusiastically. Wu Niang jumped out for some reason and asked Grandma Luo to drink cup after cup. When the banquet was over, Grandma Luo was already drunk and her steps were a little unsteady. Luo Zhenhong and Luo Jiaxiu, who were drinking with Xu Lingyi and Wang Ze in the main hall, heard the commotion and rushed in. One of them helped Grandma Luo and the other told the maid to quickly bring in a cup of strong tea. Luo Jiageng and Luo Jiakang were slow to react.
Eleventh Lady sighed as she watched. She took advantage of Jiange'er's lunch break to visit Fifth Auntie.
The door was ajar and opened as soon as someone came.
"Aunt, do you know I'm coming?" She smiled and took the hot tea from Fifth Aunt's hand.
The fifth aunt just looked at her and smiled, her eyes gentle.
Eleventh Lady thought about it and tactfully told Fifth Lady about Luo Zhenhong's support for Grandma Luo.
"Seventh Young Master was brought up by the Grandmother, who treats him as her own son. He treats his eldest sister-in-law as his own mother, which is as it should be." Fifth Aunt waved her hand gently at her, signaling her not to say such things again in the future. "He is in front of me, and I can see him day and night, which is enough." As she spoke, her eyes looked at her more gently, "I know you are worried about me. You don't have to. The Grandmother will not neglect me for your sake." After speaking, she sighed deeply and said with emotion, "I really didn't expect that the Grandmother would chat with me in front of so many people, and send Madam Du to send so many fabrics and medicinal materials during the New Year." She looked at Eleventh Lady with a gradually serious look, "The Grandmother is praising you like this, you should be filial to the Grandmother and serve the Marquis in the future."
Appearance is determined by the heart. Is it because she always thinks about the good of others and treats people around her well that she is more beautiful in middle age than when she was young?
Eleventh Lady looked at her indifferent and elegant face and said hurriedly, "Don't worry, I will respect the Madam and serve the Marquis well."
She hadn't thought about what happened that day.
The lady not only greeted the Fifth Aunt cordially, but also took the initiative to chat with her about family matters. Not to mention her, even Grandma Luo and Grandma Luo were stunned for a long time. When she came to give New Year gifts during the Chinese New Year, it was obvious that the maids in Gongxian Hutong had a hint of respect for the Fifth Aunt.
The Fifth Aunt asked about her and Xu Lingyi: "...In the past, you were wary of the Fourth Young Master, but now he has started a family. You should give Jiange'er a younger brother, right? More children in the family will make it more lively!"
"I don't know why, there is nothing." Eleventh Lady smiled bitterly, "I also consulted the imperial physician, and he said it was nothing. I also thought about taking medicine." But the Marquis said that medicine is three-quarters poison, and it is better to let nature take its course. He did not allow me to consult the imperial physician."
Since it was the Marquis's intention, Fifth Aunt couldn't say much.
She helped Eleventh Lady smooth down her hair, which was not messy at all, and said softly, "The wedding date of the eldest young master and Miss Zhou is scheduled for March. The eldest young lady said, "We will set off to return to Yuhang after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month." She looked at Eleventh Lady seriously, as if this would imprint her in her heart, "You must take good care of yourself in the future... This time when I came to Yanjing, I saw that you were doing well, and I am already very satisfied..." The corners of her eyes turned red, "You don't have to worry about me, and you don't have to worry about Seventh Young Master Cha..."
Are you going back so soon?
Eleventh Lady couldn't help but hug her arms tightly.
They waited ten years for this meeting. How many more years would it take for them to meet again?
…
"After sending Fifth Aunt away," Feng Yi Niang got busy.
First, Jiang became pregnant, and then Xiang gave birth to a daughter on February 4th.
It really proves the saying that the next generation of relatives will be yours.
Xu Lingyi was very happy about the arrival of his eldest granddaughter. He wrote down more than twenty names in the study and showed them to Shiyi Niang: "Which one do you think is good?"
When Eleventh Lady took a look, she saw that they were all names like Xian, Shu, Jing, Ning, without any technical content.
She thought of the beautiful little baby and said with a smile, "I think we should call her Yingying! A fine pearl is so beautiful that even a deep pool of water cannot hide its beauty."
"This is a good name!" Xu Lingyi nodded, "Let's call her Yingying!" Before he finished speaking, his eyes dimmed.
He has always wanted a daughter.
Shiyi Niang knew what he meant and stepped forward to hold his hand. ! ~!