Eleventh Lady laughed: "Are you looking for a wife for Jie'er or for me? If you are looking for a wife for Jie'er, I think we need to wait and see. If you are looking for a wife for me, then there is no need. The wives of Yu'er and Zhun'er are very filial..." As she spoke, she held Xu Lingyi's hand, "Our parents will leave us first, and our children still have a long life to live. The reason we need a partner is that we hope to have someone to accompany us in our old age..." As she spoke, Xu Lingyi's eyes gradually brightened like summer, which made Eleventh Lady's heart tighten, and she was speechless for a moment.
"I know!" Xu Lingyi held her hand back, "It's all up to you." But he felt that this was not clear enough, "I will always be with you in the future." He looked at her with a serious look.
Eleventh Lady didn't want a promise from him.
She wanted to tell Xu Lingyi that a partner is someone who can accompany each other till the end of life, and there is no need to tell Yingniang to Jieger just to take care of her feelings. Of course, if Yingniang and Jieger have feelings for each other, that is another matter.
But the gradually tightened hands told her that he was expressing something...
Eleventh Lady looked at Xu Lingyi hesitantly.
His hands were warm, strong, and steady as a rock, making people feel safe and secure.
Eleventh Lady felt warm in her heart.
Outside the house came the housekeeper's voice asking Amber to report. Outside the window, the autumn sun was shining brightly in the yard, and several young maids were standing there picking Lycoris flowers with smiles on their faces.
The world is so complicated, but her heart is more peaceful than ever before.
* * * * * *
After the incident, Xu Lingyi never mentioned it again, but Eleventh Lady began to seriously consider Xu Sijie's marriage.
Xu Sijie is fourteen years old this year. Logically, it is time for him to get married. But she secretly hopes that he can pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, so that it will be easier to get married.
Introduce Yingniang to Xu Sijie, so that the next generation of the Luo family can marry the Xu family again... The ancient times were different from the modern times. In ancient times, no matter how good the relationship between husband and wife was, if the mother-in-law didn't like it, she could divorce her; on the contrary, no matter how bad the relationship between husband and wife was, if the mother-in-law liked it, you couldn't even think about divorcing her. As long as you are still the daughter-in-law of this family, this family will protect you. So choosing a mother-in-law is more important than choosing a husband. She is Yingniang's aunt. If the Xu family goes to propose marriage, there will definitely be no problem on the Luo family's side. She is considering Xu Sijie... Among the brothers, he is the loneliest. If Yingniang is mentioned... The Luo family has many descendants, Xu Sijie is delicate in feelings, and Yingniang has a cheerful personality... Xu Sijie is neither the eldest nor the youngest, and he receives less attention from the elders and less pressure. In comparison, his personality is more honest and less enterprising; Yingniang is the eldest daughter, the first child of her parents, and a role model for her brothers and sisters. Not only do they value her, but they also spend a lot of effort on education. Such children are usually very responsible and know how to take care of others... From these aspects, the two complement each other. If the relationship with the Luo family becomes closer, both Luo Zhenxing and Xu Sizhun will feel closer to Xu Sijie.
The more Eleventh Lady thought about it, the more she felt that this marriage was a good one.
When Xu Sijie came to greet her, she couldn't help but look him up and down.
"Mother!" Xu Sijie was confused. He lowered his head and looked at his clothes and shoes carefully. He didn't find anything wrong, so he was even more confused. "Do you have any instructions?"
"No, no." Eleventh Lady smiled and beckoned him over, "Sit down and talk... How have your studies been during this period?"
Shiyi Niang rarely asked him about his homework directly. She always asked him what he had learned today, whether he understood what the teacher said, whether he wanted to go to Gongxian Hutong to ask his uncle for advice, etc. Xu Sijie couldn't help but feel a little nervous: "Everything else is fine, but the article I wrote is not satisfactory to the teacher."
"If you really can't do it, just memorize a few good articles written by others. Remember how they start and end the article, and then practice by imitating them. Over time, you will gain something."
"Is there anyone who teaches children like you?" Before Shiyi Niang finished speaking, Xu Lingyi walked in, saying with a smile, "Listen carefully to Mr. Chang. Practice whatever he tells you to practice!"
When my father and mother talked, they were always gentle, which they didn't show to others. Everyone in the family could feel it, not to mention Xu Sijie.
He smiled and glanced at his mother, said "yes" respectfully, answered some of Xu Lingyi's questions about his homework, then got up and went back to the house.
Eleventh Lady sat down next to Xu Lingyi and said, "My Lord, I think what you said is a good idea, but I still need to see the child. What excuse can you find to get the child to come to Yanjing?"
Xu Lingyi thought for a moment before reacting. He smiled and said, "Isn't this easy? You can just tell them that Jing'er is moving to the outer courtyard soon and you feel lonely, so why not ask Yingniang to keep you company? Besides, if you send a letter to Yuhang now and set off after the New Year, you will arrive in March. You can also go to the temple fair and enjoy some fun."
She didn't expect such a simple reason.
Because you feel guilty?
Eleventh Lady was ashamed.
"My Lord, this is a good idea! I'll write an envelope to Yuhang right away." She responded ambiguously and quickly changed the subject, "Has Prince Yong collected all the money?"
"It's all ready." Xu Lingyi said with a smile, "The shopkeeper of Dafenghao is really extraordinary. He didn't ask for a penny of interest on the 200,000 taels of silver. He even gave a red envelope of 50,000 taels of silver to Manager Bai. With such a generous investment, he has no reason to worry about not being able to do business."
"Such a big move requires such a big capital." Shiyi Niang couldn't help but frowned slightly, "Does the Marquis know the details of this Dafenghao?"
"Don't worry! I know what I'm doing." Xu Lingyi said, "I wrote him an IOU for 250,000 taels of silver, with an annual interest rate of a certain amount. Although the interest rate is a little lower, it's not wrong in terms of the literal meaning. As for his background, no matter who he is, he wouldn't dare to play dirty tricks in front of me." As he spoke, a bit of condescending arrogance revealed between his brows.
Seeing him hanging around the house every day, I forgot that he is still the Prince's Guardian.
Eleventh Lady couldn't help laughing.
No matter what the background of Dafenghao is, as long as Xu Lingyi doesn't take advantage of Dafenghao's money for nothing, Dafenghao really can't do anything to him.
Xu Lingyi instructed Shiyi Niang: "Isn't Princess Yong's birthday coming up in a few days? Bring me a box of gold bars for her. Tell her to find a century-old silver shop to exchange it for. It's better to suffer a little loss than to have anything to do with a silver shop like Dafenghao. If you don't have enough money, use it on your child's full month, first birthday, adult's birthday, and birthdays. Don't borrow money again."
Seeing his serious expression, Eleventh Lady hesitated and asked, "My Lord, is there something wrong?"
Xu Lingyi was silent for a long time before he whispered, "Last spring, Prince Yong recommended the Minister of Works as the magistrate of Gaochun County, and the Ministry of Personnel quickly issued a document. It was not until Shi Zheng told me that I learned that the prince recommended a Hanlin Academy student named Li through him..." He smiled bitterly and shook his head, "As a result, this year the prince wanted to recommend his teacher's student to be the magistrate of Jiaxing, and someone ran to Prince Yong to seek this position."
Eleventh Lady was shocked: "The Marquis is suspicious..."
"It's not suspicion." Xu Lingyi said, "Otherwise, Shi Zheng wouldn't have come to me specifically for this matter."
"What does the prince mean? Did you give Prince Yong a heads up?"
If the Crown Prince and Prince Yong had a dispute, no matter who won, it would be very destructive to the Xu family. The worst thing was that the Emperor would think that the two had no brotherly love and kill them both in anger. Then the Xu family would have a harder time.
Seeing his wife's worried look, Xu Lingyi felt a little regretful about telling her about this.
"Don't worry. Prince Yong is a sensible man. I've already told him some things." Xu Lingyi whispered, "I just wanted to remind him again."
All along, the emperor had intentionally or unintentionally kept the prince and Xu Lingyi at a distance. As a result, Xu Lingyi and the prince were polite to each other, and the relationship between uncle and nephew was very weak, more like the courtesy between the monarch and the minister. On the contrary, Prince Yong did not have much contact with him at ordinary times, but when something happened, the first person Prince Yong thought of was his uncle Xu Lingyi.
"I understand!" Xu Lingyi's words did not reassure Eleventh Lady. Instead, they made her even more worried. She carefully thought about what to say when she met Princess Yong.
A little maid reported through the curtain: "My Lord, Madam, the Fourth Young Master is here."
Ever since Xu Lingyi walked out of the study that day, Xu Sizhun never went to the study in the outer courtyard again. Xu Lingyi didn't say anything, and just took over the household chores naturally. To outsiders, it seemed that Xu Sizhun had just helped to manage the household for a few days when he was not at home, and now that he was back, the household affairs were handed over to him again. As a result, he left home early and came back late, and Xu Sizhun and Jiang came to greet him several times but never saw him. Only Jing'er complained: "Daddy doesn't accompany me to write now."
This was the first time Xu Lingyi came back so early in these days, and Xu Sizhun rushed over, apparently looking for an opportunity to see Xu Lingyi.
The thought flashed through his mind, and Xu Sizhun walked in.
He bowed and stood in front of the kang, somewhat at a loss: "Daddy, I, I..." looking very uneasy.
Xu Lingyi sighed in his heart and pointed to the armchair beside him: "Sit down and talk!"
Xu Sizhun felt relieved when he saw his father talking to him. He hesitated for a while, then shook his head gently.
"Dad, when you were not at home, you let me take care of all the household chores." He spoke loudly, his eyes lowered and his feet tiptoed, not looking at anyone, "but I went to make lanterns. I was wrong about this. Please forgive me this time, Dad. I will never do this again."
Although everyone thought Xu Sizhun had something to say, no one expected him to apologize so directly.
Xu Lingyi couldn't help but feel deeply moved.
This child finally came to face the mistakes he had made.
"You said you were wrong, but where did you go wrong?" Xu Lingyi looked at him coldly, without moving his eyes or eyebrows, and seemed a little indifferent to Xu Sizhun's apology.
His father was still willing to listen to him... Xu Sizhun's tense heartstrings relaxed a little: "I shouldn't have confused the priorities. I delayed the family affairs in order to make lanterns. I should have dealt with the affairs first and then made lanterns. Daddy," he raised his head and said to Xu Lingyi sincerely, "I will never do this again!"
His eyes are clear, and people can feel his sincerity.
"It's good that you know you're wrong." His tone was still a little indifferent, but his expression was much more relaxed. "The most important thing is to learn from the lesson and not make the same mistake again. You know, your second brother is not at home, and you are the oldest in the family. You have to set an example for your younger brothers..."
※
Standing on the flood diversion gate, the river was surging, the earth was shaking, and the scenery was magnificent. But looking to both sides, the villagers guarding the embankment looked at the flood with wooden expressions, and I suddenly felt confused...
PS: I have a small meeting to attend later, so I can’t update today. I will update tomorrow at noon!