On the last day of September, where the concubine's daughter will be ranked will all depend on the pink votes of her friends.

Please give us your support.

Thanks!

* * * * * *

Although the Second Lady pleaded in favor, it still took a lot of twists and turns before the Lady Dowager reluctantly agreed to let Jing'er accompany Luo Zhenxing back to Yuhang.

Jinger was overjoyed but also a little depressed: "Daddy, won't you go with me?"

"Didn't you boast in front of me that you can get along well with anyone?" Xu Lingyi said with a smile, "I won't go with you this time. Let's see if you can make some friends and come back." He added, "I went to Jiangnan once sixteen years ago. Come back and tell me about Jiangnan."

After hearing this, Jinger became happy again and ran to ask the lady, "Is there anything you want? I'll buy it for you!"

The lady held Jing'er in her arms and was reluctant to let go, as if he was going to leave tomorrow: "Grandmother doesn't want anything, just want my Jing'er to come back safely!" Then she quietly stuffed a purse into his hand and said, "Take it! Don't tell anyone. If you want to buy something on the way but are too embarrassed to ask your uncle, you can use this. We don't care about other people's expressions."

"No need." Jing'er pushed it back. "Daddy gave me 100 taels of silver, and mom gave me 200 taels of silver. I have plenty of silver!"

"When you're out, it's good to have more money." The lady insisted that Zhun'er accept it, "Who would complain about not having enough money?"

Jinger didn't like this kind of push and pull, so after thinking for a while, he smiled and said, "Okay. If I haven't used it up, I'll bring it back to you!"

"No need to return it to me!" The lady smiled, "You can keep it for yourself!"

Jing'er didn't say much to the lady and accepted it without hesitation. He said to the lady, "We will take the official ship this time. Master Pang said that the official ship is very stable and more comfortable than a carriage. This is my first time to take an official ship. I only went up to take a look when my father saw people off before..."

Eleventh Lady thanked the Second Madam: "Thanks to the Second Sister-in-law for coming forward, otherwise the Madam would definitely not agree to let Jin Ge'er go out."

"Even without me, if the Marquis comes forward, mother will still agree." The Second Lady smiled slightly, "I will come forward, it will just be faster." As she spoke, she stood up and took a name card from the desk and handed it to Eleventh Lady, "Since you are going to Jiangnan, why not go to Taicang to pay a visit to Mr. Feng Qianying. He is a master of astrology and has studied arithmetic, the Book of Changes, and Feng Shui. Such a strange person should not be ignored."

Eleventh Lady was ashamed.

Jing'er had studied astrology with the Second Madam for a while, and it seemed that she only knew the directions of east, south, west and north. She taught him arithmetic based on her memory, and he only memorized the multiplication table and could do word problems like "There are three birds in a cage, how many birds are there in four cages?" As for Feng Shui and the Book of Changes, I don't know if Mr. Chang and Mr. Zhao will talk about it, but she definitely doesn't understand them, and Xu Lingyi probably doesn't understand them either... Letting Jing'er go to see such a person... Is it just to pay respects?

She thought about it and thought it was not a difficult thing to do since it was the Second Madam's kind gesture, so she agreed with a smile.

When I went back to look at the calligraphy, I saw that it was signed by Xu Xiang, a lay Buddhist of Shaohua.

Apparently, this Shaohua Jushi is the name of the Second Madam.

Tell it to Xu Lingyi.

Xu Lingyi laughed: "You just know. My second brother once carved a seal for my second sister-in-law with precious chicken blood stone."

Eleventh Lady opened the name card and pointed at the red mark: "Is this it?"

Xu Lingyi glanced at it and said, "I didn't expect my second sister-in-law is still using it..." His tone was full of regret.

Eleventh Lady asked him, "Why doesn't Second Sister-in-law adopt a child?" Thinking of the fact that the first choice for adopting a child is usually the husband's brother's children, and before she married, Xu Lingyi had few children, Xu Lingkuan had no children, and the Third Lady had only two sons. Nanjing directly rejected her, "Is it because there is no suitable one?"

"This is just one of the reasons." Xu Lingyi said, "The main reason is that my second sister-in-law feels that she is not good enough to take care of children."

"Can't take care of a child? What does that mean?" Eleventh Lady was very puzzled.

There were maids and mothers at home, and the child was taken care of by a wet nurse before he was five years old. She could just take a symbolic look at him every day.

The thought flashed through her mind and she suddenly remembered.

The second wife was an only child. After she got married, she had a miscarriage and her husband died suddenly of illness... Could it be that she thought she had a hard life?

Is it because of this that Nanjing is unwilling to adopt the child?

Although she was nice to the children, she never showed any body language like hugging or kissing them.

"What is the second sister-in-law's plan?" Eleventh Lady couldn't help but ask.

Whether it is the Madam Dowager or Xu Lingyi, judging from their feelings towards the Second Master, it is impossible for them to let the Second Branch of the family die out.

"My second sister-in-law meant that after she passes away, we can just adopt a child under my second brother's name." Xu Lingyi looked a little gloomy.

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but look towards the northwest corner.

* * * * * *

Everyone was a little surprised to know that Yingniang would return to Yuhang after the Dragon Boat Festival.

"You're going back so soon!" Xiang's expression revealed a bit of reluctance, "Didn't I say I would stay with you for a few days?"

Yingniang was lively and hardworking. When she was free, she would either plant flowers or do needlework. Sometimes when she saw Xiangshi coming to greet her, she would help Xiangshi hold Yingying. Although Xiangshi didn't talk much with her, she had a very good impression of her.

Eleventh Lady hung a mugwort purse on Yingying's chest and said with a smile, "If I leave her here with me, what will happen to her mother? Come here and live with me for a few months, that's enough!"

Xiang did not dare to ask more questions and just nodded. After going down, she took Yingying to see Yingniang and gave Cheng Yi fifty taels of silver.

The Taifu, Wufu, Jiang, Xinjie and others gave earrings, hairpins and other accessories. Only Xu Sijie, in addition to giving Chengyi fifty taels of silver, also gave Yingniang an embroidery frame: "Didn't you say last time that the frame was loose and couldn't be used? So I made one."

Yingniang was very surprised: "You can do these?"

Xu Sijie smiled sheepishly: "It's not a big deal, it's just some bamboo strips left over from making lanterns. Just something I picked up."

Yingniang laughed: "What else can you do?"

"I know a little bit about everything." Xu Sijie listened embarrassedly, "But I'm not very good at anything."

"You should pick something you like and learn it well." Yingniang couldn't help but teach her, "My aunt said that if a person can do one thing well in his life, he will benefit from it forever."

Xu Sijie nodded and walked away with a red face.

Yingniang looked at him and suddenly felt that she had been too harsh. She hurriedly called out to Xu Sijie, "Fifth cousin, I am used to speaking without restraint at home. Please don't take my nonsense to heart."

"No!" Xu Sijie said, "My cousin, what you said makes sense. I need to go back and think about it carefully to see what I should do." As he spoke, he thought about those things that he liked and was reluctant to give up on. He paused and said, "At least we should prioritize them and do them one by one." His tone was very sincere.

Yingniang laughed, thinking Xu Sijie was quite funny. She raised the paper in her hand and said, "Thank you, fifth cousin!" Then she turned around and ran into the main house.

Xu Sijie suddenly felt a little sad when he thought that he might never see this cousin who always greeted people with a smile again.

* * * * * *

Eleventh Lady watched through the green veil of the carriage as the ship slowly sailed away from the dock of Tongzhou River, and the tears she had been holding back fell.

"With Master Pang accompanying him, and the guards carefully selected, and my name card in hand, nothing will happen." Xu Lingyi put his arm around his wife's shoulders to comfort her, "Jin'er came back during the Chinese New Year. Seven months passed in the blink of an eye."

Eleventh Lady nodded, wiped away her tears, and said with red eyes: "Let's go back!" Her nose was blocked and her voice was a little hoarse, but her tone was firm.

Now that you have made the decision, there is no more hesitation or delay.

Xu Lingyi sensed her change, a trace of relief flashed in his eyes, and he said softly: "I talked with Brother Jin for most of the night yesterday in the inn, you can sleep with me for a while!"

Eleventh Lady was indeed a little tired. She closed her eyes and soon fell asleep to the monotonous sound of the wheels.

After an unknown amount of time, she suddenly woke up.

The carriage stopped. She was still in it. There was no sound around her. The candlelight from the big red lanterns shone through the window of the carriage. Xu Lingyi sat there quietly, fanning her.

"Awake!" he said with a smile, "Are you hungry? Let's go downstairs for dinner." As he said that, he threw down his fan and lifted the curtain of the carriage. "This is Dongsheng Inn. We will rest here for a day and set off early tomorrow morning. We will be able to enter Yanjing City at dusk." As he spoke, he stretched out his hand to her.

Eleventh Lady held his hand and got off the carriage, only to find that the carriage was parked in a small courtyard. There was no one in the courtyard and it was quiet.

"Where are Zhun'er and Jie'er?" The two children came with them to see Jing'er off.

"I asked them to go back and rest first!" Xu Lingyi led her to the main room. "I saw that you were sleeping soundly, so I didn't wake you up."

Eleventh Lady looked up at the sky.

The sky is gray-blue, there is no moon, only a few small stars.

"What time is it now?"

"It's the beginning of the dog season." Xu Lingyi took out his pocket watch and looked at it for a long time under the light from the eaves.

Zhun'er left the shore at the beginning of the fifth hour... so she must have slept for more than three hours. They were not in a hurry, and the steward said yesterday that they should check into an inn at the beginning of the evening... so he must have fanned himself for more than an hour in the carriage?

"Why didn't you wake me up, Lord Marquis?" Eleventh Lady said angrily.

"Since you were sleeping soundly, I didn't wake you up." Xu Lingyi took her hand and walked into the house.

Qiuyu was waiting, and when he saw them come in, he quickly ordered dinner to be served.

I had just taken two bites when I heard a noise outside.

Xu Lingyi glanced at Qiuyu, who immediately walked out quickly and then quickly came back.

"My Lord, Madam, it's the Second Young Master!" Her face was full of surprise. "The Second Young Master returned to Yanjing and also stayed in this inn. If Mo Zhu hadn't gone to the kitchen to ask for water to wash the Second Young Master's feet and saw the guard, he wouldn't have known that we were also staying here."

"Please invite him in!" the couple said in unison. Qiuyu had already lifted the curtain, and the tall and thin Xu Siyu walked in.

"Father, Mother!" He didn't care whether there was a cushion on the ground or not, he just knelt in front of the two of them.

"Hurry up!" Xu Lingyi said, "Why are you back so early? Didn't you say you would be back in late June or early July?"

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Make up for the extra update on September 23!

PS: The update will be a little late O(∩_∩)O~