Chapter 699: Effort (Part 1)
The thin white Songjiang three-edged cloth was soaked with sweat and stuck tightly to Jiang'er's body, as if it had been pulled out of the river.
Standing outside the window and looking out, Eleventh Lady felt a pang of pain in her heart. She turned her head away, hoping to out of sight and out of mind, but her eyes met with Xu Lingyi, who was standing next to Jiang'er and urging his son with a bamboo stick in his hand.
Xu Lingyi withdrew his gaze expressionlessly and hit Jiange'er's calf with the bamboo stick: "Stand still!" with a dull sound.
Eleventh Lady couldn't help but close her eyes.
"Yes!" Jiange'er raised his body slightly, his voice calm but with a hint of fatigue.
There were slight tears in the corners of Eleventh Lady's eyes. She lifted her skirt and walked lightly and quickly to Shuangfu Courtyard.
"Madam, don't worry." Amber comforted her, "The Marquis is a sensible person, the Sixth Young Master will be fine!"
"I know." Eleventh Lady took out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes. "Since Jin'er has decided to take this path, the stricter the Marquis is with him, the greater his chances of survival..." She said this, but she couldn't stop crying.
Amber sighed softly, "Madam, the Sixth Young Master is still young. He said that he didn't want to follow the Marquis to practice martial arts for a few days, but he felt too tired and gave up. Or, when he grew up and found something he liked more, he didn't go to the northwest anymore!"
"I hope so." Eleventh Lady sighed, "Let's go back! Jian'er said he wanted to eat braised lion's head today." At this point, she began to nag, "Didn't he say he didn't like Jiangnan? Then why did he want to eat braised lion's head! Braised lion's head is a Jiangnan dish..."
None of the maids and old women following behind him dared to say a word, and each of them tried hard to hold back their laughter.
The atmosphere suddenly became light and cheerful.
Meet Zhihong head-on.
"Madam, the old lady wants you to come over and talk." The old lady had been very weak since she fell seriously ill at the beginning of the year. She stayed in bed for five out of ten days. Relatives and friends who came to visit her to pay their respects were gone. She also stopped asking about family affairs. She played cards or chatted with Madam Du, Zhihong, and Yuban at home every day. She would not go out when she had nothing to do. Shiyi Niang felt that such a life was too monotonous, so she specially found two literate maids to accompany her and read some miscellaneous books or Buddhist scriptures to entertain the old lady every day.
I just went to check on An this morning, and it's been less than an hour and he suddenly wants to talk to her. I wonder what's going on?
Eleventh Lady thought about it, and went to the lady's place with Zhihong.
The old lady was in good spirits. She was lying on the big kang by the window, leaning against a big red pillow with ink splashed on it. Yuban was fanning herself beside her, and a maid arranged by Eleventh Lady was reading Buddhist scriptures to her.
Seeing Eleventh Lady coming in, the lady frowned.
"Are you feeling unwell somewhere?" Eleventh Lady sat down on the edge of the kang and asked the lady softly.
"No!" The lady frowned even more tightly, "What was I going to tell you... I can't remember!"
"If you can't remember, don't remember it." Eleventh Lady smiled, "When you remember it, tell me again."
"I remember everything just now..." The lady muttered unwillingly, "Let me think about it carefully!"
Respect the old and the young, not only my own but also others’.
Eleventh Lady was very emotional and took the fan from the maid to fan the lady.
"Why didn't you play cards with Mama Du today?
The lady said absentmindedly, "I asked her to help me with my bracelet. I remember I had a red agate bracelet, but it has been missing for a few days..." As she spoke, she closed her eyes and said as if she had suddenly realized something, "Oh, I remember it now." Then she took Shiyi Niang's hand and said, "I was just about to ask you, what are you going to do about Hege'er's marriage? Danyang said that Xinjie's wedding is scheduled for March next year. Hege'er is my brother, and if he doesn't get married, how can Xinjie get married? I think you should quickly arrange Hege'er's marriage!"
Eleventh Lady was so frightened after hearing this that she broke out in a cold sweat.
They are not siblings from the same room, so why would they be so particular? Even if they are siblings from the same mother, if the siblings are close, there are cases where the sister marries before the brother. It is mainly because of the tone of the lady, as if the brother and sister are siblings from the same mother.
What's wrong, madam?
"Yingniang hasn't reached the age of marriage yet. And she's marrying far away," she said with a smile, "We discussed it when Xiao Ding got engaged. We'll set the wedding date after Yingniang reaches the age of marriage."
"Oh!" The lady nodded, as if something had suddenly dawned on her. "I was wondering why my brother hasn't gotten married yet!" Then she said, "Okay, that's all. Go and do your own thing. I'll ask Madam Du to come and play cards with me."
Eleventh Lady agreed with a smile, but she observed the old lady carefully over the next few days and found that she was forgetful and sometimes repeated a sentence several times, saying the previous sentence and forgetting the next one.
"My Lord," she stammered, "I'm afraid my mother's memory is not as good as it used to be..."
Xu Lingyi was a little confused.
Eleventh Lady told him what she had discovered. As she was speaking, a maid came in and said, "The Second Madam is here!"
The two of them quickly changed the subject.
"I feel that mother now... doesn't remember things very well... and sometimes when she talks..." The Second Lady looked at Eleventh Lady, then at Xu Lingyi, as if she didn't know what to say.
Xu Lingyi and Shiyi Niang couldn't help but look at each other.
The Second Lady only went to pay her respects to the Grand Lady occasionally, but she never expected that she would find out.
"Eleventh Lady also told me about this just now!" After a while, Xu Lingyi said tactfully, "I will ask Doctor Liu to come over tomorrow to take a look... If it doesn't work, let her move to the main courtyard. We will have someone to take care of her."
Eleventh Lady felt that the Taifu's illness was mostly caused by the decline of her organs. Medicines were useless for this disease and it would get worse with age... There was no time limit. The Taifu lived in her own courtyard, surrounded by maids and daughters-in-law, so it was naturally better than living with them.
"Jin'er has moved out, and I've packed up all my things and the closet," she thought, "and it's barely enough to live in now!"
"You have a lot of things to do, and people often come to visit. It will be inconvenient for mother to move in." The second wife said, "I think, let the lady move in with me?" At this point, she immediately denied it, "The steps in my place are too high, it's not convenient to go in and out." She hesitated for a moment, "I'll move in with mother!"
"How can this be possible!" Eleventh Lady said hurriedly, "Second sister-in-law still wants to sign a letter..."
The Second Madam waved her hand gently and said, "Those are all minor matters. I'd better take good care of my mother." Then she stood up and said, "It's settled." Then she looked at Eleventh Madam and said, "Fourth sister-in-law, send a few servants to carry the boxes for me tomorrow morning.
As for my mother, I told her that I had nothing to do these days and I would stay with her for a while. Everything was arranged, and I was firm in my attitude.
"We should wait for the doctor's result before we talk about this matter." Eleventh Lady said, "If mother is really old and her memory is getting worse, we should also inform Fifth Uncle and Fifth Sister-in-law. Life is long, and we can't let Second Sister-in-law serve like this all the time. After I discuss it with Fifth Sister-in-law, we will come up with a set of rules. What do you think, Second Sister-in-law?"
"Don't bother with that." The Second Lady said, "One of you has to take care of the family affairs, the other has to take care of the children, and you also have to prepare Xin Jie'er's dowry..."
Without saying anything, Xu Lingyi said, "I think we should follow what Eleventh Lady said. Let's ask the doctor to take a look first. Mother is really unwell. We can sit down and discuss it later."
After he expressed his opinion, the Second Madam had nothing to say. She talked a few words about the abnormal behavior of the First Madam and then stood up to leave.
The next day, Doctor Liu arrived and said that the lady was "old and inevitably hard of hearing and blurred vision", and asked "to arrange more people to take care of her". Then he prescribed some warm and nourishing medicine and left.
Xu Lingyi called Xu Lingning and Xu Lingkuan to discuss the matter of the old lady, but the second wife moved to the old lady's place.
Eleventh Lady and Fifth Lady, who were waiting for the result outside, looked at each other and hurried to the Lady Dowager.
On the way, the Fifth Lady complained to Eleventh Lady in a low voice: "She was a virtuous wife and now she has to be a filial wife... Is it possible that none of our daughters-in-law are filial?"
Eleventh Lady smiled bitterly.
When I entered the lady's yard, I saw Jiexiang directing a few servants to move boxes and baskets.
She hurried forward to greet Eleventh Lady and Fifth Lady.
Even if you have a temper, there is no need to vent it in front of the maids.
The Fifth Lady suppressed her unhappiness and, like Eleventh Lady, smiled and nodded at Jiexiang, then went to the inner room.
The old lady was sitting on the big kang by the window with a smile on her face. The second lady was kneeling behind her, combing her hair with a serious expression.
In the morning, golden sunlight shone through the window lattice, as if coating the Second Lady with a layer of gold foil.
Her expression was peaceful and calm, her voice was gentle and kind, her movements were soft and slow, as if the lady was as delicate as fragile bone china: "I don't know when I can finish writing the book... Shaohua Courtyard is so deserted, so I came here to keep you company!"
The old lady was delighted when she heard this: "As long as you like, as long as you like!" Then she called out to Aunt Du loudly, "Hurry up, clean up the warm room, the second lady wants to rest there." As she spoke, she caught a glimpse of Eleventh Lady and Fifth Lady from the corner of her eye, "Why are you here?" Then she took the second lady's hand with a smile on her face, "Your second sister-in-law lives alone, she wants to come to my place to liven up the place!" She looked very happy.
For a moment, Eleventh Lady's eyes became moist.
"Okay!" She forced a smile, "You're going to have a lot of fun here."
"That's right!" the lady said happily.
Eleventh Lady couldn't help but look at the Fifth Lady who was very angry before.
The Fifth Lady was there, looking like she was in a dilemma and had a hard time moving forward. It was obvious that she was very surprised by the close relationship between the Second Lady and the Grand Lady.
The matter was settled like this. But the matter was not over yet. Madam Tai called Xu Lingyi over and told them to quickly arrange the marriage of Dian'er: "Before Xinjie's marriage!"
Xu Lingyi thought for a moment and said, "Why not tell Fourth Aunt's grandmother? See if we can get this done in advance, so that my mother and I don't have to worry about it every day. If it doesn't work, we can just marry her first and consummate the marriage when she's older."
Shiyi Niang understood the lady's feelings and immediately wrote an envelope to Yuhang. In mid-July, Yuhang sent a letter asking about the specific wedding date.
Post a draft first.
I have been very busy these past two days, and I am slowly correcting the typos in other chapters.
I saw a friend's post about not being on time for the update. I'm sorry. My house is still full of guests, so it's hard to decide on the time for the update. I can only tell you when the time comes.