The thin white Songjiang Sansuo cloth was soaked with sweat and stuck tightly to Jing'er's body, as if it had been fished out of the river.

Eleventh Lady, who was standing outside the window and looking out, felt a pang of pain in her heart. She turned her head away, hoping to avoid being bothered by it, but her eyes met with Xu Lingyi, who was standing next to Jing'er and urging his son with a bamboo stick in his hand.

Xu Lingyi withdrew his gaze expressionlessly and hit Jing'er's calf with the bamboo stick: "Stand still!" with a dull sound.

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but close her eyes.

"Yes!" Jing'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 out of Shuangfu Courtyard quickly and lightly.

"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 more chances he will survive..." She said this, but she couldn't stop crying.

Amber sighed softly, "Madam, the Sixth Young Master is still young. Maybe after learning martial arts from the Marquis for a few days, he felt too tired and gave up. Or, when he grows up and finds something he likes more, he won't go to the northwest anymore!"

"I hope so." Eleventh Lady sighed, "Let's go back! Jing'er said he wanted to eat braised lion's head today." At this point, she started nagging, "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 they all tried hard to hold back their laughter.

The atmosphere suddenly became more cheerful.

Meet Zhihong head-on.

"Madam, Madam, please come over and talk to me."

The old lady had been ill since the beginning of the year and had become very weak. She had been lying in bed for five out of ten days. No relatives or friends came to visit her to pay their respects, and she didn't ask about the family affairs. She played cards or gossiped with Du Mama, Zhihong, and Yuban at home every day, and never went out. 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 ask about An this morning, and it’s been less than an hour now, and now 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 bright red ink-sprinkled pillow, with Yuban fanning herself beside her. A maid arranged by Eleventh Lady was reading Buddhist scriptures to her.

Seeing Eleventh Lady come in, the lady stroked her forehead and frowned.

"Are you feeling unwell?" Eleventh Lady sat down on the edge of the kang and asked the lady softly.

"No!" The lady frowned even more tightly, "What I was going to tell you... I can't remember it!"

"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 to fan the lady.

"Why didn't you play cards with Mama Du today?

The lady said absentmindedly, "I asked her to help me find a bracelet. I remember I had a red agate bracelet, how come it's been missing for several days..." As she spoke, she opened her eyes wide and said as if she had suddenly realized something, "Oh, I remember now." Then she took Shiyi Niang's hand and said, "I was just about to ask you, what are you going to do about Jie'er's marriage? Danyang said that Xinjie's wedding is scheduled for March next year. Jie'er is my brother, and if he doesn't get married, how can Xinjie get married? I think you should quickly settle Jie'er's marriage!"

Eleventh Lady was so frightened after hearing this that she broke out in a cold sweat.

They were not siblings from the same room, so there was no need for such a rule. Even if they were born from the same mother, if the siblings were close, there would be cases where the sister married before the brother. It was mainly because of the tone of the lady, as if Jie Ge'er and Xin Jie'er were born from the same mother.

What happened, 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 we were 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 Jie Ge'er hasn't gotten married yet!" Then she said, "Okay, it's okay. Go and do your own thing! I'll ask Mama Du to come 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 her discovery. As she was speaking, a maid came in and said, "The Second Madam is here!"

The two of them quickly dropped the topic.

"I feel that mother now... can't remember things very well... and sometimes she speaks..." The Second Madam 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 didn't expect that she would find out too.

"Eleventh Lady also told me about this just now!" After a while, Xu Lingyi said tactfully, "I will ask Doctor Liu to come and take a look tomorrow... 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 Madam'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 Madam lived in her own courtyard, surrounded by maids and daughters-in-law, so it was naturally better not to live with them.

"Jin'er has moved out, so I'll clean up the things in the side rooms," she thought, "It'll be enough for us to live in!"

"You have a lot of things to do, and people often come to visit. It would be inconvenient for mother to move in." The second wife said, "I think it would be better to let the lady move in with me?" At this point, she immediately denied it, "My place has too high steps, 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 deed..."

The Second Lady waved her hand gently and said, "Those are all small matters. My priority is to take good care of mother." Then she stood up and said, "It's settled." Then she looked at Eleventh Lady and said, "Fourth sister-in-law, send a few servants to carry the boxes for me tomorrow morning. As for mother, just say that I have nothing to do these days and will stay with her for a few days." Everything was arranged, and she was firm in her 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 Brother's wife. Life is long, and we can't let Second Sister-in-law serve like this all the time. After I discuss it with Fifth Brother's wife, we will come up with a set of rules. What do you think, Second Sister-in-law?"

"No need to be so troublesome." The second wife said, "One of you has to take care of the household chores, the other has to take care of the children, and you also have to prepare Xinjie's dowry..."

Before she finished her words, Xu Lingyi said, "I think we should do as Eleventh Lady said. Let's ask the doctor to take a look first. If Mother is really unwell, we can sit down and discuss it then!"

After he expressed his opinion, the Second Madam had nothing to say. After talking for a few words about the abnormal behavior of the First Madam, she stood up and said goodbye.

The next day, Doctor Liu came and only 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 a warm tonic prescription 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... Isn't there any filial daughter-in-law among us!"

Eleventh Lady smiled bitterly.

When I entered the lady's yard, I saw Jiexiang directing a few servants to move boxes and cages.

She hurried forward and bowed to Eleventh Lady and Fifth Lady.

Even if you have a temper, there is no need to show it in front of the maid.

The Fifth Lady suppressed her unhappiness and, like Eleventh Lady, smiled and nodded at Jiexiang, then went to the inner room.

The old lady sat on the big kang by the window with a smile on her face. The second lady knelt behind her, combing her hair with a serious expression.

In the morning, golden sunlight shone through the window lattice, as if it had coated the Second Lady with a layer of gold foil.

Her expression was peaceful and calm, her voice was gentle and kind, her movements were gentle and soothing, as if the lady was as careful as fragile porcelain: "...I don't know when the book will be finished...Shaohua Courtyard is cold and deserted, so I ran over to keep you company!"

The old lady was delighted when she heard this: "As long as you like, as long as you like it!" Then she shouted to Mother Du, "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 out of 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 join in the fun!" She looked very happy.

For a moment, Eleventh Lady's eyes became moist.

"Okay!" She forced a smile, "It will be lively 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 stood there in a daze, looking like she was in a dilemma. Obviously, the close relationship between the Second Lady and the Grand Lady surprised her greatly.

The matter was settled just like that. But it wasn't over yet. The Madam called Xu Lingyi over and told them to quickly arrange Jie'er's marriage: "Before Xinjie's marriage!"

Xu Lingyi thought for a moment and said, "How about telling 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 two days. I am slowly correcting the typos in other chapters. O(∩_∩)O~

I saw a friend's post about not being punctual for the extra chapters. I'm sorry. My house is still full of guests, so it's hard to decide on a time for the extra chapters. I can only decide when the time comes.