Eleventh Lady’s worries are not without reason.

When Xu Lingyi suggested that Xu Sijin go to Shiyang Hundred Households Office, Xu Sijin's attitude was quite indifferent.

During the preparations for the private mine, he encountered countless difficulties, but he finally managed to overcome them one by one. His father sent him to the garrison so that he could be experienced in human relations. Wasn't he experienced in human relations?

He wrote back to his father, saying that the silver mine issue had just been sorted out, but the share of money had not yet been settled. His share was easy to deal with, but the share of Prince Yong had to be taken seriously. It would not be too late to go after he sorted out the line of Pingyi Qianhu Suo, Pu'anwei, Gong Dongning, and Prince Yong.

The disapproval is evident on the paper.

Xu Lingyi smiled and replied to him: "... This centurion is under the jurisdiction of the Sichuan General. The Sichuan General Ding Zhi and I are not on good terms. He is over 60 years old and can retire at any time. He does not care about anyone's face. He is not only arrogant but also domineering. It is better for you not to go, lest he catches you and I can't do anything about it. Prince Yong and Princess Jiangdu are brothers from the same mother. The emperor values ​​them very much. Because of Princess Jiangdu, the emperor even disregards the court's moral principles and wants you to go to Nanjing Commandery as a co-governor. You must work hard for Prince Yong and Princess Jiangdu. If you do a good job, you will have a bright future!"

Xu Sijin was so angry that he didn't say anything for a long time: "If I just want to pursue a career, then why did I come to the guard? I might as well go to the inner palace to serve Prince Shun. With my skills, I'm afraid I can be promoted faster. Isn't it just a small Shiyang Hundred Households? Isn't it just Ding Zhi who doesn't give face to father? Isn't it just that there are still some messy relationships that have not been sorted out? Just wait for me!"

That night, he wrote back to Xu Lingyi: "I'm going to Shiyang right now!"

Xu Lingyi took the letter and smiled slightly. He didn't tell Shiyi Niang what was said specifically, but only told her the result: "I asked him to go to the Shiyang Baihu Office, and didn't alert the Sichuan General. I asked a Qianhu to help arrange it. That Qianhu didn't know Jing'er's identity. This time, it really depends on him!"

If Eleventh Lady had been worried before, she felt relieved when she saw him open a silver mine - he had the ability, and even if something happened, he would be able to protect himself. Now all she needed was experience.

She wrote a letter to Xu Sijin, asking him to be cautious about his arrogance, calm down, and not be careless and lose the opportunity.

Xu Sijin nodded repeatedly, but he was quite dissatisfied in his heart.

Chang'an stayed in Pingyi, and he went to Shiyang alone. He was neither arrogant nor humble, generous and open-minded, and soon got along well with the centurions and the old soldiers. Although he had no property, he was handsome and smart, and many women asked if he was married, hoping to marry him.

Xu Sijin couldn't help feeling a little proud.

These people are not attracted to him because of his identity or status.

But he was afraid of offending others, so he said that he had been engaged since childhood, but had delayed the marriage because he had no money. Despite this, some people suggested that he settle down in Shiyang and don't need to return to his hometown. In this way, the marriage naturally fell through.

Xu Sijin was a little amused and helpless, his mind was completely focused on Pingyi, and Chang'an also frequently traveled between Pingyi and Shiyang.

At this time, something happened that had a profound impact on Xu Sijin.

The food and military pay of the soldiers of Shiyang Baihu Suo came from the military farms. The soldiers trained for six days and farmed for six days. There were four oxen in the Baihu Suo. When it was Xu Sijin's turn to herd the oxen, he lay on the slope to bask in the sun. When he got up after a nap, the oxen that were leisurely eating grass on the slope were gone... If those people didn't dare to kill the oxen, even if he found the oxen, they would be dead.

The centurions of Shiyang were extremely angry.

The cow thief shouted, "I was just playing a joke on him!"

Are you kidding?

Why didn't the centurion stand up when the whole army wanted to beat him with thirty military sticks? Why didn't he stand up when he patted his chest and said that if he couldn't find the cow within three days, he would be gone?

They were all from the same military settlement, and the cow was found. The man who stole the cow was beaten with ten military sticks.

Xu Sijin fell into deep thought.

His opponent was not just a soldier, what if he was a centurion or a thousand-man? Back then, he had encountered such a thing when he was pacifying the barbarians, but he was able to resolve it easily. Why did he capsize in a small ditch when he arrived in Shiyang? In the final analysis, it was because he did not take Shiyang's affairs to heart.

Xu Sijin stood on the slope, watching the sunset disappear into the horizon, then turned back to his small mud house, calmed down and wrote a letter to his father discussing the Battle of Songpan Prefecture that had taken place thirty years ago.

This is a late letter.

As early as the silver mine began to produce silver, Xu Sijin no longer seriously discussed with Xu Lingyi the famous battles that had taken place in history.

What happened to cause your son to start changing?

Xu Lingyi was delighted and wanted to call back the people who were assigned to Xu Sijin to ask them clearly. However, after thinking for a long time, he gave up.

After supporting him for such a long time, it was time to let go. The guards would only take action when his life was in danger. Some things should be left to Xu Sijin to face on his own!

Her son's letters gradually became more meaningful from the perfunctory ones at the beginning, and Eleventh Lady also felt the changes in Xu Sijin.

She asked Xu Lingyi happily: "Who is managing the silver mine in Pingyi?"

Xu Lingyi was surprised.

Eleventh Lady pretended not to see it, and calmly took off her hairpins and rings in front of the mirror: "Chang'an is not young anymore, and has been running around with Jin Ge'er for these years, and her marriage has been delayed. I asked Bin Ju if she had any favorite candidates, and she always told me to make the decision for Chang'an. I took a look, and in terms of character and appearance, Cherry in Jin Ge'er's room can be regarded as one. Moreover, she is very patient and calm. When she was guarding the house for Jin Ge'er, she cut window flowers and did needlework, and never walked around. In the future, Chang'an will go out with Jin Ge'er, and she doesn't have to worry about the family. What do you think?"

Is the wife protesting that he is hiding something from her?

"You are the one who makes the decision on these matters!" Xu Lingyi sat on the embroidered cushion beside the dressing table with a smile on his face. He put his arm around her shoulders and whispered, "Why are you asking me? I don't even know who Cherry is?" He gently stroked a strand of hair and wrapped it around his fingertips.

Eleventh Lady turned around and glared at him fiercely.

Xu Lingyi laughed out loud.

Eleventh Lady asked Xu Siyu, "The Emperor will hold an imperial examination in September. How confident is he? He must not pass the imperial examination. That would be terrible. Fifth brother-in-law has been the magistrate of Wendeng for more than ten years and has refused to move. Eldest brother has been the prefect of Huguang for only a few years and has already become the prefect."

"Although Zichun didn't get promoted, everyone in the Ministry of Personnel gave him a thumbs up when they mentioned him." Xu Lingyi smiled and said, "I think he's doing well there, so don't worry about these things." Then he asked about Xin'er's wedding: "When is it scheduled?"

Xin'er's wife was Qian Ming's classmate, surnamed Huang, and her father was the magistrate of Lintong. The two families had made a small engagement last year, but because of the national mourning, they postponed it to this year.

"It's set for October 14th."

Xu Lingyi was a little surprised when he heard this.

Eleventh Lady explained, "Fifth Sister wanted to hold a wedding banquet in Wendeng, so she set the date for the second half of the year."

"Doesn't she think Wendeng is not good?" Xu Lingyi said with a smile, "Zichun invited her several times but she was unwilling to go. I didn't expect her to give Zichun face this time."

Eleventh Lady didn’t say much.

Wu Niang felt that Wendeng was not good, so she lived in Yanjing for many years. Although Yanjing was good, there were only relatives like them there. Although Wendeng was far away, Qian Ming was the official there. No matter how far away the relatives were, you had to pay the gift. It was different for the official. If you met him, you had to pay the gift. If you didn't meet him, you didn't have to pay the gift... Otherwise, Wu Niang would not have gone to Wendeng.

"Fifth sister will be taking Xin'er and Dian'er to Wendeng in the next few days," she said with a smile, "I have discussed with fourth sister and twelfth sister, and we want to send the gifts over as soon as possible. This way they will have more money in their hands, and it will be more convenient for them to buy things in Wendeng." Then the two discussed the gift-giving matter again, and the next day Eleventh Niang went to Sixiang Hutong with Fourth Niang and Twelfth Niang.

Wu Niang is packing her things.

Her usual things were still in their original places, except for five or six boxes filled with her spare clothes.

Seeing them coming, Wu Niang smiled and welcomed them into the inner room: "Next year, Xin Ge'er will return to Yichun, Sichuan to take the college entrance examination. It will be troublesome to go back and forth, so I asked him to return to Sichuan directly from Wendeng. After the New Year, I will take my new wife to meet the family."

"Then let us congratulate Xin'er in advance on passing the imperial examination!" said Twelve Niang with a smile.

Her brother-in-law passed the imperial examination last year and became a scholar, and now he is a lecturer in the Hanlin Academy. Because Wang Ze interrupted his studies, the two of them paid close attention to their children's schoolwork, and they often talked about who passed the examination and who passed the juren examination.

Wu Niang thanked her with a smile.

Someone came in and served tea.

Fourth Lady winked at Eleventh Lady.

Eleventh Lady pretended not to see it.

Twelve Lady was stunned, and looked at the person serving tea: "Isn't this Zhuo Tao?"

"Yes!" Wu Niang replied unhappily, "Xin'er is getting married, and there are many things to do at home, so I asked Zhuo Tao to come back and help me." As she spoke, she waved at Zhuo Tao as if to shoo away a fly, "You go down and help Xin'er pack his things, Yulan will serve you here!"

Zhuo Tao murmured, "They are all busy helping the Madam pack up the boxes. I see there is not enough manpower..."

Wu Niang frowned.

Zhuo Tao quickly stopped talking, bowed and retreated.

Twelve Lady looked at Eleven Lady and saw that she was drinking tea with her eyelids lowered, looking calm and composed. She also followed her example and sipped her tea, and talked to Five Lady about Xin'er's studies. After leaving the house, she followed Eleven Lady to the Yongping Marquis' Mansion.

"Eleventh sister, what is going on?" Twelve Mother said, "Fifth Mother is not going to Wendeng, and now she has called Zhuo Tao back. Who is serving Fifth Brother-in-law? Did she send another person over? Why is Fifth Sister so confused? One more person means one more thing to do. Isn't this just adding to the chaos?"

"I don't know exactly." Eleventh Lady smiled bitterly, "I only know that Fifth Sister left Zhuo Tao in Wendeng. I don't know how Fifth Brother-in-law brought Zhuo Tao's brother, Zhao Sheng, who used to be an accountant in our account office, to be his financial advisor. I heard that Zhao Sheng is very capable and can be regarded as half of Fifth Brother-in-law's family in Wendeng."

Twelve Niang became anxious: "The financial advisor is in charge of land tax, household registration, and marriage certificates. It's a lucrative position. Why didn't Fifth Sister ask about it? Does Big Brother know about this?"

※

Post a draft first.

I have to go to the archives in the afternoon, so I can't write. The update will be postponed to around ten o'clock.

O(∩_∩)O~

PS: Additional update will be added on October 15th.