"Big brother knows." Eleventh Lady sighed, "Some things were told to me by big brother, asking me to persuade Fifth Sister. I also asked Fifth Sister indirectly, and Fifth Sister only said that Zhuo Tao had served Xin Ge'er since she was a child, and Xin Ge'er couldn't leave her for a while, which delayed her age and made it difficult for her to get married. She was not in Wendeng all year round, so she asked Fifth Brother-in-law to take Zhuo Tao in. As for Zhao Sheng's matter, they said that there was no suitable person. But Zhao Sheng was from our family after all, and he knows everything about us. Instead of inviting others, it is better to invite Zhao Sheng."

"How could Fifth Sister be like this?" Before she could finish her words, Twelve Niang said, "We are a family, there is no need to hide anything. How can we help her when she is like this!" She paused and said helplessly, "However, Fifth Sister was very proud when she was at home, and we are her younger sisters..."

"Yes!" Eleventh Lady said, "I had no choice but to tell Big Brother exactly what she said. Big Brother had no choice but to say that a lawsuit needs a victim. Now there is no victim, can we still take over?"

The two sisters were speechless.

"Forget it, let's not talk about these things!" Eleventh Lady said, "It's difficult for an honest judge to judge family affairs. Fifth Sister is also going to get married, and she has her own plans and plans for how to live her life. It's rare for you to come here, so have dinner and then go back!"

Twelve Niang let out a long breath and put the matter behind her for the time being.

"Is Yingniang okay?" She said with a smile, "I last saw her when Zhuang Ge'er was one year old!"

"Very well." Eleventh Lady smiled and asked Leng Xiang to ask Ying Niang to come over to keep her company. "Zhuang Ge'er can now get out of bed and run around everywhere. She follows him around every day without blinking. Yesterday she even took my arm and said that she missed Fourth Sister-in-law and wanted to honor me well. It can be seen that this woman only realized the hardship and difficulty of being a mother after she became a mother."

Twelve Niang nodded with a smile.

Yingniang is here.

"Why don't you bring Zhuang Ge'er here!" Maybe it was because she spent her childhood in Lujun Tower in Yuyao. Twelve Niang likes to be lively. It just so happens that there are many aunts and uncles in the Wang family. She likes to help any mother-in-law or daughter-in-law. Everyone likes her. There are often people sitting in the house. Eating with three people like this seems very lonely to her. "I haven't seen him for some time."

"He can't sit still now," Yingniang complained, but her eyes were full of gentle smiles, "He needs a wet nurse to feed him even when he's eating. That's why I didn't bring him here."

"There's no outsider here, so why bother with all those empty formalities?" Twelve Niang laughed, "Which family's children don't grow up like this?" Then she joked, "I didn't call you here to see you, but to see our Zhuang Ge'er!"

Yingniang giggled and asked the maid to bring Zhuang Ge'er over. The few of them played with the child for a while, had dinner, and then Twelve Niang returned home.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Twelve Lady came to give Eleven Lady a Mid-Autumn Festival gift and took her aside to talk to her in private.

"I found out everything," she whispered, "It is said that when the fifth brother-in-law was in office, the fifth sister had to take care of the children in Yanjing, so she wanted to buy someone to serve him. But the ones she liked were too expensive, and the cheaper ones were not used, so she was afraid that it would cause trouble if she took her in. After thinking about it, the fifth sister thought of Zhuo Tao, who was old and still unmarried. She felt that Zhuo Tao had been under the fifth brother-in-law's nose for so many years and he never even looked at her, so it would be better for him to take her in." At this point, she showed a bitter expression, "Who would have thought that it was such a Zhuo Tao, after following the fifth brother-in-law, she won his favor. If the fifth sister didn't go, he didn't urge her like before, and he even sent Zhao Sheng to Wendeng to be a financial advisor.

"My fifth sister was embarrassed, so she went to Wendeng during the Chinese New Year and asked my fifth brother-in-law to fire Zhao Sheng. But my fifth brother-in-law said that Zhao Sheng was doing well in the Luo family, and why would he come to Wendeng if he didn't want to help him. Now that he has finally helped him open up the situation in Wendeng, there is no reason to fire him. He also said that Zhao Sheng is a member of the Luo family after all, and it is better than hiring someone from outside.

"Wu Niang had no choice but to stay there for a few days. She wanted to find Zhao Sheng's fault, but she didn't find anything wrong with Zhao Sheng. Instead, Zhao Sheng found her fault!"

Eleventh Lady listened with a serious expression: "Where did you hear these words?"

"I was very worried about my fifth sister, so I wrote a letter back to Yuyao," said Twelve Niang, "and it was my eldest sister-in-law who told me!"

It seems that it is probably true!

Eleventh Lady pondered and said, "Zhao Sheng found the fault of Fifth Sister, how can you say that?"

Twelve Niang's expression darkened. "Someone gave Fifth Sister one thousand taels of silver and asked her to help with a lawsuit. Fifth Sister said something to the criminal lawyer and the matter was settled. Somehow Zhao Sheng found out about this matter and told Fifth Sister's husband. Fifth Sister's husband pointed at Fifth Sister's nose and told her to get out... Fifth Sister couldn't save face, so she talked about how Mother sponsored Fifth Sister's husband to study, and said that if it weren't for the Marquis, he could have bought a house in Yanjing... Fifth Sister's husband was so angry that his face turned purple, and he slapped himself twice on the spot. Since then, he has never spoken a word to Fifth Sister again.

"Those servants were opportunistic. Fifth Sister went in and out without anyone to talk to. Fifth Sister couldn't stay in Wendeng any longer, so she came back with Xin'er and Dian'er."

Eleventh Lady's expression became more serious as she listened: "In the past, Fifth Sister has also done something similar, accepting money from others to help them fight lawsuits?"

Twelve Niang nodded: "Eldest sister-in-law said that Zhao Sheng was the financial advisor for Fifth Brother-in-law. Eldest sister-in-law once wrote to Fifth Brother-in-law to question him, but Fifth Brother-in-law said that the former financial advisor had instigated Fifth Sister to exchange the superior official land for the inferior civilian land that had just been reclaimed and then sold the land to make a profit... Eldest sister-in-law wrote to Fifth Sister, and Fifth Sister said that the county magistrate next door did the same thing, so why did it become an unforgivable crime when it came to her! She also said that who doesn't want to be an honest official like eldest brother, but you have to have that kind of family background. Fifth Brother-in-law's family, let alone giving them silver, has to send silver home every year. Fifth Brother-in-law's annual salary is only 45 taels of silver. Is it enough for so many people in the family to eat or drink? If she doesn't do this, how can she live on. She also said that eldest sister-in-law is also the head of the family. Others don't know, but doesn't eldest sister-in-law know the hardships involved? She asked the eldest sister-in-law speechless, and she couldn't intervene in this matter anymore!

"No wonder she didn't go to Wendeng!" Eleventh Lady stammered, "It's not that she didn't want to go, it's that there wouldn't even be a place to stand if she went there... She's really just trying to save face but end up suffering. Over the years, everyone thought she didn't go to Wendeng because she was afraid of suffering."

Twelve Niang also sighed, and then said: "Fifth sister returned to Yanjing, and Fifth Brother-in-law had someone send two thousand taels of silver to Fifth Sister every year. Fifth Sister thought it was good at first, out of sight, out of mind, and she could focus on raising the children in Yanjing. When Xin'er became famous, he would have someone to rely on. If she tightened her purse strings, she could still get some money every year. But after a long time, Fifth Sister felt uncomfortable. She felt that since Fifth Brother-in-law could give her two thousand taels of silver every year, then Zhuo Tao followed Fifth Brother-in-law in Wendeng and became his wife. Who knows how majestic it would be. She went to Wendeng again."

Eleventh Lady leaned forward and asked anxiously, "What's the result?"

Twelve Niang heaved a long sigh: "Zhuo Tao seldom goes out. She wears coarse clothes at home, spinning and weaving, growing vegetables and raising chickens, just like a peasant woman. She serves the fifth brother-in-law with all the soup and water, and is more virtuous than a proper wife. People in Wendeng praise the fifth brother-in-law for his strict family rules. It is said that Huang You married the fifth brother-in-law because he had an orderly family."

Eleventh Lady was a little speechless, and after a while she said, "Then how did Fifth Sister call Zhuo Tao back?"

Twelve Niang whispered, "I heard that Zhuo Tao got pregnant last spring and lost the baby. Fifth sister was afraid that if things continued like this, Fifth brother-in-law would only have eyes for Zhuo Tao, so he called Zhuo Tao back under the pretext of letting her recuperate, and then bought a fair-skinned girl and sent her to Wendeng. This year, he used the excuse that Brother Sheng was getting married and she couldn't handle it alone, so he left Zhuo Tao at home."

"Did Fifth Brother-in-law send anyone to ask for the Burnt Peaches?" Eleventh Lady thought for a moment and asked Twelfth Lady.

"No!" Twelve Niang's eyes were also somewhat confused, "So this time Fifth Niang plans to spend the New Year in Wendeng before coming back. First, she wants to take her new daughter-in-law to visit the home of a wealthy man in Wendeng, and second, she wants to see if the man serving Fifth Brother-in-law is honest or not."

I'm afraid he also wants to let Zhuo Tao see that Qian Ming can still live a good life without her!

After sending Twelve Niang away, Eleven Niang wrote a letter to Luo Zhenxing, asking him about Qian Ming's reputation in the officialdom. Then she began to be busy celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival and preparing for Xu Siyu's September imperial examination.

Xu Siyu was even more nervous than the first time he took the exam.

Despite her advanced age, the old lady even asked the second lady and eleventh lady to accompany her to the temple to worship the Buddha and make a wish.

Xu Sijian knew about it and teased Xu Siyu: "If I were you, I would just take the test casually, there is no need to be so serious. After all, we are now the nephew of the Empress Dowager and the cousin of the Emperor. Apart from anything else, it should not be difficult to get a fourth-rank commander. Even if my second brother passed the imperial examination, he would have to start from the seventh rank and become a doctor in the six ministries. It would take at least ten years to get to the fourth rank. If he was sent out to become a councilor from the fourth rank, it would take at least twenty years..."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" The lady picked up the round fan beside her and slapped Xu Sijian hard on the head.

Xu Sijian ran away with his head in his hands.

Everyone laughed.

"That's different." Xu Siyu smiled, "Enfeoffment seems fast, but it's actually very difficult to get promoted in the future. Although the imperial examination is slow, it takes one step at a time and gives you peace of mind." He looked at Xu Sijian with a grateful look, knowing that Xu Sijian was just trying to make him happy. However, after Xu Sijian's fuss, he did feel much more relaxed.

The day of the end is actually the easiest day.

He took the test paper and found that one question had something in common with a policy paper he had done a few days ago. He was more confident and did a brilliant job on the test paper. Three days later, when he came out and saw Xu Siqin, Xu Sijian, Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie who came to pick him up, he couldn't help but smile widely.

※

O(∩_∩)O~