When the yellow list came out, Xu Siyu was ranked tenth in the second class and became a Jinshi.

Not only did the Xu family celebrate, but also the in-laws' houses such as the Yongchang Marquis' House, the Weibei Marquis' House, and the Zhongqin Marquis' House were happy, and asked the steward to use a cart to drag firecrackers to the door of the Xu family to set off. The father of the third wife even made a special trip to visit Xu Siyu.

Xu Lingyi showed a smug smile in front of Eleventh Lady.

Eleventh Lady hid her sleeves and laughed: "If I didn't know, I would have thought you had passed the imperial examination!"

Xu Lingyi hugged her and kissed her hard.

Eleventh Lady laughed and pushed each other, and the two hugged each other...

Xu Siyu was constantly attending banquets, big and small, either visiting fellow students, or visiting teachers, or being entertained by others. It was rare to see him. The Second Lady finally found an opportunity to talk to Xu Siyu: "Forget about the fun, the most important thing is the upcoming Shujishi exam."

Xu Siyu said nothing and came to see Shiyi Niang the next day.

"Mother!" He bowed respectfully, "I want to be released!"

In other words, he was not planning to take the examination for the title of Shujishi!

Eleventh Lady was very surprised.

"Does your father know?" she thought for a moment and asked.

"I haven't told father yet." Xu Si said implicitly, "I won't travel far away while my parents are still alive. It would be great to stay in Yanjing, but I want to visit Jiangnan more." He showed a gentle smile, "Fortunately, I still have my fourth brother at home who can take my place at your side. I can also take Xiang and the children out to see the world and see the scenery outside." He took a few steps forward and slowly knelt in front of Eleventh Lady, "Mother," he looked up at her, with a hint of sadness, a hint of reluctance, and a hint of relief in his eyes, "Please forgive my unfilial behavior." As he spoke, his eyes turned red and tears welled up in his eyes.

When he passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, and his fame overshadowed Xu Sizhun, he asked Xu Sizhun to take his place and live with him. He took Xiang and the child to the south of the Yangtze River, and even decided to stay away for years to make her forgive his unfilial behavior... Was he trying to tell Zhun Ge'er that he had chosen a path that would not hinder Zhun Ge'er? No, or maybe he wanted to tell Xu Lingyi!

Eleventh Lady suddenly felt sad: "Your father has always valued you, otherwise, he would not have married into the Xiang family..."

"I know!" Xu Siyu nodded, his smile showing a little more relief, "So I want to go to Jiangnan!" After saying that, he stood up, "Mother, where do you think is good? When I settle down, you can come and stay with me for a few days? I will accompany you to walk around and see everywhere. We can go boating on the lake, or go to a teahouse to listen to opera..." He stood there gracefully, with a smile on his face, as bright as the bright moon and the fresh breeze, like a sapling that has just sprouted in spring. There was no trace of the haze of the past.

Eleventh Lady's brows couldn't help but relax and she revealed a gentle smile.

Leaving is not necessarily the end, sometimes, it is the starting point of spreading your wings and flying high!

* * * * * *

When Xu Lingyi returned to the house, it was already time to light the lamps.

The big red lanterns swayed in the wind, and in his eyes, they suddenly became more festive.

He walked into the room slightly tipsy, and the maids Hanxiao and Lengxiang came forward with smiles to help him change his clothes.

He went to the bathroom next door to wipe his face, and chewed a few sips of tea leaves to get rid of the smell of alcohol in his mouth.

"Where's the lady?"

"Reading in the inner room." Leng Xiang is from Jiangnan and has been in the Xu family for more than a year. Although she can speak Beijing dialect, her accent has the softness unique to the Jiangnan water town.

Eleventh Lady was also from Jiangnan, but she spoke with a clear and melodious voice, and her Beijing dialect was even more beautiful than that of a native of Jiangnan like him.

Thinking of this, he touched his head.

As soon as Eleventh Lady got married, she spoke Beijing dialect and drank hot and sour soup. She felt no discomfort at all, as if she was born and raised in their home. Isn't this what others say, "If you are not from the same family, you will not enter the same door"?

Xu Lingyi walked into the inner room with a smile, and a gust of hot air hit him in the face.

Eleventh Lady is weak. Over the years, other families would start heating the kang at the beginning of winter, but they would start heating the ground heating at the beginning of frost.

She had put on a scarlet quilt with aquarius silk pattern, and was leaning on a large pillow with ginger-colored brocade forged with carp brocade on the kang next to the window, flipping through a book lazily, which reminded him of the kitten curled up by the stove to keep warm... His heart warmed up, and he walked to the kang in two steps and sat down, reaching his hand in and holding the delicate naked body under the quilt...

Eleventh Lady was flipping through the pages of a book with great interest when she was startled. She subconsciously retracted her feet and was pulled over again.

She smiled and glanced at him: "The Marquis is back!"

Xu Lingyi hummed, and gently stroked her smooth instep with his thumb, which made her heart tremble. She sat up straight and handed the book to him: "What do you think of Yangzhou, Lord?"

It’s the book “Records of the Nine Regions of the Great Zhou Dynasty”.

Eleventh Lady hasn't read this book for a long time.

He couldn't help but narrow his eyes: "Yangzhou is not bad, very prosperous, and has delicious food." Then he asked, "Why are you suddenly asking about Yangzhou?"

"Yu'er said that he wanted to take Xiang and the children to Jiangnan to serve as officials!" Eleventh Lady looked at Xu Lingyi.

Xu Lingyi didn't say anything, but his hand under the quilt stopped.

Leng Xiang came in and served tea.

The lady and the marquis sat there in an intimate manner, but the atmosphere in the room was stagnant.

She shrank her neck and walked out quickly, tiptoeing.

Xu Lingyi picked up the teacup and took a sip: "What else did he say?"

"He told me to go to his place of work and have fun." Eleventh Lady looked at him with sympathy, "Take me boating, go to the theatre..."

Xu Lingyi was silent for a long time, then he took a long breath, put down the teacup, and leaned on the big pillow next to Shiyi Niang: "Then go!" He said in a mosquito-like voice, "This is also good... You respect me one foot, and I respect you ten feet... Zhun Ge'er is not the kind of child who doesn't know what's good for him..."

Eleventh Lady hugged his arm and leaned on his shoulder: "Then find him a better place? Then we can take the children with us to send Yu Ge'er on board!"

Xu Lingyi said "hmm" in a deep voice and rode at full speed to deliver the letter to the Huguang Provincial Administration.

Xiang had no regrets or emotions about Xu Siyu's decision. He planned Xu Siyu's career calmly and rationally, and selected Taicang, Gaochun, Jiaqing, which were the main tax-collecting counties, or Fenzhou, Dezhou, and Changzhou, which were important transportation routes: "...it's impossible for him to be the chief official. He should first gain experience in such a large county, and then be the parent official in a wealthy small county like Tongxiang, Xiushui, and Pinghu. With the tax collection going up, he will have more chances of promotion than others...or, on the contrary, he can be the parent official in a poor county like Shenqiu, Baofeng, and Nanzhao, where it is easier to achieve results!"

Xu Lingyi considered it in his study for two or three days, and finally decided to try to get Xu Siyu to places like Taicang, Gaochun, and Jiaqing.

During the Spring Festival, he made a special trip to Chen Ge Lao's home. After the Spring Festival, Xu Siyu was appointed as the Magistrate of Jiaqing Prefecture, a seventh-rank official.

Ever since Xu Siyu did not take the imperial examination, all kinds of rumors have been growing wildly in the Xu residence like grass in spring. When the news came out, the lady said nothing for a long time, and ordered Luzhu, who was in charge of the keys to the boxes, "Find my jewelry. I want to give it away."

Yingniang was very envious and said to Xu Sijie, who was coaxing the child, "If mother goes to see my second brother, we will clamor to go with her!"

Xu Sijie laughed: "I dare not. If you want to say it, go and say it yourself!"

"I'll just say what I want to say." Ying Niang glared at him and said, "Just don't hold me back when the time comes."

A little maid ran in: "The fourth young master is here!"

Xu Sijie handed Zhuang Ge'er to Yingniang and explained, "Fourth brother invited me to see second brother off. We are going to Chunxi Tower for a drink."

"Then come back early!" Yingniang sent him out of the yard and went to Jiang's place with the child in her arms.

Jiang is in the storeroom.

Hearing that Yingniang was coming, he walked out with his sleeves rolled up.

Yingniang asked the wet nurse to take the child to play with Tingger, while she discussed with Jiang: "Second sister-in-law and her family are going to Jiaxing, what should we send them?"

"I'm looking at things in the storeroom!" Yingniang has a cheerful personality and gets along well with her sisters-in-law. Jiang smiled and said, "There must be a lot of fabrics and other things over there. Grandmother and mother will probably give some jewelry and the like. I want to give porcelain from the official kiln, but there shouldn't be any in Jiangnan, right?"

"Okay!" Yingniang said with a smile, "Then I will follow Fourth Sister-in-law to deliver porcelain!"

The two of them agreed and went to Xiang's place.

The room was noisy. Several of Xiang's maids were holding books and reading out the names of items, while several older maids were leading younger maids to count and put away things. There were half-packed things everywhere. Seeing the hustle and bustle here, Qing'er wanted to play in the main room. He saw someone holding a plum vase to touch, and someone holding a teacup to look at. The wet nurse dared not take her eyes away for a moment, and several maids and women who were packing up were so tired that they kept shouting "ancestor", but Xiang was the only one who could not be seen.

Jiang and Yingniang looked at each other.

Xiang's personal mother hurriedly invited the two to sit in the flower hall nearby: "The Second Young Madam was called to Shaohua Courtyard by the Second Madam early in the morning!"

* * * * * *

Unlike the bustling Xiang's house, Shaohua Courtyard was quiet. The two maids who were left behind to look after the yard and the two maids who were responsible for cleaning the study were all staying in the back room of Shaohua Courtyard. Only Jiexiang was serving tea in the room.

"You should have heard your mother tell you when you were a child that your grandmother secretly gave all the books in the Xiang family to me as a dowry, right?" The second wife sat upright in the study with a cold expression, making Xiang a little confused about her intentions.

"I heard about it from my mother." She said honestly, "Because it is a matter between the elders, we, the younger generation, did not listen very carefully..." Before she could finish, the second wife suddenly stood up, walked towards the study, and interrupted her by saying, "Come with me!"

Xiang did not dare to hesitate and hurriedly followed.

The antique bookshelves in the east study were all empty, but there were a few camphorwood boxes carved with patterns of good luck.

"These are the books I brought from the Xiang family." The second wife slowed down her pace and gently stroked the persimmons carved on the camphorwood box board, reluctant to leave. "They are all here. I'm giving them all to you. Send someone to move them!"

Xiang was stunned.

The second wife left the study without looking back.

Xiang went to Shiyi Niang in a hurry and said, "Mother, what should I do?"

"Since it's a gift from your second aunt, just accept it!"

This is the second lady's thing, and she has the right to decide who to give it to.

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I really can't spare the time, so I can only update once today!

O(∩_∩)O~