Eleventh Lady was also a little worried.

Years ago, an imperial censor impeached the nobles for occupying private lands on a large scale, and the Zhou family was on the list. The emperor ordered these nobles to return the lands and summoned them to the palace to give them a warning. Despite this, some royal relatives still pretended to obey and secretly disobeyed, returning small lands to large lands or concealing the amount. Chen Ge Lao wrote a letter to the emperor, asking him to take back the official lands used by the nobles as salaries and have the court pay the annual salary.

As the matter involved too many aspects and was of great importance, and it was also the end of the year, the Emperor used the excuse of celebrating the New Year and kept the letter within the emperor's jurisdiction.

Zhou Shizheng had approached Xu Lingyi about this matter: "...Without our farms, we have to rely on the court to pay our annual salaries. Then won't we have to live under the will of the Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Household? You also know that the officials in the Ministry of Revenue are of low rank, but they are full of officialdom. When the time comes, they will say 'the treasury is empty, we will give more when the time is right', and we will have no choice but to pay these people. The money is small, but I am afraid that the dignity of the nobles will be completely lost... Yinghua, this is absolutely unacceptable, you must oppose it to the end."

If the granted land was taken back, the Xu family would suffer a heavy loss - not to mention the two hundred-hectare longevity fields granted to the lady by the late emperor, even the horse farm in Baoding Prefecture was also granted land.

A single stone can cause a thousand waves, not to mention that it concerns one's own interests. Xu Lingyi had heard about it a long time ago and said with a wry smile: "Let's see what the emperor thinks first!"

Seeing that he was not very active, Zhou Shizheng was quite displeased: "Yinghua, this is not just our family's business, don't make everyone feel disappointed."

He spoke as if everyone was following Xu Lingyi's lead.

"Don't I live on the land granted to me?" Xu Lingyi frowned. "But the reign title has just been changed. I have no idea what the emperor is thinking. Now is not the time to rely on courage!"

"Otherwise, why would I come to discuss this with you!" Zhou Shizheng's eyes widened. "The emperor summoned me to the palace a few days ago, and all he talked about was how you have been keeping a low profile in recent years and the matter of the encircled land. Apart from those poor families in Yanjing, only your family and that kid Weibei Hou didn't get involved. He asked me to learn more from you. I don't care about others, but I will act according to your wishes!"

"In that case, what do you have to worry about?" Xu Lingyi said with a smile, "Why don't you just hang around beside me?"

"I'm just worried," Zhou Shizheng muttered. "Others may not know about your family's affairs, but I do. You have a lot of sacrificial fields, and the madam's longevity fields can also be converted into sacrificial fields in the future. No matter what the emperor does, he can't take your sacrificial fields, right? What's more, you still have the filial piety from the army, which is at least 100,000 taels a year, right? I also want to flatter the emperor, but I have to be able to afford it, right? Not to mention anything else, until now, several old ladies of my great-grandfather's generation have to give 300 taels of silver for their pensions every year. It can't end in my hands, right? I can't bear this reputation." After saying that, he was still not satisfied and called for the lantern, "Tell your kitchen that I want to stay here for dinner. First, give me a steamed abalone, then a green shark's fin, stir-fried sea cucumber, roasted suckling pig, a whole lamb..."

The fact that Zhou Shizheng dared to order these dishes carelessly while lying on Xu Lingyi's usual drunkard chair showed the friendship between him and Xu Lingyi. Denghua naturally said nothing, but responded respectfully, repeating the dishes Zhou Shizheng ordered, confirming that there were no mistakes, and retreated with her head lowered.

Xu Lingyi smiled and said, "I still have some excellent Jinhua wine here, would you like a few jars?"

"Of course I have to order a few jars!" Zhou Shizheng said bluntly, "Not only that, I'll also steal some of the Laojunmei that the emperor gave to the lady during the New Year to try!" As he spoke, he touched his already slightly bulging belly, "Eating something this nutritious, Longjing and Wuyi can't stand it!"

Xu Lingyi laughed loudly: "You think you are still a kid, 'stealing some to taste'." Then he told the servant beside him, "Go tell the Madam that the Zhou family's mistress is here, and wants to steal her Laojunmei to drink."

After a while, the servant came over with a half-pound white-bottomed blue-and-white jar: "Madam Tai said to bring it back for Lord Zhou to taste."

Zhou Shizheng took it with a smile.

We ate until the moon was above the willows before we said goodbye.

Eleventh Lady helped Xu Lingyi change his clothes: "My Lord, is it 'when the gods fight, the mortals suffer'?"

"When gods fight, mortals suffer!" Xu Lingyi murmured this sentence twice and repeated it, laughing, "You used these two sentences very aptly." Then he waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to change into his daily Taoist robes. He put on his inner clothes and sat on the big kang by the window. He took a sip of tea and sighed, "The collection of the granted land is just an excuse. Everyone knows that this matter is serious. If you are not careful, you will offend all the nobles of the Great Zhou. Chen Ge Lao just wants to use this incident to test the emperor's attitude towards him. In the future, he will If the emperor wants to test Chen Ge Lao's attitude, he will definitely not agree to take back the land. In this way, the court officials will write letters and the cabinet will discuss it. There will definitely be no conclusion without a year or two. Why should we jump out and make trouble? If we are not careful, those officials will catch us and use us as a gun, making the emperor embarrassed..." At this point, his tone was slightly condensed, "I am afraid that the emperor is determined to rectify the court and approve Chen Ge Lao's memorial... Then it will be difficult to deal with it?"

Xu Lingyi was the emperor's uncle, and the nobles would all depend on him. If he obediently asked the emperor to take back the land, he would be a criminal in the nobles' family, and the Xu family might be excluded from this circle; if he argued with the emperor, the emperor, as a new monarch, would be establishing his authority, and might use Xu Lingyi as an example to others.

The best way is to divert everyone's attention to the Queen's family. It just so happens that the Queen's father is Zhou Shizheng, his good friend since childhood...

"Since the emperor has kept it, he must have his own ideas." Eleventh Lady took some slippers for him to change into. "Just as the Marquis said to Lord Zhou, let's see what the situation is. There are always more solutions than problems!"

"There are always more solutions than problems!" Xu Lingyi said seriously, "I have received another witty advice from my good wife."

Seeing him pretending to be serious, Eleventh Lady burst out laughing.

Xu Lingyi took the opportunity to hold her in his arms...

Thinking of this, her face flushed slightly. The carriage stopped, and the cautious voice of the maid following the carriage came through the curtain: "Madam, we have arrived at the inn!"

Eleventh Lady quickly collected her thoughts and glanced at her two daughters-in-law with a guilty look. Jiang looked a little dazed, while Ying Niang was waiting for her answer with anticipation. Their expressions were all within the normal range, and she finally felt relieved.

"Your father-in-law is always cautious, nothing will happen!"

Yingniang listened and nodded, and hurriedly got out of the carriage first. She turned around and helped Shiyi Niang out of the carriage. Jiang, Xu Sizhun, Xu Sijie and a large group of maids and servants followed closely behind her, and surrounded her into the reserved west wing.

Jiang hurriedly directed the maids to change into the bedding and utensils they had brought, and arranged for the old woman to boil water and cook on the stove.

Eleventh Lady sat at the square table in the hall and counted the days.

It has been almost three months, and everyone has been waiting and watching for quite some time. It is time to discuss it again... Is the emperor in such a hurry to find Xu Lingyi to enter the palace just for this matter?

She slept uneasily at night, and rushed to Yanjing at dawn the next day, arriving at dusk.

Xu Lingyi hasn't come back yet.

The lady was confused and asked, "Why? Aren't you together?"

Eleventh Lady didn't want to make the Madam worry, so she smiled and said, "I met Lord Zhou at the city gate, and the Marquis was called by him!"

The lady laughed and said, "If he drags you away, it's bound to be bad. I think you shouldn't wait for him today. Go to bed early. It will be good if he comes back tomorrow!"

Eleventh Lady smiled and replied “yes”, and together with the Second Lady, she coaxed the Lady Dowager to rest.

The Second Madam saw her off and said, "I heard that the Emperor wants to take back the land granted to the nobles? If that's true, we shouldn't lose sight of the big picture for the sake of the small. We should do whatever the Emperor says. As long as the Emperor has us in his eyes, how can we lose a mouth to feed ourselves?"

"I will convey the second sister-in-law's words to the Marquis." Eleventh Lady felt that their understanding of court affairs was superficial, and it would be better to say less of such words of comfort so as not to affect Xu Lingyi's judgment.

Seeing that she was not interested, the second lady didn't want to say more. She nodded and went back to the house.

Jie Xiang scattered her hair and whispered, "Second Madam, some people like magnolia flowers, while others prefer lily of the valley flowers. Fourth Madam likes things about the inner house, but even if you tell her, she won't understand, let alone be anxious."

The second wife smiled faintly and said nothing.

Jiexiang breathed a sigh of relief, helped her to rest, tucked in the quilt, turned off the lights, and then tiptoed out.

A long sigh rang out in the silent room shrouded in the night: "She doesn't need to worry about these things, there are naturally people who will help her take care of them... Speaking of which, she is also a blessed person!"

* * * * * *

Eleventh Lady returned to her room and asked Amber to find a few exquisitely embroidered handkerchiefs from the bottom of the box: "Send them to the Weibei Marquis's mansion? See if the Weibei Marquis is at home?"

According to Xu Lingyi, the Lin family had received a lot of land. If it was about collecting the land, the Lin family would not be able to sit back and relax!

Amber quickly came back: "Lord Lin is at home! Madam Lin said thank you, Lord Lin is very anxious about the issue of collecting the granted land, she will come to see you in two days."

Eleventh Lady nodded and sat in the room thinking.

So, Xu Lingyi's entry into the palace had nothing to do with the collection of the granted land? If that was the case, why did he stay in the palace overnight?

She slept soundly, and when she opened her eyes the next day, she asked, "Did the Marquis have any letter?"

Leng Xiang, who was on duty, said hurriedly, "The Marquis came back last night. When he saw that Madam had gone to bed, he was afraid of disturbing you, so he went to sleep in the outer study."

Xu Lingyi liked to wake her up in the middle of the night, and then do whatever he wanted while she was half asleep, and even said, "You look best when you're half asleep!"

Eleventh Lady was stunned.

After dressing herself up, she went to Xu Lingyi's study without even having breakfast.

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The archives from 2005 to 2010 have finally been sorted out to 2009, victory is in sight... But I still have to work overtime this weekend... I can only update once...~~~~(_