Seeing Eleventh Lady hurriedly coming over, Xu Sijin quickly pushed away the crowd surrounding him.

"Mom!" He opened his arms to hug his mother, but then he remembered his father's repeated warnings that he should not rub against his mother like a baby in front of others, so he immediately lifted his robe and said, "I'm back!"

Kneeled in front of Eleventh Lady.

The people in the room were either kneeling or bowing, and there was a loud clatter of kneeling and worshipping.

Because she had seen her son before, Eleventh Lady was less surprised and more happy.

She walked forward, took her son in hand, and asked him with a smile: "After the captive offering ceremony, Lord Gong handed over the seal of commander. Why did you come back at this time? Grandmother has asked this question several times!"

Xu Sijin stood up and supported his mother, explaining, "Mr. Gong left Beijing yesterday. He was originally the general of Guizhou. He had some official matters to entrust to me. He also had a favor to me, so I sent Mr. Gong back!"

Eleventh Lady nodded: "Let's go see grandma first."

She let her son support her as she walked towards the lady, talking to him, "When will you take office? How many days can you stay at home?"

When the Ministry of Personnel issues official documents, it will indicate the time of arrival. If the deadline is exceeded, the person will be dismissed from office at the very least, and may even be imprisoned at the worst.

"The Emperor has granted me special permission to stay at home for two days," Xu Sijin said, "I just need to arrive before July 22nd."

The imperial court had a regulation that those who lived more than 2,000 miles away from the capital had to take up their posts within 15 days. The Ministry of Personnel allowed Xu Sijin to take up his post before the 22nd, which was already a great courtesy.

Officials have to prepare their own staff, guards, servants, maids, cooks, doormen, etc., and they have to be loyal and capable. Otherwise, if they go to work, they will do evil in the name of their master, oppress the people, and ruin their reputation. Being impeached by the censor is a small matter. If they are not careful, they may offend someone they shouldn't offend, and lose their future or even their life.

At that time, the family had always been on guard against Xu Siyu, and with the help of Lord Xiang, once the official document came down, the people who would go with him were immediately determined. The news that Xu Sijin was appointed as the general of Guizhou came too suddenly, and the family was not prepared at all. Although Jing'er was not afraid of offending people, if he harmed the people or made enemies with others because of this, it would be more trouble than gain... Eleventh Lady asked Xu Lingyi to help Jing'er make a decision, but Xu Lingyi said that he had to ask Jing'er's opinion first, and also said that Jing'er was away from home, and if he didn't even have a few available people around him, he would fail in Guizhou, so it would be better for him to go for a while and come back!

She was a little worried about Jing'er and was about to ask him something when Shen'er, who was following them, suddenly jumped out.

"Sixth brother, I want to go to Guizhou with you." Xu Sizun and the others were silent because of their mother's words. Chen Ge'er has always been close to Shiyi Niang and used to being casual with her. In a hurry, he didn't care about many things. "I also want to go to the garrison to fight like Sixth Brother, and make achievements with real ability to bring honor to the family!" He said with an envious expression.

Cheng Ge'er had been eager to try it for a long time, but he had never dared to speak. When he heard his brother speak, he became bolder and said, "Sixth brother, please take me with you! I also want to go to Guizhou."

Xu Sijin was a little surprised, but soon smiled and said, "Fathers and sons fight together in battle, and brothers fight together to kill tigers. Of course I want you to go! I'm just afraid that my fifth uncle and fifth aunt won't agree! As long as my fifth uncle and fifth aunt agree, I will take you to Guizhou right away."

The brothers cheered.

"You are so old, why are you still yelling and losing your temper like children?" The Fifth Madam suddenly walked out of the Madam's courtyard and scolded her two sons, "Look at Jin'er, he is not much older than you, but he is much calmer than you..."

The expressions of Chen Ge'er and Cheng Ge'er became a little embarrassed.

Eleventh Lady hurriedly came to the rescue of the two: "Isn't Jin Ge'er back? The two brothers are so happy!"

Xu Sijin stepped forward and saluted the Fifth Madam. "Aunt Fifth, are you all right? Last time, my Seventh Brother wrote to me, saying that you couldn't sleep well in the summer. Now it's midsummer again, are you feeling better? I have a colleague from Hunan who said that the bamboo mats made from Junshan there are particularly cool. I'll ask him to bring one back for you next time. Try it and see if it's cooler and you can sleep better!"

The Fifth Lady was just afraid that Xu Sijin would look down on her sons because she saw that Xu Sijin had become a general at such a young age and her two sons, Chen and Cheng, were still very childish. She did not really want to scold her two sons. She felt honored by Xu Sijin's gentle words, and her little concerns disappeared.

She said with a smile, "I'm sorry to trouble you," and then said to Xu Sijin and Shiyi Niang, "When mother heard that Jing'er was back, she couldn't sit still for a moment and had to go out to greet him. The weather was too hot, and no one dared to let the lady go out. I was just about to go and see if Jing'er came..." As she was speaking, a burst of noisy sounds came from the yard.

"Oh no!" Madam Wu's face changed slightly, "It must be that Second Sister-in-law couldn't stop Mother..."

Before she finished her words, Xu Sijin took two steps at a time and entered the yard.

Everyone hurriedly followed.

Several maids around the Second Lady and the Dowager Lady were standing on the steps, trying to stop the Dowager Lady, who was using a cane, and persuade her.

"Grandma, Grandma!" Xu Sijin ran over, "I'm back!"

"Oh, oh," the lady hugged Xu Sijin who was about to kowtow to her, "Our Brother Jin is back!" As she spoke, she seemed to remember something, took two steps back, and looked Xu Sijin up and down carefully, "I heard that you captured Duoyan. Are you injured? Are you well fed in the military camp? Is Chang'an serving you well? Is Gong Dongning good to you? You have made such a great contribution. What did the emperor say when he saw you?" She spoke one sentence after another, very anxiously.

"Grandma, I'm fine, don't worry." Xu Sijin said, rolling up his sleeves to reveal his strong arms. "Look, don't I look like I haven't eaten enough?" Then he helped the lady into the house. "The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War have already issued official documents. I will take office on the 22nd of this month and can stay at home for two days at most. In the past few years I have been away, I have been dreaming about the braised lion's head at home. Can you ask the kitchen to make a bowl of braised lion's head for me to eat first before asking these questions?"

When the lady heard that he could only stay at home for two days at most, and she dreamed of eating braised lion's head in her dreams, she felt so distressed that she didn't care whether he answered her question or not. She pulled Xu Sijin's hand and immediately ordered Luzhu loudly, "Go quickly, the Sixth Young Master wants to eat braised lion's head!"

The dewdrop left immediately.

The lady smiled with satisfaction and, helped by Xu Sijin, sat on the big kang by the window in the banquet room.

Xu Sijin went to get Zhang Jinwu and sat in front of the lady. "Grandma, I noticed that you have a lot of white hair. Did you not drink the walnut paste well?"

"Nonsense, why didn't I drink the walnut paste properly?" The lady frowned and immediately became worried. "I don't know why, but my white hair is getting more and more. Your second aunt asked me to dye my hair, but once I dyed it, it grew out white again. The black and white are so distinct that I look like a monster. I just let it be." After that, she said worriedly, "Do I look scary?"

"How could that be?" Xu Sijin said seriously, "I think it looks pretty good. It's shining silver, and it looks noble and respected at first glance."

The lady smiled as her eyes became crescent moons, and she kept saying, "I think so too. But everyone told me to dye my hair, so I had to follow them! Fortunately, you came back, otherwise, there would be no one to speak up for me!"

What is going on?

Everyone looked at each other and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Xu Sijin picked up those interesting things in the military camp and told them to the old lady. The old lady laughed so hard that she couldn't stop. When Xu Lingyi took Xu Sijin to pay respect to the ancestors, the third master and the third lady came with their son, daughter-in-law and grandson. The people from the third room gathered at the old lady's place and set up six tables for men and women. Amber led the team to set up ten tables in the yard of the old lady to reward the housekeepers and maids in the inner courtyard. The chief steward Bai led the team to set up more than twenty tables in the flower hall of the outer courtyard to reward the stewards of the outer courtyard. After three rounds of wine, the chief steward Bai and several older stewards came in to toast Xu Sijin. The old lady laughed and scolded the chief steward Bai for not being considerate of others across the screen. The chief steward Bai was there to make jokes with the old lady, which caused laughter and made this midsummer night with a gentle evening breeze become warm.

After the banquet, the lady insisted that Xu Sijin stay in her room to rest. Xu Lingyi naturally did not object, and after giving Xu Sijin a few words, everyone went their separate ways.

Eleventh Lady and Xu Lingyi talked about Xu Sijin's promise to let Chen Ge'er and Cheng Ge'er go to Guizhou: "...I don't know if Fifth Brother's wife is willing to give up the children! Anyway, I was reluctant at the time."

Xu Lingyi laughed and said, "As a mother, who doesn't want to tie her child to her belt? Danyang is naturally reluctant. But this matter concerns the child's future, so it's not a matter of whether she is willing or not. What's more, there is Old Marquis Sun, and the son of Marquis Dingnan is not a fool, he will not let Danyang do whatever she wants!"

"So you want to ask Lord Sun to come forward?"

"We'll see what happens tomorrow!" Xu Lingyi said, "Danyang may not be unable to figure it out!"

The two chatted and stopped.

The next morning, Amber quietly told Eleventh Lady, "Fifth Madam made a fuss last night. She said that the Seventh Young Master and the Eighth Young Master were going to Guizhou. Fifth Madam said that the Seventh Young Master was the eldest son and should stay at home. She only agreed to let the Eighth Young Master go with her. The Seventh Young Master was dissatisfied and shouted that he would tell Old Marquis Sun! Fifth Madam was very angry!"

This is also human nature.

Since the eldest son can be favored by the emperor, he naturally has to find a way to provide a way out for the second son.

While they were thinking, Xu Sijin came to greet them.

"Dad, can you help me find an aide?" He asked Xu Lingyi for help straight to the point. "I have a few people around me who can serve as guards, servants, or even doormen and cooks, but it's a little difficult to serve as an aide!" He added, "Lord Gong also asked me about this before he left. I thought he had someone to recommend to me, but he just asked. From the way he looked, it's not that he doesn't have any candidates. I'm afraid he's trying to avoid suspicion because he's afraid that I'll be suspicious!"

"Then what do you mean?" Xu Lingyi asked him leisurely.

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Post a draft first and correct typos immediately!

O(∩_∩)O~