Xu Zhi didn't stop her. Seeing Xu Zhi put on her coat and hurriedly walk out, he sighed inwardly. Chen Zhaoci brought over a tea set. The teapot was steaming and had a pleasant fruity aroma.
Chen Zhaoci naturally saw Xu Rao leave, sighed, and said to Xu Zhi, "You two, father and daughter, are both so busy. I, who am idle, feel quite embarrassed."
Xu Zhi took the things from Chen Zhaoci's hands, put them on the kang table, smiled and took Chen Zhaoci's arm, saying, "My mother is not an idle person. My mother has so many things to do every day, and they are all things to treat and save lives. She is an extremely busy person."
Chen Zhaoci shook his head and asked, "I haven't had a chance to properly ask you about your trip to Wuzhou. Did you see Boyuan there?"
Xu Zhi shook her head and said, "No, after I went there, I bought a house and had it renovated properly. I've been busy with the Wuzhou branch lately. I only came back because I was worried about Yuanyuan. I was thinking that I would go to Wuzhou with Yuanyuan after the cotton-padded clothes are finished."
Chen Zhaoci felt a pang of sadness. These people were all so young, yet they had to shoulder such heavy responsibilities. She sighed softly and said, "I need to prepare some medicine recently. Take it with you to Boyuan when you leave. It's mostly medicine for knife wounds, as well as some medicine for treating common ailments."
Xu Zhi nodded and said, "Mother, thank you for your hard work."
Chen Zhaoci tapped Xu Zhi's forehead with her index finger and said, "Your mother is suffering, but not in spirit. How come you all have so many things to do every day? Other people's children are just waiting to get married, start a career, and have children. Look at you, each of you has such great ambitions and aspirations."
Xu Zhi smiled and coaxed, "Isn't this all thanks to Mother's excellent guidance? Without Mother's careful teaching, how could we have become such amazing people?"
Hearing this, Chen Zhaoci couldn't help but laugh and said, "Listen to this, are you praising your mother or yourself?"
Xu Rao returned quickly, and Xu Zhi saw that his expression had relaxed a lot, so she knew that things had gone smoothly and the instructions had been given. Seeing that it was getting late, Xu Zhi quickly went to the east wing to sleep.
Hong Gu had already tidied up the bedding in the east wing. Hong Gu and Shi Liu slept on the kang outside. Xu Zhi washed up briefly and lay down, her mind a jumble of thoughts.
Xu Zhi is now very afraid that she might have overlooked something and someone would take advantage of her, but now is definitely not a good time to think about these things. Xu Zhi knows in her heart that she has not had a proper rest for several days. What she needs to do now is to rest as soon as possible and think about it properly when her mind is clear tomorrow.
Nothing happened that night. When Xu Zhi opened her eyes, she saw the bright sunlight outside. She turned over, wanting to go back to sleep, but then she remembered what she had been worried about before going to bed last night, so she quickly sat up.
Bai Ying and Bai Guo came in carrying a washcloth, soap, and towel, and said with a smile, "Grandma is up. Just now, the Third Madam was saying that we shouldn't wake Grandma up, so that Grandma could have a good sleep."
As a married woman, Xu Zhi wasn't used to being called "Grandma" when she returned to her parents' home, but she's gotten used to it now.
Because of the addition of Duoduo and Guoguo to the family, the way they address each other has changed. Chen Zhaoci's generation is called Madam, while Wu and Zhu are called Old Madam. As for Old Madam, she is now called Grand Madam. There are not many old matriarchs in the whole capital who live under five generations of the same family.
Xu Zhi asked, "What time is it now?"
Bai Guo said, "It's already past midnight."
Upon hearing this, Xu Zhi quickly put on her clothes and said, "It's so late! Oh dear, I slept in late on my way back to my parents' home. If everyone finds out, they'll laugh at me! And you all, why didn't you wake me up sooner? I would have had to go to my aunt's house to borrow someone."
Bai Ying smiled and said, "Third Madam specifically instructed the two of us, saying that our aunt had traveled a long way back from Wuzhou and should take a good rest. She also traveled so much yesterday and shouldn't be so worried and stressed all day long. Third Madam also said that our aunt still needs to grow taller, and it wouldn't be good if she was always so tired and it delayed her growth."
While washing her face, Xu Zhi complained, "My mother just likes to scare people by saying I won't grow tall. Is there anything to eat? I'll eat a couple of bites and go find my aunt to discuss something."
Bai Guo hurried to the kitchen to get food. The west wing had been converted into a small kitchen, with a small pot always on the stove inside, containing chicken carcasses and broth. Hearing that Xu Zhi wanted breakfast, the cook quickly cooked the already rolled noodles, scooped them into a bowl, added the broth, a spoonful of meat sauce, a few small green vegetables, and a boiled egg cut in half.
Xu Zhi had only eaten a few bites for lunch and dinner yesterday, and after sleeping all night, she was starving. When she saw this bowl of noodles, she ate some pickled vegetables and even drank the soup clean.
She wiped her mouth and, seeing that Chen Zhaoci wasn't in the courtyard, asked him and was told that he had gone to the Grand Madam's courtyard to help her arrange flowers. Xu Zhi thought for a moment and then went directly to the courtyard where Ning Shi lived.
As the wife of the heir of the Yongning Marquis's mansion, Ning lived with the heir in a large five-courtyard house next to Wu's courtyard. This courtyard was in an excellent location, basically the center of the entire mansion. The main hall in front was where Ning usually handled the affairs of the mansion. When Xu Zhi arrived, the old women who had come to handle matters were just leaving. It seemed that they had already led out the things to be done that day.
Upon seeing Xu Zhi, the old women all bowed respectfully. Xu Zhi greeted them with a smile, and only after they had all left did she enter the main hall.
When Ning saw Xu Zhi, she smiled and said, "I heard that our Ninth Aunt went back to her parents' home twice yesterday and ended up staying there."
Xu Zhi smiled and stepped forward, taking Ning Shi's arm, and said, "Auntie, are you complaining that I go back to my parents' home too often?"
Ning smiled and pinched Xu Zhiruo's smooth cheeks, saying, "How could I dare? Our married ladies are all pampered guests. When they come back to their parents' home, they are served the best meal. Come, let me see how our Ninth Aunt looks right now."
Xu Zhi smiled and let Ning Shi look her over. Ning Shi sighed and said, "It's better for a young lady to marry someone nearby. Look at you, and then look at your eldest sister and your fourth sister. One went to Liaodong Prefecture, and the other went to Gaoqing County. It's not easy for them to come back."
Xu Zhi smiled and said, "That's because eldest sister and fourth sister married well. Eldest sister's husband has made great contributions and will definitely take eldest sister back to the capital in the future. As for fourth sister, fourth sister's husband is known as Lin Mengchang. He is public-spirited, righteous, and charitable. Who doesn't say that my fourth sister's husband is a great man? We should be happy for fourth sister for marrying such a husband."
Ning suppressed the bitterness in her heart and said with a smile, "Yes, yes, yes, both of your older sisters married well, isn't that good enough?"
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