In early spring of March, Xing'er and Shu'er planned to go on an outing, and Lin Jiaoniang and Xu Wen also went with them. The outing was only a quarter of an hour's carriage ride from Daqing Manor, so they stayed at the manor instead of returning to the city.
During the day, the two brothers ran around. After flying kites, they ran to play with the boys near the village. As soon as they finished dinner, the two brothers nodded their heads and felt drowsy.
Lin Jiaoniang and Xu Wen carried the little boy to the side room, helped him take off his shoes and covered him with a quilt. Seeing that the child had started to snore, they smiled at each other and left the side room.
The two children lived in one wing, and Lin Jiaoniang and Xu Wen also lived together. After washing up, Lin Jiaoniang invited Xu Wen to drink under the moon.
Xu Wen readily agreed. After they drank two glasses of fruit wine, Lin Jiaoniang squinted her eyes and said, "Awen, do you think I'm stupid and useless?"
Without waiting for Xu Wen to speak, Lin Jiaoniang drank another glass of wine and continued, "I have a good family background but I am not good at managing household affairs. I am really useless. If I were half as capable as my sister, De Ge'er might still be here now." As she spoke, Lin Jiaoniang shed tears.
Holding a wine glass, Xu Wen looked at the half-moon in the sky and said, "Things about the world are not perfect. You are naturally pure and soft-hearted, so it's not surprising that you are not good at the affairs of the inner chamber. De Ge'er's incident was the fault of the murderer. It has nothing to do with you. How can you put someone else's fault on your own head?"
Lin Jiaoniang, who had drunk two more glasses of fruit wine, wiped the tears from her face with her hands and choked up, "But the real murderer can't atonce for my son's life."
He wondered if that woman had already been executed, and then thought that perhaps the real person behind the scenes couldn't do anything to him. Xu Wen didn't ask, and after Lin Jiaoniang finished her first sentence, she stopped talking and just drank glass after glass.
Only when Lin Jiaoniang's cheeks flushed did Xu Wen replace the wine in the jug with tea. In the middle of the night, Lin Jiaoniang, feeling unwell after being drunk, made a scene for a while, and it was not until the fourth watch that Xu Wen finally went to sleep in another wing room.
Xu Wen seemed to hear Shu Ge'er's voice in a daze, but she had gone to bed too late and couldn't open her eyes. She fell asleep again in a daze. When she opened her eyes again, it was already bright outside.
It was only when they washed up and sat at the table to have breakfast that Xu Wen asked about Shu Ge'er. Qiu Ling replied, "Miss, the young master got up early and went to the fields with the young master of the Yu family. It seems that he will be back soon."
Halfway through the meal, Lin Jiaoniang came over and greeted Xu Wen with a blushing face.
Seeing Lin Jiaoniang feeling uncomfortable, Xu Wen said, "Sister Jiao, the mixed wild vegetables for breakfast today are very fresh. Come and try them." After that, she picked up the plate and placed it in the position closest to Lin Jiaoniang.
Lin Jiaoniang, having regained her composure, smiled and quietly ate her breakfast. By noon, when the sun was high in the sky, Xu Wen and Lin Jiaoniang had already played five games of chess, and Shu Ge'er and Xing Ge'er had not returned yet.
Xu Wen's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly ordered, "Mother Cui, Qiu Ling, hurry up and send everyone out to find the two brothers."
Lin Jiaoniang, who was sitting opposite, saw Xu Wen's nervous expression and suddenly panicked. With a snap, the white piece in her hand fell to the ground.
After looking at each other, they stood up at the same time and walked hand in hand to the gate of the courtyard. After waiting for another quarter of an hour, they saw Mother Cui hurrying over from a distance. Xu Wen's heart was beating so fast that if Lin Jiaoniang hadn't supported her, she would have fainted.
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