The old lady of Marquis Yining was jealous of the parrot raised by the old Marquis Yining, and asked, "Has Ah Huan gained weight? Is he sitting still now?"
Jiang Si smiled and said, "It can crawl now."
The old lady of Marquis Yining was surprised: "Ah Huan is not even eight months old yet, and he can crawl already?"
It is said that the baby can roll over, sit up, roll over, and crawl, but this is usually for stronger babies. The little girls in rich families are often slower. The more people serve, the more they are afraid that the little master will bump into something. The less practice, the slower he will be.
"Yes, she can crawl quite far now." Jiang Si mentioned her daughter, her eyes full of smiles.
It was not surprising at all that Ah Huan learned to crawl so early. Once, she saw with her own eyes Erniu using his big mouth to push Ah Huan forward. Ah Huan didn't want to move, and he was actually trying to scare her.
Thinking about his daughter who was being pushed forward by the big dog with great difficulty, Jiang Si just found it funny.
The old lady of Marquis Yining was also very happy: "That's great, a strong child is better than anything else. When you were a child, you were not like Ah Huan, who was as frail as a kitten."
The old lady of Yining Marquis seemed to have thought of something, her eyes flickered.
Jiang Si pursed her lips lightly, as if hesitating.
The old lady of Yining Marquis noticed something was wrong and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Grandma, I don't think the Queen Mother likes me very much--"
The old lady of Marquis Yining paused for a moment, then tightened her hand around the teacup.
Jiang Si knew that just saying this would be of little use, so he paused and said, "Ah Jin became the Queen's adopted son, I don't know whether it is a blessing or a curse..."
The old lady of Marquis Yining shook her hands slightly and became even more silent.
Jiang Si reached out and held the arm of the old lady of Yining Marquis, and whispered: "Grandmother, is the Queen Mother dislike me because of what happened between my mother and Princess Rongyang?"
The old lady of Marquis Yining looked at Jiang Si deeply, feeling depressed.
"Grandmother—"
The old lady of Marquis Yining raised her hand and stroked her ginger-like head. As if she was still young, her voice was hoarse: "Maybe you are overthinking it. How could the Queen Mother not like you? The rift between your mother and Princess Rongyang was because of General Cui. It was not your mother's fault. The Queen Mother is a sensible person and will not dislike you because of this-"
Jiang Si blinked, his eyes glittering with cunningness: "So, the Queen Mother doesn't like me for another reason?"
The old lady of Marquis Yining paused, then smiled and shook her head: "Girl, how can you be so sure that the Queen Mother doesn't like you?"
Jiang Si felt a little disappointed.
My grandmother didn't say a word, and it seemed that she would return empty-handed again today.
Fortunately, she was prepared for this and smiled bitterly, "I can always feel whether someone is happy or not. If it was anyone else, it would be fine, but it has to be the Queen Mother. I'm afraid that this will cause trouble in the future..."
Knowing that he couldn't get anything out of the old lady of Yining Marquis for a while, Jiang Si changed the subject after saying this, while the old lady of Yining Marquis seemed a little absent-minded.
After Jiang Si said goodbye and left, the old lady of Yining Marquis sat alone in the room for a long time, appearing to be worried.
Old Marquis Yining came in carrying a bird cage and was startled when he saw the situation: "What's wrong?"
The old lady of Yininghou came back to her senses: "Nothing happened."
Old Marquis Yining hung up the bird cage and walked over: "It seems that you are happy to come here, but I think you seem to be worried."
The old lady of Marquis Yining looked up at the old Marquis Yining and sighed, "It seems that my son has grown up and has many ideas of his own."
The old Marquis Yining smiled disapprovingly: "Si'er is already a mother, of course she has grown up. Besides, don't you see where Si'er married? The royal family is not so comfortable to begin with, and now the Prince of Yan has become the Queen's son, it's even more precarious..."
The old lady of Marquis Yining was silent for a moment, and then she spoke after a while: "Today, Si'er said that the Queen Mother doesn't like her--"
Old Marquis Yining's eyes darkened: "Uh, is there anything else?"
The old lady of Yining Marquis nodded.
The old Marquis Yining slammed the table and said angrily, "This is too much. Princess Rongyang stole A Ke's husband and she deserved the consequences. It's shameless for the Queen Mother to be angry with Si'er because of this!"
The old lady of Yining Marquis murmured: "I'm afraid it's not because of this——"
"What did you say?"
The old lady of Yining Marquis reacted and shook her head: "Nothing."
Old Marquis Yining suddenly remembered something and frowned, "I remember you and the Queen Mother were very close when you were young. Why did you stop communicating later?"
At that time, the Empress Dowager was still unmarried, and she often visited the Yining Marquis's residence. Later, for some reason, the contact stopped. Whenever he mentioned it occasionally, the old woman would frown and she stopped asking after asking twice.
"You were good friends when you were young, but as you grew up and had your own ideas, you couldn't get along anymore." Lady Yining Hou said calmly, but there was frost in her eyes, and she looked cold.
Old Marquis Yining knew that there must be something going on, but there was nothing he could do unless the old woman told him. So he took off the bird cage and sighed, "No matter how you quarrel, if this affects Si'er, you'd better give the child a few words of advice, so that Si'er will not be unaware of the situation and fall into other people's schemes... I'm leaving now."
Old Marquis Yining walked out with the bird cage in his hand, and another voice rang out: "I'm going out."
Old Marquis Yining suddenly couldn't move and looked down.
The parrot in the cage tilted its head back with an innocent look on its face.
The old Marquis Yining was immediately excited and pointed at the bird cage and said, "Old woman, did you hear that? This parrot can talk!"
The old lady of Marquis Yining looked at the dull-looking parrot with curiosity.
"Come on, say one more word!"
The parrot tilted its head but said nothing.
Old Yining Hou thought for a moment and said tentatively, "I'm going out."
"I'm going out." The parrot responded.
The old Marquis of Yining was so happy that he could not even see his teeth: "This parrot is really smart. It's worth the three hundred taels of silver I spent to buy it--"
"Huh? Three hundred taels?" The curiosity on the face of the old lady of Yining Marquis disappeared immediately, and was replaced by murderous intent.
The old Marquis Yining’s smile froze.
Oops, I let that slip.
"Ah, I have something urgent to do. I'll talk to you when I get back."
The old Marquis Yining ran away with the parrot, leaving the old lady of the Marquis Yining with trembling lips.
She was already worried enough about Si'er's affairs, and now the old man was ruining the family!
Thinking of this, the old lady of Yining Marquis had an urge to throw all the secrets out.
Jiang Si didn't get anything out of the old lady of Yining Marquis, but he wasn't discouraged. He secretly thought about making another visit in a few days. After a long time of patience, who knows when his grandmother might give in.
Time passed, and the Empress Dowager's birthday was approaching.
On this day, King Qi invited King Xiang to have tea in his mansion.
"It's the Royal Grandmother's birthday. Has my eighth brother prepared the birthday gift?"
The King of Xiang smiled and said, "It's almost the same as last year. Anyway, whatever I give is the same."
Thinking about the missed opportunity to have the Empress' son, the Prince of Xiang has been in a bad mood these days and has no time to think about the Empress Dowager's birthday ceremony.